You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. - English Proverb
Translation: You are more likely to get the results you want from other people if you treat them with kindness. A lesson for the ages! I will quibble with that a bit though, because kindness needs no motivation nor does it need to be exploited for results. Yes, honey/kindness will increase our sales, win us brownie points, make us more friends, but ‘honeyed’ behavior does so much more.
Kindness is proven to increase happiness, improve our immune systems and over all health. It lowers our rate of depression, and raises our levels of creativity. All good things!
Photo by Cheryl Stockton of Stockshot Studio
I don’t know about you, but lately my days have been full of sticky conversations and NOT because they’ve been sweetened with honey. Disagreements on current events, political smack talk, misunderstandings that escalate, and flat out hurt feelings. Straight vinegar!
The stress levels as we gear up to elections, health precautions, black lives being killed, white people trying to do and say the right thing and failing, peaceful protests being interrupted with violent actions — it’s a LOT!
One of my biggest observations during this time is the right versus wrong divide, and the name calling when someone disagrees with me. Raise your hand if someone has called you an idiot for wearing or not wearing a mask, or for being a Republican or a Democrat. 🖐🏼
Here’s the thing, none of us are idiots. We’re highly evolved intelligent human beings with different points of view. That’s it. Our points of view are comprised of two things: what we’ve been exposed to and our experiences. That awareness is the biggest dose of honey I bring to these sticky conversations.
We can’t expect someone to ‘do better’ in our eyes when their life and experience hasn’t given them the opportunity to ‘know better.” So we listen. We communicate clearly to let people know where we are coming from and what has shaped our point of view that informs our words and actions. Come from a kind place, offer them the honey of your experience. Save your vinegar for the kitchen!
You knew I was going to go there, right? My praises for vinegar are loud and long. I won’t bore you with the list of non culinary uses, but in my research I found an amazing method of removing negative energy from your home! What?! Now this I’m gonna try…
A highlight from this wacky lockdown/civil unrest season was meeting Rodrigo Vargas of American Vinegar Works.
I am smitten. Sweet and sour is one of my all time favorite taste combinations. AVW hits a diverse range of flavorings, acid and sugars. You’ll want to try them all. They are perfect gifts with handsome packaging. Each gorgeous glass bottle is full of unique rich flavor that will enhance any dish.
Here are some pairings and applications. I am looking forward to “vinegaring” up all sorts of dishes this summer. I’m not giving real recipes, just sharing a general description of what I made with each vinegar. I can’t wait to try them all. And you better believe these will be on the end of year All Good Gifts round up.
Cabbage Slaw With Chicken
This was a leftover wedge of cabbage that I shredded and soaked in a bit of the Cranberry Apple Cider Vinegar. I had baby bok choy tops, leftover slow cooker shredded chicken (rotisserie would be great) and some sliced Fresno chili. I mixed it all together with another slug of vinegar, a drizzle of olive oil and lots of salt and pepper.
Curried Salt And Vinegar Potatoes
Last month I posted a photo and recipe for Salt and Vinegar Potatoes on my instagram and I thought I was going to repeat that with Rodrigo’s Beer Vinegar but these were accompanying an Indian lunch I was making so I heated oil in a skillet added my curry powder to bloom in the oil and then added the cut up potatoes. Cooked until tender, lots of salt and then lots of the Beer Vinegar. Whoa. Man, I love potatoes.
Pickled Onions and Radishes
I follow Adam Roberts, the Amateur Gourmet on Instagram and he puts pickled onions on nearly everything. Through this stay at home I’ve had a jar of pickled onions in my fridge to do the same thing. When I got my American Vinegar Works in the mail I knew my onions would be swimming in the Red Wine Vinegar. They make everything look prettier and it’s a hit of acid and crunch that wakes up the whole dish.
Shave half of a red onion on a mandolin and placed the rings it into a pint size jar. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup hot water, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt. Once the sugar and salt dissolve, pour over the onions. Seal the jar and store in the refrigerator. I did the same thing with the radishes but paired those with the Montmorency Cherry Rice Wine Vinegar. (My favorite of all of them!)
Pickled radishes or onions are a perfect add on for burgers, tacos, nachos, all sorts of ethnic dishes, especially Mexican, Indian food or Persian food. Put them on salads, grains, anything that needs a little bit of something extra. The photo above was cauliflower roasted in shawarma spices and topped with Serrano chili and pickled onions.