keljonma
Epicurean Goddess
Hattie! Glad to see you here!
Thanks for the tip on the sherry. I think I'm going to use that one...
Thanks for the tip on the sherry. I think I'm going to use that one...
Hi Hattie! I have had the pleasure of reading your herbal(and most everything else) expertise on TEG! You will sooo fit in here!Hattie the Hen said: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.Hattie the Hen said:Hi there!ORChick said: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.)
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
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 said: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.