lunch! (or breakfast)

fried egg with fresh dill

fried garlic and onion (til slightly crunchy, nom nom nom)

bed of mixed greens

nasturtiums

cubes of bleu cheese

avocado

a bit of leftover turkey-rice-corn-yellowstringbeans from dinner a couple nights ago

english breakfast tea

Yum!!

Momma taught me right, but, still...

...I can be overly cautious.  Not that it's a bad thing, mind you, but when I have two very beautiful jars of kombucha in the fridge that are about a month old now and am afraid to even open them because they've been in there a whole MONTH, THAT is overkill.

I finally talked myself into opening them, mainly because we plan to make some refrigerator pickles today and I needed some empty mason jars to sterilize for the process.  So I open one.  Little bubbles from the slowed fermentation of course rise to the surface, and a mini explosion occurs.  I'm used to that in my new kombucha, so okay.  I sniff.  Smells a heck of a lot like Kombucha.  I put the lid back on and shake gently.  This time a bigger explosion on opening - the bubbles being more inclined to unstick themselves from the liquid, they wanted out.  Another whiff.  Yep, that's kombucha, all right.  SO I dump it in a glass and my mouth starts watering.  Bubbles froth to the top.  Looks like Kombucha, smells like Kombucha, acts like Kombucha.

Now I'm at the crossroads.  Recently we were warned about pickling being a botulism problem.  I had never heard of that, but I know botulism is easily obtainable with the right conditions.  The specifics had been told to me long ago by Mum, but suffice it to say, the b-word now floated to the surface of my mind given the lack of specific memory to how botulism comes about.

At this point the stuff has not been put into my body.  Maybe I shouldn't drink it.  But it looks so good, and it's one of two Kombucha jars I have left anyway.  The new batch will take a week to finish!!  It's been in the FRIDGE for Pete's sake, it's highly acidic, surely that combination, assuming I sterilized everything, will retard growth of other stuff.  Right?  For the most part, at least.  In one month, I would hope so.  I'm sure I've done worse.

I take a sip.  Tastes like Kombucha.  By now, it is possible that millions of tiny little bacteria have infested my stomach.  But by now, I have stopped listening to Mum's warnings in my head.  I take another sip.  I breathe the vapours back through my nose.  Yup, that's Kombu-- wait.  What was that?  I put the glass down, still recycling the vapours through the back of my nose and throat.  What IS that?  Did it SPOIL?  It doesn't taste quite like spoilage.  It almost tastes like... Irish Breakfast Tea.

Now I'm perplexed.  I've been using Lipton bagged tea.  I take a tiny sip and there it is again in the back of my nose.  Irish Breakfast Tea.  I was just about to dump it when it hit me:  A month ago, I was using Irish Breakfast Tea.  I had run out of Lipton and added Irish to the brew in its stead.

I hover.  Am I sure?  Am I 100% sure?  I sniff.  No sign of the tea there.  I sip, another tiny sip.  By now I've already got it in me, whatever it is.  Why not make it worse?  lol.  There it is!  Irish Breakfast Tea.  Very noticeable now.  It doesn't taste bad, just... odd.

I have since read up on botulism and found out that acidic items (like vinegar or Kombucha, which makes acid like vinegar), salty ones (like brine for pickling), and refrigerated items (like my Kombucha and future pickles) are amongst the least risky fermented foods you can have when it comes to Botulism.

I was drinking the Kombucha while researching that.  There were the specifics.  All the while I had been, in the back of my mind, keeping tabs on how I felt.  The mildly drunken-like rush had hit me a while ago and cleared, but I'm used to that.  It happens almost every time I drink my first half a glass of Kombucha.  After that it fades out.  It faded as usual.  But I was waiting for my stomach to go on strike.  I was waiting for sweating.  Nausea, dry mouth, paralysis...?  Foggy mind?  Falling off my chair without any laughter?  Nothing happened.

This time, as my mother would say.

Incidentally, cold Kombucha is really, really good.  And it just occurred to me that if botulism is going to occur, it would be while Kombucha is brewing.  The stuff itself requires warmth, it's moist, and for a while, it's not nearly as acidic as the finished product.  Hm.  Maybe I should look into this a little bit more...

~paranoid but okay with that

Tea snobbery and rambles

Dale brought in the mail yesterday left a tea catalogue on my desk with a note:

"You might be a tea snob when you get tea news."

I have informed him that it's a catalogue as well as a newsletter, thankyouverymuch.

Admittedly, though, it might scare me a tad bit that as I was reading through the 35th page (out of 50 maybe) that I was increasingly aware of how "simple" the catalogue's verbiage was to me and how it likely isn't to the uninitiated.

I cannot believe how many things the human brain can remember in its lifetime, nor how many subjects one can delve into with gusto without even realizing it.  I also know way more about cars than I ever thought I would prior to becoming interested.

And let's not forget D&D, which is no longer a foreign term.  Or servers, or networking, or any number of things.

Where does all this stuff go?  How does it stick?  And then I go around complaining because I can't remember things on the fly as often as I used to and sometimes I forget words.  I think I need to accept that my brain is going to age like everyone else's and I should be glad I had one to age in the first place!!  It truly is a remarkable computer in there.  I remember that for 20 years of my life I wandered around with 20 or more thoughts coursing through my brain simultaneously.  It drove me crazy when it got really speedy in there... it felt like a multitude of Europe Express tracks whizzing around delivering lightweight cases of trinkets and treasures.  I have always had issues forming spoken words - the mouth is so slow compared to the fingers - but at the time it was worse.  Now I talk "slow" (for me) because I can't come up with the words, but it used to be because the words I came up with reflected several thoughts:

"I'm happy today"

"Look at the pretty sunset"

"I think I'll read that book later"

"What if I added a nested loop to that program"

"I could use some chocolate milk"

"This computer is too slow"

"What if I'm in a parallel universe"

could all turn into an abbreviated sentence:

"I'm happy sunset think book later added milk slow universe-- uh..."  :: blink blink ::  "I have to go."

