first post + watermelon pickle recipe

welcome to 2509! 

we've decided to open up our platform to other areas in addition to our beginning area: instagram. you can like us on facebook & subscribe to receive our posts via email in the right sidebar.

while instagram will be our main page for content and posting, we wanted to have a place to share longer posts like recipes, tutorials, ideas, and anything else we want to chat about.
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to get started here's a tiny bit of background about us: we're pretty average people trying to do big things. 

cody lives in OKC (Oklahoma City) & holly lives in LFK (Lawrence, KS).

we decided to put our heads together and create something that represents us both individually & as a collaborative.

2509 is us - it's as simple as that. 

now that the introductions are out of the way - let's have our first recipe!
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~ watermelon rind pickles ~

recipe by alton brown & altered by holly scheirman

as I've been cooking for myself for a minute now (okay, maybe a couple of years), I've come to discover I really don't like to waste food. usually I can give parts to my rabbit or compost it, but I decided after buying some mini-watermelons that I wanted to try to do something with the entire thing...

*googles: what to do with watermelon rind*

luckily, I'm not the only person who has searched that. there were many-a-recipe about pickling watermelon rinds.

I stubbed upon Alton Brown's recipe and decided to make it work with some minor alterations (AKA no ginger + no star anise):

Ingredients
Rind from a personal size watermelon
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flake
1 teaspoon allspice berries

Instructions
1. Scoop out melon (eat melon!) leaving about 1/4-1/2 inch of red flesh.
2. Peel off outer green with vegetable peeler and then cut into 1-inch cubes.
3. Bring the apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and spices to a boil over medium-high. Hold the boil for 60 seconds then carefully add the watermelon. Return to a boil and turn off the heat. Remove the pan from the heat and cool for 30 minutes.
4. Move pickles to jar & let cool on counter for 1.5 hours.
5. Refrigerate overnight & enjoy

the final product was so much better than I anticipated - I mean truly, who knew you could pickle watermelon rinds? now you do; you're welcome.

I have enjoyed mine as a snack, in salads, and even on avocado toast. the possibilities are endless! how would you enjoy your watermelon pickles?

thanks for reading - make sure to follow us on the social medias & subscribe to our posts. 

see ya next time!