My sister and niece visited a couple of weekends ago. I only had three activities planned for their visit: 1) go to the farmer’s market, 2) cook some stuff, 3) loll about. We did a great job of accomplishing all three. We spent a couple of good hours touring and re-touring the farmer’s market and ended up coming home with a bunch of sweet corn, a bagful of little cucumbers for refrigerator pickles, a bag of beautiful red tomatoes, and a bouquet of zinnias. We didn’t come home with a breakfast burrito, three honey sticks, a couple of lemonade shakeups, or a big cinnamon roll, because we ate all that right there at the market.

As far as cooking, we made some things. We made a batch of homemade ice cream, a chocolate sheet cake, homemade pizza for 10, a beautiful sandwich bar lunch, and a brunch of smoked salmon, banana bread scones, and baked eggs. Don’t judge us. We don’t get together very often, so we have to make it good.

At our sandwich lunch, post-farmer’s market, we wanted to use some of my CSA bag and some of our farmer’s market finds, so we decided on refrigerator pickles and a roasted corn salad as accompaniments to our spread.

Refrigerator pickles are easy and fun because they provide almost instant gratification. Also, they stay crisp which seems to be a challenge for me in a traditional pickle canning process.

Sisters Refrigerator Pickles
5 small cucumbers, good for pickling
1 jalapeno
1 small white onion
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1 1/2 cup cider vinegar
4 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

Slice the cucumbers about 1/4 inch thick. Combine them and the salt in a bowl. Cover and chill 1.5 hours. Or however long you have. I think we only did an hour because we were impatient. Rinse the cukes in a colander and drain well. Return cucumbers to the bowl along with the very thinly sliced onion and the jalapeno, cut into strips.

Combine the sugar, vinegar and spices. Bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour over cucumbers and onions. Let sit at room temperature for another hour, or however long you have. Cover and refrigerate. You can serve them after an hour or two, and they will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks. But I promise they won’t make it that long.

Makes approximately four cups of pickles.

Roasted Sweet Corn Salad
2 ears sweet corn
1/2 green pepper
handful sweet cherry tomatoes
1/2 large cucumber
1/2 c diced red onion
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
4 or 5 leaves of fresh basil
salt
pepper

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2012/jul/29/238385/

Cut the kernels from the ears of corn and toss them in a skillet over medium high heat. Move them around until they start to roast and brown, then quickly remove them (before they burn). Move them to the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Chop the red onion, cucumber (without seeds), and green pepper, and halve or quarter the cherry tomatoes. Combine everything in a bowl and dress with sugar, olive oil and lime juice mixture. Add basil and salt and pepper, stir to combine, and serve! This is the freshest, most lovely salad I think I ever had. It’s full of interesting textures and flavor combinations, and it’s not all gloppy with dressing or over-seasoned so what you taste is freshness in every bite.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2012/jul/29/238384/

Enjoy enjoy the rest of the summer! This season is coming to a close, so get it while you can!