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Blogs / yum! / Summer 2010 / Cucumbers

yum!

A blog about food

Cucumbers

A couple of months ago, I got the call every foodie loves to get. My boyfriend’s mother was starting her garden and she offered to seed and grow anything I wanted. Um. WOW. Coolest phone call ever. I requested beets, zucchini, anything else she planted, and pickles. She makes the best pickles.
 

As for me, as much as I love to cook—I do not know how to can. So Mrs. Ann’s homemade pickles are such a treat. I bypass the cucumber stage (I am not a big fan,) and dive right into the yumminess that is dill and sweet pickles. I snack on pickles constantly and keep a store-bought jar so I don’t have to share. This year the crop of cucs did VERY well and I have a plethora of fresh cucumbers to deal with. And did I mention, I do not know how to can? Check out this recipe I have around for just the overload I am dealing with . . . I keep it in the fridge for snacks on crackers or to liven up my lunch wraps!
 

Cucumber-Mango Salsa

• 3 mangos, peeled, seeded and diced

• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

• 2 hot peppers (use whatever you have!), seeded and chopped

• 1 large red onion, diced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

• 1 tablespoon lime juice, or to taste

• 1 teaspoon of honey

• zest of one or two limes

• salt and pepper to taste

Stir together the mango, cucumber, jalapeno pepper, onion, garlic, and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Season with lime juice, honey, salt, and pepper, and lime zest. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

And this useful info was sent to me via email:

Things to do with the cucumber
 

—Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower?  Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.
 
—Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds?  Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long.  The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.  
  
—Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache?  Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free.  Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!
 
—Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes?  Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.
  
—Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints?  Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.