re: Damn Rainy Spring (Again). sigh.

I feel like I started this blog, way back when, with this as my header. And now, here we are again, come full circle. I guess we should be glad it is not snow. :)

Well, I am right depressed and realize that this is not the greatest way to start a blog, but between the rain, the health issue and the fact that I cannot reach any of my friends by phone, today, I feel like the woman in Bleak House who says: "Yes, it is still raining, and I am bored, so bored, bored with the rain, bored with this house, bored with my life, bored to death". Yea, they didn't call it Bleak House for nothing, you know? I hadta' make myself a couple of latte's in order to even get interested in walking the dog. Geez.

Well, anyway, I couldn't do what I wanted to this spring, and take an 8 weekend intensive on using wild edibles, but will most likely try and do the shorter version. We'll see how the funding sugars out.

I did manage to get 12 samples of product out to neighbors (which resulted in one order); and got 2 (half-dozen individual) samples, out to two stores that look like they may have the right demographic market to sell my stuff. another we'll see.

If I had my druthers, I'd hop in my car like the old days and just go gallivanting today, (maybe go see the kids), but I know my health won't allow for it, so I didn't even try. Now THAT is cause for depression, if anything is, right?

It pisses me off that the reason I had the surgery was because I knew I didn't have the discipline to give up coffee and go on a really lonnngggg cleanse, and now, because of the surgery messing up my stomach so badly, I have to do this anyway. So, just what did the surgery get me, anyhow? Damn allopathic medical professionals, lie like dogs and are right about the same percentage of time as meteorologists, namely 30%. Not very good, if you ask me. :(

Well, so, I haven't got much else to whine about, and haven't got any cheese, either, (yet another fallout from my surgery, I've had to go pretty much vegan, like it or not)......so I'll spare those of you who actually bother to read my blog, any further complaining, and say, at least, Happy Spring!

Rara Avis signing out from The House of Found Goods.

Day Lilly Shoot Pickles

Well, good afternoon from Rara Avis Fine Foods at the House of Found Goods.

The weather is particularly snotty here today; with rain/snow, rain/snow, continually. So much for the weather forecast that was calling for clearing and cold. More like cold and freezing rain. Too bad, as the night sky was supposed to be pretty cool tonight, with the moon hanging right beneath the Pleiades, looking like a basket. Harumpf!

Well, at least I got the first installment of Day Lilly Shoots, before the rain came. I hope to get more, but April is such a persnickety month, that I may not, either. I will do my best, and if not, then the juice I have left over will just go to fiddleheads, or garlic mustard, or something. Here's the first set of spring pickles; warnings and all.

Here's what it says, if you can't quite make it out:

A WORD OF CAUTION:

Most of us have digestive systems that are no longer familiar with wild-crafted edibles, especially the “bitters”.

With that in mind, it is more then wise to follow the basic rule of thumb for all new foods: Try 1 or 2; wait a few hours, and if there are no ill effects, assume that they are safe for you to eat.

It is NEVER advisable to eat a whole jar of pickles in any case, and these shoots are no exception; they are meant to be a garnish, only. Please eat sensibly. :)

This probably won't prevent me from getting sued, but at least I can say I used due diligence to inform consumers. Who knows what'll happen with the feds, these days.  :(

Ruth's Commentary.

I was at the Therapists office, yesterday, and happened to glance at their newsletter while I was waiting for my appointment to start. 

One of the therapists had this to say about this poem: .......is written by a woman during an early phase of her struggle with Alzheimer's. For me, it described her process as her memory and physical abilities were fading." 

I actually read the poem before I read the reason why it was posted and it just spoke to me of aging, really, as there were so many correlations between the two things. (Perhaps Alzheimer's is merely an accelerated type of aging...or perhaps, it is merely the brain aging, before the body, instead of "in-sync"?) It just really spoke to me.....and so.......I am republishing it here.

I find it takes too much hurry

An scurry to keep pace

With most of what is called

The HUMAN RACE.

And I'm eyeing the sidelines now

For some sit-down space.

Here-to-fore, competition

Really stirred my ambition and blood

(Which is now all glopped up with usage

And sluggish as mud.)

Also, the other juices that used

To keep this carcass well-oiled

And in running condition

Have long since dried up-so that 

What I used to get done in 1/2 day

Takes a week-

With strung-out muscles

And bones that creak.

