Hot Pepper Vinegar

Are you ready for the holidays?

Here at Wise & Wonderful, we’re trying to help you be at ease. With a few days left until we all gather and celebrate, I have heard from many friends and coworkers that they aren’t done with their shopping. And, uh, I can relate… I’ve really been procrastinating…

Luckily, home made gifts come to the rescue.

If you know someone who loves to douse on hot sauce and munch on spicy peppers, Hot Pepper Vinegar is the perfect little gift for them. It is a versatile condiment, often paired with barbecue, that can give them a big smack in the face of awesome pepperiness anytime they’d like. It’s also crazy simple to make.

If you have any spare soda bottles lying around, they make a cute container for this gift. Also, I learned today that a dab of olive oil easily removes glue residue off of glass bottles (I sought in vain all over our house for goo gone, before trying it. Worked like a charm!) By slitting little holes and cuts in the peppers you allow their spiciness, called capsaicin, to escape out into the vinegar. If you prefer a milder pepper vinegar cut the pepper in half and remove the seeds and ribs (the highest concentration of capsaicin lies in the ribs, which holds the seeds.) You can use all sorts of peppers as well– serrano, habanero, jalapeño, chilies– whatever you like. A few halved garlic cloves and peppercorns complete the flavor. Pop them all into a bottle, and heat enough apple cider vinegar to fill your chosen container to just below boiling. When its warm enough, pour it over the peppers and garlic. Cap and let the flavors meld until you gift it Christmas day! It will be wonderful after just a few days, but a week or more would give it’s best flavor.

You could use regular distilled white vinegar if you prefer– wine vinegar would probably be the only kind that wouldn’t pair well with peppers (but I could be wrong!) Making hot pepper vinegar is somewhat experimental– loads of things could be added, heat can be higher or lower–but no matter what you do it will always be a perfectly spicy addition to home made mayo, salad dressings, marinades, potato salad– really the possibilities are endless.

Truly, this is a perfect DIY gift. Simply made. Useful. Flavorful. Inexpensive. After all, gift giving is not about wowing people with expense– its really about showing them how well you know their heart. Gifts show appreciation and love. They make your nearest and dearest feel understood and appreciated. Express some DIY gift love this Christmas season.

All-Purpose Cleaner

Vinegar is given nearly no credit in today’s America.

I’m sure even now when you read the word, something in your mind cringes. That stuff you dye eggs with? Ehhhk.

Before you decide to turn away, think about vinegar historically.

Vinegar has been revered throughout the ages. It was the first medicine and cleanser, and quickly became a staple preservative for food. It has been used to treat wounds, mixed with water and sweetener to be consumed as a drink of vitality, and used to flavor foods of all cultures. Vinegar, which is the product of old wine left in open air, is an acid with a very low pH. Germs and viruses can’t withstand it, and so it has been used throughout the centuries to cure many illnesses, ranging from soothing an upset stomach to dissolving warts.

If I were capable of throwing my body back into ancient times, I would know even more about how remarkable this liquid is. It may seem somewhat distant to think of these uses– since many of them we don’t use vinegar for today– but consider the world at the time. Anything that could be so versatile and heal you, as well as feed you, was indeed a miracle of sorts, and was held in high esteem.

Vinegar is no less useful today. I use vinegar for a whole slew of things in my home, but today I would like to start with a simple cleaner. I use this cleaner nearly every day to wipe down painted wooden shelves, clean my sinks, mop my floors– every surface of my home. The smell of vinegar is undetectable when you add essential oils, and if there is any lingering scent it is always gone when the cleaner is fully dried.

It is both healthful and economical to use this cleaner in your home. Chemical cleaners are full of fumes and untested compounds that build up in our tissue over time, and cause who knows what (because no one really does the research to know.) They are harmful to your little ones scooting about on the floor, or your animals, or you. Chemical cleaners are also higher priced, and are on such a germ killing rampage that the bacterias in your home are completely wiped out. We do have to live in harmony with bacteria in this world– and they aren’t all so bad– millions of them aid in your digestion every day. Some speculate our overly sanitized world is a cause for allergies and other auto-immune illnesses. By cleaning with vinegar you can be promised your home will be clean of harmful viruses and bacteria, but the balance will not be thrown to extremes.

