Where in the world is Jay Bazuzi?

In the United States, yesterday was Thanksgiving Day. If you're feeling cynical (I usually am), this is the day when Americans:

• celebrate killing off the natives
• gorge on food, including turkey
• watch lots of TV, including the incredibly crappy Macy's Day Parade

While I live in Seattle, WA, my dad's family has gotten in the habit of meeting in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. That's where I am now*.

It's a nice opportuntity to see all these people (16 in all). We rent an enormous house. Each couple cooks for one day (breakfast, lunch, dinner). The food is quite varied, and gets more interesting each year.

There are some aspects of this trip that are particularly challenging for me. I'm not looking for sympathy, though.

• The long plane trip (I'm pretty big and don't fit well; I'm traveling with a small child)
• Squeezing the 3 of us in to a bed that fits 2
• The TV. We don't have TV at home, and these people seem to watch it all day.
• Loads of chemical-ridden, low-nutrient, high-sugar & white flour foods

The worst TV was certainly the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It's so false: the singers are clearly lip-syncing, there is little talent on display, it's supposedly a parade but really it's a TV specimercial. The "reporters" are totally idoitic. People insist on keeping this thing on the TV for the entire length of the program.

To balance out the bitching, there is some stuff I've really enjoyed:

• The variety of food
• Rest & relaxation
• Talking with my family
• swimming in the very cold ocean
• watching the wind, weather, and waves change
• seeing my son have a blast playing with my younger cousins

Tomorrow morning we pack up our stuff & head out. First it's back to Virginia to see more family for a couple days, and then I return home to Seattle. Shortly after I get back I'll return to fermentation. Ginger soda, here I come!

*Satellite imagery on MSN Virtual Earth was much better than Google Maps

It's alive!

Note: I wrote this some time ago, but never posted it. It's not finished, but I'm posting it now anyway.

Good news: my new ginger starter is bubbling.

I'm keeping it in the oven with just the light on, to encourage it to grow a little faster.

Sunday morning I arrived in the kitchen to make breakfast. Took a peek at the jar and saw a ring of tiny bubbles around the edge.

Late Sunday afternoon I checked again and found that the entire surface was covered in bubbles. Yes!

Now that the starter is ready, I'm realizing that I'm not ready.

Lots of food made today

Note: I wrote this soem time ago, but never posted it. Here it is for your enjoyment.

1. Fermented oatmeal and fried eggs for breakfast

I picked up some steel-cut oats yesterday. It's quite different than the quick/rolled oats I'm used to. It takes 40 minutes (instead of 5) to cook, so it's certainly not as convenient. You can't even leave it - it needs regular stirring.

2. Sourdough bread

It's baking right now. Contains only water, spelt flour, and a pinch of sea salt.

3. Sauerkraut

Picked up a head of organic cabbage yesterday. Fresh cabbage really works better than week-old. (I have a bad habit of buying ingredients and then letting them sit in the fridge for a week.)

4. Ginger soda starter.

Took the sediment from a very good bottle of ginger soda and combined with sugar, fresh organic grated ginger, and water. Not bubbling yet, but I'm hopeful. I keep it in the oven with the light on and the door cracked, to create a warmer environment. (I keep my house at 64deg F, and a lot of stuff grows pretty slowly at that temp.)

5. Kombucha

My last batch of kombucha seems weird - it grew very slowly. At 2 weeks the new babies were very thin. Even at 4 weeks they're not very substantial. But it sure is sour!

6. Failed chicken stock

I had a chicken stock going for two days. Cracked the lid open to get it to reduce faster. It all boiled away, leaving only a scum at the bottom. Damn. At least I was able to get the pot clean.

As you can see, I've been busy!

How to undermine the entire establishment

Want to be part of the antidisestablishmentarianism movement? Too bad, I don't know what that means.

My brother mentioned the idea of becoming "corporate". He got himself a regular haircut & took out some peircings, etc.

Here's my off-the-cuff reply:

You're not really corporate. Realize that the idea that how you look defines who you are is a huge marketing ploy, mostly from the folks who want to sell you clothes & makeup. The broader ploy is that buying product A vs. product B defines who you are. They even sell anti-corporate values. Want to reducing the impact of logging? Buy recycled paper. Want to reduce polution from cars? Buy a hybrid car.

In actuality, the only way you can truly disarm corporate power is to not buy from them at all. When they stop getting money, they lose power.

One way to reduce how much you spend is to reduce how much you earn. Earning less has other implications, so then the challenge becomes "discover happyness without money".

