Dragoness Eclectic's Journal

I was cleaning out the pantry of dead grains I'd inherited from my mother a decade ago, tossing everything that had that sharp, musty smell outside for the birds. (They don't really want it, either). When barley and millet and other grains smell like that, and when they seem to have fine cobwebs knitting clumps together, it's time to compost them. Or what's left of them, after the mold has eaten out the good parts. Even hard grain doesn't store that long. (NB: if your flour smells like that, you kept it too long, toss it. Anything made with moldy flour tastes terrible).

My mung beans didn't smell off, but I was dubious that they would still be good after all these years. Still, I soaked a few tablespoons and stuck them in my sprouting tub and, after two days, they are showing some sprouts, so they're not all dead. With luck, we'll have bean sprouts in the salad in a few days.

The chick peas still smelled good, and I remembered that they were something I bought some years back, but not so far back as my late mom bought her health food collection. I didn't think they would keep indefinitely, though, so I decided to start using them for what I bought them for: hummus. I soaked them overnight, then boiled them for 4 hours (it took that long for them to soften up! Next time, I may amend the recipe to add the salt late in the boil). Then I applied my personal recipe, that I've been tweaking over the years. (Note to self: add recipe here when you find it on your hard drive...)

It came out pretty well; I'm finally happy with the amount of cumin flavoring it, though it could maybe stand more lemon juice, and next time I won't go so light on the salt. (I was worried about making it too salty; I should have remembered, this is my recipe, tuned to my tastes, not the general public's.) Sorry, didn't think to take any pictures; my skills are not in presentation in any case.