On the edge of not-so-happy vomit

I wasn't in the office when EdC. and TV did their pickle taste-test today. When I came back, they said, "We tried the pickles." But the look on EdC.'s face suggested that wasn't a good thing.

"Were they terrible?" I asked. "You can tell me the truth. I can take it."

"No. They actually taste pretty good," he said. "But they are very strong."

"Oh no. Did I mess them up? You have no way of knowing ... you've never even heard of them before. Hmmm. Where are they?"

"In the fridge."

"OK, let me try one."

I sniffed the open jar to see if it smelled extra strong. "Well, it smells just like it should." So I tasted one. "It tastes right. That's how they are supposed to taste." Wait one second. "Holy crap! What the heck is going on? My throat is on fire." Then I ate the rest of the pickle. It burned all the way down. Enough to make my eyes water.

"See," EdC. said. "I told you there were strong."

"But they taste right," I replied. "They just have an after-burn that I don't remember. It's like they are too vinegar-y."

"But they taste good," he said. "The TV and I couldn't stop eating them. Our faces were just like this (showing me a puckered face)."

"Huh. That's just not right. Maybe I put in too much vinegar or not enough sugar or both. I'll have to tweak the next batch."

So I came home tonight and examined the recipe again. Turns out I really need to convert to the metric system. I don't know how many pints are in a quart and the first batch has twice the vinegar than what the recipe calls for. Oops. Better luck next time.