So, here I am again, working-up what entertainingly seems to be my yearly blog post.

Last fall (though you wouldn't know it by this blog! haha!), I entertained my sense of homemaking by creating some fabulous wines.

As a few people know, years and years ago, I made some elderberry "wine" which was just horrible yeasty alcoholic mess in a couple of gallon jugs.

Well I've refined things a bit and now I actually have a little equipment and a process, as well as having some good research and a little experience under my belt. But you know, if I wanted to be cool, I could say I've been making wine since I was what? 16? How about that.

Technically. Though like I said, I wouldn't call it wine.

I have also been making vinegars and other fermented things like corned beef for pastrami, kimchi, and water kefir. I really enjoy fermenting. There's something about watching a living thing change and take shape into the finished product. Its like children. Those symbiotic groups of fungus and bacteria are your children. You are the mother of millions.

Its beautiful.

So last year, of course, I get all these grand ideas of the wines I'm going to make over the seasons. Like sumac wine and locust blossom wine and banana wine and just all kinds. I made two kinds because I had the time and the energy and the resources to make two. I made quince pineapple with my grandmother's quince bush's fruit. And I made pumpkin wine from the pie pumpkins that our hay-men grow.

I didn't end up making all of the really cool wines that I wanted to because I just didn't get around to it. Like so many things in life.

I'm really hot or I would go into the wine-making process. For now I'm just laying out what I wanted to say. Maybe some other time I can expound for yuns.

Well just the other day I separated the wine from its lees (read: sediment), and had a taste. It was phenomenal. Especially the Quince Pineapple. I was sooooo good. Just heavenly! It was truly the best wine I had ever tasted.

Another reason I didn't make more wines was because I just wasn't sure how they'd turn out. You know? So that held me back. But now I know, I can make awesome wines.

Now, I say that this wine was amazing, but I like a sweet, not too heavy, not too alcoholic wine. Something with a lot of depth of flavor, but without too many weird bitter finishing notes. You know? Too many wines have a strong tannic finish. That's not my bag. So, without knowing it, I made myself a wine that fits my wine likes. LOTS of flavor. I didn't taste it enough to tell you if it was short of the levels of notes, but with my first small taste I was just floored at how good it was. And it was sweet. So I was in love.

I've got to tell you, I'm a hard woman to please when it comes to wines. I don't like anything too heavy or too sweet like ports and sherries which are what my grandmother drinks. And I hate dry wines. I just don't like that. I like a wine that's not too bitter, and I hate it when they taste cheap. I hate it when I buy a bottle of wine and I spend a little money and I'm totally let down. Sucks.

As far as wines I've had lately, 2003 was the last good year for American grapes. Now a bottle of mid-grade 2003 wine is upwards of $40. That's fair because I know it will rock, but it sucks that I have to pay that to enjoy wine.

Another thing about commercial wines is the additives. They think they've got to have them in there and to be fair, I'm pretty sure that at a commercial level, for consistency, you have to do something to control the variables. Chemicals work well for this. Of course they can't make grapes taste like the grapes from 2003, but what do you want? Well I wanted a perfect wine! One without the sulfites which always make me itch! I don't like that!

So now maybe you understand a little about how picky I have become about wines. In my own way, I am a wine connoisour. Definitely not to any set wine-connoisour standards, but my own. Which is really all that matters to me. If what I like to taste is not the status-quo, then that's just one more thing that makes me such a hard core non-conformist. Oooooooooo....

Hehehe. Anyway, back to the story.

I had this perfect wine. The Quince Pineapple 2008. It was just fantastic. So I strained it into a clean jug to let it sit some more and decided to top it up with its left over juice that was sitting in the refrigerator. That's what they tell you to do, just not 10 months later, its more like 2 or 3 months later. But for my experiment I decided to leave my wine on its lees for its entire fermentation. Gave it depth. Made it rock. I will always do it in future. But the adding of 10 month old juice was a bad decision.

