The Easiest Cake You'll Ever Make: Watermelon Cake

While Hannah was looking at Instagram she saw that someone had posted a picture of a cake made of fruit. She demanded it for her birthday, talked about it for the weeks leading up to it and turned down the suggestion of any other cake. I also made cupcakes for the party so that everyone didn't think I was "that mom who would only let her kid have a cake made of fruit!"

This is a crowd pleaser, it's so easy, healthy and looks beautiful.

Watermelon Cake

one large seedless watermelon
strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and kiwi

Turn the watermelon on its side, cut the top and bottom off. Carefully cut away the rind, being careful to not cut too deep into the fruit.

Even the watermelon out, cutting some more off the top and bottom so that when it stands up it has a cake shape. Place on a large serving plate. This step can be done the day before serving.

Slice up the strawberries and you're ready to decorate.

To serve, bring a big knife and cut it up! We've made this a few times since Hannah's birthday, it's such a fun way to bring a fruit plate to a party.

Rhubarb and Strawberry Cordial

First recipe post in months and months. I'm going to try to get back to posting, I miss sharing recipes and thanks for all the sweet messages asking me to get back to it!

Today's recipe is a simple one, it's summer in a glass, refreshing and beautiful. The rhubarb came from our community garden plot and the strawberries from a sweet afternoon of picking out on Westham Island. My friend, Carie introduced me to "rhubarb tea", I'm hooked now.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Cordial

8 stalks of rhubarb, cut into 3" pieces
10 cups water
3 cups strawberries (sweet local summer berries are best), cut in half
sugar to taste

In a large heavy bottomed pot, cover the rhubarb with water. Bring to the boil, reduce to medium low heat and let simmer for 45 minutes. Add strawberries and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Put a wire mesh strainer above a large bowl and line with 2 layers of cheese cloth or a clean old tea towel that you don't mind parting ways with. Pour the liquid through the cloth, straining out the remaining pulp. Squeeze the excess liquid from the pulp and discard.

Season to taste. I added about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of sugar. It totally depends on how tart you like it.

Serve cold and diluted to taste with water or soda water over ice with sliced strawberries on a hot summer's day.

Keeps in the fridge for up to a month in a mason jar.

Happy Summer!

I miss writing on here and sharing recipes, I have the best of intentions and I think it will happen when the weather warms up a bit.

We've been so busy with work, with life, with an action packed and wonderful two and a half year old. Somehow it's February already and I have forsythia blooming on the table. Seasons seem to pass so quickly as a parent.

I've been cooking lots of light and healthy food, inspired by Jamie's Fifteen Minute Meals and Jerusalem.

This video was good to watch, any reminders we can get to live cleanly, leave a lighter carbon footprint and appreciate our surroundings is good stuff in my books.

See ya later, 2012.

beautiful.

I'm having a wonderful day and these photos, taken from Misao the Big Mama and Fukumaru the Cat, make my heart so happy and full of love.

Taken from Little More Books: 

Thirteen years ago, photographer Miyoko Ihara began snapping pictures of the budding relationship between her now 88-year-old grandmother, Misa, and her odd-eyed kitten, Fukumaru. Since Misa found the cat abandoned in a shed, the pair have barely ever been apart. Their beautiful friendship is documented in a photo book, Misao the Big Mama and Fukumaru the Cat.

12 years ago, Miyoko Ihara has started to take photographs of her grandmother, Misa. Miyoko wanted to leave a living proof of her.
One day, her grandmother found a odd-eyed kitten in the shed.

She named the cat "Fukumaru" in hope that "God of fuku(good fortune) comes and everything will be smoothed over like maru(circle)".
Even thought she is 87 years old, she still go out into the fields everyday, and Fukumaru always accompany her.
Green fields, blooming flowers and plump fruits ... in the colorful, diverse landscape, the life of an old lady and a cat is captured in the photographs.
It has been 8 years since they first met.
The grandmother whose hearing become weak and Fukumaru who has hearing disabilities are always looking into each other's eyes and feeling warmth each other.
When the white cloud float across the blue sky, the grandmother and her cat go out in the filed today too.

