Easy, lacto-fermented pickles

About a year ago or so I learned about fermenting veggies, and as requested, here's my little blog post on how I do pickles. 

Supplies:
- mason jar
- fresh cucumbers (I picked these last night)

- real salt (NOT iodized - I use the himalayan pink salt from Costco)
- pickling spices, herbs, garlic, etc.
- NOT chlorinated water (we have well water, so I use from the tap)
- optional: starter (will explain in a bit)
- optional: airlock type lid (I use this Perfect Pickler)

- optional: tea leaves or grape leaves (for their tannins; my pickling spice has bay leaves in it, so that works for me)

1) Fill your jar with cucumbers and herbs and spices. (My jar is usually stuffed full - it's OK to pack those cucumbers in tight, and actually can help with the ferment). 

2) Make a brine with some salt. I don't measure in anything but quilting, so I just go for salty. My book, Real Food Fermentation, recommends a ratio of 1/2 cup of salt to 2 quarts of non-chlorinated water. Remember: NOT iodized salt!

3) Here's where I cheat:
Sauerkraut is my only ferment I do that I don't add a starter. For these pickles, I saved some of the brine from my last batch of Bubbies (you can get them at a health food store in the fridge). They're fermented pickles. 

4) Add the brine and starter to the pickles (I think it's about 1/2 cup of starter -- for the next batch; I just reserve some of the brine and herbs from this batch and that has worked really well for me).

Make sure the pickles are covered with brine!

5) Let them sit on the counter for 3-5 days. They will bubble and change color, but they're delicious! My Scarlet especially loves them. If you don't have an air-lock lid, open once or twice/day to release some of the pressure. If your home is especially warm, they will ferment faster. I sometimes put them in the fridge in the middle of the day to slow down the process. Move to the fridge and they keep for a long time!

This is my fresh batch, and my last batch after 4 days of pickling!

I use cabbage leaves, a little stainless cup, a smaller jar inside a jar, or other ways to keep the pickles below the level of the brine. I went back and added more to this batch because I noticed my pickles had floated up a bit. 

Enjoy!

#getbacktothegarden
#probioticsforthewin

Orange Chicken: a yummy recipe (and gluten free too!)

I'm not a food blogger and have no aspirations to be.
Quilts will always be my first bloggy love.

BUT -- I'm a mom and a wife, and I'm always looking for healthy and yummy meals that make the big man, the little (picky) man, and the little lady happy.  I like this one too.

This is modified from a recipe I ate growing up that used two envelopes of Lipton Onion Soup mix instead of these other things I'm listing.  I'm trying to eliminate MSG from my family's life (it's a neuro-specific toxin!*)

I bought the ingredients to make it again this week. :)

I apologize that I don't measure.  I kind of don't know how.  I shake 'til it feels right.  No, I do not take that approach with quilts.  This is harder to mess up than a quilt.

Important -- 

• Don't reconstitute the juice concentrate!
• If you can't find pine/orange combo, you can use half a can of orange juice, and half a can of pineapple juice.  The bonus for this is that you have concentrate ready to make this again (which you will want to; I promise).
• If you put your onion in the freezer for approximately 15 minutes before cutting, it won't make you cry so much while chopping. (thanks Miki!)
• Bonus: Chicken thighs are inexpensive!  (I've never tried this with breasts; the thighs don't dry out, so that's why we use them.)
• My dad and hubby grow the "CalRose" kind of rice.  You can find it in the Asian food sections of the grocery store.  Uncle Ben's (and the like) never come in to this house.
• You can drain off some of the fat on top if you'd like.
• The sauce is really yummy too.

Here are the super easy directions!

It will look like the picture in the top when it's ready.  And you're welcome.  It's delicious.  I promise. ♥

P.S. A funny story about MSG.  I lived in Taiwan for a year of my life, and learned a lot of basic Mandarin Chinese, including how to request no MSG on the food for my friends and I.  I often got very strong questioning looks (and out-right questions), and this questioning face made more sense to me when I learned the translation of the word.  I was told, the loose translation of MSG in Chinese was "Flavor Pow!" of "Flavor Zip!"  (Picture old Marvel comics bubbles).  No wonder they wondered why I didn't want any.

pink and red

A happy (belated) Thanksgiving from our family!

I haven't been sleeping much, but we are doing really well. :)  Thank you to those who have been checking on us!

Baby girl turns seven weeks tomorrow (wow).  She and I have big plans to hit JoAnn's and get a good deal on batting (hopefully there's some left!)

Lately she's working on her smiling (and Mommy's working on capturing it).





(and you can see how her eating every 2 1/2 hours around the clock is giving her a nice little double chin).

She's oh so snuggly...



and does the cutest little stretches.



(I swear, if anything gets me to have a third baby, it will be these adorable newborn stretches)

I've done a little bit of sewing (it's taken me about a week/block). ;)

This will be for Scarlet's bedding set.  (It's Moda's Sophie collection, paired with chenille)



My goal is for Steiger and Scarlet both to get new bed sets for Christmas... hopefully I make it!



