Kitchen Magic #1 Garlic - good for everything! By Lola Babalon
Kitchen Magic is a monthly self help column that describes the merits and practical uses of what’s in your pantry or yard. Here a hands-on, practical guide that will help you to make good use of common culinary herbs and spices. Please note that the recipes, lore and advise given here do not constitute or replace proper medical care. If your are sick, see your doctor.
Self care starts at home, and health care often starts in the kitchen. Foods are medicines. Your physical and emotional well being depends on how well you nourish and nurture yourself. What goes into the body creates chi, or life force energy.
No matter what your dietary habits are, you will feel better when eating as green and clean as possible. Whether you’re a vegan, omni or carnivore - enjoy all the organic veggies and fruits you can get your hands on, the more the merrier.
On the subject of garlic, people seem to either love it or hate it. The benefits vastly out weigh by far it’s sulfurous smelly drawbacks. The ’smelly’ problem is easily eliminated, as long as everyone has some. Herbal remedies against garlic breath are fresh parsley, fennel seeds, black or green tea or Breathe Assure made with parsley seed oil.
Some orthodox Hindu’s refrain from eating onions and garlic because it stirs up desires, one of the main reasons it‘s so popular in other cultures. Garlic is a common ingredient in Mediterranean, Asian and Tropical cooking. It’s popularity is due to it’s anti-bacterial properties, as well as it‘s deliciously pungent taste. Herbalist Michael Castleman calls it The Wonder Drug:
“Since the 1920s, garlic’s broad spectrum antibiotic properties have been confirmed by literally dozens of animal and human studies. Garlic kills the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, food poisoning, and women’s bladder infections. Garlic may also prevent infection by the influenza virus“. Quote from The Healing Herbs, Rodale Press 1991
The protective and medicinal properties have been known since ancient times. Here’s what Nicholas Culpepper has to say on the topic, first published in 1649:
“It provokes urine and women’s courses, helps the biting of mad dogs, kills the worms in children, cuts and voids through phlegm, purges the head, helps the lethargy, is a good preservative against and a remedy for any plaque, sore or foul ulcer. It takes away spots and blemishes in the skin, and eases pains in the ears. Onions are equally as effectual for all those diseases, but Garlic has more peculiar virtues. It is good in jaundice, falling-sickness, cramps, convulsions, piles and other cold diseases. However, its heat is vehement, and in choleric men it will add fuel to the fire. In men oppressed by melancholy, it will attenuate the humor. Therefore let it be inwardly taken in great moderation, outwardly you may make more bold with it.” Quote from Culpepper’s Color Herbal, Sterling Publishing Co. 1983
What’s it good for:
A potent antibiotic, anti-fungal, anti-virus, anti-parasite. Supports the immune system, helps the digestion of fats, eliminates phlegm, improves circulation, detoxification.
Where to find it:
commonly found in in the produce section of any market, the fresher the better. I get mine from the farmers market in Calabasas. Look for bulbs that feel solid when squeezed, the larger the cloves, the easier to peel. Pre-peeled is okay as long it’s fresh, but refrain from canned with preservative garlic paste. For maximum benefit, always use the real thing. Toss out any old, rancid or gummy looking cloves, a bit of sprouting is okay. Topangan’s traditionally get their garlic fix at Rocco’s restaurant. Try the Garlic balls, Prociutto & Pepper plate and Spinach or Pasta with Garlic and Oil, they all come with generous heaps of the stuff.
Folklore:
Said to keep away vampires, it also protects against other bloodsucking vermin, such as mosquitoes. Garlic braids are popular kitchen decorations, said to protect the home. In olden time people used to wear garlic cloves for protection when traveling or to ward off the plague. Garlic is part of the lily family of plants, ruled by the planet Mars.
Contemporary Uses:
Ads flavor and dimension to all savory dishes, improves digest-ability. Garlic was known as ’poor man’s penicillin’, it’s oil and juice was used extensively for wound cleaning by the Russian army up to WWII. As a preventative, or if you’re just getting started, add one clove per day or per savory dish. Raw garlic is most potent, steamed or baked garlic work for sensitive constitutions. As an herbal food-cure take up to 5 cloves of raw garlic per day to fight off a cold or prevent an infectious disease. These can be pressed as pulp onto toast, or cut into capsule size slivers and swallowed with liquid.
Pimples:
Rub the cut side of a garlic clove on pimples. Garlic can be used as tampons for minor vaginal infections, suppository for pinworms. Whilst people with sensitive stomachs often shun garlic, it’s antibiotic properties have proved effective against the bacteria’s that cause digestive troubles.
Success Story:
I once cured a really nasty sinus infection by sniffing up garlic water. It hurt like hell, but worked like a charm. Many years ago my cat Victor was sick, laying around droopy and apathetic. Not having any extra $$’s for the vet at the time, I dosed him with ½ raw garlic clove. He was 100% better the next day. Don’t try this at home.
