A little nosh

Taking some time off from downloading videos to indulge in a new food interest -- fermenting.

I've started out with giardiniera, an Italian vegetable pickle.  I think the original may be a vinegar based pickle, but I'm using the lacto-fermentation method that develops food rich in probiotics. I've followed the guidelines from Fermenting for Foodies as far as salt/water ratio, but used an assortment of veggies on hand instead of their exact recipe.

The red color of the brine is due to red onion and purple cauliflower -- eat the rainbow! I make it in small batches, as Mr. Mingling Yarn is the primary pickled food eater. That's a one quart, wide-mouthed canning jar with a fermentation lid. I invested in a fermentation kit from Year of Plenty  This is the third batch, and it has been well received.

Also being made is yogurt, along with cultured buttermilk. We've been trying various strains of cultures for the yogurt (from New England Cheese Making Supply Co. mostly) and so far Bulgarian seems to be the Mr.'s favorite and Creamy is mine. Actually, it's all delicious! Being able to make buttermilk as needed has been a great help. I really like using it in various bread recipes and it isn't always readily available in the full-fat version that we prefer.

I use a simple non-electric yogurt maker, which is basically a mason jar in a vacuum container.  Years ago I tried various electric yogurt makers (with little individual jars) and results were varied. So far results making one large batch (1 quart in our case) has been overwhelmingly successful -- coincidence, or are big batches somehow better?? One of my daughters uses a similar system but with a styrofoam container for the jar to keep things insulated -- mine is a stainless steel insulated container.  

It's not all healthy food though -- 

Easy Sugar Cookies from the Dessert For Two website of Christina Lane.  Plenty of tasty recipes (not just dessert) in small quantities. Yum!