Opal’s Homestead Hacks: Pickling — with olive juice, too

In case you missed Wednesday’s introduction of Opal Harbert, Queen of Homestead Hacks, here’s a recap.

This mom, wife, and martial arts instructor (she’s nothing if not well-rounded) who lives on a few acres just over the border in Mead, Wash., has an approach to daily life that’s rather old-fashioned.

Having grown up with parents who literally lived off the land, built and grew their own or just made do, Opal’s penchant for borderline-hoarding, repurposing, and DIY-ing has suddenly gone from weird to wise.

So as we all hunker down in the coming weeks, Opal’s helping us stretch dollars and resources in very simple ways. Wednesday, Opal taught us how easy it is to make immune-boosting bone broth instead of tossing out those meaty carcasses and dregs.

If your taste buds lean tart, you’ll like today’s tip too.

Got pickles? Addicted to olives? Keep the liquid after eating the last one. It’s precious stuff and goes nicely with the veggies you forgot to use.

“If you use a jar of pickles,” says Opal, “keep the pickle juice and just put in some fresh veggies or boiled eggs to make any pickled item. Let it sit for a few days — the more the better.”

Opal loves pickled carrots and cauliflower. Hey — don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it.

“If I know I have to use up some veggies so they won’t go bad, I’ll just put them in pickle juice. It’s a super easy hack.”

That goes for olives, too. Besides making great salad dressing (just add a dash of vinegar, salt, pepper and oregano if you have it), it can really perk up cooking.

“Keep the juice from the olive jar and put veggies such as mushrooms in there, and you have olive-marinated mushrooms,” she suggests. “Or pour it in the pan like olive oil. It works and adds flavor. Olive juice is also great tossed with pasta salad!”

I’ve always kept my olive juice in the fridge, but Opal doesn’t.

Interested in other creative ways to conserve, and waste less? Look for more of Opal’s Homestead Hacks in the coming weeks. When the weather gets warmer, I’ll tell you what she does with cardboard in the garden.