teyanjulee leon

potluck reflection

So in my family we don’t use recipes. Ingredients and amounts are a matter of personal preference. So as you can see, my mom’s instructions were a little vague. Luckily, we’ve been dong this for years so I understand her language.

I hate Walmart. I have tons of excuses for why I went there, but who cares. That’s where I went. Hopefully this is yummy because normally Walmart’s selection is terrible.

White onion.

I bought it because it’s an ingredient. Normally I use yellow. I think they taste better. Both make me cry, so there’s no avoiding that. I love onions though. The taste and smell and texture they create are beautiful.

Cucumbers.

We call them cukes. I prefer the tiny ones. Some may call them pickling cucumbers, I call them mini. I think the taste is better and they’re juicier, but for this recipe the large ones work better. If I had money to blow, we would have had the English ones. Mom calls them “burpless” because they’re said to not cause gas.

Pepper.

I was almost out, so I could have bought some more. Pepper is one of my favorite seasonings. I used to be a salt girl. I loved salt. Last time I was home though, pepper did something new for me and I’m not going back.

White vinegar.

According to Mom’s recipe, either apple cider or white vinegar can be used. She’s made it for me both ways, and I think the recipe needs tweaking when apple cider vinegar is used. The salad is too tangy. I used white vinegar.

Sugar.

I’m sure there is another way to make this than to use sugar. I’m just not interested in trying it. Sorry if you’re diabetic. This recipe isn’t for you.

prep

Here’s what we need:

cukesonionknivescutting boardplastic bowl

Peel the cukes.

When I make it for myself, I skip this step. I’m making it out of necessity, not out of love. While I made it out of necessity for class, I thought I should give you the best. Mom peels the whole cucumber. I like a little bit of interest, so I make stripes.

Slice the cukes.

This part takes the most time because the slices are supposed to be semi-transparent. Mom cheats and uses a Pampered Chef tool that makes each slice exactly the same as the last, and it has varying thicknesses. I do this the old-fashioned way, so the slices arent’ perfect....and it takes me twice as long.

Slice the onions.

I only took a long time on slicing the onions because I kept crying. The onions were on one last night. They wouldn’t slice thin enough. They were so defensive. I cried until I went to bed. It was so bad.

add1 cup of vinegar1/2 cup of water

Add sugar.

Three quarters of a cup. I know, it seems like a lot, but I promise it’s not. Mom gave me the skeleton recipe, but she doesn’t follow it. She adds more. I like to go with less and if someone feels like they need more, they can add the sugar themself. I have an incurable sweet tooth. I try to cut sugar back where and when I can.

Pepper.

A tablespoon. I don’t know how sensitive you guys are, so I used what the recipe called for. I like to get a little pepper crazy though, so when I make it for me, the salad is black!

Shake it and refrigerate.

Mom tends to use fancy terminology when she gives me cooking instructions, which is fine. I know the truth though. “Toss” means “shake it like a polaroid picture.” Which is exaclty what I did.