Pickles

Pickle Packers International, the major trade association for the pickle industry, reports: Americans eat about 9 pounds of pickles per person per year - nearly double the amount consumed 25 years ago. There are 36 basic varieties of pickles. A good pickle has an audible crunch at 10 paces. America's pickle favorites, in order of preference, are dill pickles, sweet pickles, pickle relish, bread and butter pickles and pickled peppers. Americans prefer pickles with "warts," whereas Europeans are partial to smooth pickles.

STEVE THE PICKLEMAN Full name: Steve Slutsky. Age: Old enough to vote. Lives: Mayfair. Family: "Happily divorced. " Son, Aaron, 18; daughter, Michelle, 19. Day life: Like the old-fashioned horse-and-wagon milkman, Steve delivers his own line of Zayda's pickled products. Philly favorites include secret-recipe hot horseradish, kosher pickles, and pickled spiced tomatoes. Night life: Steve's a stand-up comedian who performs at area clubs, taverns, and fraternal halls.

For Peter Prewandowski, a teacher at Moorestown Friends School, Valentine's Day means puckering up - to pickles. For the last five years, Prewandowski, who teaches third grade, has sponsored a pickle fest as an alternative to the sometimes overly sweet sentimentality of the holiday. "It started as an alternative to an ice-cream sundae party," Prewandowski said of the festivities held in his classroom last week. The event is similar to a wine-tasting, with crackers used as palate cleansers.

Claire Borits waved the magic pickle before them. Children and parents alike were mesmerized as Borits assumed the roles of a wizard, a fairy and a magic chicken at the Elkins Park Free Library. The children's naturally curious nature was aroused - to the delight of their parents. Clearly, despite the proliferation of television shows for kids and the distractions of electronic toys, the ancient art of in-person storytelling is not dead. Borits is among a legion of librarians in eastern Montgomerty County who offer an opportunity for parents and their children to share nights out together enjoying some good, old-fashioned entertainment.

Pickling adds to the very atmosphere of summertime. Early-morning forays into the dew-wet garden to gather fresh vegetables; the kitchen exuding sharp gusts of vinegar and pickling spices; dark earthenware jars standing on counter tops, shrouded in white muslin, and sparkling-clean canning jars turned upside down in readiness beside the kitchen sink. My mother was an inspired and indefatigable pickler. Anything might end up in a pickle: watermelon rind, zucchini, green tomatoes, quinces, green beans, okra, clingstone peaches, bell peppers, pumpkin, tiny ears of immature corn, green walnuts, and, of course, cucumbers.

Some might call it scraping the bottom of the barrel. The owners of Broad Street's only candy shop call it a treat with a twist. Bill and Carol Andersen - who call their candy store The Nut Shop - did reach into a barrel to concoct their latest confection. A pickle barrel, that is. Back by popular demand, or so the zany couple said, is the shop's summertime special. Chocolate-covered pickles. "Like Gypsy Rose Lee, we needed a gimmick," Bill Andersen said, with a wink.

On a pleasant summer evening, Rebecca Harclerode, a Spanish and English teacher who lives in South Philadelphia, opens her white Frigidaire. She's looking at jars of condiments, jam and pickled vegetables that fill the door shelves, trying to figure when each first arrived in the fridge. Bread and butter pickles? A couple of months ago. Judy's Tropical Inferno chutney? About three weeks ago. Spicy pickled garlic? About a year ago. Yellow mustard? "That's a good question," she says, staring at the plastic bottle.

Now here's a pickle an advertising agency could find itself in: trying to come up with something, anything, new and interesting in an automobile advertisement. Think about it. Car on curvy, wet road. Car with curvy lady. Car on top of giant rock formation in Utah. Car with cute kids. Car with silly dog. Hot car with G.I. Joe picking up Barbie. OK, that was different. But what's left? How about inviting the Vlasic Pickle stork into a print advertisement for a completely unrelated product - the Chevrolet Cavalier?

Arthur's, the last of Philadelphia's original steak houses, closed its doors after dinner Friday. Reached yesterday at the Center City restaurant, co-owner Shirley Kahn said plans were "uncertain. " The restaurant's attorney, Alan Liss, added: "A couple of plans are in the fire, but we're not at liberty to divulge them now. " Neither Kahn nor Liss would comment on reasons for the closing. Arthur's Steak House, at 1512 Walnut St., was founded in 1932 by Arthur Effron, and after Effron's death, in 1964, was run by his son, Eugene, and daughter, Shirley Kahn.

CANNING ISN'T just for grandma anymore. Long associated with life on the farm, preserving, or "putting up" tomatoes, peach jam and dill pickles, was as foreign to city folk as mowing the back 40 and milking the cows. Unless your family had some kind of connection to the land, the notion of canning just never came up. Times have changed. Thanks to a foodie zeitgeist stoked by creative chefs, urban farmers and a crackerjack blogging community, canning is all the rage. From her apartment on the 20th floor of a Center City high-rise, Marisa McClellan is one of the bloggers leading the charge.