Too, my mind forgets to remember and

My tongue can't find the right name

Or word, to my great shame.

From now on, it's the sidelines for me.

I'll gaze at birds and trees

And runners running

While I sit by

Reading and sunning.

Or saunter away for the view from a hill

Or have a chat with a friend

Who remembers me still

Or hold hands with Bill.

Or snuggle a grandchild

Warm and soft on my breast

Let the world race by

I've found what's best.

I fell madly in love with the way in which this poem reflects not only an awareness of limitations, but an embracing of them. It is truly Buddhist in it's simplicity and acceptance of the natural (or not so natural) process of aging. I don't know who this woman is/was, but it is my intention to honor her by publishing this so that everyone may try and attain the same easing into the aging process. 

May I be as blessed. Mona.

Rich's Run-In with a Groundhog.

I know I wasn't going to post for awhile, but the strangest thing happened when we returned from picking up a chair for my daughter. I had gone in to get the camera, so I could take a photo and send it.

When I came out, Rich said there were two groundhogs fighting in the middle of the road. I guess so..............by the time I got up there, they'd moved the fight to the side of the road. The one that was winning the fight ran off when we got close, and by that time, Rich had gone to get a giant stick. I told him to keep it away while I went to get a towel and a box, as the littler one was pretty stunned. He told me when I got back, that the big one had actually charged him, which I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of. Sounds kinda' funny. I told him he should feel sorta' blessed, as how many people get to get "charged", and hissed at, by a wild critter, in their lives............:)

Anyway, he fended it off, and I got a banana box and a towel. We managed to pick up the littler one wrapped in a towel, and I put it in a box, and put it in the shed, to recover from it's obvious shock.

As you can see, it's got quite a nasty scrape on it's right rear quarter and looks pretty darn beat up. I also saw a tooth mark on it's back, right by it's spine, which made me think it might have a broken back. Hoping it's just shock. It did have it's eyes open and it's head, up, so it was alert enough.

I covered it with the towel and by the time we'd gotten back from Crown Point; it had gotten out of the box, and was sitting on top of another box, staring at the door. We left the door open, and I came in to make some cocoa. By the time I got back outside, it'd gone, so I am assuming it just had injuries and not anything too life threatening, as it wasn't crawling around the yard, or anything. There's tons of dens out there, and as much as I hate the little beasts when they get in the garden, I still hate to see anything suffer, needlessly, so here's hoping that the little bugger made it. (There was some blood in the box, so it's got at least one nasty....but I figure that even if it just crawled off to it's den, to die, at least it got that option.)

Geez, there's just never a dull moment around this place............signing out from The House of Found Goods. :)

re: Random Notes

These are going to be all over the place, as things have been somewhat hectic lately. I apologize in advance. :)

Well, yea, so, I did a month-long liquid cleanse, (using vegetable broths w/miso, nut milks, and essiac solution); lost 30 pounds and got my alkaline levels up to 8.5, which, if you study these things, means you know that's about as high as we test for (on dip-sticks).

I felt pretty good, but of course, got a UTI, as the UT needs to be very acid, in order to fight germs off. The good news is that I was also able to do some serious healing and my neurogenic bladder appears to be heading in the right direction.

I came off the fast, for mardi-gras, (because I really wanted to try King-Cake, which I'd never had), but I now regret it, as I realized I am pretty much a compulsive eater. I love food and use it as a recreational drug. Since I also realized that I have absolutely no control over this with my perpetual sweet tooth; I am much better off staying on liquids for the immediate future, since I can really only work on one major health problem at a time. My goal is to get my bladder back to full function, and the digestion is just going to have to take a back-seat, for now.

I did end up going back to the ER for the UTI, along with some other acute issues I was having, but I think this may have been a healing crisis, as afterwards, for a short-time, I was really doing well.

I had found a site called help for IBS, and was following the diet-guidelines and it was good. Of course, the diet reminds me of a baby-food diet, so I can take it or leave it, and that's really helpful incentive to go back on liquids.

I don't think I did it a moment too soon, as my Pudenda Neuropathy like issue has re-announced itself, slowly, but surely. I went back on the amitryptaline, pyridine and tramadol, yesterday, but I am hoping that the amitryptaline and pyridine (along with some ibuprophen) will be enough to manage this latest acute issue, once my alkaline levels come back (hopefully, in a few days time).

