Tomatoes, Zucchini & Lemons

Today I took the day off to get ready for a weekend at Orr Hot Springs, I took the day off to prep some food for us to bring to eat over the weekend. Last night, I checked the tomatoes -- some were really close so I decided to leave them on the vine for at least a few more hours of hot weather (Thursday was hot and Friday promises to be warm as well).

Well, this morning when I went out to the garden, I discovered that someone else beat me to one of my beautiful Paul Robeson tomatoes:

Believe me, that critter (likely a squirrel since there are small claw marks next to that groove), didn't eat enough to dissuade me from cutting out the chewed part and including that tomato in my raw lasagna. I got quite a few big tomatoes off the vines and a pile of cherry tomatoes (not all are pictured here).

That basil turned into a big pile of pesto - most of the pesto was frozen in ice cube trays. The tomatoes mostly went into my first attempt at raw veggie lasagna.

VEGGIE LASAGNA: This was the first time that I made the I managed to get some photos of the veggie lasagna as I got it started, but was so busy that I didn't have time to take more photos of the process of layering and the finished product.

This tasted really good, but there are a few things I learned:

• Making raw marinara with mostly sundried tomatoes and some fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt and a pinch of cayenne is the most brilliant idea ever. It results in a hearty, thick, delicious marinara that I wouldn't hesitate to heat up for pasta. This confirms my desire to get the solar dehydrator done ASAP so I can dry up a pile of tomatoes!
• Processed the pine nut ricotta too long -- resulted in something more like tahini rather than my friend's fluffy pine nut ricotta.
• Use a bigger baking dish - using a smaller baking dish does not mean you will make less.
• Using white truffle infused olive oil on the zucchini was a really good idea.

LEMONS - I also picked a pile of lemons from my friend Regan's yard to make a gallon of lemonade for our weekend at Orr. I also made a gallon of sweet tea using peppermint, spearmint and lavender.

REVIEW: Omnivore's Dilemma & In Defense of Food

Truly, I need to keep on top of current trends, so decided to read two of the recent Michael Pollan books to see what the fuss is about.

"Omnivore's Dilemma" takes the title from the concept that eating can be risky -- is that a good mushroom or will it make me sick? You have to take chances to learn about food, or find some other way to test it. Pollan follows the most common food ingredients through the chain and, ultimately, I think that what he has uncovered is that the Standard American Diet is making us sick.

This isn't exactly news -- Pollan's story and the way he illustrates the food chain, processing and consumption patterns is engaging and moves along at a great pace. It feels more like a description of a personal journey which I think would make this very appealing to a lot of people. It's not very didactic, and there are some funny parts in there. The chapters on hunting and mushroom hunting gave me some giggles.

Bottom line - don't eat processed food, support local farmers, even if they aren't necessarily organic (ask about "pesticide free" produce) and stop eating things that aren't food.

"In Defense of Food" was not nearly as good as Omnivore. It was basically like a beefed up magazine article -- wait, that's exactly what it was. It was a bit of a Cliff notes version of Omnivore, but definitely a good read for people who want to get the basic concepts and aren't
big readers. It also provides easy to follow guidelines for folks who need to be told what to do -- things like "Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food," "don't eat anything with more than 5 ingredients or with ingredients you can't identify or pronounce."

Mostly, just eat food, mostly plants, not too much.

Endangered Species Act - still threatened!

Hey! Did you write to your legislators about the Endangered Species Act yet? Well, here's a link that makes it easy to do so -- just put your information and zip and they send off the letter for you.

The new regulations would:

- Exempt thousands of federal activities from review under the Endangered Species Act;
- Eliminate checks and balances of independent oversight;
- Limit which effects can be considered harmful;
- Prevent consideration of a project's contribution to global warming;
- Set an inadequate 60-day deadline for wildlife experts to evaluate a project in the instances when they are invited to participate -- or else the project gets an automatic green light;
- Enable large-scale projects to pass without review by dividing them into hundreds of small projects.

