Home Sweet Home

I was gone for two weeks - my daughter had her second baby - this time a girl - Bridget. What did I do the day I got home? I pulled out my Water Kefir grains and Sourdough starter from the fridge. Soaked nuts to dehydrate. Started the soaking process for Cold Cereal and Sourdough Crackers. And then got a batch begun for sourdough bread (which I'm going to have to post about). Those are now staples I always have on hand.

Bridget Lynn

Water Kefir - Best Soda Ever!

I am hooked on water kefir (keh-FEER). A friend of mine gave me some fresh kefir grains about a month ago. They look like a juicy gummy candy (or some describe them as 'cauliflower looking pieces'). It comes dried for purchasing and starting - like from Cultures for Health. There's quite a few videos on youTube - like this one. Kefir is so healthy - full of probiotics (see link for list)! Here's another link with lots of info.

A basic recipe for WATER KEFIR -
1/4C kefir grains
2Tbs-1/4 sucanat (pure dried sugar cane with nutrients) (it will work with white sugar too)(I've been using just 2 Tbs)
fill to 1" of top of a quart jar with water (best to not be chlorinated or with flouride)

Some people dissolve the sugar first in some hot water. But don't pour hot water onto kefir grains or you will kill them. So let it cool. I haven't done this process yet. I stir the sugar and grains and a bit of water with a plastic spoon (can use sterilized wooden spoon - never use metal) until it seems dissolved. Add the rest of the water and cap. I'll tighten the lid and periodically shake. Then store in place with no direct sunlight for 24-48 hrs. The kefir grains will have multiplied. Taste. If too sweet, sitting longer eats up more sugar. Eventually it starts making alcohol (very slight). Strain the liquid into another jar - eliminate some of the grains and start over.

Eat the extra grains. Throw them in your garden. Compost them. Share them with friends.

You can experiment with flavorings. I've only tried adding sliced ginger so far, cuz I so like the plain kefir. You can add some molasses, and vanilla flavoring. Try orange juice. Try raisins and sliced lemon. Try other fruits. But do these additions after straining off the kefir grains so you don't compromise their integrity - you could call this a second ferment. Let sit another day and strain to refrigerate.

Vacation? Your jar with sugar water and grains will keep in the fridge several weeks. Freezing works too. And since it comes dry in packets, it must be able to be dehydrated.

Enjoy!

Added later note: I'm now making it with organic white sugar and a tsp of blackstrap molasses and 1/2 of a washed egg shell, for added minerals - still in quart jars. I have a second jar with bits of fresh ginger in it too. I'm now always adding a teaspoon of vanilla, after straining the grains and about to refrigerate the drink - tastes like cream soda (actually, it doesn't need to be refrigerated if you're a room temp beverage drinker - like me - like I prefer room temp flavored beer - I guess I'd make a good European). So I've ordered Madagascar Vanilla Beans to make my own vanilla extract, and will post about it. There's lots of flavoring ideas out there.

Another new note: Sticking with the basic recipe but now in a 1/2 gallon jar.

Since I'm going to be doing a raw milk piima culture (probably similar to the dairy kefir), I've been reading more. Just in case you are "brewing" differing strains of things in your kitchen ... Separate them by at least 3 feet, so no "cross-pollination" (gardening term). Once bottled in fridge there's no problem.

Newest note-  Am going to start making the dairy kefir too. As I've researched more, it's the only strain that will keep reproducing using raw milk. All the other cultures (Villa, Piima, yogurt ...) require a sterile milk mother culture which requires heating milk to at least 160-180 degrees and refreshing this culture. Then you use 1 Tb per Cup of raw milk to culture at room temperature.

Kale and Banana Smoothie

I'm eating this right now! This is the second large batch I've made so to have in the fridge to eat bits of off and on. I just had Splarah and Dawson taste these latest exotic things I've made lately with the kale. They're here for the evening, sitting side-by-side at Dawson's desk - Splarah working on her computer doing homework (she's in nursing school) and Dawson's editing shots he took for some people's school photos. They love the kale chips and wanted me to leave the bowl. This so-called smoothie ... they could eat their spoonful, but didn't want anymore, so I'm finishing it.

I think I put more kale in it then called for - how do you measure ripped kale leaves, or basil leaves for pesto ... other than weighing it?!

