This past Tuesday was National Pickle Day. I had fun celebrating at a local Hy-vee.

Earlier in the day, I had the pleasure of celebrating with about 80 second graders, which I wrote about here. Later in the evening was a public pickle event. Since we decided to have one group doing all of the activities together instead of four separate groups, I had the pleasure of doing all of the activities with my family.

First, I read my book Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles and handed out bookmarks and coloring pages.

Then, we had the opportunity to taste test various pickled items with the store’s dietician. We sampled pickled jicama, pickled apples, pickled green beans, pickled onions, and pickled peppers. I enjoyed watching the faces of some of the kids (and adults) as they sampled the various pickled items. I had never tried jicama before, so it was a really neat experience. I wish I would have taken pictures of the various pickled items, but I didn’t.

After taste testing, the kids were able to make their own pickle creations in containers. First, the kids sanitized their hands with wet wipes. Then, the chef talked to them about cucumbers as she put sliced cucumbers into each container. Another adult and I poured a prepared vinegar mixture which had some other spices mixed within it into each of the containers over the cucumbers. Then, the kids had the choice to add cranberries, onions, dill weed, mustard seed, cinnamon, and/or cloves to their pickle creations. There were no measuring spoons, so the kids were able to sprinkle as much of the spices as they wanted into their own containers.  After all of the desired ingredients were added, the lids (which the kids had decorated) were taped on top of the containers.

After making the pickle creations, we were given a personal tour of the store. We walked through the produce section and were told that almost any fruit or vegetable could be pickled. Bananas are one of the exceptions because they would get all mushy and nasty if pickled.

We were told that the store carries 79 pickled items and 36 different vinegars, so we were shown the various pickled items and vinegars that their store offers. We also walked down the chip aisle to see the pickle flavored chips.

We also stopped in the spice aisle to look at various spices that could be added to pickled items. There were quite a few spices that were mentioned that I had never heard of before. We finished the tour with looking at more pickled items in a separate section. Overall, it was an educational and fun experience for my family.

One of my daughters mixed cucumbers, cranberries, mustard seed, dill weed, and the prepared vinegar mixture in her homemade pickles. Her container was really full, so we wrapped it in a few grocery bags to prevent it from spilling all over in the car.

My other daughter mixed cucumbers, onions, mustard seed, dill weed, and the prepared vinegar mixture in her homemade pickles.

My daughters were eager to taste test their creations, but we were told to wait at least four hours. We tried the pickled cucumbers the next day, and both samples turned out well. The cranberries, on the other hand, were disgusting!

Overall, I had a lot of fun celebrating National Pickle Day! Did you do anything special to celebrate National Pickle Day?

If you like pickles you may enjoy the following posts.

• 20 Gifts Under $20 for Pickle Lovers
• Birthday Pickle Card for only $0.50
• July is National Pickle Month
• Pickle Making During National Pickle Month

This past Tuesday, I had the pleasure of celebrating National Pickle Day at a Hy-Vee. Earlier in the day, a group of about 80 second graders visited. They were divided into four groups that rotated through four different activities.

The activities included listening to me read Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles and talk about my book, making quick pickles with the store chef that they were able to take home, taste testing a variety of pickled items with the store dietician, and taking a store tour to see various pickled items and vinegars with a store manager.

All of the kids left with a bookmark signed by me (as seen in the picture below), a coloring page to go along with Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles (visit Fun Extras if you would like to print your own), and their own homemade quick pickles.

I had fun reading my story to the kids with them helping me by shouting out “pickles, pickles, I like pickles” at all of the appropriate times. I thought it was funny when I got to the part in Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles about putting pickles on ice cream, and most of the kids would say “Eeewww” in unison. There was one kid who said he does eat pickles on his ice cream, and another kid surprised me by saying he likes olives in his ice cream.

I really enjoyed talking with the kids about pickles and pickle related items. I also had them help me put the events of pickle making in order using the worksheet I recently created, which you can find here if interested.

At the end of their time at my station, I asked the kids what their favorite part of their pickle field trip had been. Some of them enjoyed seeing various pickled items or pickle flavored chips. Others really enjoyed making their own pickles that they got to take home.

It melted my heart when some of the kids said their favorite part was meeting me and listening to Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles. The time went by really fast. I hope they all enjoyed their morning as much as I did.

Later in the day was a public event to celebrate National Pickle Day. You can check out the information for the fun my family and I had there on National Pickle Day Celebration Part 2.

Have a wonderful day!