the drop spindle

Genuine apologies for the long bit of solitude.  We recently moved and haven't had internet access in quite sometime.  At last I discovered that I was mistaken about the wifi at the local library, and that it IS free and available to all willing laptop carrying patrons. Yipee.  Such is the end (hopefully!) of the short-term blackout.

For years I have been a knitter, drawn to it because of the tactile nature of fibers, particularly wool among other things.  From the world of yarn, I have been lead to the art of spinning. Its been a long standing dream of mine to see through a knitted project from start to finish, from raising the livestock to shearing, carding, spinning, knitting, and ultimately to wearing, selling, or gifting.  Quite a few years ago I had the chance to help a friend raise a pair of angora goats from which I now hold some of their dear virgin wool.  This fleece will have to wait until I master the carding process and find some sheep’s wool to blend with it, but for the moment, I am totally thrilled about spinning roving, that is wool that’s been washed and brushed and in this case dyed. 

I first learned to spin from an elderly man who ran an alpaca farm in Hood River, Oregon.  For $20 I purchased a simple drop spindle and received a brief spinning lesson with some bonus roving.  Quite the steal.  I walked away googly-eyed over my new found hobby. 

Here I’m working on a two-ply yarn made with hand-dyed roving from Raven-Frog out of Sitka, AK.  Not sure what I’ll knit from it just yet.  I'm using a Turkish style drop spindle that my husband and I made together from scrap wood, (Yew & Black Walnut I believe.)

While living in the tiny town of Forks WA, I happened upon a rare find just weeks before moving away.   Each Saturday a group of women got together to share spindles and tales while learning from world renown spinner and teacher Judith MacKenzie.  She introduced me the Turkish drop spindle which fits together like a snug little puzzle and allows for your yarn to come out in a neat, pre-wound ball (as opposed to the tangled mess that so often occurred from the standard drop spindle.) 

The handy part of the drop spindle is the fact that it fits into a bag or purse and can be toted anywhere for productivity and enjoyment.  Judith said when she visited Peru it was just expected that wherever women gathered, they would be spinning.  Non-productivity is practically sin in their society, and so though a full spinning wheel has its perks, these “pocket-spindles” are versatile and quite efficient.  Not to mention easy and satisfying!

Coffee Warmer

We currently live in a remote location where we have limited electricity from a generator, which means no handy microwave to reheat my coffee in the morning.  Its been fun to get creative in getting back to the basics.  As I seem to always sip on my coffee a little too slowly I find that it gets cold frequently.  Chris has taken to reheating his in a pot on the propane stove, but the hassle of dirtying a pot compared to just dealing with the temperature never seems compelling.

I came up with this handy solution.  I'm sure its been done before, but I was happy with my repurposing and its effectiveness.  Using an 8oz tin can and a church key (old school can opener) puncture holes around the top and bottom of a can.  The trick is air flow.  I tried to make one with fewer openings, but found the tea-light kept getting snuffed.  I also tried using a 12 oz can, but found it took way too long to reheat cooled coffee.

I think I'll keep using this instead of a microwave even when the power is available as it keeps it nicely steaming and provides a nice luminescent design.

 Dad, I thought you'd appreciate my thrift store mug.

Good Seed Bread

The art of bread making has seemed a bit elusive to me. I’m always hunting for the perfect bread: high in fiber, sourdough, or even sprouted grain if possible- why not all three? Well I’ve gone back and forth about eating bread at all for health reasons, and yet, there is just nothing like a warm buttered knock of bread to go beside a bowl of soup on a winter’s day.  After living in Portland, Oregon for a few years I became a huge fan of Dave’s Killer Bread, especially the sprouted variety.  I found it set well in my stomach, and was oh so satisfying.  To my astonishment, Dave’s has been such a success they now carry it in the local Juneau Fred Meyer and even sometimes at Costco.  Unfortunately it typically runs for about $5 per loaf and has been frozen and shipped for who knows how long before it becomes my tuna melt. And so, I began to experiment with bread making in hopes of achieving a fresh, hearty rendition of my own.  I call it Theresa’s Good Seed Bread.  Since I haven’t yet attempted to sprout and grind my own grain, it is still a work in progress, but I’d say I’m off to a decent start. 

proofed sour dough sponge

I should also note, I’ve been experimenting with sourdough for a few months now, but have not been very successful.  The proofing of the starter (waking up the starter by feeding it and leaving it on a warm counter until nicely bubbly) seems to be working, and yet, it never has the leavening power to cause the dough to rise once worked in with the flour.  I recently inherited a starter from a friend who got it from a friend, who got it from a friend who… is long since deceased.  Apparently it’s good stuff, and yet not wanting to waste another 5-6 cups of flour etc, I have opted for the yeast- sourdough combo.  Call it cheating, insurance, what have you, but it secures the power of rising and makes a darn good loaf.  I’ve combined a sourdough recipe, with a tastey honey-wheat-oat recipe, and then added a bunch of seeds for more texture.  Here is the recipe, which can be readily adapted to your liking:

Ingredients:

3 C boiling water

1 ½ C rolled oats & /or oat groats

½ C seed mixture (flax, sesame, poppy, sunflower, pumpkin, etc.)

½ C lukewarm water

1 C sourdough starter that’s been proofed

3 pkgs. dry yeast (or 2 1/2 Tbs)

¾ C honey

6 tbsp. oil

3 tsp. salt

½ C wheat bran

5 C whole-wheat flour

3 C white flour

A few hours before you want to make bread, prepare the sourdough start.  Check out this site to make your own start and for details on proofing.  Meanwhile, cook oat groats until slightly tender.  Remove from burner and stir in rolled oats.  Let this mixture set until luke-warm.  (The ratio of groats to oats can be adjusted, but avoid over cooking to maintain textural integrity.) 