KALE AND BANANA SMOOTHIE

1 banana
2 C chopped kale
1/2 C milk
1 tsp maple syrup
1 Tb flax seed

Puree in blender. They pour it over ice cubes and serve. Mine doesn't pour! I think I used 1 Tb maple syrup.

You could use any type of liquid other than the milk, like even water, and more of it. Adding any other fruit you have on hand plus the banana would make it even better.

Splarah and Dawson said it tastes ... nutritious!

Chokecherries

Monte and me harvested the chokecherries today. The bushes are on the edge of the woods, edging my lower garden. We figure they were planted 100 years ago by a homesteader, along with our rhubarb. Only the clusters on the garden side exist. Bear, deer, and elk have eaten all of them on the woods side. The chokecherries weigh in at 30 pounds! There used to be aspen trees over them, so they'd not always fully ripen. Colorado has it's droughts and several years ago was a bad one and lots of aspen trees died. We're in another drought this year cuz we've not had rain for 1 1/2 months and there's been wildfires.

I used to make chokecherry jam and syrup, but I don't like the amount of sugar it takes to make them palatable, so I stopped harvesting them. This year I decided I'm going to try making wine of them. We have a friend who's made wine from just about everything - like even beets! So from her trials and reading, chokecherries make a great wine - and I'm going to jump in. The chokecherries are bagged in the freezer for now - which is the best way to start the breaking down process for developing the 'must' and not crush the pits (which are undesirable).

I'll probably post pics of the process, but I can't report on the results for a year!

Cucumber Lime Drink

Several summers ago Dawson and me craved a cucumber lime beverage we'd get when walking around the Farmer's Market, so we tried to make it at home. My guess is the lady making it at the market just used a reconstituted frozen limeade and added pureed and strained cucumbers, and I'm going to have to try that. But here's the recipe I created ...

CUCUMBER LIME DRINK

3 long cucumbers
1 1/2 - 2 C sugar (depending on your sweet tooth)
2 C fresh squeezed limes (8)
enough water to make a gallon

I put the sugar in a large pan with a strainer above, then puree the cucumbers in 2 batches in my blender, each batch with 2C of water. I pour these in the strainer and then stir the pan mixture till the sugar dissolves. Then add the lime juice and add water, pouring through the cucumber in the strainer till it equals a gallon.

I do this process when I make rhubarb-ade (posted earlier). But maybe it would be easier to just mix everything in a large bowl, stirring awhile, both to dissolve the sugar and letting the flavors mingle more, then strain the whole mixture, pouring off into jars to refrigerate.

We had a series of guests this last week, and everyone really liked this. Everyone always does. I don't know if I know of anyone not liking this nor the rhubarb-ade.

RhubarbAde

A beverage I make often for company and family gatherings is rhubarb-ade. It's my made-up version of lemonade utilizing rhubarb we harvest and freeze. It's gotta be made from frozen rhubarb, otherwise you'd need to break down the rhubarb by cooking. I think I already mentioned in the Rhubarb Crisp post that I freeze rhubarb in 2 quantity sized bags: either a heaping quart measure (so more like 5+ cups) for my rhubarb custard pie (in my Hearth & Home cookbook), or a heaping 2+ cup measure, for the crisp.

From the pie bag measure of rhubarb I make a gallon of the ade beverage.

Nuke (microwave) the frozen rhubarb a bit - starting to thaw with some liquid, but still somewhat frozen with the rhubarb cut chunks intact. I put this partially thawed rhubarb in my blender along with a couple cups of hot water. In a large pot or bowl have 1 cup of sugar. Blend the rhubarb some. I don't totally puree it, but break it up more. This mixture I pour into a colander I have sitting over the pot with the sugar in it. I'll add a bit more hot water, if when stirring, the sugar doesn't seem to be dissolving. Always pour the added water over the rhubarb in the colander to gather the rhubarb flavor. Some of the rhubarb strings, pulp, will end up in the beverage.

So, the RhubarbAde recipe proportions:
1 heaping quart of partially thawed and blended rhubarb
1 cup of sugar
1 gallon of water

People like this beverage and I often have it requested by guests. I took it this past weekend for our 4th of July gathering. Years ago when Monte was telling a Wisconsin uncle about the drink, he laughed, thinking it sounded like silage (green farm fodder stored in silos for winter animal feed). I don't know if he believed us that it could taste good!