Science!
But I wanted some kefir, and I hated and still hate buying plastic jugs of something called "kefir" and having to recycle the bottle. It is so energy expensive to create those bottles and recycle them, and by that I mean lots of waste gets created.
So I took a crack at making my own. Since I am somewhat an enemy of dairy products, I elected to use raw nuts as the base. Specifically almonds and hemp.
I ordered some kefir "grains" from Cultures for Health and got to work reconstituting them dried kefir "grains". For this part I used Vanilla Coconut Milk from So Delicious. Once my raw almonds and raw hemp seeds came, I soaked them in water for about 6 hours. Into the blend tec blender the nuts went with a few cups of water. I was out of Jesus water so I used distilled and spring water from the store. A quick trip through the blender and then into some cheese cloth. Once separated, I added the now fresh kefir grains to this mix, placed a loose lid on it and put it on top the fridge so it can do its thing.
I used a custom recipe for my nut milk based loosely off this recipe and this recipe. I basically used 1 cup raw soaked almonds, 1/2 cup raw shelled hemp seeds and about 32 oz of good clean water. Blend, and then strain through cheese cloth. Once strained, I added some cinnamon, raw cacao powder, honey, salt, honey and some colostrum to it. Yes it was delicious and yes it was nutritious. It was so much better than plain old boring cow milk, and man did it bring the serious burst of energy. No joke. Try it, you'll like it.
Pine Pollen is supposed to be super good for people, so this spring, in fact in late March I am going to go collect as much as I possibly can in the wild. I am pretty stoked about this, and will let you all know how it goes. My guess is that it is going to be great.
The Forgetters, ah yes, Blake. You see, Blake was once upon a time in a band called Jawbreaker. Jawbreaker played a very large roll in my life growing up as a punk rock drummer in Iowa. But alas, as all good things (and bad, btw) do, they never last. The band broke up and went their ways. Blake formed another band that could have just as well been Jawbreaker 2.0, the sound was clearly a further maturuation of that dispalyed in Jawbreaker. This newer band was called Jets to Brazil. Super good, in oh so many ways. I actually got to see Jets play at Graceland (unfortunately now El Corazon) when they were on tour for Orange Rhyming Dictionary, it was a great small show. I was able to have Blake sign my copy of ORD and shake his hand and personally thank him for making music for my life. As all cycles occur, again this band was ended. But, a new band has arisen from the ashes, called The Forgetters. And they came to The Vera Project on Jan 30th. $11. Pretty good price, seminal person musically for me, but I am also a full time student (i.e. unemployed) and $11 is well, $11.
The Forgetters were incredible. They were so tight and precise, and the energy they performed with could have blown the doors off the Vera. A pure magical night, so glad I went and was able to continue this thread in my life with a long lost unknown friend.
Ah hell yeah, baked beans and BBQ, well, just beans and BBQ actually. I did not bake the beans, but this sauce, ridiculously good. I used tomato paste instead of ketchup, and brandy instead of bourbon, half the called for molasses, and it still was really great.
Speaking of good food, the Seattle Weekly is once again doing the Voracious food tasting, tickets are on sale now. Last year it sold out! I highly recommend this event for any local foodies that want to sample many fine noshes and tasty adult beverages for a decent price.
Another great thing coming up that looks amazing is this: Whiskies for Wildlife. Both of these things are relevant to my interests.
Today is Feb. 13th, 2011, the day I turn 38. What a great life I have. Thanks to all my family and friends whom without my life would surely be lesser than the stellar ride that it has been. Wait...does that sentence even make sense?
