April at Leatherwood

We’d like to think that the growing season is on its way. Ron optimistically pruned the apple trees yesterday. Today we have 6 inches of new snow. We know it can’t last, but everyone in the area feels the pain of one more day of winter’s blast.

The vinegary has been bustling with wine-making students. Have I mentioned that Ron gives classes for individuals and small groups? Working with wine kits, home grown or purchased fruit, participants learn the science of wine-making and set up their own batch in the first class. They come back to rack-off the wine from the primary fermenters into carboys and to monitor the fermentation process. Then a few weeks later, they come back again to bottle their wine and take it home. We have everything needed for making wine: all the equipment, materials and ingredients; even the bottles, corks and corkers. Some groups come back again and again for a fun time out and a good product to take home. Email Ron for more information.

I’ve mentioned in a couple of previous posts about the new labels for our vinegar bottles. I’ve painted 11 fruit images to identify the fruit flavors of the vinegars. You can see all of them at Whimsy Home Designs. Those same images also help identify the kind of vinegar used in some of our new products: Rhubarb Vinegar Soap, Raspberry Vinegar Soap, Cranberry Vinegar Lip Whip and Raspberry Vinegar Skin Cream. For now, you can see these products on the Whimsy Home Designs website. Soon, they’ll be added to a new Leatherwood Vinegary web store.

Another recent development: the folks at Smude’s Sunflower Oil have put together a catalog of locally produced items for school fundraisers. The catalog looks great and it’s an absolutely terrific idea to offer high quality local products when the kids need to generate funds for their activities. Learn more on their website.

Tomato wine vinegar

      Tomato wine vinegar was a successful experiment.
      Ron hand selected the tomatoes and in the usual process, which lasts at least a couple of months, turned them into tomato wine. I wouldn't say it was gourmet quality, though like many wines, it maybe would have become an acquired taste. But Ron didn't leave it at the wine stage. He put the vinegar starter in and set it up for a slow wait to see how tomato wine tasted as vinegar.
      Tomato wine vinegar is pretty good. It was ready (has to be at least 5% acidity) about the time we had a good supply of basil in the herb garden. Of course basil and tomatoes are classic pairings, like dill and pickles, like Ozzie and Harriet, like Ben and Jerry. Well, something like that anyway. With the thick row of prime-for-picking basil, Ron immediately infused the tomato vinegar with lots of fresh basil. I say "immediately" but that part of the process takes another two weeks.
     When the basil/tomato vinegar was ready, we tasted and were blown away by the intense flavors. We immediately (not after two weeks) knew this would be special on anything with tomatoes: fresh tomato salsa, on salads, sprinkled on pizza, simmered into spaghetti sauce.
      The Leatherwood Basil in Tomato Wine Vinegar has been a hit and now, in 2013, it deserves a new label: a fresh beautiful watercolor tomato.
      Some have asked if we sell just the tomato wine vinegar. We haven't yet since all of it has been infused with basil. We need a lot to meet the demand. But, maybe, if the tomato crop is good this year...we'll see.

The second new label

     Leatherwood Apple Wine Vinegar was one of the first varieties we made and is still a popular choice.
     The new label design shows a generic apple. Many different kinds of apples go into the Leatherwood wine that becomes Leatherwood Vinegar. The early harvest MacIntosh apples are pressed in August making an early wine and a resultant vinegar that may be more true to one variety than later apples that are mixed together. But, we don't make any distinction on different apple varieties once they have become vinegar.
     Leatherwood Apple Wine Vinegar is a little different from apple cider vinegar. Cider is apple juice that has fermented to a low level alcohol. It is then converted to vinegar. We make wine from the juice rather than cider. It is then converted to vinegar in a slow natural process. Some of the Leatherwood Apple Wine Vinegar is infused with dill to make our very popular Dill in Apple Wine Vinegar. This is wonderful to use whenever you like to add the flavor of dill. Try it in potato salad, cole slaw and marinades. We like it on baked or broiled fish.

See more of Nancy Leasman's artwork, in the same style as the Leatherwood Vinegary labels, at www.whimsyhomedesigns.homestead.com.

January 2013, New label designs

     The beginning of the calendar year is always a good time for planning, setting goals, and even achieving some of those goals. Here at Leatherwood, we set a winter goal of designing new labels for the vinegar bottles. Each fruit flavor will have its own design. At just a glance, shoppers will see the difference and know what a bottle holds.
     We'd like to introduce each new design here. Here's the first: CHERRY.

