graduates

My daughter Rebecca and my son-in-law Binod graduated from college.  Happy times!  It was a joy to see my college kids.  Especially a joy to be with my daughter Missy when she went to the temple for the first time.  On the way back home a rest stop in North Dakota was filled with bison.  Best rest stop ever!

mason jars

I found another use for mason jars-- lactofermentaion. I use mason jars for basic food storage, long term food storage and for organizing my spice cupboard. Plastic absorbs flavor and grease, glass is always easy to clean and mason jars are cheaply available all the time. I love mason jars. ANYWAY, onto lactofermentation. The easiest way to explain it is sauerkraut, or kimchee. That is what lactofermentation is. It's basically some food (cabbage is an easy one) salted down and allowed to ferment. To encourage the type of fermentation you want, add a few spoonfuls of whey (the watery stuff on the yogurt). I packed all this into a mason jar, weighted down the cabbage, so it was under the juices, and one week later I have sauerkraut. It's peasant food. Seems like a lot of peasant food is insanely easy to make. Bread, cheese, stew, etc. Now I can add lactofermented foods to the list. Another thing I made was pineapple vinegar using the outside peel of a fresh pineapple. It's basically the same steps, but no salt. I did add some distilled water to the mix. I like the taste of it. I understand pineapple vinegar is really common in Mexico. It sure is easy to make. Slice the outside skin and the core off a fresh pineapple (and eat the fruit!) cut it up, put it in a mason jar, add a few spoonfuls of whey, fill it to the top with distilled water, weigh it down so the solids are underneath the liquids and wait a week. Mason jars, the answer to so many questions I didn't realize I needed to ask.