Freezer Preserved Creamed Corn

At the same time as I'm doing the fermenting and pickling of various goodies, I am preserving other foods at the peak of their freshness.

One of our family's favorite vegetable dishes is creamed corn.  I preserve enough to make sure that we have some for Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and any other special holiday between now and next summer. I usually do about five dozen ears.

This year, I want to share with you a trick that I learned from watching "Good Eats" with Alton Brown, whom I would call the food meets science guru.  It's the only cooking show that I have ever watched with my husband. I'm fairly sure that we have seen every episode and own a few on DVD.  His take on the scientific approach to cooking has greatly affected my cooking preparations and techniques.

Here's his secret technique for getting the kernels off the cob and my simple recipe for preparing and freezing creamed corn.

Plum Wine-ish Kombucha

Today, I am sharing two recipes using plums in the second fermentation of kombucha.

The first is the most basic with only adding plums to the second fermentation bottles.

The second is a little more complex and layered in flavor. It is a plum, lime, and ginger kombucha 

If you would want to know everything to start brewing kombucha, visit my Kombucha page by clicking the tab at the top.

If you would like to read about how to do the first fermentation, please click here.

And now to the plum kombucha recipes!

Starting Your Very First Batch of Milk Kefir - Video

For more detailed instructions, read my blog post here.

A couple things I forgot to mention:
Don't use ultra-pasterized milk, so that knocks out most organics. I use a non-organic that is hormone and antibiotic free.
Don't use anything metal.

Hope this helps.

Please feel free to leave questions in the comments.

Lacto-Fermented Spicy Pineapple

Such a simple ferment, such amazingly yummy results!

I am literally sitting here eating the spears of pineapple out of the canning jar. I know that's a no-no because I'm introducing germs into the jar, but I don't expect it to last overnight, so I think it's OK.

These are that good. Really.

Each bite starts with a tingle on your tongue.
Then you taste the sea salt in the brine
and the heat from the jalapeños build.
It finishes with the sweetness of the pineapple. 
Every bite is a flavor experience.

Sour Patch Grapes - a sometimes treat that you might be hiding from the children to eat for yourself

  So, I'm supposed to be blogging about healthy recipes for your family, and yet, I start off with a recipe that is not really healthy and definitely not clean eating. But I tried this recipe for the first time last night, and it was such a hit with everyone that I thought I had to share it.

Sour Patch Grapes

Grape Ape Kombucha - Easiest Second Ferment Ever!

We all get set in our ways.

For instance, I always use fresh or frozen organic fruit in my kombucha. 

Maybe this has turned me into a bit of a kombucha snob, because when someone suggested using store bought juice in the second ferment of kombucha on a thread on Facebook, I visibly cringed. And the flavor combination just sounded nasty!

But, I thought, "as much as I'm making, I can take a quart and try it out.".  What she was suggesting was using concord grape juice in the second fermentation.

First School Project - Due First Day of School!

Oh my goodness!

The first days of school are upon us. 

School starts here in two days.  Orientation was last week.  Two weeks ago, we received a letter from O's teacher.  She is entering 5th grade in an accelerated cluster within the school system.   Since it is an accelerated program, we expect a faster pace and a little more homework.  But we were a bit surprised to find that the introduction letter from the teacher included a project due on the first day of school.  A fairly simple one, maybe, unless you have a gifted kid.

 A mobile.