Have You Tried Straw Bale Gardening?

I have heard of hydroponic gardening and planting tomatoes and having them grow upside down, but until Linda told me about straw bale gardening, I had not heard of it. Straw bale gardening is for anyone who has difficulty bending over, tilling soil or weeding. It is also good for anyone with poor soil. Straw bale gardening makes all these issues easier and makes difficult chores like weeding obsolete. There are no weeds in straw bale gardening. It will completely change everything you thought you knew about gardening. Why haven't I heard of this before?

Bales of straw is the perfect container for growing vegetables. The hollow tubes are designed by Mother Nature to suck up and hold moisture. As the insides decompose, they provide a rich medium for vegetable growth. The hardest part of the process is getting the bales of hay from a farm or nursery to your backyard. Pick a nice sunny spot for your garden, then find a nice strong husband or neighbor to carry the bale into the yard. Two weeks prior to planting, condition the bales. This means wetting and fertilizing the bales for 10 days to start composting the inner straw. (stick your finger in the bales and they'll be hot and moist). An added feature is that you can build a trellis and greenhouse in one. Stick posts in the end of each row of bale, and run wire to make a trellis. You can drape a plastic tarp over the wire to create an instant greenhouse. As the plants begin to grow, the wire works like a vertical trellis. If you're planting seedlings, use your trowel to separate the straw in the shape of a hole and add some sterile planting mix to help cover the exposed roots. If you're planting seed, cover the bales with a layer of planting mix and sew into this seedbed. As the seeds germinate, they'll grow roots down into the bale itself. How easy is that? I hope someone tries this and tells me about it. Unfortunately I currently have no place in my yard to do this. All you do is lay a soaker hose over your bales, and you've pretty much eliminated all your work until harvest.

Joel Karsten is the guru of straw bale gardening. He's got a book, a blog, and a great website. Go to strawbalegardening.com for more information. Oh, did I mention that at the end of the growing season the bales of hay will continue to decompose and you will be left with a pile of wonderful, nutrient rich compost? This process of gardening is a win/win situation.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Those famous words uttered by Rodney King years ago come to mind when I think of bikers and automobiles co-existing on the roads these days. At least in North County, bike riders are more ubiquitous than ever before, and many drivers like me, are scared to death of hitting them.

The reality is that many (not all) bike riders ride as if they own the road, especially when they ride in groups. Does the group give them a sense of power and protection? Maybe so. I have noticed them to be very aggressive, giving drivers the finger, yelling at drivers, and trying to intimidate drivers into getting out of their way. There are bike lanes and bike paths for the bikers. Cars have lanes to drive in, and bikers should not be in the car lanes. I know that when riding in certain areas I am extremely careful, as you never know what some of the bikers might do. Bikers often go through lights and turn when they're not supposed to, although they are supposed to follow the automobile rules of the road. Coast Highway 101 is one of the most dangerous roads to ride if you're a biker. Another dangerous area is El Camino Real near Leucadia Blvd. It seems that almost every month a biker is killed in one of these areas.

Can't we all just get along? Can't the bikers follow the rules of the road, stay in their lanes and obey traffic rules? Can't cars stay in their lanes, respect the bikers and not try to run them off the road? It's a lot better to follow these rules, than to end up dead. Bikers shouldn't try to challenge cars. They'll never win.

Is There Castoreum In Your Food?

Thanks, Linda, for introducing me to the website Earth911. This website will give you ideas about recycling, DIY projects for food, health, and less waste. They will give you some very useful information, as I found in a recent post on their website.

We all know about the interesting things that are in our foods these days, and the old adage to never eat anything that you can't pronounce. There's an ingredient out in the food world called Castoreum, and after I tell you what it is you will be reading labels to be sure it's not in your ice cream or vanilla flavoring. Castoreum is literally a secretion from the anal glans of a mature North American beaver. Beaver butt juice is a common ingredient in vanilla flavoring, so you might expect to find it in any product that is flavored with vanilla. Pudding and ice cream come to mind. Castoreum is FDA approved, and is listed as "natural flavoring" on most food labels.

