Sunday, November 20, 2016

I Heart Homemade Sauerkraut

I've been hungry for sauerkraut.  I love sauerkraut.  Plus, it's a great winter food.   It's tasty.  It's good for you.

One thing though - it stinks.

We make it anyway.   I've posted some old fashioned methods here before.

Here's the first time I made kraut.

Here's the second one.

This year I decided to try a method I found on Food in Jars blog.  It was super easy and there was no pounding.   It does mean getting your hands in there and squeezing for a bit.

I used a small head of cabbage, about 1  1/2 Tablespoons of salt and a sprinkle of caraway seeds because I'm all about the authentic kraut experience.

I cut the cabbage into quarters and removed the core.  Then I sliced everything very thinly by hand with a knife.  I put it all in a giant bowl, mixed the cabbage and salt and seeds with my hands, squeezing it all until the cabbage released the water.  It only took a few minutes, interrupted by the occasional washing up of jars, table, etc.   When the cabbage was looking transparent and there was a good amount of water in the bottom of the bowl, I packed it all into a quart jar. [It'll feel WET.  You'll know.]  Put some sort of weight in it to keep the cabbage below the water.  The water came to the top of the jar, so I set the whole thing in a bowl to catch the overflow.   As it ferments, bubbles will form in the kraut and displace some of the water.   It will ooze out, so make sure you put your jar on a dish,  in a bowl or a deep lid.   Watch for overflow and empty and wash it at least every day if not more often.   Let it set on your counter/window for a week, then pop it in the fridge and it's good to go.   Naturally fermented.  Nature's finest food.

Note on weights:  I used a wide mouth jar for the kraut, so I used a narrow mouth glass insert from an old zinc jar lid as my weight.   You can use a small mouth canning lid, a 4 oz. jelly jar capped and full of water, or a real life pickle weight instead.   Feel free to be creative. [I confess, I'm kind of really wanting those pickle weights, though...]

Hope you make some and hope you love it!    Happy November!

UPDATE:  It took 7 days to get gorgeous and delicious sauerkraut this way.  Fastest ferment ever.   Bonus, no stink.  This will forever be my go-to method for making sauerkraut.  

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Clearing the Fencerows


© 2016 Robin Edmundson, Clearing the fencerows, burning the bales, watercolor, 9x12

I've been painting these bales for a while.  Here's a previous version.  I think this one is an improvement.

I like working on this series for a lot of reasons.  They are limited palette studies - this version is Indigo, Raw Umber and Quin Burnt Orange.  The scene is really atmospheric, which is always a challenge.   The bales are quintessentially rural and I love painting rural.   These studies always stop people in their tracks, because ... What's going on here?

That's a good question.   Hay is common, but burning hay?   Not so much.

Bales of hay are often set along fence rows and treelines for convenience.  They're usually at the edges of a hay field and they're easy enough to set, then retrieve for the cows in the next field through the winter.   If they're left more than a year, they start to rot and they're no good for feed, but they make pretty fences.

These bales had been left for years - probably when the property changed hands.   A winter or so ago, the new owner decided to clear the line and combine smaller fields into a larger one with better access.  We came upon a long line of bales smoking in the snow.  It was spectacular to see 50 or so bales smoldering away.   It took a few days for them to burn down completely.

I'll be doing a couple more of these.  They're fun.   Maybe the next one will be a portrait instead of a landscape.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Fixing the Fridge

Our fridge has developed the habit of collecting quarts of water on the bottom under the crispers.  

Ew.

We cleaned it out twice and the problem returned.  Probably half gallon of water in there. This time, I emptied the whole blasted thing [OK, fine.  Except for the doors.] and got online to find a permanent fix.  

I found one in less than a minute.

I totally heart DIYers.  Seriously.  We live in an amazing place where people are so generous with their time and tips and information.  People are awesome.  Thanks to everyone who posts stuff on forums [fora?] on YouTube, on Amazon, etc.   I love you.

If you landed here because you have the same problem, this link helped me most:  http://imgur.com/gallery/otSiW

I could have waited for Eric to come and do it, but the fridge was already empty and hey, I'm capable. Right?

I couraged up, found a screw driver and a hairdryer, and went at it.   All by myself, except that Claire found an extension cord for me for the hairdryer.   Thanks, Claire!

  • I turned off the power to the fridge [IMPORTANT!!]
  • I took out the screws holding the back panel on.
  • I removed parts and found more screws.   Take them out too.  
  • I prayed a lot at this point that I would remember where all the screws go.
  • The panel was iced in completely, so I warmed it up and took it out.  [TIP:  If the plastic cover looks like it's going to pull off the styrofoam behind it, wait and warm it up until the foam pulls out with it.]
  • There was tons of ice in there.   I defrosted everything until the drain was clear.
The problem exists because of a design flaw with the fridge.   Once Eric gets home with a piece of fat copper wire, I can wrap an end around the defroster and stick the other end in the drain and that will take care of it for a loooooong time.  

Yay refrigerator fixes!   Yay internet!   Yay people!

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