Losing My Lipid Layer (and how I got it back)

So far, 2017—there just isn't another word for it—sucks. I spent the entire month of January battling one ailment or another, which is pretty unusual for me. I'm wondering how much had to do with stress and how much was due to being off my kefir? I gave it a rest last September and it's somewhere in the back of my fridge, dead more than likely, and doing me no good, regardless. But that's another story. This one— I'll warn you now— is long enough.

In addition to the afore-hinted-at ailments, my face and neck were under constant siege: hot, red, swollen, rough, dry, and itchy. So. Very. Itchy. Itching like a thousand burning ants were dancing under the surface. All of my frantic "research" online just seemed to spin me in circles until ultimately I chanced upon what was going on. So with that, and after spending most of January with various oils and unguents on my face, I've listed a few things below that I, and anyone else suffering with dry, dehydrated, and otherwise distressed facial skin, might do well to keep in mind.

Great Barrier Grief...
Though I may never figure out why it happened, the moisture-barrier (or lipid layer) on my face and neck was compromised. My skin was no longer retaining moisture and was, as a result, severely dehydrated and in great hot gobs of distress. How do our bodies usually react to distress... with inflammation. I could tell that something was seriously wrong when, in addition to everything else, my face was so puffy that I could no longer see the creases around my eyes. I've never been so happy to see my wrinkles than when it meant that my face was returning to normal. Welcome back, little friends!

So how can skin heal itself when it's in a constant state of panic and can no longer hold moisture? It can't. If the barrier is gone, it is defenseless. I figured that if my skin no longer had a barrier, I would have to provide it one until it could heal and take over again. For the record, I didn't exactly figure this out right away. I wish I had. Over the days and weeks though, I naturally began to turn to things that were, under normal situations, much too heavy/greasy to use on my face. Lo and behold, the heavier and slower to absorb it was, the better my skin felt.

Occasionally I needed to exfoliate. Now the last thing I wanted to do was scrub my stressed-out face, but there comes a point when there's no point in slathering glops of good stuff over layers of dead skin cells. Extreme caution was in order though; it needed to be super gentle. I started with powdered milk and later used finely ground oats. Both worked well without being aggressive. After gently removing with a wet washcloth, I patted aloe all over and followed with straight shea butter or coconut oil. Whenever things started to itch, I would glide my homemade lotion-bar over the itchy areas.

Yeah, I said lotion bar. The biggest surprise of all! There I was, rubbing it on my poor chapped nose (2+ weeks of cold/flu) when my face started itching to distraction at the same time. I absently rubbed the bar on the itchy spots and the itching subsided right away. Like a miracle. What's in it? Shea butter, coconut oil, and beeswax. Hallelujah! I had inadvertently stumbled on the perfect thing. I am convinced that it was the beeswax in the lotion bar acting as temporary moisture barrier that did the trick.

It still took time for my face to heal, but with my lotion bar at hand, I was able to keep the line of defense in place (and quiet the itching) while my skin repaired itself. Seal it to heal it! (I just made that up.) Here is a great big ginormous list of...

Things that worked for me, things that didn't, and things to avoid...
(in alphabetical order)

Perfectly Pretty Summer Plum Sorbet

Sometimes plums are sweet and sometimes they can be tart, but most of the plums I get tend to be a little of both. Occasionally they can even be bitter. Like that time I had to dump an entire pan of plum cobbler because some of the plums were so bitter that, even after mixing with sugar and baking with a nice sweet biscuit-y topping... the whole thing was inedible.

Faced with less than perfectly sweet fruits, sorbets are an easy way to control the sweet/tart balance and come out with something delicious in spite of their random ripeness. And I can think of no better way to celebrate the essential flavor of a lovely seasonal fruit than to feature it in a clean, direct, super-intense sorbet. Fresh and refreshing, it's nothing short of cool perfection on a warm summer evening.

Of course, I don't think making a sorbet from those horrid plums I had four years ago could have tamed their bitterness, but I would've realized the fact sooner (and saved a whole lot of effort, ingredients, and disappointment). And of course, tasting it as I went along would have also saved me from all that, but some lessons (cough) are best learned the hard way.

Pretty Plum (Sorta) Sorbet 
Start this a day or even two before you "need" it... and make sure your ice cream maker insert is pre-frozen. Though not traditional in a sorbet, adding milk will give it a creamier texture and increase the yield... which incidentally, is about 2 pints.

