The Octopus goes to school
and makes mayo, and starts a new feature for paid subscribers
Preliminaries:
First
In two days I'll attend my first class for certification in medical massage therapy. I'm really excited about it, in large part because I've been wanting to spend some time studying musculoskeletal anatomy in depth. I know that I'll end up doing a lot of thinking about what we're covering in classes and trying to work out how it fits in with the other areas that I focus on. At the same time, I've been trying to figure out some feature for paid subscribers (because I really, really appreciate the support--it means a whole lot, especially since I tend to do a lot of my work in isolation).
Therefore, I'm starting a weekly feature for paid subscribers called Body.Work which will be an essay based on what I'm working on in my classes. My plan is to publish it on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, although that might float around a bit depending on my schedule. The first issue will go out around the second week of May (I'll be out of town teaching at a retreat before that). Body.Work is going to be my effort to bring together the areas of wellness, healthy aging, musculoskeletal issues, functional medicine, nutrition, movement, mindset, and spirituality. I won't be hitting on every area every week, but as a systems thinker, I know that all those things are going to come up at some point. I'd love for you to join me in this new project!
Second
I'm delighted to announce that my short story, "The (Highly-Efficient) Chosen One" was awarded Honorable Mention from the Writer's of the Future writing contest.
It's a funny fantasy story about what happens when The Chosen One is a harried, middle-aged mom. This is the third honorable mention I've won in the contest, so I'm particularly pleased about it. (The first story, "Salt," is available as part of the Mermaidens Anthology, and will eventually be available as a stand-alone on my fiction website. The other two stories are still making the rounds to the magazines and won't be available for a while.)
Third
I'm playing around with Substack's new Notes feature. It's been compared to Twitter, but that's accurate only in the fact that it's about sharing snippets and short bits. There are quite a few differences, one of which is simply that it's not run by a chaos demon. Always a plus, in my book. Also, the feed isn't algorithm based but is simply comprised of the people you follow plus the people they follow (how novel--I can see the feeds that I sign up to see). Finally, account owners are "own" their audiences, in the same way that they do a mailing list (which makes it much more small-business friendly). There's some pearl-clutching about it, of course, but overall I think that I like it. Far better than the algorithm-driven social medias. (If you're subscribed to a newsletter, you're already subscribed to the Notes feed.)
Substack has more information about Notes here:
Whew. That was a lot of preliminaries. Onward to mayonnaise!
Easy Blender Mayonnaise
I taught a healthy eating workshop last week, which was incredibly fun. I'll probably try to do something like it quarterly, with the same format, since I got good feedback on it. (Plus, teaching classes is how this introvert socializes...)
We had lunch together, which consisted of a buffet of options that people could combine however they wanted. We talked about the various components including nutrition information and cooking tips. It seemed like my answer to every question was mayonnaise.
What would you add to this for more flavor? Mayo.
Is there an easy salad dressing? Mayo.
How can I add some fat to this? Mayo.
I love mayonnaise. It's creamy, it's filling, it has lots of flavor. It's healthy, if it's made with avocado oil or olive oil. Not the standard jar-o-mayo with lots of additives, but a good quality, homestyle mayo. There are several available, even in our not-so-big city, that have a short list of ingredients and are made with avocado oil. Those are expensive, though, especially when you treat mayo as a staple like I do. However, if you have a blender, food processor, or immersion blender, mayo is super quick to make and not terribly difficult. And even if disaster strikes and it "breaks"--meaning it stays more like salad dressing than the creamy spread that we're accustomed to--it's still delicious. It can even be saved by going through the process again.
Homemade mayonnaise is definitely worth trying, even though I know it can be intimidating. It's not hard. Really really. Give it a try.
I make mayo based on the Joy of Cooking recipe, which has always been the standard go-to cookbook in my family. For a while I didn't refer to my cookbook collection that often, since there were so many recipes available on the internet. Now, however, the standard format for recipe website, carefully calibrated to maximize ad exposure and SEO, drives me insane. I understand the reason for it, but I just can't stand them. Sitting and looking through my cookbooks, or cookbooks from the library, is much more pleasant than trying to get through a website.
Easy Blender Mayonnaise
for about 1-3/4 cups
In the bottom of a wide-mouth mason jar (if you're using a stick blender), or the jar of a stand blender, or in the body of a food processor, add:
1 whole large egg
1 tsp dry mustard (or a squirt of prepared mustard--I don't always have the dry on hand. Mustard is essential because it, along with the egg, are what anchors the emulsion.)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (mild style--otherwise it's a very aggressively EVOO-flavored mayo which my kids really don't like) or avocado oil
Blend this mixture together on high.
In a liquid measuring cup, combine:
1 cup oil
3 T lemon juice or white wine vinegar (or rice vinegar, or regular vinegar)
Slowly drizzle the oil/lemon mixture into the egg/oil mixture WHILE THE BLENDER IS RUNNING. The mixture will end up very thick. Scrape down the sides as needed.
I like to do this with an immersion blender because then I can just store it in the jar I made it in. Less clean up. :)
Keep it in the fridge. When I'm really on the ball, I make up a fresh batch weekly.
TO SAVE BROKEN MAYO
Sometimes the mayo doesn't set right, and resolutely stays liquid-y like a salad dressing. That just means that the emulsion went wrong. You can salvage it by starting over again. Remove the liquid mayo from the blender--no need to wash it out--and put another egg into it it. Don't add more flavorings, but, while the blender is on high, slowly and patiently (the hard part for me) drizzle in the liquid mayo in a thin stream or even drop by drop. Usually this does the trick. If not, just call it salad dressing and use accordingly--it'll still taste good, the only difference is the texture.
ABOUT THE RAW EGG
I've never really worried about the raw egg, but then again my family and I all have a cast-iron stomachs and robust immune systems. Egg contamination occurs on the surface of the shell, not in the interior (as I understand it...) so if you need to take precautions, you can simply dip the unbroken egg into boiling water for a couple minutes to kill any bacteria on the surface. Then proceed with the recipe as directed.