Luckily, there wasn't much in my stomach, when I started taking these guys, as I can already feel their effects on my intestines. I also wanted to note here, that any kind of acid on my UT is bothersome, seems like. I was drinking Kukicha tea (which has only the most nominal level of caffeine in it (7 mg per cup); but even that little bit, seems like too much acid irritation. Of course, I had also started taking cranberry powder, and Vitamin C, which are also acid producing, so I am pondering dropping the cranberry, for now, even at risk of getting another UTI.

While I was feeling good; I filed an appeal for disability and consulted an attorney. Seems as if the guy was much too passive, as he didn't mention that while I may not have a malpractice case, I could perhaps, sue for compensatory damages, regardless. He also said that he didn't think I'd win even a disability case because I was too bubbly (my words, not his). BAH. I feel that Rich and I should have been much more aggressive, all along the way, and now I need to find an attorney who will be aggressive in pressing my case. Who knows how many attempts this will take? It's a bit frustrating, to say the least.

 I did take his advice to heart in that I really need to find a medical psychiatrist that can speak to the fact that I no longer work, even for myself, partly because of my medical issues, and partly because the liquid fasting is causing a lot of PTSD to re-surface. So, I was lucky enough to find that resource and will be meeting with them in a week or two.

The rest of the month is a daily venture to one doctor's office, or another, and since I don't have any recipe development going on, at present, then this will probably be my last blog, until the first of April, when I will once again try and get my home-bakery license finalized.

Stay tuned, and may you all walk with the Goddess in the interim. Rara Avis signing off from The House of Found Goods.

Potassium Rich Vegetable broth and Hot Malted Milk

Well, it's been a few weeks since I posted. I seem to have suffered an acute attack of whatever was ailing my pelvic nerves and causing my medical issues. Well, I finally have some sort of diagnosis, anyway. Apparently, I have something called Pudenda Neuropathy. Basically, it's a compressed nerve in the sacral plexus that pretty much incapacitates a bunch of lower body functions, and involves quite a lot of pain, as well as causing some disruption of circulation. I was pretty much out of commission for a full week, while the docs figured out medication and such.

In the meantime, I still have all my gastric issues and after reading up on fasting, I decided to go on a liquid diet, made up of potassium rich vegetable broths, nut milks, and freshly made vegetable juices. So far, so good. I'd never made a vegetable broth before, because I never wanted to sacrifice all those vegies in the cause, but I'm awfully glad I did, now.

This is what I did:

I went to the local co-op and bought one of everything that was in the produce section. I chopped it all up into large chunks, put it in a very large pot, added the herbs from a bundle of bouquet garni', several handfuls of seaweed, and a couple handfuls of colored peppercorns.

Next, I covered everything with filtered water, brought to a boil, then simmered for several hours. I strained out the juice, refilled the pot with water, and did it again. After the third fill, the vegies were getting fairly worn out, so I squeezed them only slightly, then put them in the compost.

I then mixed all of the stewings of broth, together. I did peel everything, because I thought I might save the pulp, but I guess I won't next time, as the pulp is probably not really worth saving. I spent around $75. 00 on vegies, but used only half of them, and have enough broth to last an entire week.

I must have been pretty low on potassium and such, since I pretty much craved it all day, the day I made it. Now, my alkaline level is back up where it should be, despite the drugs, for which I am truly grateful. :)

During the process of this journey of fasting on liquids, and staying away from dairy, protein and fats, I also discovered something equally as nourishing and delicious:

HOT MALTED MILK.

16 ounces nut milk*.
2 teaspoon (household), raw cacao powder.
2 teaspoon (household), raw mesquite powder (carob).
2 teaspoon (household), barley malt syrup.

Despite the fact that raw food is only "live" when it has not been heated above 118 degrees, I combined these ing. in a small saucepan, and heated on medium low, until heated to personal preference. (Which probably is not all that deadly, since the human tongue thinks that 100 degrees is hot). Also, the barley malt may be an allergen to some folks as it's from barley, but again, it's derived from sprouted barley, so this may be a moot point, as well. Probably, though, it surely isn't raw, as it is very concentrated and doesn't say "cold-pressed" anywhere on the label. The really great thing about the barley syrup; is that it made the mocha mixture very malty tasting, and added just tons of potassium to the quotient.  :)

*Making nut milk is extremely easy, the hardest part is remembering to soak the nuts. I generally use 1 cup of soaked nuts (any and all, I tend to use different nuts each time), to 3 cups of filtered water. Whir it all up in the blender and strain. I usually do keep the nut meal and freeze it, as so many raw cake recipes call for it.

