Swine flu...H1N1...seasonal flu...It's all yucky!

We've just entered the third round of flu to hit our family this year. And I consider us to a fairly healthy family. What's up?

This past March, our then 18-year-old daughter came down with a high fever and flu symptoms for three or four days just as swine flu, as it was then referred to, had hit our state. The other three children soon followed suit with similar symptoms. One's mind does begin to wander and consider the idea that it could have been swine flu and that hopefully we might have gotten off lucky and it passed through the kids fairly mildly. I have since learned that fever with a sore throat probably isn't indicative of the swine flu. Camo Queen had even made a trip to the doctor to rule out strept throat as it was so inflammed.

Then at the end of September, our twelve-year-old, Goat Princess, was hit suddenly with a high fever. Her symptoms persisited for three days before her fever broke. Soon to follow were the other three although their symptoms were not as severe as hers? H1N1? There were so many kids sick at the high school where our fifteen-year-old attends, that I seriously considered it could be.



But now that Camo Queen was hit again with the flu, only two weeks after this last bout, I'm beginning to think this might be the real deal...sudden high fever, no sore throat, immediate deep chest cough, chills and sweating, aching all over. She's into 48 hours with this flu and is feeling far worse than the other two incidences this year. Whatever she's been nailed with this time...it's nailing her pretty hard. And so soon after this last round, I'm sure her immune system is down.

So her arsenal this time around is plenty of liquids, taking a capsule form of a cough expectorant to keep her cough productive, ibuprofen only as needed for sleeping comfort so that the fever can do its job, and raw garlic placed into empty gel capsules that can be swallowed with no taste. Supportive care and all the sleep that she can get follows the typical flu-care regime. Let's hope she pulls out of it and doesn't need to miss too much of her college classes this week.

Peppermint Tea

I have to admit...I used to think of tea as something grandmothers sipped. A rather narrow minded perspective to be sure, but the truth just the same. It wasn't until a few years ago that I decided to take a new look at tea and why people enjoy it. While reading about the benefits of herbal teas, I began to realize that there are so many components that make up the composition of plants - which are the basis of teas - that have been discovered to provide micronutrients that our bodies need. I decided to take one herbal tea and see what all it could do for my family and me...peppermint.

My bulk peppermint tea came from a local northwest company that has since become my source for teas, the Stash Tea Co. I generally brew it up by bringing to boil two cups of water and then letting two teaspoons of the loose peppermint tea brew for as long as it takes for the water to cool to drinking temperature. I found a Bodum tea strainer that I simply slip inside any mug that I happen to be using that works like a charm. The resulting drink is warm, steamy, and has a bright, clean flavor...a flavor that needs no sweetening at all.



Now here's what I found out about peppermint. Its main use is as a great digestive aid, which I why I now prescribe a cup of it for anyone in the family whose stomach is feeling a little off. And it does work. As an example this week, a few of us in the family seemed to be fighting some sort of an intestinal flu...bloating, cramps, just general discomfort. A cupful of that peppermint tea before bed eased those symptoms and let us sleep peacefully.

So I'm pretty confident that peppermint tea is here to stay in our house. I do have some peppermint plants growing in one of my flower borders that I will now take the time to harvest at their peak growth in the spring next year. My own supply of fresh, organic peppermint will be a treasure in the kitchen for sure.

Have a favorite tea? For a particular reason? Let's hear about it.

Tomatillos from the Garden

We're busy using up our produce from the garden as fast as we can before the rains and cold weather sets in. Head on over to our hobby farm site and grab our Roasted Tomatillo Salsa recipe. It's tasty!

Drop Spindle Spinning

Ever heard of "mother culture"? This time, it doesn't refer to cheesemaking. I first came across this term while immersing myself in the Charlotte Mason style of home education. In short, it refers to mothers taking it upon themselves to not let their own educations lag. That might mean always having stimulating reading material on hand, learning to do something that you've never done before, or any way in which you are continuing to enrich your life beyond that of providing for the needs of others.



