The Porcelain Throne

Toilet scrubbing may not always be the most conducive activity for contemplating fairy tales, weddings, and happily ever afters...and then reality, but with Britain celebrating the royal wedding today as the rest of the world looked on, those thoughts found a way through my skull.

Mostly, I wondered what I would like about living as a royal, not that I'm asking or predicting that such a thing would ever, ever happen. Would I enjoy not having to clean my own white throne? Would I be allowed to, even if I wanted?

As far as the marriage goes, would the demands of life ever allow for family time or spontaneous outings? Could you make dinner together or go on a date without someone else looking over your shoulder?

Luckily, in my fairy tale, the prince had no royal blood, nor was he extremely famous, extravagantly wealthy, nor friends with all the heads of state, but he wasn't a toad, either. (He even still had a full head of hair, unlike the royal prince.) And, best of all, the happily ever after part didn't end with the wedding. It only began there, even if I, myself, forever have to scrub my own porcelain bowl, I'll take it.

Would you?

Solar power

A lot of buzz about self-reliance has come past my door lately and this idea I had to share. It's a solar oven made with a spruced up windshield shade. It's something I want to try, especially since we have such an abundance of sun here in our lovely desert home.

http://www.solarcooking.org/plans/windshield-cooker.htm

Advice or tips are always welcome!

Easter and glue

I felt like a 3rd grader again this week. As it was Easter and neither of us had baskets, I decided to make them custom, rather than buy a meaningless hunk of plastic. Call me old-fashioned. Laugh if you will, but these cereal boxes definitely reached a new level of glory, just with fabric and glue. My fingers reached a new low by the same account. For the man, we have the black hockey puck style, with the favorite team logo, or sort of logo, and for the lady, we have a Wizard of Oz style, just cause it's cute. Thanks to all those who donated old jeans. Yes, you might have sat in those once.

Kitchen tips

This is maybe an eclectic list, but it's stuff to remember that doesn't belong with anything else.

• Red onions are not for stewing or slow-cooking. They look like death if you try it.
• To get honey, or other sticky things, off the measuring spoon/cup, lightly grease or spray the spoon/cup before dipping in.
• Baking soda makes a great non-scratching scrub. I have used it on glass and metal to get off old stains and, with a little effort, it actually works. No idea if it would be nice to non-stick pans though. Probably not.
• To sanitize reusable sponges, wet them thoroughly and zap them in the microwave until they get too hot to touch. Then remember not to touch until it cools!
• Add butter to tomato dishes to reduce the acidity.
• Tomatoes splatter! Add to pots or pans carefully!
• When planning a dinner for guests, make something that you are very comfortable making. Making that new dish you always wanted to try could turn out as a wreck.
• Also, with guests, make food that will be okay, even if they come a little late. Stir-fry and creamy pastas sitting on the stove for an extra 10 minutes, for example, don't look good squishy.

Here's hoping this list will grow, but it's at start. Do you have any additions?

Making stuff

Sometimes the need to make fun stuff comes on stronger than the proportional amount of time I have to actually complete the thing. I finally finished a project (after more than a year) for my sister's dolls. Maybe it is best for me to stick with very short term projects, like making the bed or dinner.



Another project of late was to recover our dining room chairs. Here is the before and after. Can you tell which is which? Okay, so these were my husband's chairs during college, and also at the time when he had roommates. One of these roommates needed a wheelchair to get around, which left his hands black from the wheels. White chairs with black stains make for a project for me.

They look a lot better, though I now have a violent hatred for our wimpy staple gun, if it can be called that. You can see the result of its 'labor,' most of which ended up in the garbage. It only took 600 staples to finish 4 chairs.

Suggestion for future projects: Use a gun that can actually penetrate the wood. Or just get an air compressor.

Sprouts

In the Fresh Food from Small Spaces book, he suggests that a person can grow 10% of their own food even from small container gardens. That's a lot, and we're still working on that, but one way he recommends to increase that number higher is by sprouting seeds and beans. From the all-knowing internet, sprouting seeds increases the nutrient value, which varies from seed to seed. Sprouting also increases digestibility, making the little tummy happy. So, I decided to try it.

