Spiced pickled almonds

Regular readers will know that Pip - although she is now 2 years old - hasn't learnt that the vegetables we grow are for us not her.  We have fenced off the kitchen garden and she hasn't made any attempt to get in there, instead she's turned her attention to an almond tree.  Or rather an almond bush.

It used to be a very tall, straggly tree.  Very sad looking, never had many almonds so about 4 years ago we cut it down to the base and since then it has grown into a very healthy bush, absolutely laden with almonds.  But Pip has taken a fancy to the almonds, she can't bite through them when they have hard shells but presumably likes the taste so eats the small soft early ones.    It wouldn't be too bad if she ate them but she just chews them up and spits them out.

We've watched this for a few days, then I thought that if we can pickle walnuts before the shell  has formed about May or early June, why not almonds?   So after a quick look out there in the big wide world of the internet, I found a recipe for spiced green almonds.  I only had to change one thing - not enough honey only miel de caña,  but hopefully they will be just as tasty.

You need enough small green almonds to fill your jar/s.  I used some large wide-necked ones that I think will be easy to get them out of.  Prick the almonds all over with a skewer,  if the skewer won't go through, the almond has made a shell and it's too late to pickle.  Pack them in the jars and for each jar add

1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
1   stick of cinnamon
1  bay leaf
1  dried chilli, cut in half

Make a brine solution of 3 cups of white wine vinegar together with 1 teaspoon of cloves, 1 cup of honey and 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Taste and add more sugar if needed - I used 4 spoonfuls.  Simmer for a couple of minutes and pour it hot over the almonds.  Seal the jars, store for 4 weeks before eating, turning upside down occasionally to mix the ingredients.  Apparently it keeps for more than a year.

Enjoy!