Kimchi LOVE

Last night I went to an amazing Kimchi workshop at Urban Farm Fermentory. I've never been before and when I walked in and the smell of fermenting food hit me I knew I'd have a great time. They make Kombucha and a few different blends of hard cider in house, as well as hosting a multitude of workshops. My dad just went about a month ago to a mushroom growing class and he had a blast! We had an "Intro to Kimchi" power point lecture by the teacher, Andy Lindberg, and then dove right in to cutting up and smashing our veggies. Kimchi is really simple and easy to make but totally fun and great tasting.

Dad and I chopping veggies! (Photo credit UFF)

All in all it was a great time and we learned a lot and tasted some awesome ferments. Plus, we got to sample UFF's prototype ginger Kombucha which was totally awesome. We left with a big canning jar full of our Kimchi and instructions to let it ferment for 10-12 days unscrewing the lid once every 24 hours to let the gases escape. I'll let you know when we dig in how they turned out!

Now our jars are hanging out working on turning into something wonderful! Have you ever tried fermented foods? We are big fans of them around here both for the taste and the health benefits. If you don't know much about ferments I highly suggest you pick up the book "Wild Fermentation" by Sandor Katz at your local library. It'll give you a history on ferments as well as the process that creates them and ideas on what to try out at home. I hope you'll check it out!

Until next time, 

xoxo Stacie

Oh, Mother!

Hey there kids, it's been awhile! Since my last post I've been working and making ends meet on my meager budget, which actually makes me feel good because I can manage to pay all our bills, put money away, do something every once in awhile, and feed my yarn habit at around $800 dollars a month (give or take). It's going to be pretty great once the ol' man finds something. He actually has an interview at the Post Office tomorrow afternoon which is pretty exciting!

I've been hookin' like a crazy person whipping projects out left and right. I'm saving my money up now to buy lots of yarn to make a HUGE ripple afghan to cover our full bed. So I'm trying to use up all my Christmas gifted yarns and bits and bobs so I can justify it. Last night I whipped up two slippers (I'm tackling the edging today) which unfortunately were too big for my tiny little feet. So, now I'm set for my aunt's birthday at the end of February! I'm way ahead. =D

This morning my dad sent me a link to a Kimchi class at the Urban Farm Fermetory in Portland. I am super excited! Only 25$ and you get to take home a jar of Kimchi at the end of the class. It's at the end of February so I may wait and see what's going on with Adam and then sign us both up. My father went to a mushroom growing class there this weekend and said it was fantastic. Plus, they have house-brewed hard cider AND Kombucha on tap. Be still my Kombucha-lovin'-heart. To all those who don't know, Kombucha is a fermented tea drink. I got my dad a kit to make it for Christmas and let me just tell you, the bacterial "mother" (aka scooby) is kinda creepy looking...like a water bound alien life form. But it makes something delicious so it's all good!

See that creepy mother thing on the top? Yikes! 

I'm also potentially turning Adam into a Buffy fan. We have no cable in the room we're staying in so we delved into the DVD collection and decided to start from the beginning. I can't even count the amount of times I've watched the series through, honestly. My friend Cait got me into it when Adam was deployed and now I can't get enough.

How is everyone getting along with their taxes? I've got Adam's USMC w-2 and our 1099s but we're waiting on THREE more w-2s. I hope they get here soon, because I can't wait to build our poor savings account back up from the EAS move.

Well, that's about it folks. Thanks for reading, I know I've been a crappy blogger lately. I just like crocheting more than anything else. =D

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie