Roasterie Puzzle

I thought this would make and interesting puzzle.  Took me longer than I would have expected to get it done.

 Click here to go to the puzzle208 Roastariepuzzle

Bespoken Coffee Roasters Kochere -Ethiopia

I've decided to try out at least some of the many small roasters I find on Instagram & Twitter.  There are a lifetimes worth to try, but I'm not planning on going anywhere soon so I should be able to get through a few.  (ignore the weird highlight.  I'm not in the mood to figure out blogger this morning)

I started with Bespoken Coffee Roasters and their Kochere from Ethiopia.  They are a husband and wife team in Corvallis, OR, who just opened a shop called Tried & True Coffee .  Hopefully when I make my west coast trip I'll be able to stop by and check it out.

I also ordered a mug.  The shipping was fast.  I placed my order on Thursday and by Monday I had my coffee.  I love the packaging too.  A pretty label won't improve coffee but that doesn't make it a waste of time.  For me coffee is about the whole experience from bag to cup.  I liked having something enjoyable to look at.

Then comes smell.  The bag was well sealed so I needed some scissors to open it.  There is a valve for gas escape so being well sealed is a plus.  CO2 out, but no air in.  I opened the bag and was greeted by a wonderful aroma.  The smell of good coffee puts me in a great mood.  This was a real day brightener.

I always taste a couple of beans.  That's the best way I know to determine if I want to use them for candy later.  Chocolate covered coffee beans are yummy - but only if you start with the right beans.  These aren't bad for that.  I'll have to give it a try sometime this week.  I think some coffee caramels with a chocolate covered bean on top would be a good fit.  

This morning I put both my new beans and new mug to use.  Most mornings I make a carafe of pour over and today was no exception.  The beans were ground, the water heated and the cup warmed.  In no time at all I had a nice cup of coffee.  The color was a nice rich brown and there was a golden crema on top as I poured the water.  

I'm new to the whole describing coffee thing.  The fact that I even like good coffee is a miracle.  I grew up in a house where instant was considered coffee.  Even today my mom will use generic coffee from the grocery store.  I'm talking lower than store brand.  Remember those white cans with coffee written on them in black?  yeah, she's used that.  

So how would I describe this one?  There was a natural sweetness and it was bright kind of a citrusy taste, kind of crisp.  It had a good feel in my mouth, kind of like a strong cup of tea, but not heavy or weighed down. I have a ton of stuff to get done today and this is a good coffee for a work day.  

It was really enjoyable.  I'll be making a second carafe after lunch.  

and I loved the mug.  I like a nice heavy mug - keeps my coffee warm a bit longer.  

I will be ordering more coffee from Bespoken.  I'm planning to try their Gatuyaini from Kenya next.  

A puzzle - because I like puzzles.  you can play it here click through to jigsaw planet for a bigger screen version.

210 Bespokenpuzzle

Headrush Roasters - Glasdstone MO

I'm trying to get around to all the coffee roasters in Kansas City, one week at a time.  This week we went to Headrush Roasters in Gladstone, MO.

It's a 30 min drive from my house, but then everything in KC is 30 - 45 min from everything else.  I wanted to try Headrush because they will roast coffee for you while you wait.  OMG it smells good in there.  I know there is a lot of smoke given off from roasting coffee and you could see a layer of it in the shop - but I love a good campfire and the smoke didn't bother me in the least.

The young man at the register was very helpful in helping me choose which coffee to have roasted.  I ended up going with one called India Monsoon.  It grows during the monsoon season and has larger beans.  Was told it has a distinct flavor and less acidity other coffee.  

The beans are a little larger than others and it's a nice medium roast.

When we got the bag it smelled HEAVENLY.  The kid said it smelled a little like fresh gingerbread.  I brewed some of this for my morning coffee - pour over method - and while it didn't taste like gingerbread it was excellent.  Smooth and not bitter with a lot of body and a kind of earthy spiciness.  Really really really worth the drive.

I also got a bag of espresso blend, but I have not tried that one yet.

