OXO Digital FOOD Scale Winner is:

Koko

Congratulations, Koko. I've sent an email to you.  Thanks so much to all who participated.  We'll be announcing another giveaway, please drop by soon!

Sauerkraut: Immune booster and OXO Digital Scale Giveaway

I heard about the benefits of sauerkraut and other fermented foods from a German doctor who was interviewed on German T.V.  In a 2002 article in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers found white cabbage fermented to sauerkraut is rich in isothiocyanates and other compounds that fight cancer. Isothiocyanates makes precancerous cells to self-destruct, preventing cancer growth in the colon, breast, lung and liver.

Another study by the American Center for Cancer Research documented that sauerkraut prevents and heals breast cancer. The bacteria, Lactobacillus plantarum, in the sauerkraut maintains the balance of beneficial bacteria and boosts immunity by enhancing the antibodies that fight infections. 

We made this sauerkraut after a visit to Vangie's organic farm. She had eggs from cage-free chickens and a herd of sheep and goats to supply milk and all their meat. I loved her lush vegetable garden with huge broccoli, peppers, jalapeños, tomatoes, squshes and asparagus. But it was my first time to see monster cabbage and Brussels sprouts! They grow so BIG because uses sheep manure as organic fertilizer. She gave us a 12 pound cabbage!! 

Sauerkraut requires only two ingredients--- shredded cabbage and salt! Problem is, exactly how much salt to add. The right amount makes the cabbage crunchy - too much and it's over salty, too little makes it slimy as it encourages other bacteria (not Lactobacillus plantarum) to grow. The recipe I found says use 3 Tbsp for 5 lbs of shredded white cabbage. 

I used my OXO Digital Food Scale to weigh out the cabbage. And since it is an anaerobic fermentation process, I also used my kimchi maker to ensure no oxygen gets in. I mixed 1-1/4 Tbsp salt for 3 lbs of shredded cabbage and let it sit at room temperature overnight. Then in the fridge it stayed for 5 days to slow down the fermentation process and let the flavors develop. My son really wanted kimchi not sauerkraut so I added some shredded carrots and jalapeños to it. This gave so much depth and contrast to the cabbage.

If you need a weighing scale, do enter the OXO digital food scale giveaway for a chance to win one. 

Here's how to enter the OXO Blogger Digital Food Scale Giveaway 

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This Giveaway ends on July 30, 2012. Please leave a way to get in touch with you. Let me know if you friended momgateway on Facebook, shared this post on Facebook or followed momgateway on Twitter. Winners will be selected on July 31 and contacted by email.  Thank you so much.

Gorgeous Peaches! Peaches! Peaches!

What a fun day!  A couple of my friends and I went to OSU peach farm to pick peaches.  The unripe ones were firm, crunchy and refreshing. Just perfect!   The semi-ripe ones were so sweet BUT the ripe peaches were juicy and  very sweet --- even sweeter than honey!!!  Just amazing!  

We had juice dripping all over us as we could not resist sampling the fruits. Ha! ha! 

Half a bushel was just $25---we have so many peaches to divide among the three of us.  I chose the firm, crunchy peaches for eating.  My friends are looking for recipes for all these gorgeous peaches!  Care to share your favorite peach recipes?  

Gourmet Olives from California

I bought an olive tree cutting last fall. It has sprouted new shoots but they say it takes 5 years before olive trees begin bearing fruits. Right now it's still in a pot and this is how it looks so it will be a LONG... wait before we start harvesting olives and curing them at home.

As I was searching for a source of fresh olives to pickle, I read about the family-owned business of Maurice and Cindy Penna.  Their company has a 100 acres farm located in California's Northern Sacramento Valley where olives are grown, processed and packed.  By September they expect to have fresh olives for sale at Penna Olives.  In their website, they have a  lye process for curing fresh olives and a Mediterranean process for curing fresh olives to convert extremely bitter fresh olives to gourmet olives in about one to two weeks.

I can't wait to try this! Have you cured your own olives at home? Hope you stay tuned when I post about my olive curing experiments.

This sponsorship is brought to you by Penna Gourmet Foods who we have partnered with for this promotion.

What do you put on your watermelon? And Winner of Real Salt Giveaway

For me nothing is as iconic of summers than watermelons!

In the tropics, summers are almost unbearably hot and humid.  The stifling heat just bears down on you leaving your skin feeling sticky even when sitting under the shade. 

In Texas and Oklahoma, summers bring triple-digit temperatures that just DRY you out!  

Nothing is as refreshing on these dog days of summer like ice-cold watermelon just out of the fridge! Most of my friends eat watermelon with nothing on it. Others squirt lime juice on it. But I season mine with salt.

What do you put on your watermelon?

Real Salt Giveaway Winner is : Jennifer

Please get in touch with us by email so we can send your Real Salt Goodie Pack.