Vinegar

Year 5 - Day 176: Today, I am grateful for vinegar.

This is a first. Vinegar! How have I forgotten to celebrate the many uses of vinegar?


It is a household cleaner that is eco-friendly in every way. And, it works. 
It transforms cucumbers into pickles. Pickles are good.
It helps boring salad greens get dressed up.
It cleans my coffee maker, oven and mirrors.
Vinegar has a growing list of health benefits.
It is a primary ingredient in a most shared recipe... Groovy Green Dressing.

Yesterday... our church potluck came at the end of a busy week. I had not properly planned my dish to share. A salad or a dessert? The love of my life reminded me I had spinach and strawberries in the fridge that needed to be used. Problem solved! A summer salad with Groovy Green Dressing.

Oil and vinegar have dressed salads for years. This recipe is one of my most requested. My sweet friend Brenda Keller originally shared it about 25 years ago. I've been making and sharing it ever since. After 15 years, I decided I could claim it as my own. Vinegar, oil, sugar, green onion and some spices come together perfectly, pleasing many palates. I'm not a gourmet chef, but I love recipes that make me feel like one. 

Vinegar can, at first, be a bit shocking to the taste buds. but then it is pleasing. Gourmet vinegars are popular everywhere. 

This simple ingredient has a long history. The Babylonians used it 5000 BC. It has been found in urns from Egypt 3000 BC. There are records of vinegar in China 1200 BC. Ancient Romans used for dipping bread as early as 1000 BC. It is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. 

In ancient Greece, Hippocrates, who is considered the father of modern medicine, prescribed apple cider vinegar mixed with honey for a variety of ailments, including coughs and colds around 400 BC. We are rediscovering it's benefits today. 

Ancient Japanese samurai soldiers and Roman soldiers would drink diluted vinegar to increase energy and strengthen them for battle. The Romans called their beverage posca. 

Vinegar is mentioned in the Bible many times. 

Seriously... 4 1/2 years... and I have neglected vinegar in my gratitude posts. 

In the Book of Ruth, Boaz offers Ruth bread dipped in vinegar as a kindness at the beginning of what would be a brief Old Testament courtship. 

At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.” Ruth 2:14

Boaz and Ruth's family tree grew and from it came King David and then, Jesus. Their love story begins with him offering her bread dipped in wine vinegar as she was taking a break from collecting leftovers from his harvested fields. 

You never know where bread and vinegar shared might lead. 

Today, I am grateful for vinegar.