Pickled Carrots

What You Need:

• Water
• Baby carrots (enough to fill an 8-ounce jar)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon dill
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 8-ounce jar with lid
• Strainer
• Saucepan
• Kitchen towel

What You Do:

1. Help your child get started by getting out a saucepan along with the other ingredients needed to make the pickling brine. A brine is a combination of water and salt along with seasonings traditionally created to preserve food items.
2. Invite your child to fill the saucepan with water and bring it to a simmer. Then he can fill the 8-ounce jar with baby carrots and then place in the boiling water for two minutes. This will blanch, or slightly cook, the carrots so they are ready for the brine! Once the two minutes are up, he can drain them in a strainer.
3. Now he can use the same saucepan and measure and add the rest of the ingredients. Your child can turn the heat back to medium and let the brine simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. While the brine is bubbling away, your child can pack the carrots into the 8-ounce jar so they are ready for the brine.
5. Encourage your child to place the jar of carrots on a kitchen towel and then carefully pour the brine over the carrots. Then he can carefully seal the jar with the lid! Offer assistance as needed – the brine is hot!
6. Invite your child to place the carrots in the fridge after they’ve come to room temperature. After a couple of hours, he can give his carrots a taste and see how they turned out!

Did you know: Not only does pickling improve the flavor of foods, it also makes many of them easier to digest because of bacteria created during the pickling process?