Pickled Celery fit for a Caesar

I have been told that the worst time to go grocery shopping is when you are hungry because you always leave with more impulse purchases and more food than you actually need. For me, that also applies to when is the worst time to go out for a drink. So to combat the 3 gin n’ tonics in 30 minutes just because you are hungry and are looking for an oral fix, I have always turned to the spicy Caesar when hungry and going to meet someone for an adult beverage.

I consider the Caesar as more of an appetizer and less as a drink. The combination of the thick clamato juice, the horseradish (when available) and the celery stalk turn this delicious beverage into a first course. So you can imagine my shock and dismay when the celery stalk started to disappear from my beloved appetizer and get replaced with a pickled green bean. This might surprise you considering I rave about how great pickled green beans are in a Caeser. They are delicious, but they are just so small and really should NEVER be served in a quantity of one. I am thrilled to try other people’s version of the pickled green bean and crunch away on them happily but also finish wishing there was a second.

This whole conundrum got me thinking of how I could help out the sad little celery and give them back their prized position in the spicy Caesar. I was going to pickle it. I tried a couple of variations before I ended up with this tasty little treat that I now just eat right out of the jar so often that it rarely even makes it into a Caesar ;).