fermented cucumbers and jalapeños

You know that team building game that people sometimes play where you have to choose what two foods you would want to live on for the rest of your life if you were stranded on a deserted island??  Well...one of my two foods has always been pickles.  I mean, really, if you're stranded on an island what better food to have with you!  They are shelf stable, they are a vegetable, and they are always delicious.  Yum.  My mouth waters every time I think about those sour crispy delectables.   

For the past few summers I've made a couple batches of traditional vinegar dill pickles--and I love them and wouldn't go without them.  But last year I also tried my hand at fermented dill pickles.  It was an experiment--as I've found all fermenting to be.  It's not an exact science the way that hot water or pressure canning is.  With canning you have to have just the right amount of food in the jars, the jars have to be closed just right, the temperature and/or pressure has to be just right, and you have to do it for just the right amount of time, but with fermenting it's totally different.  Your jar of cucumbers can be half full, you can have several different sizes of jars with different types of lids, you can ferment something for a week, two, five, twelve.  Every ferment is different and each one is a bit of an experiment with far too many variables to make it scientific---it's awesome!  Those are my favorite kinds of experiments.  It's like when you make a really delicious meal and your husband says, "Wow! This is amazing!  Can you make this more often?"  And you respond with, "Um...this exact thing?? Probably not.  I made it up."  That's kind of how fermenting works, at least for me.  

Another thing about fermented pickles is that they taste a bit different from their vinegary counterparts.  They are more sour and they are kind of bubbly.  They can make your face pucker and they can be incredibly addicting...but I do think they are a bit of an acquired taste.  If you've never made or really eaten homemade vinegar pickles, then tasting your first fermented pickle may be quite a shocker.  They are very different from the jars of pickles that line the grocery store isles.  However, if you are a homemade pickle lover, then I encourage you to try fermenting a batch.  The best part is that you can start with a little pint jar and if they don't turn out or you hate them, you can compost those babies without it being a big deal at all.  

The basics of fermenting cucumbers include packing pickling cucumbers (I get my mine at the farmers market) into a jar with pickling spices, garlic, and fresh dill, and then filling the jar with a brine of salt water.  You then tightly cover them and leave them in a warm place for a bit.  If your kitchen is warm (mine was in the 70's and 80's this week), then it may take just 5-7 days for the pickles to be ready.  If it's on the cooler side (consistently below 75) then it may take a few weeks for them to finish.  Once they have changed from bright cucumber green to dull pickle green and the liquid is bubbly and cloudy, then they are ready to taste.  When you bite into them, they should look pickled all the way through.  If they are still bright green in the middle--they are not done, or if they taste really salty they are not done.  When they get to the sour level of your liking and they are pickled all the way through---they are done!!  Hooray!  Then you can wipe down the jars (in case they've dripped a bit in the fermenting process) and move them into the refrigerator where they'll keep for 6 months to a year.  So easy and so good!

Also, adding traditional fermented foods to your diet can be so good for you!  Unfiltered and unpasteurized fermented foods are full probiotics that help to build a healthy gut flora.  Stop buying those expensive probiotic supplements and start eating fermented pickles and you'll be set!! I wrote a bit more about this in a post last summer, if you're wanting to find out more.  

If you are looking for a recipe to get you started with fermenting cucumbers, this Nourished Kitchen recipe looks like a good one.  The one I used this time around is from The New Midwestern Table by Amy Thielen.  It's a fabulous cookbook that includes so many great updated traditional midwestern recipes, which is great if you want to cook using local and season ingredients.  I fall more in love with that cookbook each time I use it.  

For my fermented jalapeños, I just added some garlic and used the same salt water brine that I used for the cucumbers.  They take a bit longer to ferment (you can see the changing green colors in the picture above; once they are all the duller green color, I'll start checking them), but I find that fermenting them is a great way to preserve the handfuls of jalapeños that come in from our garden as I can ferment them as soon as I have a pint jar full.  

How about you??  Have you tried your hand at fermenting??  If so, what are some of your favorite things to ferment?  

blueberries!!!

