… blurry photos of home-cooking experiments.

On the left are quick-pickled radishes: two tablespoons salt, one tbsp sugar, some “pickling spice” from Stanley’s, which is a little heavy on the coriander, and two weeks worth of Vera’s radishes. Put all in jar; cover with water. Cap, shake, and chill.

On the right is green garlic pesto. Puree handful of garlic scapes (also courtesy Vera), a smidge of leftover parsley, and the sad, limp remains of one drowned basil plant in Cuisinart. Add olive oil and pine nuts till a nice thick paste. I suppose you could toss with pasta, but I’ve just been making impromptu garlic bread by spreading it on toast. Delicious — if pungent.

Both of these were ridiculously easy, though the pesto was more a solid win than the radishes, which are a little watery. I’ve been making pickles for several years — mostly wild-fermented, but some vinegar — but my efforts are still scattershot, thanks to my chronic laziness and impatience.

So today, seized by the urge for self-improvement (and wracked with watery-radish disappointment) I ordered a copy of Eugenia Bone’s new Well-Preserved. By the end of the summer I shall be a master canner.

It’s far more reasonable than last summer’s goal.