As I unscrewed my jar of juice I sniffed it and it did smell alcoholic. So I added it blithely into the perfect jar of quince pineapple and airlocked it.

This evening I wanted to show off my wines to my brother. I had him taste the quince pineapple thinking he would just be so excited once he tasted it. He took 2 tiny sips and said "I can't drink any more." I immediately took the cup and tasted it. Well. My beautiful, perfect wine was halfway on its road to becoming vinegar. The juice soured it!!! That's what spurred me to write this. I had to tell my fermenting blog what had happened. Its a shame, but now I'll have something to put my corned beef into to vinegar-finish! So, all is not totally lost. Which is usually what happens. At least I still have the beautiful and delicious pumpkin wine. And so long as Rebecca doesn't have her dad dig up the quince bush until it fruits, I should be able to reproduce that heavenly wine! Here's hoping!

I'll go start the desalination process for my many-months-salt-brined corned beef and get it ready for the vinegar. At least it will be delicious.

All my love,
Olivia

List of Vinegars currently being (intentionally) made:
*Apple Cider (just started today - 8-15)
*Avocado and Blackberry (started today - 8-15) sounds gross right? We'll see!
*Dragonfruit and Goji berry (started yesterday - 8-14)
*Peach (started Thursday 8-13)
*Banana 2 (started 8-13)
*Blueberry (started 8-13)
*Strawberry and Cranberry (started 8-13)
*Strawberry Watermelon (started in June or July)
*Fig (started June/July) <-- This one has already developed a mother, the only one to do so, so far. Smells really good too.
*Banana 1 (started June/July)

I had started a citrus one, but some how the flies got to it and laid their eggs on the sides *shiver* Gross.

All of the vinegars I make are for recycling purposes. I use old fruit and make it wonderful by making fruit vinegars out of it. Its all either begun to rot in the fridge or its something I found in the back of the freezer like the fruit for the Peach, Banana 2, and the Cranberry. The Fig is from really old dried figs.

I've also decided to make a bunch of wines with what's fresh and free from the garden this summer. Here's the list:

*Zucchini~Banana~Grape Wine (I have to put those other things with the zucchini or it would lack a lot in depth and might not even develop right)
*Corn Wine
*Red Tomato Wine
*Yellow Tomato Wine
*Damson (plum) Wine
*Pear Wine
*Apple Wine (I think I'll also make Hard Cider - God knows we have enough apples to make whatever I could want to make with it!)
*Cucumber Wine
*Sumac Wine
*Quince Pinapple (in the fall)

Thats the list for the summer. If I get bored in the winter or fall, I think I'd like to also make:

*Date Wine
*Pumpkin Wine
*Barley Wine
*Banana Wine
*Carrot Wine

I also have a recipe for Chocolate Mead which I think I'll make this winter. Or whenever Mr. Barbe has a couple gallons of honey for me to buy. Otherwise I can get 14 lbs. of raw honey through the health food store for a decent price.

If you're wondering, this is a really great place to find all kinds of wine recipes:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/index.asp
I don't think the Quince Pineapple is on there. As with most of my culinary creations, I just said screw the recipe and ended up throwing a bunch of things into that wine. I hope I wrote it down somewhere...

Finally, here's the recipe for the Chocolate Mead - aka - Liquid Sex:
http://www.washingtonwinemaker.com/blog/2008/03/25/lord-rhys-chocolate-mead-recipe/

I've gone hog wild. And I'm there, fermenting. Like that gay commercial, "I'm there." What's it even for? Car insurance or something like that.

Here's my list, its very extensive and exciting, as is my life.

Cream Cheese
Whey
Burdock, Chicory, Dandelion Pickles
Yogurt
Kefir
Mustard Seed Pod Capers/Pickles
Blu Cheese Dressing
Cesar Dressing
Ranch Dressing
Tahini Dressing
Mayonnaise

Would you like a short recoup? Of course you would!

