A sense of accomplishment

Ice on the windshield

The weather has been cold and dreary lately but Charlie and I beat the weather today to get a lot accomplished.  It felt really good too -- to be productive.
While I cleaned the kitchen after a week of neglect, Charlie re-attached our mailbox to it's post (I believe a snowplow launched it into the ditch rather than vandals).  We also replaced our furnace filters and ran a bunch of errands.  I've also baked a cake and have bread dough rising.  Tonight is all about relaxing now.

Limoncello

I finally had a chance to deliver some of my homemade Christmas gifts to my friends and now I can tell you about what I made.  I made Limoncello for the first time and gifted bottles of it to some of my friends.  You can find all sorts of recipes for limoncello on the internet, so I'm not going to post one -- just the basic idea.  

I used approximately 20 lemons and 2 - 750 ml bottles of everclear (grain alcohol).  You only use the zest of the lemons -- I used a very sharp paring knife to be sure I didn't get any of the white pith.  The pith will make your limoncello bitter.  You could also use a zester but then you have to use filters to get the particles of zest out of the alcohol.  Anyway, I let the lemon zest soak in the strong alcohol for one month to infuse the alcohol with the essence of the lemon.  

After one month, I made a simple syrup (about 4 cups of water and the same amount of sugar dissolve over heat) and blended the syrup with the alcohol.  Immediately the alcohol gets a nice cloudy quality to it.  I love the way limoncello looks!  I purchased bottles from specialtybottle.com and bottled the limoncello right away.  The limoncello mellows with age, so it is nice to let it rest for another month if you can resist drinking it right away.  The limoncello should be served ice-cold.  I'm tucking a bottle of it away for a hot weekend next summer -- I think it would be splendid in the heat of summer.

That's all you have to do to make an amazing liquor beverage that is great to give at Christmas time.  It is not cheap, but it is easy (besides the hours spent to peel all those lemons).  When I was done peeling, I wasn't sure what to do with all of the lemons.  I ended up juicing them and pouring the juice into ice cube trays to freeze.  After freezing, I put the cubes in a freezer bag and dated the bag.  I figured I could then thaw them as needed throughout the year for any recipe that calls for lemon juice (I'm suddenly hungry for tabouleh salad - yum!).  

As it turns out, a couple of weeks later I decided to start making wine.  Making limoncello is the reason I chose to make lemon wine in the first place -- to use the abundance of fruit juice that I already had on hand.  As an update on the wine -- today I syphoned the wine into a new glass jar to get rid of some of the sediment at the bottom of the bottle.  I also tested the specific gravity and it is almost done.
Today I am also starting to venture into fermented tea -- or "Kombucha".  My good friend, Jen, gave me a chunk of her "mother" (the mushroom culture that turns tea into kombucha) yesterday when I visited.  I gave my dear friends limoncello and walked away with some of her amazing apple butter and some fungus (and got to try their cranberry wine too).  Stay tuned for more info on kombucha.

Wine making - the next step

The wine finally made it out of the primary and into the secondary container.  Last weekend I used a syphon (that also comes with the kit) to get it into this gorgeous one gallon jar.  Have I ever mentioned that I adore containers?  All sorts - jars, baskets, boxes, bags.  I love things that hold other things.  Is that odd?  This even shows in the background I chose for these photos - an Audubon Society bag I got with my membership.  Whoa, sorry for that rant.  I got off subject.

Anyway, the wine stays in this secondary for about 3 weeks now to finish the fermentation process before the next step.  See that funny thing sticking out the top of the bottle?  That is a very important contraption.  

You see, the yeast is still busy at work in the wine converting that sugar into alcohol.  There is a steady stream of bubbles floating to the top of the jar right now.  You can't just put any old cap on the wine right now -- your jar would explode.  But, you can't have it exposed to the air either (all sorts of funky stuff would try to live in it).  This is called an airlock.  There is water inside it.  It allows air to get out of the bottle, but not let air get back in.

It is a pretty nifty contraption if you ask me.  I am getting anxious for my first batch to be finished.  It smells like wine, but who knows how it will taste.
Also, one of the folks that helped inspire me to make wine in the first place may be willing to sell some of his equipment to me.  I guess he hasn't been making wine as much nowadays.  Here is a link to the original post that talks about his homestead.  He had some nice larger bottles so I could make larger batches.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he quotes us a good price.

200th post - Happy New Year!

