Latest Culinary Experiment--Don't Try This at Home (Yet)! Confession

Since I've been experimenting with "Ela-friendly gluten free baking" (i.e. gluten free and vegan baked goodies without "junk" like omega 6 oils or refined sugar or flour), I've been thinking about whole grains and the whole question of flour. About how nice it is to be able to grind my own quinoa flour, etc, in the dry grinder of the Vitamix, to use it fresh. 

But also about "batters" and "doughs." They always feature both dry and wet ingredients, right? So if I took whole grains to begin with, and blended them with wet ingredients, I could make a batter direct from the whole grain without having to go through flour, right?

Right? I'm sure there are some baking mavens who would throw up their hands at the textural mayhem I'm getting ready to commit. But how different is it really? One less step to avoid, where oxidation and damage can occur to the grains. 

The other thing: if I soaked and sprouted grains, then blended them to a batter, I could make a raw bread from it in the dehydrator, right? 

I've actually been thinking about this for quite a long time. And there is a website, here, with various recipes and techniques for making batters with whole grains and a blender. I've made a cornbread in the style of that site quite a few times that was gluten free but not vegan, and I didn't even need the Vitamix--the little immersion blender could do it fine. I've never tasted that cornbread, but everyone I've made it for has loved it.

So, I decided it was time to experiment making some raw bars involving sprouted amaranth, my obsession carrots, raisins and applesauce. I also included a quarter cup of flax seeds and a couple tablespoons each of coconut oil and coconut sugar.

I greased these baking pans before pouring in the batter and putting in the dehydrator, but evidently not well enough.

Oh dear, what a mess!

I really should have lined the trays, or made a batter thick enough simply to spread on teflex sheets on the trays.

So, if you're hearing "not a success," you're hearing right!

They're not a total disaster, but they're really not very good, even aside from the "glued to the pan" issue. I think I used too much applesauce and not enough sweetener. There's something really "off" tasting about the applesauce in there too, to the point that I wonder whether the wet batter went a little awry in dehydrator. (I did follow the protocol of having it on a higher temp for the first hour.)

Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens rather often when I'm trying a new experiment for "me food." I think about it a lot ahead of time, but then I dive in to actually do the experiment when I'm in a rush and a time-crunch, and use ingredients that I think need to be used up (like the applesauce), and drastically lower the amount of sweetener and fat from anything reasonable.

I confess that I don't value myself enough to take the time to enjoy the experiment and make something really good, if it's really something "just for me." But this is ultimately for you guys also, so please watch this space: when I get back from my trip, I'll tweak this and make it into something good.

This is a time of year when you can't be running late, and just run out, jump in the car and drive away. There's ice to scrape off the windshield and even then, sometimes you drive off and can't see a thing through the windshield while the car warms up. And while you can't see so well, there's ice all over the dirt road. It's horribly dangerous just to drive off.

I intend that the practice of needing to leave in good time for any outing, allowing time for the vehicle to warm up, be a model for me with other activities too, that I allow a break, a transition, between one activity and the next rather than charging headlong through the exhausting and overloaded day.

Do you have good ways to avoid the "headlong" syndrome?

Wild Mushroom Chili (What Makes Chili Chili?) and Party Poopers

Thanks for all the good wishes for my upcoming journey! It is cold, snowy and icy here, and windy enough that our thermometer blew off the wall and our heaviest ladder blew down. But as far as I know, we are not in line to get overly pounded by the forecast superstorm down here. I put out the hope that everyone up in Nome will be safe.

Huge storms like this, and the smaller ones last week, with their power outages and downed trees, are a reminder not to take anything for granted. Planning makes life so much more manageable for me, but so much of planning assumes that things are going to go a certain way, which they may not. I intend to remember that this upcoming week, as I prepare to travel away from here, with the long, sometimes treacherous drive to Anchorage and a couple of tricky flight connections to make.

Speaking of changing plans, Phil and I were headed to a party on Sunday night. It was the 'Chili Cook-Off' party, and I was pretty proud of my creation. We arrived, and Phil took one look at all the cars parked around the house, on the street, down the next street, and turned the truck around and drove us back home!


