Rejuvelac

     I spent some pretty amazing days with some pretty amazing people during my days in Wisconsin. Very wise folks doing great things. I stayed with some people right around here:

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in their house that looked like this:

(It was featured in a nytimes article because they had it built by an architect (Roald Gundersen) making houses/structures out of whole, localized trees)

We talked about planting with the rhythms of the planets and went and looked at the stars in a dark field while petting their horses.

     Another one of those days was spent going to learn about alternative energy -- a guy living on a river, using draft horses, building some kind of engine, based on some kind of non-fossil fuel thing. Obviously, I can't say I remember what I learned about that engine, but I DID learn about Rejuvelac, and I remember that. Under the hot mid-summer midwest sun, we were offered a cold, refreshing beverage after a wagon tour of his prairie restoration fields. It was said to taste like tart lemonade, and that I thought it did. But the man swore by it's beneficial effects, saying he's felt the best he's felt in 20 years, his joints feel great. He called the drink, "Rejuvelac," but said we could make it ourselves from soaked (and ultimately sprouted and fermented) wheat berries. I've been meaning to make it ever since that day. Not sure how many states I've left produce bags containing a cantaloupe-sized mound of wheat berries from a bulk bin.

     Now after all  these years of physical labor during the spring, summer and fall, my joints are finally kind of hurting. My right elbow feels like tennis-elbow sometimes, I've been getting this sciatic nerve feeling thing in my lower right back, my knees can ache... So, here's my first try at the drink. Now I just can't remember what these grains are: whole oat groats or wheat berries? You can make it out of many grains. I've since researched that rye makes the best.

Nature photos of the day

+ me and Craig at the beach

Mama's day

My mama came up to visit me for the weekend. Breakfasts on the sunny deck, sandwich lunches, many 'a tofu burger. We would tucker ourselves out by the end of the day, that day #1's dinner became #2 and #3's as leftovers. She brought some lovely homemade citrus bars of which I've had two today. We went to the Earth Sanctuary, the rhododendron gardens, Office Max, a farm for an amazing lunch of savory and sweet pies and seafood chowder and the freshest asparagus, and a short stint at the beach. The only thing I'm bummed about is that we didn't get to play 'Clue' while Craig was up. In fact, we played no games at all :(. Just watched Caddyshack and an independent Canadian film about inter-racial/culture love, which was pretty good.

Laundry and food

After hanging my laundry to dry, I went back inside and was standing at the sink, looking out toward the line. I didn't even plan the colors, and I don't even attempt at having a colorful wardrobe, but this combination made my eyes and heart pleased. Then it proceeded to rain two days straight on them.

Made these POPOVERS, thanks to this girl, and while the fact that I took a picture of them before poking them with a fork like she so thoroughly explained in the directions made them more of POPunders, they were still such a nice breakfast and anytime snack.

This is 'Fettucini No-Fredo' from 'Get It Ripe'! Made with tahini, pureed onions, garlic, soymilk, parsley and lemon juice. So tasty!

And another 'Get It Ripe' concoction: Banana Chocolate Chip muffins... mmm.

I suppose I should also make a mention of the farmer's market that made many 'a preceding posts to this one. It went well! ... I have nothing to compare it to, but I had over  a dozen customers. I'm thankful for all of them. If it weren't for them, why would I make so much soap?! I love making soap. And thank YOU for reading about it and supporting me!

Getting ready for market

Raisin Bran Muffins

These are really wonderful muffins from 'Get It Ripe,'  so that means they are also vegan. I will post the recipe upon request (or you should just go out and buy this cookbook!). Some of the special ingredients are molasses (lots of minerals, including iron! (comes from the third boiling of sugar syrup, so is a concentrated byproduct with nutrients)), orange zest, oat bran, flax seeds, applesauce, apple cider vinegar and olive oil. Okay, that's about the whole ingredient list. Not only are they really good, they're healthful too!

They may look dry, but they are in fact, moist.

Molasses melding with maple syrup, boiling water and raisins.

Labels!

+ New Kinds, Coming Soon!