My husband had their Headrush drink.  He enjoyed it.  I got a Mocha because I judge coffee houses on their ability to do two things - a good pour over or chemex and mocha if they serve them.  If it tastes like sugar water or syrup (Gloria Jean - Starbucks)  I wont' be back for any other item on their menu.  Conversely I don't want it to be too bitter from the espresso.  A balanced mocha is wonderful and surprisingly hard to make.  The one from Headrush was not bad.  Not the best I've ever had, but still good.  A little bitter, but I'll take that over diabetes in a cup.  I like to taste the coffee with the chocolate.  Not just chocolate and sweet but no coffee.

The kid enjoyed the trip and here's my requisite photo of her giving me odd looks in a coffee house.

I enjoyed the atmosphere.  It's a great place to hang out and talk with friends.

I also got a new mug for my collection.  It was made by Sunset Hill Stoneware  http://shstoneware.com/

If you look closely you can see the latte art inside the cup.

Using my balloon art-centric rating system I give this place 4.5 balloon dogs.

 

  Visit them if you're near Kansas City.  You will be happy you did!

t-shirts for literacy

We're deep into the fundraising part of our project and selling t-shirts.  Check them out!  Show your love of reading while helping us raise money for literacy at the same time!

http://teespring.com/stores/balloon-hats-for-literacy

Balloon Hats for Literacey

I have an amazing new project.  We will be attempting to set a world record next year!

Check it out at www.balloonhatsforliteracy.com 

fermented eggplant

• 2 medium eggplants sliced into strips
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano 
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons pickling salt for brine, plus 2tbs more for salting eggplant
• large cabbage leaf or weights
• 1 quart water

peel and slice the eggplant into strips.  Cover it with salt and let it sit for half an hour or so.  Then rinse the extra salt off.  Helps get rid of some of the bitterness.  

Pack the strips into a container using your favorite method of fermenting.  I use a home made airlock system.  

add the spices.

Mix 2 tbs spoon salt into 1 quart of water to make a brine.  Pour over the eggplant in the jar(s)  Add weights or use a large cabbage leaf to keep the  eggplant under the brine while fermenting.  

Seal the jar and wait about 1 week - 10 days.  

This eggplant has a nice Italian flavor and I like using it in place of pasta with a red sauce.  

spicy kombucha dill refrigerator pickles

I make a lot of random pickles.  I toss whatever spices sound good into the jar - so far these have been my favorite, hands down.

1 quart jar
enough small cucumbers to fit.  I used 1 bag of mini cucumbers I got at aldi's
1 large jalapeno
1 tablespoon pickling salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup kombucha

put the cucumbers in the jar

mix the other ingredients and then pour over the cucumbers.  Add a bit of water if it doesn't cover them.  Seal and pop in the fridge for a week or so.

Marinated Spiral Cucumber with beets and walnuts

Found this great slicer at a thrift shop.  Didn't appear to have ever been used and since it was only $3.98 - I figured it was worth the buy.

Gave it a try on a cucumber.  No instructions so I just went with the first blade.  It cuts spirals.  You don't have to make spirals for this - as a matter of fact I found it easier to cut the spirals down a bit, not leave them long.  Long spirals are a pin to serve!

Thought about changing blades for the next cucumber.  Didn't get too far because it was SHARP and my hand slipped.

Of course my husband is the only one who knows where he put the bandages and I can't reach him.  Wrapped it in a clean cloth and worked left handed from there on.

Last week I scored some wonderful baby beets.  I plan on pickling them, but this one is going in with the cucumbers.  

I washed it and diced it as well as you can expect a one handed person to dice something.

In the bowl I also added

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon course ground black pepper

1 teaspoon mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons finely diced (came that way in the bag) walnut pieces

1 cup white vinegar

shoved all of that into a pint sized jar, covered and put in the fridge for 48 hours.  That's the point where the beets are a little more tender and so are the nuts, but both retain some crunch - while the cucumbers have not turned to much.

This dish has a strong flavor, but I'm a fan of strong flavors and I love it with a basic salad that has a bit of blue cheese on it. 

Fermented Beet Greens

Had some beet greens that I had to use.  4 bundles.  Cooked 1 for dinner - that left me with 3 to preserve.

So I decided to ferment them.

I cook the stems, so I decided to experiment with fermenting them as well.  It's the bright, happy jar to the left.

2 large bundles of beet greens, cut into large pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon mustard seeds

more salt if needed to make brine

I was able to shove all the beets into one wide mouth quart size jar.

