Temple Cleaning

Spring is springing here in my part of the world! I am preparing the garden, just planted tomatoes, and am looking forward to months & months of summer fruit & vegetables. Other than the heat, I always feel more fabulous starting around the middle of May. It must be my diet?

 Here are two of my favorites, just to get your appetite wet:

 Kombucha!!! Now, you can go buy the little bottles of this fizzy wonder drink, but if you are like me, that will just not be enough and you will drink yourself into bancruptcy. What does a resourceful girl do? Make her own! I resisted this for quite some time, for some reason I had the notion that I could not make Kombucha the "right" way, and that I might poison myself :). Silly Girl......

Making your own Kombucha is so simple, and I love playing with the flavors. I make it with black tea, oolong tea, and green tea....each one giving me a different base. You can add different herbs & flavors after the initial steep (don't add it with your mother!), and give the Kombucha additional healing propoerties. My newest favorite: Black Tea Kombucha, steeped with Hibiscus flowers....Just yummy.

There are hundreds of Kombucha tutorials online, so I am not even going to confuse you with my way. If you want my simple way, you can message me, but I suggest you begin with the tested way. I like this site, Kombuchakamp. You can get supplies there...I use a big pickle jar, and received my first scoby from a friend. If you are local, you can get a scoby from MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE :).

 My second favorite: Lentil Salad

I just LOVE lentils, but sadly, I may have to cut this from my diet. I have been looking at the "0+" diet, and lentils are on my AVOID list. I grew up with lentils, and resisted this recommendation. Well, actually, I resisted the lentils, and then decided to screw it and eat mounds of my tasty lentil salad. Big mistake. It does effect me, and not in a good way. I will share with you though, as this makes an excellent salad to take on trips, picnics...or as make ahead food. You can eat it plain, or get creative by putting it on rice, pasta, bread..It gets better after a day in the fridge.

 Soak lentils overnight with a tsp of baking soda. Drain, and cook until softish, about 20-30 minutes (you don't want them mushy) Drain. Season with salt, pepper, vinegar (apple is good, or balsamic...your taste),and olive oil. Add chopped tomoatoes, and LOTS of parsley. Really, overdo the parsley. It is good for you, and just tastes fantastic in this salad. Let stand a few hours or overnight in fridge. Voila! You may have to season again. Also, you can add red onions, and feta cheese, that tastes divine.

Enjoy! Much love, Heike

Explosive kitchen returns....

Tonight the kitchen was rockin'!

My house can be in chaos, but my kitchen has to work :). Tonight it was bustling with kids, herbs, & lots of SUGAR. Thus, the kids....

When my son asked me to take him to his daddy who was fishing this afternoon, I had no idea that I would come upon a treasure trove of elder flowers :). Unfortunately, I was not prepared, my dog was not even wearing his pack. So I packed down my daughter as much as I could, carried out as much as I could, and we will go back with a knife and bags when the rain stops.

Why am I telling you this? Because it sparked an evening of brewing.

I was looking for a recipe for elderflower wine. Found lots, yet I am not prepared. So I decided to make elder flower fritters tomorrow (something my Oma made me all the time as a kid :)...), and dry the rest of my bounty for Gypsy Tea. I did find a recipe for elder flower cordial..another yummy summer treat...that I will post below.

Instead of posting long recipes, I will post some of my favorite resources to "learn" from.



Elder flower recipes:
http://kitchenherbwife.blogspot.com/2008/06/cooling-herbs-for-summer-elderflower.html



Fermented Beets with Ginger :)...yum!! Ok, I am posting the recipe that prompted this, yet I must admit that spontaneity means that I only had mustard seed & dill, and used whey instead of vegetable starter. Smelled yummy......
http://nourishedkitchen.com/fermented-beets/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nourishedkitchen+%28Nourished+Kitchen%29




Ginger Soda! Ok, we stopped making this a while ago because the bottles kept exploding. First some in my pantry, then the fabulous soda volcano in my kitchen. Now we are back... :). You can find a recipe for ginger soda in Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
, or Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods. Both are excellent books, a Kitchen Witch must have :). I added sarsaparilla to mine...smells like root beer!

Kombucha! Just bottled a batch. I am loving it. I am fortunate to have lots of Kombucha brewing witches in my circle, but this is an excellent resource for beginners too!
You can download a free DIY lesson, just put "Kombucha VIP" as a password.
http://www.kombuchakamp.com/diy-guide-download?awt_l=NA.9N&awt_m=JRz6_RXZUo5jLN

And last, but not least, I strained the fabulous kefir made with raw milk...heaven!! My dog comes out of deep sleep when I strain, he seems to sense it :). He loves to eat the excess kefir grains, lol! That's why he is so purdy! You can get kefir grains by asking your friends, googling "Kefir exchanges", or by ordering from http://www.culturesforhealth.com/. If you sign up for their newsletter right now you can get a free kefir recipe book!

Have fun! Let me know if you try any of the recipes.
P.S. YES! You CAN have a Kitchen Witch T-shirt!!

:) Strut that stuff, Kitchen Witches!!
Much love,
Heike