Party poopers? Maybe, although probably no one missed us, there were that many people there. Introverts? Well, I certainly am. Phil wouldn't ordinarily answer to that description, but he has a streak of it.
Noise-phobes? Why, yes indeed. A major deterrent was the thought that we wouldn't be able to hear anything that anyone said in a throng that size. Phil also remarked that the home in question only had one bathroom, which would likely be permanently tied up. I was surprised that he thought of that, but it was a good point.

I was slightly disappointed, and I was upset about the unnecessary gas consumption from driving. But I was also soon glad to have the evening clear to get some work done. And I'm grateful for the encouragement: I wouldn't have made this chili without the prompting, and I think it's a good one!

Honestly, though, it may not really be a "chili" as most people think of it. I wasn't raised with chili, so I don't have a stereotype of it in my mind. To me, this is chili because it utilized lots of chili powder and beans. Not it? OK. But it was really good, whatever you want to call it.

Wild Mushroom Chili (or What You Will)

1 cup dried wild mushrooms soaked in two cups boiling water

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, minced

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 tablespoon crushed chilis

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

2 cups cooked pinto beans (or one can)

1 cup cooked adzuki beans

2 cups mixed vegetables

While the mushrooms are soaking in the water, saute the onion and garlic in the coconut oil, and add the ginger and spices. 

Put the mushrooms and water in the crockpot with the beans. 

When the onions are translucent, add the onion mixture to the crockpot. 

Cook on low for 3-4 hours

Add the mixed vegetables and cook for another hour.

It feels funny to me to be using mixed frozen vegetables--it seems like such a shortcut. But it is winter here.

When we got home from our snowy abortive ride to the party, this was delicious and warming. The wild mushrooms give it a great texture and flavor. 

Have you ever left a party before you even arrived?

Welome to Winter, Up for This Week, and My Destination...

It's winter here, and will be so for many months. The only way I can comprehend this dog choosing to run into the ocean--

--is to remember that the ocean water temperature is actually warmer than the air temperature this time of year. Isn't that crazy? Meanwhile, I'm so happy that the clocks have gone back to 'real' time: I felt like we truly gained an hour yesterday.

Phil has screwed cap-screws into our boots as permanent cleats: Homer is one of the iciest places around, because the maritime climate means that it tends to freeze and then thaw, which maximizes the "ground as sheet of ice" effect. Farther inland, not warmed by the ocean, it freezes solid and stays frozen, and with a good ice pack there's less slickness. Notice how Phil's hiking all the way to the right of the path? That's because the center of the path is an icy slide.

And I've given in and pulled out my long johns. I resisted them as long as I could, preferring to be a little cold and preserve the illusion that it wasn't yet winter, postpone the encumbrance of extra layers. Not anymore.

Forthcoming Travels
I've mentioned a couple times that I'm taking a trip this month, but have played a little coy so far in talking about it. Here it is: I'm going to Israel for ten days, to see my family! I'll be leaving a week from tomorrow. The reason I "played coy" about announcing this is simply that I hadn't gotten used to thinking of it as a reality myself. It was a very spur-of-the-moment decision to go, and nothing to do with the snow here! My mom is going to be there at that time, my grandmother's carer will be away, and I just suddenly got the feeling that I needed to go too. Practicalities and finances notwithstanding, and despite the fact that I hate last-minute decisions and fear the hormonal disruptions that long-distance travel brings, when I get a strong feeling like that, I know that I have to honor it.

Last week was a fairly low-key week in terms of external commitments, aside from Hallowe'en and a birthday party. And some of the few appointments I did have were broken because of the stormy weather. Many trees came crashing down, including on to vehicles and power lines.

This week, by contrast, I have different writing groups three days this week, and several meetings and phone meetings to do with my MFA and with developing my Linguistics course, and dogs and chickens, etc, to take care of here, and food to prepare for the almost-two-full days of travel it will take to get me from here to Tel Aviv airport, plus a day or two in Anchorage beforehand. My goodness, that's a long journey. There's an eleven-hour time difference from here to there, and although I only have three different flights, they're none of them short.