See more of the wonderful photos  >> here.

really good bread.

If you're on Pinterest, you know this bread. You've seen it pinned again and again. When we went on vacation in September to Saturna, I brought my Le Creuset dutch oven along for the trip with the sole purpose of making bread.

It was worth it. This bread is really, really good. Too good even. It's ridiculously easy to make, way too easy to eat hot from the oven with butter. So good, that I took a break from making it because we were eating too much of it.

I followed Simply So Good's instructions exactly, her easy to follow photos make it idiot proof. I've made a bunch of variations, my dad has been making a really amazing honey raisin version, but hands down, my favourite was when I added onions, cheese and black pepper. Here's the recipe.

Onion, Cheddar and Black Pepper Bread

adapted from Simply So Good

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon yeast

1 cup largely grated aged white cheddar

2 green onions, finely chopped

1/4 white onion, finely chopped

a generous grinding of black pepper - about a teaspoon  

1 1/2 cups water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.

All cheese, onions and pepper, mix well. 

Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours.  Overnight works great.  

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.  Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.

 

I haven't been posting lately, summer days stretch long into the evenings and all I want to do is soak up the time with family and friends.

We're off to Saturna Island tomorrow for a week vacation. Matt, Hannah and I - our sweet lazy cat, my best friend and then later in the week a visit with another dear friend.

I've been looking forward to this week for what feels like months. Whenever we pull off the ferry and start driving up the little hill on to Saturna Island, I have this wonderful sense that I've arrived where I should be. Only one more sleep and we're off.

Yesterday evening at Trout Lake Park

 

summer days

Summer is slipping by, it was late to arrive and I feel like we're making up for lost time. So much good stuff in such a short period of time, here are some of the highlights:

- swimming at Jericho Beach on hot sunny afternoons with a bag of blueberries on the beach blanket

- eating nectarines, cold and juicy out of the fridge

- late night bike rides along the seawall

- nighttime beach parties at third beach and crab park with sparklers and gin drinks

- feeling close to my friends and family in a way I haven't in a little while

- dancing at a late night stagette party in a garage on Bowen Island with laser lights and wonderful girls

- drinking raspberry, arugula gin punch

- celebrating my birthday with a day at the beach and a night at the night market

- eating delicious Okanagan peaches

- listening to the song above, nice and loud

But most of all, I've been loving my little family. I want to bottle up my little Hannah so that I don't ever forget her at this age. She makes my heart so full and my life so happy.

Artichoke Pate

Artichoke Pate with Toasted Walnuts on Olive Oil Toasted Crostini

2 cups of marinated artichokes (from a jar), drained well

2 tbsp of the marinated artichoke liquid

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

1/4 cup fine breadcrumbs

1/4 cup olive oil

juice of a lemon

1 garlic clove, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Garnish

1/4 cup walnuts, freshly toasted

chives, finely chopped (optional) 

one baguette

olive oil 

Directions

Combine all the pate ingredients in a food processor. 

Preheat oven to 350°.

Slice the baguette into 1/4 slices. Brush with olive oil and taost in the oven for 10 minutes, turn them over and bake for another 5 minutes until good and toasty.

Put the pate in a bowl, sprinkle with chives and lay out crostini and toasted walnuts and serve!

Delicious!

a birthday cake

Our little Hannah turned two in June. We had a family party at my parent's home and then the next week a friend party at our place. Two parties, same cake recipe. It's a gooder, it's easyish, and I cheat while making it. This is not a healthy or low fat recipe, but a kid only turns two once in their little lives and it should be tasty and delicious!

Here's the recipe.

