making homemade jam

Josh wrote in and wondered, "We just made some strawberry jam. Best jelly I've ever had. Do you know if you have to use such a huge amount of sugar? The basic recipe we used was adamant not to adjust or the jam would not set properly."


Strawberries are very low in pectin so you do need to add a fair amount of sugar to get them to set. If you use less sugar they will not set. You can try using some strawberries that are not fully ripe and still have the white tips but I have had hit-or-miss success with this method.


One way to vary the amount of sugar, especially if you are not using pectin, is to mix the strawberries with a higher pectin fruit such as apples, blackberries, crab apples, cranberries, gooseberries, grapes, or citrus peel.  This works for any low pectin fruit such as apricots, blueberries, peaches, pears, rhubarb, and raspberries.


If you are willing to use pectin you can use a commercial variety, and there are some low sugar ones out there, but another option is to make your own homemade pectin using apples or lemons. There are excellent directions in the book "Preserving Memories" by Judy Glattstein (who I confess is my mother and an excellent canner).


There are recipes that talk about using honey or other sweeteners but I find that most of them call for gelatin which I prefer not to use.

aromatherapy field trip

Steve and I recently took a trip into Houston.  We were headed for the Museum of Natural Science but would up making a little detour before visiting the museum.  Across the street from the Museum, located at One Hermann Street, is a garden that is open to the public.  One part of the garden is an Aromatic Garden.  Filled with raised beds of mints, culinary herbs, rosemary and other aromatics it is truly a delight for the senses.


We wandered through the beds delighting in the plantings and stroking the different plants to release their scents, admiring how many different kinds of mints and basils and thymes, and more there are.  The smell, the texture, the setting all combined to make a very relaxing and delightful stroll.  I confess that my hands smelled quite delicious by the time we were done.


Next door to the Aromatic Garden is the Rose Garden.  Abounding with blooms of all sizes and colors we wandered from bed to bed exclaiming over the different colors and scents.  Some of the showiest roses had no scent at all while some were so overpoweringly perfume-y that one small sniff was more than enough.  


I could feel my blood pressure dropping and a sense of calm envelop me as we enjoyed both of these gardens.  It was a moment of mindful meditation.  Even now, thinking about them as I write I find a peaceful feeling rising forth.  Such is the power of scent and beauty that it can help us to slow down and enjoy the moment.  Not for nothing do we have the phrase "take time to smell the roses."


While I have aromatic herbs in my garden I'm now considering adding some roses to I can recreate a small dose of the experience we had this morning for those days when I can't get all the way into the city.  If you have a small corner of your garden available you might want to consider doing the same.


photo courtesy of Stan Shebs | Wikimedia Commons

grinding flour

Claire wrote in and asked, "I have a question re: grinding your own flours out of grains, say brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, etc. When you do it, do you soak the grains/beans before you grind it? I soak everything over night (my grains, beans and nuts) before I cook it. I learned this from my Natural Chef class as soaking deactivates the phytic acid that acts as enzyme inhibitors and makes it more digestable. Cooking alone helps to some extent, but not as good as soaking. I am just wondering if I do soak it first, do I need an extra step, say, using a dehydrator to dry it before I grind it.

The reason I'd like to get the model Super 5200 from Vitamix, is that in addition to a wet container that's good for processing wet goods, there is an additional dry container that has a special set of blades that are designed for grinding flours. Then it follows that do I need to also get a dehydrator before I can even grind it?"

I'll start by saying that yes there is another container that can grind grains and beans into flours.  I use a Wondermill which does a great job and can grind to several different levels of fineness.  You cannot grind wet or oily items (flax seeds, wet sprouts, nuts, etc.) in the electric version.


As far as soaking goes there are a few different ways to do it.  The first is to soak, dry (either in a dehydrator or in an oven set to very low temp for a long time) and then grind.  Another is to sprout, dry and then grind.  The picture above shows flour made from sprouted wheat and sprouted spelt; you can see that the texture is no different than if you use the whole grain.  The third is to grind your grains into flour and then soak the flour overnight before using it, this is the method that I use most.  Any of these methods will work well, it's up to you to determine if you want to use the oven method or purchase a dehydrator.


Using fresh ground flour is an excellent idea because many nutrients are stripped out by commercial processing.  Additionally, if you use fresh ground flour you are getting the full benefit of the germ, which is where all of the beneficial oils are.  It is important to note that using fresh ground flour may require a modification to your recipe because the extra fiber can retard the rise of gluten (requiring a longer rise time or the addition of leavening agents such as vital wheat gluten, lecithin, ascorbic acid or others) and the moisture content may change as the fiber soaks up more liquid.


There are several excellent books that deal with whole grain flours:


         

Thanks for your question, I hope this helps.

photo courtesy of Jaaq | Wikimedia Commons