Lemonade by the glass

We have a Ponderosa lemon tree that bears large, tart lemons throughout the year (if it had been my choice, I'd have opted for the sweeter Meyer lemon, but the tree predates us).

Anyway, here's some twists on lemonade by the glass.

Ingredients:

• 2 - 3 Tbs fresh lemon juice (depending on how tart you like it).
• 2 Tbs sugar (be generous here, especially when working with tart lemons).
• 8 oz of chilled water

Directions:

• Create your own "simple syrup" by dissolving the sugar with a few ounces of boiling water in the glass.
• Add the lemon juice.
• Add ice (or not; your choice) and top-off with chilled water.

 
Note: I originally posted this recipe specifying agave syrup instead of refined sugar. At that time, I believed it was a preferable sweetener. However, recent findings indicate that agave syrup is primarily fructose-based, and since fructose isn't directly digestible by the body, it ends up being removed by the liver. So, you can use agave if you prefer it's lower glycemic index, but be aware that it puts more load on your liver, too.)

Fun twists:

• Add some fresh, julienne-cut or crushed mint leaves.
• Add 1/3 glass of sparking water, which makes a refreshing spritzer.
• Add 1/4 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc, for a wine cooler.

À la vôtre!

Refined sugar vs. high fructose corn syrup?

Given in the course of simple existence that we will be faced with the decision, "Do I eat this product, which contains high fructose corn syrup, or find one like it that uses raw or refined sugar?" Which is the better choice? I was curious myself and found this article from HealthDay, which concludes, sugar is sugar and daily intake is what you want to manage! Seems like an obvious and intuitive conclusion - and this livestrong article backs it up.

Sourdough Starter & Bread

Most people are familiar with sourdough bread, but did you know that you can make sourdough starter and bread easily at home? All that's necessary to get started is some whole grain flour, water, and a non-reactive bowl or jar.

Starter recipe & attribution: King Arthur Flour

No-knead Bread Recipe: Bittman, the NY Times (Tip: Use about 1/3rd cup of starter instead of the packaged yeast mentioned in the recipe).

Here's the kick-off!

Two Days Later

Here, we can see the texture is changing and bubbles are starting to appear, which is a good sign that fermentation is on track. At this point, another week of care and feeding - and then it should be possible to use this starter for baking!

About Two Weeks Later

Two weeks later, ready to rumble! I learned a lot about what to do better and why it took so long, too ;-) Basically, don't feed quite as often, use 1:1 ratio flour to warm water when feeding, and a warm environment is better (at least 72 degrees F or so).

The First Loaf

The first finished loaf (a little too crusty, because it was baked at 450 degrees F, but the flavor was just fine). Alongside some Moroccan chickpea stew (recipe & attribution: The Clean Dish).

The Third Loaf

Learning more refinements, the best loaf yet! A third of it was eaten right after it had cooled, it was that good. Nice and spongy, lots of air bubbles within, and just enough crust. This was baked at 400 degrees, instead of 450 degrees as described in the recipe, making the crust just right.

Some other observations:

• The starter has gotten better over time! After several care and feeding cycles, it's become more responsive and active, yielding effectively the same results as dry, store-bought yeast :-)
• Use flour specifically for "bread making" if it's available. It will yield better results. I've also mixed one cup whole wheat flour with two cups unbleached general purpose flour, and that works, but it results in a loaf that's more dense and with less rise. Some breadmakers say adding a tablespoon of oil to the dough mixture before baking helps in this case, but I haven't tried that yet.

Veggie Lunch

I put this lunch together pretty easily at home, as I had all the ingredients on-hand. It was the first time I've made this Moroccan Chickpea Stew and I'll definitely make it again, it was really tasty!

Moroccan Chickpea Stew

Recipe & attribution: The Clean Dish.

Lunch Setting

From the left: Sauteed Swiss chard with tofu, MCS, and Lemon thyme sesame noodles.

Vegetarian Courses

Here are some vegetarian courses I tried at home that were quite good.

Roasted Vegetables

This one has cauliflower, sliced fingerling potatoes, de-seeded and chopped tomatoes, some garlic, and onion (drizzled with a little EVOO, sprinkled with salt, pepper, mixed, and baked at 400 deg F until slightly tender).

Grain Base

This is farro with black lentils (along with some sauteed onions and squash cubes, as shown). Since the farro and lentils take about the same amount of time to cook, I cooked them together in some veg broth, and it came out quite well. Particularly suitable as a bed to put other items on top of. I didn't find the onion & squash very complementary to this dish, so I won't do that again - sometimes you learn by making mistakes ;-)

Thai Style

Here's a Thai style dish, with peanut sauce and fresh mint.

Veggie Bowl

And here's some sauteed veggies over rice with a Sriracha drizzle on top, quite tasty!

Lift for Life!

I was fortunate to develop an affinity for strength training when I was on the swim team during my High School years. It's stuck with me all these decades and it's something I still avidly participate in three or four times a week. As I've aged, however, I've learned that some exercises must go and some must come. Here's a neat article with ideas for older folks like myself, which gives some good tips!

Golden grains

See this article for a great intro to heritage grains that provide healthy alternatives to wheat and rice. Nice to see these grains are gaining cultivation and favor nowadays! Montana's organic farmers are helping with it, too.

An icon moves on

Chuck Williams, the founder of Williams Sonoma, has passed away. One hundred years old, wow!

Farmers and GMOs

For most consumers, it's a matter of altered vs. natural. But reading this article it becomes clear that for farmers, it's about economics. Nice to see that non-GMOs can compete with GMOs, though! Choices are good - for farmers, too :-)

Legumes in ancient history

Legumes have been around for a long time and have been farmed and harvested for their nutritional value in the past 9,000 years. See this interesting article describing archaeological finds made in Palestine.

Ahihud, one of the Neolithic sites in Galilee. Photo: Yaron Bibas, courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.