Juicing
 

I just got a juicer, not so much because I have bought into the folklore about fresh vegetable and fruit juices having magical health-enhancing or curative properties, but because I like the taste, and bottled juices are expensive.

It's been fun to experiment with it. For example, today I made a batch of deep red juice using sweet cherries, black grapes, a beet, purple carrots, apple, spinach, lemon, and lime. It's beautiful, and I think it tastes delicious. I left the skin on the lime, but I peeled the lemon.

The instructions say to consume the juice immediately. Since it isn't pasteurized, they have to say that, because over time the bacteria in it could multiply to dangerous levels. But there are responsible ways to extend the life of the juice by a day or two. One is to make sure it is fairly high in acid, either by including citrus or adding Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and/or citric acid. Another is to go ahead and pasteurize it. A third is to freeze it. You can freeze it in an ice tray and have something fantastic to put in smoothies.

Since it's a bit of a pain to get the ingredients together, wash them, pit them, cut them up, juice them, and then clean the juicer, I'm inclined to make more than I can drink at one time. But since chemo could make me immune-compromised, I also realize I need to be careful. Note that bacteria can still grow in frozen foods. They just do it more slowly.

Here's a resource on pasteurization: http://www.bccdc.ca/NR/rdonlyres/08C...idersafely.pdf

So what juice combinations do you like?