JULY IS GOING, GOING, GONE...

All in all, it was a good month, though much too hot and very busy.  It's a party month in our town.  From the FOURTH OF JULY to the METTAWEE RIVER THEATRE COMPANY's wonderful annual outdoor performance at the Sandgate Church Lawn, it is a socially packed month!

The veggies are growing like wild fire and the harvesting and processing just doesn't stop!  The worst part of all is that there is no more room in the frig or freezer to store the burgeoning crops.  I just got two more gallons of fresh cow's milk, so I must say good bye for now and start thinking about what to make with the milk, mozarella & ricotta or marscapone?

Confessions of a Novice Sandgate Blogger

I admit I have been plagued with blog worries. 
At first, I worried that I had to write every day.  Then, I worried about being interesting. 
To exercise my worry, I tried to write short amounts so that I would not bore.  I've tried not to mention names...to protect the innocence of friends and relatives.  But, face it!  No one cares how worried or careful or trying I try to be. 

So I'm (probably) coming out of the closet soon. 

I'll decide not to worry about topic, or boredom or innocence.  I shall not worry about hiding my udderlying desire to regain my Jersey Cow and expose my bean fetish for what it is.  I'm Lactose Loving!  I lust after all things cholesterol.  I cream for cheese.  I churn for butter.  Can the bean ever fill me?
I'll name names!  Don't laugh.  My husband, El Exigente, my daughter, Alessandra, my son, El Exigente Jr, and myself, Mooma.

I'll confess that there is no such place as Sandgate, except in my capacity to conceive such a place and your capacity to believe it.   Come along now.  Relax.  Enjoy
 

It's JULY!

It's JULY and time for KIMCHI!  We harvested some Napa Cabbages, radishes. carrots, onions, garlic, hot peppers, storebought ginger root and using the recipe in Sandor Ellix Katz's book, WILD FERMENTATION, we made some kimchee.  If you are interested in health and nutrition, this is a great book.

Here we are in the kitchen preparing the ingredients.

The next step is to combine the ingredients with the brine solution of about 4 cups of water and 4 tablespoons of sea salt.  The brine is VERY salty.  Toss the ingredients together with the brine solution.  Pack the thoroughly tossed ingredients into a container and add any brine left in the tossing bowl to the container.  Use a plate and a weight to make sure the kimchi is submerged under the brine solution.  We have various weights in our kitchen...but we used a quart mason jar filled with water to weigh down our kimchi.   We cover the container with butter muslin so nothing can 'get into' our kimchi while it is fermenting.  From now on, we will taste it every day to determine when it is ready.

Any questions?