     Our CHERRY vinegar has proven so popular that it deserves the distinction of being the first one to be introduced with the new label. As you may have read in a previous post or perhaps learned on a tour here at the vinegary, folks have experienced pain relief from arthritis and gout by taking daily sips of this delightful vinegar. We like it for our daily sips, too. It's also great on salads, in marinades and stir fries.
     Leatherwood CHERRY vinegar is a beautiful ruby red vinegar. It looks pretty in its slender glass bottle with a cork and beeswax seal and its fancy new label. We also bottle some in the smaller 50 ml bottles to be packaged in our Sampler Packs.

Wow! We wait and wait for nice days to get the outside world back in order, the garden world, and our poor unconditioned bodies are so laid back and weak that we have to take repeated breaks to get the work done. Yesterday, I was doing some heavy-duty shoveling and at 9:00 last night my heart rate was still putt-putting along at 92 bpm. My blood pressure was great and my cholesterol level must be dissolving by the minute. Just see if one workout at the fitness center can accomplish that?! Unlike working out on treadmills and weight machines, I’ll have a beautiful garden to show for it; and with any luck, a svelte profile.


The herb garden made it through the winter and is coming back in full force. With one exception: the lemon balm. I had such a nice patch last year but apparently made a big mistake a month ago. There was so much foliage lingering from last year that I opted to burn off the brown herbal vegetation. The tarragon didn’t care. The mint didn’t mine. The oregano was optimistic. But the lemon balm is just not coming back. The thyme is a little iffy, too, and I didn’t burn that area. Maybe I’m not to be blamed. Maybe it was this goofy winter we had, the warm March and the cold April. The lemon balm vinegar we have in stock right now might be a very rare vintage.

The straw bale garden of last summer was a success so we’ll do another one this year. We have 20 bales lined up in four rows. They’re in the process of being conditioned right now and we’ll plant in another week. I’ve also plotted two special areas for giant pumpkin growing.

We’ve already had fresh rhubarb crisp and will have fresh asparagus tonight. We’ve had ramps from the woods, multiplier onions and chives, and the garlic is up and looking great.

I pruned the grape vines last week. They’re just beginning to bud. Blossoms are a long way off on them but the plums have finished blooming while the cherries and apples are humming with bees.

Ron has had several days of harvesting and bottling vinegar. We’ve had trouble keeping up with demand for the sampler packs so he’s bottled more in the 50 ml size. Frequent visitors have kept him busy both in requests for vinegar as well as wine-making supplies. He has several wine classes underway. Folks come here to start their wines, return for racking off and a few weeks down the road, again, for bottling. That’s working really well and with the fruit season starting, there will be abundant material to work with.

A visitor this morning, noting our dandelion dotted lawn, asked if we make dandelion wine. No, still haven’t though it wouldn’t take too long to gather enough for a small batch.

Time to get back outside. A storm rolled through this morning leaving the soil nice for working. It’s clouding up again so should be cooler to work in.

Olive Oil Tasting

Over the last few years our family has taken a formal approach to tasting food. Of course we offer vinegar tasting to all tour groups but our private tastings have been pretty interesting. Pickles, mustard, chocolate, blue cheese, and Scotch have been among the themes. This last Saturday, we compared nine olive oils from seven countries.


Our daily olive oil has been one we buy by the gallon. It comes from the Middle East and has only a small amount of English on the label. It does say, “Pure Olive Oil.” Other olive oils in our tasting included: Cat Cora’s Kitchen Greek, Italian Colavita, Baja Precious from Mexico, Zatoun from Palestine, Spanish Carozzi, Mt Kofinas from Crete, Columela also from Spain, and Italian Affiorato. Son-in-law Jim had a great time with online shopping for the oils. They came in a lovely variety of sizes and shapes of bottles.