Another way is to only buy from non-corporations. It's hard to find people doing things that aren't big money for someone. When I do, I try to jump at the opportunity. My son and I saw a street musician on Sunday. He wasn't very good, but we gave him $5 anyway. I know that 100% of that went to the musician, not the RIAA. We buy milk and butter directly from the farmer (actually we own part of the herd!).

In search of the perfect breakfast

My wife says that it's a sign of extreme vanity to tell people what you had for breakfast. Same with blogging. So, here goes.

fermented porrige

1 cup organic, large-cut oatmeal. Purchased in bulk so there's less packaging. Not sure if "large cut" is the right term, but it's not as processed, so it's more nutritious

1 cup filtered water, warm. Filtered to remove the floride they put in our water.

a couple tablespoons of kefir. As an innoculant (a supply of bacteria & yeast that I want to grow). The kefir is homemade, and not sweetened in any way. It was made in raw, organic milk from my herd share, which means I'm supporting a particular type of economy: the local, independent craftsman.

Mix and let sit for 24 hours.

In the morning, bring 1 more cup filtered water to a boil. Add the water-oatmeal-kefir mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Split between 2 bowls. Add 2 tablespoons of raw, organic, handmade butter to each (from the same guy that brings me milk), and a teaspoon of raw, unfiltered honey. Mix and eat.

It's a little different tasting than I'm used to, because it's a bit sour from the overnight fermentation. That fermentation is supposed to improve the nutrition value of the food, by removing some unwanted substances, and making the vitamins more accessible.

Eggs

Eggs have a lot of different nutrients in them: enzymes, antioxidants, protien, fats. To get the most of these nutrients, eggs should probably be eaten raw. I'm not yet used to that idea. Also, our eggs are farmed by people who assume they will be cooked. Otherwise they would probably have some extra steps to make eating raw eggs safer.

We buy eggs from two sources: Whole Foods Market (aka "Whole Paycheck"), and the farmer who brings us our milk. He trades milk with another farmer for eggs. I like the fact that these eggs are a mix of colors and sizes.

My favorite way to eat eggs is fried, with the yokes runny. This is apparently a good way to get the nutrition from the eggs, as heating up the yokes destroys the enzymes, and scrambling them destroys the antioxidants.

I also try to use plenty of butter in the cooking (from the milkman, as mentioned above). I know that this butter is particularly nutrient rich, and supports the kind of economy I want, so I don't hold back.

1 tablespoon butter in a stainless steel pan. I'm trying to get away from teflon. Medium-low heat to gently melt the butter without burning it. I bought the pan from the thrift store for only 5 bucks. At that price, I can abuse it and not worry about wasting money or the resources that go in to producing a new pan.

Once it's melted, gently add 3 eggs to the pan. Gently so the butter stays between the eggs & pan, so it won't stick.

Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over the eggs. I do it early so the salt grains get in to the eggs, instead of sitting on top, which seems to be good for flavor.

Cover with a plate. The pan didn't come with a lid. This also warms the plate, so the food will stay warm while I eat it. Eggs taste better warm.

Because I keep it on such low heat, it takes a little while to cook. During this time I'll clean the kitchen or prepare a glass of kefir.

Once it's done, I slip the eggs on to the plate, and fill the pan with water.

Typically there's a little bit of egg that sticks to the pan. Sometimes it's a lot, and my eggs get all messed up. I can avoid that by using 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 butter. If things get burned on really badly, I will use steel wool to remove it. I've read that steel wool will scratch the surface, making it easier for things to burn in the future. That's a little annoying, but at least I don't have to worry about damaging some expensive, fancy pan.

Kefir

To drink, I'll often prepare a glass of kefir. As mentioned above, the kefir is made with raw milk from the herd share. It's the most nutrious milk I know of, and it supports that economy I like.

1 pint kefir in a large glass.

5-7 drops of stevia leaf extract. This stuff is a very powerful sweetener. I don't want to use a lot of it, because I really want to get out of the habit of eating sweets. But stevia sure makes kefir enjoyable. At 7 drops it's like a milkshake.

1 large drop of organic vanilla extract, in a non-alcohol solution (I think it's glycerin).

Cod liver oil

When I remember, I take a tablespoon of cod liver oil. Since I'm eating plenty of butter with this breakfast, it's a good time for the oil.

Produce

Here's where the breakfast needs work, still. Sometimes I have a banana or other piece of fruit. I really need to find a good vegetable to include. (see previous post). Any suggestions?

Cod liver oil

I try to take a tablespoon of cod liver oil regularly.

I keep a bottle in the fridge. I pour it in to a spoon and take it straight. Most people can't stand the flavor, and need to hide it in a drink, or take it in capsule form. I don't like the taste, but it doesn't bother me much.

