John Wise

Another order of soap arrives except this time I don’t just order three or four, I go for a dozen. Juniper Ridge makes wildcrafted natural soaps using wild harvested plant materials to fragrance their soaps. My favorite is the Coastal Sage. If you have never been along the Pacific coast or you now live far away and would love a reminder of a spring going into a summer day, try buying a couple of these and see if you too don’t keep coming back for more. You’ll also find their products at the Muir Woods National Monument in Northern California if you can drop by, mail order though will probably be easier. Juniper Ridge is a small company that has terrific customer service. Call them at 1-800-205-9499 or visit their website.

Here come the sprouts, reaching for the heavens. Our first batch is nearly ready for their addition to some miso soup, and in the morning they will find their way into our juicer and onwards into a smoothy.

So it’s juvenile, adolescent, and maybe in poor taste, but I just couldn’t resist floundering down the lane of immaturity once on my blog with today’s entry. I’m hoping friends Brad and Mike can join me for a slurp.

Mixing semolina flour, amaranth flour, mesquite, whole wheat, and white flour I am making a pasta dough for making homemade fettuccine. We use organic flour when possible and our eggs come from the Little Farm in Gilbert, our CSA or Community Supported Agriculture supplier of fresh organic veggies.

I’m soaking walnuts, oat groats, sunflower seeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds to make homemade living granola. After 24 hours of soaking, I grind the nut and seed mixture, mix in rolled oats and then add coconut oil, honey, vanilla, raisins, and coconut. This mixture is then dehydrated for 48 hours before Caroline and I sit down for a breakfast of granola with homemade almond milk. Yep, you don’t get much more hippy than that.

South River Miso Company in Conway, Massachusetts, is now one of our all-time favorite companies to buy from. We ordered a sampler of misos that consisted of one-pound jars with the flavors of Dandelion Leek, Azuki Bean, Sweet Tasting Brown Rice, and, Caroline’s favorite, the Chickpea Barley. Their Tamari is also quite excellent, so much so, that customers are only allowed to order two bottles per year. My favorite miso is the Azuki but having only tried four and enjoying each and every one, we have ordered the other six varieties of South River concocts.

In about a week we should receive a large box with Chickpea, Hearty Brown Rice, Three-year Barley, Sweet White, Garlic Red Pepper, and Mellow Barley misos. We had to order now as South River doesn’t ship during warm or hot months, because the miso is unpasteurized, allowing all of its living glory to remain intact.