John Pettit's Blue Ribbon Pickles

I absolutely love pickles. The salty crunch you get from biting into a fermented cucumber spear is so satisfying. Dill pickles are so tasty in fact, that the flavor has been duplicated into chips, sunflower seeds and even vodka. As weird as dill pickle flavored vodka sounds, it does make a rather great marinade for chicken and works fabulously in a bloody mary.

Today is National Pickle Day, I wanted to use this foodie day to share a story about my best friend Sarah's dad, John Pettit. John or Mr. Pettit as I called him, passed away unexpectedly on New Year's Eve this year, which also happened to be his 30th wedding anniversary to the love of his life, Jeanie. John left us too soon. None of us were ready to have such a wonderful man take off on a new adventure. 

John & Jeanie at Sarah's wedding. Such proud parents.

Everyone who met John, instantly felt like his best friend. He just had that way with people. In high school, the minute I walked in their front door, I was greeted with a boisterous "Hey, Ames!" followed promptly by the biggest of bear hugs. You felt loved by John. He genuinely cared about everyone he came in contact with. There are too many stories to share and I'm afraid I'll end up with a book if I start, but I want to share a few memories I have and some of my favorite stories I've been told.



The first day I met Mr. Pettit was on a sunny Spring day, while heading to Sarah's house so she could run in for a quick outfit change out of her cheer uniform. After we had done our typical teenage ritual of asphyxiating ourselves with hairspray and perfume, we ran down her back steps to the barn behind their house that also served as a shop for John. He was a wood carver by trade, using a chainsaw and dremel tool to sculpt the most beautiful artwork (mostly animals) out of giant logs of wood. The first vision I saw of who I would later be introduced to as Mr. Pettit. was of a man without a shirt and a live chainsaw in the other. He was tearing apart a log like Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it was quite the sight to behold! As I took in the situation, I saw a shape of what I think was a bear emerging from the log as he worked. Once he noticed us, he put down the chainsaw and gave me an introduction and a firm handshake. Little did I know that I'd just met the man who would make such a big impression on my life. 

We enjoyed many great chats about life and how school was going after that, as well as my growing passion for food. John loved to cook and to this day, I have not been able to duplicate his BBQ'd chicken with the best smoky and tangy sauce around. He was the grill master, which came in handy as he also was an avid outdoorsman and hunter with quite a few prized hunting trophies mounted around their house. I also learned about John's sport when coming home late one night with Sarah and running smack into the face of a huge Indian wrapped in an elk skin that had glass eyes too realistic for words. I screamed bloody murder until I realized he was very dead and very frozen. I'm pretty sure this screaming lead to us getting a lecture as we both knew our curfew to be home was 11:30 on. the. dOt.  (Sorry Sarah, as least we were loved) This is how life in the Pettit household worked. I knew John cared about my well being as much as his daughters. he put gas in my car if I needed it, always had something for me to eat and tried to talk some sense into me about boys, even though I didn't always listen. I had many great nights spent watching a movie, hanging out in the hot tub gazebo out back, 4 wheeling around the neighborhood or sitting outside by a warm fire.

Now we get to the story of the pickles. In true John nature, one afternoon he decided that he'd like to can some cucumbers and make pickles. Well any old recipe wouldn't do. So what does John do? he goes to the grocery store, finds the cutest group of old ladies he can find and he asks them about pickles. He flirted with those sweet old ladies until they gave him their Blue Ribbon Special Recipe. He then promised to keep it a secret, and I tell you it was!

Sarah and I showing off our Blue Ribbon Specials. This was the first time either of us have ever made pickles, we nailed it!

This recipe was very coveted by john and he'd me madder than hell to know that I've shared it, above all things... on the internet! :) Actually I think he's rather happy today that Sarah and I got to make his pickles together and play with his Baby Lauren. I'll be teaching her, and her mother a thing or two about cooking and I'm still determined to figure out that BBQ chicken!

What better way to share it, than in his own words? John was notorious for leaving love notes, recipes and just pain old advice on any paper he could find. The pickle recipe was written on both sides of an envelope and I scanned it in to share with all of you:

After fermenting for two weeks, they are ready to eat.

This recipe is very easy, but if you have any questions, ask me in the comment section below. I'd be happy to help!

Here are a few of my favorite photos of John and his family:

Look at this proud papa. This is one of my favorite pictures, you can see the love he has for his baby girl in his eyes.

Sarah & Trevor's wedding at La Caille

Jeanie, John, Sarah, Baby Lauren and Sarah's niece Bailey. John called her Bugwug, they had an extra special bond.

Sarah and her cute husband Trevor with their baby daughter Lauren. I'm proud to be her Auntie Amelia and love her to pieces!

You can read more about John's life here. He was an amazing man and touched a lot of people. I'm grateful to have had the pleasure of knowing him, He is missed deeply by all and we will continue to think of him whenever we hear a Beatles song, spend time in nature, through random acts of kindness and of course, eating pickles.