Send a message to Kempthorne and members of Congress that these changes are unacceptable.

Crunchy Vegan's 100

I'm always up for a challenge and always happy to challenge others -- so here's a more eco-organic Vegan's 100 list -- this list eschews most highly processed and packaged foods (with some exceptions) and focuses on stuff you can find, grow or make yourself.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!

1. Fresh, home grown arugula (so radically different from Farmer's Market)
2. Pimientos de Padrón with homemade aoili
3. Wild Mushrooms (Fresh, local, non-cultivable like Golden Chanterelles, Candy Caps, etc.)
4. Golden Chanterelle Stroganoff with homemade pappardelle
5. Mangosteen
6. Avocado Tempura Uramaki
7. Fondue (chocolate, hot oil or broth)
8. Panzanella
9. Borscht
10. Homemade Baba ghanoush or hummus
11. PB&J sandwich
12. Pho (this can be found vegan!)
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Homemade mushroom pate (Moosewood has a classic recipe)
17. Fresh black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Homemade ice cream, sorbet or granita
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Haggis
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Muffalatta (olive) spread
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Spanakopita
33. Mango lassi
34. Raw fermented sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac (a really good one!)
37. Tamales dulces (strawberry, pineapple and chocolate are traditional in Mexico for the feast of the three kings in early January).
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Phaal
44. Raw coconut creme pie
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed (hijiki or wakame make great salads)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone mushrooms
54. Quinoa for breakfast with cinnamon, apples, almond milk and maple syrup
55. Belgian (style) beer, greater than 8.5%, locally brewed even better!
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Lemon bars
60. Homemade raw vegetable pickle
61. S’mores
62. Candied grapefruit peel
63. Hot pepper jelly with nut butter (plum habanero, apricot chipotle)
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Homemade chutney (apricot, peach, lemon - the sky's the limit!)
69. Fried plantain (green or sweet)
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho (so easy to make!)
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Moroccan tagine
75. Longan (like grapes with shells)
76. Pomegranate
77. Traditional Balsamico di Modena
78. Yukon Gold Mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Savory crepes
83. Saba and fresh local strawberries
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Michael Mina's does killer vegan!)
85. A meal at gourmet (or "high end") vegan restaurant, like Millennium
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. White chocolate
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Corn chowder
92. Kimchi
93. Rose harissa (recipe)
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Mole poblano
96. Homemade fruit preserves
97. Apple pie, any variety (rum raisin? yum!)
98. Polenta
99. Raw lasagna
100. Homemade sweet tea with fresh or dried homegrown mint (tip - sweeten with simple syrup to keep the sugar dissolved)

Vegan 100

Hannah, from Bittersweet, recently posted a list of 100 things every vegan should try (adapted from The Omnivore's Hundred).

This list includes things that are vegan or easily veganized, but it includes a lot of packaged products and soy. I'm going to post a green-non-processed Vegan 100 (more true to the original sentiment of the original list) .

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!

1. Natto
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea - I fuckin' hate tapioca. Bleargh!!
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk (allergic!)
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can - did it as a kid with regular canned stuff, but soy allergy and aversion to horrible processed foods prevents this one from ever being fulfilled.
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79. Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings - oy, again with the processed foods?
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips I had my share of butterscotch chips as a child -- unless there's a solid organic, vegan alternative, I'd take a pass on these!
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk - I'll stick with almond milk.
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough


I got most of these... and now, stay tuned for my Organic-Eco-Friendly Vegan 100 list....


