HJ Waxing Moon

We screwed up our last batch of kombucha. Not royally or irreparably, but we let it ferment in the jar for 17 days instead of 10. We just... lost track of time, I guess. The only way we even knew what day it started was because we had the last batch's bottling date on the bottles in the fridge. So first Mr. Moon forgot to mark the jar, and then I forgot to put a reminder in my To Do list, and then we lost track of time... and then we spent 5 days going "we should bottle that!" I did a little research to find out whether it would be palatable and safe. I found one source that said that anything gone above 21 days was "unpalatable" and "too sour," and another that said that people in cooler, northern climates often ferment theirs for 20-30 days. So I figured my 17 days was probably safe, especially since "unpalatable" is a very personal statement. We did taste it before we bottled it all, and it tasted still very sweet. We mixed it with som...

Last week, the local natural foods store had organic canned beans on sale for a good price. I made a list of what needed stocking up, and realized we were about to spend $100 or more on them. It seems to me like we could make our own for less than 88 cents per can, if only we had the equipment. For starters, we already have the beans in dried form; they're just a pain to cook-to-order, and I like having canned beans around for "Oh Shit!" meals, lunches/snacks like quesadillas and lazy nachos. So having them cooked and not frozen is sort of imperative in my world. So instead of spending the money to stock up on canned beans, we instead spent the money on a pressure cooker. It was a bit of a whim, especially since I'm normally one to research these purchases to death. But I have been keeping an eye on pressure cookers and canning equipment for a bit now, and had a vague idea what I was looking for price-wise (mostly the question of what we can afford). So when I stum...

I've been peeking into the world of lacto-fermented veggies. One day I found myself with an abundance of chopped cabbage and no way to use it anytime soon. Since my brother and sister-in-law make their own, I called for directions. I started out with about a pound and a half of cabbage. My brother told me to mix it with 2 tbsp sea salt, mix thoroughly and let it sit for about 15 minutes. It took a little longer to juice up, and I had some other things to do, so about half an hour later I dumped the greens and what little juice they'd released into a half gallon jar. I'd been sure to clean it very well, even sprayed it with a little vinegar. The bag that had been holding the cabbage I sprayed well inside and out with vinegar, filled with my clean cooking rocks to weigh the cabbage down, and secured to the top of the jar with a rubber band. This left the cabbage pretty well sealed, but the rocks open to the air. I was a little concerned because my brother had stressed the...

A couple weeks before Christmas, I tried my hand at baking some whole wheat soaked grain cranberry orange muffins. Not having planned very far ahead, the grains only soaked for a couple hours instead of overnight. But I'm getting ahead of myself. One of the goals that I made for myself last year was to become better at baking. Of course, I decided to do so by delving into sourdough, which is largely recommended against. I am, you may have noticed, not one to shay away from things just because someone says it's not the easiest way to start. My tenth grade English teacher once told me that I was making a research paper a lot harder on myself than I needed it to be, and pointed out my tendency to do that in a lot of my endeavors. I believe at this point it is simply a personality trait that will at times be a hindrance. But at others it has been the same trait that has propelled me forward into projects that are just a little outside my reach, to take risks even when there was a...

Mr. Moon and I have been taking advantage of his weekends off by having a little homemade brunch, usually during or before the football game. It's been really fun! And we've starting to get the hang of it enough that we've started inviting people over. Last week it was whole wheat sourdough pancakes with soaked grains. I got a recipe from another website but it's written really badly and difficult to read. It did, however, work well enough that I used it as a base for savory waffles this week. Since pancakes and waffles have always been difficult for me, having success in this experiment was really gratifying. So without further ado, a recipe for Overnight Soaked Grain Sourdough Pancakes or Waffles (what a mouthful!): The Night Before:  1 cup sourdough starter 1 cup liquid 1 cup flour Mix together in a bowl that's at least 3x as big as you think it needs to be. Don't over mix. Cover with plastic wrap or a shower cap (I used a towel once and it was ok...