Sourdough Crepes

Once done I flip the sourdough crepe onto a plate

I like calendar days that contain stories and meal suggestions. For many years I've made crepes on Fat Tuesday/ Mardi Gras. My blog post on Mardi Gras into Lent is here. My crepe recipe is here. This year I made sourdough crepes.

Actually, since I found this crepe recipe (I bought the A to Z Sourdough eBook) I'm making them quite often. Sometimes for breakfast with unsweetened grated coconut, homemade yogurt, fruit and maple syrup. Sometimes for lunch or supper with leftovers of meats and veggies. These crepes can even be fried crisp like chips - use for nachos!

Before I jump into the recipe I have to start from the beginning, a very good place to start. My sourdough starter is made from rye flour. I used to have a starter I made from potatoes and wheat flour (it might have used a bit of yeast at the beginning, I don't remember) from an Alaska Sourdough book. When I bought Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions book in the early 2000's I started my rye starter. I use this starter for everything including the sourdough pancake recipe I got from the Alaskan book. My starter how-to along with the Sourdough pancakes I've made for years is here.

Starter in jar and crepe ingredients

SOURDOUGH CREPES

1 C sourdough starter
3 Tb butter or oil
3 eggs
pinch of salt

I usually start with melting the butter in a 2C Pyrex mixing bowl, then mix in the eggs and starter. I use a silicone whip, keeping it in to periodically stir while making the crepes.

Pour a few Tablespoons batter and tilt pan to spread batter

Crepe ready to flip, this one looks a bit thicker than I usually make them

Have a very well seasoned smaller cast iron skillet preheated. First add a bit of oil and swish it around by tilting the pan. Then add a few tablespoons of batter depending on what size pan you're using - mine is an 8" (and sometimes I'll use a 6" pan). Wait till the crepe develops little bubbles all over, then with spatula quickly flip it over. It doesn't need to cook on this side for long, like just a few seconds and then flip out onto a plate. The crepes can stack till you're done with all the batter. This amount will make about 10 crepes.

I've put leftover crepes in a zip-close bag and frozen. It works great. No need to put waxed paper between.

Happy crepe-ing. Sharing of crepe filling ideas could be numerous, so how about you? what have you tried, and what's your favorite?

Soaked and Dried Nuts and Breakfast Porridge

I've started soaking nuts this year. I've had Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions book for years and am just now getting around to reading all the great information - lots of it! - and doing more and more of it's recipes, believing it's philosophy.

BREAKFAST PORRIDGE

For any recipe utilizing grains, it's suggested to soak them for at least 8 hours. I've had a hand grain rolling machine for years and now have it set up in the pantry. The night before, if we're wanting to cook up a cereal for breakfast, we grind it and soak it. Monte's having fun picking different grains I have in jars in the pantry. His proportions are 1/3 C of rolled/cracked grain to 1 C water. You can add a pinch of salt if you like. Nuts could be added to this soaking mixture. Then in the morning gently bring it to simmering. Differing grains take differing times to soak up the liquid. Then we'll add fruit, unsweetened coconut, whey, and sprouted flax meal to it. And of coarse my homemade yogurt.

Soaking Nuts

Why soak nuts? They contain enzyme inhibitors that can put a strain on the digestive system. Let them soak at least 7 hours or overnight (I prefer 12 hours - especially for the almonds). Drain. Spread to dry in either a warm oven (no more than 150 degrees) for 12-24 hours till dry and crisp; or dry in a dehydrator. My oven doesn't go that low, so the dehydrator is back in use.  Other than walnuts, that are susceptible to rancidity so should be stored in the refrigerator, all nuts can be stored in airtight container for months. They make great snacks!

SOAKED NUTS
4 C nuts
2 tsp sea salt
water to cover
Like I said, soak at least 7 hours or overnight, and then dry.

Crispy Pepitas (4 C raw soaked pumpkin seeds with 2 Tb sea salt)

Elevenses Omelet

Monte and me have fun saying we're "eating our second breakfast" - or little lunch. I just read a book, The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise, where a Beefeater, his wife, and a 180 year old tortoise live in London Tower. Hebe works in the London Underground Lost Property Office, where Elevenses is an anticipated time. Both her and her husband look after their respective unusual menageries. Tolkien's Hobbits have their Elevenses, as does Winnie-the-Pooh and Paddington Bear.