I worry most about the capsule form. Capsules are medicine-like, and I know that both capsules of code liver oil and medicines are the result of a massive industry, which does a lot of harm. I think of Merck's effective lobbying campaigns. Also, the capsules are pretty expensive, so you end up sending lots of money to the makers, encouraging them to make more. Still, I know that it can be tough for people who don't like the taste of the straight stuff to get the nutrition their bodies need.

Speaking of which, what is the nutrition that I'm looking for? Mostly, it's vitamin A. From what I've read, the vitamin A in cod liver oil is very dense, and relatively easy to assimilate. Weston Price found that the ability to use this vitamin depended on the "Price Factor" in carefully prepared dairy, so I try to take it near the use of butter at breakfast.

I recommend daily cod liver oil for people who plan on making a baby in the next 6 months, and for pregnant and nursing women. It's great for the baby. (Yes, even dad's nutrition before making the baby matters a lot.)

Vegetables and Fruit

For most of my life, I rarely ate vegetables, and didn't each much fruit. I'm now eating mostly organic produce, and I eat it more often, and I strive for the "local and in season" model for produce.

But I still have a lot of room for improvement.

I'll often have a banana, because they're yummy, convenient, and easy to eat. We get them from Pioneer Organics, which delivers a box of organic produce every week. I am careful to select local produce whenever possible, but bananas are never local to WA state. Also, they only ever have the Cavendish variety, which is at risk. I'd like to find a way to support biodiversty, by not eating so many Cavendish bananas. However, other types are not often available. Also, bananas are never local and in season in WA state, so I would do well to eat other fruits instead. I remind myself that monocultures are good for multinational corporations and diseases, and diversity is good for the little guy.

Fruits have quite a lot of sugar in them, but at least it's unrefined. My body recognizes that sugar as a sign that these are good to eat, and sure enough, they are full of nutrients. Especially because I am pretty strict about eating only organic fruit. Non-organic fruit is worse in a lot of ways (poisons affect the farmers, the fields, and me; fertilizers allow overfarming, resulting in produce that lacks nutrients and spoils more quickly; organic produce must sell on taste, because it cannot sell on appearance, so it tastes better). However, as we head in to autumn, there are fewer and fewer local and in season fruits.

I would like to find a variety of real vegetables that I like to eat. I say "real" because so many of the foods we think of as vegetables are really fruits: zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers. We like them because they're sweet; they're sweet because they're fruit. They still have nutrients, but the sugar:nutrient ratio is going to be better in, say, spinach than, say, cucumber.

Some thoughts on salt

I don't know a whole lot about table salt, but there are a few things that I keep seeing. If the topic is interesting to you, I suggest you do some more reading.

Refined salt contains only NaCl (and iodine in a form that may be toxic, and an anti-caking agent that could be bad, too). You do need NaCl in your diet, but you also need dozens of other minerals, some in trace quantities.

Unrefined sources of salt that our ancestors used (bone broths, sea salt, etc.) had a complex mix of minerals. The refined stuff triggers the "I want" reaction in your mouth, but without delivering the other minerals that evolution has taught us we should find there.

A certain type of economy

I've started considering this in a lot of my buying decisions. How can I support a local, indepdent craftsman, and avoid supporting a large, multi-national corporation?

The local guy does this work because he cares about it a great deal. He is motivated to optimize for quality & pride over profit.

There's a great article by Charles Eisenstein that I love. In fact, I really enjoy just about everything that guy writes. Here he talks about a model for groups of about 20 to do food production on their own and share the results.

I also like a related article by Sally Fallon, although there's some stuff that I like to ignore (comments on global warming, drugs, and deforestation). The part I do like is the idea that by doing local, small-scale farming & food making, you create a richness in the local economy. The richness manifests itself in a strong community, a reliable safety net, and an outpouring of creativity.

El Toro Polo

An El Toro is an 8 foot sailboat. There's not a lot of room in there. I'm pretty big. Really, it's like being in a bathtub.

I took my son out on Wednesday for "El Toro Polo". There was ostensibly a game involved, with a ball & goals & stuff, but mostly we just sailed in around & tried not to capsize.

He took over the tiller, as usual. It was a relief, since I had to reach behind me to grab the tiller.

They seem to tolerate bumps pretty well. I guess it's because they're so light. I let him dock (with instructions), and he was telling everyone he saw about it for the rest of the day.

Here are some pics. (You can also see my new haircut.) I'm trying blogger's new image hosting service:

a model for selecting food

As I mentioned before, I like to eat meat. I enjoy the taste of animal fat. I don't shy away from it.

