What are you fermenting today?

[freemotion]

Oh, I never though of that!!! I thought it was dh!!!

Next time, and I am noting this in my recipe......I am filling quart jars half-way. I will consolidate the jars when the fermenting is done! They need until Monday noon....I can't imagine anything will be left by then!

I am too afraid to open the jars while under so much pressure, so the science experiment continues.......stay tuned for the next installment!

 

[Wifezilla]

So if I have raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, can I add wine and juice to it to "grow more" so to speak???

I put up a gallon jar of refrigerator pickles yesterday. Cucumbers were 5/$1 at the local Mexican grocery. I added a sweet onion from the farmers market, some chive blossom vinegar (home made) and spices. I also added some dried stevia leaf for a bit of sweetness.

 

[sylvie]

I'm new here ( I have been over here, lurking for a few months now). I came via BYC & TEG (same user-name). I wasn't sure that I fitted in because I don't have more land than my gardens. I do have chickens, & will happily eat those who are surplus or aggressive. I am keeping myself in vegetables once again -- after a few years off due to illness. I own a lot of tools which I love to use.

I'm looking forward to learning a lot from you all & joining in the discussions. I have enjoyed them a lot in my "lurking mode"!

Hattie

Hi Hattie! I have had the pleasure of reading your herbal(and most everything else) expertise on TEG! You will sooo fit in here!

 

[ORChick]

I started some ginger beer this morning. I got the recipe here: http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2007/05/ginger-beer.html and made it for the first time last year. I changed the recipe in that I used fresh, grated ginger (about twice as much as dried), and honey instead of sugar. I recently saw that Sally Fallon has a similar recipe in "Nourishing Traditions".

(A little preserving trick for those who like ginger, but not the price - if you find fresh ginger at a good price buy however much you want, take it home, and peel it all; drop the pieces into a clean jar, and cover with white rum or vodka, and then store in a cool spot. I buy several pounds every Spring when we are in the SF Bay Area at a little Indian market that I know (at 49 cents a pound last time ). The ginger stays good through the year, and even longer if I buy more than I can use up.)

Hi there!

I just wanted to say that you can store fresh ginger in sherry too. Personally I prefer this as I then use the liquid in Chinese & Japanese dishes where it substitutes for their wines. It is also much cheaper here in the UK.

I'm new here ( I have been over here, lurking for a few months now). I came via BYC & TEG (same user-name). I wasn't sure that I fitted in because I don't have more land than my gardens. I do have chickens, & will happily eat those who are surplus or aggressive. I am keeping myself in vegetables once again -- after a few years off due to illness. I own a lot of tools which I love to use.

I'm looking forward to learning a lot from you all & joining in the discussions. I have enjoyed them a lot in my "lurking mode"!

Hattie

Welcome Hattie. I love the area around Oxford; I spent a fair bit of time there in my youthful wanderings around GB - my cousins lived in Steeple Aston, and were my home base.
I have tried the ginger in sherry, but must admit that I didn't like it. The taste of the sherry got into the ginger, and didn't improve it in my opinion. Which is why I went to the flavorless vodka. But I can see that the leftover sherry might have more use than the leftover vodka

 

[freemotion]

WZ, have you made these before with stevia? If so, how did they come out? If not, you'll have to keep us posted as to how they come out, and if the stevia sweetens them nicely. I have stevia in my tea garden this year.....and cukes and dill and onions, so......

 

[ORChick]

So if I have raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, can I add wine and juice to it to "grow more" so to speak???

I put up a gallon jar of refrigerator pickles yesterday. Cucumbers were 5/$1 at the local Mexican grocery. I added a sweet onion from the farmers market, some chive blossom vinegar (home made) and spices. I also added some dried stevia leaf for a bit of sweetness.

Personally I wouldn't mix the two (ACV and wine) to any great extent, the flavors would get too muddled I should think. However, when I first started making vinegar I started with apple cider (unpastuerized) as that seemed to be "idiot proof" - that is, I figured that it would turn to vinegar whatever I did, or didn't do . And I was right. Once I had the vinegar process going I added about a cup of my active ACV to some red wine, as wine has sulphites in it to keep it from turning to vinegar easily. So, red wine vinegar with a bit of ACV happened. Then I put a bit of that into white wine (which is even less likely to turn to vinegar on it's own) and eventually I had white wine vinegar with enough red wine to make it pink, and a tiny bit of ACV. Now I keep the different ones separate, using a bit of the older, active cultures to start each new batch.

 

[Wifezilla]

freemotion, this is my second batch with stevia. I like it

Since I am using dried stevia herb and not an extract, you can still get a bit of "green" flavor from it, but it mixes well the other spices and the cucumber flavor.

If I find the batch isn't quite sweet enough, I have no problem putting a bit of erythritol (or even splenda) in it. When I started making sugar-free refrigerator pickles, I started with an erythritol/splenda mix and they turned out great.

I say give the stevia a try. I haven't tried it with fresh leaves yet, but I got a plant at Walmart a couple of weeks ago. I planted it in a pot so I can move it indoors and hopefully keep it going over winter.

 

[Dace]

Hi Hattie

I think I speak for us all when I say, on this forum we all seem to embrace the notion that this is a path that we are all walking at our own pace. Some are further along than others and a lot of us will never reach full SS destination We don't judge how far you are on that path we just enjoy sharing the journey!

Glad you have joined us

 

[Dace]

Can someone clue me in on the mead? I have heard of it but really know nothing about it.

DH and I used to make beer it was lots of fun and lots of work. I would like to do it again, but I think it will be too expensive to buy everything again. It would be kind of fun to give out at the holidays though!

 

[freemotion]

Hi Hattie

I think I speak for us all when I say, on this forum we all seem to embrace the notion that this is a path that we are all walking at our own pace. Some are further along than others and a lot of us will never reach full SS destination We don't judge how far you are on that path we just enjoy sharing the journey!

Glad you have joined us

I think you do speak for all of us, and quite well! I don't know that it is even my goal to be totally ss! I enjoy the journey and the experiments and the ebb and flow that life requires. We all welcome you, Hattie!

Today has been devoted to catching up on laundry and some cleaning (NEVER caught up, even remotely! I like the projects too much! ) but I did make a batch of fermented ketchup. I made a bunch of changes from the recipe, and it is something I never made before, so.....I'll share my version if it works out.

DH is on his way home, he stopped and got me the stuff I need to make fermented mustard. I really want to have a cookout and introduce some of my friends to some healthy foods. When I've snuck some in here and there, they have taken little servings to be polite, then went back for the big servings after carefully and suspiciously tasting!