Most current mornings I begin with a probiotic green drink, dissolve a microlingual vitamin D tablet on my tongue, start my beverage of tea or coffee, take my Juice Plus, and ready my bowl of a small portion of fresh or frozen fruit, homemade yogurt, a few drops of stevia, scoops of whey, raw unsweetened dry coconut and dried sprouted flax seed, sometimes adding in a bit of granola or Ezekial sprouted grain cereal. Monte makes oatmeal to go with the same mixture of ingredients, and sometimes I'll have some of his oatmeal. Then I'll read, research, and write, fitting in excercise at some point before being hungry by 10:30-11. My current exercise I'm able to do regularly (mentioned in January 1st post) is 18 minutes with Teresa Tapp DVD (T-Tapp). Occasionally I'll do her total, or step-away workouts, but currently trying her "Hit the Floor" one.

I've always loved eggs. Home-grown are the best! In fact, I'm so missing my chickens, Monte's going to build a coop closer to the house and we'll order chickens again. My preference is soft-cooked, but I like omelets and frittatas as well. My cookbook tells of the science to cooking eggs. I ignore eggs and cholesterol talk. One day coffee and chocolate are bad for you and then they're good ... yadda, yadda, yadda. Most healthy people's bodies know how to metabolize good, whole foods. Cholesterol and lecithin are both in the egg yolk, along with most of all the other egg nutrients. Lecithin neutralizes the cholesterol and organic eggs have more lecithin. We like to have a rooster per about seven hens, so the eggs are fertile as well. Think about it! Nature provides a life-giving fertile germ in eggs, seeds, whole grains ... An egg is one of God's wonderful little whole nutritious packets!

One of my favorite OMELETs is with mushrooms and spinach -
- Saute a few cut up mushrooms
- Mix up 1-2 eggs (3 egg omelettes, typical in restaurants, are too big for me) in a bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper, can add a dollop of water, milk, or cream, to have ready.
- Sliver some fresh spinach.
- Sprinkle some ground whole thyme into the sauted mushroom.
Add the slivered spinach and saute another 30 seconds, then scoop the mixture onto your plate.
Pour in the egg mixture, lid the skillet, and turn heat to low, cooking egg mixture thru.
- Grate onto the egg some parmesan or provalone cheese, scoop back in the spinach mixture, fold the omelet in half and deliver it back to your plate and enjoy!

In days of old, when the children were home, our mornings, once having eaten, looked like: me reading aloud and them doing a handiwork, when not on my lap or playing on the floor when they were young. Handiwork like carving, needlework, crafting, or sketching - always honing skills and thinking of gift-giving ... like to the Grandparents. On my other blog I'm going to be talking about the bookmaking we did.

Good morning! Good Day!

Garden Seeds Ordered

I've ordered my seeds for this coming year's gardening, have you? The seed catalogs start coming in for the new year and every January I love planning my garden. I evaluate past years' gardening. With my short, cool growing conditions, Johnny's Seeds, in Maine, develops seeds that produce well for me. I have garden drawings and notes going back over many years (this is the longest I've ever, in my lifetime, lived in one home - wow ... twenty-six years!). Every year there's things I tell myself to never waste my time on again!

Speaking of Johnny's Seeds ... In Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Johnny's is mentioned amongst many others as having seeds from Monsanto. When you do the research you find that Johnny's is owned by the employees and any seeds that had been used from a source that got sold to Monsanto are being phased out.

I'll be starting seeds in the greenhouse pretty soon. This winter I've successfully got lettuces, green onions, and herbs still growing. A fig tree is looking beautiful and tomatoes are setting fruit! I'm going to have to vacuum the brown grapevine leaves, as it'll be putting out new growth soon. We froze most of the grapes, but left some to dry as raisins, and guests love finding them and eating!

Speaking of guests, it's been another week of men underfoot! - geology related. Rick's an investor, owning coffee shops in California, but I'm not letting him make me coffee any more! He uses three to four times more coffee grounds than me - I buy them freshly roasted at my local store - I thought I had enough for a month! His coffee keeps me awake all night!!! No wonder he's a bundle of energy!