Coconut Milk and Vanilla Cake with Raspberries and Old Fashioned Frosting

makes a 2 layer cake

Here's the cheat part :

1 box of organic vanilla cake mix (I use this one from PC)

Make the cake mix according to package instructions, but, and here's the way to make it taste homemade and special. Sub the oil for melted butter and coconut milk for milk. This creates a richer and more delicious cake. Follow the instructions for 2 x 9" round cake pans.

Filling

1/8 of a cup seedless raspberry jam

Frosting

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

food colouring if wanted

Sprinkles for decoration

Frosting Directions

In a medium-size saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and stir constantly, cook until the mixture becomes very thick and begins to bubble, 10-15 minutes. Cover with waxed paper placed directly on the surface and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. 

In a large bowl, on medium high speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter for 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating continuously for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat well. 

Add the cooled milk mixture, and continue to beat on the medium high speed for 5 minutes, until very smooth and noticeably whiter in color. I added a few drops of red food colouring to get a pretty blush pink. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes, don't let it sit longer or it's hard to spread). Use immediately. (ps - omg, this frosting is SO good, healthy - hell no, delicious - yup)

Now for the fun part:

Slice a little off the top of the cakes, giving them a more flat surface. You shouldn't have to cut more off.

Place two pieces of parchment paper on a cake plate. You will be pulling these out from under the cake after frosting it, these just keep the cake plate clean.

Place one cake round on the parchment paper, bottom side up. Spread with raspberry jam and about a half cup of frosting, completely cover the top of the cake, right to the edges without going over.

Place the other cake round on top, with the bottom facing up. Place a crumb coat on the cake (thin layer of icing all over the cake, it will look messy and you'll be able to see the cake through the icing).

Put the cake in the fridge for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove from fridge and completely frost the cake. Decorate with sprinkles. Can be left out of the fridge for a few hours, or in the fridge overnight and then let it come to room temperature before serving.

* I had quite a bit of frosting left over, so you could half it if you want, or do what I did and pop it in the freezer and use it on a second cake the next weekend. 

Enjoy!!

Garlic Scape Pesto

It's garlic scape season, my most favourite of summer vegetables. The delicious curling flower shoot of the garlic plant are at their peak right now. We have garlic growing in our community garden plot and this afternoon I harvested eighteen scapes. I had completely forgotten to get them from our own garden and have bought them the past two weekends at farmer's markets.

We've been having them steamed in salads, but tonight I wanted to try something new.

Garlic Scape Pesto with Walnuts and Grilled Lemon

makes approx 2 cups of pesto

2 cups chopped garlic scapes, the top flower portion removed and any tough stalky bit at the bottom cut off

1 cup fresh arugula (optional)

1 cup toasted walnuts

1/2 cup grated hard cheese (I used asiago, but parmesan would be great too)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 water

1 tsp salt 

juice of a grilled lemon (you can use a plain lemon, but if you use a grilled one the flavour is sweeter and you'll get twice as much juice)

Steam the garlic scapes for a minute and a half and then rinse well with cold water. You can use raw scapes but the garlic flavour will be very strong.

Put everything into a food processor and blend well, you may need a little extra olive oil or water to thin it out a bit.

I froze half in a ziplock bag to save for later and will still have heaps for the next week or so.

We had ours with a mixed plate of grilled chicken, carrots (I LOVE grilled carrots!), peppers and lemon.

Also delicious on steamed potatoes, pasta, halloumi, on a sandwich . . . 

summer love.

We've had a perfect summer weekend. Strawberry picking out at Westham Island, farmer's market, wine with friends, back to the strawberry farms and then the Richmond Night Market. My nose is freckly and I'm happy!

Someone at our community garden gave me some rhubarb the other night and I whipped up a quick batch of compote to serve on greek yogurt. Here's the tasty recipe.

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote with Summer Thyme

4 cups chopped rhubarb

2 cups chopped strawberries

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup homemade vanilla sugar (if you don't have vanilla sugar, use regular sugar and a tsp of pure vanilla extract)

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

Put everything in a heavy bottom pot, bring to the boil, reduce heat and let simmer for about 6-8 minutes, stirring every few minutes or until rhubarb is nice and soft. Remove the thyme sprig and let cool a bit. Serve on greek yogurt or even better on ice cream (or so I've been told!).

