If someone had told me a few months ago that I would be writing about the awesomeness of pickles…I would have called them crazy.  I mean, what kind of loon writes about pickles?  A pickle freak?  This weekend we went up to my inlaw’s lodge for a little R&R.  Much needed I can say that.  It was wonderful as always with an added twist.  Pickles my friends.  Yes, pickles.  Not just any pickles.  Sweet candied pickles with just enough heat to make them interesting.  Like me.  ha ha ha!!  Apparently all friends and family and lodgers know about these pickles except me.  Not sure what the deal was or if I have been purposely left out of the pickle loop (I am looking at you Debby!!  :)) or maybe because in the past I was pregnant so much I ignored pickles for everyone’s sake??  I really don’t know.  What matters is that I know now.  And they have been coined Cajun Mama’s Candied Pickles.  And a star is born.  I thought about keeping this recipe to myself.  But my sweet mother in law was so kind to share with me and I know the right thing is to share with my friends.  Now this recipe makes a huge batch of pickles but remember my mother in law runs a lodge and part of that is cooking meals and she serves these bad boys with supper every night.  I made the big batch recipe because I plan on sending samples to different friends just to get feedback.  And to get people hooked.  Mwahhahahahaha! (that’s my evil laugh if you don’t know).  I am sure you can cut the recipe in half if you want to, but truthfully the pickles last for a long time in the fridge so just make the whole batch.  Trust me, these pickles will be your new addiction.  We had them last night with our chicken and dumplings, purple hulls and cornbread.  Went just fine believe me.  

Cajun Mama’s Candied Pickles

Ingredients

1 gallon jug of hamburger slices (pickles)

6 tsp. garlic powder with parsley flakes

6 ounces of Louisiana hot sauce

4 pounds of sugar (yes, 4 pounds. Hence the name candied…)

Directions

Drain the pickles in a big colander.  No need to save the juice, but you do need to save the jar.  In a huge bowl, add your sugar (all 4 pounds…go on.  Just do it.  Yes, its so bad but so good), hot sauce,  and garlic powder.  My mother in law (aka Deb as I will refer to her from here on out) said to just stir it all up by hand.  I will warn you that it gets very sticky.  Push through this.  Just get it the sugar mixture mixed up a little.  Add in some pickles and  then mix by hand.  Add more pickles and continue to mix by hand until all of the pickles are mixed in.  Get those pickles in that juice friends.  Try to not lick your hands…but you will want to.  The juice is addictive.  

Now what I did was just cover my big silver bowl well with saran wrap and store them in our outside fridge over night.  I had a rough evening last night and ended up being kind of bossy to Big Daddy and made him stir the pickles a few times in the evening. Then this morning, I transferred the pickles and that yummy juice back to the big jar.  

 Ok, ok…truth…I was more than a little bossy.  I would have given Hitler a run for his money.  As a Cajun MAMA side note let me give ya’ll a good piece of advice.  Don’t try to do it all.  You can not be it all to everyone.  You cannot push yourself until there is no more.  I mean you can, but you will eventually be setting yourself up for disaster.  As a stay at home mom, you would think I would have plenty of time to get everything done…you would be wrong.  As moms and dads, there is only so much of us to go around.  Heck as friends, daughters, sons, cousins, siblings…whatever your role…there is only so much of you to go around.  I know better and still yesterday I fell prey to the “just a little more”  mentally.  Everyone in my household lost with me in that state of mind.  I never sat down, did not enjoy my family, turned into a screaming frustrated banshee by 6 p.m. and was just in general ticked off.  That is no way to live.  Sure, life with kids, 4 kids, however many you have, 2 dogs and a cat and a husband…homework, suppertime, bath time (aka the Shamu halftime show in our house…geez Louise they make a mess), life is chaotic and overwhelming.  But when I try to throw in a bunch of extra stuff…I start to backslide.  Maybe it is just me.  I don’t know.  I just know that I should have just left it at making supper and making pickles.  The pickles turned out fabulous.  I am eating some as I type.  These computer keys are getting sticky.  🙂

Love these pickles!!!!