kneadedlove:

During the post-Irene power outage, while I was hanging out at my mother’s house, I made these ridiculously beautiful hurricane pickles. They are a spicy beet trio, with beets, hot pepper, dill seeds from our garden, and garlic from nearby. Like most of my pickles, they are based on this recipe from Putting Food By, with the addition of mustard seeds, whole black peppercorns, and a slice of fresh hot pepper. Plus the obvious substitution of beets for green beans. 

You may notice that despite being in a different kitchen, the knives I’m using are nearly identical. This is because my father gave me that big Sabatier on the first night of our last Hanukkah. He liked it so much himself that my mother went and bought one for him. And last year for his birthday I gave my father the same little Victorinox paring knife that I’d bought myself, choosing a red handle for the kitchen that can sometimes swallow knives.