Earnest Ice Cream

Earnest Ice Cream - hands down, the tastiest ice cream I've ever had. We went to the Canada Day Block Party at the Waldorf on East Hastings. Hannah had her first ever ice cream cone - maple walnut from Earnest Ice Cream. Chock full of toasted walnuts and maple syrup. It was dreamy.
Seeing people do something that they love doing is so inspiring, I'm still kind of wondering what I'm going to do when I grow up. I know it will be something with food, I just have to figure out what.

Go get some Earnest Ice Cream, you won't regret it (well, unless you're like me and your tummy aches after having dairy, but I swear, it was totally worth it for the 4 bites I had)!

Kohlrabi and Carrot Salad

After coming off the cleanse I've been really struggling with food. All I want are steamed veggies and juice, but I keep straying from that and ending up with a sore tummy. I'm going to go back to having juice for one meal a day. Kohlrabi is in season and this is a salad I've been eating all week!

Kohlrabi and Carrot Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

1 kohlrabi, peeled and chopped into 1" pieces (about 4 cups)

4 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1" pieces (about 1 cup)

1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

Lemon Vinaigrette

1/4 cup olive oil 

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tsp honey

1 shallot minced

juice from 2 lemons

zest from one lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Steam the kohlrabi and carrots until they are fork tender (about 4-5 minutes). Immerse in cold water and drain well.
In a blender combine all the vinaigrette ingredients and blend well.

Toss the kohlrabi, carrots, parsley and enough vinaigrette to coat.

Enjoy!

the cleanse

My insides are kind of broken.

I was diagnosed with several gastrointestinal issues in my early twenties. I had the faulty valve at the base of my esophagus repaired after two years of not keeping food down and not understanding why. I finally had a 24 hour PH test and they established that my valve wasn't working and I needed a Nissen fundoplication.

That fixed one problem, but all of my gastrointestinal system is a mess. I eat a fairly clean and wholesome diet, I eat a little red meat sometimes and I do love cheese, but I try to limit it. It hurts my tummy and never really feels worth it.

The past few months I've been feeling really unwell. My tummy is constantly sick, bloated and I live with chronic pain. I'm used to it, it's really not a big deal, but the past three weeks were more than I could stand.

After doing a little research, I decided to try a juice cleanse. I've done the Wild Rose Cleanse many times and love it, but I didn't want to take all the pills and drops this time around. I needed to start fresh.

Enter the Blueprint Cleanse. If I could afford it, I would order online and have it delivered to my door. I just can't justify the $271 (including $20 shipping) to have three days worth of juice delivered to me.

I did some research online and discovered that people had come up with a way to make the cleanse at home. I combined a few methods found here and here, bought my groceries at the market near my office and got started.

I have a juicer, I bought it at a garage sale for $20 a couple of years ago. It's not fancy, but it works great. I've read that you can make these drinks in the blender and then strain the liquid out using cheesecloth - sounds like a lot of work.

To prepare for the cleanse, I eliminated all dairy, gluten and meat for two days before as suggested here. I primarily ate steamed veggies and a little bit of fruit. I'll be doing the cleanse for three days.

Following the Blueprint cleanse program, this is the order I drank my juices in:

Green Juice

Pineapple Apple Mint

Green Juice

Spicy Lemonade

Beet/Apple/Carrot

Cashew Milk - dreamy, delicious cashew millk

Here's the recipes that I used. 

The Green Juice (makes enough for the 2 servings)

10 ribs of celery
1 cucumber
4 green apples
6 kale leaves
1 peeled lemon

2 handfuls of parsley
6 romaine leaves
2 handfuls of spinach
1 inch piece of ginger

Juice it! You want 32 ounces, so if you come up a bit short, add a bit more cucumber and apple. Split into 2 containers.

