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Healthy Homemade Fermented Drinks
March 15, 2016
— 2 Comments
beet kvass
secondary fermentation
ginger bug
I had a sourdough starter for about ten years. I enjoyed using it and finding new ways to put my homegrown yeast to work. After a while I was kind of done with it, but my dog was crazy about it. She fixated on the bread, and the more sour the better for her taste. Eventually I baked for her but we ate little bread in the house. When she died last year I gave up the sourdough start. Recently I have become interested in raw fermented food for both health and mad science. I do still like to grow cultures and experiment in my kitchen. My fermentation lab is simple and requires no special equipment.
I have made some decent sauerkraut, but my big thrill is drinking the juice from the kraut. This brought be to study the other fermented beverages I could make. I have not yet purchased kefir grans because it sounds like a big deal keeping up with the growth of them once they start to multiply. I probably will try it at some point because it is possible to make flavored fizzy drinks with water and fruit juice that sound pretty delicious. I bought a couple of books for my kindle to study the options and learn more about the various ways foods are fermented around the world. I can heartily recommend Delicious Probiotic Drinks by Julia Mueller.
Delicious Probiotic Drinks
My favorite drink I am making these days is ginger beer. I started a ginger bug, a starter which lives on ginger, water, and sugar. The care and feeding of the ginger bug is much like the sourdough starter. It catches the yeast in the air and stays alive by eating sugar. The dosage is important because it is possible to kill the yeast by adding too much sugar at a time. Mine sits on the kitchen counter with a cork cover. It is really easy to keep it happy and growing stirring it with a wooden spoon daily. When I make my ginger beer I simply add some of the starter to a larger container of water and add ginger and sugar to that batch. After a week or so of growing I start a secondary fermentation in a tightly covered bottle (I use a beer growler). This is the same way champagne is made, with a secondary fermentation in a corked bottle.
I also love my beet kvass. This is easy to ferment as well, just by adding salt to water and beets in a container for a week or so. It is tasty and very health promoting. Beets themselves are great for the liver and other organs. The fermentation adds probiotic cultures that conquer less than desirable cultures we may have in out digestive systems. Now that the happy healthy probiotics have taken over in my intestines I actually crave the fermented drinks. I have sauerkraut juice first thing in the morning when I take my vitamins and all through the day. Don’t knock it until you try it. This simple, amazingly cheap habit I have started is probably the best practice I have added for my general health in decades. If you wonder if you will like the taste I recommend that you start with the ginger beer production. It is universally enjoyed, and takes little skill to produce.
There are some other traditional fermented drinks I plan to try, all with the same basic procedure. I have yet to use the culture I bought just because it works without adding any culture. Have you ever made any fermented beverages, gentle reader? It is a fun hobby with fabulous health benefits.
Big Skye Bakers Mesquite Pastry
March 15, 2016
— 2 Comments
In Tucson we have an abundance of mesquite trees. The beans, which are the fruit of the tree, develop at the end of summer. In many neighborhoods they fall all over the ground and go unused. In recent years the practice of milling the mesquite beans to make flour has become popular. The taste of baked goods and tortillas made with this flour is exquisite. I am a huge fan of the taste and texture. Although there are plenty of native beans here, some local companies still import mesquite flour from South America. I am not sure why this gets my goat, but the imported flour just bothers me. I have a tree in my front yard and some very large ones in my garden lot that I have not tried to harvest, but maybe this will be the year that I do it for the first time. I am inspired by the way these tasty treats are created from beans in walking distance from the bakery.
The pie I bought from Big Skye was amazing. The pecans are a perfect companion to the mesquite flour crust. I plan to try more varieties, but have been dreaming of the flavor of that pecan pie I purchased. This bakery is a super asset to the community. They sell on Sundays at the Rillito Farmers’ Market, where I will go to get more pie this week. My mouth is already watering at the idea of it.
Bodie of Big Skye
pies
cherry pie with mesquite crust
The Living and the Dead
March 13, 2016
— 5 Comments
Meesie loves her massage
Memory and spirit linger after our friends pass into the next realm. The spirit is hard to define or capture during a lifetime, but after death the history of facts is distilled into an essence. I don’t communicate, as in converse, with the dead, but I spend time savoring the essential qualities they represent. This week a young woman who was our friend died from a raging melanoma in her bloodstream. She dedicated her time on earth to healing animals and people with her massage skills. When our dog was on hospice she helped our family immensely by providing love and care during her last months.
