Bacteria Wrangling

The kitchen and cellar have been full of bubbling, brewing, fermenting foods. Things that are alive! and need a bit of care to keep the good bacteria flourishing.

Wanna see some bacteria (and yeast) up close?


Those are kefir grains! Aren't they sooooooo lovely?! The grains turn milk (or coconut juice) into kefir but if you let them work their magic for a little longer you can hang up the curds and drain the whey.


and you'll have creamy, delicious cheese!

The kefir cheese can be used as a crumbly topping on everything from salads to baked root vegetables.

Our favorite way to eat the cheese is stuffing it into the blossoms of the volunteer mutant squashes (The squashes that would otherwise grow into cantaloupehubbards or watermelonzuchinnis- of which we had A LOT.)

Mystery Squash Blossoms

Chop fresh herbs (such as basil, oregano, thyme) into the kefir cheese.
Stuff the herbed cheese into the blossoms then dip in an egg batter and fry.

Wicking it Up

I've been making herbed butter and fresh cheese. Oh! And chutney with homegrown dill and coriander seeds and homemade vinegar (a batch of kombucha turned into some very tasty vinegar).
This is the view from the art studio window. I love watching the alley art develop plus we're really close to the Gallivan Center and can hear a lot of the Thursday night concerts. It makes me more productive to feel like I'm in the party but not of the party.
And here is proof that Mamma Mia-of-the-off-the-charts-high-energy can sit still for a couple of minutes!
We're writing a book together. It's all about our beloved ancestors and their unbelievable stories. In comparison Mamma Mia and I feel...much quiet(er). By the way, Mamma Mia is an excellent, no messing around writer. I'm contributing by giving her topical assignments plus she's under the impression that I have good grammar. Teehee.

Besos!

Jarring Prettiness

Canning season will soon be upon us. Hip! Hip!
This lady is the 2008 canning champion. You are so cool lady.
Yes, canning is a competitive sport. But as the intimidating USDA rules currently stand my made- up method of using agave nectar in my syrups disqualify me. This competition is about much more than food safety. And I am not that precise. I am crying into my yerba maté. I am not actually crying.

Ah well. I will watch and cheer from the bleachers.

Bonus: Canning anecdotes by funny man Robert Kirby. (Made me laugh into my first cup of yerba maté. I am now on my third cup and ready to go!)

*photos from the Salt Lake Tribune.

Rising

There's a Man who i watch sleep at night. He does not wake up when I stroke his hair or let my finger ski down his nose and crash land on his chin. Even when i press his cheeks in search of dimples or lift and then drop his heavy arm HE DOES NOT WAKE UP! 

Why? Why does he not wake up? 

Because he gave the day everything he had.

Happy Birthday O'lover. Thank you for being born. You are my true love.

signed,

your happy wife

p.s. Ollie, thank you for sprouting grain and making your own starter and trying every trick under the sun to bake bread that a grain allergic gal can eat. You are a miracle worker!!!

From the Larder- Part II

Every apple that wasn't made into sauce was dehydrated. I filled about 15 jars (like the white one pictured) and cannot believe they were GONE months ago. I also dehydrated Italian plums...next year I need to do about ten times as many prunes 'cause they are delicious. NOTE TO SELF: Never again eat half a jar of prunes in one sitting. We also dehydrated zuchs & peppers and reconstitute them for soups.
Below are two of my favorite things...grape juice and vegetables in oil from an old French recipe. That old French recipe saved my taste buds! If you come for dinner request it!
Home made plain yogurt and the jam that will flavor it.
From the Blooper Reel...Ollie made me a gellatin man! With my canned peaches and grape juice. It made me sooooo happy.
Spaghetti squash really does look like pasta. (That's Robin Gumaelius's "Book Lady" hanging in the background.)
I refound the above place mats from my childhood. We're learning random factoids about the solar system and the Periodic Table of Elements while we eat.

From the Larder- Part I

I've been taking inventory and planning how we can do a better job of stocking the larder next year. I ran out of dried mint for tea by December. 50 lbs of potatoes is way too much. Last year we ran out of walnuts early but this year we still have plenty. There are a few more acorn squashes in the cellar. But we ran out of butternut squashes and spaghetti squash (my favorite!) a few weeks ago. We have one more sugar pumpkin for one more pie. But we have enough canned applesauce for deserts until next September. We have canned tomatoes and grape juice to last us a couple more years (oops). And so on...

