2 dozen jars done and I still have my fingerprints

The last time I made pickled garlic was just about a year ago at Myrna's house. The good part about it was that it was Myrna's house. Cathy and Kirsi and Karen were there too. There was wine and sushi and good cheese and we laughed and cooked together. The bad part was the burning off of the fingertips. A couple of the ladies had brought latex gloves - more for odor protection than anything else. It turned out that we all should have had them. We did not know how harsh garlic juice is. I've been cooking with garlic all my life - but only a couple of cloves at a time. Peeling a few hundred was a new and painful experience. I ended up wearing bandaids on all of my fingers to lessen the contact with skin-removing garlic juice. After the cooking session, my fingertips turned bright red, blistered and then peeled, all over the course of about a week. I swear I had no prints for at least 4 or 5 days. A couple of my freinds had the same bad experience.

We didn't get together this fall for a garlic-a-thon, partly I think because of our last year's trauma. I was missing pickled garlic a lot. It's expensive to buy, but so yummy. Then I found 3 pound jars of peeled garlic cloves at Costco. I bought two for $6 each and made a couple of dozen jars in record time this afternoon - and my fingers feel just fine.

The house is fragrant with brine and garlic. In a couple of weeks the pickles will be mellow and yummy. I like them best this way: smear a small cracker (like a wheat thin) with a gob of plain cream cheese. Top with one whole clove of pickled garlic. Gobble. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Mmmmmmmmm. I like to have a bunch of jars ready for holiday visits and entertaining. People who have never tried it may be reluctant, but once they start, they could eat it with a spoon it's so good.

I'm not sure if these jars of peeled cloves are year-round or seasonal. They list no additional ingredients and come with a dire warning to "refrigerate for safety."

So that's what I did today. Oh yeah, I also put the Halloween decorations in the attic and cleaned the toilets. It was a perfect day. Really.

question: have you tried it?

mompoet - can't wait until it's ready