We will have an exceptionally short column on foodery and cookery this morning – since I haven’t gotten anything from readers this week.
This being “Planting Day” – with the new Moon this morning – we will be outside doing the “gardening thing” as soon as the morning dishes are cleared and thrown in the magic cleaning box…,
Our meals around here have been simple this week – nothing unusual: Too busy to bake bread, too busy for recipe exploring. And, frankly, there is something to be said for convenience foods.
Last night was prepackaged Beef Lo Mein, along with chicken spring rolls, and a slice of Sarah Lee cheesecake. But that gets mem to the first point…
Gout and Sweets
That cheesecake did remind me of one critical thing to pass on to fellow gout sufferers. Sweets and a tendency toward gout seem to go hand-in-hand around here. Particularly when dairy is involved.
So, there I was…delish din-din and head to bed.
Until 11:45 PM when I was rousted by a screaming over-acid stomach. As I started to move, the left knee sent a message “upstairs.” “Hey! What-choo doing down there?”
Oh-oh – first twinge of gout.
So up out of bed. Into the kitchen – where a half teaspoon of baking soda in a half cup of water went to work on the direct stomach acid issue. And the colchrys/ colchicine pill (all knock-offs on a 2,000 year old flower that does the same thing) went down the hatch.
When the alarm went off this morning, the knee was back to pain-free. Whew! Close call!
Lessons?
Other than there are videos and “books” on the Internet which (for $29-$39 bucks) will tell you to take baking soda water to blast your body chemistry back into something less acidic.
What these “courses” usually don’t tell you are the two facts of such interventions that make medical sense.
- First: Baking Soda is sodium bicarbonate. Which – in case you don’t have high blood pressure already – can increase your first (systolic) BP number. So, if you’re going to use this approach, remember the body has a balanced system of cations and anions. If you’re going to use this approach to gout/over-acid then for God’s sake, talk to your doctor and get your blood chemistry checked. Sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium need to be maintained in some semblance of order. Since your annual doc-check usually includes questions like “Do you feel safe at home?” An answer like “Sure, but not when I eat sweets at bedtime and get over-acid – which can lead to reflux – so talk to me about this?” Your doc may simply say ‘Don’t eat sweets…are you usually this stupid?”
- Second: No, you are not. You know from the research that you can add a few IQ points by driving the blood uric acid levels a bit. Which is why the Dutch Masters (no, not the cigars!) were painted with a foot up (pain, gout, common in northern Europeans, good for brain, no bonus college admission preference, though).
The Sat Gourmet is thus not going long (or deep) this morning.
Transition to Summer Eats
We’re still researching our Summer Beer for this year (might as well join them Masters, huh?): An assortment of testing sessions looms. But, isn’t there a Federal law against drinking beer when ambient temps are under 80?
We are supposed to be in that range today at planting time. On the other hand, big doings in Colorado and Wyoming where a “historic almost-Spring storm” is due shortly. No beer for you.
Eat in Winter
With the beginning of daylight savings time tomorrow, we may simply end the SatGourmet columns.
Our life will have even less time to devote to cookery. This is the seasonal start of a low-calorie alternative called yardery.
Only some of the food will come from such efforts. But, listening to what people are calling in to Saturday morning radio shows about, seems like gardens and yards are coming back into seasonal focus.
Not too much point in firing off the oven (unless it’s the outside pizza oven) when temps creep over 80.
Let’s Put This To a Vote
All those bored with cooking and eating – more interested in outdoor construction projects and the like – raise your mouse.
Those interested in focusing on food, well, not only raise your mouse, but also thanks to Looking Outside the Box and others who did take the time to contribute to our wintertime adipose which now needs to be sweated-off.
I’d say “Write when you get rich” – but serially – let me know whether this offbeat cooking deal has run its course? And whether we should make the Sunday columns the weekend’s sole reprieve from global madness – focusing on Making, Yarding, and Shop Projects?
I could use a little more time – work gets done slower at 72, dammit – cooking is easy to write about. But yarding, Making, and Shop work take actual time. I thought about the ultimate – and as yet, unsolved – two kitchen books that I’d like to write:
- “Every Secret to tender meats and main dishes.”
- “How to get everything in the Dishwasher.”
Vote when you get rich,
George@Ure.net
“We will have an exceptionally short column on foodery and cookery this morning – since I haven’t gotten anything from readers this week.”