Waited 2 hours to see what the natural brine would do, then because it wasn't enough I made more brine with 1 tablespoon of salt to 1 quart of water.  Didn't use all of it, just covered them, leaving 1 inch of head space.  Folded a cabbage leaf and to use as a weight.  I found that I need something to hold things under the brine and the cabbage leaf works well.

Waited 10 more long days.  Could have started checking at 7, but I figure the stems might needed a bit longer.

Growing Scoby from Raw Kombucha - Day 10

Day 10.  It formed a pretty nice scoby, then the jar got bumped so it sank.  Then it formed a second one a day ago, but as I was moving it take a photo I jostled it too much.  Still, this seems to be working.  If anything I think the scoby is much stronger than the one I did from raw with sweet tea.  It took longer to get the scoby but it seems to be a nice healthy one.

Lacto Fermented Spicy Green beans

Made some spicy green beans.  Not overly spiced - gotta keep it edible for the kid.  Just enough hot to keep it interesting. 

I had a bag of green beans. I'm going to start weighing these things now, I promise!  I just got a new kitchen scale for that exact purpose!

I cut the beans into pieces.  Ok, I just snapped them with my fingers. I can remember sitting on the porch with my grandparents snapping beans for canning.  That's what I did because  knife and a cutting board seemed like extra work.  I work enough, why do extra if I don't have to?

I mixed up a quart of brine.  1 tablespoon water, 1 1/2 tablespoons salt - canning, not iodized, 1 tablespoon course ground black pepper.  I peeled a clove of garlic and split it, but didn't mash or mince it.  

Put the beans in the jar, stopping to throw in the garlic and 5 habaneros.  Those orange things aren't carrots, they are very hot tiny little peppers, more beans - pressing down to get a tight pack.  I don't have weights, need to get some.  I've heard that you can get by without them in an airlock system.  We'll see.  I also heard that olive oil was wonderful and it was a mess. So far the beans are not looking like any oxygen has gotten to them. Still a great color and I'm looking forward to eating them.  

Like I said, I wanted spiced, not burning flames, so I didn't cut the pepper.  My experience with habaneros is that they will impart a flavor and heat if you just touch the darn things, much less if you marinate them in brine with other stuff.  When I do it this way I've gotten just enough heat to make me happy, but kept it mild enough for the kid to also eat.  I'm not big on fixing two meals, so most things have to be pleasing across the board.  Hubbie is easy - he'll eat anything that looks kinda sorta like food.  

Wait a week or 3 then move to the fridge or root cellar for storage.  I go with 2 1/2 - 3 weeks, but it's a personal preference.

Lacto Fermented Spinach

Scored some cheap spinach.  More than we could eat this week, so I decided to ferment the rest.

I used two bundles, which was enough to fill a quart sized wide mouth jar

Rinsed them and put them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of salt & 1 tablespoon course ground black pepper.  Recipes that I've seen call for slicing and removing the stem.  I eat the stem because it gets soft enough and doesn't taste bad, so I did neither of those things.

I squished the spinach around in the bowl with the salt, bringing the juices out.  Kept manhandling it for a few minutes until it was good and soggy.  The I shoved it into the jar in layers with peppers.  A layer of spinach, squished down hard, 2 peppers, more spinach, more peppers until it was full.  

I used this kind of pepper - Thai Chili.  I have a bag of them in my freezer I'm trying to use up.  I didn't cut or dice them, just put them in whole. I wanted a chili flavor without it being super super hot.

I tamped the spinach down as hard as I could while layering and afterwards I gave the jar several firm bangs on the counter to loosen any air bubbles and then tamped it down again.  I didn't have enough brine from the spinach itself to cover the top so I took some filtered water in a quart jar and dissolved a tablespoon of salt in it.  Then I covered the spinach with the brine from the jar, leaving 1 inch of head space.

Put on my airlock cover and the waiting begins.

When I was making airlock covers I couldn't find wide mouth plastic lids anywhere to save my life, so I made my own.  Took the plastic from a food storage container that I don't use and traced the inner lid to a wide mouth jar on it.  Cut it out, put a hole and shoved a stopper in.  Works fine and was a great way to recycled those plastic boxes I don't use anymore.

