My Kitchen, Land of Projects

Here are some of the this weekend's kitchen projects:

Soaked and dehydrated nuts. We love nuts, and I love feeding them to my family once they are properly prepared. Traditional people always soaked or partially sprouted their seed and nuts before they were eaten. This is because nuts contain numerous enzyme inhibitors that can put a real strain on the digestive mechanism if consumed in excess. Nuts are easier to digest and their nutrients are more readily available if they are first soaked overnight in water and then dried.


Homemade raw milk cheese. We haven't been drinking as much of our raw milk lately, so I've been making cheese. Basic stuff, nothing fancy yet. But it is raw, with all the probiotics intact because I don't boil it or use vinegar or lemon juice. I culture it with kefir (or I think I could use bacterial starter especially for cheese), let it sit at 100 degrees F for about an hour for the bacteria to proliferate, then add rennet, let it sit again, cut the curds and drain the whey. Voila! Cheese! The picture above shows the cheese curds on their way to being drained (there are nuts waiting to be dehydrated in the picture as well).


Wine. This batch is dandelion wine, fresh from the field next to my house. It is made from soaking 2 quarts of dandelion blossoms in water for a couple days, boiling it again with oranges and sugar, adding yeast, and letting it ferment until it's ready. Check out the recipe I'm using here (recipe #2).

What are you up to in your kitchen lately??


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