Pretzels and Beer

I'm having an issue with my blog.  I know that it is more fun, for readers and myself, if I post frequently.  However, because I have chosen to write about my hobbies, I occasionally find myself with nothing to write about several days in a row.  I mean, seriously, who wants to hear, " Working on another 20 rows of an afghan.  Should be done eventually..."  So, I'm sorry to anyone who has been checking and found nothing for the last week.  But, hopefully, you will find this post worth the wait.

I have been working on a beer project for over a month now.  This week, I got to the exciting step of bottling my beer.  I couldn't be more excited.  Just a little over a week from now, we will be able to crack open the first bottles of the home brew and give it a taste.

My brother, Jake, came to town and I made him assist me with the bottling process.  We began by washing and sanitizing all of the bottles.  I used the bottom rack of my dishwasher as a drying rack for the bottles.  This worked really well.

After the bottles were clean and dry, we got to move on to the actual bottling.  You would think this step would be pretty straight forward.  But, as is par for the course, I was able to mess this step up a couple times.  There is a spigot on the front of the bucket that allows the liquid to flow into the bottle.  It is pretty simple to operate, tun to the left to open, turn to the right to close.  I managed to confuse my left and right a couple times and open the spigot all the way and overflow the bottle I was filling.  Thankfully, I did have the foresight to put a towel down under the bucket just in case.

Jake was in charge of capping the bottles.  This process is made easier by a handy little bottling contraption that squeezes the caps onto the top of the bottle with very little effort by the bottler.

As my assistant, and someone who doesn't drink beer, my brother seemed to be enjoying himself just a bit too much.

After an evening of many laughs and a couple messes, we were able to say we were done.  We successfully completed 43 bottles of beer.  I do think that my next batches will be closer to 50.  I had some issues on my first attempts to siphon and then there was the spillage during bottling.  So, I think I will be more successful, next time.

After completing the bottling, I decided that there would be nothing better to go with it than fresh, soft pretzels.  I have made them a couple times and they have turned out better each time.  I began by mixing together warm milk and yeast.  I then added butter and flour.  I kneaded the dough and let it rise for an hour.  Once the rising process was complete, I cut the dough into six sections.  I then took each section and rolled it out into a 30" rope.  Because I am so "fancy", I measured the edge of my counter and found it to be 31".  So, I rolled out the rope until it was almost as long as the edge of my counter.

Once the rope was completed, I shaped it into a pretzel.  The pretzel was then dipped into a mixture of 1/3 CUP baking soda and 3 cups of water.  (Who has ever measured baking soda by the cup?  I found that to be crazy.  But, it worked well.)  I then sprinkled the pretzels with course salt and threw them in the oven.

Dipping the pretzel in the baking soda mixture gives the pretzel its nice crunchy exterior while keeping the inside nice and soft.  Finally, after 10 long minutes of anticipation, I pulled the warm, wonderful pretzels out of the oven to enjoy.  I must say they were wonderful.  

As a side note, I think I will have to take out stock in the nacho cheese company because they are unbelievable dipped in cheese sauce!

Nasty spiral of projects

With the condition that I call Hobby ADD, comes an inescapable scenario.  I have many projects started and not completed.  By many, I mean somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 - 50.  It is ridiculous.  By working on this blog, I thought I would be able to keep my projects in check and work on one or two projects at a time, finish them and give them away.  But, as always happens, I have already found myself working on too many projects at one time.

I'm making beer, which is currently in the fermenting stage.  There is nothing I can do with this until the beginning of March.  So, I think that is fine.

I'm making a quilt with a friend of mine.  We are working on this project together.  We will not be able to get together to work on this again until April.  But, we are at a good stopping point.  So, I put everything away and cleaned up the sewing area.  I also see this as fine.

My cousin is having a baby girl at the beginning of March.  I had a layette set in mind that I wanted to make.  As my condition would have it, I have the set 2/3 done.  So, I grabbed the set and have been finishing it up.  Luckily, I had enough done before I put it away that I will be able to complete this project before the baby is born.  This sounds like it is fine.  But, this is where the issues begin.

I love this layette set.  It is delicate and beautiful.  My sister-in-law just found out that she is having twins.  They know that the babies are identical, but are not finding out the sex.  So, it is either two boys or two girls.  I have decided that, in case they are girls, I will be making this same layette set for my possible nieces.  (Still moderately okay)  But, the babies may be boys.  In which case, I need to make two matching male layette sets, just in case.

And the issue snowballs from there.  We have close friends that recently had a little boy.  So, I am finishing a blanket for him.  My cousin saw the quilt I was working on and commented that she would like a quilt.  So, she picked one out of my pattern book.  Of course, I went to the craft store and picked out the items I need to begin her quilt.  So, that project is now looming.

Finally, there is the never ending project.  I have been working on a counted cross-stitch afghan, for my mother, for the better part of 10 years.  (No joke, it's ridiculous.)  In January, I was "determined" to finish this project by Christmas.  But, as I continue to add more and more projects, this looks less likely.

So, there you have it.  This is how it always begins.  I begin the year with good intentions.  But, by March, everything goes to pot.  I will continue to monitor my condition and hopefully keep it in check as the year progresses.

Sadness and Beer

After a very exciting day, last Saturday, my first batch of beer was percolating at a regular pace.  However, by Monday morning, the percolating had stopped.  I was told by my beer mentor, Justin, to give it a few days and see if it picks back up.  Sadly, it did not. 

This evening, I opened the bucket and officially tested the gravity of the liquid.  As I read it, the first time, I thought it had actually dropped.  So, with sadness on my face, I added some more yeast and covered the bucket to let it process.  As I was typing this entry, my brain registered the number that I actually read.