Jim also planned the menu and wines to accompany the courses:

• Antipasto with Lustau Sherry

Prosciutto, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, olives, sweet & sour onions, marinated mushrooms, Asiago, Parmagiano Regiano

• Intermezzo

Vanilla gelato

• Tasting experience 9 olive oils from 7 countries

Fresh marble-sized mozzarella balls, baguette chunks, cold shrimp, small steak bits, warm boiled potatoes, crucible of sea salt

• Intermezzo

Raspberry sorbet

• Closing

Late harvest Zinfandel

Dark chocolate

The antipasto set the atmosphere. We started before noon and allowed plenty of time to taste and savor. Following the intermezzo, we took a little break while Jim set up the formal tasting offerings on the dining room table. He provided special spoons in which to pour the different olive oils to allow tasting of the singular characteristics of each. While it might seem off-putting to sip pure oil from a spoon, we soon forgot our American reluctance for such a straight forward approach to olive oil. Jim had thoughtfully provided comment sheets which we did our best to use. Comments appeared: nice, fruity, nutty, grassy, peppery, nice olive flavor, light, heavy, musty. Several of us chose the Palestinian Zatoun as our favorite.

We’ve long heard that Americans prefer mild olive oils. I expected that one or more of these would be strong flavored but found all of them to be mild to my taste. We’ve used olive oil in cooking and for dipping for many years. Maybe we have developed more worldly taste buds.

Vinegar has long been touted as beneficial to the human body. Olive oil is tasty and a great carrier for the fat soluble vitamins. I learned that I prefer my olive oil mixed with some sea salt and one of our Leatherwood Vinegars. The oil provides a bass note while the salt and vinegar sing the melodies. Whether for salads, marinades, or condiments, oil and vinegar mix well.

We will continue to use our Middle Eastern variety while it lasts (our source has gone out of business) and experiment more with the Zatoun and Carozzi which Ron found to his liking.

We highly recommend this kind of event for a family gathering. It’s a real conversation stimulator and fun activity for the whole family.

Winter weekend in Grand Marais

     One terrific way to keep the creative juices flowing is to take a cooking class. Whether novice or experienced cook, you’ll come away with new ideas and greater understanding of what constitutes good eating.

     We did just that this weekend, traveling up to Grand Marais for a French cooking class (see photos below) with second generation French chef Judi Barsness of Chez Jude. We stayed at the MacArthur House B&B, took in some of the north shore night life and spent five delight-filled hours with Judi.
     Judi planned the menu and prepped ingredients for our private class, a Christmas gift from our daughter and her husband who shared the weekend with us. We arrived at 9:00 in the Chez Jude dining room which is right across the road from Lake Superior, the fish market and the North House Folk School. Judi invited us into her kitchen with an immediate tempting treat of fresh scones with lemon curd, cranberry confit and whipped butter. While we indulged in this “second breakfast” (we’d enjoyed poppy seed muffins, vegetable frittata, fresh fruit and juice at the MacArthur) we reviewed the day’s menu and cooking instructions with Judi:
• Roasted butternut squash salad with cider vinaigrette

• Braised short ribs of beef (Bouef Bourguinonne)

• Potato Root Vegetable Gratin

• Molten bittersweet chocolate cake with Tawny Port and raspberries

     Judi grew up in her mother’s French restaurant (Frenchy’s and later Fleur de Lies) in Milwaukee. She learned her mother’s techniques and then sailed off to expand her cooking repertoire as sous chef in a 16th century manor house in England, studied at the Culinary Institute of America and the National Baking Center, interned with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse (California), and became the chef at Bluefin Bay resort on Minnesota’s North Shore. Eight years ago, Judi struck out on her own, purchased the building that had been a bakery and opened her own restaurant and cooking school. Judi’s husband Peter, who was instrumental in establishing North House Folk School helps out in the kitchen and delights guests with tales of his sailing adventures on the lake.
     After introductions, we jumped right into chopping, slicing and dicing. We coated the short ribs with herbs de Provence rub, browned diced bacon in a Dutch oven and then seared the meat on both sides. Adding a host of delicious ingredients to the pot, the meat went into the oven as did the cubed butternut squash which was destined for the salad.
     We combined apple cider, cider vinegar, and shallots, cooking them until the liquid was reduced by half. Then we whisked olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper into the liquid to finish the vinaigrette. Of course, we were thinking how Leatherwood Vinegars could be used in place of the cider vinegar and how they would influence the final flavor.
     Potatoes, rutabagas and parsnips were diced, cooked in water, lightly mashed with milk and butter and then spread in a baking pan. Topped with cheese and additional butter, this gratin baked in the oven until golden brown.
     The chocolate dessert of bittersweet chocolate, butter, sugar, tawny port, vanilla and a small amount of flour was baked in generously buttered ramekins placed in a pan half-filled with water.
     We began eating our four course dinner, each paired with wine, at about 12:30. We savored both food and conversation (Peter joined us) while Judi continued to flit in and out of the kitchen, attending to the final details of our meal while prepping and taking reservations for later in the day.
     Judi is excited about trying some of our vinegars in her menu. As her website says, “Chez Jude's menus reflect her commitment to the freshest offerings of the Minnesota seasons, organic, locally grown, harvested, wild caught, handcrafted ingredients.” That philosophy fits right in with ours. We also discussed how we might pair our cooking skills with hers in class offerings at the North House School.