Why not?

Shouldn't I be afraid of high cholesterol? Of heart disease?

Maybe, but I'm using a different approach to diet than the ones recommended by the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the United States Department of Agriculture.

(I have some complaints. For example, the FDA's recommendations on avoiding food-borne illness in schools don't mention reducing sugar in your diet. Sugar feeds the bad bacteria & weakens your immune system so you can't fight it off easily.)

Here's the model:

I trust my body's food instincts in inverse proportion to how processed the food is.

That is, the less processed it is, the more I trust my instinct. Let's try some examples:

I'm hungry & in a 7-11. I spy a Hostess Twinkie. "mmm, looks yummy". I should ignore that instinct, as a Twinkie is one of the most processed "foods" I can think of.

I'm hungry & in my backyard. I spy the carrots growing in the garden. "mmm, looks yummy". I pull one out of the ground, wipe off some dirt, and eat the whole thing, including the tops. (Cutting off the tops is processing.)

I'm hungry & in my kitchen. A glass of raw milk has been sitting on the counter for a while, but I'm not sure how long. I wonder if it has gone bad. I smell it. If it smells fine, I'll drink it. Same if it seems a little sour but still tasty. Otherwise, throw it out. Human sense of smell is very good at detecting certain substances in trace amounts, including the results of spoilage. I trust my nose.

However, if it is ultrapasteurized milk from a cow that received antibiotics, I don't trust my nose. Pasteurized milk hasn't been around long enough for humans to evolve instincts to detect if it's safe to drink.

Raw sugar is extremely processed (90% of the cane is removed!), so it makes sense that my body's instincts throw me off. I really like the taste of candy, chocolate, cakes, cookies, etc. But I can't trust my body to tell me if I need those things or not, because they are so processed. Compare to some organic, local, in-season fruit. If I take one bite of a peach and suddenly want to eat a dozen peaches, then I should just do it. My body knows what fruit is about.

So, to eat well:
1. Select unprocessed foods
2. Eat whatever you want

hot meat!

I'm sitting here at my desk eating some chicken thighs for my lunch. I just pulled them out of the microwave down the hall. They're good.

Thighs have more fat than, say, breasts, which is yummy. This I understand.

There's a little salt on them from when they were cooked a few days ago. Salt is yummy. This I understand.

But there's something else. The very fact that the meat is piping hot makes them taste better.

Why is that? I'm not sure, but I have two theories:

1. The fat melts in the heat, allowing it to flow out of the meat & into my taste buds. As I mentioned, I like the taste of animal fat.

2. Humans have evolved to eat fresh meat. Fresh = the beast's heart is still pounding out its last beats. Just before its eyes fade, it sees you take a bite of freshly-carved meat, its blood dripping down your chin. Meat tastes best at body temperature.

What do you think?

Sailing with inlaws

My inlaws got in to town yesterday. It was a beautiful day & it was a good day for me to skip out on work. We headed to CWB & rented a Blanchard Jr. Took it around the lake for a while & had a good time. For a while we sailed close to the houseboats on the east side. Residents were out on the porches enjoying the afternoon sun. Pretty cool.

After we docked I put away the boat while my son went to play with the Pirate models in the model pond. (The pond is a part of the lake surrounded on 4 sides by docks.) I arrived 15 minutes later to see him sitting in his grandma's lap sobbing. Then realized he was soaking wet. Found out that he had fallen in the pond, having lost his balance. He was not injured in any way.

I know it was very scary for him. I also know that chances are we will all end up in the lake if we sail often enough. I'm glad it happened on a nice day, with a live vest on, with people nearby, on the docks instead of in the middle of the lake, and that we had a change of clothes for him already.

It's important to explore the possible emergencies so you can prepare for them. Now I know that the life vest works. He knows that falling in is a real possibily and is really un-fun.

Sailing with the son

Saturday I decided to take my 3.5 year old sailing. He needed to get out of the house, and his mom was feeling ill & needed rest. So we grabbed our gear & drove downtown. Of course I had forgotten that the SR-520 bridge was closed, and had to take a long detour along with the rest of the normal 520 bridge traffic.

We got there eventually & rented a Blanchard Jr. Knockabout. Reid came out to the bow to help me rig the jib, which he was pretty excited about. Then I sailed us in to the lake & gave him the tiller. He steered most of the time, until it was time to come in. We had an argument about who would dock! I was surprised just how sure he is that he can dock. No fear, I guess.

It was a real blast for both of us.

Sunday I went back. Taught a class in the morning (didn't touch a line or tiller the whole time!), and crewed on the Nautilus II in the afternoon (neat boat, but not much for me to do).

