Spiritual Soda

Cutting sugar means cutting soda. All soda. Even the elegant brands (Dry, Fentimans, etc.) have cane sugar, so it's time for me to invent a substitute.

Blending this need with the witchcraft that's been making so much sense of late, I came up with the following initial foray into spiritual soda bottling. I've now passed some off as a perfect 30th birthday gift and watched them achieve their intended effects. (I also had a lovely day tweaking the combinations - taste tests over the relative grace of one glass over another with perfect Seattle rain accompaniment.)

Grace
lavender
chamomile
rose congou
fresh seltzer

Power
dragon weed
mutah white
honey
fresh seltzer

Peace
scullcap
chamomile
honey
fresh seltzer

Dragon Killer
yerba mate
dragon weed
rose congou
agave nectar
fresh seltzer

I make distilled teas of each herb, adding honey/agave to the earthiest while hot, then chill the jars and mix and match the potions, using about 1 part potion to 4 parts seltzer from my amazing seltzer machine. Mason jars hold the carbonation surprisingly well.

For the birthday gift incarnation, I also threw in a little jar of my perfect chocolate pudding as a potion for pleasure.

Safe Purple pork and potatoes

A lovely square meal made for 1 to close a long hard week.

1 pork chop
1/2 shallot
splash of olive oil
1 purple potato (set to baking as soon as I got home, allowing it a good hour plus of hot oven time)
1 broccoli stalk

I always feel best when my plate has sections for the elements - meat, vegetable, starch - and this diet has really enhanced that love. Had a lovely chat at work with a couple men who cook about sauce, and shallots came up. What a perfect garlic replacement! Sautee the shallots in oil until they're translucent. Sear the pork chop in their pan. Remove pork once seared and transfer to the hot oven for 10 minutes or so to cook through. The potato will be well baked by the time you throw the pork in the oven. Take this opportunity to remove its tin foil and get its elegant purple skin crisped. Steam the broccoli. Drizzle on some expensive extra virgin olive oil (I bought Merula, from Spain, primarily for the elegant raven on its tin can), salt, pepper. Burst open the potato and give it the same treatment. Stir your oil-shallot "sauce" and pour over pork. Revel in the purple of it all.

Recommended context: cook with Grizzly Bear's Friend EP spinning on the turntable, a fat joint at the ready, a Peace spiritual soda on the counter (see soda recipe), and plans for a fire on the beach to honor a full and glorious moon.