So, consumer beware. Check labels carefully. Look for castoreum on the label, and proceed at your own risk. How it adds to the flavor of the product, I do not know. Just knowing that it's in something I'm eating would steer me away. No beaver butt juice for me!

Have You Eaten A Cronut?

I was in Los Angeles in February, and my mom, her friend Buff and I, ate lunch at Café Rockenwagner. It was a great lunch, and as we were too full for dessert, I just admired the beautiful pastries. On the counter was a covered platter with what looked like two donuts in it. I asked what they were, and I was told they were cronuts, a cross between a donut and a croissant. I was intrigued, so I investigated the cronut when I got back to my computer.

A cronut is the unique pastry creation of Chef Dominique Ansel in his New York pastry shop. Many describe it as a croissant-doughnut hybrid. He created it in May, 2013, and it has become a world wide phenomenon. It has become the most virally talked about dessert item in history. Chef Ansel quickly trademarked his creation, so any other similar item is not the real thing. It took Chef Ansel months to perfect his recipe, and making it is extremely labor intensive. Thus, a $5.00 price tag per cronut doesn't seem so steep. The cronut is proofed and then fried in grapeseed oil, then flavored in a variety of ways, like rolling in sugar, filling with crème, or topping with a glaze. The process takes up to three days. They must be eaten immediately as they have a short shelf life.

After I discovered that this sweet treat was definitely something that I wanted to try, I checked around San Diego to see where they might be available. I found that V.G.'s, Paris Baguette (inside Zion Market and H Market) and Azucar, a delicious Cuban bakery in Ocean Beach, all make their own version of cronuts. Remember, the original recipe is trademarked, so these cronuts are not quite like the original. If you go to any of these bakeries looking for cronuts, be sure to call ahead and see if they are available. They only make a few each day, and apparently sell out quickly. (prices for the San Diego knock off cronuts run $2-$3). Chef Dominique Ansel's pastry shop in New York has a line that forms around 5:30AM, waiting for them to open. I have yet to have a cronut, but plan to find one soon and try it. I will report back to you then and let you know if it's worth the calories. My guess is, it is.

It's Celiac Awareness Month

All you hear about these days is "I'm on a gluten free diet." Since it's Celiac awareness month, I thought it might be a good time to really find out what Celiac disease is, and why has it become so widespread. Below I have listed some information about the disease, and what the symptoms are. Many people on a gluten free diet feel they have an intolerance for gluten, so they stay away from wheat. I ran into an old friend of mine the other day. I commented on her 23 pound weight loss (which she did not need to lose)and she told me she was diagnosed with Celiac disease. Now that she has the disease under control, she still has a terrible time gaining weight. She did, however, tell me, that as soon as she started the gluten free diet, she was feeling great within a few days! And she'd been suffering for decades.

Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also be found in everyday products such as medicines, vitamins, and lip balms.

When people with celiac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Villi normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food one eats.

Celiac disease is both a disease of malabsorption—meaning nutrients are not absorbed properly—and an abnormal immune reaction to gluten. Celiac disease is also known as celiac sprue, nontropical sprue, and gluten-sensitive enteropathy. Celiac disease is genetic, meaning it runs in families. Sometimes the disease is triggered—or becomes active for the first time—after surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional stress.

What are the symptoms of celiac disease?

Symptoms of celiac disease vary from person to person. Symptoms may occur in the digestive system or in other parts of the body. Digestive symptoms are more common in infants and young children and may include

•

abdominal bloating and pain

•

chronic diarrhea

•

vomiting

•

constipation

•

pale, foul-smelling, or fatty stool

•

weight loss

Irritability is another common symptom in children. Malabsorption of nutrients during the years when nutrition is critical to a child's normal growth and development can result in other problems such as failure to thrive in infants, delayed growth and short stature, delayed puberty, and dental enamel defects of the permanent teeth.

Adults are less likely to have digestive symptoms and may instead have one or more of the following:

•

unexplained iron-deficiency anemia

•

fatigue

•

bone or joint pain

•

arthritis

•

bone loss or osteoporosis

•

depression or anxiety

•

tingling numbness in the hands and feet

•

seizures

•

missed menstrual periods

•infertility or recurrent miscarriage

•

canker sores inside the mouth

•

an itchy skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis

People with celiac disease may have no symptoms but can still develop complications of the disease over time. Long-term complications include malnutrition—which can lead to anemia, osteoporosis, and miscarriage, among other problems—liver diseases, and cancers of the intestine.