Fermented Beets

I love beets.  I love to eat them.  I love to drink beet juice.  I especially love the way they turn everything pink or reddish purple.  At least the reds ones do.  The golden variety are a bit more laid back.

I go through beet greens pretty rapidly, leaving me with far too many beets, so I decided to give fermenting them a try.

I cut them into bits - about 12 of them I think.  Then I tossed those bits into the Ninja (food processor) and made tiny bits.

After I grated them, I mixed them in a bowl with a little less than a tablespoon of pickling salt.  Squished them around good to get the juices going.  Shoved them into jars and did what I could to get any extra air out.  Stired it a bit with a chopstick, then pressed it down good (coffee tamper) and finally banged it on the counter - flat on the bottom - dislodge any air.  tamped it again and then decided to try the olive oil on top thing for a makeshift airlock.

I didn't think to take a photo.  I used two old salsa jars.  This one has a stubborn label, but we already ate the other one, so you can't see a photo of the good looking jar.  LOL  We've eaten a lot of this one too.  :-)

As a precaution I put a shallow pan with a washcloth under the jars.

good thing because that was a MESS!!  As the beets got bubbly the oil was pushed up and out.  I would burp it and oil would be all over the place already.  Maybe oil in a salsa jar is just going to do that because the seal isn't super tight.  After a week I decided to try them.  Soft and tasty with just a bit of crunch.  Very yummy.

I had ground up too many beets.  This is what happens when air gets to them.  These beets turned green after 3 days in the fridge with no oil on top.  We didn't eat them, just took a picture to show why oxygen is not your friend when fermenting veggies.

Love the beets, don't care so much for the olive oil thing.  I want an air lock system, but I am a) cheap & b) impatient

I'm also creative.  Part of being cheap.

I went to the brewing store and bought a couple of airlocks for less than $2 each.  Picked up some #2 drilled stoppers too.  Don't remember how much, but very cheap.  

Took a plastic lid and put a hole in it.  Not a good hole because I don't have a drill right now, but it's large enough for the stopper to get it and small enough for the stopper to make it air tight.  The stopper is very soft so it conforms to the hole.  Put the lid on the jar, the stopper in the lid and the airlock in the stopper.  I should be in business for the next time I want to do the fermented veggie thing!

Smile!

It's a hedgehog in a tutu!  So cute!!

Kombucha pickles with pineapple and ancho

I love kombucha.  I love pineapple.  I love ancho.  I wanted to make pickles.

This is what I got when I combined those loves

1 large cucumber or a couple of smaller ones - sliced
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 ring of pineapple
1 teaspoon ancho
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 1/4 cups kombucha - closer to vinegar is better
1 teaspoon salt

in a mixing bowl combine all the ingredients except the cucumber.  mix together well. Put a bit in a jar, then add the cucumbers.  pour the rest of the mix over.  If you have space left over on top, add a bit more kombucha.

put a lid on it and stick it in the fridge for a few days.  Start testing around day 4 and use when it gets to the point where it's just the right cripsness for you.  I think they need at least 7, but I've been "testing" them a bit too much so the don't usually make it past that point.

This is a jar, about a pint size that was left over from some sauce.  You can go up a cucumber with only increasing the liquid ingredients by about 1/2 more (not doubled) for a larger batch.  More than that and you should increase all ingredients - doubling them for 4+ cucumbers in a quart jar.

Kombucha Labels

I could make a batch of this flavor and a batch of that flavor, but this is all still new for me so I'm trying out all sorts of flavors.  That has led to some confusion.  I wanted a way to label the bottles, but I also wanted the labels to be reusable.

This is what I came up with

Floss holders (on clearance) and hair elastics.

I write the name of the flavor on the blank side, loop them onto a hair elastic and this slip them on the bottles.

After someone takes a bottle from the fridge the tag goes into a baggie I have stuck to the door with a magnet.

No more confusion and everyone knows what they are getting.  The labels can be used again and again, so I won't have to make them up for each batch.  Also it was cheap and easy.  maybe not something to look for in a girlfriend, but with craft projects I'm all about the cheap and easy.

 

Pineapple Planter

we eat a lot of pineapples.  I've been trying to grow the tops and composting the hollowed out shells.  After I use the pineapple cutter tool I'm left with a nice empty  container, so today I decided to see if I could put my plants in them.  I don't intend to use them as final pots.  I expect them to compost around the little plant adding nutrients to the growing environment.