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 cup cane sugar
1 pound ripe plums (9-10), pitted and roughly chopped.
1 pinch of sea salt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp liqueur or spirit of choice (see Notes)
1 cup cold whole milk

Directions

1. Put sugar, water, plums, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. All the sugar should be dissolved and the fruit should be soft. Carefully pour into a wide-mouth quart mason jar. Let cool, then cap it and put it in the fridge overnight.
2. Next day, blend the cold plum mixture thoroughly with a stick blender, right in the jar. 
3. Add the lemon juice and liqueur and blend well. Then add the milk and give it another good blending.
4. Turn on your machine and add the plum mixture according to your machine directions. Churn until the texture is where you want it (mine took about 30 minutes, yours may take more or less time).
5. Transfer finished sorbet into freezer containers and store in freezer. Some say it's best to serve sorbets immediately, but I like the texture better the following day, especially if the weather is warm.
   

Notes: Depending on the intensity of your fruit, you may, or may not, taste the tiny bit of booze in the finished sorbet. Use something like vodka or white rum for less intrusion, or try one that has a flavor which is complementary to the fruit(s) you're using. I used Cointreau (orange liqueur) as I thought it would go well with plums (and I was right!). Whether you taste it in the end product or not, don't leave it out! It's there for a reason: it prevents the sorbet from freezing rock hard. And that really is what it looks like when it's finished! Leaving the skins on the plums gives it that amazing color.


My recipe is adapted from the following delicious sources...

• Sweet Plum Sorbet from Joy The Baker 
• Here's a twist on the JTB recipe above: Muscavado Blueberry Plum Sorbet from Simple Bites
• There's a lovely recipe in the Martha Stewart Living Cookbook for Plum Sorbet (page 425). Don't have that book? Here's a similar recipe á la Martha that's online: Plum Sorbet
• Mark Bittman's original big yellow book, "How To Cook Everything" has a bunch of great tips for making sorbets (pages 669-670).

Bonus Link! ('cuz summer ain't over yet, and neither is plum season!)...

• This recipe (spiked with cardamom and kirschwasser) from the folks at The Kitchn sounds like I need to make it next... Plum Sorbet with Lemon Verbena Cream

Good To The Last: Chard Pesto on Toast

This may not be the prettiest thing to ever come out of my kitchen... but it's definitely one of the cheapest... and best tasting!

Today I have a couple of questions for you:

1. Do you sometimes find yourself with a boatload of Swiss Chard?
2. Are you left wondering what to do with all the thick stems from that chard?

I've been in that boat on more than one occasion. I used to just toss them into the freezer and add them to the pot when I made stock, but now I have another trick up my sleeve... Chard Pesto.

I first read about this simple and delicious stuff a few years ago in the book, An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler... and I haven't tossed a single stem in my stockpot ever since. 

Chard Pesto
Not really a recipe, more like just a thing you do when you have a big bunch of chard stems...

1. Cut them up, then throw them in a pan with some butter or oil, salt, pepper, and garlic.
2. Cook them down a fair bit, adding a little water and a lid in the beginning.
3. Check and give it a stir now and then to see how it's coming along, removing the lid when mostly done.
4. Take it off the heat once "they" become an "it" (soft and mushy and thick enough to stand on its own)
5. Let cool it down some (too hot and it will steam the toast, making it soggy).
6. Pile it onto pieces of toast made from good sturdy bread and grate some Romano or Parm over the top.

It's the kind of thing that is so lacking in attractiveness that you won't want to make it for guests. Once you taste it though, you really won't want to share anyway... so it's just as well. I should also add that it makes a mighty fine dinner on a day when you don't want to spend a lot of time cooking.

Blueberries: All's Fair In Love And War

Early June 2016

My Backyard    

Dear Jay, 

I know that no amount of sunflower seeds can take the place of a warm and juicy ripe blueberry bursting in your beak. On this we can agree. But while I respect your above-average avian intelligence, you are, for a few weeks out of every year, my adversary.

Sincerely yours,

Stephanie     

P.S. This is war.

Turmeric: For Pain and Inflammation

If you had told me four years ago that I would one day stop taking ibuprofen... I wouldn't have believed you. If you told me that I would be making my own capsules for pain and inflammation... I would have laughed. And if you told me that I'd be filling those capsules with turmeric, a common pantry spice... I'd just have laughed harder. But here I am not laughing... and not missing my OTC anti-inflammitories one bit.

