When I think of food being pickled, the first image that pops in my mind is, well, pickles. You know the sour cucumbers in the Vlasic jar?

“Ew, what in the world is this?” I asked somewhat loudly as I was cleaning out the back of the cabinets one day. It was a jar of pickled peppers (they were not purple either). Now I knew grandma grew up during the ice age but I figured she had done away with older methods of food preservation. “I forgot I had that jar in there Callie” she said while looking at the jar as if she was gazing back into her childhood.

Unlike today, the refrigerator was not in every kitchen or even the same size. Grandma told me that they had a small refrigerator, often referred to as an icebox. On top, they stored treats like ice cream or food to be eaten later. “Plus our Daddy and Pa-pa were farmers so there was some frozen vegetables up there.” But where did the other stuff go that couldn’t fit into the icebox? In a can! Peppers, green beans, tomatoes, peas, and, shoot, even pickles themselves went there. They had to do that for a while until their Mama, Grandma Cindy, got around to getting a bigger frig. Once more and more refrigerators started popping up, the less canning was done. “I know a few people who still can their food but not like they used to”.

Callie Cannady
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_Callie-Cannady-3.jpgCallie Cannady

By Callie Cannady

Early College intern