They all left for the airport an hour ago. One to Virginia, another on to Vancouver, and Rick back to California. We had Italian Monday night with spreading pesto on chicken breasts and rolling them with prosciutto - I thought them too dry and salty. Tuesday lunch was a potato leek soup with Kielbasa; supper, lasagna. Sourdough pancakes were served for a breakfast with raspberries from our garden (in the freezer) and homemade yogurt, - and since I make extra, liking them as a snack with almond butter and raspberry jam, they ended up sticking them in the toaster for another breakfast. Then of course there's always my homemade bread. I wasn't going to be around, and them doing other things off and on for two days, so the lasanga and soup were great for them to have leftover. Today's lunch was fish tacos. I marinated mahi-mahi in 1/2 cup each Tequila and lime juice with some chili powder, sugar and salt - then smoked/grilled it.

My food and our hospitality is greatly appreciated and even with winter's garden dormancy, the beautiful rock garden walls, fencing, bamboo ornamentation and dried stalks all add to our home's wonderful retreat atmosphere where people like to hang-out. Again, our wonderful Velveteen House!

Homemade Soap and Moisturizing Cream

I have been making soap for years - now two decades! I guess that tells you we like using homemade soap. My very first books that started me down this journey were Jeanne Rose's Herbal Body Book and Soap by Ann Bramson. I see that both are still available from $1-100. Both were printed in the 70's. I refer to Jeanne's book as my "Hippie" book. It is so marked up with notes and about to fall apart. It's the best beginning reference for what oils, essential oils, fats, herbs, etc are good for - like nutritive values, for what skin types, hair, etc. I've collected other books over the years - the others I've most used are by Susan Miller Cavitch. Her books are still available too. The Natural Soap Book makes 12 pound batches. Her second, The Soapmaker's Companion, makes 5 pound batches. She uses a mixer - I don't. My cookbook has the basic recipes I make once a year.

Since I wrote my book, I've been making a shampoo soap bar and moisturizing lotion - both from The Soapmaker's Companion, tho I've tweaked them quite a bit. In the picture to the right are the three main soap bars I keep stocked. If I don't give too much away, I only have to make soap once a year (even longer span now that's it's mainly just Monte and me)(I'll have to ask my kids if they want homemade soap made for them) - that's our total soap use - no buying of bar soap, face soap and creams, nor shampoo! In the past I've done lip balms and laundry soap too and other household cleaning stuff - maybe I'll return to doing that. So pictured are a small tub of the face cream (moisturizing lotion), and stacked from bottom to top: body soap, face soap, and shampoo bar. Cold-pressed, unrefined, extra-virgin coconut oil is great for cooking, but also makes a wonderful massage oil, and Monte's been using it as his body lotion. It and my face cream initially feel greasy, but they soon soak in. I've tried so many facial products, including expensive ones, and still prefer my homemade ones!

The Moisturizing Cream I make is considered a firm mousse. The recipe proportions amount to about 140 grams of solid fats, 400 grams of liquid fats, and 400 grams of water. Each time I make it I use differing ingredients depending on supplies on hand. Olive oil is a dominant fat in all my soapmaking. The solidifiers in the cream are melted beeswax, cocoa and shea butters. I like castor oil in both the cream and my bar soaps. In the cream, I've used wheat germ oil, jojoba oil, apricot oil, and always almond oil. I don't use water - making it's proportion up with liquid lanolin, aloe vera gel, rosewater, and witch hazel. Then there's added glycerin, borax (helps in emulsifying the liquids and solids, so no separation), grapefruit seed extract for naturally preserving the mixture from spoilage (parabens are what's used in almost all cosmetics and studies are finding health issues from this chemical), and then I add some essential oils: lavender, peppermint, sometimes nutmeg, and always lemongrass essential oil. This fills 3 small tubs and a quart jar I keep in the fridge for refilling the tubs.

I want to write out the recipe because I know a few people would read this and want to make it - I would. I don't want to overwhelm you, but I do keep these ingredients stocked in a bin in my linen/cleaning equipment closet. I used to order them from a co-op, but now purchase them from a health food store and online. Like, Google soap making, and you'll find many sources. Lye is a major bar soap ingredient. When mixed with coconut, palm, olive, castor, etc oils it saponifies into a rich healthy-for-the-skin soap - non-drying to the skin. Store-bought soaps have the natural by-product of glycerin extracted, for making other stuff, therefore removing the emollient quality.

