In A Pickle

At lunch today Tony and I were talking about dill pickles, and how they just naturally go along with certain foods. My mind, in one of its strange segues, jumped from dill pickles to sweet pickles. I'm not a huge fan of the sweet variety, but every once in a while I get a taste for them. As a result of our discussion I wanted some, but there weren't any in the house. Trying to brainstorm the easiest way to take care of my craving, I thought of the watermelon that was sitting on the kitchen counter from today's shopping trip. I could use some of the watermelon rind instead of composting all of it as I usually do. That's how I happened to be in the kitchen this afternoon making watermelon pickles.

I'm sure I have a recipe for watermelon pickles somewhere in my voluminous cookbook collection, but it was quicker to find one on the Internet. I ended up using a recipe for Refrigerator Watermelon Rind Pickles, because it was easily scalable. I'll be the only one eating them, so I didn't need a whole lot.

The recipe was very easy. In addition to the watermelon rind, I used sugar, apple cider vinegar, cloves, and a cinnamon stick. I cut the peel and all the flesh from the rind, cubed it, and added it to the pot with all the other ingredients. After the mixture boiled, I turned down the heat and let it simmer for an hour. Partway through the cooking process I went outside to check the mailbox, and when I came back in there was a wonderful smell emanating from the kitchen!

When the cooking time was up, I poured the pickles and liquid (which had turned syrupy) into a bowl and put it in the refrigerator. The recipe said to allow 12 hours for the flavors to blend, but I tasted one of the warm pieces. It was good now, and I suspect it will be even better later.