Coming Home to the Kitchen

As a gourmand, I enjoy spending time in the kitchen. When I have had a hard day, I head to the kitchen as the process of cooking is often more valuable to me than the consumption of the food created. The world can be a scary place and we all need somewhere safe and comfortable to come home to. While many individuals view the kitchen as a place of drudgery and oppression – an unpleasant link to our base nature this series will teach you how to make the kitchen your safe and comfortable place – even if you hate cooking and are fundamentally lazy in the kitchen! The information presented is designed to increase your kitchen-related motivation and inspire you to get into the kitchen!

Topics covered include... 

- shopping for vintage kitchen wares         - kitchen motivation         - Salad Basics

- Inspirational Quotes                  - Gourmet Tips              - Resources

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October News

Lots of exciting things to share with you for the month of October! 

~ I've started a little puzzle blog to share (on a sporadic basis) my puzzle adventures. I have a lot of old man hobbies!

~ I wrote a guest post entitled Beginner Fondant: All you need is Creativity!

~ I've been involved in TallBoys beer and cheese blog for a few months now. The blog just got a facelift! Check it out here!

~ I took a short break from my PaperDroid Zombie column but came back with a vengeance in September with a Sourdough Series. 

~ And the news I am most excited to share! My comic collaboration with MJ Alexander is finally finished! Check it out! Order your copy today! 

    

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Kombucha: Beautiful SCOBY

(Source)

These pictures of SCOBY inspired me to create an all SCOBY Tumblr. Check it out at scobyland.tumblr.com. Submit your beautiful SCOBY photos! :)
 

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Kombucha: Vacation

It's the end of Vegan MoFo and you want to go on vacation! But what will you do with your SCOBY? Will it stay alive? Will you have to repurchase/regrow a new SCOBY when you return? 
There are three options for SCOBY storage while on vacation.

1. Drying - If you leave a SCOBY at room temperature for a week or so, flipping regularly it will dry out and you'll be about to resuscitate it into kombucha madness. Check out this early post about drying SCOBY for more information (and a fabulous gif!)

2. SCOBY Motel - Extraneous SCOBY can be stored in a jar in the fridge covered with a mixture of fermented and unfermented tea. These SCOBY will slowly ferment - getting larger and consuming the unfermented tea. I cannot seem to throw out a nice, white SCOBY so I have a few motel's in my fridge.

 
   3. Just leave 'em - The easiest option is to simply leave your kombucha fermenting. When you get back your tea might be vinegary (but there are uses for that!) but your SCOBY will be huge, healthy, and ready to start a new batch! After a one month vacation I cam home to these huge SCOBY!

 Check out my online kombucha brewing course (free access here) for more k-brewing advice! (That's the last time I'll mention it during MoFo I swear! ;) )

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Kombucha: Resources

Here's a list of Kombucha brewing resources to explore. 

1. My K-brewing course (free access)

2. Books by Sador Ellix Katz
3. This homebrew forum (primarily beer) sometimes has interesting kombucha discussions. 
4.  This Mother Earth article on Kombucha discusses the potential risks and benefits of kombucha in an unbiased manner.

5. The Kombucha Lady has a nice list of flavors and a comprehensive guide detailing her brewing routine.
6. Check out my Pinterest Board for all things Kombucha!    

What are your favorite kombucha resources?

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Kombucha: Trying new flavors (Part III)

I've really enjoyed tasting my flavor combinations over the last few days. (See Part 1 and Part II)

Blueberry: Lovely color. Not carbonated. (See Part II)
Blueberry Ginger: Need to up the ginger content.
Plain: Bottled in beer bottle style. Very nice carbonation.
Hops: Very pleasant flavor. Perfect for those poor preggo ladies!
Wasabi Peas: I like the concept of wasabi but the peas got soggy and it didn't really make the drink spicy.
Peppermint Tea: Nice tannins. Pleasant smell. Not pepperminty - just tea like.

The biggest thing I learned is that I don't like the screw cap bottles and prefer beer caps as a method of bottling and as a fledgling home-brewer I have that equipment! :)

What are your favorite kombucha flavors? 

  

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Kombucha: Continuous Brew Update

(The beginning) 

 (After the beginning) 

I've bottled some of the kombucha brewing my continuous brewing system. It seems like an easy, mess-free way of brewing kombucha. The SCOBY is getting huge!

Some of the benefits of continuous brewing are: 

- less cleaning  

- greater chance of success as the environment of a healthy kombucha batch is maintained continuously.  

- faster (both to brew and to bottle)

- consistent supply of fresh kombucha

Do you subscribe to the continuous brewing method? 

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