MOISTURIZING CREAM

Melt the solids - I put them in a large glass bowl, and melt using the microwave (Cavitch does it in a saucepan on the stove, which I should do, and will next time).
SOLIDS - 130-140 grams
100 gms beeswax (I used to grate it, but now found pellets)
20-25 gms each of cocoa butter and shea butter
Make sure the beeswax melts - I've occasionally found tiny bits when using my cream :-D

OILS - 395-400 grams
250 gms Olive Oil
50 gms Almond Oil
20 gms Castor Oil
25 gms Wheat Germ Oil
50 gms Jojoba Oil
The oils can be added to the melting solids. Don't heat above 165 degrees. Remember, you can use whatever you have on hand as long as you keep to the overall proportion. Like this time I didn't have wheat germ oil (it needs to be kept refrigerated, and I must have thought it too old awhile back ... and then didn't write it down on my 'to buy' list ...). Also, when I opened the jojoba oil, knowing it was getting old, I smelled it. I won't use rancid smelling products. So I only used more of the castor and almond oils this time.

WATER - 400 grams
primarily witch hazel and rosewater
then some liquid lanolin and aloe vera gel (I used about 100 grms of each this time)
Then 10 gms of borax
15 gms vegetable glycerin
5-10 gms grapefruit seed extract
Make sure the borax completely dissolves in the water mixture.

A freestanding mixer would be nice to use, but I've always used a hand-held little mixer. Starting on low speed, slowly drizzle the water mixture into the oils. Continue mixing as the mixture thickens, occasionally scraping the sides and increasing the speed. Once it's thickened like mayonnaise and cooler, add essential oils - 5-6grams. I didn't weigh them this time, so used 1/4 tsp each of lavender and peppermint. I would have used nutmeg too, if I'd had it. Then 1/2 tsp of lemongrass.

I often add vitamin E. I used to add Vitamin A to this mixture too. Vitamin A, retinyl palmitate, is good for the skin, but new studies are finding that with sun exposure it develops skin tumors. It's put in lots of lotions, including sunscreens because it is an antioxidant and slows skin aging, but with sun exposure it's now believed to be cancerous. On the subject of sunscreen, I read labels and try to avoid oxybenzone, which is hard cuz it's in just about everything, including lip balms. It can be allergenic, but primarily it messes with hormones. Sunscreens too are messing with our Vitamin D absorption. I also don't use products that use mineral oil (robs skin of it's own natural moisturizing mechanism - it's used cuz it's cheap!) and petrolatum (in ChapStick and Vaseline). Europe won't allow usage of these products. Monte wants me to start making two moisturizing creams - one with the Vitamin A, for a night cream.

I still have lots of homemade soap bars in tubs from many years of soapmaking days with friends. Over the years we've tried all sorts of additives. I'm sensitive to fragrances, so rarely use them. When soap is made with lard, over time it develops an off smell, so fragrances mask this. I don't use lard, using tallow for the other 'fat' in my bar soaps. It forever has a sweet smell. We've added ingredients like oats, honey, and powdered milk; colorants like cinnamon, or turmeric ... I've brewed a strong herbal tea to use as the water, adding the herb properties to the soap as well as differing color. I've started felting wool over these soaps. I'm posting a picture of some I did this year to go with, matching, some of my knitted washcloths (see my overflow blog for instructions).Think: "Soap in a Sweater"!

Felted Soap

Dieting

Every January 1st you hear people talking about, "I ate too much over the Holidays", and it's time for New Year Resolutions which always seem to include eating better, exercising, and maybe dieting. I dieted last fall. I'm never too much overweight, but I'll put on some extra fat and sometimes my metabolism is sluggish, even tho I'm doing a lot. Like I always figure I'll lose over the gardening season when I'm way more active ... but I didn't. Monte and me had gone to a Gary Morris concert at a small venue in Denver - it's one of Monte's favorite singers. When he checked out his website he saw a mention of having lost 100 lbs and a link to how he did it. Only because I trusted him did I carry on in reading the info from the site the link led me to, and I decided to give it a try. So I put a link on my sites too.

