Peperoncini refrigerator pickles (testing Pinterest).

I apologize for my lack of posts last week. My mom and step-dad came out to visit from NY and we were far too busy to spend much time on our computers. However, I do have a few awesome recipes that I can't wait to share with y'all from when they were here (lemon cream pie, and cheesy coins). First, though, I want to show you this super simple tip that I came across on Pinterest. The original pin called for adding onion and vinegar too, but I wanted to see if I could make it even simpler (although I bet the pickled onions come out delicious too).

I love peperoncinis, but I always hate throwing out the jar of pickling liquid at the end. It's so full of flavor, I just knew there had to be something yummy that I could do with it. I wanted something quick and easy (there are some amazing looking beef crock pot recipes out there that use pepperoncini juice too, and I will have to try them sometime). When I came across the idea of simply slicing cucumbers and putting them into the jar to make refrigerator pickles I was delighted. Three days later, when took my first taste, I was over the moon. I really had to restrain myself from eating the whole jar right then and there. They are crispy and tender, and the flavor has that perfect spicy and vinegary balance of a peperoncini, but a little bit milder. I'll never throw my peperoncini juice away again!

 

Peperoncini Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients
1 jar of peperoncini juice (mine was about half full after the peppers were gone)
1 cucumber

Instructions
1) Slice the cucumber into thin rounds.

2) Put the rounds into the jar; fill the jar almost completely with cucumber, but leave a little space so they can move.

3) Let marinate in the fridge for several days, shaking occasionally.

I link up to these parties.

Grilled cheese fail (testing Pinterest).

I'm sure you've all seen some variation of the above image on Pinterest or elsewhere online by now. It's always captioned with something along the lines of, "Turn your toaster on its side to make easy grilled cheese!" Now, I saw this, and thought, "wow, genius! Why didn't I ever think of that?"It looks so simple. The only drawback I noticed at first was that there was no excuse to use copious amounts of butter like I do when I fry my grilled cheese (and I suppose that could be thought of as a good thing, it's just that I sort of have a love affair with butter).

Crockpot dulce de leche (testing Pinterest).

I've seen so many versions of this slow cooker Dulce de Leche on Pinterest, and I finally had to give it a try. I actually made this a few months ago (it just took me a really long time to get around to editing the photos), and I as I sit writing this post I'm wishing I had some to indulge in right now (there would be a can of condensed milk in my crock pot right now, if it wasn't already full of beef). 

Removing jar labels (testing Pinterest).

If you're anything like me, you have about a gazillion things pinned that you want to try out "someday." Well, last week I decided that "someday" had finally come for a few of those pins. The first one I tested was this pin from Don't Waste the Crumbs on removing stubborn jar labels.

Jars make simple and sweet vases when they are all cleaned up.