For any new readers who haven’t experienced “Pickles” from an earlier post.

I like pickles. If I was offered a sweet pickle and a dill, I would go for the sweet one first.  I’m very particular about my pickles. It has to have the right crispy crunch and that nifty spurt of juice that squirts into your mouth when you bite into it. “Bubby Rose’s Bakery and Café” serves these fat kosher ones with their sandwiches if you request it.  Although these aren’t sweet pickles, these pickles fill the bill with that crispy crunch and spurt of juice that tingles your palate.

Yes indeed–pickles should be part of the healthy food requirements since it started as a vegetable. Then again, anything that tasty would have limitations and restrictions set by some pickle-face-know-it-all, sitting in some dusty old office.

Pickles are very versatile and can be healthy too. When my Mom did her pickling, she tossed in cauliflower pieces, sliced carrots, pearl onions, red and green peppers and cucumber spears. There, you see–a nice assortment of veggies.

Pickles can be paired with a number of simple foods, elevating the ordinary into the lofty heights of exotica. I like peanut butter and sliced sweet pickles. And, how about grilled cheese with sweet pickle relish? I think a crunchy dill fits nicely with a fat, juicy hamburger. Sweet pickled relish mixed with a prepared mustard brushed on sautéed chicken thighs makes the chicken cheerfully tap-dance from the pan to your plate. And sweet pickle relish paired with diced pineapples, added to stir-fried chicken pieces, served over steamed rice, is simple, tangy and delicious.

I think words are like pickles. Waltzing through a thesaurus can add needed zest and zing to ordinary words. But like any well-meaning spice, use sparingly. You know those tedious Victorian scenes where the Heroine heaves her bosom, flutters her lashes and coyly shows an ankle? Well, if she crunched a big, juicy pickle first, then the scene easily changes to the Heroine lovingly grabs her Hero and adoringly flips him on her couch with a demure sigh. Wait, maybe the pickle shouldn’t be used for that scene–after all, that was the Victorian age. . .

Anyway, pickles definitely have its uses. It gives confidence, perks up the ordinary and encourages extraordinary behaviour. What other vegetable offers so much to so many?