So far, I have tried lentils and mung beans. Both worked well and were tasty, though the aesthetics of mung beans is a little better since these are the bean sprouts most grocery stores sell. I want to try broccoli, alfalfa, and other ones I pick up on the way. Part of the struggle is where to find seeds. Not all garden seeds are equal to sprouting seeds. There are online stores like The Sprout People, but I haven't extended myself quite that far yet.

Most sprouters, okay, the 3ish people I read about, say to wash and check over the seeds or beans to remove any that don't look tasty. Then add enough water to the jar or container to cover all the seeds. (My container currently is a glass pasta sauce jar). Let them soak for about 8 hours and rise. Cover the container with thin cloth, secure with an elastic or something similar. Rise them 2-3 times a day and drain as much water as possible after rinsing. Store them out of light, because they will start turning green and get tough, though some people leave them in light the last few hours before use because green is a pretty color on the plate. Sampling a few each rinse can help to gauge doneness.

The next hurtle is to figure out how to use them. We've tried curried lentils and tried both lentils and bean sprouts with stir fried veggies. They also work in salads, but not all sprouts are good raw. Others don't work for cooking. Still trying to figure that one out.

Do you have any good recipes? The floor is open to any suggestions and ideas.

Bread Recipes

The River Cottage Bread Handbook is my new favorite bread book. It happens to be the only one I own, but it has lots of recipes for all different kinds of breads. It also explains the details of how the dough should look and feel, as well as why he does things a certain way. His recipes build off of a basic bread recipe, which is fairly simple, and then he gives some ideas on how to create new things. Rather than loading the whole book, which would be nice, this is a recipe I adapted from his basic recipe. I haven't done it the same way twice, so there is always room for new ideas. (It might need a new title, too.)

Mostly whole wheat, potato bread recipe

Day 1:

6 cups (~750 g) whole wheat flour

2 cups warmish water

2 Tablespoons plain active yogurt

Mix the ingredients thoroughly and cover tightly with plastic or a lid to prevent evaporation. Allow this is rest for 12-24 hours.

Day 2:

1 Tablespoon yeast

1/2 cup warm liquid

Optional:

1 cup warm mashed potato, mashed smooth

I usually use water or occasionally dry milk in the water, but avoid fresh milk. It will kill the yeast. You can scald the milk first, but if it is too hot, that also kills the yeast. Picky, picky. Mix those and let them sit for 5-20 minutes, or until you remember that it is still waiting for you. The potato, from the one time I tried it, makes the bread stay moist longer.

2 cup non-bleached all-purpose flour

2-4 teaspoons salt, if you like salty, go for 4

Optional:

1 Tablespoon of fat (he calls for 'a good slug') (e.g. butter, meat drippings, oil, etc.)

1-2 teaspoons of honey

2 handfuls of 'extras' like oats or small seeds

Mix all the ingredients and knead for 10 minutes by hand or in a heavy mixer. To know when it is mixed, hold the dough up and stretch it thin. If you feel the dough won't stretch any more, it's ready. Over-kneading is possible, especially with a mixer, and the dough breaks down into a lifeless lump. I haven't had it happen, but checking the stetchability should prevent it. White flour bread should go to a fairly thin sheet, so says the book, enough to see light through it. The higher wheat content gets thin-ish and may tear rather than forming a sheet.

Form the dough to a round ball and cover it in a warm place for 1.5 hour, or until it is double. Some days this happens quickly, and others not so much. Punch the dough again. Now you have a choice: let it rise up to 3 more times, and subsequently punch it again, or divide it into loaves. This amount makes 2 large loaves, or a few smaller ones.

Again, cover and allow the dough to rise in the pan, or on a baking stone, or cookie sheet. My parents still make bread in an old metal juice can like tomato juice comes it. Kids would always comment on my 'round bread' at school. Once the bread has doubled, bake it! There have been too many times where I let it rise too long and it comes out flat. If you want, slash the tops diagonally, about 1/2 inch deep in order to allow it to rise further in the oven. Shallow slashes look wimpy. Deep slashes look like you are knife happy.

