Kombucha

Kombucha (comb-boo-cha) is this drink I've heard about for a couple years. I have ignored it until now for a few reasons:

1 - What the heck is it?

2 - It seems like a trendy hipster thing.

3 - I didn't know how wonderful I would feel after drinking it.

Now I know all about this ancient fermented tea. Its benefits are as long as my arm. Probiotics. Enzymes. Amino Acids. Antioxidants. Polyphenols. Antibacterial and antifungal properties. Vitamins B1, 2, 3, 6 and 12. B12 is a big deal to vegans...it doesn't occur naturally in plant foods.

I try it completely by accident at my local health food store (I live in the middle of the country, so "local" means within a 120-mile radius). Thirsty, I weave my way over to the juice cooler. While contemplating the beautiful wrappers and benefits of aloe juice, apple cider, smoothies and the like, a hip thin gal reaches up and grabs her G.T. Dave's Synergy Trilogy Kombucha. She is decisive, intentional; no hesitation. Maybe I want to look like her. You know, really like I know what I want and what is in all these bottles. In truth, a Rosetta Stone would be helpful in my deciphering.

The cashier rings up my kombucha. No reaction from her. Is this drink not as bizarre as it seems to me?

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The drive home is long. It is hot outside. Sunshine beating through the windshield makes me sleepy. I crack open my bottle. No, first I shake up the bottle and then read on the label that the contents are under pressure. It sits. Then I crack open my bottle. BAM! Energy! I could dance home. Pangs of pity for my husband as he sips and chews down aloe juice laced with pulp. It looks so chunky.

Back home, about a billion miles from kombucha in any direction, I decide I need more. The next evening the hubs, sensing my desire to explore this awesome drink more, drives me back to the store to stock up.

One problem immediately presents itself. Those bottles are nearly $4.00 each. They're not meal replacements, either. I google kombucha and learn it is fermented with a mother, known as a SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast). These can be purchased online. They can also be grown from an existing bottle of raw buch (get with the program - call it buch or k-tea).

I did both. Somewhere in the continental U.S. my scoby is flying to me. Complete with starter kombucha and tea for brewing. But I'm a sap for science experiments. I love showing the kids how something grows (like, bacteria!).

Taking a bottle of DT Dave's Organic Raw stuff, I set out to grow my own.

I used a tea bag from each box to create my sweet tea.

Supplies:

1 12-cup coffee carafe, sanitized with boiling water

2 coffee filters and a rubber band

1 black tea bag

1 green tea bag

1 T. organic cane sugar

1 bottle G.T. Dave's Original Kombucha

All my stuff. The kombucha is hanging out in the carafe, sweet tea is cooling to room temp in the corning ware before mixing.

There are some great tutorials out there for making a scoby on YouTube. I used the directions on Food Renegade's blog. My purchased scoby is being shipped from the Happy Herbalist. It comes with dragon pearl tea (Mo Li Long Zhu). It is a blend of green and jasmine tea. That sounds smashing.

I'm officially obsessed with this healthy beverage. More to come as my colony grows.

Hula Hooping - My Troubleshooting

Hula Hooping is kind of a tricky deal.

I pulled my Hoopnotica travel hoop from its packaging and clicked it together. Child's play. A big gold circle with grippy-strippy pink tape. The hoop is innocent and bawdy at the same time. I like that it holds onto the 1950's crisp-clean past while simultaneously conjuring up an image of glitzy circus or burlesque performers.

This is just what my hoop looks like

Remember how I watched all of those YouTube videos of hooping? Some were graceful and others awkward; most were proficient. Nothing prepared me for how it felt to be inside a hula hoop this side of age 13.

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Circles are chic. In my head I keep trying to think sophisticatedly, because I look ridiculous. Note to self: do not hoop anywhere near that full-length mirror. Yet.

Ok. I did manage about 7 rotations before my hoop flopped down past my knees, plummeting haphazardly to the floor. Seven is a good number. If we're talking about the seed of life design, or perfect numbers. Not when the goal is anywhere from 15 minutes to and hour.

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Although the seed of life concept may not be all bad. It usually represents the start of something new. Like the Bible's seven days of creation. Hula hooping is nowhere near that hard. Hopefully.

Today I've more than doubled my initial results. There's hope. At least two different women whose stories I've scoured the internet reading took a couple weeks to get the hang of it. Instructional videos advise rocking front to back, but I have better success rocking also slightly side to side. Think Northwest to Southeast. And my feet have got to be wide apart, but still in a parallel plane. I can't make one in front of the other work.

Hooping in Crocs isn't as comfortable as being barefoot. Or wearing my Merrell barefoot shoes. That's just a preference thing...those Hoopnotica ladies are always barefoot.

So this is my initial reaction to hooping. I will keep updating week-to-week.

Vintage Pictures I Love

The thing about vintage style is that it will always be...stylish. Truly vintage; not 1980's vintage. I'm talking about a time when men and women dressed themselves more formally. Day gloves. Driving gloves. Hats. Suspenders. Nylons. Red lipstick. You see where I'm going.

Today I'm sharing some of my favorite retro images with you. I collect these pics in file folders on my hard drive - organized by decade. Which means I have no idea what the original sources were for most of these pics. Sorry.

The first four images come from the July, 1955 edition of Vogue magazine.

I especially enjoy the polka dots, plaid, and rows of buttons above.

No, but seriously. The placket of that shirt is amazing.