Frog Ranch Peppered Pickles - Zesty Bread & Butter

Homemade. That sums up these little babies. Decent-sized chunks of cucumber, along with real slices of onion (no minced nonsense), mustard seeds and the works make these look and taste like something your grandmother might have made years ago. But wait! There's more! Frog Ranch has done the wonderful and spiked granny's bread'n'butter pickles with slices of jalepeno pepper, to give these crunchy, not-too-sweet BNB's a little warmth.

I found these by-surprise at Kroger for a very reasonable $3.49. I'd tried Frog Ranch's salsa and found it to be excellent, so trying a jar of their pickles was a pretty safe bet.

I like Kroger's Premium Select brand hot-sweet BNB's, but I think Frog Ranch just topped 'em. I really like the thick chunks of pickle...no whimpy slices to get soggy. The heat level is very mild, but enough so that you still notice. The slices of onion look like onion should, not minced pieces that have somehow lost their character. The onion tastes as yummy as the pickles do, too! Finally, the sweetness isn't sickly sweet--something the Vlasic's new zesty BNB's and Premium Select can't seem to get quite right. Frog Ranch manages to balance the vinegar and sweet flavors so that you're faced with the combination, not one or the other.

Frog Ranch has hit a home run with these, and in my pickle journey, they really are the best of breed! Enjoy!