I lost 20 pounds in 4 1/2 weeks. I read everything on the site, and when I looked at the recipe/food suggestions, which I copy and pasted elsewhere for easy access, I said, "I can do this". Recipes are a great help when trying to lose weight, rather than just saying, "avoid this and this and this ..." Besides a very restricted amount of calories, there's a homeopathic spray, an amount for 50 days. My Grandmother was a homeopathic nurse, and I have some of her old books, and I understand the "science", which Monte says people would say it's not science, but it is. You're supposed to stop the homeopathic mouth spray and consume more calories. The site calls this phase 3a and b and gives more recipe suggestions and easing into eating for the rest of your life, which is the way we should be eating anyway - whole good foods! And it is the way Monte and me usually eat anyway. People who need to lose more weight, after doing phase 3a + b for awhile return to doing the spray and restricted calorie diet again, until down to where they want to be.

Like I said, I wasn't too much overweight. After 4 1/2 weeks I could tell my body had used up it's fat stores and was needing more food. I'd been eliminating fats/oils, so the body would eat up it's fat store. So during that time frame I drank tea every morning till about 10-11 when I'd have a couple tablespoons of my homemade yogurt mixed with 100 grams frozen strawberries partially thawed and a few drops of liquid stevia for some sweetening. Then I'd have a meat and veggie lunch and supper, weighing the raw meats at 100 grams, marinating them in Bragg's Liquid Aminos/apple cider vinegar and herbs and spices. I'd usually eat an apple in the evening.

Since there's an avoidance of oil/fats, I couldn't use my homemade supperfatted face and body creams - cold-pressed, extra virgin coconut oil is what I used, and Monte fell in love with it and is using it for his lotion now (it's also a great fat to cook with- tho I couldn't on the diet). No coffee - as it's got oil. No herbal teas with mint - as mint's got oil too. No alcohol - cuz no sugars. Since some little bread sticks and melba toast were ok, I figured I could use my homemade french bread, as it's got no sugar and oil/fat. I'd grind it into bread crumbs for sprinkling on the top of a meat when baking for a little extra nice flavor. I ordered some suggested "Miracle Noodles" made from yams with no calories, primarily fiber. So I was grilling the meat and having salad a lot. I'd bake fish or chicken breast over a veggie like kale, or cabbage, or asparagus ... I rolled asparagus in thin sliced marinated beef and grilled. I'd plan on extra meat for taking with me, or a hard-boiled egg, on days I was away from home. I got used to taking along a cucumber, or radishes, or celery for taking bites of. 

Anyway, that gives you an idea ... And it really wasn't too bad. Monte actually liked a lot of the stuff, tho he'd eat more. I stopped the diet about a week before Thanksgiving. So with Thanksgiving and having gone thru the month of December with all the holiday baking, company, parties, etc ... 'tis the season, I only gained back 5 pounds. So I'm still 15 pounds thinner. I'm wearing clothes I'd not worn for several years. My arms, legs and across the back are thinner. My abdomen is thinner, tho I want to lose a bit more and tighten things up with exercising.

I didn't exercise during the diet. With the calorie restriction I'd not have enough energy to. That was fine with me, cuz exercising is not something I enjoy. I'll occasionally walk, lift weights, do the treadmill ... but I'm not regular at anything, and traveling and company disrupts me totally! and that's the story of my life!! My friend Marty though, kept raving about T-Tapp exercising, "And only 15 minutes a day!!" Now that's something I COULD do! The problem with me is I've got so many things I'm wanting to do in my day, that an hour of exercising is not what I want to do. I checked into T-Tapp. And I'm regularly doing it. I love it. If it keeps me firmed up and it's something that I'll regularly do, cuz it's easy, then it's better than nothing!

Talking about good recipes ideas when attempting a diet ... Probably about twelve years ago my mom gave me the book "Protein Power" saying it's like the Atkins diet idea. I read it to understand the philosophy. I found a great cookbook that followed the low carb idea and that book is still a favorite of mine - The Low-Carb Cookbook, by Fran McCullough.  It, and that whole diet idea, helped me love veggies. I'd never been a veggie lover, and preferred the starchy veggies over others. When pregnant with my youngest I started enjoying salads. Then when trying the Atkins low-carb dieting idea, I fell in love with veggies. Rather than focusing on protein, I still to this day focus on veggies, and a lot of them in a raw salad form.

When you read the T-Tapp literature (Teresa Tapp), she talks about a God-made, Man-Made food plan - several days of God-made foods with a one day man-made food day in between. So 2-3 days of whole natural foods then an allowable one day of processed, preservative laden, fast-foods eating day. When you think of it, most diet and vegetarian foods are processed. I cook from scratch so I have control over my ingredients. I now think nutritive, phytochemical rich food.