Crem' Chez -- So in 'Nourishing Traditions' by Sally Fallon, there's a recipe for Cream Cheese and Whey. I made it with raw milk, because, yes, I'm still very excited, I actually HAVE raw milk!!! It's a lot more tangy than regular cream cheese and it has a strange smell. The texture is a little more curdy, but the thickness is right and it tastes good. The real test is whether the girls will like it. They're the ones that eat it all the time. I'll ask them to try it today. Give you the update later.

Whey -- Its used as a natural, healthy! preservative in a lot of different recipes. It disperses its load of lactobacilli throughout whatever its put into and allows it to keep for months.

Burdock, Chicory, Dandelion 'Pickles' -- This was inspired by the new book I've adopted into my life, 'Wild Fermentation' by Sandor Ellix Katz. Sandor says you can ferment anything. Plus, Burdock, Chicory, and Dandelion are the most nutritious weed roots we have around here. So I said, "Ok, Let's Ferment!" Can't wait to see how they turn out. They're all so bitter to begin with, I'm very interested to see what fermenting them will do. Apparently in Asia, they eat Burdock root all the time. That's cool, but I bet its a hybridized variety made to be more of a culinary plant. And chicory and dandelion root make good coffee substitutions, so since their edible, I'm fermenting them!

Yogurt -- I had raw milk, we got in a shipment of Greek Yogurt, I said, "Let's make yogurt!"

Kefir -- A while back I tried to make kefir with rice milk. We had some starter in the store, so I took it home and made it up. I was vegan at the time I think. I did not find the kefir rice milk to my liking. But I decided to try it again with the raw goat's milk. It was interesting. Very sparkling. Not something I liked by itself. But I used it in my dressings as a substitute for whey (because the cream cheese wasn't made yet) and it was good like that. I'll finish it up that way.

Mustard Seed-Pod Capers -- Now this one was really spotaneous. And divinely guided. One of the recipes I was super excited about with 'Wild Fermentation' was for Milkweed Pod Capers. If you know much about our native flora, the milkweed won't bloom or have seed pods for a couple more months. High summer, I think, will be when I can harvest the pods. But I wanted to make capers NOW! I was harvesting herbs to make more herbed vinegar (recipes may follow) and in my left alone Herb Gardens are an abundance of things. I have some rampant Monarda, Agastaches, Tarragon, Mints that I thought had been killed (HA! I should've known better!) in my back garden, Horseradish I thought I had dug up and given away, and several more herbs and several weeds. I'm learning to appreciate all plants because I see them as windows into the soil, telling me what that area needs to be balanced. I have several huge Wild Mustard plants in my Garden and I thought, "My, look at those seed pods!" *DING* Hmmm, Brassica seed pods... tangy, crisp, a little hot, a little tough...why, they would be PERFECT for Capers!!!

*As a side note: Two local blossoms that you can enjoy are daylilly blooms and milkweed florets. I've had the daylillies and they are really delicious! Every year when they're all in full bloom, my sisters BEG me to make them. I haven't for a long time because battering and frying is such a hassle, but this year I will (in my new cast iron skillet!). They're more of a savory dish. Apparently battered and fried milkweed florets (or flower-heads) are a delicious, sweet dessert. They're good with cinnamon and sugar on them. We'll find out!!! I'll have a Blossom Fry for the fam this year!

The Salad Dressings -- Flat out amazing. You follow the recipes. You get an amazingly delicious dressing. The recipes are in "Nourishing Traditions." You need look no further than that for the most delicious dressings you've ever tasted.

Mayonnaise -- Recipe from "Nourishing Traditions." Good. Don't use olive oil if you want it to taste like what you're used to in a mayonnaise. I did and its pleasant, but I don't like the aftertaste. Good texture, good flavor. I'm going to use Sesame Seed Oil next time. That's a nice mild oil. I think it'll be better.

To Come:

Ketchup
Kombucha
Root Beer
Kefir (from Kefir 'Grains')
Piima
ViiLi
Fil Mjolk
Water Kefir

Bringing you up to speed on my new way of eating.

