I Love Swiss Chard
A short time ago I figured out that it is possible to cut off big leaves of Swiss Chard from my garden and keep them indoors in a glass of water. Not only do they look pretty sitting in the kitchen, but they serve as a reminder to eat dark green leafy vegetables.
The tomatoes have been bearing heavily for about a month now and have new flowers, so they should continue to provide me with tasty snacks.
In future I intend to only grow yellow tomatoes, as the birds do not think they are ripe when they are ready to eat, for one thing. The other reason is that it is very hard to distinguish between the unripe red cherry tomatoes and the ripe Sun Golds. Also, the Sun Golds are sweeter. Maybe I will try some currant tomatoes alongside them, though, as they are interesting, tasty, and small enough not to be confusing.
Conservatory of Flowers
Two kinds of attractions that I most like to visit anywhere I go are Natural History Museums and Botanical Gardens.
Interesting Stays
The most interesting Boutique Hotels I ever stayed at was the Dream Hotel in mid-town Manhattan. Compared to other hotels at that location it was affordable, and for me the ambiance was just stellar. Their regular rooms are pretty small, but the corner suites have spacious bay windows that afford spectacular views of Columbus Circle on one side and a glimpse of the Hudson River with glorious sunsets over it on the other. The high-tech blue lights under the bed theme with glass desktops in every room and charging stations for cell phones, laptops, etc., in every room also appealed to me.
The most different Bed and Breakfast I have yet to see is in Ventura, California, however, and it is a 110 year old church.
Exotic Bed and Breakfasts
The most interesting Boutique Hotels I ever stayed at was the Dream Hotel in mid-town Manhattan. Compared to other hotels at that location it was affordable, and for me the ambiance was just stellar. Their regular rooms are pretty small, but the corner suites have spacious bay windows that afford spectacular views of Columbus Circle on one side and a glimpse of the Hudson River with glorious sunsets over it on the other. The high-tech blue lights under the bed theme with glass desktops in every room and charging stations for cell phones, laptops, etc., in every room also appealed to me.
The most different Bed and Breakfast I have yet to see is in Ventura, California, however, and it is a 110 year old church, newly remodeled with five magnificent guest rooms that encircle a room they call the Sanctuary where they serve breakfast on a table decorated with fine china, crystal, and fresh flower. It is called Victorian Rose, which is the same name as a B&B operated at the same location a few years back which got mixed reviews, but the new owner has done something quite different with the interior.
Stone Maze Park
Unknown to many people in the small town of Hemet, CA, there is a treasure in the foothills just out of town. Preserved by the Riverside County Wildlife Conservation, a plot of about five acres of land houses a prehistoric artifact called a stone maze.
Farming Indoors
From left to right, these are winter wheat, kamut, rye, buckwheat lettuce, and spelt.
A Little Hike
Since the weather report said rain, but it was sunny and bright, I stopped at a few places on the way down to Ventura from Pismo Beach. This vista point along highway 54 featured a bit of a climb to get to see anything:
It was worth the little hike, though. In addition to wonderful clouds and rolling hills, the edge of many fingered and deceptively large Lake Cachuma was visible.
When I started up the hill, I was the only one parked in the lot below, but coming back there were nine carloads of people getting ready to enjoy the scenery.
Brush-on Gel Tps
Since I have been spending all day every day in the garden I don’t make my nails nice any more.
Oat Bread Ovals
Who doesn't love fresh bread hot from the oven? One of my favorite yeast breads is nothing more than oatmeal ground into flour in a blender and mixed with a teaspoon of yeast and enough water to make it kneadable.
Oat Bread Quickies
Who doesn't love fresh bread hot from the oven? One of my favorite yeast breads is nothing more than oatmeal ground into flour in a blender and mixed with a teaspoon of yeast and enough water to make it kneadable.
Merry Christmas 2016
To celebrate I wanted to make something really different for breakfast here at our winter vacation cottage. I had some pork on hand, super greens (baby kale, chard, and spinach seasoned with carrot shreds, thank you, Sam's Club), and a hard boiled egg.
I start envisioning a nice steaming bowl of Asian Noodles floating in a rich broth with strips of pork. So rolled out some DIY sprouted rye noodles.
Another Bread Recipe
NOTE TO MYSELF (because this was a delicious loaf of no-recipe bread and I will never remember what went into it if I don't write it down now):
Dry ingredients: (Can mix ahead)
1/2 cup Pioneer Baking Mix
1/4 cup sprouted rye flour
1/4 cup sprouted spelt (and/or quinoa) flour
1 tsp baking soda
A pinch of sea salt
A pinch of brown sugar
Liquid ingredients:
Splash of Braggs Amino Acids
Honey
Buttermilk (or kefir/buttermilk hybrid)
Liquid cornstarch
Coat with avocado oil and knead lightly. This dough should be almost runny, just firm enough to hold its shape.
Baked at 428F for 15 minutes in preheated Gourmia 10 in 1 standard GRILL setting next to bowl of water (in rack or turn halfway to avoid burned bottom... or cook longer on lower heat
Total time: 20 minutes
UPDATE: I made up a few jars filled with the dry ingredients in proportions listed above. On 2/8/17 I mixed the contents of one of these with whey and kneaded lightly with oil before baking on Grill at 365 for about 1/2 hr. The mix made 3 perfect mini loaves which I placed on an upsidedown silicon muffin tray as a rack. They were delicious.
