Pictures and pickles...

One of the great things about Jen coming into town is that we get dressed up and go places. And that means that we can update our pictures.

Together and separately.

And in the course of our adventures, I get to see people in town that I rarely see. Among them is Jen's (and my) friend Eric. Despite the fact that Eric and I both live in Tucson and live almost in the same neighborhood, we mainly see eachother when Jen is in town. Eric has decided that if we are to see each other more often, Jen needs to visit more often... He says she's keeping us apart! :) I like his logic.

In addition to being logical - and witty and handsome - Eric also plans the most unsual spur of the moment parties. Last weekend he threw a "Pickling Party." As he explained it, people should show up with pickling supplies, we could pickle things and then take them home. Jen and I were a bit dubious ("so by pickling supplies you mean... what exactly?") but we had a selection of hors d'oeuvres- cheese, wine, crackers, fruit - at my house so we decided that would be our "pickling party" contribution.

So we went to Eric's house and pickled... eggs, actually. His grandmother is from the old country and used to serve pickled eggs at family gatherings so he got the recipe from her. He said the first time he tried it he made a couple dozen and tried to give some away but people didn't seem to want them. He said he found this surprising (isn't he the cutest??). So he was hoping to make some converts amongst his friends, namely us.

There were several people in attendance, causing Jen to comment "not only is Eric the only person I know who thinks pickled eggs make a good party theme, he's also the only person I know whose friends would show up to such a party!" It was fun too. We had several discussions about the type of music appropriate to accompany pickling and started with music that had food themes (Guns and Roses Appetite for Destruction, anyone?), then decided that pickling music had to have some pep to it so we settled on 80's music (Eurthymics) and then dance/trance/club music for some inexplicable reason. Well, everything's sort of inexplicable when you try to score a pickling party.

So what's involved in pickling eggs, you ask (or maybe you don't but I'm going to tell you anyway). Well, hardboiled eggs and then anything else you want to throw into a jar with them, all covered with vinegar. Below, an assortment of pickling acoutrements, if you will:

Layer everything above in a pleasing manner with the eggs to create (presumably) edible art. I haven't tried them yet...

And then you line the photogenic jars in front of a light source and take pleasing pictures that seem to imply some kind of alien spacecraft just out of frame.


Including some egg and hairy lamp still lifes - sort of Cezanne by way of Oppenheim.

The happy picklers!

P.S. The dress I'm wearing above is A. much cuter in real life and B. causing me to look pregnant, which I'm not. I'm just saying...