Favorite Recipes:
Stir in a freshly squeezed garlic clove, just before serving a stew. If you have any sprouting bulbs in the pantry: divide and plant the cloves separately near your roses, dispels aphids. Roses love garlic.
Garlic Oil:
Squeeze one part of garlic into 2 parts of olive oil. Let it sit away from sunlight for a week, shaking it gently occasionally. Strain out the solids and use as eardrops for earaches, gum massage for toothache or bleeding gums.
Emerald Sauce:
adapted from Peggy Cochrane’s Witch Doctors Cookbook: ½ bunch of parsley, 4 oz olive oil, 1 or more cloves of garlic, juice of 1 lemon , sea salt & cayenne to taste. Process till smooth and serve with seafood. My all time favorite aphrodisiac food recipe. Enjoy!
Famous Lola Quotes:
About Expectations:
"Expectation equals disappointment. If you have an expectation, you
will be disappointed. Disappointment is the price you pay for the luxury
of having expectations. Without expectations everything is possible."
About
the Heart:
"The door to your heart has only one handle, and it's on the inside."
About
Love:
"Love is like a river that flows like it will. Love is a condition,
a state of being that is accessible to anyone, at anytime."
About
Relationships:
" Relationships are lessons and magic mirrors that accurately reflect
where we are with one another. The lover is the physical manifestation
of our inner mate."
About
Sex:
"Sex is easiest accessible transcendental experience known to mankind.
Sexual energy fuels the transformation of the individual and well as the
evolution of the planet."
About
Sexpeace:
"There cannot be peace on earth, as long as there is war between
the genders!" Quote by Dr. Dieter Duhm
About
Tantra:
" Tantra is the art of liberating the body's ecstatic essence; it
celebrates the connection of sex and spirit. Pleasure can become a meditation,
and a pathway towards the divine bliss."
About
Time and Money:
"Time and money are very much related, there never seems to be enough
of either. Ultimately it is all about prioritizing. As it turns out, we
always seem to have enough time and money for the things that really matter."
Article from Topanga Journal, June 2006 / Nature’s Wisdom Pharmacy
The #1 Healer
Lola Babalon
Know that the #1 healer is already there. This square, stout, level headed individual is both firm and soft, and wise beyond it’s years. It’s always there for you, ready to receive you, no need to make an appointment. No need for costly insurance premiums either. In case you didn’t guess it: it’s your bed. During sleep the body heals, cleanses and regenerates itself. No matter what it is going on, everybody feels better after some good old fashioned R & R. So honor your bed as the temple, the sacred healing space it is.
You are the guardian of your body, it’s okay to take responsibility for your own well being. Are you getting enough sleep? If not, ask yourself: Why? Ultimately it’s all about priority and choice. You can choose to get as much sleep as needed. If you don’t take a nap, do some yoga, re-prioritize. One of my favorite luxuries is sleeping from 9 - 5. What does your body want from you? More rest, exercise, sex, fiber, air, water? Less sugar, starch, traffic, media? The vast majority of health concerns will heal themselves with time, rest and common sense. Never ignore or disregard your own gut level instincts about what is needed. Healing requires patience. If you do feel alarmed, and in need of an expert, don’t hesitate to seek one out.
Do use common sense. If it feels hot, cool it down. If it feels tense, stretch it out. If you are hurting, rub it. The most simple form of acupressure is finding whatever sore spots on your body (hands, feet, ears, or wherever) and rub them. If you can get somebody else to rub you, even better. We need loving touch for our spiritual, physical and emotional well being. Much tension, aches, pains, stiffness comes from inadequate exercise and lack of touch.
The other part of the #1 healer is the Doctor within.
Always trust in the doctor within. Whatever ails you is your bodies way of teaching you about your needs. The more serious the ailment, the stronger the need for a life changing assessment. Every body is their own expert, and has very specific ways of getting sick and getting better. If you don’t feel good after … why do it? What do you really need? What‘s missing? And first and foremost: where’s the love? How can you find back to loving yourself, your body, your life? If you don’t love yourself enough, your body will let you know. And if there’s not enough lovers to go around? Betty Dodson, the eminent expert on the topic says: “masturbation will get you through adolescence, divorce, good times, bad times, and old age alike.”
Look for the beauty and grace in all things, choose to love freely and unconditionally. Make some tea, take a breather, a nap, a walk, talk to a friend, adopt a pet, love more. The nice thing about love is that’s a spring to tap into. The more you give, the more you get. Go ahead, and have lots - there’s enough for everybody. Be Well!
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Currently I'm a part time reporter for the Topanga Messenger Newspaper, feel invited to check out life in Topanga at www.topangamessenger.com
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