Thank goodness for eggs. Because we keep the ladies in the warm greenhouse and make sure they have light for 14-15 hours a day they lay throughout the winter. A common meal is a walnut & honey crust filled with savory quiche or sweet pumpkin.
Or assorted greens from the greenhouse with sunny side up eggs.
Though the garden currently looks like a plot of mud if you know what to look for you can find plenty to eat already.

signed,
if there ever was a certifiable emergency there would be no gnawing on shoe leather

The Grand Dame, Mr Purdie, and Invisible People

Firstly, O'lover usually feeds the Kombucha Mother agave nectar. He is thrilled that the Mother is thriving on our sweet homemade grape juice (made from the Slade's grapes). Psst....The Mother of which i speak is that happy mushroom in the spoon. Secondly, there were 30 Chris Purdies at the art opening. It was fun to talk to all of them but you can't beat the real Chris Purdie, he's great.
Thirdly, dozens of invisible homeless people fashioned from packing tape lined the route between galleries and ultimately led to the Soup & Bowl Fundraiser at the Covey Center for the Arts. Thanks to Georgiana Deming and others for creating such provocative work.Lastly, three years ago Tami Rodeback and I organized the first Soup and Bowl/ Art Show Fundraiser at Gallery OneTen. It has become a wonderful tradition and Brent Crane, from the Food and Care Coalition, calls it their main annual event.
Sabrina Squires, Nancy, Me, and Tami the lifesaver Rodeback.

Pomelo maté

In the summer it's nice to drink some yerba maté using a grapefruit as the gourd. O'lover brews mint tea, adds ice to chill, and mixes in agave nectar to sweeten. We add the "yerba" to the cored grapefruit, pour in the mint tea, and drink it while squeezing the sides of the grapefruit and releasing more juices into the mix.

It's delicious!

Abuelita assumes that we use sugar. But today there was no fooling her.

Does Abuelita like it?
No! She does not like it! Too "amargo" (bitter).
Crap! She really doesn't like it! What are we going to do ?! (We had run out of agave nectar!)

Abuelita! I'm taking pictures. Please smile for the camera! Pretend you like it!So we added some "miel" (honey) but Abuelita would not touch it. I don't think we'll get away with using a sugar substitute ever again.

But the rest of us, including AJ, really liked it!

The inside of my fridge

Actually looks a lot like this. (although our fridge hosts some lurkers: a large jar of kombucha tea that we "feed" daily and O'lover's fermentation experiments which we're holding hostage until they develop frontal lobes and petition us to be set free). this pic found from Designers' Block UK
my girlfriend Ardell (by her beautiful example) influenced me to not use tupperware (no plastic!) so leftovers are stored in ceramic bowls with plates as lids. all of my gorgeous baskets? used to be Ardell's. She is a minimalist with fantastic taste and few possessions. But Ardell is a magnet for all things beautiful and watching her in action is like watching a martial arts master in tune and ready to strike the right person at the right moment. Watt...CHA! This rare and artful waffle maker is for...you!

speaking of all things edible...these are some of my favorite posts about food:
my sister's lemon lush
azucar's food manifesto
and this lois denominator post makes me nostalgic.

The Trendsetter

this is my cute mom eating her favorite snack.

she used to eat 12 lemons a day. RIND, seeds, and all. now she's cut down to 1. it takes her will power people. in spades.

but she's strong.

momma mia never paid heed to "kid food" as distinct from "adult food". at our house you were either nursing or eating stuffed grape leaves and gyoza like everyone else. and yes we were nursing while talking and walking and writing cursive (wink).

food wise i'm my mom's "mini-me". and would roll my eyes when my friends' moms would cut the crust from their wonder bread.

but lately we've discovered some divergence. last night momma mia served "bichos" for dinner. for those of you who don't know spanish we're talking about plates full of bugs. with antennae. I refrained but O'lover, joined the meal late and helped himself to a giant bowl. and is still harboring ill feelings that i hadn't warned him but watched bemused as he rolled little crinkly legs in his mouth. nope, those weren't hard shelled bean sprouts.

my mom would make an excellent prisoner of war. a much admired quality is her ability to appreciate the protein in a worm laden apple or cherry.

o- how i wish i could be so practical!

thanks for all the varied foods you make us Momma Mia!

Our pal Magnus is in town! Magnus, who usually lives in Norway. Magnus, the guy on the right sandwiched by beautiful girls. Magnus, who once walked across Iceland, and does back & front flips in your peripheral vision.
We had dinner at our house and then walked through the block to Kirsten's for desert.

Me and Laura-of-the-great-facial-structure that can showcase the best short haircuts like another vixen in the valley. Laura and I both thought O'lover's apple cobbler was transcendent.
O'lover channeled Nigella Lawson & Jamie Oliver (his most recent favorite foodies) and made us a great pot roast. I carved up one of our last pumpkins and made a Camille Kingsolver soup from that book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Kirsten baked a cake spiked with plum juice that she had harvested from her neighbor's tree.
YUM.
There was more good food to describe but i've gotta go check the fridge for something.

last night stephen goldsmith had dinner at our house.
he's the guy at the far end of the table.
stephen is the rockstar of new urbanism.
when his friend rocky anderson became the mayor of slc he asked stephen goldsmith to be the city planning director.
stephen is an artist and the founder of artspace in slc.

got it? 'cause you'll be quizzed later.

