Pawling Nature Reserve--Earth Day--Any Day

Winter's snow is finally melting; spring arrives in two days; and the woods will soon become accessible again. Planning an Earth Day outing? Looking for local destination to commune with nature? The Pawling Nature Reserve, a 1000 acre preserve located on border of Pawling and Dover, has six marked trails to explore, and can be easily accessed from three points:

Quaker Lake Road in Pawling

  Route 22 in Pawling, across from Native Landscaping, at the Appalachian Trail crossing

Furlong Road in Dover

When traveling Route 22 look for the following signs to locate the Dover entrance.

Turn onto Furlong Road. Travel straight for 500 feet.

Across from the Drop'n Lock.

A color coded map with intersecting trails, including the Appalachian, is available on the Pawling Nature Reserve website.  Look for the colored markers on trees at eye height to follow the trails shown on the map.  Because it is a preserve, pets are not allowed.

No matter where you enter the reserve, 

enjoy vistas,

hemlock forests,

streams,

1000 acres of preserved nature.

Almond Milk, Pure and Simple

Ingredients: water,
almonds, honey,
salt and vanilla

Almonds appears on most lists of foods we're encouraged to eat because of their healthy fat, vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. They're reported to help lower cholesterol, prevent cancer and reduce the risk of heart disease. Due to these many benefits, I added almond milk to my diet a few years ago. Recently, I decided to take the next step. Rather than buying boxed almond milk, I avoid plastic lined packaging and pass up: tricalcium phosphate, cane juice, "natural flavors", gellan gum, dipotassium phosphate, xanthan gum, d-alpha-tocopherol, and even in organic brands, carrageenan, by making it at home. Carrageenan, the ingredient added to commercially produced almond milk to keep it from separating, has been linked to digestive diseases in laboratory animals, so it makes sense to keep it out of my cereal bowl.  

As an added bonus, I start with one cup of almonds and end up with three cups of milk and one cup of almond meal for baking.

  Place almonds in a pint ball jar; fill jar with water and salt;
and soak overnight (for 8-12 hours).
 Rinse and drain the almonds.

Ingredients:

1 pint jar

1 cup raw almonds 

½ teaspoon of salt

3 ½ cups water

½ teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey 

   Blend almonds with 3 ½ cups water for one minute on high.

       Rinse the jar.
Pour milk through a cloth lined sieve that drains into a funnel over the jar.
 Use a tightly woven cloth to trap the small nut particles.  

 Gently squeeze the cloth to release the milk.
Scrape nut meal from cloth.
Repeat until all the milk has been strained. 

Rinse out the blender to remove the nut pieces.
Pour the milk back into the blender. Add the vanilla and sweetener;
blend on low for a few seconds to combine.

Refrigerate, freeze, or dehydrate the nut meal to add to future baked goods.
You can replace a portion of flour or grain with nut meal in many recipes.

 Pour the milk back into the jar to store in the fridge for up 5 days.
(Shake jar before using.)

Enjoy the nutritious milk in its reusable container with no unnecessary additives.