Asparagus, Round 3 goes to Chris!

Well, it's been a while since my last entry. Not because I've lost the canning spirit, but rather because, besides asparagus and rhubarb, there's nothing else to can at this time of year! It has been a warm spring and the strawberries are here early, but yesterday was the first time they were at the market, and they were $6/quart, which is too steep for my canning requirements. I'm hoping to pick my own in the next couple of weeks.

After the asparagus canning fiasco, I've been freezing it because the results are entirely predictable. But I was moving jars onto a different shelf in my basement and was irritated to see the two measly pint jars that I had pickled. Asparagus is still cheap at the market and the stalks are gorgeous, so I decided to give it one final try.

I cut up five pounds just like last time, but this time, while preparing the brine, I was shocked to see that in the recipe I'm suppose to dilute the vinegar solution by 50% by adding the same amount of water. How did I miss this last time? Suddenly my wizened asparagus are starting to make more sense. I had no idea how much vinegar went into pickles and assumed you just used pure vinegar? Hmm, in hindsight I couldn't even breathe when I was filling the jars, the smell was so strong, I suppose that should have been a warning that I was doing something wrong.

THIS time, I used the right brine, the right sized asparagus, and I packed them as directed. The result? The proper amount of pickled asparagus (3 quarts instead of 2) that look much more similar to the photo in the book!

Maybe I can feed the over-vinegared jars to the dog or something...

YIELD: win!