About 1% of the population has Celiac disease, but alarmingly, 83% of the cases are undiagnosed. At the moment, the only treatment for Celiac disease is a 100% gluten free diet. If you go to the NFCA (National Foundation of Celiac Disease) website, you can find a 7 day gluten free menu. It's hard to stay on any restrictive diet, but restaurants and food manufacturers are making it easier today. You can easily dine on gluten free pasta and bread when you're out, and many health oriented food makers are going gluten free. Try Evol frozen burritos, bowls, wraps, and breakfast sandwiches for some great gluten free alternatives.

Garlic Butter Pizza Dough Rolls

One of the best reasons to go to certain Italian restaurants, is to enjoy the delicious pizza dough rolls that they serve before your meal. Pizza Nova and Nucci's are two restaurants in North County San Diego (Carlsbad and Solana Beach) where you can enjoy them. I always thought about buying the Trader Joe's pizza dough and making my own pizza dough rolls, and finally got around to it one Sunday night. We were having a dinner of leftover whole wheat penne pasta with Bolognese sauce. I decided to try the pizza dough rolls to serve with the leftovers. Winner! Ron loved the rolls, as did I. Here is the recipe I used.

Garlic Butter Pizza Dough Rolls

Ready to use pizza dough from Trader Joe's or any other ready to use pizza dough

Minced garlic (about 4 cloves) or already minced garlic from a jar (that's what I used)

olive oil

Melted butter

Chopped parsley

Salt

Thaw pizza dough. I used the whole wheat dough, but most people will probably prefer to use the pizza dough made with white flour. Cut the dough into 12 pieces, and roll into balls. Take a muffin tin, spray with release spray, and set a ball in each space. Place a small amount of garlic on top of ball, and press into the dough. You can also open up the dough a bit and put some minced garlic inside, cover with dough and press some more minced garlic on top, then use pastry brush to paint olive oil on top of dough. Cook rolls for approximately 17 minutes in 425 degree oven, or until golden brown. They should puff up like muffins. Remove from pan, and dip tops of each roll in melted butter, then sprinkle on parsley if desired, and a little bit of coarsely ground salt. That's it! I did not add the parsley, as Ron doesn't like parsley, but I think it adds nice color to the rolls. Photo is from shutterbean.com website

My goal was to eat just one roll, but I failed. I had to have a second. They are really good, and so simple. If you keep a package of the frozen dough in the freezer, you can enjoy them anytime, without a special trip to the grocery store. Enjoy.

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

This blog is just a hodgepodge of things I've been meaning to tell you. First, there's a relatively new ice cream in the supermarket called Blue Bunny. It's new to Southern California, but it's been around in other parts of the country, for years. I love the French Vanilla. It is so creamy and has a delicious vanilla taste. Try it sometime

Now I have some of my favorite new websites for you to check out. First, www.purewow.com is a lifestyle website, which includes fashion, beauty, travel, and recipes. I ran across it by accident and found an awesome recipe which I will share with you soon. My next favorite new site (new to me) is www.ted.com. The concept of the site and the organization is "ideas worth spreading." It is innovative and so interesting, to see how many people are thinking outside the box in trying to find solutions to every possible issue. It's not enough for people to just say no to ideas that are presented to them. If you don't like the way something is done, find another way. There are speeches, articles and videos by innovators, which I guarantee you will find stimulating. Third, I love www.history.com. You can find out the history of everything that ever happened in this world, and the history of many things. Want to know the history of the Brooklyn Bridge? They'll tell you all you want to know.

I love to learn. One of my two word phrases that I would have told my 16 year old self would be "learn everyday." I try to do this, and the history website is a great way to do it.

These are just a few things I've been meaning to share with you for quite some time, and have just now gotten around to it. There are so many interesting websites out there it's impossible to know or view them all. These are just a few of my new favorites.