For the pickled mushrooms: 2 quart containers of honshimeji mushrooms; a mix of brown and white is preferred 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 head of garlic, top trimmed 3 branches thyme 1 tablespoon coriander, crushed 1 tablespoon black pepper 1 quart mushroom or vegetable stock (store-bought stock is fine) 1/4 cup sherry vinegar For the onion puree: 2 large onions, peeled, diced fine 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup milk To finish: 1 bunch pencil asparagus, cut into one-inch pieces 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons shallots, chopped 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon or chives 1. Quickly blanch the mushrooms in boiling, salted water for a minute.

For the pickled squash: 1 cup butternut squash, diced small 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1 cup light brown sugar ½ cup water 3 whole cloves 5 allspice berries 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon black peppercorns For the sauce: ½ cup onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, crushed ½ cup carrot, diced 2 cups maitake mushrooms and trimmed pieces 2...

Many restaurants take a year or more to open. "Or more" amply covers the long flight of the Pickled Heron in Fishtown, which opened last week. I first spoke with Todd Braley and Daniela D'Ambrosio in August 2008 as they charted plans for the French-inspired BYOB with the punny name at 2218 Frankford Ave. (215-634-5666). And then? "Life intervened," says Braley. That is, family situations and innumerable delays and snags. He and D'Ambrosio met nearly seven years ago as line chefs at the Ritz-Carlton.

Herring is hip and it's high-end. Long a favorite of Jewish grandfathers, herring is showing up on the menus of hip and elegant New York restaurants. Laurent Manrique serves lightly smoked herring, imported from France, with boiled potatoes at Millesime, his French bistro in Manhattan. "Surprisingly, smoked herring and quenelles de brochet are our two most popular appetizers," he said. Herring with wasabi and yuzu kosho paste is one of the haute Jewish dishes at Kutsher's Tribeca.

Whether eating at a bar in Fishtown or sharing small plates near Rittenhouse Square, you've no doubt come across the latest menu buzzword: pickled. Chefs around town seem to be pickling anything they can get their hands on. Everything, that is, except the traditional cucumber. From curried pickled carrots at Fork to pickled green tomatoes at Percy Street Barbecue, seasonal and baby vegetables, fruit, even pickled shellfish are featured as stand-alone menu items or incorporated into dishes at countless eateries.

4 cups apricot puree (pit apricots and puree in blender or food processor until fairly smooth) 4 cups blackberry pulp 4 1/2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 lemon, zested and juiced 2 packets liquid pectin (one box) In a large, nonreactive pot (stainless steel or enameled cast iron), combine the apricot puree, blackberry pulp and sugar and bring to a simmer. Let the mixture reach a boil, stirring frequently to prevent it from boiling over. Add cinnamon and lemon zest/juice and stir to combine.

CANNING ISN'T just for grandma anymore. Long associated with life on the farm, preserving, or "putting up" tomatoes, peach jam and dill pickles, was as foreign to city folk as mowing the back 40 and milking the cows. Unless your family had some kind of connection to the land, the notion of canning just never came up. Times have changed. Thanks to a foodie zeitgeist stoked by creative chefs, urban farmers and a crackerjack blogging community, canning is all the rage. From her apartment on the 20th floor of a Center City high-rise, Marisa McClellan is one of the bloggers leading the charge.

The biannual Clark Park Festival in West Philly is now in its 40th year and it's something of an institution, where punks, hippies, dogs and babies go to frolic in the grass year after year. The lineup is always quite eclectic. This year it includes fiddle-jug trio the Dill Pickles , the punk-metal explosion the Spades , indie pop band Conversations With Enemies , and the dance-heavy big beat of festival closers Prowler . Dozens of vendors are on hand for shopping and eating, as are family-friendly arts and crafts.

Lauren Cuskey of Havertown wants to feed you double coconut cupcakes with edible orchids. Rosalind Roberts Smalls of Bala Cynwyd has a secret family recipe for pumpkin bread. And Eric Heinbockel of Moorestown wants to create a Belgian chocolate bar to your specifications. A down economy is said to be the best time to cook up new ideas - or so goes the conventional wisdom, says Liz Thomas, who teaches "How to Market and Sell Your Food Product" for Albertson's Cooking School.

Lauren Cuskey of Havertown wants to feed you double coconut cupcakes with edible orchids. Rosalind Roberts Smalls of Bala Cynwyd has a secret family recipe for pumpkin bread. And Eric Heinbockel of Moorestown wants to create a Belgian chocolate bar to your specifications. A down economy is said to be the best time to cook up new ideas - or so goes the conventional wisdom, says Liz Thomas, who teaches "How to Market and Sell Your Food Product" for Albertson's Cooking School.