Thursday, August 8, 2013

The Essential FLAX



I received the most fun book today.  I used to have it, who knows where it went but now it's back. It's like a boomerang.   "The Essentials of FLAX" helps you understand how useful this seed is. You can of course eat it as a nibbling-snack or sprinkle it in blender drinks or on cereal.   One of the classic uses for Flax is soaking them in water to create gelatinous gel.   Afterwards, the seeds are discarded.  They can then be dried and mill with an end product of flax meal.

The gel has a suspending nature.  Tiny particles stay solid in coagulated liquid.  The texture is much like egg whites.  Like eggs, you can whip the gel to create whipping cream or use for a type of craft.  Traditional papermakers add the Flax gel to shredded paper fibers.  This helps the flower petals stay suspended in the water mixture.

I did not know the full nature of Flax until I explored this little book.  Flax is rich in Fat and contains 20% Protein.  Dessert countries used flax in abundance.  Pregnant women can drink the tea and women of all ages can benefit from the small amounts of phytoestrogen.  On-line you'll find recipes for teething biscuits, for human and pet, and scone recipes.   All cycles of human development can use Flax.