- SWEET LICORICE - 

(aka Fisherman's Soap. The smells of anise &/or fennel are purported to attract fish. This soap contains both anise and sweet fennel essential oils, and is a lovely purple color. For all you licorice lovers, too.)

- GINGER + YLANG YLANG -

A lovely creamy, spicy, floraly scent!

Morning news

I made this Blueberry Breakfast Polenta from 'Get It Ripe' the other morning, and I'd say it's something you could serve to other people and worth making again. Especially since it's animal and gluten-free. It's light, but flavorful and even sort of rich. I used wild blueberries, unfiltered apple juice, and coconut oil, so maybe that all added to the richness. I was just a little let down that mine didn't look as good as hers in the cookbook-- her polenta was still a distinct bright yellow somehow, but the blueberries kind of stained mine. Next time I'll try tossing the berries with some ground dried polenta first for a coating-- a little trick I learned the other day.

Craig and I went for a neat little hike a few days ago, thoroughly enjoying the balmy weather.

My sisters are in Venice. Dang.

Apparently they found this umbrella in a garbage can. It does look like it was raining based on the wet alleyway cobblestones, and hats and coats of the Venetians in the above picture. Is that an alley or is that a road?

A Study of Daffodils

(a very surface-level one)

And a daffodil poem:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

- William Wordsworth,  "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,"  1804

How to freeze kale

... I know there are probably already a million how-to-freeze-kale tutorials on the internet; in fact, I had to google it myself. (Does that make any sense?) But in all of the ones I looked at (two or three), they didn't do one little thing that I do differently. And so, I will post this how-to.

First, after acquiring your kale, get your large soup pot very full of water, over high heat to start a good boil. I never read anything about salting, so I didn't, and I think that's the way to go. But a little salt to help get the boil going probably wouldn't hurt. While waiting for this, I will tell you how I acquired mine and why I was freezing kale. Because the garden in which I am renting had some kale plants that survived the winter, possibly even the fall too, untouched due to my landlord now living in Bali. The other day I tasted a leaf, and it was sweet and tender. 5 free large kale plants... hard to let that go to waste.

If your water hasn't boiled already after my long story, you shall now start to chop up your kale. This is where I do things differently. I think I picked this little mode of operation up in Sweden, on the farm, observing the skilled Swedish farm woman in the kitchen. She used her hands a lot. And didn't measure. Now, most tutorials show to nicely, neatly trim the leaf part away from the stem. Nice knives, nice cutting boards. However, it is much faster and easier to just rip them off into pieces. This is what I do. It's nice to feel the leaves in your hands too.

This step could come before or after chopping-- wash your greens. You may think, "Oh but my kale already seems so clean." I thought this. But then I decided to be good and thorough, so washed, and found plenty of sand/dirt coming out in the bottom of my bowl. I first actually put the leaves in a hole-free bowl. Filled it with water, swished it around, then poured the water off. Repeat a few times. Then I finished it in the colander.

Once your water is boiling, blanche for two minutes. I read this timing somewhere on the internet. Collards need three, all other greens, two. But I noticed after one minute or so, they turned a nice bright green, so I was surprised they should be in for another minute, but I decided to just (be lazy and) wait, and I think they'll be fine.

Plunge into ice water (you must "plunge"). One website advised to cool for as many minutes as blanching... I let one batch sit in the cold water for even longer, not a problem. The tongs are helpful when first transferring, then a slotted spoon when you get down to the last remainders.

Take out of ice bath, squeeze a little, then salad spin or spread out and pat dry'ish.

Put on lined flat pan and put in freezer. I omitted this step and went directly to the next one for my first batch, following one tutorial, and I'd say to include this step is advisable so you don't get a huge frozen block in the end.

Nice, bright green, frozen-in-time kale pieces.

Put in freezer storage bag, and label with the date, if you want. Try to squeeze as much air out as you can, even trying to stick a straw in the last unzipped centimeter and suck it out, as I tried per some web directions, somewhat unsuccessfully.

After doing a few batches, you will start to feel like this accidental picture I took.

Yay! Tons of kale in the freezer to have forever! (Probably use within a year.)