#7 Pickled Asparagus

2 1/2 qt water
2 1/2 qt white vinegar
10 tablespoons pickling spice
1 clove of garlic
asparagus

Put water, white vinegar, pickling salt, and pickling spice (put in clean pair of tights and tie shut)

*Pickling Spice remove cloves, they look like sticks with ball on the end

Boil the above for 15 minutes then remove spices. Barley cook 20 lbs asparagus spears for 2-3 min in water so they are bright green and slightly soft then pour cold water on to stop the cooking process. Pack tips in qt size jars.

Cover with sauce you just made and screw lids on tight. Stick the whole can completely under boiling water in a big pot for 20 minutes.

Makes about 8 qts.

Ok so I tried the pickling thing and oh my gosh...you have to boil the mixture of vinegar and water and salt and seasoning and I did this like 4 days ago and my apartment STILL smells like vinegar! Gross! However, I am in the process of moving so I haven't been living in the apartment which means the only times the windows have been open is when I was actually cooking it. But still! Gross!

So first of all I would buy a canning kit. I didn't and it was a BIG mistake! I didn't have a pot big enough to boil all the jars in so I had to do one at a time which took forever because each jar has to boil for 20 min. I also didn't have a netting container to hold the spices in so I used knee high tights. Which were clean :) and that actually worked really well! I have to buy new tights now though...

I haven't tasted the pickled items yet... I made garlic, pearl onions and asparagus.

So the jar that had the garlic broke. And the jar that had the pearl onions didn't seal. But the asparagus turned out AMAZING!!