LOL… the twelve year old computer broke down.. blue screen of death the whole works.. I was terrified that I would have to load all the crap I am blind in one eye and have peripheral vision loss in the other….. but with windows ten they could do a complete clone..
doing everything on the phone.. I was also trying not to comment so often since I know how I can be long winded and say absolutely nothing that couldn’t have been said in ten words.. ( the wifes rule.. if I can’t get it out in ten words.. then keep it to myself)
“videos and “books” on the Internet which (for $29-$39 bucks) will tell you to take baking soda water to blast your body chemistry back into something less acidic.”
I for one love cooking and am now anxious to share some more of my favorite recipes.. for years they thought I had some sort of weird gout… and I can tell you just how miserable that is.. so can anyone with gout.. but mine wasn’t gout.. the exact same painful miserable but worse.. Not to keep bringing up gods miracle plant.. but hey if it works and its not as harmful as all the other options.. ( you might like cooking or spearamenting with food LOL) .. go for it I sure don’t know why all the brainless wonders don’t see the beneficial aspects my guess is if your a cartel member and making hundreds of billions a year off of keeping it illegal.. then you might hire some pretty good lobbyists to donate millions to the beltway wonders.. my guess is its the same with the alcohol companies.. paper and oil industry.. it makes the foams that are usually made with petroleum products and the building industry.. I am sure it shows a threat to almost every industry out there as beneficial as it is…
there are so many studies.. but unfortunately I don’t have time to list them on the possitive affects. I can tell you how it has helped my connective tissue situation.. and I had a college student asking if I had read anything on how it works for female issue and infections so I hadn’t but have read a few thousand pages on the subject..
https://cbdclinicals.com/best-cbd-for-gout/
https://www.bmj.com/sites/default/files/response_attachments/2015/03/Medicinal%20Cannabis%20The%20Evidence%20V1.pdf
Here’s an answer to the project vs cooking Q: I’ve been attempting to grow sourdough starter for more than a month now with little success. One negative factor In the process is room temp here in my north-of-40 latitude is 65F. According to COWDUNG (conventional wisdom of the dominant group), sourdough starter thrives in an 80degF environment. Well, I’m not going to heat the house to tropical levels for some lousy yeasty beasties so I’ve decided to build an incubation box with a thermocouple controlled heating pad for the kitchen. It’s got to pass the gatekeeper (missus) test for aesthetics, have easy access for feedings and be big enough for proofing dough prior to baking. I’ve got a decent stash of 3/4” birch plywood scrap laying around but am still pondering design. Thoughts?
Back in my Food industry days, I did a lot of micro testing, and used incubators to control temps for specific growth conditions. Now some of these incubators are counter – top sized, and look like quality kitchen appliances. I had some the size of say, 1.3 cubic foot microwaves.
You might find some used if you look around.
“some of these incubators are counter – top sized, and look like quality kitchen appliances. ”
Like a yogurt maker lol lol.. I just tossed one out.. it wasn’t set right and would get to hot..
When I was a kid we made one out of a cardboard box and a twenty watt light bulb to hatch eggs..
Use seed starting mat to grow your sourdough starter. About $12 on Amazon. It works great for me and I’m 50 miles south of the Canadian border in north central Washington.
Damn good idea – I might use one of ours for bread making too…
MAYBE I KNOW SOMETHING THAT CAN HELP…….
I don’t have gout, however I inherited a tendency to leg cramps from my father. We figured out that magnesium can allay the leg cramps. Problem is, most forms of magnesium can cause diarrhea.
Magnesium Malate is least likely to cause digestive problems. See if you can use Magnesium Malate as a substitute for baking soda.
Hi, George,
Please leave the food section included in your once a week article, as your readers have invented some great recipes over the years. Often, an original idea for an entree or a dessert evolves from what ingredients happen to be available. I will email you my pound cake recipes that make nice summer desserts. Plus, I have one that has been popular for autumn. And, I have a good recipe for baked beans, in preparation for bbq summer cooking.
Thanks.
I am with you on that Nancy.. and I cant wait for the recipes.. yummy I love pound cake..
I am looking for a good recipe for red beans and rice, the other one is texas beans they make the best beans in the southwest.
Ok.. there are a ton of recipes for sourdough..
Raisins juice etc.. to get the wild yeast.. in reality it’s similar to making wine.. or vinegar.. for 24 hours keepitat the 80 degrees..a good tip us just place the starter in a jar on a cookie sheet and put it in an un- heated oven with the light on.. or a plant heating pad..they take 20 watts of power.
