Learning and learning and passing it on.

I looked at my blog the other day and thought: What the he.. happened to my soap blog?  No soaps!  I would blame ADD if it wasn't for the fact that I just have so many interest that I just don't have time to tend to them all.  But I have to admit that soaping hasn't been high on my list of things to do recently.  I have made soaps, but just some of the ones I keep making again and again, like shampoo bars.  And I figured that repeating recipes probably isn't all that exciting.  Unless I learn something new.  Which incidentally, I did the other day and didn't post about it.  So it's coming up.

But that's what this is all about.  Learning something new.  I am insatiably curious about a lot of things and I research stuff to the death.  Lately I have been chasing down books about natural dyes, especially lichen and mushroom dyeing.  I found one old Norwegian book in a used bookshop in Leiden in Holland, ordered a book from the Faroe Islands (in Faroese and yes I can read it) and also found some books in Sweden that I'm interested in, but they don't accept credit cards or PayPal.  Which they didn't in the Faroe Islands either and that was a lot of bother.  So I didn't order any Swedish books, but I found a very old Swedish book (or a series of booklets published in 1805-1809) in electronic format in a New York library active (which was really good because the last time it sold, it sold for almost 1500 dollars).  Another interest that I have been nurturing is spinning.  I don't know how these things come to me, but I have developed an intense interest in learning to spin.  So I watch videos about that.  And bookbinding.  I just know that I'm going to be making my first book very soon.  I love the Internet and how it makes getting information so easy.

I get very excited when I learn something new and I always need to tell someone.  I'm compelled to.  Even if I think it would be smart to keep things to myself, like a business secret, it's really hard for me.  I tend to just blurt it out, really to whoever is standing next to me.  Can't keep knowledge to myself, I have to share.  I think I am a teacher at heart.

I used to teach part time and I loved it.  Through teaching I discovered that I'm quite good at public speaking.  No nerves.  On the contrary, I can't stop talking.  I never speak from a script, just straight from the heart.  My recent talk at the Horticultural Society about Rhubarb came about as a result of my sharing some of my Rhubarb recipes in a newspaper insert a year ago.  Then they asked if anyone had articles about visits to Botanical Gardens for this years annual publication.  Since I had recently visited four gardens in the US with my mom I promised to write about that.  Not very exciting, but they like to have some articles like that.  And then I was asked for some more short articles and recipes for this years insert and I did the Dandelion recipes that I blogged about, the Dandelion coffee, the Dandelion pesto and the Dandelion honey.  I skipped the one about Dandelion dye, thinking gardeners may not be interested in dyeing wool.

I did make a new soap tonight.  I was inspired by the soap challenge that Great Cakes Soapworks has been doing.  Even if I haven't been that creative with soaps lately I read all the blogs.  The soap I did was a graduated Rhubarb soap.  I'm really looking forward to cutting it to see if I managed to make a nice ombre effect.  That would be cool.

Cheese - call it Ricotta or something else

I made a real cheese the other day.  With rennet and everything.  It was the type that many people call Ricotta, but technically is a fresh cheese.  I don't really care.  It's a soft cheese that is really easy to make and all it requires is some milk and rennet.

I have some rennet in my fridge, since my younger sister gave me some along with cheesecloth, some milk and a book about cheese making.  She packed everything separately so I got many packages.  The first package contained cloth diapers, the next one a yellow liquid in an unmarked jar.  I have to admit that I wasn't thinking cheese at that point...  We have  a bit of a love/hate relationship, it's a long story, I love her, she hates me!  But anyway, the present was great and I've been meaning to try my hand at cheese making.  Like everything one hasn't done before, it was a bit scary, but also when it came down to it, it was really easy to do.

It is as simple as making yoghurt and I do that every week now.  I really, really like my yoghurt and miss it tremendously when I travel and can't have any.  But back to cheese.  The most complicated thing about making cheese is that most recipes call for a gallon of milk.  I guess 1 gallon of milk makes about 1 pound of cheese.  But I don't do large recipes.   Not in soaps and not in food. I prefer small batches, so I scaled it down to 1 liter (about a quart).

1 liter milk (I always use full fat milk, both for yoghurt and this cheese)
1/2 tsp salt
A little less than 1/4 tsp rennet.

Heat the milk in a pot to about 80C / 180F.
Take off the heat and put the pot in ice water to cool down to 50C / 125F.
Stir in the salt.

Now, the rennet needs to be diluted in some water before being mixed into the milk.  Add it to 1/4 cup cold water, stirring it in.

Then add the rennet mix to the milk and let it sit for 10 minutes and don't disturb it.

The milk will get thick.  Get a knife and cut into the curd to facilitate the separation of the whey from the curds.  Carefully, with a slotted spoon, ladle the curds into a sieve, lined with cheesecloth and let it drain.

Tie a string around the cheesecloth and hang it up and let it drain overnight and there you have it.  Wonderful fresh cheese.  I flavored mine with freshly pressed garlic and Chives and used it on my sourdough bread.  It was a wonderful robust flavor.  The cheese is also very good as it is.  My dogs loved it too.

I used the whey in the next sourdough bread recipe.  I can't say that I noticed that much difference in the taste, but I'm sure that it is very healthy to use it that way.