This morning I heard Dale talking in his sleep.  He does this a lot but I usually don't catch what he's saying.  As it happened, I was watching him sleep because I woke up an hour earlier than I should have.  Must be the cup of tea I had last night, who knows - yeah, it wakes me up the next day, it doesn't KEEP me up.  So I propped myself up on my elbow, noting that the water pillow did indeed leak a little (been wondering if it was or why it wasn't) and stared creepily at him, smiling maniacally - "Whee, I can't believe I still see him when I wake up in the morning.  Is he still real?  Really real?"  Yeah, the expressions on my face must be creepy indeed.  So I'm staring at him and he starts tossing and turning a bit.  Then he smiles a bit and says, "Look at - she's wearing a hat."  Or something.  I cocked my head and hoped to hear more, but he fell silent and began to snore lightly, having concluded the little peep session into his dreamworld.  In the past I've heard him discussing technical specifications and rocket launching.  I think somniloquy is fascinating.

I don't remember what I'd dreamt but I know people I knew were in my head because I recall feeling like I was watching familiar beings and that they were OK with my presence.  I have vague memories of fields and grass and... oh.  That reminds me that I should check in with an old friend again and see how he's doing...

AND I should also contact a couple other friends of mine.  One recently moved, or was going to.  Maybe she's still in the process and could use help later today.  The other I haven't had breakfast with in several long days.  Aight, off to do the day's bidding.  I think some tea is in order, first, though.

OH YEAH and Dale and I are going to do some pickling today!!  Not actual canning, mind, but just like a 24 hour pickling fiesta.  Yum!  That should bring down the number of cukes on the counter... (of course now they'll be in the fridge)

W00T!

~w

ps NOW I'm off to do life.

The Blob

I recently read that after bottling kombucha, it still has active yeasties and bacteriumumumumums in it.  These can multiply, continuing to ferment the drink and feed off any leftover sugars and foodstuffs.  Depending on how long the drink is left lying around, especially on countertops rather than in the fridge (which slows down the reproduction rate of the yeasts and bacterium), these new little colonies can create what kombucha makers refer to as "blobs."  They are jelly-fish-like blobs of goo, pretty much.  They are said to be a surprise to many drinkers, but that they are safe to consume.

I was rather hoping I'd stumble across one of these and so tonight, I inspected one of my bottles before consumption, hoping to see one such jelly fish blob floating around in my kombucha.  I saw nothing.

Disheartened, I drank some.  I drank some more.  I kept drinking.  All of a sudden, SURPRISE!!  Uh... slimy, weird, blobby, chewy thing.  What the... Oh wait, is this the infamous blob??  It is indeed.  Larger than expected, and very difficult to see... it was floating sideways by the time I located the half-spit-out blob in the kombucha.

My drink made a blob.

I tried to eat it but ... just couldn't, somehow.  I held it up for Dale, comparing it rather scientifically to booger snot as it hung down from my fingertips, swaying slimily as it oozed downward yet somehow held together, dripping kombucha off of itself.  Dale agreed with the booger snot comment, making a rather contorted face as if one of disgust, and said he wouldn't drink it, either.  Well, of course he wouldn't, he doesn't like kombucha.  Zheezh.  ;)

Anywho, I've got a Blob.  I suppose I can't put it in a jar of kombucha now because I spit on it and human spit contains more icky bacteria than a kombucha colony has good.  I guess I'll compost it instead.  The plants might like it.  :)

~w

Something's not right

...when you have work and personal life's calendars, cameras, email, documents, phones, tasklists, notes, diversions, tools, e-books, videos and photographs on a single device that you can pocket... and then you plug a pair of good speakers into it as if it's a hi fi system.  And it sounds good.

The world is finally starting to really scare me.

Fry bread, me style

I've probably mentioned fry bread before, but this one is so easy and chewy and yummy that I'll post it here.  I made it up on the fly last night when I was in the mood for salad and... something heavier and tastier than white bread.

Heat an oiled fry pan over medium heat while mixing the following.  Note:  I don't take long to mix this, maybe 5 minutes... and I use olive oil.  I haven't seen it smoke, but as with all oils, keep an eye on your pan for the beginnings of smoke.  No kitchen fires, okay?

Add the following to a bowl and mix thoroughly.

1/2 cup flour

2 tablespoons or so of dried thyme

1 teaspoon of curry powder

1 teaspoon or so of ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin if desired

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1/8 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

a dash of asafoetida

Once thoroughly mixed, add about a quarter cup water, enough to get everything mixed together in a pliable glutinous blob.  "knead" it in your hands a few times until it's pretty warm and happy and then sprinkle with flour in order to press flat.  Press into the hot fry pan and keep pressing as flat as you can while it's still cool and pliable enough.  Let it fry at medium heat for about five minutes, then flip with a spatula and shut off the heat.  Let it sit there until you're ready to eat it (but within thirty minutes or so... it's best when still hot/warm).

Chewy and tasty, but it will get hard once it cools off a while.  Then you can make hard tack out of it.  Har har har.  d.