So, I'm a little sad.  After getting used to the abundance of the end of the CSA season, the veggie/fruit selection around here has become a tad lackluster.  I'll be heading to the local cider mills and markets soon to see whether I can dig up some inspiration.

With that, I think that the last of the CSA produce and green tomatoes from the garden needs to be chronicled on this blog.  I made pickles and sauerkraut, of course. And they're fantastic.

I actually got this Kraut to self-brine!  For the first time ever!   I think it had to do with the addition of 2 whole (sliced and cored) apples.

I wrote about how we had gotten some beets with our CSA share last week.  Well, I cooked the greens a while back but the roots still remained.  I have a recipe for  Refrigerator Pickled Beets that I really LOVE which involves cooking the beets first and then pickling them in vinegar.

This time I decided to try getting a little probiotic goodness in there as well.

So!   I was presented with this lovely head of Nappa cabbage.  The only answer I could think of was Kimchi.  As a matter of fact, I couldn't help myself.  This particular cabbage was SCREAMING Kimchi!

I've made Kimchi in the past.  Both Classic Kimchi and Baek (White, or Vegan) Kimchi.   I personally LOVED the Vegan Kimchi.  It has a great light pickle flavor, and was super-fast to make.  I wasn't such a big fan of how the Classic Kimchi practically burned my face off when I tried it!  My husband, however, loved it.  Especially on hotdogs!

This time around I'm going for less heat, but the added classic flavors of chili, garlic, and fish sauce... along with the probiotic "pickle" tang that I love so much.

I also went ahead and substituted in easily-found (read, in my cupboard) ingredients along the way.  

I see now that I wrote about my projects last week, but failed to explain what was in our CSA box.   Well, we got 1 bunch beets, 1 bunch radishes, 2 quarts sour cherries, 1 pint blueberries, 1 pint wax beans, 3 cucumbers, 3 small zucchini, and  a head of red leaf lettuce.

We'll start with the beets.  I separated the greens from the roots and will be making roasted pickled beets ala Alton Brown's recipe . I usually fiddle with recipes and make them my own, but this one is SO GOOD that you'll eat the whole jar in one sitting.  Trust me.

The beet greens were stored in the refrigerator and later chopped and sauteed along with chopped swiss chard, bacon, salt and pepper, and a sweet onion.  We ate this with a loaf of crusty bread and it was a perfect light dinner on a 90 degree day!



At this point, I actually had 2 bunches of radishes waiting to be eaten.  I did a separate post dedicated to this because I came up with a radish salad idea that takes the bite out of radishes. And I was PROUD of it!




The blueberries were eaten before the day was out.

The sour cherries were pitted and made into Blackcap/Sour cherry wine (it's still bubbling on the counter!).  

I made the wax beans plus about a quart of green beans from my Mom's garden into Dilly Beans!   I wait all year to make these!

The cucumbers were eaten whole by my husband and kids.

The lettuce was washed, chopped and kept in a bag in the refrigerator for easy green salad making.

AND the zucchini will be grilled tonight in oil and garlic to go alongside some BBQ chicken.

ENJOY!!

I've been meaning to try out this project for a while now, but every time I go to the store there's 1 or more ingredients that I can't find in order to make a *truly* traditional Korean Kimchi.  So I thought, why not do it anyway?  With ingredients that are readily available to most anyone in the United States?

I'm glad I tried this out because it's a really fun and dynamic ferment with a lot of bubble action to keep everyone entertained!


Cut the cabbage in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 2-inch pieces, discarding the core end. Place in a large bowl, sprinkle with the salt, and toss with your hands until the cabbage is coated. Add enough cold water to just cover,  making sure the cabbage is  completely submerged  Cover/weigh down with a plate and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.



 Place a colander in the sink and drain the cabbage retaining about 1/4 cup of brine in a seperate small bowl.  Gently squeeze out the excess liquid and transfer to a medium bowl; set aside.

Assemble your radishes, scallions, pepper mix, ginger, garlic, and sugar in a bowl.