     Friday night, our B&B host Max Bichel joined Pete Kavanaugh down at the Gunflint Tavern. With Max on the violin and Pete on guitar, they played a sampler of country music featuring the music of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and others. Max coaxed a great variety of delightful sounds out of his violin, pleasing his audience and one little dog snuggled on his master’s lap.
     We returned to the Tavern Saturday night and joined a table of diners only later to learn they were members of the Bluegrass band The Moss Piglets who then played from 9:00 to midnight. We were back in our cozy beds at the B&B long before midnight.
     Saturday evening we also sampled the food at the Crooked Spoon. We were so full from the good food at the MacArthur House and Chez Jude that we simply nipped into the appetizers, salads and the puff pastry topped onion soup. They were all delectable and judging by the full tables, it’s top of the list for the locals and visitors alike.

     We’re back into the work week, now, refreshed, rejuvenated, and excited about trying new cooking techniques in our kitchen. We’ve had a call from Bon Appetite Management ordering a good amount of vinegar for their catering service and one from a community planning their summer festival and inviting us to bring vinegar. We’ve also had a call from daughter number five saying a semi’s actions put her in a spinout on the snowy freeway causing a three car pile-up. She was on her way to interview for a summer internship at an organic farm. The front of her car has taken on a new shape and her right front signal light is dangling. She’s OK and will still try to make it to the interview.

Chez Jude: www.chezjude.com

MacArthur House: www.macarthurhouse.net

Gunflint Tavern: www.gunflinttavern.com

The Crooked Spoon: www.crookedspooncafe.com



Ron expertly slices and dices at his work station in the kitchen of Chez Jude.



Nancy and Judi add the short ribs to the Dutch oven.



Photos courtesy of Dawn Tanner.

January 2, 2012

     Ron has been so busily bottling vinegar that he broke the corker. Our vinegars are all made in small batches and we haven’t gone the route of using a huge mechanized process for bottling. Each cork is inserted into a bottle by the use of a corker that holds the bottle and positions the cork correctly. Then it’s Ron’s muscles and the leverage of a handle that squeezes the cork into the bottle. He’s just bottled strawberry, cherry, and Serrano pepper.
     Strawberry was one of our first vinegars back eight years ago. It’s nice to have a good supply again. Cherry is always in demand. Serrano pepper, while not our hottest vinegar, is a zippy one and a good seller.
     This afternoon, I handled the waxing duties on seven (twenty-four bottle) cases. While it might be good for a wine to breathe through a natural cork, air can stimulate continuing mother formation in the bottles. It’s perfectly harmless, even desirable as a sign of natural vinegar. That's fine but we'd rather not have too much develop between the time we bottle and someone uses it. A layer of beeswax fully seals the bottles, deterring any additional “mothering.” Each bottle is hand dipped in melted beeswax. It’s a pleasant job with the sweet honey scent of the beeswax and the satisfaction that comes with producing our distinctive Leatherwood Vinegars.
     I’ve updated our products page with a current inventory of flavors. For those of you waiting for raspberry: Ron checked the acidity this morning. It’s up to 4.7% so we’ll give it a couple more weeks to reach full potency.

Harvesting grapes 2011

Hilary picked the white grapes two weeks ago. They were at peak sweetness and ready to roll. Last night, Ron picked half of the Concords. Frost nipped the upper leaves of the vines clinging to the trellis and recent winds have cleared them out. Exposed to the dry air, some of the grapes were beginning to move toward raisins. That’s not a problem for our process since raisins are actually sweeter than grapes. But, hornets seek out the liquid in grapes, especially when there’s a lack of rain. They’ll suck out the juice and leave empty skins. Now that is a problem.