Edited to add: Maybelle's Mom's Vegetarian 100 List

1. Edamame (?)
2. Cha Soba (?)
3. Arame (?)
4. Earth Balance Buttercream (soy allergy)
5. "Homemade" sprouts
6. Green Bamboo Rice (?)
7. Absinthe
8. Eat at a raw restaurant
9. Fresh (real) wasabi
10. Deep fried pickle
11. Fiddleheads (?)
12. Garlic stuffed olives
13. Smen (?)
14. Goji Berries (?)
15. Shiso or Perilla (?)
16. Amaranth (?)
17. Pomegranate molasses (?)
18. Water convulvulus (Water Spinach) (?)
19. Pea eggplant, Thai eggplant, green eggplant, Japanese eggplant, Indian eggplant, Sicilian eggplant...
20. A Zen Buddhist Vegan Meal (?)
    
21. Kohya Dofu (?)
22. Wild Asparagus (?)
23. Elderberry (?)
24. Candlenuts (kemiri) (?)
25. Salsify (?)
26. Nutritional Yeast (?)
27. Pandan (?)
28. Roman cauliflower (?)
29. Anything with acorn flour (?)
30. Poi (?)
31. Chaya (tree spinach) (?)
32. Pitahaya (dragon fruit) (?)>
33. Asafoetida (?)
34. Fried plantains
35. Basil seeds (?)
    
36. Cardoon (?)
    
37. Durian (?)
    
38. Ground Cherry or cape gooseberry (?)
    
39. Fresh waterchestnut (?)
    
40. Cashewnut cheese
41. Nettles (?)
    
42. Fake duck from a can, tofurky, or any prepared vegetarian product to resemble meat
43. Kimchi (?)
    
44. Masala Dosa (?)
    
45. Lotus Seed (?)
    
46. Matcha (?)
    
47. Loubie Bzeit (?)
    
48. Quince (?)
    
49. Blue Potatoes (?)
    
50. Injera (?)
51. Nasturtium (?)
    
52. Turkish Delight or Lokum (?)
    
53. Spruce tips (?)
54. Breadfruit (?)
    
55. Mangosteen (?)
    
56. Swede or Rutabaga (?)
    
57. Garlic Scapes (?)
58. Lavash (?)
59. Candied Angelica (?)
60. Rambutan (?)
61. Sambal (?)
62. Bhutanes Red Rice (?)
63. Candy-cane or Chioggia beets (?)
64. Mango
65. Ras el Hanout (?)
66. Vegan marshmallow (?)
67. Umeboshi (?)
68. Red Currants (?)
69. Puy or French lentils (?)
70. Millet (?)
71. Fresh Bamboo shoot (?)
72. Jerusalem artichoke (?)
73. Wild strawberry (?)
74. Jambool (?)
75. Po cha or Yak butter Tea (?) (not vegan! I can't tolerate cow, doubt yak would work)
76. Adzuki beans (?)
77. Shirataki (?)
78. Manioc, yuca, cassava (?)
79. Quinoa (?)
80. Ramps (?)
81. Chufa (?)
82. Purslane (?)
83. Curry Leaves (Kadipatta) (?)
84. Sorrel (?)
85. Sumac (?)
86. Vegan cupcake
87. Montreal bagel (?)
88. Peri-peri (?)
89. Syllabub (?)
90. Chartreuse (?)
91. Kamut berries (?)
92. Kalamansi Lime (?)
93. Aloe (?)
94. Morels (?)
95. Raw “bread”
96. Dandelion wine
97. Rosti (?)
98. Loomi (?)
99. Stinky tofu (?)
100. Something grown by you -- Every day!
     

Solar Dehydrator Intensive

My dear friend Jon loves carpentry projects -- he helped me out with the first step of the solar dehydrator project by taking me to Ashby Lumber to pick up supplies and then he cut up all the pieces a few weeks ago.

The project should have been easy enough to assemble -- but I was swamped with canning projects. My brother offered to help -- he thought it should be a snap, but Jon and I missed something in the tiny plans that resulted in a "Hey, we have a lot of extra 1" x 2"" and self-congratulatory slaps on the back for efficient chop saw use. My brother pointed out that the plans showed an internal frame -- four pieces on the backside of both vent ends and two pieces lengthwise.

