Photo: Great grandparents at their farm in Blandinsville, IL, with five of their six children .. my grandpa was yet a twinkle in grandma's eye. Stable boy and governess also pictured. Hodges farm, circa 1903-4

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Dabbling In The Kitchen ... again

This has been an exciting week kitchenwise.  First with the arrival of our green coffee beans .. then the wheat grinder .. and today my supply of Tattler reusable canning lids.  Come payday I'm off the get the wheat berries and give fresh ground wheat a try. 

I had such a nice quantity of milk kefir grains (see previous post) that I started to research about using them to make flavored water kefir.  The grains were divided:  half continue to make milk kefir .. and the other half have been designated for water.  So far I'm on my second quart of fermenting the water variety.  I used fresh organic ginger and some organic lemon peel to flavor the first batch .. it came out very refreshing .. now to try it on the family :).  The second batch I hope to flavor with some tangerines.  Soon I'll post some pictures with directions. 

The seeds that were sprouted earlier this week are ready to use in salads .. and I'll start on a second batch to sprout.  They greatly add flavor and crunch to our meals .. as well as good nutrition.

Last year I injured my right shoulder installing 6 foot metal T-steak posts and fencing around our three fruit trees (to keep the moose out) it has bothered me for about nine months.  Well .. after amping up my use of the milk kefir, calcium tablets made from seaweed, and consuming bone broth soups, it is finally on the mend ... just in time for the coming gardening season.  If you have the time .. it's well worth the effort to make your own rich soup stock.

Broth Is Beautiful
Taking And Making Stock
Bone Strength Calcium Supplement
Tattler Reusable Canning Lids

6 comments:

meemsnyc said...

I love trying new things in the kitchen. Sounds like you are really doing some cool things!

The Professor's Wife said...

Glad your shoulder is on the mend! I love making bone broth from scratch as well.

Linda said...

It is always good trying out new things. I love home made broth!
Glad your shoulder is better.
Have a great day.
Hugs

Terry said...

dear mrs. mac..i remember years ago when i took piano lessons that my piano teacher would be boiling up the bones from the roast turkey she had the day before and making broth out of it and she told me she would be using that delicious smelling broth to make spaghetti sauce...oh so yummy and she said that sauce made with trukey bones would make her little boys bones strong!
maybe i should of been doing that a long time ago, eh?...love terry

Mrs. Mac said...

.. yes .. Miss Terry .. bone broth is very nutritious and frugal. It's never too late to start making it. This type of broth is good for your joints as well.

Laurie said...

Going to have to research about the water grains. Didn't know you could use the same grains for both. Thanks for sharing this. Keep us posted with how you use them.