Kombucha

A fermented tea beverage- and what the New York Times states has “become incredibly trendy lately in the 20-to-30-something, foodie, intelligentsia set”. Dr. Daphne Miller, a family practitioner and professor of nutrition and integrative medicine at the University of California, San Francisco says “Kombucha is like their Coca-Cola.”

I have been drinking kombuchca since 2005. When I travelled to LA in 2006- I saw it sold in the grocery store (GT's Kombucha). It tasted amazing. Flavours like mango, ginger or greens. I was in love. Upon returning to Vancouver I phoned GT's myself and asked how we could get some of this stuff up here. Due to its fragility and our stringent "raw" foods laws- I was told it was impossible.

Vancouverites- if you want the real thing you are going to have to make it yourselves. The stuff on our shelves, unlike those of the US is still pasteurized- unless they are finding a way around it (if they are Id like to talk to them...).


Great links:

Kombucha attracts Following and Doubters- NY times

Kvass and Kombucha- Weston A Price Organization


Recipe:

2 litres of boiling water
160 grams white sugar (approx 1 cup)
2-4 tea bags (black or green tea)
1 healthy Kombucha organism (mother)
1 cup of Kombucha fermented brew (past tea) as a starter

NOTE: Keep the same proportions and vary the amounts to suit your own family's needs.
Method
use clean utensils
wash hands thoroughly
pour boiling water over the sugar into a glass, porcelain or pottery container
stir to dissolve the sugar
add the tea bags and leave to infuse (approx 15 minutes)
remove the tea bags and allow to cool to "baby bottle" temperature
add the mother brew to the cooled tea mixture and then float the Kombucha on the top, cover tightly with cloth.


NOTE: If you need a mother (kombucha culture) please contact me

Time to buy into the farm!

Beans growing at Nathan Creek Organic farm

There are many CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) projects in the lower mainland. If you enjoy eating local organic produce (which you likely do reading this blog)- there is an achieved blog post about CSAs with a list of most around the city- please read the comments, as readers added to it (September 19, 2009).

The farm I am part of is called Nathan Creek Organic Farm- and it was and is incredible and life changing.
To apply fill in this application form and mail it to the farm.
My favourite things about owning a share:
Stephen's (The farmer) willingness to teach the wonders of farming
Going to the farm and coming home with a rubbermaid full of zucchini
Getting dirty
Endless greens
Succulent plums and apple pears

Goat Shares

Word has it that in addition to Cow Shares in Vancouver, found at Home on the Range- there is a farm called Misty Meadows, 604-792-3933 which has goat shares available.
Many people with cow milk sensitivities find that goat milk is easier to digest.

For more info, reasons & benefits to being involved in a milk share check out:

1. Books like Devil in the milk, The untold story of milk or Milk, Money and Madness- All can be found on Amazon.com.

2. The real milk campaign

3. These articles

Milk Homogenization & Heart Disease

Milk: it Does a Body Good?

Real food rules...another reason to choose whole foods

The myriad of recalled (non) foods this week, tainted with salmonella, should be another reason to avoid ambiguous ingredients like artificial flavorings, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, milk ingredients... or anything else for that matter that doesn't make sense!!

CBC News - Consumer Life - Recall of tainted food additive grows

Here are 2 simple rules:

1. If is doesn't look like food (closely derived from something that grows- plant or meat)- don't eat it!

2. If you can leave it out in the open indefinitely and it wont mold...don't eat it! Obviously there is no nutrition in it if mold wont touch it (eg. modern cereal, crackers, cookies ...)