I rinsed the pineapple hull then added a layer of leaves to the bottom, some dirt, then put the plant in.  It was already in a biodegradable pot, so I've effectively put it in a second biodegradable pot.  I'll put this whole thing into the container that I'm growing the cucumbers (in this case) in.  I'll post updates about how it goes.

Scoby from commercial raw Kombucha - Day 3

It's been 3 days, this is what I have so far.  In this method I didn't add any new tea to the stuff from the bottle.  Just dumped it in a clean jar and covered it.  That's how my surprise scoby Velma was formed and it seemed worth trying.  With the first one I grew from commercial kombucha it started out very thin.  For a long time it resembled egg whites that had a tea stain.  Now it's thick and creamy and fills my 2 gallon continuous brew container.  

Marinated Cucumbers

My variation on marinated cucumbers.  I've been trying to get all the produce I got on sale used up or preserved.  This one isn't for saving though - I like it when the cucumbers are still fairly crisp.  Only in the fridge overnight.

1 large cucumber or a couple of smaller ones sliced and the quarter the slices  or not, depending on your preference.
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon course ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix 1/2 cup of the vinegar and all the other ingredients, except cucumbers, together in a bowl.  After it's all mixed up, add the cucumbers and mix them in so that everything is covered.  Put in a 1 pint jar - or size to fit.  If the liquid doesn't come all the up to the top of the cucumbers add the other vinegar to make sure it's covered.  Set in the fridge overnight or for at least several hours.

This version is very sweet but cutting the sugar in half works just as well.

based on 5 servings which is what we got from it

Orange Cream Milk

Added a few drops of vanilla and two drops of orange extract to my nightly glass of raw milk.  Very very yummy

Growing a new scoby

I don't need a new scoby.  Once you get started with kombucha having too many is more of a problem than not having enough.  Still, I keep seeing that you can't grow a healthy one from commercial raw kombucha anymore.  I did.  I also saw a tutorial where it was done a bit differently from how I did it.  Decided to give that a try.

In this method you

1.  buy a bottle of raw kombucha.

2.  put it in a sterilized jar

3.  cover it with a paper towel or cloth and rubber band it on.

4.  wait.

I did this one yesterday and there were floaties in the bottle.  I looked for that when choosing my bottle.

After 24 hours it's starting to look promising.  I am interested in seeing how long this method takes to get a thick scoby vs the way I did my first one (using sweet tea in addition to the bottle tea)

and I was bored.  Kombucha is a process and a gift for the patient.  I am not patient, so I have to do other things to keep myself occupied while waiting for my gift of finished fizzy tea.

Remember my surprise Scoby?

Little Velma is all grown up!

She started life as a little clear jelly fish left over in mostly empty bottle of raw kombucha.  I had used the bulk of the bottle to grow my first scoby.  A week or so later I found the bottle tucked behind the espresso machine and found a little baby scoby

I decided to grow it and see what would come of her.  

This is her today, several weeks later.  See all the wonderful yeasty bits hanging down turning my regular tea into fizzy tea?  mmmmmmmm  After this brew I will pull off the latest baby that formed and send it to my cousin who is into fermenting foods. 

So I thought I would make sauerkraut

I want to make sauerkraut, but lack a crock or fancy air lock system.

What to do?

Google it of course.

I have jars, I have cabbage & I have olive oil.  I'm good to go.  Seems you can use the oil to seal off the brine.  The kraut if shredded, salted and spiced.  Let's see how it goes.  I need a crystal ball or other future seeing device.  I get so impatient waiting.

I spiced it with

2 1/2 tablespoons salt to a 4lb head of cabbage
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons juniper berries
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds

Shredded the cabbage into a large glass bowl.  Added the other stuff and crunched it around, really beating up on it.  As I did so a lot of water came out and the bowl got quite a lot of nice brine.  I divided the cabbage into 3 left over salsa jars - roughly pint size & divided the brine.  Really packed it down in there.  Then I put olive oil over the top to seal it.  Tightened the lids and set them aside.  Now to wait and see what happens.  Did put a plate under it because I have heard that sauerkraut can get bubbly and overflow.