The book recommends a high heat for the first 10 minutes, like 500 F high. I'm finding that I don't like that as much, as the crust is really thick and is pseudo-burnt. So I've tried about 400 F for 40-50 minutes for big loaves and about 10 minutes less for smaller ones. Put it in and don't check it for at least 10 minutes. Letting the hot air escape means it doesn't rise as well. If the top is too brown, cover it with foil after the 10 minutes. Once it's done, pull it out of the pans and drool while it cools. Cutting it too soon will squish it, but if you are tearing off hunks anyway, dig in!

Long enough post? Please add all you want!

Bread: Soaking wheat flour

Store bought, white bread just doesn't cut it for me. I grew up with my parents making tasty homemade bread every week and once I met crusty-on-the-outside and soft-on-the-inside bread in Europe, there was no question of lowering myself to buy the bleached whiteness.

Still, how do you get wheat bread that doesn't feel like baked bricks? By soaking the wheat in an acidic mixture before baking with it. White flour has been peeled, sort of, leaving only the soft inside part of each kernel. Whole wheat flour uses the whole kernel, including the rougher outer layers, which are harder to digest, but better for you. By soaking the flour, some of those outer layers break down, making it easier on your stomach, by aiding in digestion as well as nutrient absorption. It makes the bread a lot lighter too!

When I first heard this idea, it took a while for me to wrap my head around it. Then I realized people eat sauerkraut and pickles and lots of other odd things that have been bathing in acid before consumption. Then I tried it and found that it works.

How it's done

This is a work in progress, but here's what I've tried so far.

• Measure out the amount of wheat flour you want to use into a bowl. (What else would you put it in? A plate? Okay...) This could be any percentage of the flour for the recipe. (Ex: Lately I have done about 75% of the recipe as wheat flour and used unbleached all-purpose flour for the other 25%. Again, it's a work in progress and experimenting is fun...if it turns out well, otherwise, chalk it up as experience.)
• Add all but 1/2 c. water that the recipe requires.
• Then add a tablespoon of acidic stuff per cup of water. I have tried lemon juice and cultured plain yogurt, though there are other options, like apple cider vinegar or whey, and yogurt wins out as my favorite. It must have active cultures in it, otherwise nothing happens.
• Mix it all together and allow it to rest for 12-24 hours. Cover it with something that won't allow the moisture to escape, like plastic wrap or container lid.
• If the amount of flour overwhelms the water, and it's too dry, you can add liquid oils or sweeteners, but I haven't tried that. This site (http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/04/whole-grains-grinding-soaking.html) explains a lot about the how and why.
• When you are ready to bake the next day, just add the remaining ingredients as usual. It is a lot more difficult to incorporate the other ingredients, so be ready to use a mixer or to knead for a while.

What happens

When the flour has been soaked, and the yeast does its job properly, the dough with feel very spongy and supple. It's really cool to see the difference from unsoaked dough, but I am a bit of a nerd in that regard. While the bread is baking, you might notice a sour or tangy smell, which isn't there with unsoaked bread. The taste is slightly different, not sourdough taste, but a little, little zip, and the texture is excellent! It's light and fluffy, again, if the yeast has done its job.

Personally, not that you need to know, but I haven't found a great difference in how my tummy responds. Maybe I just need to pay more attention, but the texture is worth it, even if the other benefits are more subtle.

Have you tried this too, or something similar? What works for you?

Peas

Peas straight from the pod put a smile on my face, so they got a spot in my little garden. We planted in September or October the first time, since winter only lasts about a week around here, so we felt pretty good about it. The one or two pea plants grew about 3 inches in their short life. Undaunted, I tried again, this time planting about 15 peas in just a few inches, hoping some would come up. It took a few weeks, but eventually 1, then 2 more, and now 6 plants are growing. Most experience gardeners would tell me to thin them, in such a tiny space, but I didn't because 1) it's hard throwing out perfectly good plants, 2) the hot season is fast approaching, so I wanted to let the survival of the fittest define a winner, not myself, and 3) I just wanted something to survive, and maybe get that one pea pod, fresh and tasty!

