Cranberry Wine, Rhubarb Wine, Dandelion Wine...

The fun thing about our annual family homemade Christmas exchange is that we get to work on it all year! Last fall we froze about 40 pounds of cranberries and 20 pounds of grapes, and I also had about 10 pounds of frozen rhubarb left from my annual May harvest (all this fruit was locally grown and at no cost to us). As we were thinking of the gift exchange, we also wondered what to do with all this fruit?

About a year ago we took a winemaking class (a gift from my friend H) at a local winery called Cap N' Corks and we learned how to make wine from a juice-based wine kit (not from whole fruit). Here are some pictures of the wine we bottled (green apple) and a couple other flavors we purchased from the winery.

As part of the class, we received an instruction book with a lot of information and helpful tips about the winemaking process. The instructor also told us that he likes to make wine in the spring from last season's leftover frozen fruit. The freezing process breaks down the cell walls of the fruit, making it easier for the fruit to break down and release its juices.

Wines bottled and purchased at Cap N' Corks, winemaking instruction book from the workshop

Green apple wine that we bottled during the class

Even if you do nothing more with your wine skills after this day, the class is fun. You get to drink alot of wine. A lot. Thus, the empty bottles.

Empty bottles of wine...consumed during winemaking class!

We figured why not put our very novice winemaking skills to use and start some wine that we can bottle and give in the gift exchange? Perhaps I will give a sampler of bottled wine and Chuck will design and build his own wine rack! We invested in the winemaking kit at Cap N' Corks (about $130) that comes with most of the equipment you need, including a recipe book for making wine from juice and whole fruit.

Here are some pictures of the process we followed to start some cranberry wine.

Starting with about 18 pounds of frozen cranberries that we washed and sorted

The "must" -- a solution that includes the mashed cranberries in the mesh bag submerged in a solution of water, sugar, and other ingredients called for in the recipe

This five gallon food-safe container holds the "must" and is known as the "primary fermenter"

Adding the yeast mixture to the "must" (cranberry wine is difficult to get going so most recipes recommend that you start your yeast separately and add it to the "must" after 24-48 hours)

Checking the specific gravity of the wine using a hydrometer. The specific gravity measures the potential amount of alcohol that can be created as the yeast eats the sugar

The "must" after several days: the yeast is working because the must has become frothy

Starting to look more like wine...

The wine is being "racked" -- siphoned from the primary fermenter into a glass carboy where it will sit for 2-3 months before it is racked again, and eventually bottled

Five gallons of cranberry wine!

Five gallons of rhubarb wine, just racked

At this wine workshop the instructor also introduced us to dandelion wine, which was absolutely delicious. We went right home and picked enough dandelions for one gallon of dandelion wine. This was a whole day project that turned our fingers yellow...at that point we were too tired to start the wine and promptly threw the three quarts of dandelion petals in the freezer. So after a year, we have finally started our dandelion wine. It better be good, because I don't think either of us will be picking dandelion petals again!

Harvesting three quarts of dandelion petals for ONE GALLON of dandelion wine

Papasans, Food Aversions, & Other Favorite Things

I got this papasan chair--intended for my office/writing space that I've been working on (pictures coming soon), and look what happened...it was stolen from me almost immediately and never made its way out of the living room...

But really, who can blame them??? It's the sunniest spot in the house. Put a fleece blanket in this papazan and they won't get up for at least sixteen hours....it's heaven for my cats.

My weird food aversions continue but they are getting better, I think... 

Although I am generally not eating meat, I did manage to make these crockpot chicken fajitas and I even ate one or two of them.

I used a combination of my friend H's technique and the crockpot chicken fajita recipe at A Year of Slow Cooking. I used chicken instead of beef, and I sauteed the peppers in a pan right before we were ready to eat, rather than adding the peppers to the crockpot. (I like my veggies more on the crunchy side, and I planned on leaving the crock pot on all day while we were at work.)

Fruit & Nut Plate

The result was great--tender, juicy chicken that shreds easily with a fork, and healthy, too.

Other than some Papa Murphy's pizza (mushrooms and tomatoes only) and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (only the Ultimate Cheese Explosion), I'm not eating meals...scones and fruit it is! This is funny since normally I will eat anything except coconut and olives. Some days it's difficult to come up with anything I want to eat besides scones, fruit, cheese, or nuts.

Chocolate Chip Scone

Mixed Berry Scone

In other news, I had a fun shopping trip with my friend C involving some of our favorite things: Trader Joe's, Half Price Books, Chipotle, and the DSW Shoe Warehouse.

I purchased one of my last pair of Borns about ten years ago when I lived in Madison, and I just had the cracked sole glued for $5 at a local shoe repair shop (this was the best they could do...it would be cheaper to just buy a new pair of shoes, they told me). Thus, I felt I was entitled to a new pair of PURPLE Borns. Off the clearance rack. And, since they were on clearance, I got two other pairs besides these.

Having said all this, I feel that this post is relatively superficial, showcasing the enjoyment I got out of acquiring things... But sometimes you just have to go out and have a little fun. I haven't been feeling well, and I am trying to figure out--I guess--who I am even when I can't do the things I most enjoy...eating and cooking and writing. But my energy level is increasing and my nausea is decreasing. One day at a time, right?

Smoothie Recipe

My friend C asked me for my smoothie recipe so I thought I’d post it. I eat these almost every day for breakfast and they are satisfying and nutritious.

You have to experiment to get the consistency you want. I like my smoothies light and fluffy (rather than thick and icy), so here is what I do. Add the following into the blender and blend:

• One banana
• Two or three large spoonfuls of organic yogurt (I usually buy vanilla flavored organic yogurt. I buy organic because it’s generally not sweetened with large amounts of high fructose corn syrup, like other yogurts, which will make you crash with hunger in like an hour).
• About a ½ cup to 1 cup frozen fruit (you have to experiment with this amount) I buy large bags of frozen fruit either at Target or Sam’s Club. Usually I buy a triple berry mix or a tropical blend.
• About a ½ cup to 1 cup organic milk (again, experiment)
• If you have other fresh fruit that you want to throw in, add it in small amounts (like ¼ cup or less) or the smoothie will get really watery. Also, canned crushed pineapple is inexpensive and great in smoothies.
• Add any extras, like peanut butter, almond butter, cinnamon, honey…just a tiny bit, like a teaspoon of peanut butter or a sprinkle of cinnamon.
• I also buy flax seed in the natural foods section of the grocery store and then grind it in my coffee grinder and sprinkle it on top of the finished smoothie.
  

The longer you blend the fluffier it gets. Pour it into a glass. I sprinkle my flax seed on top, and/or stir it into the smoothie because I found it was kind of hard to clean out of the blender.
I don’t follow a recipe any more, or measure, I just throw stuff in. You’ll get the feel for how much to add to make the kind of consistency you prefer.

A note about the benefits of flax seed…Flax seed is supposedly one of those “miracle foods.” It’s high in omega three fatty acids…here are a few benefits:

(HealthCastle.com) Its high content of alpha linolenic acids has made the ancient flax seed become our modern miracle food. Alpha linolenic acid (ALA) is a type of plant-derived omega 3 fatty acid, similar to those found in fish such as salmon. Benefits of flax seed as shown in many studies include lowering total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the Bad cholesterol) levels. Other benefits show that flax seed may also help lower blood triglyceride and blood pressure. It may also keep platelets from
becoming sticky therefore reducing the risk of a heart attack…