Keep Calm and Eat a Pickle!

This weekend is Mount Olive’s Annual Pickle Festival. What better way to celebrate then with some fun fact about pickles!

Pickles have been around for thousands of years, dating as far back as 2030 BC when cucumbers from their native India were pickled in the Tigris Valley. The word “pickle” comes from the Dutch pekel or northern German pókel, meaning “salt” or “brine,” two very important components in the pickling process. Throughout history pickling was a necessity, as it was the best way to preserve food for a long period of time.

• Cleopatra claimed pickles made her beautiful.
• Not everyone loves a sweet pickle. In America, dill pickles are twice as popular as the sweet variety.
• When the Philadelphia Eagles thrashed the Dallas Cowboys in sweltering heat in September 2000, many of the players attributed their win to one thing: guzzling down immense quantities of ice-cold pickle juice.
• If it weren’t for pickles, Christopher Columbus might never have “discovered” America. In his famous 1492 voyage, Columbus rationed pickles to his sailors to keep them from getting scurvy. He even grew cucumbers during a pitstop in Haiti to restock for the rest of the voyage.
• Pickles are mentioned in the Bible and can be found in the works of Shakespeare.
• George Washington was such a fan that he had a collection of more than 400 varieties of pickles.
• Americans love dill pickles twice as much as their sweet counterparts and an average American eats more than 8 pounds of pickles a year.
• A pickleback shot is a shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice — was allegedly invented by Brooklyn bartender Reggie Cunningham in 2006 when he was approached by a gold-toothed woman at the Bushwick Country Club and made to do a series of whiskey shots followed by brine.

Checking out these fun events around in our area:

~ Bye Bye Birdie will be at the Paramount Theater April 28th to April 30th http://www.goldsboroparamount.com

~ Mt. Olive Pickle Festival starts April 28th to April 30th. Lovts of food, fun and PICKLES http://www.ncpicklefest.org/

~ Official music festival of the 15th Annual Outer Banks Bike Week 2017 beings April 28 to April 29. Live Music! All ages. http://outerbanksmusicfest.com/

~ American Missions is hosting the Fifth Annual Cornhole Tournament at The Bridge Princeton on Saturday, April 29 at 9 AM. Day of Event Registration at 9 AM – Entry Fee $40.00 per team. http://www.bridgechurch.cc/upcoming-events/cornhole-tournament

~ April 29th 2017 Grand Opening – Clayton Farm and Community Market 348 E Main St, Clayton, North Carolina 27520

~ Wayne County Heritage Geotour Launch April 29th 9:00am to 10:30am. 801 US Highway 117 Byp S, Goldsboro, North Carolina 27530