Friday's Featured Food: Dragon's Eggs

D is for Dragon's Eggs... cucumbers, that is. Dragon's Eggs Cucumbers are one of the funnest novelty heirloom crops we grow. They taste like a mild cucumber but look like little white eggs.  This vegetable originates in Croatia and has a thin, white rind and a great crisp, fresh flavor, great for salads. But more than anything, they are attention-getters and great for practical jokes. Imagine giving your mom or neighbor a dozen of these in an egg carton and see what happens.

So, recipes...hmm. Much like cauliflower, cucumbers are usually just wash, sliced and eaten raw in our house. We love the flavor so much, there isn't any need to add to it. Cucumber salads are also a standard. For a sour salad, mix sliced cucumbers, sliced onions, and a bit of garlic. Add one part water to 3 parts vinegar. Let set for a few hours before serving. For a mild salad, just pour ranch dressing over sliced cucumbers and sweet onions. Let set for a few hours and enjoy!

But, if you feel the need to get creative, you could always make some pickles. Pickles means another D ... Dill. We are blest to have dill seed from my Grandma Albers' garden, true heirloom seed brought over from Germany by my great-grandparents and grown every since. Last year we relied on our heritage and made sweet pickles with my grandma's dill and Jay's grandmother Clara's recipe. It's definitely one will be repeating this year, may times over.

SWEET DILL PICKLES

1 gallon sliced cucumbers

3 c. vinegar

3 c. sugar

2 T. mustard seed

2 T. salt

2 tsp. dill

1 tsp. celery seed

Boil the syrup and add the cucumbers. Simmer 15 minutes. Seal in jars.  

Yield:  4 1/2-5 pints

Friday's Featured Food: Dragon's Eggs