One of my favorite parts about summer is preserving all of the wonderful bounty that grows around here in our short summer months.  And fresh, local berries are top on the preserving list!  My summer berry picking usually starts off with strawberries, and then moves on to raspberries and blueberries.  With all of the berry picking that I usually do, we typically don't buy any berries throughout the remainder of the year (expect for special occasions).  This year has been a bit of disappointment in the berry picking department, though.  Due to our traveling this summer, I completely missed the strawberry season!  It was a bit shorter than normal due to heavy rains, which abruptly ended the season on the same day we got back into town.  And then this week I was all ready to go blueberry and raspberry picking when I found out that the farm I usually go to for both types of berries had a worm infestation in their raspberries and they closed them for the season.  So sad (both for the farmers and for me)!!  I did, however, get a bumper crop of blueberries and I found a pint or so of worm-free raspberries.  I've decided that blueberries are one of my favorite berries to freeze!  They are so easy to incorporate into muffins, pancakes, deserts, and more in their frozen form, unlike raspberries and strawberries, which are better eaten fresh.  So, in the end, it worked out.  We won't have any strawberry or raspberry jam this summer, but that's ok.  I've realized that we really only need 1-2 batches of fruit preserves to get us through the year.  So, this may be an apple butter year.  And I'm just fine with that.   

I picked an ice cream bucket full of blueberries, which gave me 12 cups to freeze for muffins, pancakes, smoothies, and whatever else we want them for.  I also set aside 6 cups for a blueberry pie (yum!!!) and 4 more cups to be used this week and for fresh eating.  So far we've made blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins, blueberry kombucha, and of course eaten many more of those berries fresh out of the fridge.  

How about you??  What types of berries do you like to pick and how do you use them??

washing windows

Windows!  We have so many windows!  Sixteen on our main floor, to be exact, and six upstairs.  I love our windows for the wonderful ventilation and natural light that the bring to our little house, but when it's time to wash the windows, it isn't a quick task!  And if we're being completely honest, it happens very rarely in this house.  

Now, sometimes in my natural living adventures I forget that some of the simplest, everyday tasks, I occasionally take for granted.  For example, over the past couple months, I've noticed in other people's homes the large number of cleaning supplies that fill their cupboards: tub and tile, disinfectants, wood cleaners, wood polishers, stainless steel cleaners/polishers, disposable floor mops and their specific cleaning solutions, the list goes on and on.  However, the one that always stands out to me as very unnecessary and often rather ineffective is the bottle of window cleaner.  The reason for this is that my Grandma taught me many years ago that the best way to wash windows is to use warm water, a little vinegar, and a little lemon juice.  And she is so very right about that.  Nothing is easier, cheaper, safer, or more effective!  

So, while this may not be new news to you at all, I thought I'd share it for those who may find their cupboards a bit overloaded with cleaning supplies and those who may be looking for a way to simplify and clean in a more natural, safe, and effective way.  This simple cleaning solution not only produces streak-free, crystal clear windows, but since it's made from edible ingredients, it's perfectly safe for anyone in your household to use (or accidentally consume!). 

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Natural Window Washing Solution

1 gallon of very warm water

1/4 cup of white vinegar

2 tablespoons of lemon juice (fresh or bottled both work, but I prefer bottled since it's easier to use and doesn't have pulp)

Add the vinegar and lemon juice to the warm water and use a lint-free cloth to wipe down windows and sills with the water mixture.  Then use a dry towel to wipe the window dry.  I have found that microfiber cloths work the best for both washing and drying.  

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And there you have it!!  A simple, natural, and effective way to wash your windows!  Thanks, Grandma Nola! 

summer heat, in the house and out

July is in full swing and with it has come the hot and humid Minnesota air of summer.  I love this time of year, because it's such an extreme contrast compared to the frigid below zero temps of January.  In years where we don't really have a hot summer, it makes the freezing winter seem harder to bear.  Granted, days upon days and weeks upon weeks of very hot and very humid is not my favorite, but I'll take at least a bit of it!  

Now, in the winter, we like to keep our house on the cooler side...with the thermostat rarely reaching above 65 degrees.  Our thought on this is that you can always put on an extra layer to keep warm and your body really does adjust to it over time.  It also makes the transition from inside to out much easier as it's comfortable to keep the under layers on in the house, instead of being too hot inside and too cold out.  