And today, as we speak, two little pea pods are on their way to consumption, as seen in the photo. There is even a third blossom, but it is a race between it and the drying leaves at the bottom to see who wins out. I'm cheering for the blossom.

Things to know

• Peas are self-pollinating, meaning the blossoms are built in a way that one flower can pollinate itself without the need for bees, insects, or humans with brushes to produce a pod.
• Peas need a good amount of water, but remember that over-watering is really easy in a container.
• Peas grow best in 75 F (~24 C) or less, though freezing is maybe a bit too nippy. These 90 F days have not killed the plants yet, but they aren't really happy about it.
• Staking, tying, trellising, or using vertical space in anyway is a good thing. We tie the plants to a bamboo rod using a stable, but stretchy material, like t-shirt material. If the tie has no stretch, it can cut into the plant and will break off the shoots. If it is too stretchy, the plant will flop over, covering up valuable ground space for other plants.
• Peas can grow in partial shade. These plants get about 3 hours direct light on a good day and some dappled light for another 3 hours. So far, that's been okay.

Further research ideas:

• What natural fertilizers do peas like best?
• Do they grow well inside and how much shade can they tolerate?
• What are good plants to rotate in after the peas die off?

Have any insights you want to share?

Tomatos

Fresh from the garden, fried, grilled, baked, stewed, chopped, juiced, diced, sliced, stauteed, broiled, any way you like it, tomatoes can do it. Okay, maybe not ice cream or pastries, but close. That's why I wanted some in my garden.

We made an attempt last fall, but the plants eventually went the way of all the earth. I suspect they didn't have enough sun or space for the plant to be really happy, so some soil beastie was able to kill them off. (It might be the same problem taking hold of the bean plants, as it is the same pot.)

Soil, light, and space

This time we started afresh with new organic soil and a solitary cherry tomato. It started growing fairly well and now is about 2 feet high. I chose a cherry since it requires less energy to ripen, given the smaller size. The lighting is still a concern, (sunlight = energy) as the patio only gets about 4 hours of direct light. The recommendation is no less than 6, from what I've read. Space is also a concern, but so far the plant seems okay in its 12 inch diameter pot. We will see.

Pollination

However, tomatoes generally do not self-pollinate, it must be done by hand, or by bees adn other bugs. Since bees don't often find my garden, I had to learn how to pollinate the tomatoes. Unlike most plants, using a brush isn't enough, so various gardeners, sorry I didn't keep my sources, recommend vibrating the flowers with an electric toothbrush for a few seconds. This dislodges the pollen enough to pollinate the flower. Personally, I prefer the old non-electric toothbrush, which is not a judgement on those who have made the switch, I just want to be able to brush my teeth when I travel, or camp, or when the power goes out indefinitely. So, I resorted to the next best thing: my husband's beard trimmer...with his permission, of course. Granted, trimmers are made for cutting, so one must take care to avoid severing flower from plant. I have yet to loose a flower in a beard trimmer accident. These gardeners also say this should be done every day around noon in order to have the best chance of pollination. From what I've seen, it's working, though it may be some little bee that has done the job. Whatever it is, our kitchen is ready and waiting.

Bean thinking...

Fresh beans don't excite my taste buds quite to the level of fresh peas and tomatoes, but they aren't too far behind. This is our second try of plants and what to learn from it:

• Beans, like peas, are self-pollinating.
• When the plant is healthy and happy, the beans grow fast and furious, so daily checks are necessary. Young, thin beans are tastier than old, hard ones.
• Pole beans grow better if there is something to grow up. We have bamboo poles and tie the plant with stretchy material as it grow up.
• Bush beans, like bush peas, apparently grow better in low light than pole varieties. We have only tried the pole types so far, but we've had some success.
• Beans fix nitrogen in the soil, which is good, and it makes beans a good choice to follow other crops in the garden for crop rotation. Peas are similar here too.
• As always, avoid over-watering. Our garden is in containers, which makes it easier to over water, especially if the soil does not drain well. Soil prep is a lot more important than I expected, so our soil is not as great as it will be someday when I figure it out. :)

