Oh So Dreamy, Oh So Creamy, Cucumber Salad

     I know that I have said this many times before, but I am blessed to live where I live.  At this time of year I am especially blessed.  This is the beginning of harvest.  At this time of year I can purchase potatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers and dill among other amazing produce from my local farmers.  Most times that produce has been picked just hours before I make it for my family.  There is nothing quite like the taste of fresh produce.  

    For the last year or so I have been searching for a recipe that would match the delicious cucumber salad that I had when we took the kids to Disney World in Florida in April of 2012.  This cucumber salad was sweet and tangy, and so good.  It was served at most of the buffet restaurants at Disney.  I have been searching in vein for something even remotely similar.  I am sad to report that I am still searching, but happy to report that although not the correct cucumber salad recipe, I did come across a keeper.... thank you Paula Dean!  I do love http://www.foodnetwork.com/.  It is my go to source for most recipes.

    Paula's recipe has just a few simple ingredients, but it really brings the taste.  I am HUGE lover of dill.  I put it in my potato salad, in my white sauce, in pretty much everything that I can put it in.  It has such a fresh lovely subtle taste, not unlike cucumbers (also a big favourite of mine).  This recipe became an instant hit at our house.  Although it is a new recipe to us, it will be an heirloom recipe of that I am most certain.

    Last week-end my cousin Fiona came to visit for a few days.  I love Fiona.  She is not just my cousin, I consider her to be a good friend.  We drank wine, we laughed and we ate oh did we eat.  Can you think of a better visit?  Laughed does not quite cover the magnitude of what we did.  I laughed so hard at one point that I thought I had ruptured something in my chest.  While she was here I wowed her with the amazing fresh produce that my beautiful community has to offer.  We gorged on fresh corn on the cob from The Walker's Corn Stand.  We had dug into tiny new red potatoes drenched in copious amounts of Stirling Creamery Churned Butter.  I also served her my new favourite Creamy Cucumber Salad.  She was addicted, and now she wants the recipe.  So without further ado this one's for you Fiona.....

    The first step to this delicious Creamy Cucumber Salad is to wash the cucumbers and then slice them thinly.  I use two English Cucumbers or two packages of the tiny baby cucumbers.  I put the sliced cucumbers into a medium/large bowl and sprinkle them with 2 teaspoons of salt and then two teaspoons of white vinegar, and give them a stir to mix it all in.  This sits for half an hour.  Don't get impatient on this step, because this process keeps your cucumbers lovely and crisp, I know this because I am impatient by nature and decided that five minutes was good enough.  My cucumber salad still tasted good, but he cucumbers were all wilty.  After half an hour, dump those cucumbers into a strainer and let them strain for about half an hour.  While you are doing this in a second bowl, mix one half cup of sour cream and two cups of mayonnaise, three table spoons of dill and some freshly ground black pepper.  I love dill.  I prefer the fresh dill that you can easily buy in huge bunches at this time of year, but I also really like the Toppits brand that come in little cubes and I like this stuff that comes in what looks like a toothpaste tube.  I feel like at this point I should say that this recipe is based on Paula Deans, it's basically hers but I tampered with the quantities a little.  If you want her exact recipe go to the foodnetwork.com and type in "cucumber salad".  When the cucumbers have drained then toss them into the dressing bowl and coat them with the dressing.  I can almost guarantee you that you will not have any left overs on this one!