Pomegranate vinegar

I'm taking advantage of Baby J napping, Ben "watching" football, and Bee reading stories to my incredibly patient 11-year-old cousin.

On Wednesday (after T was nice enough to let me and the kids stay all night with her and her clan) I made pomegranate vinegar with my Aunt T. We've done this for several years now, and I always look forward to the whole experience.

I really love being with T anyway. She and I get along really well, and she's a really good example to me. I've watched her parent, cook, clean, decorate, and just teach in general with her welcoming, kind way of being. She's so wonderful, and I hope that I can be like her some day. For now I'm content to drink tea and think of her, and do my best to imitate the sweetness she has.

Making the vinegar was icing on the cake, though. There's something about breaking open a nice crisp pomegranate, with a little splatter of juice that you can smell more than feel. I think that that particular red is one of my favorite colors. I love the texture of the arils, too...just waiting for you to pop them. Sometimes when I toss a handful into my mouth I feel like a little kid who's excited about popping bubble wrap! :-) Something about working to get to their wonderful-ness makes them even more fun, I think.

The recipe calls for 2 cups of smashed pomegranate arils (of course with the juice), 3 cups of red wine vinegar, 1/3 cup of honey, a tablespoon of coriander, and six 4-inch strips of orange zest. The only special thing you have to do is dissolve the honey into the red wine vinegar...then you just toss everything else into a jar, let it sit for two weeks, and strain it. It'll keep for a couple of months, with a little bit of fall all winter long.

I mean, doesn't that just speak for itself??? When you pour the honey into the red wine vinegar, there's some sort of initial chemical reaction that happens, and you can smell the edge coming off the vinegar and the honey smell comes through almost strong enough that you taste it. Then the pomegranate arils are beautiful, and when you crush them they turn a darker color. Zesting the orange sent a citrus-y smell all through the kitchen (I smelled delicious for the rest of the day!), and the soft, almost non-smell of the coriander softens everything together.

And it looks lovely in a jar.

The combination of textures and smells, plus being in a nice safe environment where I could revel in them (because T is just the same way!) was the highlight of this week. After we were all done, I had to pack up the kids and run on....but I told T thanks for letting me come to her beautiful home. I always feel safe there, and it's a nice home to be in since I can't go to my valley house any more.