Cucumbers are the gold medal winners in my 2010 garden. I can't give them away fast enough, and they grow monstrously large if not picked hourly; cukes love to play hide and seek. I decided to juice the bigger ones, figuring I'd take cool baths with cucumber juice, read some Jane Austen, and pretend to be the favored daughter of respected but cash-poor Victorian aristocracy who gets the guy and the horse at the end.
But first, I tasted it.
How oddly refreshing, I thought. So I shared the beautiful green juice with a friend who gagged, shuddered and softly said, "This tastes like someone else's spit." Well, that got me to thinking about the old woman who once was my mountain neighbor, and the day I was stung by five yellow jackets while transplanting zinnias. She reached in her mouth, pulled out a wad of tarry tobacco spit, and daubed it on my stings. Instant relief! Could cucumber juice have the magic properties of Lily Wykle's spit? If a garden produced spit, would it come from a cucumber? Well, yeah. There has to be something productive to do with those overgrown blimps.
How to Juice Cukes: wash and slice your cukes in half, no need to peel if they're organic; scoop out the seeds ONLY if they offend you; cut up the slices into large chunks. Place chunks into your blender or food processor. Puree until smooth; pour the puree into a strainer lined with cheesecloth; after a few minutes, you may want to help the juice separate from the pulp by gently squeezing and wringing out the cheesecloth; save the pulp for later use. Pour into a glass container and chill.
How to Serve: straight up, or, with a squeeze of fresh lemon, or frozen into cubes and floated in a glass of water or a Bloody Mary. Make sure the juice is well chilled, and give your taste buds a day or two to adjust. The more you sip, the better it becomes. Open your mind and heart to cuke juice; the benefits will be obvious soon enough.
What people are saying about cucumber juice (other than the spit comment):
http://www.healthandnutritiontips.net/cucumber_juice/cucumber_juice.html
But first, I tasted it.
How oddly refreshing, I thought. So I shared the beautiful green juice with a friend who gagged, shuddered and softly said, "This tastes like someone else's spit." Well, that got me to thinking about the old woman who once was my mountain neighbor, and the day I was stung by five yellow jackets while transplanting zinnias. She reached in her mouth, pulled out a wad of tarry tobacco spit, and daubed it on my stings. Instant relief! Could cucumber juice have the magic properties of Lily Wykle's spit? If a garden produced spit, would it come from a cucumber? Well, yeah. There has to be something productive to do with those overgrown blimps.
How to Juice Cukes: wash and slice your cukes in half, no need to peel if they're organic; scoop out the seeds ONLY if they offend you; cut up the slices into large chunks. Place chunks into your blender or food processor. Puree until smooth; pour the puree into a strainer lined with cheesecloth; after a few minutes, you may want to help the juice separate from the pulp by gently squeezing and wringing out the cheesecloth; save the pulp for later use. Pour into a glass container and chill.
How to Serve: straight up, or, with a squeeze of fresh lemon, or frozen into cubes and floated in a glass of water or a Bloody Mary. Make sure the juice is well chilled, and give your taste buds a day or two to adjust. The more you sip, the better it becomes. Open your mind and heart to cuke juice; the benefits will be obvious soon enough.
What people are saying about cucumber juice (other than the spit comment):
- Cuke juice helps with aching, painful joints – and after 2 days of juicing cucumbers I was pain-free
- Cucumber Juice is extremely good for your hair, skin and nails
- Cucumber Juice is high in potassium - a great natural source of electrolytes
- Cucumber Juice can help lower your blood pressure
- Cucumber is a wonderful source for silica
- Silica is important for healthy connective tissue, ligaments, cartilage, muscles, tendons, and bone
- Cucumber juice supplies the body Molybdenem, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Manganese, Tryotophan, Magnesium, and Chlorophyll
- Cucumbers are a great way to cool down your body's inflammatory response
- Cucumber is very alkaline; cancer cannot live in an alkaline environment
- Cucumber juice is also used to heal and cure issues with acne, water retention, arthritis, kidneys, eczema, psoriasis, and hair loss (really? hair loss?)
- Cucumber juice is a diuretic and therefore has wonderful cleansing powers
I've gotta try this sometime. Only we don't have quite enough cukes in the garden. Hm.
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