Dissolve yeast in ½ C warm water; let stand 5 minutes (it should bubble nicely.) Add dissolved yeast, honey, oil, and sourdough starter to oatmeal mixture. (Don't forget to place remaining starter in a clean jar in your fridge.)  In a separate bowl, combine flours, salt, seeds, and wheat bran, holding out about 1 C flour to work in while kneading, and saving a tablespoon of seeds for the tops of the loaves. Add dry ingredients to oatmeal mixture and combine thoroughly to form a soft dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead 5 to 10 minutes adding remaining flour as needed. Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl.

Let rise until doubled in bulk.  Mine took about an hour and 30 minutes. Knead dough a second time for about 5 minutes and divide into two. 

 Tuck edges under to form a boule and roll in seed mixture.  Place on floured baking pan and let rise for another half hour while your oven preheats.  

Bake 1 hour in 325˚ F oven. Cool on racks. For soft crust, brush loaf tops with butter while hot. Makes 2 or 3 loaves depending on size.  Enjoy! Mmmm…

 

Kombucha: The Wonder Drink

There seems to be a significant amount of mystery and enthusiasm surrounding this elixer, and  I’ll do my best to reveal some of the wonders of it here.

What is it?! Put simply it is a tea that has been fermented using a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast: SCOBY.  (Thanks for enlightening me SJ.) The history is slightly debated, but has generally been traced back to ancient China where it was valued as a most healthy beverage. Warriors were said to keep a pouch of it tied to their hip sipping some and adding a little fresh tea and sugar to feed it, their body warmth keeping it alive.  Over the years it has been divided and brewed and passed on to many cultures, (no pun intended.) Any true kombucha will have a miniature SCOBY floating in the bottle which could be grown into a brewable culture.  To eliminate the confusion, this is not an alcoholic beverage, though depending on how long it grows at room temperature it develops a small amount of alcohol.  Unless made with a decaf green tea, it is caffeinated.  The bacteria actually consume the sugar, so the finished product isn't packed with sugar either.

 

I first heard about it a few years back when a friend started brewing it for her husband suffering from cancer.  It is said to have many beneficial properties such as "anti-cancer, anti-aging, weight control, digestion, immune booster, detoxification, probiotic benefits," etc. etc.  I have had my fair share of stomach trouble over the years and so I thought I’d give it a whirl.  My first attempt tasted like a hideous blend of vinegar, beer, and iced tea.  I abandoned all efforts. To my delight, I recently tasted a friend’s brew, which was highly carbonated, sweet, refreshing, and so very different than any kombucha I’d ever tasted.  Jenny had surely mastered the art thanks to her expert kombucha-brewing mother-in-law.  With that I became her protégé. Through a series of trial and error sessions, communicating and miscommunicating on methodologies, and consulting a second daughter-in-law of said mother-in-law, I am now well on my way to keeping a high success rate of brews. 

Here is the basic recipe: 

-16 green tea bags  (NOT the kind with matcha unless you're fond of giant green boogers in your brew.)

-2 black tea bags (just plain black, not something with oil essence like earl grey as it can harm the SCOBY)

-2 C white sugar (for brewing)

-1/2C white sugar (for bottling)

-2 C 100% grape juice concentrate or get creative and try other 100% juices (I once used unset wild blueberry jam. It was pulpy and delicious, but über carbonated!)

-2 gallons+  boiled water

Some other things you will need:

2 gallon glass container (giant cookie jar, crock, or any wide mouth jar that can be sanitized.)

16+ 16oz bottles or enough to bottle your kombucha (Grolsch bottles are perfect)

Sanitized strainer, funnel, spoon, bowl, measuring cups, and a clean tea towel

Undisturbed warm counter or cupboard

Bring the water to boil in the largest pot you have. Pour some boiling water over your 2 gal glass container to ensure it isn’t lodging any unwanted microorganisms.  Slosh and empty that water.  Pour 3 gallons freshly boiled water into glass container and drop in the 16 green tea bags and the 2 black tea bags.  Let it sit for

15 min. to 1 hour before removing tea bags with a strainer.  Add the 2 C. white sugar and stir until dissolved. Wait until room temperature or just above and add the SCOBY.  If you put the SCOBY back in when its still too warm it will die, so be patient! You can put the container outside to expedite the cooling process if you’re really antsy, (a snow pile works nicely.)  Once you are sure it is cool slide the culture into the sweet tea and cover with a tea towel.  It needs to breathe so don’t put a tight lid on it. Place the container in a warm spot in your house (70˚F-90˚F is best.) I use the top of the fridge since it seems to stay warmer than the rest of the kitchen. After 6-14 days, you have a delicious, nutritious  beverage.   Taste it at 6 days to get an idea of how sour you want it.  When you like the way it tastes remove the scoby from the container and set aside in a clean bowl.  Add juice concentrate and sugar stir until just dissolved. I use the sanitize setting on my dishwasher, but you can just rinse the bottles with boiling water to get them nice and clean. Bottle carefully to ensure cleanliness and let it sit 2-3 more days on the counter; any longer and you may have explosions, so be cautious. This is where the carbonation happens.  Refrigerate and-voilà!

Happy brewing and cheers to your health!

Beginnings

I have a pretty substantial fear of public speaking, and I am finding that my written voice in nearly as shaky, nevertheless, I want to share things from this adventure of homemade living.

Today's homemade item is getting a little closer to being finished.  For weeks now I have been working on a friend's overdue knitted birthday present (sorry for the delay Julie.)  As she may read this at some point I cannot currently disclose the nature of this knitted ware, but after its arrival would be happy to share.  It has been a time consuming endeavor and yet is proving to increase my knitting knowledge and gumption.  Upward and onward.