4th July boats

Over the 4th of July weekend we visited the Tacoma Tall Ships Festival. I was pretty excited to see the Mexican Navy's 270 foot (LOA) wooden ship, Cuauhtemoc. But the crowds were enormous, and transportation painful. Literally. Plantar fascitis is plaguing my foot. I never got on a boat.

We also went to the Center for Wooden Boats for the Wooden Boat Festival. I volunteered to work selling merchandise early in the morning, so I could spend time with my family the rest of the day. I woke up at 6:30am on 4th July! There was no traffic; it was surreal. However, by 4pm we were way to tired, and want home to crash. We saw a few sparkling lights through the trees, but not much else.

Rawcotta

We have way more raw milk than we are using, so I'm looking for other interesting things to do with it.

Yesterday I tried curdling it with vinegar. Warm it up, pour in vinegar, wait a few minutes for it to curdle, strain. The result was like ricotta, but really, really yummy. The whole process took about 20 minutes. I can tell I'm going to do this again.

The only raw milk cheese you can buy in the US is aged 60 days. No soft, raw cheese for you! Unless you make it yourself...

If I'm careful not to overheat the milk, the active cultures remain, so it's even better for you.

I call it "rawcotta".

raw milk in Seattle

What is Real Milk?: "The source of most commercial milk is the modern Holstein, bred to produce huge quantities of milk three times as much as the old-fashioned cow. She needs special feed and antibiotics to keep her well. Her milk contains high levels of growth hormone from her pituitary gland, even when she is spared the indignities of genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone to push her to the udder limits of milk production."

Real milk:

- is from cows that eat grass, not grain
- is processed cleanly, instead of using pasteurization to make up for the filth
- in not homogonized
- is high in butterfat (yum)

Rules vary by state, but it's hard to get raw milk in most places.

One way to get it is to own your own cow. Most people don't want to be farmers, so you can hire someone else to care for your cow. As the cow owner, you are entitled to the milk from the cow.

We own 2/1000ths of a herd ("2 herd shares"), which entitles us to 2 gallons of raw milk / week.

If we don't drink it all, I make yogurt, which keeps a long time.

It's a bit more expensive than organic milk, but that makes sense. I'm paying a farmer to work even harder to keep my milk clean. Also, it's a small operation, and the farmer is local, so the economy of scale doesn't factor in.

Want to try some?

I want my reader(s) to know that I'd like to share what I make.

If you are in my area (Bellevue, WA), and see anything mentioned here that you're curious about, let me know & I'll set aside a pint jar for you.

My stock changes quickly, but right now I have plenty of:

• kefir
• ginger beer
• beet kvass
• yogurt
• raw milk

All that I ask is that you bring the jar + lid back.

hard cider (I hope)

Wild Fermentation has a simple recipie for hard cider.

• Get a 1gal jug of organic apple cider.
• Take off the lid.
• Let it sit at room temperature for 2 weeks.

We had a leftover 1/2gal of organic apple juice, so I thought I'd try to use that. After a few days mold was growing, so I tossed it. (The jug went to the ginger beer.)

I got a fresh jug, opened it, and added 1Tbs of live whey as an innoculant. Just a little something to give it a better chance of turning out well.

I have seen a few bubbles appear on the top, but I'm not sure if much is happening. I'll try it soon.

the ginger beer experiement

I've been trying to get a ginger bug going for a while. I finally got one going & made a batch of natural, fermented ginger soda. I had a 1gal glass apple juice jug to use as a fermentation vessel. I went to mix up ingredients, and on a whim decided to double it.

Yes, I made 2 gallons of ginger soda.

It scaled well. The only part that was really a lot of work was juice lemons. I did it by hand, with only a fork to help me. 5 is my limit. I'll try to find a basic juicer, so that lemons scale, too.

Ingredients: ginger bug (ginger, water, sugar, 1Tbs whey), ginger, lemon, sugar, water.

After putting the mix into the vessels, I put the lids on, but left them loose. As it ferments it generates carbon dioxide. Loose lids lets excess CO2 escape, and also lets it displace the O2 at the top. After a few days I tightend the lids. As the pressure builds, this disolves CO2 in the liquid, making it fizzy.

Tonight I decided to try some. It was fizzy, sweet-but-not-too-sweet, and very gingery. (Note to self: use less ginger for wider appeal). I like it, and I bet ginger lovers will like it, too.

What I've made here is basically soda, but it's good for you (organic ingredients, ginger, lactobaccilus) unlike commercial soda (corn syrup, high glycemic index, carmel color, processed flavors, caffine, and no nutrients of any kind).