Ron clipped the grape clusters from the vines just as the sun set. All of the daytime bugs had already clocked out and gone home. We sat down to watch “Big Bang Theory” and while Sheldon rolled the dice to make decisions in his daily life, to free up brain space for loftier thoughts, we hand de-stemmed 21 pounds of grapes.

A larger enterprise would use a mechanized de-stemmer but our small operation allows for hand separation of inferior grapes, sticks and stems. I’ve heard that winery standards allow one Asian beetle per bushel of fruit. I guarantee, there are no orange dotted beetles in our grapes.

I just finished harvesting the other half of the Concords. Neither a less than gentle breeze nor a sudden burst of rain could lessen my pleasure in this moment all of those early spring days of pruning and summer days of weeding and wondering work to produce. The entire growing season stretches to this day of physical exertion in breaking of the grape clusters’ natural joints of separation or using my favorite old clippers to cut then drop the clusters on the growing pile in a five-gallon bucket. My senses are tuned to the job. I even notice the glimmer of a multitude of grapes simultaneously reflecting my hand in their individual highlights.

I can’t help but plan for next year’s harvest. We’ll move the Frontenacs that have spent the summer in the soft ground of the garden. They’ll fill the newly landscaped south-facing slope in front of the vinegary. Perhaps we’ll add even more. And then there are those new sweet cherries to try. And maybe a few more apple trees.

Hawk!

I let the chickens out of the coop when I went out to clip the spent daylilies this morning. The 18 pullets have begun to lay eggs while only a couple of the original flock, now reduced to only six, lay an egg now and then. We can’t predict the number of daily eggs, yet, but we hope they’ll settle into a nice production routine.


Moments ago, I heard the shriek of a red tail hawk and went out to check the hens. We think a young hawk has dive-bombed the flock unsuccessfully a few times. While it hasn’t taken any, it’s trained them to be extremely watchful for daytime predators from above.

On Friday, while Savannah was mowing the lawn, she saw the flock happily pecking at whatever chickens peck at in the grass near the raspberry patch. I went out later for a turn at mowing and saw one lone white and black speckled hen cowering in the raspberries. Eight more were hiding in the coop and one was in a dark back corner of the barn. That meant 14 were missing and, try as I might, I couldn’t find them. Later, all of them came out of hiding, from the densest part of the herb garden. The mint and marshmallow, oregano, and a stray squash vine shielded them from preying eyes.

Just now, when I walked out to check, Charles the resident woodchuck made a dash for his hole at the base of the basswood tree. Two yellow shafted flickers flew in opposite directions across the yard and a blue jay swooped into the oak at the far end of the lawn. I couldn’t see a hawk but sixteen of the hens were still in the coop, taking their dust baths in the shelter of the doorway. Eight have apparently scrambled for parts unknown. I hope they’re safe. I really can’t act as a daily chicken shepherd.

August 2011 update

What a lush wet summer! The rains just keep coming and that's both good and bad. Spring rains during plum, cherry and apple blossom time led to poor pollination and little fruit production. I harvested the cherries, picking a few as I rode the lawn mower between the trees. I enjoyed this year's crop but no one else will. I know, that sounds selfish but the birds got a few, too. And that was it. We will eat the plums and perhaps the apples, too.

The grapes have loved the heat and rain and it looks like we'll have the biggest grape harvest in years. The Frontenacs that were planted last fall won't produce much. It was an important year for them to get their roots established. One vine has a few and we're looking forward to tasting them although they're right at the height for my little flock of roving hens to get to them first.

The garlic is ready for harvest. Yesterday was a dry day and I should have started the dig. Instead I weeded, dead-headed flowers, tied up tomato and grape vines and prepared for a tour. The rain has returned today, so will look to the first of next week to dig the garlic.

The hollyhocks are producing an outstanding bloom, as are the daylilies. Though we're into August, which can often be a dry month with grass turning brown and leaves dropping, everything is as lush as a tropical jungle (and we know what a tropical jungle looks like after visiting the Amazon in Peru and Bolivia this last March).

  The vinegar maker is busy waxing newly bottled vinegars this morning. He has plums and apricots beginning the fermentation process, rhubarb finishing in air-locked carboys, and a variety of vinegars nearly ready for infusing or bottling. We've also harvested herbs when they were at their peak. They're in the freezer for use later in the year. The basil is tall and lush; ready for pesto, infusion or freezing. Next month we'll dig horseradish and maybe start some tomato wine.



