Garden Fuss

Fresh baked sourdough can't be beat. I mean it can be kneaded, punched, and folded but never beaten in the flavor department. Several months ago I binge watched Julia Child's Master Chef series and low and behold there was a chef there demonstrating beautiful handmade traditional artisan breads. Specifically sourdough, from the creation of sourdough starter, to baking a beautiful loaf. Those closest to me know that I've had many a bubbly, yeasty, brewing jar of fermented yum yums around my home. However, after actually making the starter for my own sourdough creations; I could not find the time nor will power to "get my bake on". [life took over] Thank God ferments are living beings that need a break from time to time and don't mind being tucked away in the back of a very cold fridge. Which, is exactly what happened to a very large jar of starter I'd previously made months ago. I'm talking at least four months....  To be quite honest I'd forgo...

Beet #kvass and fermented #salsa on deck tonight. The garden does us good! A photo posted by @mizqtinaj on Aug 8, 2014 at 9:01pm PDT One of the simplest, easy peasy, no-brainer, ways of adding beneficial cultures, vitamins, and nutrients into your diet is to ferment your foods. One of my favorite ways to add these cultures is through beverages like Beet Kvaas which I wanted to share with you today. The recipe couldn't be simpler but the benefits to my gut health, my skin, hair, and nails is why I'm excited to share this today. Beets are not on the favorite foods list of most people I know, but I'm glad to now admit that today they are one of mine. To describe to you how difficult it is to get a full grown adult to sip or sample a food with beets is worse than taking a five year old for shots. These folks feel like their life will end if they imbibe on this sometimes crimson root vegetable. But I never give up and the smell and my incessant teasing usuall...

My mother, brother, husband, children, best friend, and anyone else who spends a little time with me know full well how much I love yogurt, cheese, fermented foods and drinks. I try not to be pushy with it, but sometimes I just get so darn excited about a "new" (to me) find that I just want to pass on something good. Just so you know, today is one of those days! My daughter and I have had all out stomp down arguments because previous attempts at making the aforementioned yogurt failed big time. We bought the fancy "starters", we tried crock pots, pricey milks, and heating pads. We searched for the best yogurt machines which only led to more arguing resulting in creating a loose smelly mess.  I now know that the problem we had is a problem many others have; we over think things. Yogurt has been made and consumed for eons, or at least as far back as 2000 BCE [according to Wikipedia]. Yogurt or Yoghurt is a Turkish word meaning " curdled or coagulated; to thi...

A couple years ago we delved into the world of fermented foods. We started out by ordering cultures for greek yogurt and kefir grains for fizzy gingered water which was delicious btw. After a while since I as the one doing 99% of the work without essential equipment I threw in the towel and gave my kefir grains away. I still have yogurt cultures but need an actual yogurt machine not my crockpot which became too hot to create a good yogurt or cheese. Well not too long after this we had an opportunity to try kimchee from a local Asian Market "United Noodles". This fetted smelling concoction was too much for my nose but my daughter braved the stench to taste the cabbagey combination of veg. She quickly bought a jar and googled a recipe to try with cubed beef. A little leary I ventured to try a small bowl before I knew what was in it. Mmmmm I loved the turnips and thought what are these other yummy bits? when she told me it was Kimchi I couldn't believe it. I researched ...