Friday, March 25, 2011

Spice Rack Challenge April: Dill

Dill from "To Kill a Mockingbird"


They say April showers bring May flowers, but here in Michigan it's likely to be snow showers.   It's official - I am sick of winter.   It's cold here and tonight on my way home it was snowing this evening.   I've had enough, and I am hoping the remedy will be dill.

To me, dill tastes like summertime and reminds me of pickle making.   I have a bottle of dill weed in my spice rack, and also some dill seeds.   Did you know if you can't find dill plants with the flowers (which are called umbels) when making pickles, you can substitute dill seeds instead?   About 1 teaspoon of the seeds can be used for 1 dill umbel.   I plan on making lots of pickles again this summer - I am really pleased with the pickle recipe I came up with last summer that tastes just like my favorite brand of McClure's pickles.   So, while I am pining away for summer dill, I am hoping my spice rack will remind me what it tastes like.

Please post your dill recipes no earlier than April 16 and no later than April 22 to be included in this month's round up.   P.S.  For the "To Kill A Mockingbird" fans out there - did you know that the character Dill was based on Harper Lee's childhood friend Truman Capote?  And in the movie, Boo Radley was played by a young Robert Duvall?  If you haven't read the book since junior high, check it out of the library and read it as an adult.  I was shocked at how good it is....still!

2 comments:

mla said...

Hmm--I had a bad experience with a college roommate who liked to add tons of dill to things she cooked, so this month's spice may really be a challenge for me! Still, I love pickles too, so I should be able to find something to make. :)

Tricia said...

i always manage to (happily) leave out dill when I encounter it in a recipe - i guess i'll have to rethink that strategy for this month's challenge!