Homemade Kraut, version 2.0

The first batch of our homemade kraut is finished, and wow, it is good! I love kraut, but even I have never had kraut that tasted this good before! I'm on the web tonight trying to find tasty recipes for it. We all had some plain, and I put the rest of the half gallon jar into the fridge to prevent any deterioration. We're declaring Kraut version 1.0 an official and unqualified success! I'm under orders from the rest of the crew to find and secure several more good kraut cabbages this week so we can put a whole bucket of the stuff on to ferment for Kraut version 2.0.

The first batch of wheat beer (the half gallon that didn't have raspberry in it) has been primed and bottled, and is sitting in a dark covered box on the counter for the next week, after which it will go down into the storage room for a couple or three more. After that, it should be fully carbonated, and we can bring a bottle up to chill and taste. Woohoo! On to the next batch, which will be a dark nut brown ale for my sweetie. I'm just waiting for the dark malt extract to come in and we'll be ready to start.

The mead is clearing out nicely, and the raspberry and cherry wines are just about finished with their main fermentations. The plum is still going - however it is clearing out really nicely too, and it *is* slowing down finally. I'm hoping to rack the mead this weekend and then take it downstairs to the dark storage room to settle for a month or so before bottling. With luck the plum and raspberry will be ready to go downstairs, too. I'll also test the vinegars this weekend again, and see if I can tell how many more weeks they might need. After that, they will also be bottled for aging and storage, and their glass crocks cleaned and ready for the next project. I'll admit, it'll be nice to get that part of my countertop back!

I had a really interesting experience a couple of days ago while scanning the grocery store ads - I realized that there was really very little we needed to buy this week. Now, I am going to buy a few sale items that we will stock up on, but there is really nothing much that we *need.* We've finally arrived at the happy point where most of our buying now is mainly for the purpose of stocking up on cheap basics as replacements and not because we have an empty pantry. That means that our food bill should be going down a bit over the next few months, which will be a welcome change. Buying everything in bulk costs extra up front and storing that much stuff has its challenges, but after a while it means you reach the point where all your meals are made with cheaper ingredients.

Another positive thing I've noticed while scanning store ads this week: I'm definitely losing my taste for overprocessed junky food. Which is good news for a lot of reasons, one of which - I hope - is that it will help me to lose some weight!