The recipe..
1/2 cup of unbleached whole wheat four
1/4 cup of warm water put it in a jar.. mix it. If it’s to thick you can add a little more warm water to thin it out..
Cover the jar with cellophane..place on the seed starter matt or on a cookie pan and in the oven.
Let it rest another day..
What’s the brown liquid..
This brown liquid is called “hooch” and basically says that your starter needs to be fed. It also has a very stinky smell, similar to rubbing alcohol or gym socks. This is normal.Any time you see this liquid, it’s best to pour it off, along with any discolored starter present. However, on Day 2 just leave the hooch alone..
Start the feeding process a day later..
Remove and discard approximately half of your starter from the jar even though it isnt technically sourdough starter You still can use this in baking some rolls .
In removing you will notice that the mixture is stretchy and gummy in texture..add another 1/2 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of warm water mix the starter it should have the consistency of thick pancake batter.. if it doesnt then add a little more warm water ..put it in your warm place..do this for seven days ..put a mark on the jar to measure its growth. Or my preferred method of tape .on the seventh day your official sour dough starter is born..
If yuh our planning on baking a lot keep it at room temp.. if not then nm put it in the fridge .. let it come up to room temperature before using..
If your storing your starter in the fridge then feed it about every five days.. let it come up to room temp.. then feed it normally 1/2 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of warm water..once it starts bubbling store it away.. if your using it then feed it daily.
Thanks LOOB. I’m using a similar method, getting plenty of CO2 bubbles but not like the YouTube videos I watched. Maybe my expectations are too high but they all talk about doubling volume in 4-8 hours when the starter is active; not happening. Either I’m missing something or the info on YT is BS. I assume (I know) the former. Filtered water, warm water, un bleached flour, yada yada yada. Starting to think it’s related to sunspots.
Oh My doubled.. LOL.. they aren’t taking enough out of the seed batch…LOL.. the idea is to have a live wild yeast culture.. not to fill the fridge LOL.. and when you put it in the fridge it stalls the yeast action or slows it down considerable.. it is the same when you make vinegar.. so I wouldn’t go by the doubles.. you will get some rise on it.. but that is because of the bubbling action..
I think the idea was this way back in the day when mom or dad baked your weekly bread you would always have a yeast culture around you could carry it with.. I harvest the yeast off of my wine and beer making to.. then store it in the fridge in a small jar..date it.. you can use that as well.. in Austrailia they wash it and make a nasty chip dip or sandwich spread..
Take your brewers yeast and wash it.. or soak it.. you will end up with the original brewers yeast ( the hooch ) reduce this down salt it add celery onion powder etc.. and this is vegamite.. It takes a person with a seasoned taste buds to like it which I personally don’t like it very much…. but it is high in vitamins.. LOL .. I have only made vegamite once..just to see if I could make it.. and don’t have any plans on making it in the future.. smells like old dirty sweaty socks LOL LOL…
Food, the making, sharing and cleaning up, is probably the single most important thing we can transfer to the upcoming generations. It encompasses time spent with loved ones, skills in reasoning, consequences of actions. and provides a base of knowledge that the younger ones will use all their life. I come from a family of 8 children (not so sure of the actual parentage of some of the siblings!) baking was a necessity, styore bought bread was twice the cost of home-made and not nearly so tasty. (cost accounting as a by-product of cooking) fast forward too many years i found myself on a beach in mexico cooking for many other people. opened a restaurant, taught my daughter the same way as i was taught. still using the same recipes and techniques taught to me by my mother and other members of the extended family.
short answer to your question: keep the food column!! we who do, in my experience, also cook, and try to avoid persons who do not cook.
Raising my mauz…
Suggestion:
Collect a few contributions, and run a clutch of them periodically.
Not every Saturday, but when you have enough, or a theme emerges.
73
While I love to eat, years of a fast-paced broadcast life turned me into a ‘grazer’… of whatever is readily available. I’m not a cook. No patience when I’m hungry. So I’m neutral on the cooking choice. But shop work and ‘making’ I can read all the time with pleasure.
;”a fast-paced broadcast life turned me into a ‘grazer”
Unfortunately… since mom and dad both have to work in today’s work a day world..that is what the vast majority of people’s lives are like.
Stop at Mickey D’s grab a charred patty on a bun and call it good .some just get fries because of the expense and it’s easier and cheaper to just get fries.
Don’t think so. I stopped buying “fast” “food” burgers when they started tasting like burned toast…