Q I remember my grandmother making something she called "icebox pickles." Sweet and thinly sliced is what I recall. Just thinking about them brings back a flock of childhood memories of her farm and garden. Do you have any idea how to make them? My little cucumbers are coming in like gangbusters.
SENTIMENTAL in Indiana
A I am nuts for sweet pickles, especially what you are describing. My friend and fellow cooking teacher, Lois Lee, showed me how to make her mother's delicious icebox pickles. Over the years in our kitchen, our own predilections have morphed the recipe slightly, but its spirit is still intact. While not your grandmother's recipe, it should give you a head start toward duplicating it.
To devein or not to devein ...
Q I love shrimp, but I hate the picky process of deveining them. Peeling is slow enough. Is it really necessary to devein them, too?
SHORT on patience
A This is a case of picking what you are picky about. Deveining is tedious, and it is not strictly necessary to remove the vein for health reasons, but here is the whole story.
The so-called "vein" isn't really a vein, at least not in the human sense. It is the shrimp's digestive tract, also called the sand vein. The amounts of sand and other materials are minor enough, particularly in smaller shrimp, to not cause problems for humans. However, in larger shrimp, leaving in the sand veins can create a gritty texture -- not necessarily pleasant when you know what's causing it. Decide what works for you. For me, it's devein big shrimp and let the small fry remain intact.
