The Great Pickle Saga

Nearly two and a half years ago, I reported, with great joy, our discovery at the local SuperStore of jars of Bicks 1.5 L Dill Pickles with Garlic, which had gone missing from this part of the world a decade or so earlier. We gratefully scooped up roughly 20 jars of the exquisite treasure over several trips to the grocery store, in large part because I had no confidence that we'd see them for sale again any time soon.

And, in fact, new jars of the stuff have been every bit as elusive as I'd feared, ever since. In all that time, we've not seen a single 1.5 L jar in all our travels. I've sent e-mails to Bicks and to local grocery outlets, asking if we can order them directly or requesting that the stores bring them in once again, but to no avail.

Yesterday, however, an old friend e-mailed me to say that he'd spotted them at a local Costco. Now, without photographic proof, I'm always inclined to regard these as being akin to Bigfoot sightings. I'm skeptical that it's the right brand, right size and right type of pickles, as other combinations just aren't the same. But hope springs eternal... and so Vicki is heading out later today, with a Costco card carrying friend, to see if this tantalizing tip is on the level. The fact that we're down to a measly 6 jars in our basement is reason enough to make me desperate, but I'm still expecting to be disappointed.

Stay tuned...

[Update later that same day: Well, it was an awfully good try! The friend got everything right: right brand, right type, nice big jar. Unfortunately, what he saw is simply a bigger jar of the same sort of pickles that you find in the 1 L jars, whereas what I've been hoarding for 2.5 years is a larger variety of pickle inside those 1.5 L containers. It's hard to explain, and inevitably leads to phalic jokes, so I'll just leave it at that.]