The Ziz Files Vol. 3
THE ZIZ FILES VOL. 3
April 2020
Pure joy from the depths of the archives, floating on a cloud, a picture heard.
These are a few of my favorite things.
The Ziz Files is a monthly series featuring snippets of delight from the visual landscape of everyday life, the kitchen, lectures from the greats, a plant of the month, and some of the globes finest tunes.
Sharing a slice of what inspires me, from my kitchen to late night YouTube'n.
_______________
SEE
William Eggleston, Untilted from the series The Democratic Forest
A TALK
WATCH
3 Women directed by Robert Altman
READ
Traveler's Joy by Juliette De Bairacli Levy
DOC
Four American Composers: Meredith Monk, directed by Peter Greenaway.
TOUCH
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale, Asteraceae)
Dandelion has many uses from the leaves, roots, and flowers. A few common uses are for improving liver function, digestion, and as a mineral rich tonic herb. It grows rather weedy all over the U.S. and nearly everywhere else in the world, and is easy to cultivate. Many cultures around the world have long used Dandelion for its medicinal properties, as an edible food, and for brewing beer and wine. The leaves make for a nice mess of mineral rich greens. Pickup a bundle from the store or gather some from your yard if you know how to identify them properly (there are lookalikes). Rough chop them and saute in a little olive oil or butter with salt and pepper, you can add swiss chard or kale to the mix if you have some around. I like to make tea with the leaves combined with other mineral rich energizing herbs, Nettles, Alfalfa, Lemon Balm, Linden, Oatstraw, and Chickweed. Each Spring calls for a gentle liver cleanse, after a long winter of eating heavy fats. I take Ziz'a Liver Detox Duo for 2-4 weeks each spring. Take the powder twice a day until it's out, about a month, and the liver tincture 2ml twice a day for 15 days. You can also make your own preparations combining some of the herbs mentioned above or use what's around.
Image credit: Tammie Mild
TASTE
Orange Goji Berry Cake
adapted from Alice Water's 1-2-3-4 Cake
I made this cake earlier this week and I'd make it again since it didn't last longer than 48 hours. I love dried Goji Berries and have been craving cake. On a whim I tossed them in at the end and they were a delightful addition to the fresh squeezed orange juice and zest.
1-2-3-4 Cake w/ Orange & Goji Berries
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar (used brown sugar)
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
3-4 fresh small oranges or 2-3 large ones
1 cup dried goji berries (I like Navitas Org.)
In medium work bowl combine baking powder, flour and salt. Mix together.
Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and beat again until very fluffy and light-yellow. Add egg yolks and beat in briefly. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and mix well. *You can add in the orange zest and fresh juice here or at the end.
Add half of flour and lightly stir in. Add half of milk and lightly stir in. Sift over rest of flour mixture and stir, then add rest of milk and stir. Add in the goji berries.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add 1/3 whites to batter and gently stir in. Pour remainder of whites over batter and fold in gently.
Divide batter between 2 buttered and floured 8- or 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees about 25 minutes or until wood pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on rack. Ice cake as desired. Makes about 9 servings.
HEAR
Jo Jo Bennett And Mudies All Stars album Groovy Joe
*Leaving Rome=all day looper.
FROM ZIZIA'S HERBAL MEDICINE VIDEO DATABASE (HMVDB)
Sarah Wu discusses the uses of Cacao (Theobroma cacao, Malvaceae) at Punta Mona in Costa Rice. The Punta Mona Center for Regenerative Design and Botanical Studies is a permaculture farm, educational center, and botanical collection located in the heart of the jungle of Costa Rica. Sarah Wu is an herbalist and permaculturist, based in Costa Rica, a planetary eclectic with a foundation in whole systems design, therapeutic ecology, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wise Woman Traditions. For more info visit www.puntamona.org and www.villagewitch.org. Produced & Edited by Abbe Findley for the HMVDB (Herbal Medicine Video Database).
The HMVDB is an herbal educational video project founded by herbalist and artist Abbe Findley. The aim of this project is to document and highlight the oral tradition of botanical medicine in the 21st century as it is currently being practiced by community herbalists around the world. Please use this information responsibly and with consideration and stewardship for the plants discussed here in these videos.
Watch more: https://ziziabotanicals.com/pages/all-videos-1
A SPLASH OF ZIZ
Night Cap Cocktail w/ the Sleep Tincture & Relax Tincture
I've been taking breaks from my evening cocktail with this herbal booze-ish free variation for unwinding after a long day. My favorite method is so:
Pack a glass with ice (8-12oz ish). Squeeze a whole fresh orange in it or whatever citrus you have around. Add 5ml of Zizia's Sleep Tincture or Relax Tincture or a little of both (2.5 ml of each), and top with sparkling water. I've been on an orange or lime flavored water kick lately. This is a great way to unwind after a long day, ease mental and physical tension from stress, and prepare yourself for a restful nights sleep.
Enjoy
Xo,
Abbe