Schrodinger's Kittie

Ginger-Cinnamon Cookies
(Non-Vegan and Vegan Varieties)

Non-Vegan:

INGREDIENTS

* 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 4 teaspoons ground ginger
* 3 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* Four pinches orange zest
* ¾ cup butter
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* ¼ cup dark molasses
* pinch of sea salt

A bit of cinnamon sugar – less than ¼ cup (cinnamon sugar is made by combining 1 tbsp cinnamon and ½ cup of sugar)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir the mixture to blend evenly, and sift a second time into another bowl.
3. Place the butter into a mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the white sugar. Beat in the egg and dark molasses. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture; stir to thoroughly blend. Sift in the remaining flour mixture, and mix together until a soft dough forms. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll into 1 inch diameter balls between your hands. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar, and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven until the tops are rounded and slightly cracked, about 10 minutes.
5. Cool cookies on a wire rack.
6. Store in an air tight container out of reach of dogs, children and spouses…if you want any for yourself, that is.

To “Veganize”:

INGREDIENTS

* 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 4 teaspoons ground ginger
* 3 teaspoons baking soda
* ½ teaspoon baking powder
* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* Four pinches orange zest
* ¾ cup Earth Balance
* ¼ cup canned pumpkin
* 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder
* 1 cup white sugar
* ¼ cup dark molasses
* pinch of sea salt

A bit of cinnamon sugar – less than ¼ cup (cinnamon sugar is made by combining 1 tbsp cinnamon and ½ cup of sugar)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift the flour, ginger, baking soda, arrowroot, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir the mixture to blend evenly, and sift a second time into another bowl.
3. Place the Earth Balance into a mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the white sugar. Beat in the pumpkin and dark molasses. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the Earth Balance mixture; stir to thoroughly blend. Sift in the remaining flour mixture, and mix together until a soft dough forms. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll into 1 inch diameter balls between your hands. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar, and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven until the tops are rounded and slightly cracked, about 10 minutes.
5. Cool cookies on a wire rack.
6. Store in an air tight container out of reach of dogs, children and spouses…if you want any for yourself, that is.

_{Note: A great resource for what can be used for egg replacements can be found at My Vegetarian Recipes.}

I happen to really enjoy a good mead. There was a fella who used to make his own and many of us were waiting in line to get our hands on some.  Mmmm.  I sure do miss that tasty beverage.  Somehow store-bought mead just does not measure up.

The exact origin of mead is unknown; but, its history can be traced throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa.  If we look toward archaeological evidence, it suggests that mead could have been a part of society as far back as 7000 BC.  The evidence in question is the identification of pottery from Northern China that contained a mixture of honey, rice and fruits along with compounds utilized in fermentation.¹ And, really, how can you not be fascinated by a drink that wound up being something that takes you back to the crazy, amazing Vikings? Their meadhalls are things of legend, no small thanks to tomes like Beowulf.

“LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!
Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,
till before him the folk, both far and near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
gave him gifts: a good king he!”²

Given my love of history, I find this absolutely fascinating. This drink has been around literally ages. What more fascinating piece of living history could there be? Well, other than knitting; but, that is a whole other discussion.

Back in the way back (about four thousand years ago) when a couple would marry, the bride’s father would supply them with all the mead that they needed/wanted for the next lunar cycle (what we now call a month). This is, from a few sources, the origin of the term “honeymoon”.

Honey is a main ingredient in mead

What is mead and why would “honey” be part of the term instead of “Meadmoon”? Mead is a honey-wine. It is made by fermenting honey, yeast and water, essentially. Though, you can add grains, spices, etc to flavor and otherwise add interest to the drink.

“The proportions of the honey and water determine the final strength and sweetness of the drink, also how long it takes to make. The ratio ranges from 1 lb. honey per gallon of water for a very light ‘soft-drink’ to 5 lbs. per gallon for a sweet dessert wine. The less honey, the lighter the mead, and the quicker it can be made.”³

This drink was such a solid and simple beverage to create that it never died out. Instead, it grew and expanded across the globe. Staying the same, at its base, for all these millenia.¹

Vāyu - the Lord of the winds, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman.

In fact, this drink was so valued that years later it was spoken of in the Rigveda (1300-1000 BC) which is part of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas.  The value of it was such that it was offered up to “God, as our Priest” for first drink.

“3 Adhvaryus, make the sweet libations ready, and bring the beautiful bright juice to Vāyu. God, as our Priest, be thou the first to drink it: we give thee of the mead to make thee joyful.
4  Two arms-the Soma’s dexterous immolators-and the ten fingers set and fix the press-stone. The stalk hath poured, fair with its spreading branches, the mead’s bright glittering juice that dwells on mountains.”⁴

The word, itself, comes from a wide variety of roots.

mead (1) ”fermented honey drink,” O.E. medu, from P.Gmc. *meduz (cf. O.N. mjöðr, Dan. mjød, O.Fris., M.Du. mede, Ger. Met ”mead”), from PIE base*medhu- ”honey, sweet drink” (cf. Skt. madhu ”sweet, sweet drink, wine, honey,” Gk. methy ”wine,” O.C.S. medu, Lith. medus ”honey,” O.Ir.mid, Welsh medd, Breton mez ”mead”). Synonymous but unrelated early M.E. meþeglin yielded Chaucer’s meeth.

mead (2) ”meadow,” O.E. mæd ”meadow,” from P.Gmc. *mædwon (cf. Du. made, Ger. Matte ”meadow,” O.E. mæþ ”harvest, crop”), from PIE *metwa-,from base *me- ”mow” (see mow).⁵

To make that more clear: The English word mead derives from the Old English meodu, from Proto-Germanic meduz, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰu (honey, fermented honey drink). Slavic med / miod , which means both “honey” and “mead”, (Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian: med vs. medovina, Polish ‘miód’ pronounce [mju:t] – honey, mead) and Baltic medus “honey”/midus “mead”, also derive from the same Proto-Indo-European root (cf. Welsh medd, Old Irish mid, and Sanskrit madhu).