Tonya Kay's sweetie made the construction of this solar dehydrator look easy, but we had some problems figuring out measurements for some of these things because of the difficulty of seeing all the parts on the plan. I also realize that he did a lot of modifications (using window screens and a totally different cover, for example).

My brother and I tried to figure out the correct dimensions of the internal frame - given that the sides are supposed to sit on top of the 48" square back. However, there was a slight miscalculation resulting in Tom cutting the pieces to totally fit flush along the edge of the back.

The other problem was that he was gluing as he was screwing -- instead of screwing everything together to make sure it fit, and then taking it apart, applying the glue and rescrewing it together. My brother didn't take this project as seriously as I wished -- he said, "Hey, it's just a box, we'll make it fit."

I tried to explain to him that this was now approaching $200 in materials, was to be used for food and had to have square edges with minimal gaps so that critters would be (mostly) kept away from the food -- to no avail. He accused me of "micro-managing" and wouldn't answer my question, "What is the problem with sticking to the plan if we have one?"

So, while the glue was still wet, I unscrewed the vent sides from the frame, then cut off the pieces that formed the frame. After a discussion with a neighbor who is a contractor, and my friend Jon about how to "make it work" -- a light went off in my head: use the other side!

Today, Jon and I put the dehydrator and shelves together. The biggest trouble we had was correctly figuring out the size of the internal frame. His plan was to put the internal frame together along with the sides -- it doesn't have to be an independently stable frame -- the internal frame just has to provide more stability. And, now that we have additional 1" x 2" along the outside edges on the back side, I think we have plenty of box stability.

I put together the shelves...

And then we had some beers and watched some movies. The next step is to paint and finish polyurethane.

Domain Added

The domain for this site has now been updated to reflect the title -- http://www.livegreenwearblack.com and http://livegreenwearblack.com/ now point to this blog correctly. Please update your RSS readers accordingly...

True story - the "options" offered by my domain registrar included:

livegreenweardark.com
livegreenwearopaque.com
livegreenwearviolent.com

I kid you not!

Save $$$ With Proper Produce Storage

DID YOU EVER WONDER why most modern refrigerators have two vegetable bins? It's not to keep your beer cans separate from your soda cans. I came across an interesting article on ethylene gas and proper food storage on vegan food blogger Kittee's website. I've heard about it before, and it was interesting to note that I already separate my food based on this.

Any amount of folk wisdom plus experience and observation will result in proper food storage, to a certain level, along with a sense of which fruit will ripen once picked and what will simply rot.

Certainly, I have picked up my share of tips at the farmer's market -- a tiny Chinese woman at the Heart of the City farmer's market told me the best way to preserve the giant bags of oranges is to spread them out on a baking sheet, with a towel underneath, so there is plenty of air between them, and eat the softest or ripest oranges first. Works great for other produce, too -- I do this with apples, peaches and apricots in the refrigerator.

Kittee's guide motivated me to do a bit of digging and found a great chart on how ethylene gas affects your produce. I also found a very comprehensive and useful guide to proper food storage on the website of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association.

Without further adieu, here's my guide to what should go into your two produce bins in the fridge, based on which fruits or veggies produce ethylene gas and which fruits or veggies will rot when exposed to too much of it (yes, even in low temperatures in the refrigerator).

Drawer 1: Fruit Drawer (Ethylene producers) Apples Apricots Avocados Bananas Cantaloupe Carambola (star fruit) Green onions Kiwi fruit Leeks Mango Nectarine Papaya Peaches Plums Tomatoes

Drawer 2: Potatoes, Onions, Garlic and Ethylene Sensitive Produce, including: Asparagus (gets tough) Unripe kiwi fruit Watermelon Beans - green & wax (sensitive to cold, causes russeting) Belgian Endive Berries (will get moldy) Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots (will get bitter) Cauliflower Cherimoya Cucumbers Eggplant Greens, lettuces Peas Peppers Persimmons Quince Squash - winter/dark skinned Sweet potatoes Watermelon

Exceptions & Notes:

• Potatoes, onions & garlic will sprout when exposed to too much ethylene, but have otherwise low sensitivity to it, hence the traditional co-mingling of potatoes, onions and garlic in the same drawer.
  