Yes indeed!  I have finally made it to my 200th post.  It took 2 3/4 years, but here I am.  I would love to be one of those full time bloggers who manage to post something new and exciting every day or so, but that just isn't my life.  For the entire time I have been blogging, I have been working a crazy amount of hours at my job (and commuting an hour and a half each day).  

When I look back, a lot has happened since I started blogging.  Of course, the major thing is the purchase of our home here in the pines.  Now we are focused on improving the property and personalizing it.  I'm interested in the homesteading lifestyle - or "simple, agrarian self-sufficiency" (according to wikipedia).  Charlie is pretty supportive of the whole thing -- if I want it, he will help me make it happen.  I am quite grateful to have such a supportive husband.  

This year for Christmas, he got me a chicken coop!  I wanted chickens last year but never got around to figuring out some housing for them.  Our shed in the back yard wouldn't work for the task -- the roof is caving in and we are going to tear it down.  Anyway, we assembled the coop yesterday and it is ready to go for this Spring.  It is a fairly small coop, but plenty big to hold 4-6 chickens.  

Charlie assembling the coop...

The finished coop...

The two nesting boxes...
We will probably raise it up off the ground about a foot.  I am also going to be constructing a chicken tractor so they can spend the summer outside.  I would let them free-range, but because of all the trees we have, I'm concerned about predators.  I'm just really excited about the coop and the prospect of keeping chickens!
We have a few more projects planned for this year as well.  We have decided to cut down some clusters of box elder trees in the back yard and to smooth out the ground back there.  Right now there is a steep drop off back there from when the septic field was re-done.  We are gonna try to get a more gentle slope and clear out the brush so that I can plant a small orchard.  I realize it could be years before I get much fruit, but I'd like to use that space for something other than deer/turkey trails.
I'd also like to tear out that old shed, expand my gardening space (amend the soil in a few areas of the yard for plants that won't fit in the raised beds), and plant some fruit trees, bushes, canes, etc.  We also need to get the wood burning portion of our furnace checked for safety and have it cleaned out.  It would be nice to try it out next year, so we may need to stock up on some wood this year.
Other goals:  go fishing more often, explore food dehydration/freezing techniques, look into keeping rabbits, continue pursuing home fermentation, etc.  The list could go on and on.  Right now, we'll see what actually gets accomplished as the year progresses.  Life always seems to have it's curve balls and I hate setting anything in stone.  We also have a trip to Georgia in March (for a wedding) and a week in late summer to do with as we please (perhaps travel west?).  I'm itching for travel so I am really looking forward to these two mini vacations.
2011 has a lot of potential -- I can't wait to see what happens!  I hope you have an awesome new year!

Wine making - problem solving

I am finally moving forward in the wine making adventure.  I ran into a bit of a snag on the whole process right at the beginning and wasn't sure what was going on.
I had everything mixed together and sealed in the bucket.  I was checking in on it daily like the directions stated.  The goal is to give the mixture a stir and to measure the specific gravity as the wine ferments.  After a couple of days, I got worried.  The specific gravity wasn't changing.  In fact, nothing seemed to be happening at all.  I added some yeast nutrients to see if that would help.  It didn't.  The only other thing I could think of was that the yeast that had come with the kit had gone bad.  I had no idea how long that kit sat on the shelf before I bought it (or if it was exposed to extreme temperatures).  It took me a week or so to get over to the local wine making supply store, but I finally purchased some new yeast.
The new packet of yeast did the trick!  The day after I added it, I went to check on the "must", and was surprised at the change I found.  The juice was bubbly and acted like champagne when I tried to measure the specific gravity (lots of fizz and bubbles).  It continues to progress and tonight the specific gravity is getting closer to where I need it.  Today it smells like alcohol.  It is encouraging to see the change after the frustration of a couple weeks of nothing happening.
My only concern now is that I added too much yeast nutrient to the must.  I don't know what that will do to the finished product -- if anything at all.  Only time will tell.
Soon, I should be able to move the wine to the secondary bottle.  I'll have more photos at that time.