Hollyhocks 2011





The buildings are almost obscured by the height of the plants
 in the herb garden.



May

When I drove out of the driveway this morning I noticed plum blossom petals drifting downward. It seems they just opened their buds and already the peak of bloom is past. We've had so much rain, and hard rain, that we wonder if the pollen got washed away. Ron said the bees were really humming on the trees the first day the flowers opened so we can hope that their efforts will result in plums later in the summer.

Next come the cherry blossoms. With a sunnier forecast for the rest of the week, they'll have a good chance of attracting the bees.

I pruned the grape vines in the orchard a week ago today. They're budding for leaves as are the new Frontenacs we planted as starters in the garden last fall. I planted garlic between the grape vines, making good use of the available space, and it has a healthy start.

We're trying straw bale gardening for our tomatoes and peppers this year. I interviewed Joel Karsten, originator of the process who is in his 8th season of gardening this way, for an article for Farm Show. Joel is so enthusiastic about this method and says it works great. Check out his website for the details. Our bales are ready to plant and its on my schedule for later in the day. If Joel is right, we'll have our own hot peppers for vinegar infusions this fall. Maybe enough extra tomatoes that Ron can make more of his famous tomato vinegar, too.

Tours are picking up. Plan ahead for your summer fun and give us a call to schedule a tour. You'll learn about the wine and vinegar making process, sample about 20 varieties, and wander through the orchard and herb garden. Tours are free. Ask about Leatherwood Vinegar; a Winery Gone Sour, the book about life here at the vinegary. You can find it at Amazon.com or ask your local book store.

Lake Country TV visits the vinegary

Last summer, Steve Henning and his camera crew of one visited the vinegary. His special project brings the arts and specialty items to viewers in central Minnesota via Lake Country TV. Steve was generous in also uploading his work to YouTube. This is our first appearance on YouTube. Thanks Steve! We hope you enjoy the vinegary tour.

Summer of the heart

By Laura Leasman

All the cold and snow we have had this winter is making me yearn for summer and the greening of the landscape. Growing up, having a large garden was always a part of summer. The whole family would take part in weeding, processing and eating the wonderful food the garden produced. I can honestly say that I did not appreciate it at the time. I actually hated going out and weeding, or sitting at the table shucking peas. I now realize what a valuable experience and amazing family I have, in part due to the time we all spent together as we grew up and the chores we were forced to do as a family.

I now find great joy in going home and visiting the gardens. I do not have space for my own garden, but I can get my garden fix at my parents' or at friends' homes. Vegetables fresh from the garden are a necessity of summer. Picking cherry tomatoes off the vine, warm from the sun, or pulling carrots, wiping off the dirt and eating them immediately are a joy that can only be experienced.

My mom’s herb garden was added after I left home for college. I can visit and see all the wonderful plants growing heartily due to the cool rains and bright sunlight: sage, rosemary, tarragon, dill, thyme, parsley, cilantro, oregano, echinacea, and basil are just a few of the herbs that comprise the herb garden. Dad has been able to utilize these amazing plants to flavor his vinegars. The vinegars, made from home-grown fruits such as grape, rhubarb and apple, are infused with the herbs. The flavors meld over time and create a complex and enjoyable culinary experience.

One of my favorite recipes, due to its simplicity, bright contrasting color combinations, and fresh taste is a dish made from fresh basil, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella cheese. Simply slice the tomatoes and cheese and arrange on a plate. Fresh basil leaves, either whole or sliced into thin strips, are then sprinkled on top of the tomatoes and cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar (perhaps Leatherwood Garlic), and top with cracked black pepper and a little salt. This salad is indicative of summer and always a crowd pleaser.

Oh Summer, you are so close and yet so very far away!

Leatherwood Vinegars add zing to Mediterranean cooking

By Laura Leasman

Within the last fifteen years, I was introduced to the fresh taste of Mediterranean cuisine. My first experience was with the family for whom I used to nanny. One night after work I was invited to join the family for dinner. They were making falafel and had hummus and pita bread on hand. We snacked on Kalamata olives and chatted as the falafel cooked in extra virgin olive oil. The falafel was served on the pita bread with humus, tomato, and lettuce.

