Buy Soda Pop No More

The US FDA identified a foreign substance in a can of Diet Pepsi as either "frog or toad."

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/09/02/frog.pepsi.can/

Nasty! But there is a saving grace!

I HAVE MADE MY OWN GINGER ALE THAT I LOOOOOOOVE.

I've made ginger beer (ale? fizzy gingery drink?) before. But it had sorely failed my love of fizz. As Lori coined "it's all about the burn." I love the tssssssss when you first twist off the cap. The little spray of nose wrinkling droplets. That first sip that slips down your throat and packs it with a whallop that has you sit up and smile.

I confess I buy soda pop. Soda for you ahmricans. Pop fer u Canucks. If it's fizzy I'll likely love it. Cept for those nasty ass cans of energy drinks that taste like life savers meets the koolaid man in a fizz inducing state. Blechhhh. I'll even love fizz that falls below fizz whalloping standards. I have drunk juice (particularly grape juice) that's been left on the counter a little too long in this hot Hawaiian weather. It's a little fizzy and hasn't started smelling like someone left the lid off the compost bucket again. It's ok but not worth reproducing.

But the tsssss, the spray, the whallop.... that is what I aim for and I HAVE ACHIEVED IT! All it took was ginger, sugar, yeast (honey too but it wasn't necessary). Mix in a screw cap bottle - I used an old glass fizzy water bottle. Leave it in a cool dark place for 4-6 days - I only could be patient for 4 1/2 days. Refrigerate (even if you ain't gonna drink it cuz otherwise you will be cleaning your cool dark place of sticky mess and glass shards). Drink when ice cold. Sit back and smile. Measurements will be forthcoming as I do this over and over and over again!!!!!

Next fizzing experiment will be a non-yeast fermentation based on lactobacillus from the skin of roots. Yep, root beer (which ginger is since it is technically a root). Mebbe I'll even get around to taking a picture. Metta has requested an orange juice soda....

Clams and Noodles

A simple name for a deelish dish. Was adapted from a recipe that called for a stick and a half of butter! Well... it was called clams linguine with lemon butter sauce.

I used 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp butter, and 4 ice cubes of chicken stock instead. First started by sauteeing onions with olive oil til transparent and fragrant. Then I added the butter, stock and 5 -6 cloves of minced garlic. Let that simmer a bit until the girls finished dicing 1 cup of button mushrooms. Then I added the mushrooms and 1/2 cup of diced mixed heirloom cherry tomatoes. Let that simmer up a bit then added 2 1/2 lbs of cockles. Put a lid on and let it cook for about 5 minutes. I stirred the cockles eery couple of minutes and made sure they all opened up.

At this point, I tasted the broth and it was already heavenly. Then I added the juice of 1/2 lemon, 2 spoonfuls of capers, and a handful of fresh sweet basil chiffonade.

The clams and sauce were spooned over freshly cooked organic whole wheat spaghetti noodles. So ono! The girls liked a little freshly grated pecorino with theirs. Booboo liked the clams wheras Nunu refused to try them at all. They did eat their steamed kale side though.

Loved this dish and it was so easy to make. YumYum.