So, a busy week looms. I have several posts I plan to share this week also. There will be one about another food experiment I'm making and at least one with an actual recipe. There will be at least one with some more pictures of our beautiful outdoors. And there will be one or perhaps two in which I'll get some burdens off my chest, reveal some ways that I'm finding myself difficult at the moment and, as part of my plan to become a better person through my blogging, I'll suggest some ways to navigate those issues more gracefully--and gladly accept any suggestions too.

Pictures and Places

Down on the beach, the snow is still tentative, and the sun, just about visible, lights up the fresh snow on the mountains opposite.

This rock was stunningly jeweled with fossils, but waaay too big to haul out.

On the other hand, this one had to come home.

I'm somewhat obsessed with rocks with holes in them anyway, and this one looks so much like an ancient Greek helmet, and also is shaped somewhat like Alaska, so heavy though it was, it came with us.

And look what Phil found!

An octopus with only two tentacles--is that a dyapus? I think it's still an octopus, as that's how it started life :)  Yes, that had to come home too.

Do you plan carefully for travel half-way around the world, or do you decide on the spur of the moment? 

Preparing for Flight

I hope your week is off to a good start. 5 degrees here this morning--I was glad there was no more snow to shovel! I'll be on a plane in twelve hours and for the next two days! It remains to be seen how much you'll hear from me for the next ten days, but I will be thinking of you, and of this little space, and will post when I can.

Since I'm preparing for flight, I wanted to share some pictures of an eagle to whom we got surprisingly close when out beach-hiking recently. It's getting to be the hungry season, and I suspect that the eagle's lack of shyness had something to do with the fish carcass washed up on the tide. The crows were pretty interested too.

It soon took off, but didn't go far, and treated us to a display of swoops, circles and glides.

Amazing aerodynamics

and always, so dignified.

Sending much love.

Pictorial Friday--Birds, Berries, Leaves

Not many words at the end of this week. I feel like I'm spinning, and all the words are tumbling together, jostling against one another in a mad dance, choosing their partners. Within a day or two, I hope to be able to escort them out in a more orderly manner, to share thoughts about my upcoming trip halfway around the world, and how I'm going to navigate both the travel and my formidable to-do list.

For now--those red berries on the mountain ash trees waving at the very edge of the bluff, crowding close to our home, are a magnet for birds, and are right on the flight path.

At sunset, all the crows fly homeward en masse--and swoop in to pluck up some berries. See the one mid-left in the picture that's just hanging upside down from the end of a branch?
Oh, to have such effortless trust and flexibility.

 They take over the whole tree, pulling it in many directions, and the tree sways with them...

 Then, with one mind, they're gone, scattering like leaves.

I am grateful for such a view from my window.

This Week's Herbal Experiment--Witch's Brew and Keeping it Simple

Today is a foul cauldron of a storm day, sideways sleet, snow higher up, appointments cancelled. But yesterday, we enjoyed crisp, blue skies and the odd juxtapositions of icicles and seeping water on the bluffs falling to our beach.

We're caring for our neighbors' dogs (and chickens, turkeys, ducks; their horses may end up back here too) and these two girls had a great time running on and through the ice and ocean water: they're apparently impervious to the cold.

 Here's another view of our home from down on the beach. I hope you can see the red mountain ash berries on those trees right at the edge.

For this week's herbal experiment, a witch's brew seemed in order, given my upset stomach of earlier in the week and my self-acknowledgment as a witch on Hallowe'en (albeit disguised as a blonde)!

I decided to make a potent combination of herbs to knock out the upset stomach on many fronts. Here's the formula I used:

3 tb nettles

3 tb peppermint

3 tb chamomile flowers

2 tb lavender flowers

2 tb fennel seeds

2 tb milk thistle seeds

2 tb pau d'arco 

1 tb cinnamon chips

1 tb fresh chopped ginger

1 tb triphala powder

1 tb kelp powder

I wanted to soothe the discomfort (peppermint, chamomile, fennel, cinnamon, ginger, lavender). I wanted to cleanse (milk thistle, triphala, nettles, pau d'arco). I wanted it to be somewhat nutritious also (nettles, kelp). The cinnamon, lavender and peppermint were also intended to make it taste at least somewhat ok, given the potent medicinal combination. 

