Handbags, Books...whatever welcomes J. Arlene Culiner - Favorite Recipe and Book--A Room in Blake's Folly

Your Favorite Recipe: Fermented food: A recipe from my Ukrainian grandmother 

I do love making fermented vegetables, particularly sauerkraut (which tastes so much better than store-bought), cucumber pickles, and green tomatoes. I find that fermented foods are gently sour, without that sharpish, mouth-puckering bite of vegetables pickled in vinegar. Not only that, fermented foods are good for us, they can accompany any main dish, and they can be added to soups for extra flavor. 

 

At the end of every growing season, there are so many green tomatoes around, and people rarely know what to do with them all. Once fermented, they’ll keep for months in a cool place. Not only that, they’re incredibly easy to make. 

 

The origin of fermented foods? When the Mongols invaded Europe, they brought their fermented food with them, and sauerkraut became a real hit! 

 

How to make fermented green tomatoes: 

• 
  

• Kosher or sea salt— approximately three tablespoons of salt for each quart or liter of water 

• Dill (preferably fresh, but dried will do) 

• Juniper berries 

• Bottled water, or water that has been left to stand overnight so the chemicals evaporate 

• Any spices you like: fresh garlic, cumin, coriander, bay leaves 

• A large bottle or mason jar 

Cut your green tomatoes in quarters or eighths (depending on their size) 

Heat up enough water to fill the jar when packed with tomatoes 

Let the salt dissolve in the hot water 

Put the tomatoes in a jar with a plastic, not metal, lid (if possible) 

Add the cooled salted water and the spices—as many and as much as you want 

For those who love chilies, a few can also be added 

 

Make certain all the tomatoes are covered by the salty liquid (I weigh them down with a little

dish). Leave them for two to three weeks, opening and closing the lid daily to let out fermentation gases. The tomatoes will darken as they ferment, and this is normal. Keep tasting them, and when they’re wonderful, store them in a cold/cool place. Enjoy! 

 

About the Book: 

If only the walls could speak… 

 
In one hundred and fifty years, Blake's Folly, a silver boomtown notorious for its brothels, scarlet ladies, silver barons, speakeasies, and divorce ranches, has become a semi-ghost town. Although the old Mizpah Saloon is still in business, its upper floor is sheathed in dust. But in a room at a long corridor's end, an adventurer, a beautiful dance girl, and a rejected wife were once caught in a love triangle, and their secret has touched three generations. 

** 

Back in 1889, when Blake’s Folly boasted three mining companies, many saloons, and brothels, Westley Cranston, adventurer and journalist, fell in love with the former prostitute Sookie Lacey. Over the next one hundred and thirty years, their powerful romance influenced those who came after: these six stories tell the tale. 

 

About the Author: J. Arlene Culiner 

Writer, photographer, social critical artist, and storyteller, J. Arlene Culiner, was born in New

York and raised in Toronto. She has crossed much of Europe on foot, has lived in a Hungarian mud house, a Bavarian castle, a Turkish cave dwelling, on a Dutch canal, and in a haunted house on the English moors. She now resides in a 400-year-old former inn in a French village of no interest and, much to local dismay, protects all creatures, especially spiders and snakes. She particularly enjoys incorporating into short stories, mysteries, narrative non-fiction, and romances, her experiences in out-of-the-way communities, and her conversations with strange characters. 

Answer these questions: 

Red, White or Blue? Red, always, but greeny-blue always charms me, too. 

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? All are fine. 

Cake or Pie? Neither, but give me something spicy or sour, and I’m yours forever 

Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? Champagne, but if I have a choice, I’d prefer coffee for breakfast. 

Country music or Michael Buble? Neither. Renaissance and Baroque music, yes, please! 

Pencil or Pen? Both, depending on the job. 

 

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