tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51407564456658788572024-02-07T01:19:01.999-08:00Microbiotic AlchemyDirt, booze, and microbes.Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-88006049071581166062011-09-14T08:47:00.000-07:002011-09-14T08:47:40.891-07:00Days of SummerGentle Readers,
Summer is winding down, and though I have enjoyed every moment of canning and preserving like a mad human, I must admit to being relieved that it's coming to an end. As my first full canning season, and my first big summer garden, I have had my hands full of projects these past months. Not to mention becoming employed at the end of May, getting married in California in June, and Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-89074520712430097652011-07-12T14:28:00.000-07:002011-07-12T14:28:30.318-07:00Drink of The Gods!Mead. Zeus drank it. Hoards of rampaging Vikings drank it. Now you, too, can revel in the glory of mead. Mead is honey wine, the first known fermented beverage. Ever. It has historically been a very common way to booze it up - and by common, I mean pretty much every culture has made and enjoyed some type of mead. Sadly, with the industrialization of alcohol production, it's pretty hard to find Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-80409993900970834862011-07-08T18:30:00.000-07:002011-07-08T18:30:53.821-07:00Variations on a BluebSummer is here, and that means canning season is in full swing. This time last summer I acquired my water bath canner and moved to Seattle. I was inspired to preserve food by my six month long journey around the country, staying at intentional communities and helping them grow their gardens and preserve what they produced. I learned how to can by making blackberry jam from foraging the Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-4484995632990819592011-05-26T16:37:00.000-07:002011-05-26T16:37:30.045-07:00Harder Cider“Wow, that is a lot of juice.” An older lady in the store said, ogling my cart. “I'm making cider.” I explained. “How do you do that?” she asked, a perplexed and slightly suspicious look on her face. “Well, basically you just add yeast and possibly sugar and let it ferment for a few weeks and then bottle it!” I exclaimed, happy to be sharing home brewing info with hapless passers by. “Huh.” Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-91881987580339370762011-05-09T10:23:00.000-07:002011-05-09T10:23:11.415-07:00Compost FailureI am not a compost expert. I have actually failed at composting. Here's how. When I lived in Seattle, my (awesome) landlords allowed me to garden and compost in the yard, and even surprised me by dropping off a black compost barrel for me to use. It was basically a huge plastic barrel with an open bottom, slits on the side, and a twist off top. I used it, but I moved away before the compost couldPaigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-58148023557695913842011-05-06T09:17:00.000-07:002011-05-06T09:26:42.249-07:00Starting Seeds (On The Cheap)Growing your own food, no matter how little you can manage, is perhaps one of the most empowering DIY projects you can take on. Since I moved to Boulder from Seattle, I've been working on starting a garden from scratch and adapting to the climate in Colorado. Much to my dismay, I wasn't around long enough to harvest very much of my garden in Seattle, except a bit of chard. I am hoping that this Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-14745942455126000272011-05-02T14:26:00.000-07:002011-05-02T14:26:10.928-07:00YogurtConfession time. It's hard for me to admit, but ... I ... don't like yogurt. I mean, I use it for a lot of things: in place of sour cream, on spicy food. Generally as a condiment I like yogurt just fine. Frozen yogurt is amazing. But eating a bowl of yogurt by itself? I can't do it. Only total desperation and a lack of food in the house can drive me to such an extreme and masochistic act.
Om Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-9182796674737267512011-04-29T08:38:00.000-07:002011-04-29T08:45:11.366-07:00IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!Sauerkraut and kim chi are both essentially lacto-fermented cabbage. In the case of kim chi, other vegetables, spices, and sometimes even shrimp are added to the cabbage. Having made both kim chi and sauerkraut, I can assure you that they are both super easy to make! If you have never had lacto-fermented vegetables before, they have a pleasantly sour, salty flavor, retain their crunchy Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-59296788595386143132011-04-27T09:17:00.000-07:002012-01-14T22:24:32.629-08:00Cider is awesome! Put yeast in juice! Drink!Warning: This post may have been written under the influence of hard cider.
Twenty bottles of cider - that's a lot of booze.
I'm not a beer drinker, and while I like wine, I love cider! Wine is perfect for romantic, swanky dinners, but for a casual meal, you can't go wrong with cider. If you've never fermented your own alcohol before, don't despair; cider is as simple as it gets.
WhatPaigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-6930687163304111972011-04-25T07:19:00.000-07:002011-04-25T14:23:45.283-07:00Basic Whole Wheat BreadIf you have never made bread at home before, this is a good first loaf to try. A lot of people are intimidated by bread making that isn't done by machine, but there is no reason to be! It does take a lot of time, up to 7 hours, but most of that time is spent waiting around doing nothing while the bread rises or bakes. Have a free day on the weekend that you are planning on spending on the couch Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-11420724025466580682011-04-20T13:48:00.000-07:002011-04-25T14:23:29.796-07:00Sourdough PancakesSo you have this little starter. Or perhaps it's not so little anymore. You feed it, and water it, you sing to it at bedtime. You nurture it, from flour and water, to a living, breathing creature. Think of it as a pet. Or rather, millions of little pets. Anyway. You put all this time and energy into creating something, and then, according to many sourdough recipes, you throw it away. Just Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140756445665878857.post-11863383475813406502011-04-19T11:51:00.000-07:002011-04-25T14:23:45.283-07:00How To - Sourdough StarterWelcome to the DIY Revolution! Why DIY? Some folks do it to save money, to cut back on fossil fuel use, to avoid processed food, to get back to basics, to learn ancestral skills, and to avoid the impending zombie apocalypse. Whatever your reasons are, they are good reasons. Therefore, I am going to skip over all that and focus on the practical.
I love bread. When I began baking at home, I Paigehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12714470647034509633noreply@blogger.com2