Shirley’s Dill Pickles: A Recipe and Story Courtesy of the Bungalow Chef

A real gift should be special, with deep meaning and thought behind it. I got one this past holiday season from my cousin Carol, along with her special, “holiday-maker gift.” As I went to calling and dropping off the ceremonial platter of “Pecan Crescents” as a Christmas treat (a recipe that dates from the 1890s in the family) Carol had a bag with yards of tissue paper and my name on it.

As she handed me the bag, she looked me in the eye and said: “Be very careful. Don’t leave this in the car overnight.” About 6 o’clock that evening I remembered her words and recalled that I had left the package in my car–in the cold Chicago winter weather. I dodged a few snow drifts and made the pilgrimage to the garage with the package.

As I carried it to the house, I hear clink, clink, clink, all while thinking I might be damaging a precious antique. Well I was wrong. I had to double take. There, buried in the tissue paper were jars of dill pickles, but not just any dill pickle. The labels read, “Shirley’s Garlic Dill Pickles.” And I remember my mother Shirley with her handiness as the home canner in the summer months. As I held the jars closer, I remembered myself as a child my mother’s kitchen: that mid-century concept of a Colonial Kitchen–maple cabinets and aqua walls and “first time around” stainless kitchen appliances. Yes, very 1959. Oddly enough, this kitchen lies only a block west of where I live today.

“Pickle time” was a big deal. My mom put me to work scrubbing pickles in the bathtub, harvesting and cleaning the dill, and, one job that I think set me on my own “culinary magic carpet ride”–cleaning the garlic.

My mother was from the old-school and full of smarts. One hot summer day I remember the brine boiling away and the water baths percolating on the General Electric stove-top. But then, a massive summer storm hit and we lost our power. My mother—without a blink, fired up the gas grill to continue the canning process. Now, that’s ingenuity.

Thank you, Cousin Carol, for the pickles, and the memories!

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Wilted Kale Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing, from the Bungalow Chef

Warming and full of flavor, this savory dressing served hot on your favorite winter greens is a classic, yet still in-line with today’s food trends. Always source local if possible.

As a child, growing up in a midcentury home just down the street from where I live today, I remember fondly my father Lou Mech–“Mr. Blue Island”–teaching me the methods of gardening with a master’s vision.

Dad showed me how to till the soil. He introduced me to the Burpee Seed Catalog. He demonstrated how a gardener can use an old kite string to dowel pins to make sure the furrows for seeding were straight. Sourcing the old Better Homes and Garden master-gardener book for ideas, and confirming the planting cycles, Dad explained how anyone could acquire a “green thumb.”

Besides the onion sets and radishes, “greens” were an exciting planting for me due to the quick sprouting and different varieties, tastes and colors. From spinach, to kale, endive, and collard greens, each seed claimed its own row. Eventually, each would find honored recipes at our family table. The “greens” we always called a “plus-two planting,” due to a second planting late in the fall that gave us a second helping of the gardening season.

Thanks, Dad, for the gift of gardening you passed on to me.

Kale is easy to grow, and so nutritious!

Click on the next page to view a recipe that features one of our favorite garden greens.

Wilted Kale Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing, Fingerling Potatoes and Fried Egg

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