This morning, up at dawn, I looked around the kitchen and thought, goodness, there's a lot going on in here! So I thought I'd show you. The light was bad (again, dawn!), so everything looks extremely dingy, plus I didn't stage anything, but you'll get the nitty-gritty of what's happening around here pretty much every morning.
First, I was adding hot water to a mash for the chickens. It's hovering around 28-30 degrees each morning, and it's frosty out, so I like to give the chicks a hot breakfast. This is Bob's Red Mill muesli, into which I pour boiling water, then let it sit a bit to cool. They love it. (So do I, actually.)
Over by the toaster, there's some sauerkraut fermenting. Tom got this started the day after Christmas with our new recap fermenting caps and airlocks (thanks Stewart and Niki!). We figure this is the perfect amount of sauerkraut to have once a month.
Next to the salt and pepper, I have a mason jar newly dedicated to bacon drippings. I know, this is so Granny, but we throw out perfectly good bacon grease that I can use either for cooking or for making suet cakes for the birds. There's only a bit in here to start, but we'll add to it quickly.
To the right of the cooking spoons, Tom has a batch of cream cheese working. He'll strain this when he gets up and it'll be ready to use, tangy and creamy.
On my kitchen desk sits the last of the honey wine, ready to go to a co-worker of Tom's. (He likes to share things with the head of the Culinary Department at his college. Plus, it sounds like she is going to give us some homemade Kombucha in trade, which is excellent.)
Here's something else on my kitchen desk. It's not mine. But I think it's pretty cute and also pretty well sums up this household:
This is not the droid you're looking for.
Under my desk is a bottle of cider that is fermenting. Tom pitched some wine yeast in to it, put an airlock on it, and it's bubbling away. Hopefully we'll find some local apples to do this with next Fall.
Over next to the coffee maker, I have a heating pad plugged in and on its lowest setting, keeping my new sourdough starter warm.
My last starter, that I made from collected yeasts from our environment, went bad. I decided to order a sourdough culture that is made specifically for whole wheat flour.
This sponge is looking far better than the last and smells sweet and yeasty, so I'm hopeful that in a few days, I'll be able to make some delicious loaves.
Next to my sourdough starter, I notice that someone had a midnight snack. I'm not telling who.
You know it's Christmastime if there's a box of See's Candy in the house!
And lastly, next to the sink where it can get full sun in from the window (once it rises) is a poor amaryllis bulb that I found languishing in the garage. It bloomed last year, then I put it away safely and completely forgot that I had it. It's pretty desiccated, we'll see if it revives.
Hopefully it'll just be a New Year amaryllis instead of a Christmas amaryllis!
My goal today is to move the rest of the mulch around the garden (1/4 of that huge pile is left). It's back to work Monday, so I gotta get it done before then.
A little music to start your morning.
First, I was adding hot water to a mash for the chickens. It's hovering around 28-30 degrees each morning, and it's frosty out, so I like to give the chicks a hot breakfast. This is Bob's Red Mill muesli, into which I pour boiling water, then let it sit a bit to cool. They love it. (So do I, actually.)
Over by the toaster, there's some sauerkraut fermenting. Tom got this started the day after Christmas with our new recap fermenting caps and airlocks (thanks Stewart and Niki!). We figure this is the perfect amount of sauerkraut to have once a month.
Next to the salt and pepper, I have a mason jar newly dedicated to bacon drippings. I know, this is so Granny, but we throw out perfectly good bacon grease that I can use either for cooking or for making suet cakes for the birds. There's only a bit in here to start, but we'll add to it quickly.
To the right of the cooking spoons, Tom has a batch of cream cheese working. He'll strain this when he gets up and it'll be ready to use, tangy and creamy.
On my kitchen desk sits the last of the honey wine, ready to go to a co-worker of Tom's. (He likes to share things with the head of the Culinary Department at his college. Plus, it sounds like she is going to give us some homemade Kombucha in trade, which is excellent.)
Here's something else on my kitchen desk. It's not mine. But I think it's pretty cute and also pretty well sums up this household:
This is not the droid you're looking for.
Under my desk is a bottle of cider that is fermenting. Tom pitched some wine yeast in to it, put an airlock on it, and it's bubbling away. Hopefully we'll find some local apples to do this with next Fall.
Over next to the coffee maker, I have a heating pad plugged in and on its lowest setting, keeping my new sourdough starter warm.
My last starter, that I made from collected yeasts from our environment, went bad. I decided to order a sourdough culture that is made specifically for whole wheat flour.
This sponge is looking far better than the last and smells sweet and yeasty, so I'm hopeful that in a few days, I'll be able to make some delicious loaves.
Next to my sourdough starter, I notice that someone had a midnight snack. I'm not telling who.
You know it's Christmastime if there's a box of See's Candy in the house!
And lastly, next to the sink where it can get full sun in from the window (once it rises) is a poor amaryllis bulb that I found languishing in the garage. It bloomed last year, then I put it away safely and completely forgot that I had it. It's pretty desiccated, we'll see if it revives.
Hopefully it'll just be a New Year amaryllis instead of a Christmas amaryllis!
My goal today is to move the rest of the mulch around the garden (1/4 of that huge pile is left). It's back to work Monday, so I gotta get it done before then.
A little music to start your morning.