And here's our recipe for pink salad (aka "Overnight Cranberry Salad")

1 lb. fresh cranberries
2-3 apples
1/2 lb. miniature marshmallows
1 c. sugar
2 c. freshly whipped cream

Core apples (can peel, but we don't).  Chop apples and cranberries well (I pulse them in a food processor).  Add marshmallows and sugar (I use less sugar than it calls for).  Mix together and let it sit overnight.  Next day, fold in the whipped cream... Delicious (and so easy!)

a foodie post... (with raspberry cream cheese coffee cake recipe)

Not a lot of sewing going on here...

but I did have a few food related somethings to share. :)

We have a lot of tomato plants, with a lot of tomatoes.  And my husband loves tomato sauce... (gotta have that lycopene, right?), so I wanted to make some.  Trouble is, peeling and seeding is a pain for me; I just hate doing it and it's messy.

With inspiration from my friend Amanda, I washed,



Chopped (skin, seeds and all), added some basil, salt, pepper and onion and simmered.



Threw it in the blender (we have a fancy-pants VitaMix blender my mom gave me; Amanda uses a hand-held immersion blender to make hers), and then in to zip-loc bags and in to the freezer.  They smelled delicious, and were so easy.

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Sunday morning, I made my husband's favorite breakfast -- a raspberry cream cheese coffee cake (we eat this every Christmas morning).

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

3 oz. cream cheese

4 T. butter

2 c. biscuit mix

1/3 c. milk

1/2 c. raspberry preserves (we use seedless - and you can use a bit less too)

1 c. powdered sugar

1 to 2 T. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix the cream cheese, butter, and biscuit mix until crumbly.  Blend in 1/3 c. milk.  Knead on floured surface 8 to 10 strokes.  Roll to approx. 8" x 12" rectangle and turn onto a greased baking sheet.  Spread with raspberry preserves down the center of dough.  Make 2 1/2" cuts at 1" intervals on long sides; fold strips over filling, sealing well.  

Bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.  Make glaze with powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, and drizzle over warm coffee cake. 

Serve and enjoy.

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And lastly, since I haven't had a pumpkin spice latte yet, I decided to make some pumpkin spice caramel corn (again, inspired by Amanda). :)

Recipe here. 

Enjoy!  36 1/2 weeks now... (Steiger came at 38, 1 day... we'll see what this baby has in mind, but I'm getting large!)

what a good day

It all started with a change meeting at my favorite local quilt shop.

The lady across the counter seemed familiar to me... and she couldn't stop looking at my son with that "why do I know this child?" kind of thought.

"Are you Pam?"
"I'm 'traceyjay.'"

Since then, I've ran in to Pam a few times, and exchanged a few emails (including her offer to pick me up and take me to Pacific International Quilt Festival -- which, sadly, I couldn't attend)...

She invited me to a class in needle-turn appliqué led by Tonye Phillips.  (Tonye makes gorgeous quilts, with intricate appliqué, that remind me a bit of Beetlejuice meets Little Red Riding Hood.)

quilt by Tonye Phillips

But that's where I was yesterday.

It is the first time I've ever had any kind of quilting class, or even sewn with people in real life (not counting my junior high 4-H lessons).

And it felt good.

Here is my first little bit of needleturn appliqué!



Because I was right next door to the quilt shop, and because the boy was at home with his grandma... I did a *little* extra special shopping.

Fabric shouldn't be this pretty.

Naomi Ito for Nani Iro (hope I got those right)

And when it is, it is impossible to resist.

Speaking of fabric... I met the lovely Mrs. McPorkchop at the class.  Not only did the girl make the most amazing egg-nog cheesecake I've ever eaten (with homemade graham crackers in the crust no less!), but she gave me this.

some FMF from Mrs. McPorkchops

The little sproutlings!  I ♥ the little sproutlings.

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Though not nearly as delicious as the aforementioned cheesecake, I did make a favorite salad of mine (that I didn't think to take a picture of until I got it home and was eating my fourth  second bowl.

"Flying Farmer Chicken Salad."

(made with rice from our field... yes, the one right outside my house... yep, we farm rice... don't you think about making this with Uncle Ben's... you can get really good "Calrose" rise in the Asian food section of most grocery stores... yes, it is California rice that is coming back from Japan)

Flying Farmer Chicken salad

5 c. cooked chicken, diced
2 tbsp. salad oil
2 tbsp. orange juice
2 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. celery
1 1/2 c. green grapes (sliced)
1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges (drained)
1 (13 oz.) can pineapple tidbits (drained)
1 c. slivered almonds, toasted
3 c. cooked rice
1 1/2 c. mayonnaise (Don't put all of it in at once -- you probably only need 1 cup)

Mix first 5 ingredients and let stand 4 to 5 hours or overnight. Add remaining ingredients and chill for a couple of hours.

I decided to snap a picture with Pam before I left.  Thank you friend for making this day possible!



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P.S.  While I was gone, my mother-in-law helped clean my house (which I so appreciate!), so I was free to get this little project started. :)