Community Learning

We are starting a new series on Sunday Mornings aimed at a better and healthier you. The curator of Herbal Gemini has recently obtained his Masters in Traditional Chinese Medicine from Texas Health & Science University and would like to impart some of the holistic living knowledge he gained during his internships there. The first in his series is on Qi Gong (pronounce chee gung). Qi, is our breath, or life-force energy. It is what fills us and sustains our being. Gong is "work" or the commitment one puts into skills for maintaining their Qi. This is time, patience, practice, and repetition to achieve perfection of form. Combined, the individual is working to manipulate their Qi to promote self-healing, prevent illness or injury, and to increase the longevity of their lifespan. Over the next several weeks, Herbal Gemini will give you a brief introduction to the history of Qi Gong, the types of Qi Gong, the benefits of Qi Gong, and information on locating someone near you who instructs or practices Qi Gong. **Remember, before starting making any major lifestyle change, or starting any exercise routine, to consult with your primary health care provider.**

Oy! Choices, choices, choices! By the wear and tear in this chapter alone, it is very easy to see that this was Nana's favorite chapter and a chapter that I may revisit frequently I let current weather be my guide on what to choose, too hot to bake or slave over a hot stove, so something cold/frozen it is This narrowed the choices down to four painful decisions: Frozen Custard, Chocolate Custard made from chocolate cake! ...Wait, what??? A custard from chocolate cake?? Like as in heat my house up, bake a cake, and use the cake to make custard? Nope! Chocolate back then was sold in "cakes" much like you would find Abuelita's hot chocolate drink cakes now a days versus a powder. Who knew? Back to custard! Bohemian Custard (or as we call it - creamed fruit puree), and Whipped Cream... oh no, not whipped cream like we think of it... a sweet, frothy, decadent, essence of lemon confectionary delight that I am going to save for another day because I have my eye on frozen custard. On the surface, a simple recipe of milk, eggs, sugar, and "essence of flavor." "Essence of flavor" you may ask? Oh yes, that treasure trove of extracts and flavorings that line my culinary shelves to peak my fancy feasts now doth beacons me on this sultry day. Vanilla, Almond, Butter Rum, Lemon, Grapefruit, Crème de Menthe, Peppermint, Wintermint, or cooling Spearmint would work? Apple Harvest, Pear, Apricot, or Peach perhaps? Persimmons, Raspberry, and Strawberry fields delight! To narrow it down to only one is going to take all of my might! *sigh* So to begin, a trip to the market, because I lack a cow to give me "two quarts of rich milk" (a box of Lactaid because I WILL enjoy this dish) and UC isn't up to producing "eight eggs" yet, however she is doing fantastic at producing a single egg daily like clock work! My next dilemma, just how much is a teacup of sugar? I found that teacups varied in sizes between 3oz - 6oz back then and up to 8 oz now.... so I averaged that to be 4.5 oz of sugar or a "scant" half of cup of sugar. I suspect I shall have to play with the amount of "whatever essence [I] prefer" along with determining my own vessel of choice for freezing the custard although historically they would have had glass bowls. Cooking vessel was my next challenge. Further in the book, a long list of recommended cookware is given and the author simply states "enameled sauce pans" without stating the type of metal. Further research shows it would have been cast iron, or the pans would have been copper in the more affluent homes. The milk is twice boiled. Bring to a boil. Beat eggs and add the sugar. The author then says to pour the boiled milk over the eggs, stirring all the while. She says nothing of cooling the mixture or tempering the egg mixture first, but I'm going to error on the side of logic and temper my egg mixture before going all in on the milk into the egg mixture. You then return the mixture to the kettle and bring to a boil again, while stirring constantly. We call that a rolling boil. She says to then cool the mixture before adding your essence of preference and then freeze it. No commentary on how to serve, or how frozen is frozen. So, much for "preventing miscommunication among the classes." https://photos.app.goo.gl/uWsjY7QF4TuzgeDF6

I'm running a bit behind the post on the page as we were trying to figure out how to do this. I have a combination of photos and videos from making the "Thin Biscuits" from the Twentieth Century Home Cook Book. Let's give Google Photo share a try! Each photo has a comment on it with what was going on. https://photos.app.goo.gl/V4gbDs3QTafR2nP88