Amazing Cultures!

I should be blogging about my fabulous time having Jennifer here (which just so happens to coincide with Darren being away in London) but my excitement about these cultures overwhelms me right now, not that bacteria is more exciting than Jennifer. I'll have to reflect on my week with Jennifer manana.

I entered the magical world of probiotic making today. In laymen's terms that would be how to make such things as kefir, yogurt, piima, quark, cream cheese and creme fraiche. These things have active enzymes that really aid in digestive health.

Didn't know that this class (given by Jesse's teacher Carrie) I signed up for at j's school auction would be so enlightening. What a treat (and deal) for $30 bucks!

Would love to relay all that I learned but I'm to tired for that so here's a small summary.

Let me start by saying these things have interesting tastes that wouldn't at first inclination appeal to all, but wow, Carrie had some fabulous things to eat that were made out of her colonies--cheescake (the BEST I've ever had), dips, butter, the creamies, sweetest plain yogurt ever, yum!

Everything she made (cultured) was SO easy, only the yogurt required stovetop time. Basically, put a little bit of this culture into this much milk, set aside and get your result in a day or two.

Kefir grains are these little cauliflower like things (very cool-looking) and if you put some with milk and set aside you get kefir (maybe you've seen it in health-food stores or health magazines), a tangy drink that I definitely could dig on a regular basis, especially with a dallop of jam mixed in.

For the first time I tasted whey, the extremely nutritious liquid you can strain off yogurt or piima. Interesting fermenedt taste! Carrie says she craves it to quench her thirst and I can believe it. It is tart yet satiating.

One thing I suspected, and Carrie confirmed, was that the occurence of creamy, thickened milk only sometimes in Luci's sippy cup after residing for a night in her crib is in fact yogurt. For months I'd been suspecting that Lulu had been making yogurt with her body heat during the night. Turns out it's true. I'm so thrifty maybe I should eat it for breakfast?

Another interesting tip was to ferment nuts (starting with raw is best) by soaking in water with sea salt overnight, and then drying slowly in a low temp oven. The resulting taste is delicious (I'm oblivious to any fermented taste, it just tastes like the regular nut only better) and these nuts are sometimes digestable by people who have nut allergies because the offending enzymes are removed. WHY I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!

I'm so grateful I had my class today--another way of looking at God's marvelous world.