I feel so much better about how I'm treating my aches and pains, and worry a lot less about any long-term or cumulative effects from my pain-management choices. But that's me, and I'm not here to convince you to change what you're doing. It's just that friends and acquaintances always ask about our switch to turmeric and I figured it would be easier to just steer them here and have the info in one spot.

Scores of others have already written about turmeric and it's many benefits—and done so better than I could—so I won't rehash any of that here. Instead, I will point you to some articles/posts to get you started. After that, if you are at all interested in pursuing it further, I'll link to some sources for supplies.

Start Here...
There is a very thorough blog post on the many benefits of turmeric at Fresh Bites Daily. You can also check out what Doctors Weil, Axe, and Mercola have to say. But don't just take their word for it, do more reading and research on your own before making a decision. It's your body and your health after all.

If you do decide to replace your current NSAID with turmeric, you can either buy pre-filled capsules or fill them yourself. Not a DIY kind of person? You can usually find them ready-made wherever you buy vitamins and supplements. I've seen some great sale prices at Swanson-Vitamins.com (get on their email list, they're always having sales).

You may find it easier on your wallet to make your own. If so, you'll need a capsule machine, empty capsules, and organic turmeric root powder. The capsule machine and empty capsules come in two sizes: "0" (500mg) and "00" (735mg). The empty capsules also are available vegan-style (called "V-Caps" they're made without gelatin). Mountain Rose Herbs has a great video on how to use the capsule machine.

FYI: Turmeric has been used historically as a dye, so don't wear white when working with the powder, and put some paper down on your work surface before you begin. It can and will stain, so wash and scrub your hands immediately after working with it (or wash a sink-full of dishes!).

A Toddy for the Body...
Another option I like is to make a therapeutic hot drink called Golden Milk (or Turmeric Tea, Turmeric Milk, Turmeric Tonic) which works just as well as the caps but is administered via a mug of hot soothing liquid goodness. Here are some recipes and methods to get you started...

• From RootedLondon... Rooted Turmeric Milk
• A handy method from 101 Cookbooks for turmeric "tea-base" that keeps in your fridge to use as needed. 
• The Bloody Mary Mix with Turmeric and Black Pepper from HelloGlow sounds healthy and delish!
• The mommypotomus blog shares tasty Turmeric Tonic "shots" to drink with breakfast.
• The Doctors Weil, Axe, and Mercola all have recipes for variations of this healing drink.

Unlocking The Treasure
Whether using the capsules or hot drinks, be sure to take them with a pinch of black pepper and some healthy fat. Turmeric is fat-soluble, so it needs to be consumed with some sort of fat to help your body absorb the nutrients effectively. Black pepper also greatly increases the bioavailability of the compounds in the turmeric.

It's easy to add a bit of coconut oil and a grind of pepper when you're making a turmeric drink, but if you prefer the caps, just remember to take them with meals. If it's not mealtime, I'll have a few nuts or olives, a dab of nut butter, glass of milk or piece of cheese, etc. As for the black pepper, I add some to the turmeric when I make the capsules (or you can even buy them that way). 

Some Sources for Ingredients and Supplies

Whether ready-made or DIY, for one-stop-shopping you can get everything at Mountain Rose Herbs or bulkherbstore. You can also find most everything at Vitacost. Local Sonoma County sources to try are: Oliver's or Sprout's, and in Sebastopol there's a nice little herb shop called Rosemary's Garden that should have everything you need.

One Last Word...
Fresh is best of course, and if you have the means, time, and availability to use fresh turmeric root... all the better! I don't, so I can't relate any favorite recipes etc. for using it in that form, but between the internet and your local library... you should find all the info you need. 

—be well... and stay well!

Big Ol' Disclaimer
I am not a doctor or health professional. I am only relating what I do myself. Take your health seriously and take your personal medical history into account when making any decisions that concern your well-being. Unsure? Talk to your doctor or other trusted health professional. Everyone's different. Results may vary. None of the links in this post are affiliate links. I am not connected with any of the brands, companies, or stores mentioned except as a customer. All opinions are 100% my own. Nothing was given to me for free, or provided for review, etc. Please recycle and do unto others as you would have others do unto you.