An update

Life is always busy for me around the holidays.  I've been spending my free time doing a bit of Christmas shopping and now I have to focus on getting the house ready for guests.  My family is coming over on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day to celebrate at our house.
I know I have been neglecting my blog lately.  Here's what's new:
The ground is covered with snow and it is absolutely beautiful around here.  I love the way pine trees look in the snow.  We have tons of birds at our feeders -- I can sit in my chair in the living room and watch them for hours (if I had the time).
Charlie and I bought a chest freezer to hold a pig that we bought from Uncle Dave (our prior landlord).  Yesterday we went to pick up the meat from the butcher.  Charlie mostly had steaks, chops, sausage and bacon made from the pig - no hams (the extra processing costs more).  We gave the hocks to his dad to make soups with this year.  After putting everything into the new freezer, I still have room for my freezer jam and plenty of room for storing more produce this year.  I enjoy canning and the idea of not needing electricity to put food by -- but I also enjoy how fresh food tastes when it is frozen instead of canned.  We will need to invest in a generator this Spring in case of power outages -- losing $300 worth of meat is not something I want to risk.
We also bought a new refrigerator/freezer at the same time we got the chest freezer.  Our old one was the original from when they built the house in 1975.  The seal was bad, it was making funny noises, and I know it was using much more electricity than it should have.  I'm hoping that even though we have a chest freezer now, our electric bill should go down just because both appliances are more efficient than the old fridge.
Next on the list is a new oven... but that is going to wait a while longer.
Other than the new appliances and the purchase of a pig, life is pretty much the same around here.  The stray cat is pregnant (either that or she is just getting fat from all the food she begs from me) and we are waiting for her to have her litter.  Work is work -- we are both blessed to have jobs that keep us very busy.  I got my first seed catalogue the other day and I get to start day dreaming about how much better my garden will be next year (hey, I can always hope).
That's about it.  I will try to post again soon.

Wine making -- the beginning

Wine making has been something that I've wanted to try for years.  For some reason I thought it would be difficult or take a lot of equipment.  A few of my friends have been fermenting various things and having some pretty decent results, so I was inspired to tackle the project myself.  

I purchased a simple one-gallon equipment kit from a beer and wine making supply shop in Grand Rapids last weekend.  I also picked up a hydrometer at the shop as it wasn't included in the kit.  After looking over the recipe book that was included, I decided to try lemon wine to start.  I had a lot of lemon juice in the freezer from another project I am working on (I'll tell you more about it after Christmas).  The recipe called for some white grape concentrate and some yeast energizer.  Luckily, I found a supply shop in Saginaw where I could get them -- so Charlie and I made the drive on Sunday to get the remaining items that I needed.  You could certainly piece together the items you need without buying a kit, and you might save a buck or two -- but I was more interested in saving time.  

So, the basics:  1. Sterilization is very important.  You don't want wild yeasts and funky stuff growing in your wine.  You add a Campden tablet (included in the kit I got) which contains sodium metabisulfite.  It acts as a sterilant and antioxidant.  I'm assuming this is the stuff that causes problems for people with sulfite sensitivities.  2.  Keep the air out.  The kit also comes with an airlock that allows carbon dioxide to escape while preventing air from entering.  3.  Patience and observation.  Obviously it takes time to make any fermented item.  Observation is the stage I am in right now with my batch.

On Wednesday night I mixed together lemon juice, white grape concentrate, sugar, water, Campden and yeast energizer.  I covered it and let it sit for 24 hours.  Thursday night it was time to add the packet of yeast and cover it again.  This morning I sanitized my hydrometer equipment and did a test.  

The hydrometer helps you test when the wine is "done" -- it tests the specific gravity of the solution it is floating it.  You don't have to be a scientist to do this, you just have to be able to read measurements.
My recipe calls for a specific gravity of 1.04 -- mine is at 1.12 right now.  After a few more days (testing on a daily basis), I should be able to syphon it into my secondary (the white bucket is the primary, a 1-gallon glass jar is the secondary) and let it do it's magic for a couple of months.  Then it gets bottled.  It is that easy.
The equipment ended up totaling about $40.  The white grape concentrate was NOT cheap.  $15 for one liter (but it will last a while).  The lemon juice was something I already had on hand that I didn't want to waste.  Considering this equipment will last a long long time, I think it was a pretty good investment.  I'm excited to try different flavors.  Now I'm going to be on the look out for orchards and u-pick places that might want to get rid of their left overs.  I also want to find some elderberry bushes next Spring and see what I can get when the fruit ripens.  Lastly, I want to plant some fruit vines/canes/trees around our property so I can grow my own.
Be warned -- I have no idea if I am doing things correctly.  I probably should have spent some time reading a book about wine making first.  I just decided to jump right in with the very basic instructions that came with the kit.    Luckily, I have friends that have been doing this for a while, and another friend that works at her family's vineyard (I would adore that kind of career!).  If I need help, I have some support from people who know what they are doing.
Stay tuned for more updates...