Pineapple Apple Mint
1/3 of a pineapple
2 green apples

small handful of mint (to taste, I love mint so I use quite a bit)

Juice it! You want 16 ounces, if you come up a bit short, add a bit more apple.

Spicy Lemonade14 ounces of filtered water 
1 peeled lemon through the juicer
a few dashes of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp of agave nectar

Mix together. Don't add too much cayenne, I did the first time, ugh.

Beet/Apple/Carrot

1 apple
2 beets with the greens
4 large carrots
1 tbsp ginger
1 peeled lemon
Juice it, again, you want 16 ounces, if you come up short, add more apple and carrot.

Cashew Milk
The best part of the day.
1 cup raw cashews
16 ounces filtered water
1 tbsp agave
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1" piece of vanilla pod of 1 tsp of vanilla extract
Soak the cashews in water over night, just enough water to cover them. In the morning rinse them off and dump into the blender with the other ingredients. Blend until smooth and put it in the fridge to enjoy at night.

From my research on the cleanse, you'll want to start the day off with a glass of hot water with a little lemon in it. Try to space your juices out, about 2 hours apart. It's recommended that you drink 14 ounces of water between your juices. I did what I could, but was too full. Have your cashew milk 2 hours before bed.

I've finished my first day and it's been really easy. I am a little bit more tired than usual. I was expecting to be more hungry, but as soon as the hunger pangs hit me it was time for another juice.

happy anniversary!

Six years married, thirteen together. Through sickness and health - I love you more every day. 

Thank you for our life together and for our Hannah.

Yaki Onigiri

We had a quiet Sunday night, snuggled in on the couch with a friend to watch Game of Thrones, only to discover that our PVR hates us and had decided not to record the show. It was all good though, we watched tv, hung out on Pinterest, checked out the Ikea PS collection for 2012 and fell in love with a few things. Best part of all was the dinner. We had homemade Yaki Onigiri, sesame green beans and sesame corn on the cob.

I'd never made Yaki Onigiri before and somehow thought it would be complicated. It isn't, and it's delicious! Japanese sushi rice, cooked, plain or seasoned and the formed into balls, squares, triangles and pan fried until the outsides are crispy and the insides stay creamy.

Yaki Onigiri 

Makes 6-8 onigiri
1 cup uncooked sushi rice
1 1/4 cup water
oil
 
Optional fixings:  shibazuke (japanese pickles), soy sauce, furikake rice seasoning. sesame seeds, finely chopped toasted nori, sea salt
Serve with: soy sauce and optional: shibazuke (japanese pickles), sea asparagus

Rice cooker instructions:
Put rice and water in a rice cooker, turn it on. Once it's cooked, remove lid and let sit without stirring for 5 minutes to let it cool.
Stovetop instructions: 
Put water and rice in a heavy bottomed pot, bring to boil, turn to medium low and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

Once your rice is cooked and slightly cooled, you can start forming the onigiri. I find that if you let the rice cool too much, or stir it, it tends to fall apart when you shape the balls.
Have a bowl of water ready so that you can really wet your hands, that way the rice won't stick.

To make a plain onigiri.
Take a little handful of rice in your wet hands, about 3 tbsp. Form it into a triangle or oval. If you're lucky enough to have an onigiri shaper, or a cookie cutter that would work - use that, I didn't. Once you have it formed, put it on a plate until you're ready to cook them all.
To make a shibazuke stuffed onigiri:
Take a little handful of rice in your wet hands, about 3 tbsp. Form it into a triangle or oval and push a few shibakuke, into the middle and form the rice to hide the pickles .  Once you have it formed, put it on a plate until you're ready to cook them all.
To make a seasoned onigiri:
Mix a few tbsp of furikake in to the cooked rice. If you don't have furikake you can mix the rice with sesame seeds, nori and salt. Form it into a triangle or oval. Once you have it formed, put it on a plate until you're ready to cook them all.