I trust you are reading this because you have an interest in the idea, and so I hope you’ll go and make this cleaner for yourself. No other product can boast that it has been in use since the dawn of civilization, and can be used to satisfy such an array of needs. This cleaner is but one block in the massive structure that is the uses for vinegar, and I sincerely hope you delve into them all.

All-Purpose Cleaner:

You will need:

1 large spray bottle
water
distilled white vinegar
hydrogen peroxide (optional)
essential oils (optional)

Directions: Mix your bottle with 1/3 vinegar, a heavy splash of hydrogen peroxide (if using) and the rest water. Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil if desired (I use tea tree oil.) Use this loosely in a mop bucket for cleaning floors, and in a spray bottle for reaching everywhere else.

Pasta Salad

Culinary inspiration comes from many places.

I go to the grocery every couple of days, and unless Jake is with me, I spend at least two hours there. He’s all about accomplishing the mission. I’m all about overturning each nook and cranny of the place for my own fun. We become opposing forces.

The two hours I spend there are always about as much fun for me as browsing the Mall of America would be to a shop-aholic. Every little bag of bean sprouts has to be combed over, each apple or peach sniffed until the perfect sweetness is found, and every flavor of granola sampled (when possible.) I take my time and choose what I’m buying wisely because they are the future ingredients in all I’ll be eating that week, so it must be great. The time I invest in choosing the ingredients is the beginning of my scheming; just as the perfect head of cauliflower is found, and nestles itself in the bottom of my basket, the ways it can be prepared are rolling through my mind.

This slow time is important to the cooking process. We can’t simply buy the same foods week after week. If we move slowly about, passing boxes and barrels of produce, crates of eggs, slabs of butter, we can take the time to let our senses develop. Perfectly ripe apples must be gently squeezed and sniffed, for a firm feel and sweet scent. Avocados must have a buttery give when pressed. Eggs must be gently tapped for a firm shell, and rich color (or bought from a reliable chicken farmer.) Bread must have a firm crust, soft interior, and the deep scent of warm wheat. By only grabbing and pressing on you will miss these first steps in putting a meal together.

There are times when an off-beat ingredient is what sparks a recipe. At larger specialty groceries you’ll find rare oddities like albino eggplants or heirloom tomatoes– these foods beg to be bought and fooled with. If ever you stumble upon some ingredient you don’t know, do the polite thing. Get to know it. Buy a strange vegetable or herb, and learn about it by tasting it. Let a hearty looking loaf of rye be the inspiration for your meal.

This time I was struck hard by a beautiful bag of colorful conchiglie, or seashell pasta. The flours were tinted with carrots, beets, spinach, and red peppers. Their look had to be preserved, and so they had to become a warm pasta salad.

Pasta salad is an easy dish. It comes together with whatever leftovers you have lying about the fridge, especially cooked vegetables, a handful of herbs and cheese, and a light vinaigrette. With or without pasta, leftover veggies can still be dressed with vinaigrette, mixed with beans, and served as a warm salad. We should use the foods we have already cooked as an extension of one another, so that the act of cooking is ongoing, as hunger is ongoing. Prepare a large batch of this salad, and serve it cold the next day for a hearty lunch.

Pasta Salad

You will need:

1 1/2 cups pasta, uncooked (small spoon friendly shapes)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, washed and sliced
1 ear sweet corn, chopped from the cob
1 15oz can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 large handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1 large handful of parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/3 cup italian vinaigrette (recipe below)

Directions: Boil pasta in well salted water, according to package directions. Drain, toss with a quick turn of olive oil, and set aside. Save pasta water, and blanch veggies in the salted water. (Blanch corn on the cob, then cut from cob after it cools. Don’t blanch green pepper, serve raw.) Toss the pasta, cheese, herbs, beans, and veggies together with the vinaigrette. Salt and pepper, if needed. Let the dish rest for as long as possible, a day even, to let the flavors marry. Serve warm or cold. Makes 4 or more servings.

Italian Vinaigrette

You will need: