Underland and Underground

 

      

                                                                  

Underground, A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet

Will Hunt

Underland, A Deep Time Journey

Robert MacFarlane

These two non-fiction books, published only a year apart, 2018 and 2019, both feature what most people try to avoid: those dark spaces underneath the ground - tunnels, sewers and catacombs, caves and mines, underground rivers, crevasses and nuclear bunkers. 

Each of the authors has a special interest in these kinds of places and luckily for us is willing to share descriptions, adventures and enthusiasms with those who prefer to stay safely above ground.

Robert MacFarlane has a long history of fascination with features of our Earth and has previously published books about the deep places of our planet where men have felt connected not only to the earth but also the historic and prehistoric people who preceded us because it is impossible to go beneath the surface of the earth without encountering some evidence of those who have gone before. 

In Underland, he starts close to the surface with an examination of the roots of trees and the way the "wood wide web" connects trees with each other and the supporting network of fungi. 

In succeeding chapters he explores catacombs, glaciers and karst around the world, often putting himself at risk in doing so. It makes an exhilarating read, especially given his skilful use of the English language and his tendency towards philosophical reflection. 

Will Hunt, author of Underground, grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. At the age of 16, he discovered, by chance, the entrance to an abandoned train tunnel. Over the next few years, he spent many hours exploring the tunnel and after looking at an old map realized that it passed almost directly underneath his own house. His insatiable curiosity about underground spaces was born.

Years later, having procured funding from a research foundation and a book publisher to investigate underground spaces, he was off. For more than 10 years he ventured into those kinds of places noted above that most of us have a fascination for but would prefer to avoid. His adventures took him into the New York Subway, even the abandoned parts, the Paris Catacombs (one wonders if he and MacFarlane may have met in passing), into the sacred caves and founding myths of the Lakota, into ancient underground cities of the Maya and even, following Aboriginal songlines, into a 35,000-year-old ochre mine in the Australian outback. 

"It is in our connection to the underground", Will Hunt says, "that the old ways survive. In the subterranean dark, lost memories rumble awake. We become raw and vulnerable, sensitive to the world's soft enchantment, attuned to the quiet parts of our mind."

"Today, as I move through the world, I feel the presence of the spaces beneath me, and am reminded how much of our existence remains in mystery, how much of reality continues to elude us, how much deeper our world runs beyond what we know. And from day to day, nothing leaves me so enlivened and hopeful and full of grace."

I highly recommend both Underland and Underground. Both of these gifted authors travel to places I've not even mentioned and both captivate us with their descriptive prose, their courage, their ability to share historical perspective and their willingness to share their emotional journeys. 

Both books highly recommended!

Buttermilk

Let's talk for a bit about buttermilk.

Firstly, when milk is churned into butter, the liquid left behind is called buttermilk. It is a liquid mostly devoid of fat, thus putting to bed the opinion that buttermilk is high in fat. Just not so.

Secondly, the buttermilk we buy at the grocery store is not the kind of buttermilk left from churning butter, but a more interesting variety involving a microbial culture, more similar to yogourt. 

Third, I'm sure I'm not the only one who notices that often, when we have a recipe requiring buttermilk, there isn't any in the fridge. And how often have we looked at the buttermilk in the grocery store (at least where I live) sold only in 1-litre containers, and thought about how much of it might be wasted.

Fourth, you may already be shouting at me that having no buttermilk on hand is not a problem, since there is an easy substitute: 

Place 1 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar into a 1 cup measure, then fill it up with milk, any % milk fat will do. Let sit for 5 minutes, then use in your recipe in place of buttermilk.

While this substitution is very handy and I've used it multiples of times in the last 56+ years, it's not an ideal solution because it lacks the lovely flavour of real buttermilk.

I have just recently come upon a MONUMENTAL LIFE-CHANGING KITCHEN TIP!! I'm going to share it with you. 

One thing about store-bought buttermilk that you may notice right off the bat is that it has a long shelf-life. Once home in your fridge, buttermilk is likely still good even a week or two past the best before date on the carton. 

But, and here is the life-changing information, did you know that you can make this commercial buttermilk last forever? In your own kitchen?

All you have to do is this:

**

Place 1/2 cup of store-bought buttermilk in a clean container such as a Bernardin jar. Add 2 cups of milk and a pinch of salt and stir well or put the lid on and shake. Leave the jar to sit (I left the lid off and covered it with a paper towel + elastic band) on your kitchen counter for 24 hours and then, magically, the mixture will have thickened and become BUTTERMILK!! Now, lid on and store in the refrigerator. I date mine to keep track of how old it is.

**

  

For easy reference, the proportions are:

1 part buttermilk: 4 parts milk, any variety 

plus 1/8 tsp Kosher salt for each cup of milk used.

This homemade buttermilk is even better than the commercial variety. It's thick and gloppy and has a delicate flavour that tastes great. It will last several weeks in your fridge and before it dies a natural death, you can propagate it anew. In other words, it will last forever and you'll never have to buy buttermilk again.

🙋

Health Benefits of Buttermilk: 

Besides all the benefits of the vitamins and minerals found in dairy products that support healthy bones, cultured buttermilk contains bacteria in the same way that other fermented dairy products such as yogourt and kefir do. These microbes promote a healthy gut by supporting its microbiome. The lactic acid present in cultured buttermilk, formed by the result of bacteria fermenting the lactose in milk, increases its acidity, making it more digestible than regular milk and also extends its shelf life. Other possible benefits include improved blood pressure and oral health.

Uses:

What to use all this buttermilk for? Baking muffins, biscuits, scones and pancakes, using in batters, salad dressings and soups. Try mashing your potatoes using buttermilk. The other day I make a beautiful puréed parsnip soup that benefited highly from a swirl of buttermilk on top just before serving. And finally, use it to make more buttermilk.

Recipes:

Best Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients

·        2 cups all-purpose flour

·        2 tsp baking powder

·        1 tsp baking soda

·        ½ tsp salt

·        3 tbsp sugar

·        2 large eggs, lightly beaten

·        3 cups buttermilk

·        4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

1.       Heat griddle to 375F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Whisk in the eggs, buttermilk, and butter until combined. The batter should still be slightly lumpy.

2.       Grease the griddle with butter. Using a ½-cup scoop, pour the pancake batter onto the griddle, leaving about 2 inches in-between pancakes. When pancakes start to have bubbles in the center and the outsides start to look a bit dry, flip. Cook until golden on the bottom, about 1 minute.

3.       Repeat until all of the batter is used up. Serve with maple syrup.

Notes

Recipe from Martha Stewart and Joanne Eats Well with Others

Serving size: 3-4 pancakes

(the two pancakes in the photo above were the last bit of pancake batter and I added half a banana mashed up to it - yum!)

Cranberry Orange Scones

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

3 tbsp sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp finely grated orange zest

5 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2/3 cup buttermilk, with an additional 2-3 tbsp if necessary

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and orange zest.
2. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in dried cranberries.
3. Make a well in the centre of the mixture. Add buttermilk and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Use a little more buttermilk if dough is too dry to come together.
4. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Shape into an 8-inch round. Transfer to baking sheet. Cut circle into 8 wedges, spacing them 1/2 inch apart. (To prevent sticking, dust knife with flour)
5. Bake until golden, 18 - 20 minutes.

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Elisey Mysin

How about this confident young man! He's 8-year old Russian piano virtuoso Elisey Mysin. Here he is in 2019 playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Major from memory.

Saqib Shaikh and his Virtual Reality Glasses

 Saqib Shaikh, Software Engineering Manager and Project Lead for Seeing AI at Microsoft tells his story. 

To get this technology to as many people as possible, the research project has evolved to be a free smartphone app, released in 2017.