Isaiah 57:1-2
1 The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. 2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
I feel the loss of her presence on this earthly plane, but have a strong assurance that she has gone to a sweet rest. Living had become too much for her, perhaps because she gave so much of herself to others. The details of making a living, paying taxes, doing the daily tasks that ground us to the earth slowly became more difficult. I had my own agenda about teaching her simple life skills that I thought were the solution to the slipping away from here syndrome I had observed. I could not have been more wrong. Self care is not always the answer for every situation, as I tend to believe. I have no knowledge of the supernatural energies that give and take life. My simplistic view that everything can be healed has been transformed by her passing. Wounds inspire healing, and in some languages the word for wound is the same as the word for healing. The complicated process of healing is not within our control. I am not in charge of it, nor do I understand it.
Living people feel robbed by the loss of our loved ones, but each of us has a private and unique gift of life. We must accept that those who leave us in their prime have fulfilled their own mission and are ready to go at some basic level. I accepted this fact when my dog gave up her life, and now I am certain that crossing the rainbow bridge may be scary, but it is a relief. I am grateful for the good times and calm in the knowledge that peace is welcome when the end arrives.
Are God and Nature then at strife,
That Nature lends such evil dreams?
So careful of the type she seems,
So careless of the single life;
That I, considering everywhere
Her secret meaning in her deeds,
And finding that of fifty seeds
She often brings but one to bear,
I falter where I firmly trod,
And falling with my weight of cares
Upon the great world’s altar-stairs
That slope thro’ darkness up to God,
I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope,
And gather dust and chaff, and call
To what I feel is Lord of all,
And faintly trust the larger hope.
Sonoran Light by Bruce Munro
March 11, 2016
— 4 Comments
Last weekend I drove to Tempe to enjoy the light art show at the Desert Botanical Garden. Bruce Munro installed this impressive exhibit which has been a popular temporary addition to the gardens. Sonoran Light is incredible, immersive, and impossible to capture on a camera. I have made an attempt above, but I highly recommend that the gentle readers see it in person. The Field of Light is the most expansive of the installations. It has vast sections of the gardens covered with light strings on the ground that change color and illuminate a large hill seen from a distance. There was a concert last Friday which was sold out, but still audible in the Field of Light, adding to the night’s special quality.
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- painting show
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- painting show
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- Chihouy at the entrance
I arrived early in the day and took advantage of the day pass for just $5 added to the evening ticket price. For a total of $30 I had hours of botanical fun in both day and night lighting. There are many details not visible at night that I loved seeing during my day trip. I took an Uber to the evening show, and was so happy I did. The parking lot becomes super jammed for the event, and I was tired from my hours of walking during the day. I happily waited by the entrance for my Uber driver while others drove themselves home.
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- cactus sun dial
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- yucca
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- succulent
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- Installation with bottles
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- Installation with bottles
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- Installation with bottles
saguaros
lighted arch
field of light
Chindi
Chindi
Finishing Sugar by Terre Botanicals
March 8, 2016
— 1 Comment
I am surprised and pleased with my discovery of a new product for my kitchen. When Terri Nacke offered me a taste of her fine finishing sugars I told her I don’t use sugar. This is a little exaggeration because I do use sugar to ferment ginger beer, lacto fermented lemonade and other beverages. In the case of the fermented drinks the sugar is consumed by the yeast in order to grow and make the final result fizzy. A little sugar goes a long way at our house. I tried the chocolate sugar and liked it, but decided it would last for 10 years in my cupboard. After chatting for a few minutes at her booth at the Old Town Farmers’ Market in Scottsdale I learned that we had much in common including a love of botany and aromatherapy.
