Breakfast When You're not feeling well
/Hello posties…
I woke up today with side effects from metformin…that means nausea and headache-y. After a cup of hot water which made matters worse I thought of Nadia’s bread. I went to the freezer. Baguette or Buckwheat?
Buckwheat today. I took out a few slices from the freezer bag. I put them in the toaster oven. I washed a handful of our homegrown boysenberries and tossed them in with bites of casaba melon.
Breakfast to soothe a turbulent tummy
Berries, melon, toast, salted butter…my tummy settled right down.
Let me wax on about Nadia’s bread. We both discovered that we were sensitive to bread, but not gluten intolerant. There is a big difference. And we discovered the sensitivities come from two sources. The modern practice of fast rising bread…and…bromated flours which have been legal in America since the 1950’s…both of these facts result in all kinds of problems for modern day man and Nadia and I started baking bread to circumvent these two killer issues several years back. Nadia’s bread making skills far surpassed mine and I just spread the word about her. Her bread is almost the only bread in my house. My caterer now uses her bread. We just did three fundraisers for the Solar Cooker Project at my home and her bread was used in the menu and given to the lucky guests who made donations. Just look at these pictures…then read on about my berries…
I started planting berries when I could not find boysenberries for sale. When I did break down and buy blackberries, they were hard as stones. Not soft, juicy and aromatic and flavorful like they should be…and why bother with blackberries at all when boysenberries are so much more delicious and aromatic? Let’s all agree, they are the best berry in the world. The flavor incorporates blackberry, raspberry, a hint of blueberry, strawberry, Marion berry and mulberry all mixed together in one magnificent sweet tart berry. The vines can be purchased in a thorn-less variety which I recommend as they still have thorns, just less of them. I have thorn-proof gloves for handling the vines. I grow them between every level of my terraced garden. Every year I plant more. There are never enough. Eating them sun warmed off the vine is a little piece of heaven on earth.
Let me tell you what I do with my berries.
I toss them into a large metal bowl full of ice water. This cleanses them and draws out any tiny little critters that are hiding. Then I put them onto a cookie sheet/food tray and freeze them. Once frozen I vacuum seal them with my Food Saver large model sealer purchased at Costco. It is a true workhorse and essential if you have a busy kitchen and large garden like we do.
Once frozen and vacuum packed they last…and last. Mostly I hoard them and make big batches of Mixed Berry Jam (I mix my homegrown blueberries, raspberries and strawberries together). I make mixed berry syrup most enjoyed over ice cream or mixed into yogurt or cottage cheese.
I make Crostata (Italian style jam tart) which is now favored over pie every time. And of course I serve them up naked and juicily magnificent alone, with cream, whipped cream or ice cream, and…most lovingly with Nadia’s Flourless Chocolate Cake which is magnifique…(Nadia is French!)
