Perfectly Practical #209 - Extra Pickling Liquid

'Tis the season for making pickles.

I've found that no matter how closely I've followed the recipe, I almost always need more pickling liquid.

I think my motto in life is I'd rather have too much than not enough...that could be why my cookbook collection is out of control.

With that in mind, I have taken to making more pickling liquid than I think I need.  Sometimes it works out as just enough and other times, I have some leftover.  My other motto in life is that nothing is wasted; pickling liquid is no exception.

It doesn't matter if it is sweet or savory liquid.  I repurpose them both.

You could use it to make:

• Salad dressings - Pour some oil in a jar, add a little pickling liquid, put the lid on the jar and give it a good shake.  If the extra pickling liquid is from making sweet pickles, you could add some poppy seeds and pour over fruit salad and if it was from savory pickles, you could add a dab of Dijon mustard and use over vegetable salads.
• Marinades - Again, add some oil to the pickling liquid in a jar and give it a good shake.  You could add a few fresh herbs or chilies before pouring over meat.
• Shrubs - You could make a shrub using sweet pickling syrup.  A shrub is a vinegary simple syrup that is added to drinks; they can be alcoholic or non-alcoholic.  
• Further pickling - I make my pickled peaches by cooking them in the leftover sweet pickle syrup.  

Since I am constantly making pickles all summer long, I keep the jars of pickling liquid in the fridge to add to the next batch of pickles to make sure I have enough.

This is part of WFMW.