Grandma Gesell's 14-day Sweet Pickles

These 14-day sweet pickles are by far the most unusual pickles I've ever had. My grandparents spent years perfecting the recipe, even risking personal injury carrying hot pots of brine to the root cellar in their basement where the half-dozen pickle crocks were located.

The taste is the perfect blend of sweet and vinegar, and when properly made and covered (not easily done), a perfect crunch. Celery seed, cassia buds and the signature almost-black dark green color are the visible cues that something different is in the jar. The process to make these delectable little goodies involves doing one step of preparation each day for 14 days, only a portion of which are with the full brine. The brine is double-sugared, so after they've been properly salt-brined, then sugar-brined, they get an extra jolt by boiling the brine down to concentrate it, increasing the sweet and sour qualities.

The cassia buds provide the most unique flavor, as its almost cinnamon, but not quite. They're somewhat exotic and hard to find, but you can get them on the internet and I believe they originate from southeast Asia. I have little doubt that they were introduced to the pickle recipe by my uncle Bob, who spent a number of years teaching math in Okinawa, as well as travelling to primitive and exotic parts of Asia and Africa, always bringing back local art and other things to bring his trip home to family in Monroe, MI.

This is a positively lousy "review" because I can't adequately describe the flavors in these pickles. Its been years since my grandmother passed, and a few years have gone by since my Mom has even made them, so the flavors are all from memory. But, I thought it would be a fitting pickle to start off in this blog.

-Jeff. :)