Pepper Paints

Salt And Watercolors

I first saw this idea at Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning.  I LOVE this blog and get so many great ideas from them!!

First we drew a picture or design with a glue stick on some paper. Then we covered it with salt and shook off any excess.

Next we used eye droppers or pipettes to drip some color over the salt. We used liquid watercolors but I am sure food coloring would work too.

It was so exciting to see the salt absorb the colors.

We loved making these. A project I am sure we will be doing again really soon.

Thursday’s Recipe …. Countertop Sour Pickles

My kitchen has been smelling like a deli this week! It brings back fond memories of the years I spent hanging out at Bernie’s!

I shared on my twitter and face book about how great my countertop pickles tasted and was then asked by so many people for the recipe–So here it is!

I belong to an organic produce co-op. One of the other members spoke of her counter top pickles and was also asked by many of us for the recipe. She referred us to Wild Fermentation.  I linked to this website back when I made fermented carrots and sauerkraut.

Basically this is what I did–Because these were not just picked out of my garden -I soaked my cucumbers in cold water in the fridge for a few hours to crisp them up. I had regular old large cucumbers not pickling ones so I cut them in half and then quartered them. I dissolved 1 Tablespoon of salt for each cup of water. I think I did 8 cups of water for the 3 large cucumbers I had. I did not have a large enough jar so I used the inner crock from one of my crock pots. Perfect!!

After stirring and stirring to dissolve the salt I gently crushed several heads of garlic-say 4 or 5 with the back of a spoon-just to crack them open and threw those in the water with a small handful of peppercorns , 4 heads of flowering dill and a small handful of fresh dill and 2 freshly washed oak leaves from the big tree. The oak , grape, sour cherry or horseradish leaves are to help keep the crunch.

I mixed all of that around and placed a plate on the top to keep the cucumbers submersed in the brine.

I then put the lid on very loosely–leaving it slightly cracked open on one side.

The next morning I noticed a few bubbles–IT”S  ALIVE!!! Then there was a film that I scraped off over the next couple of days-then we tasted on day 2–delicious!!  Actually we ate several!

It has been really hot here so the fermenting went quickly! I left them 1 more day and then moved them into jars (that I have been saving from our Bubbies pickles) and put them in the fridge to slow down the process.M more were eaten this morning as I moved them into the jars–lucky I ordered several more pounds of cucumbers this week!

We might need to add some Rubens to the menu!!

Thursday’s Recipe …. Live, cultured, Fermented Foods!!!!

I am so excited!! I am sort of a geek about healthy food, and fermented food is my latest health food.  It seems like I am not alone. I  have been seeing and hearing so much about fermented foods lately, I couldn’t wait to try to make some of my own. Fermenting foods makes them more nutritious. These cultured foods grow bacteria, probiotics that are so good for your gut.  I found this book at our library–WILD FERMENTATION  THE FLAVOR, NUTRITION, AND CRAFT OF LIVE CULTURES   by Sandor Ellix Katz.  He also has a very informative website called Wild Fermentation. There is so much more to say about how good these foods are for you, Sandor covers it well in both his book and website.

And I also read a yummy blog post by my friend Sheri.  But sometimes I have trouble getting started with something new. I can research things to death. Very un-unschooley of me!! So I have been looking on-line and at blogs gathering info. Today I decided to just try it–and really it was easy.

I  started with Ginger Carrots.

I grated 4 cups of organic  carrots (not peeled as there is lots of good stuff especially minerals you don’t want to wash or peel off)   Put into a bowl and add 1 T grated ginger and 2 T salt.  Immediately the juices started to release from the carrots. This is just what you want to happen. Then I filled my wide mouthed mason jar and added just a tiny bit of water to make sure they were totally covered in liquid.

Look closely—can you see the bubbles–it’s alive!! Really-that’s what makes it so healthy!

I left plenty of head space and capped loosely to let some of the gas escape.

I used good salt. Look it says ALIVE!

I read that you don’t want to used iodized salt. You need to use large, wide mouthed jars which I have not invested in yet nor have I found any at the thrift store-so I used mason jars and an old pickle jar.

Next I made sauerkraut. I used both green and purple cabbage. I grated it up in the food processor and put it in a large bowl.

To that I added 2 T of salt and  1 t of dill seed and 1 t celery seed ground up in a coffee grinder.

After thoroughly mixing it all up with my hands I packed it down into a jar and topped off with a bit of water. Again leaving head space and not sealing too tight.

I put these into a bowl to catch any overflow that might escape. And set them in a dark spot on my counter.

I can not wait to taste these. I will do a taste test in 3 days to see how they are coming along. I read to test at days 3, 6 and 9. When it suits my taste refrigerate. I am so excited at the possible combinations and to try other fruits-yes fruits and veggies and spices Mmmmm.