Getting Out of (and Into) A Pickle

Obviously vacations are a wonderful thing. The family recently returned from a trip down to Delray Beach, Fla. Since my parents got a place down there, our trips to Delray have become a pretty regular occurrence. We drive down at least once a year. 

Aside from spending countless hours at the beach and the pool, some of the best moments on vacation are, of course, spent eating. Our week was filled with nightly trips to our favorite restaurants, ice cream shops and bakeries.

Now, eating out every night is not cheap, so in order to save some money, breakfast and lunches were homemade, which meant a visit to the local supermarket—in this case Publix.

Our purchases were pretty standard; Cheerios, eggs, yogurt, orange juice, etc. For lunch I figured I’d buy some cold cuts (roast beef and turkey) and make sandwiches each day. I like pickles—sour pickles to be exact—with my sandwiches. Unfortunately, neither the Publix’ deli nor its kosher section had sour pickles.

I was just about resigned to the fact that sour pickles were not going to happen. Then, ready to buy bread and butter pickles from the pickle aisle, something caught my eye—a jar I had never seen before at the supermarkets I shop in New Jersey.

The label read Rick’s Picks classic sours. I was skeptical. I had never known a really good sour pickle to come from a jar. They were supposed to come from a deli or plastic tub from the kosher section—but I gave it a shot.

They aren’t the typical sour pickle that I am used to, but let me tell you, these pickles are terrific. They are sour yet refreshing, and my family could not get enough of them.

As our week in Delray came to an end, we needed to stock the car for the 18-hour drive home. Included among the snacks and drinks were four jars—that's all they had on the shelf when we made our final shop—of Rick’s Picks classic sours.     

I’m hoping I can find these in some of my local stores soon; otherwise I may have to make that drive down to Florida a little bit more often. I’m sure my wife and kids wouldn’t complain.