I slowly became hooked to the light fresh flavors that can be found in Mediterranean cooking. I now love the large quantity and variety of vegetables, and the contrasting colors, they impart to the savory dishes. Eggplant is one vegetable, often used in Mediterranean cooking, that I am still working with. I find the eggplant to be very versatile, it absorbs the flavors of the food it is cooked with beautifully, but I have yet to perfect my cooking technique. Hummus, falafel and pita bread are still a favorite. These three ingredients, layered with tomato and lettuce, are a light and flavorful meal.

My favorite Mediterranean dish is the Greek, or Turkish, salad. The basic ingredients are: lettuce, tomato, red onion, Kalamata olives, Peperoncini peppers, and feta cheese. This salad is wonderful drizzled with olive oil, Leatherwood Vinegary vinegar and topped with freshly cracked black pepper.

I like to make my own dressings. It is easier to control the amount of the ingredients and I can tailor it to my taste craving of the day. I love to use the herbal vinegars. Ones I would recommend include basil, thyme, rosemary, and garlic, as well as any of the fruit vinegars. If home-made hummus is on the menu to accompany the salad, a dash of vinegar added to the hummus adds depth to its flavor.

Vinegar has a mother?

By Laura Leasman

I was thinking about vinegar today and kept returning to two aspects of vinegar: its smell and its mother. Why? Because I had time on my hands while plucking big yellow feathers at work (I make Big Bird for stage shows). How do these three things, vinegar, mother, and work all fit together?


Vinegar’s strong aroma seems to be an affront to the senses of someone who is not accustomed to it. I have acclimated to the smell and when entering Dad’s Vinegary I feel much the same sensation as when walking outside on a below-zero day in a Minnesota winter. Your breath is stolen for a moment and it almost hurts to breath; but the body acclimates. I have come to, almost, enjoy the smell. It reminds me of home and the enjoyment the process of making vinegar brings my Dad. It may not be a great idea to cook a generous quantity of vinegar in a microwave at work however. The aroma may be found off- putting to the less vinegar-educated individual.

I, as well as my siblings, have learned a bit about how vinegar is made from our Dad. Through this process we have learned that the gelatinous mass that forms in some vinegar is called “mother.” It may start as a wispy cloud and, if left to form in a large quantity, it can form a thick slimy layer. The mother is not harmful and is a product of the process of making vinegar.

I work at the same company as my sister (she makes Ernie’s shoes)and one day her boss came up to me with a vinegar question.

“Laura, I have a bottle of vinegar that has a cloudy substance in it. Do you think it is still okay to use?”

I was able to respond with the knowledge I had learned about vinegar mother. It is fine to use vinegar that has mother in it. It does not negatively affect the quality of vinegar. Most people probably don’t eat the mother, but some believe it has health benefits and even look for vinegar that has mother in it.

I am slowly trying to educate people around me on the benefits of using herbal vinegars and a variety of its uses. The easiest way to incorporate vinegar, other than a daily undiluted dose on a spoon, would be to pour a small amount on fresh fruit. Cut up fresh fruit, such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or blueberries and drizzle with a fruit vinegar such as cherry or rhubarb. If you are feeling more adventurous, drizzle with an herb vinegar such as ros

emary or basil. The vinegar brings out the flavor of the berries and is surprisingly refreshing. It is also much healthier than dosing the fruit with sugar or cream.

Enjoy, and ALWAYS use as much vinegar as you like!!

Growing up with vinegar

by Laura Leasman

I think I was like many children growing up in that I never really thought much about vinegar. The extent of my vinegar knowledge extended to two things: my mom soaking the dish rag in white vinegar to clean it and Grandma’s canned dill pickles.


Mom would often soak the dish rag in white vinegar to clean it as well as eliminate any accumulated odors. She would mix a little vinegar with water in the kitchen sink and let the rag soak for a while. I remember running by the sink and catching that tell-tale whiff of the soaking rag and kept running. The vinegar smell was very distinctive and strong to my young nose. The vinegar did the job though, and eliminated the odors. As my dad says, cleaning is about all white vinegar is good for.

My Grandmother’s canned dill pickles are one of my favorite childhood memories. The whole family would pile into the van and go visit my grandparents on a Sunday afternoon. The kitchen table was set with Grandma’s rose dishes and a glass dish of pickles was always at the table’s center. The pickles were to accompany the meal of course, but the kids could never wait. We would all sneak a few pickles before the meal began. I know Grandma knew, but often she would let us get away with the minor thievery. Grandma’s pickles were just that good.