I combined this with two and a half quarts of water and made a reduced decoction, which meant slow simmering until the volume of liquid was reduced by half. 

The flowers and greens all looked so pretty in the water.

 But the end product wasn't so pretty.

Man, that stuff was nasty! Even with some sweetener added! It's true, I drank about half of the reduction right away, and part of the point of making a reduced decoction is that you can consume smaller doses. I drank it late afternoon, and was definitely better by the next morning--but I might have been better by then anyway. 

So, not an unmitigated success by any means. I'm sharing it anyway, because it taught me something. Several things, actually. For one, decoctions may be better in smaller doses. For two, using every cleansing herb in the cabinet, and every carminative herb, etc, may be overkill. I might have been much better off with a simpler peppermint/ginger/milk thistle combination (or nettles, pau d'arco, cinnamon, lavender) rather than trying to get everything in. For three, if you're going to use triphala at all, make it a tiny proportion of the entire brew, and expect it still to make the whole thing nosepinchingly bitter.

But perhaps the most important lesson of all is that it's ok to fail at this! I wouldn't have put together a brew like this for another person, experimentally--I'd have done something that I knew would both work and taste good. It's ok to experiment on ourselves, so long as we know the potency of the herbs and don't use them inappropriately. This is how we learn.

I'm excited to be back in the business of teaching myself to be an herbalist, although I'd definitely adore the opportunity to study with someone who really knows their stuff.

I'm back on the "learning from failure and being ok with it" theme, folks! Any good stories you'd like to share?

Hallowe'en Pics

Perhaps it was appropriate that I spent my first ever night as a blonde with such an intimate gathering of close friends--there were just seven of us (a magic number)?

The "witch's brew" in my left hand is dandelion wine I made two or three years ago, which was rough when I first poured it off, but has matured into something rather delicious.
Once again, as on so many holidays, David and Olga hosted us in their beautiful house--this time in their guise of "Pimp-daddy and Mini."

What? I'm riding my broomstick, and that's Ozzy Osbourne, aka "Oddly," aka Royce.

 Amy (Phil's daughter) and Leslie (her mom) are such a wonderful team.

And Amy as Audrey Hepburn was really just as stunning as she always is anyway.

 Meanwhile, "Joanne does Costa Rica," complete with lipstick on the teeth--Leslie has such a talent for taking an idea and taking it beyond.

 Phil was somewhat costume-shy: he whipped out some scarily gothic dentist tools and brandished them a bit (thankfully, I was getting my make-up done at that point), and he wore the flag for maybe 90 seconds: otherwise, he was innocuously white-shirted and black-trousered, but of course, he was the life and soul nonetheless.

 To use up the tomato slime from those eyeballs I shared yesterday, I made a slimy salad with "lice" converging to suck on the blood pool.

 Gosh, that sounds so gross! But it was really delicious, in fact. It's kelp noodles and shredded romaine lettuce and some avocado, with a pumpkin seed-spirulina-pesto dressing with lots of lemon zest and black pepper. Without the ghoulish decoration, it would be great any day.

I didn't manage to think up a ghoulish explanation for the hazelnut pear frangipane...

 ...although I'm sure I could make the pears out to be something gross if I used my imagination. This was adapted from the almond-pear frangipane in Everyday Raw Desserts by Matthew Kenney. I used hazelnuts Phil brought back from Oregon instead of almonds, and made a cashew-coconut crust instead of just cashews. I was really impressed with how pastry-like the crust turned out, and the overall effect was elegant and delicious.

Unfortunately, I had an upset stomach all yesterday and still do today. Perhaps that's what prevented me from being able to confirm that "blondes have more fun:" for me, the jury's still out.

Do blondes have more fun?
I hope you had a wonderful, fun Hallowe'en--Happy All Saints Day!