Sunny Friday

Harry Potter camp came to a delightful finish yesterday. My daughter-in law Angie brot their kids back, & stayed to help us with the preschool group. Here they are with their big coz., climbing the tree in my daughter's front yard. Today they're back home, to the relief of their old dog, who wasn't sure what had 'happened' to his babes!

After HP Camp, my dau & I went for fabulous pedicures - ah :) I love the flowers on my big toenails! & today I receive a massage - so doubly blessed!

The camp ended with a BBQ & salads (many good n green!) yesterday, & a cake topped with 'crispy treat 'castle walls!' Friends who are in SCA brought an armload of capes, so I wore one as I 'signed' the songs.

My daughter sent of cell samples for gluten intollerance testing - & this week the results came back for her family, & all 4 of them have the gene - tho not necessarily active yet - good to know & begin making the shift! She said the test showed both her parents have the marker as well (oh-oh!)
So going gluten free! She already has to watch for egg yolks (no mayo or dressings w/ egg yoke, or pizza brushed with egg, or . . .) & peanuts. I've been trying to avoid soy.

As an adult, I've found I 'do better' & don't produce as much mucus (always had a stuffy nose as a kid) when I don't eat much wheat - rarely buy bread (usually choose sprouted), & don't prepare or eat much pasta. But I've still enjoyed the occcasional pizza, & always go for whole grains. Rice & quinoa are my grains of choice, & I've been enjoying the forays into using coconut & sorgham flour. So we'll be doing more of that! She's ordered some books, & another field trip to Bob's Red Mill will be fun.
I do better with yogurt than drinking milk - tho I love it raw, I think I'm better off not drinking it. Bring on the coconut :) I made coconut yogurt yesterday, using my 'Greek God' yogurt (delish!) as a starter, & it turned out well. I made some tapiocia to help it 'firm.'

Yesterday the Farmer's Market was in full swing, & I picked up some fruit & a few goodies my CSA share doesn't inc - artichokes from the coast, kohlrabi & fresh basil. I keep the basil at room temp., in a glass w/ a bit of water in the bottom. A couple of stems from last week's bunch grew roots, so I planted those with my tomatoes!

Our favorite edible pod pea is Grau Eaten or 'dwarf grey sugar'. With it's lovely lavender & purple blosssoms, it rivals sweet peas in the 'pretty' dept, plus produces the yummiest peas! Years ago, my friend Diana's 3 year old would casually walk around the house & start picking pea pods whenever they visited - usually joined by my two kids!

Well - time to do something with this lovely, sunshiny day! The sweet Mormon boys who came to my door this week asked if I needed help on anything - 'the garden?' Do all the weeds & overgrown grass - show?? Sigh. Love gardens, but fall down on upkeep . . .

Gone Crackers

An old favorite recipe came from Prevention Mag years ago - Robert Rodale' s Corn Pones (here's a similar recipe - he didn't use sugar or salt!)

When I went to Bob's Red Mill several weeks ago, I picked up some Sorgham flour along with the coconut flour & other goodies.

Today I decided to make these pones, substituting sorgham & a bit of coconut flours for the corn meal - they don't look fancy, but they are delicious! Sorgham is commonly used in making brooms,it's grain can be ground into flour or made into molasses!

This recipe is handy for gluten-free diets, is sweet without any additional sugar, & needs no leavening. Sorgham can be made into a tortilla like flat cake in traditional Indian 'Roti.' 'No leavening agents, oil or ghee are added. Just fresh sorghum flour, warm water and touch of fire - pure grain power in its glory.'

My modification to the corn pone recipe called for blending fresh greens in the hot water. Since this week marks the first 'share' from my CSA, I used chard greens from my share, & some of the nettles I harvested near my son's home on the weekend.

Sorgham Pones

• 2 1/2 C sorgham flour
• 1/2 C coconut flour
• 1/4 tsp kelp powder (or sea salt)
  
• 1/4 tsp curry powder
• 2 Tbsp flax seeds
• 2 Tbsp ground sesame seeds
• 1/4 C coconut oil (~ 4 spoonfuls)
• greens - chard, spinach, nettles, . . .
  

Heat 2 Cups of water to boiling.
Puree several chard, spinach, nettle or other green leaves (I used about 2 loose cups of greens) with half the water in a blender or food processor.
Pour pureed greens & water into the dry mix & stir with wooden spoon. Add more water as needed.
Allow batter to cool while you preheat oven: 350*
Oil a cookie sheet & drop by spoonfuls. Flatten cakes with the back of the spoon or your hand.
Bake 40 minutes.

These are slightly sweet, & good with a spread - nettle pesto is especially delicious!
What a nice way to 'eat your greens!'