2011-08-18

Triple Berry Soda

For my next trick, I'm going to try making a soda using a commercial frozen fruit medley.   I was quite happy with the ginger ale, and will probably try making another of those sometime soon, but I'm out of ginger and don't feel like going anywhere today.

1 - 1lbs bag of triple berry frozen fruit medley (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry) partially thawed and crushed
1L - water
200g - turbinado sugar
2t - lime juice
1- 2 inch stick of canela soft cinnamon
1/2 - vanilla bean, split, scraped, and cut into pieces

I'll boil all of this for 15 minutes.  after chilling in an ice water bath for 10 or 15 minutes, I'll add 1/8 teaspoon of pectic enzyme, which will hopefully keep the syrup from turning into jelly.    after I let that sit for an hour or so, I'll pop the syrup into the refrigerator and let it chill through the day.

Once the syrup is cold, I'll transfer to the 2L plastic bottle, carbonate, and shake.

2011-08-11

first attempt at a ginger "ale"

1L water
99g grated fresh ginger
300g turbinado sugar
10 crushed allspice pods
1T lime juice

combine everything, bring to a boil...   boil for 10 minutes, strain into a canning jar for cooling. 

tomorrow, i'll transfer it to a 2L bottle and force carbonate with some of my beer equipment.   the syrup is pretty tasty, though.

Edit:   this particular mix has the "bite" that i'm looking for, but is a little too sweet for my taste.   also, it's a bit cloudy, so I may need to get some pectic enzyme to clear up the pectin that formed from boiling the ginger.

2011-08-02

Nothing special

Supper tonight:   leftover green beans & potatoes, and an omelette with kalamata olives, homegrown tomato, and feta cheese.

Basic 3 egg omelette with dried thyme, basil, tarragon, sage, and garlic powder.  Plus the ubiquitous salt and pepper to "taste" (I just eyeball it with the raw eggs)

I had something similar last night, but the egg fell apart, so it was cheesy scrambled eggs instead of an omelette.   

I've been trying to make beans at least once a week here lately.   I've got a bunch of old dried beans that need to be eaten, so more mice aren't attracted to my pantry.

I took the Belgian IPA Mk II to a get together, and it seemed like a hit.   There for a while it tasted just like that old pink bubblegum flavored medicine.   To the point that I was considering dumping it.   That fell out over the course of a couple of weeks, though, and it wound up turning into a nice dry, fruity IPA.   Everyone at the party seemed to enjoy it, and I saw several people coming back for more.

Finally finished the Berliner Weisse, too, and I was really enjoying drinking it those last few days.  The crisp flavor and mouthfeel really complemented sitting outside on a hot day.   The 3.5% ABV didn't hurt any, either.

Time to go eat.