Now that I have grown up a little, I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. The fond memories of my childhood sometimes influence my recipe choices, and I do still love pickles. This is my grandma’s pickle recipe, slightly updated to utilize my dad’s amazing vinegars. Some of the vinegars that I think would best compliment the recipe would include: Garlic, Cilantro, Jalapeno pepper, Serrano pepper or Habanero pepper. Enjoy!

Pasteurized Dill Pickles

1 cup salt                           6 cups vinegar
13 cups water                    sugar
dill and cucumbers

Combine salt, water, and vinegar and bring to a boil. Boil 15 minutes. Put a head of dill in the bottom of quart jar. Pack in washed cucumbers. Add a tablespoon of sugar to each jar and another head of dill. Pour the boiling brine over the cucumbers to within ½ inch of the top of the jar. Adjust covers and seal. Set the jars in a deep kettle. Cover with boiling water and allow to stand until cold. This recipe yields approximately 9 quarts. Allow at

 least 2 months for curing.

New year update, January 2011

I’m still breathing heavy from my trek out to the chicken coop. Ron said the trail would be open. He neglected to consider what the wind has been up to since he blew the snow out yesterday. He blows the snow out, and secretly enjoys either the process or the neatness of a cleared expanse, and the wind blows it back in. Oof da. My socks are wet. And my cheeks are red. And I’m enjoying that exhilarated feeling of braving 3.7 degree weather.


The hens are wintering over in the snuggest coop this side of the Mississippi. Ron spent some quality time last fall pouring concrete, pounding nails into stud walls, insulating and cladding the structure in steel siding. Lovely coop.

Ron’s also spending considerable quality time in the vinegary. He’s just recently bottled more mugwort. The last bottling sold out so quickly all we could do in the latter part of the year was to tell visitors about it. The ginger vinegar went nearly as fast. He started infusing a new batch yesterday.

Other vinegars that are back in stock include: anise hyssop, basil, dill, mint, and cilantro. Brand new on the shelf: lemon balm and Cuban oregano. We’ve been anticipating a lemon vinegar for some time. The lemon balm grew lush and thick this last summer. I harvested it at peak and froze it for later infusion. So, later is here and the lemon balm infused in rhubarb vinegar is ready.

Ron’s wine making classes have been well attended. “Students” make their wine here (some use their own fruit while others use canned fruit or kits), come back to rack off (drain the liquid from the mash) and later to bottle their finished product. It’s been a popular fall activity; some bestowed their new wine as Christmas gifts. Speaking of Christmas, we went to a holiday wine-tasting party with friends back in December. We had just over a dozen wines to sample and more than half of them were “domestic” wines, made by our friends. A home-grown raspberry was ranked number one. Just a reminder: if you are a wine maker in mid-Minnesota, consider getting your wine supplies here. We carry everything a hobby wine or beer maker could want.

See you soon.

Nancy

Jason Davis visits Leatherwood Vinegary

Last week, Steve Henning and his cameraman stopped in for a tour and filming of the vinegary. Today, Jason Davis and his cameraman Dave spent three hours filming for an upcoming news segment. I’ve tiptoed through the tarragon with a lot of people, but Jason has to be the heart-throbbingest of them all. There was that Australian opera singer….


But seriously, Ron and I have been tripping through life together for 37 years, as of tomorrow, and we’re going out tonight to celebrate. It’s been quite a ride and it isn’t over yet.

Leatherwood Vinegary, A Winery Gone Sour

It's out! The book about a life infused with vinegar was released on Thursday of this last week.

I drove up to Dorset to join a gaggle of authors signing books at Sister Wolf Book's Authors and Artists' Festival on Friday. What a delightful small town. The winter population is 22. The summer population probably doesn't change since it fills with day visitors who eat at the Mexican or Italian restaurants, brouse the cozy book store or shop for antiques and then wander back to the area's resorts, inns and B&Bs. It was a buzzing place on Friday.

It feels pretty good to have the book on shelves though it's just a little too soon to find it in your local book store. Early reactions are good.

If you'd like a copy, just e-mail me for details. leatherwood@wisper-wireless.com.