6.What are green almonds?
1.Green almonds are available for a brief three-week period in the growing season from late April to early May, the developing almonds are considered “ripe” for harvest as green almonds. Pickling or brining green almonds will extend the shelf-life of these delicate treats.
2.Green almonds have a jelly-like, soft inside and a soft fuzz on the outside.
3.Due to their short life span, green almonds have always been considered a rare delicacy. They can also be purchased brined or pickled, which extends the life.
4.Green almonds are used by chefs as a cooking ingredient, but also as a garnish.
5.Green almonds have a distinct but subtle flavor that is hard to pin down, but has been variously described as delicate, grassy, fruity, and even green.

Pickled Tsagala (Green Almonds)

http://www.aglaiakremezi.com/recipies/mezze-appetizers-and-salads/pickled-tsagala-green-almonds.html

More info on green almonds.

http://agardenerstable.com/2010/06/25/green-almonds/

PS: I was a drinking the dressing sort of kid, too. Glad to know there are more of us out there.

But if you still want to send me some pickles, how can I say no? Feel free to e-mail me at cheeseandchocolate (at) gmail (dot) com.

I know this post went up almost four (!) years ago, but thought I would put in my two cents.

I hope that the baby carrots you tried to do were not your first and last experience with pickled carrots. When done right, they are soooo good. I would say probably my favourite home-pickled vegetable, to be honest.

At the end of every summer, I spend two weeks at my folks' house, much of which is spent in their garden. I pick baby carrots, baby beets, green beans, and the biggest, oldest cucumbers on the plot. And then my mom and I start a-pickling.

We slice the beets into thick coins and cover them in a lightly spiced vinegar and sugar mixture. The resulting deep-purple pickles are the only way I enjoy a beet.

We make a small batch of spicy pickled green beans, like an earlier poster mentioned. Perfect in a Caesar (or Bloody Mary, for y'all south of the border).

We take the big, old, tough cukes and use a great, old hand-cranked slicer to shave them into paper-thin rags that get mixed with green and red peppers and onions and a mixture of spices (including turmeric, which gives them a fantastic yellow colour) salt and sugar. Once the mixture has sat for a hour or so, you pack it into jars and top up with a pickling liquid, and there you have bread-and-butter pickles. A sweet-and-sour tangle of slightly soft crunch that is fantastic on sandwiches or just along side a few nice slices of cheese. Or, in my case, eaten with a fork directly from the jar, standing with the fridge door open.

And then there are the carrots. They have to be baby. And not the 'baby' carrots they sell in the grocery store. Proper, from-the-garden, baby carrots. Packed into their jars with whole cloves of garlic and dill, they are magic. I have to ration my jars throughout the year, because I could easily go through my entire stash in the course of a few short months.

I don't know if you accept gifts like this (is sending pickles to people you've never actually met kind of weird?), but if you do, I would love to send you jar to try to and help you see the attraction!