Brining Olives - Week 2

Last week I tried something I had only dreamed about.  I brined olives.

Our beautiful olive tree has been planted now for about three years and it's covered with tons of fruit.  Online, you can find lots of ideas on how to go about brining olives (imagine that) but most include using lye.  I'm personally not a huge fan of using "dangerous" chemicals in my food, but that's just me.  I opted for the protracted brining process using only water and salt. It's supposed to take 3 - 6 weeks before they are edible. I'm certain they will be worth the wait.

When you first pick the olives they are such a beautiful shade of green. When you go to stir them a week later, they are not so beautiful. Here's what they looked like today:

After I snapped this shot, I drained it, rinsed them and remade a new brining solution.  They are now tucked away in the damp, dark basement for one more week before I go down there to scrape off any 'moldy matter' that might be floating on top. Seriously.

But wait - there's at least nine more pounds of olives on our tree and the holidays are just around the corner.  Let's go kiddos!