Corn Husk Yarn Dye

Last summer I grew some Indian corn that was the most gorgeous colors of red, purple and yellow. Do you remember the pretty Corn Dolly I made from it? I saved a bunch of the husks and cobs to experiment with hand dyeing some wool, after reading a blog by GingerbreadSnowflakes . I love making things with natural materials, but I hate brown; so it's always a challenge to see what I will get. There are a couple of things I might try differently next year, because I did end up with brown, albeit a reddish brown. First I simmered the wool in Dharma's Professional Textile Detergent which is a non-toxic, less expensive Synthrapol substitute, to clean it. I used dried, then simmered pomegranate peels for my mordant. They were actually TOO acidic, as I was shooting for a pH of 4, so I adjusted back and forth with washing soda, alkaline; and vinegar, acidic to get the pH where I wanted it. It was a good mordant, but the wool picked up some yellow-brown from the pomegranate that might not have gotten the final color where I wanted it. I used the pH strips for dying from Earth Hues , which is here in Seattle. Most places that carry pH strips don't measure the full spectrum of pH. I tried getting strips from a fish store and then Lowe's, but they were geared to specific uses, and didn't go down to pH 4. Earth Hues also ships their products.

The next issue I had was that I've been using a slow cooker to simmer my dyes, and previously I had it sitting outside where I think the cool air kept it from actually boiling, and I'm afraid the heat got too high and may have browned out the color. So, I will have to work on keeping the temperature a little lower and see what happens.

I simmered the corn husks to extract the color; strained, and simmered the wool yarn in it for about an hour and then let it sit cool overnight before rinsing.

This is the color of the yarn after dyeing, it's a little browner than it looks in this photo:

With this project, I didn't want to resort to over-dyeing with food coloring from the supermarket to  make the color nicer, so I looked around at what else I had in the kitchen. I was making a borscht, so I simmered about a cup of the beet peelings in filtered water, and strained. I use filtered water so that I'm not wondering whether the chemicals and contaminants in tap water might be affecting the color. Everything I read online said that beets wouldn't add much coloring as a dye, so I wasn't too optimistic, but tried it anyway, with about 1/4 cup of vinegar. Again, I boiled for about an hour, and then let it sit overnight before rinsing. I'm using super-wash wool, so I don't have a problem with it felting. It added quite a bit more red, as you can see in the photo below. Of course with natural dyes, it remains to be seen with washing, time and light whether the color will fade or brown out, but I was pleased with the finished yarn.

I would love to see the process and results of your experiments with natural dyes! Let me see what's worked for you.

Homemade Raspberry Mustard

I just made the best mustard I ever tasted. It's so good that we're almost through the first jar of it. Yes, I finally made a mustard that my man will eat. It's so easy to make your own mustard, I doubt I'll ever buy store made again.

½ cup yellow mustard seeds

½ cup black mustard seeds- available in Indian and Caribbean specialty stores, or more yellow seeds if you can't find them

2 tbsp. brandy (optional)

1 cup water

2 teaspoons salt

1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

2/3 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

1/2 cup maple syrup

Preparation

Soak the mustard seeds with the water and salt for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours. The longer you soak it the spicier it will be.

In a small saucepan, combine the raspberries, maple syrup and spice. Bring to a simmer and cook until the raspberries soften. Cool slightly.

Place the soaked mustard seeds with all of their liquid in the bowl of a food processor and add the cranberry-maple mixture and brandy. Blend until thickened and the seeds are coarsely ground, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the mustard to small, sterilized jars and store in your refrigerator for up to 2 months. The mustard will be quite spicy.

I used frozen berries. I never knew how much I love raspberries until I had access to some bushes. Now they’re my favorite.

 I’m really happy to find some other uses for them than just sugary jam. I imagine other berries would make a good mustard as well.

Stinging Nettle Beer in time for spring. Last week it was very warm for winter here, and some of the early spring greens started trying to grow. It's back to frost, but it reminded me to be prepared when Spring does come to visit. One of my favorite recipes from last year was this stinging nettle beer recipe adapted from several recipes in Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers, one of my bibles for fermented beverages.

Stinging Nettle Beer

5 gallon pail of nettles

Large handful of cleavers

Large handful of dandelion leaves

2 inch piece of gingerroot, shredded

2 lbs. sugar

1 packet Premier cuvee dry wine yeast

Place the washed plant matter and ginger into a large pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Strain, squeezing out juices and stir in sugar while still quite warm. Add plant fiber to compost as nettles make a fantastic compost addition. When the liquid is lukewarm, add yeast and pour into carboy. Add additional filtered water until you have 5 gallons. Place airlock on top and let ferment for several days. Once fermentation has stopped, beer can be bottled. To get a nice fizzy beer, add a tsp. of sugar to each bottle before closing and shake. If adding sugar, wait about a week to try one. Last year, using the same amount of sugar in each bottle, I had varying rates of carbonation. This recipe can be done without the cleavers and/or dandelions. Dandelions add a bitter edge to the beer, but are very nutritious. I started using the dry wine yeast for herbal beers at the suggestion of the guy at the brewery supply  store and it really does give herbal beers and ciders a superior flavor.

This herbal beer could be considered a traditional spring tonic; it's high in minerals and ginger is a digestive aid. It's a nice excuse to drink a fresh herbal beer. I like these for the nutritive qualities, but also as a gluten-free person; it's a beer that I can drink. Cheers.

