And Speaking of Pickles

I seem to be under stress and I have been under stress for a few months now. It's that BIG PROJECT I'm working on. Every week I seem to have a new way of dealing with stress, but mostly I eat too much. I did have a lovely risotto at Trafalgar's with pickled sunchokes on top which inspired me to eat sunchokes again.

I am drinking a lot of kombucha, which I have grown to love so much that I have trouble keeping up for the demand. Peter calls it my fermented lady tea. Well he doesn't really, but that's what he's thinking.

I have just watched the two seasons of Green Wing, an absolutely amazing adventurous British comedy. The second season was gut-churningly disappointing, but season one is AMAZING. I may just have to watch it again while making felted sweater crafts. It is cold and rainy and today I may not have discovered the meaning of life, but I have discovered the meaning of "lek" and I like it.

The skies are pouring forth, which is good timing because I just planted a bunch more seeds, (including salsify) but bad timing for the fruit trees which have just come into bloom.

Contemplating Pickles

  As I am deciding what to grow this year, I'm thinking about fermenting. What can I pickle? I discovered some inspiring links. I love pickles in taco, in sushi rolls and as a side to curries. Wanna start a pickle club?

Pickled thyme by Sommerville kitchen

Sweet Pickled Pickles and YellowStonecrop Flowers

Pickled Cherry Blossoms

Pickled Chive Blossoms by Beth Dunham

Pickled Elderflower buds by Blooms and Food

Pickled Radish Seed Pods by GardenBetty

Pickled Nasturtium Seeds by Hitchikingto Heaving

Bon Appetit's quick pickled onions

Pickled red onions by Eat and Relish

Sweet Links for Teaching Kids About Bees

A Pictorial Guide to Bees of the Humboldt Bay Dunes by Susan E. Nyoka

Bee Basics: An Introduction to OurNative Bees by Beatriz Moissette and Stephen Buchmann,

USDA Forest Serve and the Pollinator Partnership

Common Bee Groups of California by the UC Berkely Urban Bee Lab

The Social Lives of Bees fromBeespotter

Sam Droege's slide show Native Bee Pollinators for Crops

Pollinators in the Garden: Forging Partnerships for Native Insect Conservation--Black, American 

PublicGardens Associate

Cranberry Recipes

 Okay folks, here's some recipes I'm working on. Let me know what you think!

1 12 oz bag of cranberries

1 large navel orange, peeled, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup raw organic or biodynamic honey

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 tsp freshly grated turmeric

pinch of salt

Pulse in a food processor to desired texture and eat with your favourite curry. No need to pulse it too long--I like to just make sure there's no whole cranberries left. Oranges and honey vary in sweetness, so be sure to adjust the honey to your taste. You can leave out the ginger and turmeric if you want. It's best if you have some raita and green salsa to serve with your curry as well.

If you have leftover sauce, just puree it until it's very fine and then make popsicles for the cold and flu season. You also can freeze some in ice cube trays and then make Shirley Temple smoothies with orange juice and/or hibiscus tea. You could add vodka to make a "Dirty Shirley."

Shirley Temple Smoothie:

1 cranberry chutney ice cube

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup hibiscus tea

1/4 cup coconut water

1/2 cup sparkling mineral water

Put it in a blender and blitz it, or experiment with layering the ingredients.

Dirty Shirley:

1 cranberry chutney ice cube--make it into crushed ice

1/4 cup orange juice

1 shot vodka

1/4 cup hibiscus tea

1/4 cup coconut water

1/4 cup sparkling water

I'm thinking we should make crushed ice out of the cube and then experiment with layering the ingredients.

Le Tigre Changes its Menu and I Almost Cry

We went to the Winter Farmer's Market today and I knew Le Tigre was going to be there, so being an addict, I let myself start jonesing for popcorn chicken and crack salad. I looked at the menu and almost fell over, because it has changed. "Don't worry, it's the same stuff, just a different menu," the guy tells me. Well, I ordered the Crack Salad, which is now officially called Crack Salad and it's even better than before with more veggies in it and kale chips on top. Happy Happy Joy Joy.  The chicken is now called something like That Frikken Chicken which is good, but it comes with a different sauce. Hello? That chicken is all about the spicy mayo. I accept the new sauce, but ask for the mayo, just in case I need it. The new sauce is a sesame oil and citrus sauce which is very nice, but mama needs her mayo and the mayo tastes even better than before, or maybe that's just because I haven't had it for such a long time.

Love ya, Le Tigre. Missing ya, Vij's. Ou es tu?

I am also loving the dried biodynamic cherries from Walter in Cawston. Those babies put all other dried cherries to SHAME.