AJ's delectable pie. imagine the words "oh yeahhhhhhh" but in otis redding's deep voice.

afterwards stephen spoke at gallery oneten.
he held our attention.
sophie's ensemble held my attention too.
so many budding city planners.

signed,
man, that pie was good.

melancholia is spanking me big time. i know what i gotta do to climb out of the dark bleak pit. give up my addiction to shadow delving and well...sometimes a scorpio just can't give up the shadow delving.

So O'lover studied things out in his mind and then went shopping.

Here he's explaining the melancholia recovery strategy.
he bought some spices, some supplements, and my favorite...little red goji berries!
he also picked up some st. john's wort.
huh.
in my herbal pharmacology class at byu we were taught that st. john's wort plus chocolate causes hypertension.
i'm still deciding...is life without chocolate even possible?

o'lover kept talking about adrenals and thyroid and mind/body connection and get this... A WOMAN"S CYCLE. for my husband being the oldest out of five brothers and zero sisters i am so proud that he can lay it all out about a woman's cycle. Thanks Ollie.

1. have you ever tasted aloe vera juice? 'cause it is good.
2. thank you edward kennedy for supporting barack obama. and thanks oprah and scarlett j. now let's just hope and pray obama stays safe. 'cause the man is creating a righteous stir.
3. the cousins at the cousins party always wear artful stockings and shoes. thank you cousins.

Our homestead includes a dungeon-like basement which has too long been ignored. The immediate future calls for an overhaul. We're thinking "5 star root cellar". But what do nice root cellars even look like? How can we make it inviting... so we don't just open the hatch, throw our food down there, and close the hatch? (like we have been.)
This is what turned up on an idea gathering google image search...I love repurposed school buses and i absolutely LOVE doing things i never thought i would do- like burying a large vehicle for what could be another residence in our eco-village...LET'S DO IT!

i'm kidding.

no, but really, if anyone has some good ideas for root cellars, please share.

pumpkin pie with arrowroot crust

Brrrrr....it's chilly and we're acclimating cold turkey. We've always turned our heater on in September. But this year...one of us (please say it wasn't me!) decided we'd be bad ass enough to forgo this modern convenience (until October). And for my niece and nephew, who remember exactly what page there was a mild swear word in Harry Potter, remember that your Auntie Quellie's icy fingers DEMAND a curse. Your pops will explain.

Onto a warmer topic...one of the perks of being married to the lover is a daily update on what the stars and moon are up to, play by play. And some of it is sinking in. For the next couple of days while the moon grows full Demeter mournfully bids farewell to her daughter Persephone who rejoins the dark handsome Hades in the underworld.

I too must say goodbye. To the hot weather that is, and to the brazilian hammocks which provided comfort all summer long.

O'lover, it's going to take A LOT of your hot chocolate to get me through this winter.

p.s. i did a wheelie on that cute motorcycle today. it was mostly intentional...

the nights are now longer than the days

i observed the autumnal equinox...

...by watching King of the Hill at the home despot. i wish bobby were my kid i really do. i'd be so proud.
later the gents worked on our lighting. i can't stop flicking light switches in utter amazement. flick- off...flick-on...flick off...blessed be.
liz and I (mostly liz) made hot apple cider in the fort. she added bengal spice tea to the brew. beyond wow. raw melissa brought her kids over for a bonfire and told us about a local giant fir tree that we gotta visit. (btw, melissa makes the rockinest coconut macaroons. o'lover and i have been buying her raw lime and chocolate tortes for our friends' birthdays for a long time.) and then...

after the reo and ollie fire side concert...the torrential rain that doused our party...a long bath...

O'lover brought me a steaming cup of his famous elixir,
hot chocolate made from scratch.
hot chocolate with a voice
and as we sipped it mindfully,
it whispered...
promises of a comfortable autumn and winter...
and someday not too soon and not to far away...spring.

Sucking the Maté Dry on a Typical Sunday Afternoon

Detox

Who knew that grain withdrawal would have me under lockdown, scratching at the walls, begging in tears and bargaining with Oliver to LET ME HAVE A PIECE OF BREAD.

Thank my lucky stars and my slow to rebel ways, because if it's this hard for me to get off pasta then how would it be to get off heroin, or all those other drugs I forget the names of because i'm too preoccupied with getting high off of Oliver’s brew of dark hot chocolate with cayenne and mustard.

This once upon a time 10 year vegetarian, me, was told by a health professional in no uncertain terms that my body belongs to that of a hunter/gatherer. YAY I get to pick berries! Noooo….gulping sadness... my gut isn’t EVOLVED enough to eat cuisine like you at a restaurant where they serve ingredients. mixed together.

To complicate my food matters, after those ten years of being vegetarian my body doesn’t know what to do with hard core protein, a basic building block that my body NEEDS but doesn’t know HOW TO USE once it has it. AHHHH!

On the bright side, I think I could build a convincing case for a hunter/gatherer being granted the right to wander about outside all day, making flower crowns and grazing on pine nuts and dandelion leaves.

Come to think of it...it's not just my gut that's hunter/gatherer...it's my SOUL.