So ... when making food choices, think simple (like few listed ingredients rather than the typical 30+!) and whole, close to the way God made it. And think COLOR - a wide variety!!!

Fun Food Books

I just listened to and read some fun food reads.

Every night before going to bed I have a fun book to be reading. Sleep has never come easy for me since I was a teenager. Maybe I don't need much sleep. I've read bios of people who function quite well on little sleep and my uncle is in that category. Over the years I've tried every technique I've heard/read of. Monte thinks I'm funny, saying "my body is willing, but not my brain", a dichotomous statement! - aren't I one whole being?! Oh well ...

My bedtime book I just finished is The Butcher and the Vegetarian - One Woman's Romp through a World of Men, Meat, and Moral Crisis. It was fun, and sometimes thought-provoking, and eye-opening. Tara Weaver (she has a blog - Tea & Cookies) grew up in a vegetarian family. As an adult, she found herself in poor health, and trying cures of every kind, a doctor finally ordered her to eat meat. This book is about Tara navigating around this foreign new world.

A fun novel I listened to is Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews (I've listened to several of her books - good - love the reader). A Southern food network chef Gina Foxton ends up having to compete with a rival food network chef, handsome Tate Moody (a hunter, fisherman chef) and his dog Moonbeam - paired up by the network for spice for the network. It's packed with Southern flavor and humor.

Then too I listened to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - A Year of Food Life, read by the authors: primarily Barbara Kingslover (read her Poisonwood Bible), along with bits by her husband Steven Hopp and daughter, Camille. I bought the book when it came out in 2007, but wanted to listen to it. They left the sunbelt of Tucson Arizona, paddling against the then tide (not the current green tide) to Stephen's dilapidated farm in Appalachia country. It's part memoir, part journalisic investigation, and a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life and diversified farms at the center of the American diet. Good humored and poetic - I like her writing style. I had to laugh at the chapter on turkeys and their sex life, since we have had turkeys in the past. For one year they vowed to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it - tho each family member chose one item they couldn't live without. I've not gone to their website yet (the book's title), but want to - supposedly lots of links, recipes etc posted there.

Recipe Inspirations

A great read!

I've mentioned some sources I get recipes from and inspiration, since I often improvise on recipes with my own ingredient choices. I like what I eat to be the most nutrient rich possibility. Which is why I research as to what foods should most definitely be organic. I always think WHOLE! Whole herbs and spices for freshness and optimal seasoning - I grow herbs and keep potted herbs in the house over winter - I buy spices whole as much as is possible and grind in a mortar and pestle or an extra coffee grinder I have for grinding seasonings. I grind my own flour from a wide variety of grains, so I usually cook from scratch. I'll preserve foods by freezing and drying over canning because of nutrient retention (I used to can). We eat as fresh and local as possible too. I love my kitchen gadgets, i.e. "servants" - and use them! I've been learning all this stuff over 35 years, since I didn't know how to cook when I got married. I love to read and research and experiment (like I read about how to make marshmallows ... and decided I didn't want to make them, nor eat them!)(how did they make things before Cream of ... soups, instant puddings and jellos, cake and everything else mixes?).

Speaking of experimenting and researching, the first place I look now for cooking info is from Cook's Illustrated- books and magazines. I have all their magazines bound from their beginning so to have an overall index. Whenever I'm about to cook something new, I consult several cookbooks and pull together a recipe taking bits from several sources. But to do this you have to understand your ingredients. My next favorite cookbook is The Joy of Cooking. My book is an older version and falling apart. I think the older versions have a little more old basics that have now been edited for our more modern approach to cooking. The Joy of Cooking has a chapter titled "Know Your Ingredients". My favorite part to read in all books are prefaces and introductions - that's where the why's and wherefore's are. Rodale Press books are another rich resource for me. They all utilize whole food varieties. My favorite is The Rodale Cookbook by Nancy Albright, and then her Naturally Great Foods Cookbook. I have all of Martha Stewart's older cookbooks. I collect Rick Bayless Mexican cookbooks too...