I've not been struggling with the diet. Its actually quite easy to eat this way (but if you read my last entry, you'll see that, when left to my own devices, this is my preferred, natural way of eating) and I enjoy it.

I've noticed that if you don't drink enough water while eating this way, you really notice it! And when it says 1/2 meat (I'm sorry, 'protein') and 1/2 vegetables, it had better be 50/50. If you eat too little of the vegetables, your bowels won't move right. If you eat too little meat, you get hungry.

My bowels have been struggling (as I knew they would) but I have hope that they will straighten out. I've been not doing quite perfect on the diet, purposefully, so that my bowels could adjust. But, I still should have done it slower. I should've added the protein in slower. I'm taking more enzymes and poop pills to try to help, but its just too much too soon. My poop is too narrow for comfort, I had a little bleeding, because its a little hard to go, and I feel like my colon is pushing against my lower back which leads to injury for me. I'm going to try to eat a whole whole lot of fruit tomorrow and see if that doesn't help. When I figure out what works, I'll let you know. I'm still going a lot, but like I said, its narrow and its not the really nice complete and easy evacuations I'm used to. Its not all coming out. It'll get there. Maybe its mental....

~~As a side note: Mom found organic sweet Italian sausages at Costco yesterday that are organic and have not MSG or sodium nitrate and she got them for us!!! Its so exciting!!!~~

I've lost 2 pounds. And it doesn't seem like a lot, but firstly, remember, that's not my goal, I'm noting it for your benefit and so we can keep track of how this works. Secondly, when you aren't really doing this as a drastic diet change, you're just doing it to change your diet to better your health, weight loss comes slowly because its staying off.

One thing I've learned over the years is never to punish yourself. This is a way of eating. Its not a "diet". Though the dictionary defines diet as a way of eating, its not how the word is commonly used. Its how we use it here, but we're nutritionists.

So when I say, don't punish yourself, I mean, you must take this a day at a time. You must go slowly and not push your self/body, and do what you can. Not what you think you can, but what you actually can. Too many restrictions and expectations for yourself lead to failure. You must make the change, but when done gradually, and over time, it will stick with you and become pleasant to you. Because its not, "you must do this," "you must do that," " you can't do this," "you can't ever eat that again." Those things are not realistic. I'm not saying don't try, but I am saying, don't go fanatic. Reward yourself because you did some little thing and you do it everyday and its - over time - easy, and its improving your health.

For instance, we always tell our patients to start off, that if they do nothing else to change their diet they can eat one piece of fresh fruit first thing in the morning before their regular breakfast. This is a very easy thing to do, and it does amazing things for them! They have no idea how much one little thing like that is helping them. Not only is it starting their whole day of with a base of perfect nutrition, but it also gives them energy and stimulates the bowels. How much more could you ask for from doing one little thing? Amazing.

Getting back - most of my meals are as suggested. I eat my fruit then pure protein in the morning. For lunch and dinner I have my 50/50. I eat some snacky things. I ate some chocolate today because a patient sent us an easter tray (she has a chocolate factory, isn't that cute?) and I had chicken and dumplings (which I made from scratch, they were sooo goooood and sooo simple! maybe I'll post the recipe) last night which of course have wheat-carbs.

As far as appetite goes. I find myself wanting sugar and carbs if I eat any sugar and carbs. But when I eat my 50/50, my appetite is reduced dramatically. That in its self is a blessing. I don't have to eat as much. Or as frequently. I ate those chicken and dumplings and I wanted cookies and more chicken and dumpling for the rest of the night. This morning I had salad with feta for brekkers and I didn't want anything till like 5:00 (course I ate the chocolate around lunch time, and I had to have some more later because I ate it in the first place!) where usually I would've eaten almost constantly all day long. Fruit then salad then my carb cravings get for heavier and heavier things as the day goes on. From crackers or chips to sandwiches or casseroles. Its not healthy. That's too much. But this way, eating the 50/50 + protein base at breakfast, I find myself wholly satisfied and not having to eat anywhere near as much!

Just thought I'd catch you up! Enjoy! Ask questions!