merryb wrote:
> So, last fall my mom got a wild hair and decided she wanted to do
> olives. We did them again this year, and I now have 2+ gallons of
> olives in the fridge. She ordered fresh olives from a place in N Cal.
> They all needed to be smashed with a wood mallet prior to brining. This
> was achieved by having an olive smashing party, basically a pot luck
> and wine! She had gotten all people interested in the process to help,
> as it is time consuming. We had 7 or 8 5 gallon buckets for the smashed
> olives. You are suppossed to whack them only once as to not bruise
> them. Whack and put in bucket. When they are all smashed (the olives,
> not the whackers), you make a brine of heavily salted water, and cover
> the olives. This needs to be changed every day for 2 weeks, and then
> every other day until they are done, 30-45 days. When they are to
> taste, they are again covered in a weaker brine, and refridgerated
> until needed. When you want to eat some, take out the desired amount,
> rinse, and cover with olive oil and seasonings-garlic, oregano, crushed
> red pepper, etc. Martini, anyone?

My MIL tried this once, several years ago. She had them lined up, in
large jars, all around the kitchen counters. But the thing that put me
off was the lye she used to preserve them (she had gotten the recipe
from somewhere, the Library maybe?) I was afraid to eat them. You
mention the seasonings as a last minute thing "When you want to eat
some---". Didn't they have to season for a while in the garlic,
oregano, etc.?? I hope yours are a great success.
Let us know.
Cheers, Nancree
..