For putting up foods, again I have Rodale Press books like Stocking Up, Root Cellaring, and their gardening and compost books. I collect fancy pantry books, lotion & potion and soap making books (I'm about ready to make soap again - I do it about once a year). And then a book I used to consult all the time is Carla Emery's The Encyclopedia of Country Living. I have a newer edition but I also have her very first mimeographed, many colored pages book in a three-ring binder (almost 40 years old!) - the following editions edited out a lot her ramblings and personality!

Nowadays I Google recipes. I get once-a-week recipes from SplendidTable.org - Lynne Rosetto Kasper has great recipes. I get daily recipes from AllRecipes.com where I have a recipe box. And I have a recipe box at FoodNetwork.com too. I used to get emails from the Gourmet magazine, but it's gone by the wayside.

I'm currently exploring wine making, as I've posted about the amount of chokecherries we picked. Then, with reading, I hear raspberry wine is good too and it'll be a perfect use for older hand-picked raspberries I have in the freezer and not wanting to throw out. I'm going to make crabapple wine too. And some year soon, we're going to have a bunch of elderberries ...

I'm open for more suggestions and people's favorites ...

Food Fiction

I finished a fun fiction full of food book ;-) ... Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs. The popular food show host, "Gus" Simpson, a widowed mother of two adult daughters, is faced with having to host a live cooking show with a saucy younger beauty queen Carmen Vega. Her daughters, along with ex boyfriends get roped into the show, and viewers love the live drama. The food talk/competition was great. Jacobs is more known for her first popular book, The Friday Night Knitting Club - which I enjoyed too. As a knitter I've enjoyed several knitting stories: like The Knitting Circle, and knitting mysteries by Ft Collins Colorado author, Maggie Sefton.

Another book I read this past year connected to food was Clementine in the Kitchen by Phineas Beck (Samuel Chamberlain). Prior to WWII the Chamberlain family lived in France and Clementine presided over their kitchen. She so loved the family and them her, that when they had to move back to Massachusetts, she moved with them. With her not able to speak much English and used to fresh markets, her shopping experiences in America are fun ... and thought provoking ... A fun entry is her first exposure to America, a stopover at a family friend's home before they settled into their own home. The Yankee breakfast was her first eye-opener: orange juice, cornflake cereal, ham and eggs, along with muffins and cinnamon rolls, and pale, watery coffee. She couldn't get used to ice water instead of a glass of wine at meals. And then at the Sunday evening barbecue, she had her first hot dog and beer from a can poured into a paper cup, sharing this meal with the delighted son Phineas. The Americanization of Clementine had begun. The Chamberlains and the Childs crossed paths. I listened to Julia Child's My Life in France and couldn't wait to watch the movie "Julie and Julia", and ended up buying her Mastering the Art of Cooking two volume cookbook set.

I listen to tons of audio books while working in the kitchen, around the house and garden, and doing my textile arts. A local author, Diane Mott Davidson, has volunteered helping a caterer so to be a fly on the wall in many settings that have helped her write her murder mystery novels. I've listened to everyone she's written, getting them from the library. I like to start with author's first books so to grow with the author and the characters, as many of them carry on with a main character or theme. Since this blog is focused on food I'm not going to tell you all my favorites, maybe someday on my other blog. But Diane Mott Davidson writes about the food being prepared in the midst of the story and shares recipes at the end of the book. She's got titles like Killer Pancake, The Last Suppers, Fatally Flaky, Dyeing for Chocolate ...

Bread Making Day

I've baked our own bread for thirty years, rarely buying it. This past year I bought bread, but decided to start making it again. We're getting tired of so many flavorless, or too sweet or salty, or sawdusty bread. I like knowing it's the most optimal of ingredients and nutrient-rich. I also wanted to make sure I hadn't lost my touch. I walk you thru making bread extensively in my cookbook, so I don't want to lay it all out here now.

Company is here and I'm going to have to get started on supper soon. It's Mexican again. Stan loves my guacamole, and everyone loves my stuffed grilled poblano chilies, and I made the Mexican Zucchini Salad. I made a rhubarb crisp and have homemade yogurt ready to go for making ice cream. I think I've posted all these recipes. Two more people invited themselves for supper this morning, so now we're up to seven, and the eighth person here in Monte's office might change his mind and stay too.

