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Since I’ve had to go back to my So Not Organized blog twice now for the recipe, I decided to just add it over here. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that but if I could go back, I’d have stayed on my path to slowly just repost my favorite blog posts here instead of trying to transfer it over to the free word press version in one swoop. The content is still there but all my photos from many years of blogging: gone. SIGH.

Wait, did I say something about a recipe? Yes. It’s a simple one, too. I think everyone has a version of cucumber salad. This is mine. Actually, it’s my late mother-in-law’s recipe as it was usually on the table at any summer family dinner. I loved it and still do. G likes it as well and actually requested it again.

So, once again here is (with brand new updated photos!):

Cucumber Salad

Just four ingredients needed: cucumbers, fresh from the garden if you have some! Thinly sliced red onion. Rice vinegar. And sugar.

I was chatting with an older gentleman in the store a few weeks ago and he said they made their cucumber salad with apple cider vinegar. I’m not so sure about that. Might be because it makes me think of fruit fly traps. Rice vinegar is our go to here.

The basic steps:

Thinly slice cucumbers. I peel mine though sometimes if I feel fancy I leave stripes of the peel.

I bought this last year and I love it! All the tools (mandoline, two different size graters, and the guard) store inside it. And it’s dishwasher safe. OXO Good Grips Mini Complete Grate and Slice Kit.

(Note: I’m not an Amazon affiliate and get no sort of credit for sharing this, just something I like and thought you might as well.)

Place the sliced cucumbers in the a shallow container.

Layer with the thinly sliced red onion (mine is a bit too thick here but we pick around it anyway).

Mix together rice vinegar and sugar. One cup of each. Pour over layered cucumber and red onion slices.

It’s okay if some onion slices are poking up above the liquid but the cucumbers should be covered. Finally, the hard part. Wait several hours to let flavors set in and mingle.

No judgement here if you find yourself getting a fork and eating this straight out of the container when nobody is looking. Do you have a version of cucumber salad?

As most of you know, I used to blog over at So Not Organized. This year, I needed a change and started a new blog here. However, I started with So Not Organized in 2012. And I don’t want to just let 9 years of blogging slip away when my hosting agreement over there expires (it’s good for another year, so no rush).

After giving it a bit of consideration, I’ve decided to create an archive of my favorite blog posts and series from So Not Organized over on this site. I’m adding a page and going to slowly add to it each Thursday.

So far, the only way to do this is simply re-publish each post. Don’t worry, I plan to edit and carefully curate only the best of my previous blog. There are plenty of posts that frankly, aren’t worth a repeat performance. However, after 9 years of blogging, I also have many I don’t want to lose.

Below, you’ll find the very first post I ever published (date: February 10, 2012).

WARNING:

Like many firsts, it’s messy and not great. However, I’m sentimental and want to keep my first post ever!

I’ve been teetering on the edge of starting a blog since January and I’m still not ready but for some things I’ve learned you are never ready….to leave home, to get married, to be a mom, to not be able to go home again (sorry, you actually cannot “always go home again”), to have your kids go to school, to have your kids finish school, to have them home for summer vacation (applies currently!), and many others but I must move on from this first, terribly too long sentence of the new blog. So am I really ready to start the blog I’ve been thinking about since December? No. Not ready at all. However, I’ve decided to take a deep breath and start one anyway.

Why one about organizing? Well, actually it’s more about trying to organize and failing than actually organizing. Write what you know. I know I try to be organized. I know I (usually) fail miserably at being organized. I’m hoping I’m not alone and that this blog might offer the readers some good ideas (that while they didn’t work for me might work for them), laughter, and a sense of relief and realism (so, it’s not just me!) all at once. I really do love the idea of organization: the brightly colored bins and boxes, dresser drawers that are color coded with all clothing neatly folded (do you fold your socks or make sock balls? Me? I throw my socks in there and dig for matches….), canned goods in alphabetical order, and refrigerators with lists of contents posted neatly on the doors (there is a never a place for unidentified green stuff in recycled butter container though…). I love that there are people who can accomplish all that! I’m not one of them. I could blame my boys and my husband (and for fun, why don’t we blame the cat as well!). However, I lived alone for a while and I never accomplished any of that even without other people around to mess it up. I managed to be sloppy and unorganized on my own (probably more so!) as well.

Hopefully, you’ll want to follow along and get some organizing ideas (even knowing what ideas don’t work is one step closer to knowing what will work!). So even though I’m still not ready, I’m about to hit the “publish” button on my first post on my new blog.

~~Jean

Recipe Repost: Cucumber Salad

Cucumber Salad

The basic steps:

Throwback Thursday: So Not Ready!

WARNING:

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