Spring is just around the corner, according to the groundhog, anyway, and since I must walk the dog, now................Signing out from Rara Avis Fine Foods at the House of Found Goods.

re: Tuscan Kale Soup & Gluten-Free vegan thin mints.

Well, with the weather forecast predicting -20, we decided we'd better get in the hoop house and liberate the remaining kale and brussel sprouts. Rich spent the morning digging out the path, repairing the sagging joints from the heavy snow, and harvesting what was left of the vegetables. For some time, now, In anticipation of just this occasion, I've had my eye on a recipe from a local magazine, called: delicious living (it's put out by a burlington health food store). The recipe itself was Tuscan Kale Soup with Buckwheat. Damn, but it was sensational!

And, for some odd reason, I have been hankering for some of those dreadfully bad for you cookies that are sold by the girl scouts, (and taste so awfully good), but alas, couldn't indulge myself, so I began looking around the web for a recipe that I might be able to convert.

Low and behold, I found one at Miranda Levenstein's blog: "In Sweet Treatment". So, I got to work. It wasn't hard, as the only things I had to change were the flour, sugar, butter and milk. I used the flour mix that's in any gluten-free cookbook, but for those of you who don't have one, here's the recipe:

Brown Rice Flour (very fine ground); 6 cups; Potato Starch (NOT FLOUR); 2 cups; Tapioca Flour (or starch); 1 cup. This will make 9 cups of mix, so if you have one of those gallon jars, that's ideal, but you could do it in a doubled paper bag, as well, although this is a lot messier :(

I generally use sucanet, instead of sugar, and since it's not quite as sweet, I added an additional 1/3 cup.

It's good that there weren't any eggs, so the only other substitutes were earth balance, for the butter, and soy milk, for the milk.

Well, yea, so here's the recipe I ended up with. Enjoy! (Note: most of the ingredients I use are organic.)

Cookies:

1 1/4 cups flour mix.
1 tsp. guar gum.
1/3 cup cornstarch.
6 Tbsp. (heaping), unsw. cocoa powder.
1/2 tsp. pink sea salt.
1 1/3 cups sucanet.
1/2 cup earth balance (room temperature).
1/3 cup soy milk.
1/2 tsp. vanilla ext.
1 tsp. peppermint ext.

In medium bowl of mixer, cream butter, sugar, and milk, together, until light and fluffy. In another bowl (or plate), sift flour before measuring, then add guar gum, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt; sift again. Add to creamed mix and mix on low, until smooth. Mound into two logs, wrap in saran wrap or wax paper, and freeze for at least an hour. (You may need to freeze for about 20 minutes, before you can mound them, as this mix is a bit sticky.) Once they are very, very firm, slice into 1/4 inch slices, place on cookie sheets about 1/2 inch apart, and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven, for 13-18 minutes. (I did not use wax paper, as the original recipe called for, as the wax layer always seems to burn off and smoke up my kitchen too much. I did spray-oil the cookie sheet.) Let cool until firm enough to frost or dip.

Coating.


10 oz. Ghiardelli 80% Cacao chocolate.
1/2 cup earth balance.
1/2 tsp. peppermint ext.

Melt chocolate and earth balance in top of double boiler, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth.
Let cool for 10-15 minutes, then add extract. Spoon into cookie press (or frosting bag, with very large tip), using whatever design you like, and pipe onto cookies. Freeze again for a short time (15-30 minutes), until chocolate is hardened. Alternatively, if you want the entire cookie coated, (like the originals), you could try dipping them into the chocolate and place onto wax paper lined sheet. Freeze as above. (I did not try this, as I know from past experience that rice flour tends to make a much more crumbly finish). If they should hang around, (doubtful), store in a container with a tight fitting lid; up to a month refrigerated, or a week, at room temperature.

 Best dinner in town; heck, maybe the whole state........even if I do say so, myself!

Signing out from Rara Avis Fine Foods at The House of Found Goods. Goodnight all. :)