• Some unripe fruit -- like kiwis, bananas, avocados -- are very ethylene sensitive and can be ripened in a paper bag with an apple
• Cherries store with stems to prolong shelf life
• Grapes absorb odors from leeks & green onions, get moldy from Ethylene
• Rhubarb will absorb odors from avocado & green onions
• Peaches, pears, passion fruit & tomatoes produce and are very sensitive to ethylene - store the ripe fruit in a single layer in the refrigerator

Don't spend money on silly bags and indicators -- just buy what you need, use what you buy, and keep an eye on how you store things together in the fridge. You know, like companion planting -- this is companion food storage.

BONUS: If you have a big kitchen and lots of storage space with different places that keep stuff at different temperatures, check out this link to the UC Davis Vegetable Research & Information Center Guide to Harvesting & Storing.

FIVE Food Storage Spaces for Optimal (not tiny apartment kitchen) Storage:

• 2 crisper drawers in your fridge
• 45-55 degree/85-95% relative humidity space
• 50-60 degree cool dark place (basement, garage)
• 65-70 degree room temperature area out of direct light

Traditional vs Green & Effective Treatments for Burns, Cuts & Scrapes

OUCH! What do you do if you have a burn or a cut? Pull out the bandages and the Neosporin or bactromycin?

Well, that's what I used to do. I have had some pretty bad accidents and putting antibiotic ointment on scraps, burns and cuts was the "best" way to protect and heal such injuries.

Thursday, I burned the heck out of my arm on a very hot baking sheet. It's about 3" long and looks ugly -- no blisters, but the whole area around the 3/4" wide burn is very swollen. I put a gauze pad with some antibiotic ointment on it and wrapped it with a bandana (lacking bandage tape). After soaking in hot springs all weekend, I thought I should at least cover it up at work to protect it and realized all my ointment tubes (purchased in 2002 when I had a big skating accident) had expired years ago. So, I tossed them and went to Walgreen's to find bigger bandages and more ointment.

I must say - I was pretty shocked when I read the box and discovered that every single antibiotic ointment is based in petroleum jelly or "petrolatum." Not having many options at Walgreen's, I bought a Walgreen's triple antibiotic ointment tube and some Walgreen's waterproof bandages big enough to cover the burn.

After applying the ointment to the bandage and positioning it over my arm, I noticed some interesting reactions. About 20 minutes after applying the ointment, I felt like there were small hot stones under my hand and side of my arm. The skin didn't feel hot to the touch but something was happening. Less than 3 hours later, I had to yank the bandage because for almost 2 hours, it was killing me -- the adhesive was itching like crazy.

I shudder to think about the process of making adhesive, waterproof bandages -- I really do like the Nexcare bandages, they seem to work pretty well with my skin. I so rarely need to use bandages these days and it begs the questions:

What are the options? Why is petroleum jelly used in a product like this? Is it really safe to use?

ORIGIN & HISTORY OF PETROLEUM JELLY: According to Wikipedia, petroleum jelly was first discovered by workers on the country's first oil rigs as a buildup on the equipment -- but they discovered then it was applied to cuts and burns, it seemed to speed healing. Then, a young chemist patented the process of making petroleum jelly through vacuum distillation and filtration of the still residue through bone char.

Petroleum jelly is hydrophobic -- meaning it repels water -- and it should not be used on fresh burns because it traps the heat inside and can make the burns worse. During WWII, a type of petroleum jelly called "dark red veterinary petroleum jelly" was used in life raft survival kits to prevent sunburn because it nearly perfectly blocks UV rays. Vaseline is often used as a personal lubricant but it can dissolve latex condoms so is not recommended (other oils also break down latex, so you should use water based lubricants anyway).

