Kefir – Dairy

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Many moons ago (2010 or so…) I was driving to the Bay Area every month to attend goddess circles with this amazing woman Ayla. Part of what she offered for those of us coming from far away was a room for rent and breakfast the next morning. This was the first time I had a chance to really enjoy fermented foods, in particular kefir. The first morning I woke up there, on her beautiful 5 acre slice of magic it was to a fresh strawberry and dairy kefir smoothie accompanied by overnight dairy kefir fermented pancakes and a spicy greens frittata. It was a revelation. Ayla eventually moved to Oregon to her dream land and is now hosting her life changing womyn’s workshops online. There is a special place in my heart for her magickal foodwifery and everything I learned as a part of that group.

Dairy kefir is ridiculously simple and the grains are traded online and sold on amazon. Ayla gave me my first water and dairy grains, I carried them home like the precious cargo they were. The dairy ones you simply mix with about a cup of milk, in an ideal world it would be milk that is freshly milked and unpasteurized but who has access to a cow or goat in the city? So regular milk that is NOT ultra pasteurized (ultra pasteurization kills all the healthy bacteria you are trying to cultivate) will work.

This kefir requires a little more attention than water kefir which is kind of like a fermented soda as, once it gets going, needs to be drained and refilled every other day or so. When I have chickens this is a great treat for them on days that I don’t have a specific use for it.

Fermenting grains with the kefir breaks them down into a more digestible form and changes the taste of the grains to something akin to sourdough. Basically, mixing the kefir with the flour the night before and letting it sit overnight means that those of us who have issues digesting grains will find it a little easier (I do anyway). Combine that with fresh ground, organic, non-GMO wheat and you’ve got a delicious start to something that is much easier on your digestion.