It's pickle time again.
September is pickle time at our house. Jim is the expert here, when it comes to pickles and his best effort is mustard pickles. Also known as piccalilli, Jim's version is milder and in our opinion, better. All the family agree on that, lol. At the end of August we start looking out for marrows, shallots, cauliflower and vinegar - malt variety. Marrows have not been very obvious on the shelves this year, nor last year. I think it is because people now prefer courgettes or zuchini, whichever you prefer to call them. Jim doesn't use the pickling vinegar because that is rather strong. Sometimes he puts a bouquet garni into the mixture whilst it is cooking. The other vegetable included is the runner bean, but we don't buy those. Jim grows them himself. He prepares the vegetables in the early evening; salts them, covers them with a clean tea towel and then leaves them overnight to draw out the excess moisture. The next day he rinses them off and puts them in a large pan with