COMMON USES: Vaseline is a pretty well known household name. Even I have had the same small container of it for 14 years -- I think I bought it while I was in Mexico and used it for protecting my boots. Come to think of it, it'll be the perfect lubrication for my small juice press. Lots of people use Vaseline for dry skin and for makeup removal. Petroleum jelly, or petrolatum, is used in a lot of cosmetics (lip balm, lip gloss, and ointments. The grade used is considered harmless but there are less refined grades which contain carcinogens.

Mineral oil is also made from petroleum and has a lot of effects on the skin and body which are the opposite of what you would expect. A website called "Skin Suicide" describes that mineral oil, as a petroleum product, "cannot be absorbed by the body. It "seals" the skin, clogs pores, attracts dirt and pulls essential trace minerals from the skin. It must be removed with harsh alcohol." Other sources note that cosmetic grade mineral oil is noncomedogenic but YMMV.

IS IT HEALTHY? Information on the safety of this ubiquitous product is hard to find. Even the Environmental Working Group's Cosmetic Safety Database entry for petrolatum is incomplete, though it is listed as a low risk ingredient.

It mentions possible contamination with PAHS but no real details there, either. There have been 876 studies listed in PubMed on petrolatum use -- that's a lot to wade through!

I also found this really lengthy debate about the safety and efficacy of petroleum jelly and mineral oil on a LJ forum.

My takeaways:

• petrolatum is a petroleum product - there are many reasons to avoid purchasing petrochemicals that are easy to identify
• petrolatum doesn't moisturize - it acts as a barrier to moisture and actually can dry out your skin
• petrolatum doesn't heal -- it can protect (ie, preventing blisters in humid/hot environments) but it is a barrier, not a healing agent

My recommendations are:

• tea tree oil (a natural anti microbial/fungal)
• lavender oil is supposed to work great on burns to relieve the sting (not so sure about broken skin)
• honey is always good on burns - it's a natural antibiotic
• herbal or homeopathic burn care ointments such as Quantum Derma First Aid or Weleda Burn care Ointment might be safer, healthier alternatives

Next, onto bandages...

James' Chai Recipe

My sweetie makes the best chai -- he did a lot of research and experimentation into what makes the most traditional, balanced chai. He's had to modify since I'm dairy-intolerant and can't handle a lot of caffeine in tea.

I've learned to make his recipe over the last year or so, but I now do some modifications of my own like adding more ginger or some star anise. Here's the basic recipe and instructions.

James' Chai

• 1 carton Pacific almond milk (vanilla if you want it sweet)
• 8 cardamom pods
• 1 thumb size piece of cinnamon -- about 1/2" of a stick - not a lot though maybe more if you use Ceylon (soft sticks) than if you have Cassia (hard sticks).
  
• 4 white peppercorns
• 4 cloves
• 4 thin slices of fresh ginger
• scant 3 Tb of loose Assam tea -Recommended: Brooke Bond Red Label Tea or Taj Mahal Tea (available at Indian markets). Large leaf teas do not work as well, but usable in a pinch, as are tea bags, though not recommended.
  

Process:

1. Pour almond milk into pot.
2. Turn heat on full.
   
3. Crush spices in mortar/pestle or on cutting board with knife handle (careful not to send peppercorns and cloves flying across the room).
4. Add crushed spices, tea and ginger to almond milk.
5. Bring just to steam -- you don't want it to go past "just starting to simmer" because the almond milk will separate.
6. Turn off heat and put on lid, allow to steep 15 minutes.
7. Heat on medium to steaming, then remove from heat and serve. Pour through fine metal mesh tea strainer or into a teapot with a fine metal mesh insert.
8. Enjoy!