Turmeric Sodabread
This was a sodabread experiment that I fully expected to hate. Wrong!
Here is the recipe:
Part 1: Dry mix (I premix this and store it in mason jars)
3/4 cup sprouted wheat flour
1/4 cup Pioneer Buttermilk Baking Mix
1/2 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1 T turmeric powder
A pinch of black pepper ( to potentiate the turmeric)
A pinch of salt and a few teaspoons of brown sugar
Part 2: Wet ingredients
1/4 cup cultured buttermilk
1 T apple cider vinegar
Enough milk to make the dough almost runny.
It wants to hold together just enough to pick it up, but not so stiff that it forms a ball. I pour avocado oil into a shallow silicon baking pan, then drop the dough in and very lightly knead it with oil covered hands before pressing it back into the pan.
Important: In the Gourmia, the bottom gets hot fast, so to bake bread it is usually necessary to use a rack. I just invert a silicon muffin pan beneath the bread pan.
Baking time was 30 to 40 minutes at 350°f until the sides sort of pull away from the pan and the whole thing looses its glossiness and looks golden and delicious.
Bread Experiment
I did not think my Bean Bread experiment would turn out, but it did. Sounds gross, but I put some refried black peas and a little curry powder in my last loaf of rye bread. It worked! I used to bake yeast bread a lot, but ever since I discovered how foolproof and quick it is to make soda breads with sprouted grain flours, I seldom bother with the yeast and kneading and all that. The black eyed pea loaf tasted good hot out of the oven and toasted the next day, but I did not care for it cold.
The soda bread that tastes best hot or cold is my sprouted wheat applesauce loaf. The Gourmia 10-in-1 robotic oven allows me to make portion controlled loaves easily. This loaf is about right for 2 people:
I used about 1/2 cup of sprouted wheat flour plus a handful of ground flax seeds, 1/2 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Then I stirred in about 1/3 cup of fermented raw applesauce, a splash of avocado oil, and a dollop of buttermilk. The dough wants to be almost but not quite runny, wet enough so it flattens out from its own weight.
The applesauce I use is a by-product from making apple switchel, a refreshing fermented beverage made by soaking sliced or diced apples in diluted vinegar and brown sugar in a mason jar with a fermentation cap. It sits out at room temperature for at least 24 hours and then I strain off the liquid to store in a cooler place in soda bottles until it gets bubbly, but not so long that the bottles burst or it turns into vinegar. When I strain out the chunks, I add cinnamon (and sometimes more brown sugar to replace what the ferment "ate" and blend it into smooth applesauce. This applesauce has just enough vinegar taste to work well in baking, but not enough to overpower it if eaten raw. It is a very useful by-product of switchel making.
I make this beverage from a wide variety of fruits, including cherries, mulberry, grapefruit, etc., but I especially like the apple and strawberry switchel because the chunks of fruit that are left are perfect for baking. I use the "spent" strawberries in pancakes or waffles, and eat the applesauce raw or add it to my bread dough.
Pressed chicken
A shiny stainless steel meat press helps me do versatile make ahead meals. This chopped chicken is came off one of Smart & Final's whole roasted deli chickens. After our first meal from it, I dumped the carcass in seasoned stock with a whole onion and the obligatory Tbsp of apple cidar vinegar to help leach nutrients out of the bones and cooked it 18 minutes in the InstaPot. After boning, I put the meat back in the stock with peeled red, green and yellow sweet peppers and cooked a few minutes. After chopping all of this I pressed it overnight in the Madax and vacuumed packed it the next day.
DIY Knife Block
Can you believe that my favorite knife block took about five minutes to make, cost nothing, and works far better than any I have ever bought?
Soda Bread
Pictured is 1/4 loaf of my sprouted spelt and wheat soda bread. I put a handful of ground cooked and dried pumpkin seed flour in it too. I mix the dry ingredients ahead (in this case the 3 kinds of flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, and a little brown sugar) and then add buttermilk and whatever healthy puree I have on hand and if needed a little water to thin the dough. For this loaf I used stewed prune puree and baked the 9" flat round loaf on a silicon rack for 35 minutes in the Gourmia on the Grill setting at 374° and it came out perfect.
It is a little hard to ruin soda bread, so I don't really measure much any more beyond putting about 1/2 cup of each kind of sprouted flour in if I want to end up with about 4 servings, and about 1 tsp each of bs and bp.
The jam was pureed cranberry, orange, and apple fiber left over from making switchel/vinegar drinks, sweetened with brown sugar. Properly, I guess I should call it fermented cran-orange apple butter. It makes good fruit leather if it doesn't get eaten up first.
Gorman
Did you know there is something special about one of the National campgrounds near Gorman, CA where seniors with an America the Beautiful Forest Pass can overnight for free? There is no water and your cellphone won't work, but to get there you have to pass through golden poppy fields in a fee area. However, if you are just crossing over the California State land, they give you a free pass to travel through to the federal land. Potholes in the road? Yes! But it is SO pretty.