Of course the irony is that real Ricotta cheese is made from whey that is left over from other cheese making.  So it is a bit strange to call this Ricotta.  I did think about trying to make real ricotta by using the whey to make cheese again, but there wasn't that much of it so I imagine that there would have been very little cheese from that.  I may make cheese again.  I've read about making hard cheeses, but those are a bit complicated to make since one needs to store them and cure them at certain temperatures for a number of months.  I don't think I'll be making any hard cheeses soon, but I just might make another, maybe even bigger, batch of cheese.

Or you could liquidize - Dandelion coffee

I have found the perfect way to eradicate dandelion from the lawn.  In the past I used a special tool that was sold in Garden centers, but all it did was to guaranty that the root would break and the dandelion would happily continue to grow.  Then I tried that plant hormone stuff, but if that is to work it has to stay dry for a few days and that requires a minor miracle in Iceland in summer, so not much luck there.  But then I figured out that a big shovel or spade is best.

But I don't really dislike dandelion.  It's a wonderful plant, full of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin B complex, as well as zinc, iron and potassium.  It supposedly can regulate blood sugar levels , is a liver tonic and a diuretic.  Last year I made the dandelion honey from the flowers and recently I tried the dandelion pesto made of the leaves (which contain calcium, magnesium and vitamin K) which was very nice.  But this recipe is probably my favorite.  It's dandelion coffee!  Yes, I was sceptical too.  But it's really surprisingly good and remarkably like coffee, except it doest irritate the stomach and is supposedly good for you.  The taste is nutty and mild, at least with cream added to it.

You need a few roots.  Wash them thoroughly and dry them.   I had some roots that were already dried, so all I had to do was to break them into pieces and roast them.  This I did in the oven for 30 minutes at 200°C / 300°F.  If you need to dry the roots as well as roast them, then you should chop them up into similar sized pieces and put them on a baking tray.  Then they will roast equally.  You don't want to burn the roots, a nice mid to dark brown is what you're aiming for.  Apparently, the more the roots are roasted, the less bitter they taste.  I haven't noticed any bitter taste in mine, although some of them were fairly light in colour.

The washed and chopped roots are put on a baking tray evenly spaced and put into an oven at 120°C / 250°F for 2 hours with the oven door open so that the moisture escapes.  Turn occasionally and keep and eye on the roots for the last half hour to make sure it doesn't burn.  If the colour it too light then raise the heat to 200°C / 300°F and roast until the roots are a nice brown colour.

Let the roots cool before you grind them in a coffee grinder.  Those who do not have one, can use a mortel and pestle to pound the roasted roots, or simply wrap them in a clean dishtowel and whack with a hammer.

I use the coffee just like instant coffee, one teaspoon in a cup and I add coffee-cream.  Some people let the coffee steep for up to 30 minutes and then strain and reheat.  It's just a matter of taste.  Try this, it really is quite good.  Although I have to admit that my husband doesn't like it at all.  But then again, he's in the hospital and I'm not.  So, I just have to say, how many people can say: Oh, I've given up coffee, but can I offer you a cup of Dandelion coffee.  How cool is that.

Eating your enemy - The sweetest revenge

I have been a member of the Horticultural Society for some years now.  Gardening is one of my passions, although I haven't really blogged about that a lot.  I used to be interested only in ornamental gardening:  Perennials, bulbs and shrubs.  Vegetables - not so much.  Didn't really eat them and and therefore I wasn't interested in growing them.  But that was back in the days when I had a cigarette in one hand and a can of Coke in the other.  Always.  Some people thought I had been born that way.  But, for some reason, I started to eat vegetables, quit smoking, took up Pilates and stopped drinking Coke.  Many times.  Damn that stuff is addictive!  But I haven't had a Coke in over a month now and I'm very proud of myself.

But back to gardening.  I did a public talk about Rhubarb last summer and recently repeated it for the Horticultural Society, which was fun.  The lecture addressed the whole of the plant, the leaves, the stalks and the root and what to do with it.  Some of that turned into blog posts last summer.  When I was asked for some short articles for a newspaper insert, I thought I would do the same for the bitter enemy of many gardeners, the dandelion, Taraxacum officinale.  Isn't the thought of digging up your enemy and then eating it, just the sweetest of all?

The plant is a medicinal plant and has many benefits.  It is an excellent source of vitamins A, B complex, C, and D, as well as minerals such as iron, potassium, and zinc.  The root has traditionally been used to treat liver problems, the greens are diuretic and the flowers have antioxidant properties.  All parts are edible, the leaves often used in salads, the root as a coffee substitute and the flowers for wine, textile dye or dandelion honey.

Dandelion leaves have the mildest taste before they flower. After flowering their taste is more bitter.  I used greens from a plant that hadn't flowered for this recipe, that is the perfect taste for a pesto.  This recipe is rather small, but can easily be multiplied for a bigger quantity because it can be a bit small for large equipment.  I used the leaves of one large dandelion that I just dug up from my garden.

Dandelion pesto

60 grams / 2 oz dandelion greens
1/4 cup Olive oil
1 clove of Garlic
1 tbsp lightly roasted Almonds (could also be hazelnuts or pine nuts)
1/2 tsp salt
10 grams / 0.4 oz Parmesan cheese

The process is easy.  Put the dandelion greens and olive oil into a food processor/blender and whiz together.  Add the garlic, almonds and Parmesan cheese.  Blend until it is smooth.  Add salt to taste and use more olive oil if needed to get the desired consistency.  Put in a jar and pour olive oil on top so it covers the pesto.  Use the same way as you would regular pesto.