Let's Talk Garlic

Garlic is a kitchen essential. It keeps for a very long time, stored in the dark. It's an all around flavor -adder to most dishes. You can help yourself to whole garlic cloves for health benefits, and you can roast it for a sweeter taste. Garlic yields an unsurpassed unique flavor, and also fights off vampires. I recall a story where my Dad and brother were on a motorcycle, passing through a valley where they could smell the garlic. As a kid, he said "I bet there isn't a vampire within a hundred miles!".

Garlic is anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and an antioxidant. It can become anti-friend if you think it's odor offensive. But, think of the benefits! I love how garlic is good for so many things, like lowering cholesterol, boosting your immune system, and helping with blood circulation. I say here, here! Pass the garlic!

An acquiantance told me of her kid-cure, and all around ailment booster: Crush a clove of garlic in juice, and drink it down. She says she avoids doctor visits in this practice! Another friend eats a clove of garlic each night. I say, more power to you! I eat garlic as often as practical, and when I want to use it in cooking, I break off one clove from the head, and twist it, removing the skin. I crush it with the flat of my knife, and I mince it, or I'll thinly slice it. I have also thrown entire heads into the oven (sounds violent!) and then squeezed that into squash soup, or mashed potatoes.

Enjoy this wonderful, multi-ethnic (foods) member of the lily family!