Quality soil and good drainage are key to not having the leaves look like the photo. It may be root rot or some other fungus, but the plants are not looking healthy like they did last week. These plants may have to go the way that all things go soon so that we can treat the soil and start again. My advisor, aka Dad, suggested cooking the soil at about 200 F for a few hours to destroy any bugs, otherwise the continued use with just reinfect the new plants. Since we are entering the hotter weather months, maybe I can try the solar oven to heat the soil and avoid using the oven. That would be smelly and, yes, a bit dirty.

If anyone has specifics on what makes the leaves look like this, feel free to share.

A note on manners

To anyone who trying to understand proper etiquette, here's tidbit I learned: Avoid discussing extramarital affairs in open spaces. Most of us would rather not know what you and Robin did or did not do, especially after you hid the story from your now upset and jealous wife. I'm not suggesting dishonesty in a relationship, by no means, just please avoid discussing such things under my window. Thank you.

Bread

I love bread! My family has always had homemade bread and I want to continue the tradition. It's not really complicated, but definitely takes some practice. These are a few of my recent attempts.

It's been fun and taught me a lot, like:

• Don't let the bread raise too long. I got home from the gym later than expected, and it has risen long enough that it actually deflated while cooking (hence the wilted look in the first picture). They can also droop if it hasn't been kneaded long enough or the loaf wasn't very tight when it was shaped.
• New shapes are fun! The braided loaf was nearly gone after one meal with just two of us. Why the slashes? That is supposed to help the bread rise even more in the oven, if the temp is high enough and if it was formed right.

The biggest question to answer is how to keep the bread from drying out while living in a bone dry place. Any suggestions?

Food on the balcony

Our 'yard' consists of the 6x10 ft balcony. We tend to avoid spending time out there, as our downstairs neighbors enjoy using their patio to smoke while discussing personal matters, personal enough they are not worth repeating, with each other or with the person on the other end of the phone. Thankfully our sliding glass door offers enough of a sound barrier that we can almost not hear what they say about 3% of the time. This is not a complaint, but that's how it is.

However, I wanted to make the space useful anyway, so we planted a little container garden. It has beans, garlic, peas, basil, lettuce, spinach, and the newest edition, a cherry tomato.

Growing food naturally and self-reliance have become more and more interesting to me in the last few years, so I checked out a book by R. J. Ruppenthal called Fresh Food from Small Spaces: The Square-Inch Gardener's Guide to Year-Round Growing, Fermenting, and Sprouting. If the title isn't too long for you, the book actually has a lot of cool hints on growing stuff with what you have. He says that you can probably grow 10% of your own food, even in an apartment or cold weather climate, if you know how.

These are the most helpful things I've learned so far:

• Avoid over-watering. That is the way most people kill container plants. It prevents the roots from getting oxygen and allows for root rot. This is probably how I killed the first round of planting.
• Avoid over-fertilizing. This is number 2 killer. Also, use natural, slow release fertilizer to get the most nutrient rich food (i.e. food like it's suppose to be).
• Even if the amount of sun you get is limited, plants can still grow, if you reflect light and move your pots around to follow the sun, if possible. Too bad we can't all have one of these: http://greenupgrader.com/files/2008/10/image1.gif

I have noticed that some of the plants will start to dry up right where it meets the dirt, like someone who squeezes the toothpaste tube in the middle. The picture shows two healthy plants on the left and one that is starting to rot on the right. The roots look fine, and so do the leaves for a while, until the whole thing dries out. Any ideas on what causes that?

The Beginning

Since time and energy place limits on what the brain can think when life offers an excess of options, this is my place to write down and sort out the brainwaves that have no where else to go. I can write, but you are the judge: To read, or not to read.

What is the subject, you ask? The specifics are still a little vague, but someday soon, you might find posts on gardening, cooking, maybe cleaning, health, making stuff, and life in general. I am amateur in all things, so this is my notebook to record what works and what doesn't, for me.