When I lifted the Rose Petal Darjeeling sugar to my nose it thrilled me. The taste blew my mind because this super deluxe product is made with essential oil of rose, a pure and direct love note to the brain. I knew before it hit my tongue that I had to have some to take home. Terri mentioned stone fruits and the natural affinity the rose has with apricots, which got my attention. My apricot and peach trees have just set fruits, and this year I am determined to keep them for myself instead of gifting them to the birds. She told me that for those who have a sweet tooth (a group I rarely join) the enhanced flavor of the essential oils reduces the amount of sugar needed to get the results desired. She does not skimp on the oils, very expensive additives.
I left the market with a recipe card that gave me many ideas about putting my new darling ingredient to use. I had a long drive ahead of me, but when I arrived in Tucson her suggestion of trying a small amount of the rose sugar to flavor a fine whiskey was still in my mind. I stopped at the store to find a good rye whiskey to try her idea for my reward at the end of the trail. Indeed, a very small amount of rose sugar in a glass of rye on the rocks created a unique and exotic cocktail. I was both happy to be home and felt very lucky that I took the time to listen to the reasons this sugar is different from other sugars. It is my new favorite ingredient! I am very happy to know that recipe ideas as well as a mail order form are available at Terre Botanicals website. I highly recommend this fabulous line to all the gentle readers. A little goes a long, long way, and there is really nothing like it I have seen on the market.
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- finishing sugars
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- botanical wizard
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- Terri packs my purchase
Solar Eclipse: Cracks in the Light
March 7, 2016
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Time for a Change!!!
The Solar Eclipse for March 8th 2016, occurs at 19 degrees Pisces. There is so much activity in the chart of the Solar Eclipse that when I attempted to grasp onto its theme I would find myself lost in a chaotic mess of archetypes, all clamoring to have their voices heard. But I kept being led back to a particular part of the chart, like it was the central leading character of the story. So to unravel the thread of this Solar Eclipse, I will begin with the planet that is in direct opposition, Jupiter in Virgo. Jupiter is eternal spirit, transcendental knowledge, expansive nature, the buoyancy of leaves swirling in air, the ecstasy of our divine nature. But in our human forms, in attempts to experience bliss of spirit, this archetype also leads to excess, overindulgence, seeking of pleasure through merely our senses in an attempt to get…
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ZorroZ Bloody Mary Mix is a Flavor Treat
March 6, 2016
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I had a wonderful shopping day yesterday that included the Old Town Farmers’ Market in Scottsdale as well as the Greek Orthodox monastery in Florence, AZ. Tasting all the samples at that wonderful Saturday morning market challenges one to pick favorites because there are so many delicious choices. Since I had a long drive I limited myself to products that would have no problem staying in the car for a while on a warm day. One such product is ZorroZ Bloody Mary Mix. I tasted it and loved the complex flavor. I could honestly just drink it straight up, but Fran Rons, the creator of the magical elixir, provides a card with recipes to spark new ideas for using this tasty liquid party in a bottle. I must try it in sloppy Joes because those are a favorite at our house, much more than Bloody Marys themselves. I also like his meatball recipe which I plan to knock off with a vegetarian nut loaf. Once the bottle is open I know I will be trying it in many ways. Guacamole is another suggestion Fran makes that sounds like a very good idea.
Today is Sunday, and I know that Bloody Mary is the official cocktail of Sunday morning for many people. I have lemons from our tree, some fabulous jalapeño stuffed olives and some celery for the garnish. My own preferred version is actually a red snapper, made with gin. Bob is in the garden working and I have been packing up some home made sauerkraut, making a big mess in the kitchen. We will wait until afternoon to savor our new cocktail mix, using it as a reward for finishing our respective tasks. As I write this post my mouth is beginning to water thinking about it. Are you a Bloody Mary fan, gentle reader? If you are I am recommending this excellent product to bring your cocktail to a new level of excitement. Cheers!!
Fran Rons at the market
Authority, Use and Abuse
March 3, 2016
— 2 Comments
When we were in grade school it was obvious that we had little control over our circumstances. This is appropriate for children leaning to be part of a larger society. Still some of us questioned the system wondering where the teachers/parents/school officials got off being so threatening about some rules and regulations. Some of us used our own immature logic to question authority. Some of us even spoke up about what we considered to be abuse of our rights. Others quickly conformed to fit in and get the brownie points for behaving the way we had been instructed to behave. I was naturally part of the first group, those of us who felt oppressed unnecessarily by silly rules.