I was only going to make my basic bread recipe which makes 6 one pound loaves. One cup of liquid equals a pound of bread. With whole grains I prefer 4x8 bread pans. Now that it's mainly just Monte and me, I cut the loaves in half before freezing, otherwise the bread molds before we eat it all.

Over the years I tried several different grinders and I used to have a Kitchen Aide mixer, which can hold half as much as the Bosch, which is what I've used now for over twenty five years. I like the Nutrimill so far the best. Monte made a shelf for the Bosch that pulls out from the wall (microwave above and toaster oven shelf below, and the grain grinder stores on the bottom shelf).

Once I got going I decided to do my French/Italian bread recipe which makes 4 larger loaves and 4 baguette size loaves. Then I decided I wanted hamburger buns/dinner rolls and some cinnamon rolls. Often I'll make these as separate recipes, each making 4 dozen, but instead I did one pan of each.

Dawson had come home for awhile that evening before heading down the hill to be closer to college, so I grilled some corn on the cob, large portabella mushrooms, and hamburgers, and it was SO good to have them with homemade buns! then of coarse a fresh sliced garden tomato and lettuce.

So now I've got lots of bread varieties to pull from the freezer. I've been making artisan bread too - trying out a new cookbook and bread making method. You make a wet dough and store it in the fridge. I pull out a grapefruit-size blob, round it and let rise on a cornmeal dusted pizza peal. Then bake it in a hot oven on a preheated baking stone with a water basin in the oven too.

Sourdough Pancakes

I'm currently at my son Travis and Sarah's home, sitting at the dining table with the back sliding glass door open to the back kitchen garden. We came yesterday for a 4th of July family bar-b-q meal using my grandpa's sauce on ribs. I'll have to post that recipe - it's in my cookbook Hearth & Home. We spent the night ... were going to go to fireworks, but it was pouring rain. Sarah's Mom and Dad drove in last night from TX and we made sourdough pancakes for breakfast.

Sarah's sourdough starter came from my starter (below). The pancake recipe comes from an Alaska Sourdough book.

Monte making sourdough pancakes

The Alaskan sourdough is made from potato water, sugar and flour (maybe yeast initially?). I've never made sourdough using milk like some recipes use. The current recipe I'm using is from the book Nourishing Traditions  by Sally Fallon. She claims the best results for sourdough starter are obtained from rye rather than wheat flour. And that's fine with me since we consume so much more wheat than any other grain. Her reasoning is because rye contains a lower phytate content (don't ask me what that means cuz I haven't researched it yet).

Rye Sourdough Starter

Start with mixing 2 cups rye flour and 2 cups water and cover the bowl with cheescloth and let sit out on the counter (I've got my bowl covered with a dish towel and rubberband). Each day for a week add another cup each of rye flour and water (or if you do have potato water left over from boiling potatoes, use it), then it's ready for bread. (I'm still working on creating a favorite sourdough bread.) Once your starter is created you can jar some of it up and refrigerate it, then take it out the night before, or a day or two ahead depending upon how much you need, for your next batch of pancakes.

So, from the Alaskan cookbook-

Sourdough Pancakes

Start griddle heating.

Mix together:

(I typically double the recipe all the time and it feeds 4-6 people)

2 C starter (I've been using 4C in a 2 quart pyrex bowl - it'll bubble up, so bigger is better)

2 Tb (sucanat) sugar

1 egg (I've used both 2 or 3  when doubling, and either works)

4 Tb oil

1/2 tsp salt

Mix together: 

1 tsp soda

1 Tb warm water

and fold into batter and let set a bit to rise.

Using a ladle, pour the pancakes to cook on an oiled griddle.

They are best with maple syrup. Sometimes we'll make up a rhubarb sauce. I often cook up berries or old fruit, adding in any old jams needing to be used up. The fruit syrup is good with yogurt (I always have homemade yogurt on hand). Leftovers are good - spread with almond butter and raspberry jam, and roll them up for a quicky meal when running errands.

The Alaskan cookbook tells historic stories and it's said a special place was always made in their cabin/tent/cave/home for their starter and that they'd rather live a year without their rifle than without a sourdough starter. I also found it interesting that a ball of starter could be stored in the midst of flour in a flour sack, like if you were crossing the prairie in a wagon. Think about it ... no stores, no yeast (except for wild yeast, and that's another story that I have from my own experience) you'd sure love biscuits and bread rather than just crackers or tortilla like flatbread all the time.