Pickles are the new Cupcakes!

So much news to share! First, a much delayed update on the State Fair results! As some of you know, I entered my four "best" pickles in the State Fair competition: Watermelon Rind, Beets, Peaches, and (my secret weapon) Wasabeans. I was so nervous and excited when I went to the fair one evening, hoping that they had the winning pickles on display. (I had lucked into a $10 season pass on Facebook, and I used the heck out of that thing!)

So I walked into the Craft Hall, wandered past all the other crafts, the cakes, quilts, and antiques, and came to this:

The wall of pickles. Ok, there were jams and jellies there, too. And some relishes. But I was only interested in finding my pickles and seeing if any of them had ribbons. My nervous excitement was too much to bear! While looking over the pickles my fellow competitors submitted, I did get some really interesting ideas (pickled figs! I bet they go great with Manchego...) But then I found one of mine:

My peaches! With a ribbon!! Third place... I'll take that. I knew I hadn't packed my jars as tightly as I should have. I'd never canned peaches before, and when they were done, there was like 1/3 of the jar just pickle juice, no peaches.... But the flavor was the BOMB! (My secret: a split vanilla bean in the brine!) So I was very, very satisfied to take third state-wide for something I'd only just started doing that summer. This was maybe only my third round of flavor-tweaking.... Third place! I was over the moon! And looking around, I couldn't find the second or first place peaches... I later found out, they didn't award second or first place. So basically, my pickled peaches were the BEST. Yay! Then I found my beets. No ribbon. I wasn't too surprised. I had only made them about 6 weeks before the fair. I knew they were a little too new to be really good. My beets (I think they've now been named Killah Beets, by a very dear friend, and I like the name very much) are awesome, I know the recipe is good (though one batch this year was a bit clove-heavy) but I do know that the beets I submitted to the judges were a little new. If they were to taste them now, it would be a totally different experience. In fact, one of my most fabulous Whole Foods friends had her wife try my beets, and she loved them, and she doesn't even LIKE beets!! How's THAT for a ringing endorsement??

Then, I found my watermelon rinds. No ribbon! That one did disappoint me. I don't understand how they could not love my watermelon rinds. This was another category where they only awarded a third place ribbon. I'd really like to try some other people's pickled watermelon rinds for comparison, maybe get some other ideas. Whatever. I think mine are awesome.

So then I get to the biggest category of them all: Miscellaneous Pickles. Here's where the pickled figs were. The pickled okra and pickled asparagus. Someone had even entered pickled bananas! There were half a dozen third place ribbons, half a dozen seconds as well. And then I see one jar with a blue ribbon. One single entry in all of Miscellaneous Pickles has been given a blue First Place ribbon:

My Wasabeans. MY WASABEANS!! The only first place ribbon in all of Miscellaneous Pickles! In the entire state of Virginia! 2011 State Fair best pickles EVER (in class 7412 Any Other Pickles Not Listed)! That anyone should jump up and down and scream and shout (and cry a little) for their pickles winning in the state fair might be considered silly by some people, but I am not ashamed.

These were my goals for 2011: launch jillpickles.com, start tweaking my pickle recipes into delicious works of art, blog about it, enter them in the State Fair, win a blue ribbon. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

So where does the cupcake thing come in? The next part of that goal statement was "...and then in 2012 I'll start selling them!" Well that's a lot more complicated than it sounds. There are licenses and maybe permits, I need to be making them in a commercial kitchen, not in my apartment. I need to take Jill Pickles from a blog and hobby and turn it into a for real small business. I really believe that people will go crazy for my small batch, artisanal pickles made with love from local produce like they went crazy for cupcakes a couple of years ago. The wheels are in motion for me to actually do this. By summer, I really believe that people I don't know will be able to buy my pickles, and enjoy them, and want more, and that thought gives me chills! Those of you who have been so kind as to taste my pickles and give me feedback, and love and support... thank you. I could not have done this without you, and I will continue to rely on your palates as my dreams of new pickle varieties make it through the beta testing process... next up: spicy cauliflower and carrots, with smoked paprika... I can't stop thinking about it!

One thing to note: The Virginia House of Representatives will soon be voting on HB46, also known as "The Pickle Bill". This will enable home picklers to sell their products out of their homes and at farmers markets with labels that say "not for resale - made in an uninspected kitchen". It was supposed to come up for a vote tomorrow (January 23rd, 2012), but has been pushed back. If you're so inclined, you should call your Representative and encourage them to support HB46 when it does come up for a vote.

Thanks guys!! I'll keep you posted as I try new recipes, and as Jill Pickles becomes more than just a weekend hobby and gift-basket filler!