My nature was never very compliant without seeing the purpose of the rules. One such rule was my mother’s idea of fashion for little girls. I fought tooth and nail over cutting my bangs, putting permanent waves in my otherwise fabulous hair, and, most of all, the wearing of white ankle socks. The whole look was atrocious, but I was physically too small to fight off the stinky hair solutions or the bangs scissors. All I could do was take of the hideous white ankle socks once I had left home for school. It was my only available form of resisting authority that I saw as fascism. My parents were very strict, believed in beating children to a pulp with a belt, and fought back hard. I saw this was obvious sign of weakness, the need to physically bully a child into wearing white socks. If they had thought about what they were doing they might have made more reasonable rules and fought more reasonable battles, but they were out of their minds with power. They belonged to the Republican Party.
They voted for Barry Goldwater for president and loved war and police brutality. They were animated fans of the Viet Nam war, which was truly the last straw. They saw America as entitled bully, and I saw them as entitled bullies. Our political paths would never cross once I was old enough to vote. There was no discussion because my dad would blow his top so wildly that it was out of the question to question his opinions. I just wore a patch on the back of my jeans that said “War is not healthy for children and other living things” and they voted a straight Republican ticket. I have a letter my mother wrote to my father when Kennedy was elected bemoaning the fate of the world. They were truly nuts.
I now thank them for the training I had early in life to see that some authorities use power for evil (I still think permanents are evil and probably cause brian cancer). Some authorities are just ignorant, and must be opposed in order to save the world from fascism. The political scene we face today is clearly one of treacherous consequences. I thought most of the violent crazy people were already dead, but I was completely off course. This sentiment is alive and sick. It has never been more important to vote and become aware of the rights we still have in this country to shape our future. Please inform your self, gentle reader. Consider the possibilities very carefully, and then VOTE!!!
Why You Deserve to Be Happy: Stop Living Your Life Based on Other’s Expectations!
March 3, 2016
— 3 Comments
Conformity is part of social programming. A little goes a long way.
Ketchup in the Kitchen
March 1, 2016
— 5 Comments
homemade and store bought
When I was a child I visited the Heinz factory in Pittsburgh with my Brownie troop several times. One never forgets the vinegar floor of that factory, ever so olfactory. They gave us little plastic pickle pins as souvenirs of our visits. Although we lived in a big industrial city, most of us would not see the inside of any other factories. I did not know until I was an adult that ketchup had a strange history long before it became the sauce we put on french fries today.
The original sauce was made of fermented fish and was used in China. When the English adopted the word they attempted to replicate the Asian version using mushrooms, nuts, anchovies, beer, and spices, creating a thin sauce that did not resemble the Chinese condiment very much. The recipe evolved and the anchovies were dropped in favor of walnut based or mushroom based sauces. The tomato was not added to the mix for a couple of centuries. Tomatoes came from the new world and were considered to be poison for a long time.
tomatoes
When tomato ketchup was made in factories in America the first recipes were toxic, not because of the tomato, but because of the processing and ingredients used. They used coal-tar to make the color bright red, and used other very harmful preservatives. Henry J Heinz was a reformer who treated his workers and the environment in a new way. Eventually he met G F Mason, who helped him develop the food science he needed to drop the coal-tar and dangerous ingredients. In 1904 he produced the first preservative free Heinz ketchup. The company was later bought by Del Monte and the old brick factory on the Allegheny is now a fancy condo. I wonder how that got the vinegar smell out of the building.
Although I am grateful to Henry for his progressive ideas, which included food purity, today I buy organic brands. Better yet, I enjoy making my own to create both a pure product and a custom flavor. I have made ketchup from cranberries and green tomatoes in the past with success. This week I scored a large batch of beautifully ripe tomatoes so I was inspired to make some house brand tomato ketchup for our kitchen. I used date balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, a little honey, shallots, onions, and red peppers. After I took out a couple of jars of this delicious mix I added extra spices to create a different flavor profile for the last batch. Still on simmer in the crock pot, the thicker spicier version will be ready in the morning. Have you tired making your own, gentle reader? It is an easy project, and the results will give you a healthy, sugar-free product that is worthy of sharing with friends.
tomatoes
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