As some birthday money has come my way this month, I have decided to take a portion of that and invest in my own "mother culture". I will be dropping my dd12 off at a birthday party in the community that just so happens to be hosting a Flock and Fiber Festival this weekend. It's my hope that someone there will be selling a drop spindle. Yes, I have always wanted to learn how to spin. No,I don't have sheep or fiber goats, but the roving that is used to spin with seems to be easily obtained without the need for your own producing animal. I am so excited you can't believe it. I first saw a drop spindle in action at our County Fair this summer, and the women there assured me that anyone can master it. Now, I don't know when I'll find time to tackle this new hobby, but with winter setting in and more time indoors, I think it can be done.

Being the research junkie that I am, I'm sure that heading to youtube.com and searching for drop spindle will turn up plenty of resources to see instructions first hand. A few swagbuck.com searches also turned about a ton of resources. It seems there are plenty of folks out there more than willing to share and pass on a little bit of their own mother culture to others like me who are wishing to broaden their horizons. I'm not sure if I'll ever get enough fiber spun to actually make something, but the possibilities are certainly tantalizing enough to keep me interested for awhile I'm sure.

If you've got spinning tips for me, I'd love to hear them. I'd also like to find out what other things you've delved into to develop and further your own mother culture. You never know when you, like the women this year at the county fair, will be an inspiration to others!

The History of Italian Food

Wow...I feel as if I'm guest posting on someone's blog. Perhaps I should become more familiar with my own blog. But on to the meat of this....

I'm not too much in for heavy literary reads these days, but to my surprise, I find that I'm somewhat enjoying Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food by John Dickie. I really only started out to reserve some books from the library on Italian cooking. But it's hard to know what you'll end up with when you show up at the reservation desk to pick up your holds.



Delizia! is a fairly thick book which seeks to explore the culinary history of the country and culture of Italy. I must admit that I've been skimming it in rather large chunks, hoping to find tidbits of interesting information regarding the Italian cuisine I love. In reality, I'm finding out that what we Americans often think of Italian is not actually Italian at all. Here are some interesting finds too:

* Some of the rough, early recipes that John Dickie has unearthed hardly sound edible and they are primarily constructed from animal parts considered refuse here.

* Many foods were heavily spiced as well as heavily sweetened...including meats.

* Italians did prepare pasta made of durham wheat themselves and did not pick up the idea from Marco Polo's journey to the Orient. Yes, they had noodles but they were constructed of rice.

* Polenta for centuries has been considered food barely fit for peasants.

* Pizza is a fairly recent culinary institution.

* Spaghetti and meatballs is a purely American dish created by Italian immigrants designed to show that they were succeeding here in America and could afford the luxury of pasta and meat in one meal.

* Meals in Italy are eaten sitting down and with proper fork and knife.

Not only did I gain a new appreciation for the Italian's basic love of their food, but I learned how the forces within their country even during war times shaped their choices. A book entitled Living Well in Difficult Times: How Women Face up to Economic Crisis(1933) by Fernanda Momigliano caught my attention. I wonder if the title is still available. The reference to this book hinted at its purpose in creating a sanctuary at home during difficult times so that the family could just be a "family" once behind the door of the home using and cooking with real ingredients. I can imagine it might be a good read during our own time of economic unstability.

Another misconception was set straight for me. I did not quite realize how the Italian food we see today is actually a national cuisine that was not available to most Italians before the 1960s as their recipes were definitely regionally based on what was available to them in their locale and climate.

The book concluded with the thought that even though there are many institutionally produced foods becoming more and more available through Italian supermarkets, the people of Italy still see the importance of eating good food and have not dropped to the level that we in America have at times by choosing to trade real food for convenience.

My hope is that I can continue to research true Italian cooking and not just learn to prepare an authentic Italian dish but to be able to carry on the mindset of growing or purchasing real food and preparing it from the heart.