Dock Rolls

In anticipation of the coming spring greenery, and because I haven't managed to construct a simple cold frame as of yet.... here's one of my favorite recipes for Dock leaves. What I find around Seattle is Broadleaf Dock or Rumex obtusifolius , although there are several kinds of dock plants. The plant contains tannins and oxalic acid, which are classified as slight toxins and laxative, although so do alot of other plants we eat. I blanch and then cook them, so I haven't noticed any issues. If you are sensitive to other plants with oxalic acids you might want to avoid them. Any time you forage for plants you have never eaten before, be sure you are correctly identifying the plant and try just a small amount the first time. Learning from an experienced local is always a good idea. That said, like most greens of spring, dock is also known as a liver tonic.

Dock Rolls

@ 16 medium to large broadleaf dock leaves

3 tbsp olive oil

1 lb. ground turkey or lamb

2 cups of water

1 onion, diced

1 cup of rice

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

pinch of salt

2 tsp. each of ground cumin and ground coriander

2 tsp. chopped parsley

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup chopped nuts of choice, you could use almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts

2 cloves of garlic minced

optional, parmesan cheese

Sauce

15 oz jar tomato sauce 

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. ground coriander

salt and pepper to taste

In medium saucepan bring to a boil meat, onion, garlic and spices. Take off heat and let sit for @ 10 minutes, then drain reserving 1/2 cup and save the rest for another purpose. (makes a nice base for a soup stock, for instance). Put strained meat and onions into a large bowl and add rice, salt, raisins, parsley, and nuts. Mix.

Pre-heat oven to 350*

In a medium pan bring some water to a simmer. In batches, dip the dock leaves for a few seconds each and then rinse with cold water in a colander. This step is a pain, but it seals the nice bright green color in the leaves so they don't turn brown in the baking dish. This is true whenever you want your greens to stay a nice bright green. Drain the leaves. Lay a leaf on a plate and put a couple of spoonfuls in the middle of the leaf; fold in the sides slightly and roll up. Place each one as finished with the rolled edge down, in a baking dish, 9 x 13" . I have also done this in a large skillet with a fitted lid at low heat.Mix together all ingredients for the sauce and add reserved juice from meat.  Once all the rolls are in the dish top with the sauce. Cover dish with foil and bake for about 35 minutes. Dish should be bubbling. If desired, top with parmesan or other cheese and bake uncovered for another 5 minutes. Enjoy.

Preserved Lemons

Yay! It's that time of the year..... time to preserve lemons. I love preserved lemons. They are a great way to put up your surplus or put aside lemons for the year while they're in season and a lower price. I like Meyer lemons, but any variety will work the same way. You only need two ingredients, lemons and salt, but traditionally, herbs and spices would be added for a more complex flavor. I like fennel seed and bay leaf, which are fairly traditional, and both of which can be found growing in the Pacific NW. For my container, I can fit 7 lemons, which will last me pretty much till next year depending how much I use them in cooking.

7 lemons
@ 1/2 cup of pickling or sea salt

I don't measure, so 1/2 cup is an estimate. You can't use table salt for this because it's not a pure salt product; it's like salt food product, highly processed with additives. It must be "pickling" salt or sea salt that is not highly processed, think Celtic sea salt.

Wash lemons and cut through as if in quarters, but leave far end intact. If there is a piece of green stem, trim it off. Sprinkle a little salt, and spices, if using in bottom of container. I have a mason type jar that is missing the rubber seal, so it allows air to leave. You can use a fermentation jar, but close loosely so there is a small amount of air flow. Cut the lemons as described and squeeze juice gently into jar without breaking lemon into pieces. I remove as much seeds as possible at this point because they are inedible, but without breaking apart the lemons. Leave any that are too hard to remove. Place lemons in jar, sprinkling some salt inside of each lemon as you go. After first layer in jar, sprinkle some more salt. Continue till all lemons are in jar. Sprinkle more salt on top and press lemons down into jar with wooden spoon until the juice is covering them. Close container and set aside for 3-4 days, and after that, refrigerate and enjoy! Fruity sunshine in winter.

Beautiful Skies

Yesterday was a day of completeness. Both sunrise and sunset were magically delicious. This is what greeted me as I went out the door in the morning:

And this is how the day waved goodbye; the sun is an awesome star even when its' light only reaches me indirectly:

Tea Eggs

I'm sure every other foodie out there has already tried their hands at these, but this is my first try.


Tea eggs are boiled eggs, that are then cracked all over with the back of a spoon; but leaving the shell as intact as possible. The eggs are then simmered for quite some time in a tea bath with other spices and herbs. I decided to skip soy sauce, being gluten free, but you'll want to add a salt source; black tea, orange peel,and star anise. 

I read wildly varying amounts of time for simmering the eggs, from 40 minutes to 5 hours. I went with about two hours and I would try a longer time or more concentrated bath. Still they were really tasty with a subtle hint of all the flavors. The sauce seeps through the cracks to flavor the eggs and leaves pretty designs, which can be much darker than what I did.

I'll be trying this again, with other spice combinations, like Madrone bark, as suggested in a blog my friend Nina posted, from Hunter, Gardner, Angler, Cook