Grill the onigiri in a lightly oiled medium-low pan until all the sides form a golden crispy crust. Brush all sides with soy sauce and re-fry quickly. Serve with soy and enjoy!

Zaru Soba at home

We've had a long week. Hannah has been really, really sick with gastroenteritis. We had two trips to emergency with a listless, dehydrated little girl. After five days, she's nowhere near all better, but very slowly on the mend.

I needed a little break today and went out and ran some errands and stopped by Fujiya, a Japanese grocery store and picked up some treats. I wanted a tasty and light dinner and Zaru Soba is one of Matt's favourite foods. This might not be the most authentic way to make it, but it's really delicious, light and refreshing for warm days. These ingredients are all available at most regular grocery stores if you don't have a Japanese grocery nearby.

 Zaru Soba

 serves 2-3 people

200 gms of soba noodles (1/2 a standard package)

4 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely grated daikon radish

wasabi, about 1 tsp prepared (I use the powdered wasabi and add water)

a corner of a sheet of nori, cut into little strips with scissors (optional)

toasted sesame seeds (optional)
 

Dipping Sauce

1 cup dashi stock (you can make your own, I use this recipe or use premade) 

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 tbsp mirin

1 tsp sugar

Cook noodles in boiling water, they can turn mushy fast, so try to catch them while they are still a little al dente. Drain the noodles and run under cold water, rinsing completely. Throw them back in the pot with cold water and a handful of ice cubes.

Mix the sauce ingredients together and split it up between a few bowls (how many people are eating). Put the grated daikon and green onion in to bowls.

Drain the noodles, plate them, sprinkle with nori and it's dinner time!

Each person can mix a little wasabi, daikon, green onion and sesame seeds in with their dipping sauce and then with chopsticks take some noodles and swish the noodles through the dipping sauce and eat! nom nom nom.

We had ours with some steamed green beans tossed with a tiny bit of olive oil, herb salt and sesame seeds and some shibazuke (japanese pickles) on the side.

cookies!

When we were on Saturna we picked up some cookies from the island bakery. I really like the peanut butter cookies, they are made with spelt and aren't too sweet. Matt's brother on the other hand, thought they would be better with more peanut butter and sugar. I'm telling you this just to give you a head's up that I don't love super sweet cookies. There are a few recipes kicking around pinterest for cookies using banana as a base. I followed their lead and added coconut, cinnamon, sesame seeds, raisins and honey - delicious!

Healthy Banana Coconut Cookies

3 ripe bananas

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cups old-fashioned oats

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup raisins

3 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp honey

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mash bananas in a large bowl, and add all the other ingredients. Scoop with a 1 tbsp ice cream/ cookie scoop or drop tbsp fulls on to a ungreased cookie sheet. teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes.

Enjoy!

We're back from a five day vacation on Saturna Island. We had one day on our own, one day with Matt's sister's family and then 3 days with Matt's entire family. 4 kids, 4 significant others, 4 grandkids. It was a special time to spend together and nice to share Saturna with his family.

I brought a few jars of the pickles that I had made earlier in the week. These are so easy, very delicious and as they are made to be eaten quickly - they require no complicated canning steps. 

We ate them with a picnic plate with grilled halloumi, cucumber, spinach and arugula, cilantro yogurt sauce, smoked beef tenderloin and smoked kippers with green onion and lime.

Also tasty with a grilled cheese according to Hannah, or straight out of the jar according to Matt.

Pickled Vegetables

Recipe from Use Real Butter

1 long english cucumber, seeded and julienned
1 medium size daikon, peeled and julienned
8 carrots, peeled and julienned
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tbsps + 2 tsps sugar
1 cup water

Make sure the vegetables are fairly dry (pat them dry) so they don’t dilute the pickling liquid with excess water. Combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, and water together until the sugar dissolves. Place the vegetables in a jar large enough to fit them all and pour the pickling liquid into the jar so that all of the vegetables are submerged. Store them sealed in the jar in the refrigerator for 5 days for best flavor.