And, now – for the fun stuff.

Here is a mead recipe from Kevin Karplus.  He based his recipes on Elizabethan style meads and are of the variety known as “metheglin” (or spiced).  Looking through all the recipes on the web (and in a couple of books), this one looked like the one I would be the most likely to try as my first mead.  This is just the ingredients list from Mr. Karplus’ recipe.  If it looks like something you would like to try, visit his page.  It is chock full of information and instructions on how to make this mead.  (I think I am going to give it a go.)

Batch: M7
Type: Sack Mead

3 gallons Water
16 lbs honey
1/4 cup keemun tea
1/4 cup oolong tea
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp whole aniseseed
18 cardamum seed clusters crushed (about 1 tsp)
20 whole allspice slightly crushed (about 3/4 tsp)
about 1 inch galingale root crushed (about 2 1/4 tsp)

(Fining agent: 1 pkg unflavored gelatin in 1 cup of water)

Started: 26 Dec 1981
Wine Yeast added: 27 Dec 1981
1 rack: 10 Jan 1982 (vat -> carboy)
2 rack: 31 Jan 1982 (carboy -> carboy)
3 rack: 30 April 1982 (carboy->carboy)
gelatin added: 23 May 1982
bottled: 3 July 1982
Yield: 3.7 gallons

Comments:
sweet, smooth, potent. A dessert wine.³

Bibliography:

1. McGovern, Patrick E., Juzhong Zhang, Guangsheng Cheng, Zhijun Zhao, Changsui Wang, Jigen Tang, Zhiqing Zhang, Gretchen R. Hall, Robert A. Moreau, Alberto Nuñez, Eric D. Butrym, Michael P. Richards, and Chen-shan Wang. “Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., 21 Dec. 2004. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539767/?tool=pubmed>.
2. ”Beowulf.” Project Gutenberg. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/981/981-h/981-h.htm>.
3. Karplus, Kevin. “Mead .” Kevin’s Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. <http://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus/mead-recipe.html>.
4. Griffith, Ralph T.H.. “Hymn 5.” Rig Veda. 1896. vs 3 and 4. Print.
5. ”Online Etymology Dictionary.” Online Etymology Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mead>.

Tasty Tuesdays:

A while back, while I was living with my best friend, we whipped up some of these and they were amazingly good….and, I don’t like cooked zucchini. So – here is the first installment into the Tasty Tuesday portfolio:

Ingredients:

16 oz garbanzos/chickpeas
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
2 cups water
1 cup red quinoa
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds medium zucchini trimmed, halved lengthwise

Directions:

1. Get coals going on the grill. Ensure there is a stash of small bits of wet wood available to toss on for a nice smoke. (I don’t gas grill, so you can modify based on your own experience if you do).

2. Drain the garbanzos and pop them into a large bowl along with the lemon juice, garlic and half the olive oil. Let this sit for 15 minutes (longer won’t hurt anything).

3. Take the halved zucchini’s and gut them, leaving only the skins. Chop the zucchini guts up into bitty pieces and set aside.

4. In a medium sauce pan, heat up the remaining oil and put in 1 tsp of the tumeric, 1 tsp paprika and 1/2 tsp chili powder. Stir frequently and let heat until fragrant. (BTW, if you have whole cumin seeds, adding a pinch to this mix is quite tasty, too).

5. Add the water, quinoa and 1 tsp salt to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Cover and let simmer until all the water is absorbed. Stir occassionally. Keep an eye on your heat and make sure it stays at a simmer, not a boil.

7. Back to the zucchini guts and garbanzos. Drain off the marinade. Keep the garlic, just get rid of the excess lemon juice and oil. Dump the zucchini in with the garbanzos.

8. Slice the green onions and chop the parsley and add them in with the zucchini and garbanzos.

9. Toss the zucchini and garbanzos with the remaining cumin, tumeric and paprika until evenly coated.

10. Sprinkle the zucchini skins with salt and pepper.

11. Take the quinoa and dump in with the zucchini and garbanzos. Toss to mix thoroughly.

12. Take the bowl with the zucchini and garbanzos and quinoa, and the zucchini skins and go out to the grill.

13. Put some of the wood bits onto the hot coals. (repeat this step as necessary to keep a light smoke going)

14. Take the zucchini skin and fill it with the mixture of quinoa, zuchinni and garbanzos.

15. Place the stuffed zucchini on the grill. Adjust your fire so that it’s not all concentrated in one area. You want a moderate heat to cook the zucchini boats slowly and ensure that the garbanzos and zucchini stuffing cooks through before the skin gets burned.

16. Repeat until all the zucchini skins have been stuffed and put on the grill.

14. Grill until the zucchini bits are tender and the skin is getting a bit brown.

15. Remove and serve.

My serving suggestion – serve this hot off the grill with some Na’an bread that’s been sitting on the side of the grill getting nice and warm. A bit of wine and good friends – and, you’ve got a wonderful, tasty, healthy meal. And, even most zucchini haters will wind up enjoying it.