To be complete, the hydrometer would need to read somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.10.  I read the number as 1.01.  As soon as I realized my mistake, I began making frantic phone calls to Midwest Brewing, who was closed for the day, and texts to Justin.  I have been assured that if I let it rest a few days and then rack it over to another container, things will continue as they should and be fine.

So, after today, I will be racking the beer to another container and crossing my fingers.

Think happy beer thoughts...

Quilting

I am still undecided about my quilting abilities.  I am currently working with my friend, Melissa, to complete 2 quilts.  The plan is to complete one full-sized quilt for each of us.  While we are definitely enjoying our time together, I think we may have made a poor choice for our first quilt.

We have decided to make a mosaic quilt.  So, the quilt will consist of a bunch of little squares put together in no particular order to create a beautiful, colorful masterpiece.  It is turning out nice.  But, it is taking forever.

First, we cut the material into 2 1/2 inch strips and sewed 3 of the strips together.

We then cut off a 2 1/2  inch strip of this group to create smaller strips.

Three of these smaller strips were then sewn together to create a block.  

Finally, four of these blocks were sewn together to create the mosaic block.  

The completion of the larger blocks was bitter-sweet.  I was happy with the fact that the seams on the blocks are, for the most part, lining up nicely.  However, after spending three Saturdays working on this and sewing all of the large mosaic blocks together, I have found that we are two large blocks short for even 1 quilt.  We are making 2. 

We already have this Saturday scheduled for quilt making.  So, I guess we go back to sewing little strips together to make bigger strips and so on...

Mmmmm... Beer

As a early Christmas gift to myself, I purchases a beginner brewing kit from a local home brew supplier.  It has been sitting in my basement since November, waiting to be used.  On Saturday, my friend, Justin, came over to teach me how to use the kit.  I was extremely nervous.  I can cook.  I can bake.  I can follow simple instructions.  But, for some reason, I really didn't think I could do this.  

For the last month, I have been reading various brewing books and magazine to learn how to use my brew kit.  It is all very scientific and to be honest, I was never very good at science.  So, I just kept getting more and more nervous about this whole proposition.  

Saturday began as chaotic as ever.  Justin arrived with 2 1/2 of empty beer bottles and some extra equipment to speed the brewing process.  The first main step in the brewing was seeping the grains and the hops in hot water.  I wish I could post a smell on this blog.  It was amazing.  I could have stood there with my head over the pot all afternoon.  It was a warm, earthy smell.  It was completely amazing.  

I have to applaud Justin for being about to put up with my craziness, all afternoon.  He said the entire process normally takes about 3 1/2 hours.  Sadly, that was not the case for my first go.  But, Justin was holding up rather well.

After an couple hours of seeping the grain and the hops, it was time to cool the brew.  Justin was kind enough to bring this crazy contraption called a wort chiller.  It is a piece of copper tubing that cold water is run through to cool the brew.  Unfortunately, we could not get the chiller to connect to any of my sinks.  So, we used nature's chiller.  This was effective.  It just took a bit longer.

But, finally, after almost six hours, the brew was ready to be placed in the fermenter.  I set the whole thing in the basement to wait the required amount of time before bottling.  I was extremely excited when I went downstairs on Sunday morning to find the liquid in the airlock slowly bubbling, as the yeast began to react with the sugars and create CO2.  This is going to be a long two week wait.

Am I a quilter?

Is quilting genetic?  I'd like to think that quilting is in my genes.  My great-grandmother made quilts, by hand.  The summer that I was born, she made two quilts.  There was a blue one and a pink one.  My cousin, Amy, was born first.  So, she got the pink one.

For my fifth birthday, my mom, grandmothers, aunts, and a cousin took my Strawberry Shortcake coloring book and used it as a template for a quilt.  They embroidered all of the Strawberry Shortcake characters and a strawberry patch on separate panels and quilted the panels, by had to make me a beautiful quilt for my bed.

For my college art requirement, I enrolled in a quilting class.  We made a sampler quilt that just happened to be the perfect size to cover my nephew, who was a toddler at the time.

Fast-forward 12 years and I am now making an attempt at a full-sized quilt.  When I moved in with my husband, we had a quilt in the living room that his grandmother had made.  It was used quite often and slowly started to get holes and come apart.  I fancy myself to be a crafty person.  But, I couldn't salvage this  quilt.

So, now my friend, Melissa, and I have decided to make quilts.  The sad thing is that we have only been able to get together three times in the last six months, to work on the quilt.  But, she is coming over on Saturday and we will work on as much as we can.  I got excited last night and pulled out the ironing board.  I re-pressed everything.  So, we can just pick up where we left off.

I guess we will find out, when it comes time for the actual quilting, if quilting is genetic.

Why are there so few bakeries?

My first job, in high school, was working the counter at our local, small-town bakery.  I started there when I was 14 and continued working their through three owners over a four year period.  After working the counter for a year, I was given the added responsibility of slicing bread, in the morning.  After two years, I moved on to frying and decorating the doughnuts.

I have always loved baking.  I find myself thinking, often, about why there are no small town bakeries, anymore.  There are neighborhood bakeries in Minneapolis and chain bakeries as you move out to the suburbs.  But, the small town bakery is no longer around.  I don't know about everyone else, but I crave home-made breads, rolls, cakes, and pies.

With this in mind, I have started out with a new goal.  Because I don't have enough to focus on in life, I am going to start perfecting my baking.  I will take some cake decorating classes, which I will be happy to document here.  I will work on my bread recipes.  I will practice my candies and pies.  My goal, to start with, is to have a booth at the local Albertville farmer's market, in the summer.  If I get this figured out and perfect my cake decorating, I can move on to my larger goal of baking cakes to order.  The pipe dream is to some day open a bakery and do this for a living.  I don't know if that is a real possibility.   But, it is nice to dream.