Curing Olives

I bottled the olives we picked at Gaynor's house almost 2 weeks ago yesterday...I followed these traditional instructions from the Hunter Olive Association and was pleased to find it a very, very easy process. We washed and then stabbed each olive 3 times with fork, I think this looks a little messy so I made a slit in Mandy's olives with a sharp knife. Then we placed them in a clean plastic bucket and covered them with a brine solution of 1 part cooking salt and 20 parts water. We changed the brine every day and I started tasting the olives after a week...keep a bin handy as the olives are horribly bitter at this stage. Eventually, when they become quite OK and taste like olives ought, it is time to bottle them...we only picked black ones but some lost their colour as they soaked...

Thoroughly wash and dry the jars and place them in a warm oven for 10 minutes or so, let them cool while you make a fresh brine of 1 part salt and 10 parts water...

Pack the olives into the jars, try not to squash them but you want to make sure there are no wasted spaces too...

Cover them with the stronger brine and a tablespoon of olive oil and leave for 5 weeks in a cool, dark place

After 5 weeks they should be ready to eat, you can drain them and place them in a mix of olive oil and herbs etc to marinate them or use them as they are in soups/stews/pasta sauces.
Cost to make all these? About $1 for the natural lake salt and olive oil! Helps to have generous friends too!

Did I show Eliz's beautiful kangaroo painting? She has just finished one of a racing motorcycle which I'll show you soon...it's amazing to think she's self-taught and so very good...

Hope you have a great week,
Love from Sue
xxx