In the summer we have a similar philosophy.  In our little house we do not have much in the way of air conditioning, except a rather small window unit that currently sits in one of our living room windows.  Living in a society where almost everything is cooled with central air, it's difficult for some to imagine a home without air conditioning, but it wasn't that long ago when having air conditioning was quite the luxury! Since it's become such a standard element in our society, in my opinion, we've gone to the extreme in using it.  We now walk into buildings in the middle of summer and find ourselves shivering because it's too cold, or we have to bring sweaters to work in order to comfortably sit at our desks all day.  For many they walk out of their air conditioned houses, climb into an air conditioned car, sit in an air conditioned office all day, just to go home and repeat it all again--hoping they'll get just a few minutes out in the sun and fresh air during lunch or in the evening.  

For me, that doesn't work.  We get these few short months of warm weather, weather that's perfect enough to spend the entire day outside, yet our society often prefers its perfectly controlled climate set at 70 degrees all year round.  It doesn't work for me because I want to fully soak up summer while it's here so that I'm ready for the cool down of fall and the coziness of winter when they come.  Now, don't get me wrong, A/C has it's place.  I understand that we need to keep our work places workable and it's much easier to sleep when you're not drenched in sweat.  I get it.  However, I wish we could find that happy medium as a society where we could cool when needed, but let the fresh air in order to enjoy summer the rest of the time.  

The good news is that we can make those choices in our homes.  Shut the air off!  Open the windows!  Yes, 80, even 90, is warm during the day, but goodness, 60's feel so good at night!  If it's hot in the house, wear as few clothes as possible and enjoy the temporary heat of summer.  Let your body sweat!  It's good for you.  And more importantly, let the warm temps inside send you outside.  We find that when our house is warm, it's usually more comfortable outside, which means we spend hours of our day in the yard and on the deck.  We eat outside, work outside, relax outside.  It's wonderful!  

So, my challenge for you today is to think about the amount of air conditioning you use on a daily basis and ask yourself whether you really need it.  What would happen if you turned the thermostat up just a bit or even off for a bit to simply enjoy the heat of summer?  Try it for a few days, for a few weeks!  I think you may be surprised how your body can acclimate if you allow it to and I think you'll find that summer won't slip away as quickly as it usually seems to.  Give it a chance.  Open those windows!!

summer break

It's here, it's here!!  My summer break is here!!  School has finished for the semester and my summer of traveling, gardening, reading, and rejuvenating has begun!  Obviously, having three months off from work each year sounds blissful for most and I know my ability to take advantage of the time off stirs up a little twinge of envy in some.  I get it!  Goodness, I do!  But this stage of life didn't just happen for us.  I worked for years to prepare for this place that we're now in.  I completed my master's degree while working full time.  I paid for school as I went so that I could finish debt free and put the little money we did have towards an affordable house.  And we decided, and continually decide each year, that we'd rather live on less money and have the freedom to travel and truly enjoy our summers.  

Now, I know, for many working full-time all year long is not an optional lifestyle--it's an absolute necessity.  However, I also know that many of us find ourselves overburdened with bills and expenses (some of which really aren't necessities) and we then feel required to work a job that doesn't bring fulfillment or a balanced life. This is something that Dan and I are very passionate about.  I tell him all of the time, that I'd rather be poor and happy, than financially comfortable, but with no time or energy to enjoy that comfort.  So, we live in a little house with a very affordable mortgage and minimal household expenses, which gives us the freedom to do what we love and take more risks.  It's worth every penny we pinch at the end of summer as we watch our summer living fund dwindle.  Life is so much better when you take the time to really enjoy it, and sometimes to make that happen you have to sacrifice a bit in other areas.  

I'm reminded of all this every time I tell someone that I don't work during the summer and I see the look of longing pass over their eyes.  It makes me want more for them.  While summers off aren't feasible for most of the working world, there are so many options out there that are available such as working less hours or flexible schedules.  For me, having time for what really matters in life is far more important than having that extra bedroom or big kitchen, or filling my closet with new clothes each season and driving a new car.  For those who value those things or can easily have them, that is just fine, but for us, they're not what we want or need now.  

So, if you're finding yourself in a place of feeling like life is unbalanced or you don't really have time for the things that are truly important to you, then I encourage you spend some time evaluating and thinking creatively about how life could look different.  It may require living with less or lowering your living standards, but I think the freedom that comes with living simply is worth far more than any of the things that extra money can buy.