Oliver is always curious about what I'm brewing up in the kitchen. This has been a big wine making year for me. I've made nearly a dozen different types. He was dying to try out the process for himself, which then led to a lot of questions about how beer is made and if the … Continue reading A Birthday Brew
Fermentation
Apple Hoarding
There's an apple tree in the park by our house in Michigan that I always begin to check on each spring. It gets to be covered in lush white flowers in early June. I patiently visit each summer trip to check on the tree's progress as these flowers turn to small fruits then slowly get … Continue reading Apple Hoarding
A new kind of ferment: Water Kefir
Introducing the Xavier middle schoolers to fermentation reinvigorated my own interest in it. I got a great book from the library: Home Fermentation by Katherine Green. I've been trying all kinds of new things from this including fermented chia seed jam, sprouting seeds and water kefir. I wanted to share this last one with you. … Continue reading A new kind of ferment: Water Kefir
Tree Tapping & Fermentation Fun
This school year, I have found a new way to connect my two areas of expertise: education and farming. Because of my connection to the Montessori department at Xavier, I was asked if we might serve as the farm for the middle schoolers at the lab school to visit each month. Maria Montessori thought that … Continue reading Tree Tapping & Fermentation Fun
A Wine-Making Mood
I'm not sure why but I have been in a wine-making mood of late. I've got things brewing all over the place. The smell of fermentation is beginning to take over my kitchen. When we were in Michigan last, I brought home a bag of apples and a bunch of wild mint I'd collected in … Continue reading A Wine-Making Mood
Mulberry Experiments
Mulberry trees are one of those local plants many people love to hate. When they grow over your driveway, I can understand the distress they cause when those lush dark berries stain every surface they fall on. Fortunately, we have a large mulberry tree at the edge of our back field, where the berries just … Continue reading Mulberry Experiments
Cherry Brandy made for a special holiday treat
Remember that sour cherry brandy I started way back in the early fall? It all began with a bag of wild cherries my husband’s friend Doug picked off a tree in his backyard. I mixed the cherries with sugar, a bit of water and a dash of yeast then let them ferment. You can read … Continue reading Cherry Brandy made for a special holiday treat
A Perry Update
My fermented pear cider stopped bubbling and cleared up so I racked it into a clean bucket to get the sediment out of the bottom. All that means is I siphoned it over, leaving the sediment in the original container. The recipe I used originally said you could make your cider fizzy if you added … Continue reading A Perry Update
Perry Mead: A Yeast Experiment
I recently ordered a new cookbook called Drink the Harvest: Making and Preserving Juices, Wines, Meads, Teas and Ciders (Nan K. Chase and DeNeice C. Guest). In it, I found a recipe for a fermented pear cider called "Very Perry Holiday Mead." I was super excited to try it and also glad to have another … Continue reading Perry Mead: A Yeast Experiment