"The Fermentation Station" from left to right:  Kimchi, Apple Scrap Vinegar, and Sauerkraut

A few weeks back our wild rose bushes were in full bloom.  There were enough flowers to fill many, many quart containers and the smell was divine.  I stopped picking after about 2 quarts of petals had been harvested (my eldest daughter was done getting pricked by the thorns at that point) and brought them inside to make rosewater.  


I had it in my head that I'd be using the 2 quarts of rosewater that I ended up making in tons of different recipes, but then my fascination with strawberries took over and I lost track of time.  A few  weeks later, my rosewater was still sitting in the refridgerator, looking forlorn...  and I decided to use the whole container in one go!

The result was an amazing smelling sweet rose petal wine!

My youngest daughter is currently potty training, AND has switched into a big girl bed... in the last week and a half.   She woke me up at 5:00am this morning.  The sun was up, the birds were singing and she was excited!

I decided to take a meditative "weed walk" this morning at 6:00am.  Yesterday, I had brought my daughter to the swimming hole, and had seen a lot of weeds.  Most notably, to me, was a huge abundance of stinging nettle...




As a child, I grew up on the same creek that I bring my girls to on our hikes.  One time, when the neighborhood boys and I went down there to look for newts, we got into a patch of stinging nettles.  Our legs were on FIRE for the rest of he afternoon.  We spent the next several hours pool-hopping, hoping that the cool water and the chlorine would somehow help ease the sting... it didn't.


Many years later, I read about the health benefits of making teas and infusions out of dried stinging nettle. I used to buy it in bulk, prepared... so I didn't have to deal with the sting.

And now, there it was on my path... inches away from my toddler's legs...

What a beautiful opportunity.  I decided to take this day, the Summer Solstice, the lightest day of the year, to shine some light on my fears and negative thoughts through walking meditation... and I took a bag, gloves, and rubber boots with me to act out this light shining exercise by harvesting and becoming allied with stinging nettle.  I made a potato nettle soup, started a nettle beer, and hung up 10 bunches of nettle to dry for tea and infusions.

I sorted, washed, weighed and deligated nettle to 3 purposes.


2 of these containers full were used to make Nettle Beer.


This bowlful was used to make a potato-nettle soup


And these bunches are hanging up to dry.


And if that wasn't enough to keep me busy, we also went strawberry picking!




We got 6 quarts, and one last small harvest of rhubarb.  I'll be putting together a strawberry wine, strawberry rhubarb jam, and a fresh strawberry cake in the next few days. This week should be fun!

When my Grandma immigrated  from Germany to the USA she didn't bring much with her, but she did bring a chunk of rootstock from her father's Strawberry Rhubarb.  Strawberry rhubarb differs from regular rhubarb in that it generally has a smaller stalk that is a pretty pinkish red color.  My grandma, my mom, and I all have offspring from great grandpa's rhubarb plant growing in our yards... mine's a little small and sad, but mom's was big this year and she's been harvesting. 

I have to admit, the sunny warm days over the last couple of weeks have made me manic.  Like the kind of manic where you can't stop moving and doing even to sleep.  So, I channelled the energy, had a fantastic birthday, Mother's day, and visit with my brother and his wife, and concentrated on the abundance of dandelions that have finally sprung up all around us!    I already wrote an entry on the how-to of Dandelion Wine making when I excitedly realized the 2013 batch was ready to try back in March during a late season snowstorm.  But I've been so preoccupied with dandelions lately I'm feeling the need to share a mostly picture entry documenting the creation of my 2014 batch of wine!


Spring has finally Sprung!



There are SO many Dandelions this year and the girls love to pick!

My helpers!


Filled up the under-seat compartment... pink wagons are SUPER handy...



6 cups of dandelion petals... my fingers were numb at this point!

Dandelion must at the bottom of our 5 gallon food grade bucket (it ended up being about 1 gallon of liquid/petals/other ingredients).  The bucket was then covered loosely with aluminium foil and left to ferment for 3 days...




Today I strained the liquid and racked it into a 2 gallon fermenting vessel with an airlock on the top.   It will be ready to bottle in about 3 months!

This has been so much fun! One of my very favorite hobbies!