bits and pieces

{I'm sorry to anyone who got their comments deleted on the last post.  I added an Intense Debate widget and after a day, it disappeared along with the comments.  I'm going to try it again and if it doesn't work then, I'll just take it out.}


Today the sun's out and everyone's in the backyard because I kicked 'em all out of the house. Thank goodness for Sundays and Jonathan.  He's out there with them giving me a break.

It's been a good week.  It's been full and I don't really know if I have much to say so I'll just jump in.  I'm pretty tired because I've been going all week without so much as ten minutes for myself.  You know what I'm talking about?   Yes?  So, I'll just tell you what I've been working on.  Yes, I've been working on cheese.  My milk kefir produces about 2 cups of kefir a day and I've been backed up with about a zillion quart jars of it.  Making this soft cheese is pretty easy actually.  It's the first time I've made it.

After it was finished, I added some fresh tarragon and other spices.  It's so creamy and rich, perfect to crumble on the top of a salad.  Which is just what I did next.

 

It was yummy.  But, the bad news is that I really don't handle lactose very well.  Getting started on this milk kefir journey has been an experiment to see how much lactose is really in kefir after a day of fermentation.  I guess there must be just enough to make me miserable.  I could ferment it another day but I knew my water kefir grains were coming in the mail.  I've been enjoying and experimenting with them this week.

I've been doing some primary and secondary fermentation with coconut water and then adding lemons, a little concord grape juice and frozen raspberries.  I've also been experimenting with just filtered water, maple syrup and pears which works very well.  I must be doing something right because my grains have multiplied like crazy and I have four quarts fermenting right now.  Isn't it pretty?  It's a little freaky how this works and the kefir feels rubbery but it's good stuff.

 

We broke out the watercolors again.  

These little chicks were my hand sewing project I put together for my class this week.  I like this tie dyed looking felt.  This class has been really fun for me.  It's a lot different than doing the pre-school class I did in the past.  A lot less stressful.  Out of 14 students, I think we have 4 girls.  It's fun to watch and listen to the boys sewing while talking about boy things.  

Most of my week looked something like this though.  And don't be fooled by the blue skies.  It was f r e e z i n g out there!

Are you having a nice weekend?