Ohhh, that one with the aptitude-test for civil servants/clerks! I suggested over 20 years ago, that teachers ought to go through mandatory testing every ten years of employment, to see their knowledge was up to spec.
Almost go into actual fist-fights with colleagues over that.
And the last meme hits home. I was taught lots of stuff as kid, by grandparents and older relatives, since they knew school is for book-learning only. I almost weep when I'm hiking and see people who can't lay a fire proper without chemicals and gadgets, or who buy $14 dollar-a-meal rations.
"Swing low, sweet comet, come to clear the chaff out..." is a horrible way to feel but sometimes, it needs to be let out.
I feel the same way. Had the same type of upbringing. Love the song. It’s dark, but if that’s your only reaction to this whimsical farce of tragedy, you are an amazingly self controlled individual. Clearly, you need to sing more.
Mead is a wondrous elixir. I sip it out on the porch overlooking the pond. I also make my famous smoked pork lentil soup with a good helping of mead. I bet your house smells amazing. I have never tried juniper mead, but it sounds good.
Tonight, when I’m out drinking mead at sunset, I will sing your song to the cows, the family of foxes, the great blue herons and the horned owls.
I pick ripe berries and snip off the outmost part of the branches - the soft fresh ones where the needles haven't hardened. Late September is usually right where I live, also means the mead has matured enough when Jul comes.
Say a fitful of berries, a fistful of needles in a pot for ca 10L water. Pour boiling water on the berries and needles, put the lid on and leave like that for 1-3 days. Sieve it (I use a piece of linen cloth) into another pot, add honey (usually a kilo to 10L is what I use, and the cheapest honey works just fine I've found) while heating it to ca 40C-45C (no more!), sieve it again, and pour it into a damejane or similar vessel for fermenting.
Let sit at room temp out of the Sun for 3-4 weeks, then sieve it again into a clean pot and heat slowly while stirring (again, no hotter than 40C-45C). Taste and add spices, sugar, whatever at this point as long as it's things that'll dissolve. Meanwhile, heat bottles to as close as 100C you can (mind that you use bottles that can take being [re]heated!) and fill them up with the warm brew, then cork them immediately - the cooling bottle will "pull" the cork tight, and if you want to you can then further seal it with hot wax or something like that.
Mind you, when opening them after another 4-6 weeks in the dirt cellar, they sometimes are so carbonated due to cold fermentation it spurts like champagne. The taste is different - sweet but with a clear and sharp aftertaste-tang almost like turpentine, though not to an unpleasant degree. Perfect for the salty fatty food of the Jul-table.
Thank you so much for the recipe. I have beehives, so the honey is provided by nature. I will hunt for juniper on my property. What a great start to the day! Thanks again!
Ohhh, that one with the aptitude-test for civil servants/clerks! I suggested over 20 years ago, that teachers ought to go through mandatory testing every ten years of employment, to see their knowledge was up to spec.
Almost go into actual fist-fights with colleagues over that.
And the last meme hits home. I was taught lots of stuff as kid, by grandparents and older relatives, since they knew school is for book-learning only. I almost weep when I'm hiking and see people who can't lay a fire proper without chemicals and gadgets, or who buy $14 dollar-a-meal rations.
"Swing low, sweet comet, come to clear the chaff out..." is a horrible way to feel but sometimes, it needs to be let out.
I feel the same way. Had the same type of upbringing. Love the song. It’s dark, but if that’s your only reaction to this whimsical farce of tragedy, you are an amazingly self controlled individual. Clearly, you need to sing more.
Heh, it's thankfully not my only reaction to things out of whack both domestic and abroad.
I'm blaming my current mood on the weather. +10C, leaden clouds, damp and humid, and you can't even tell where behind the clouds is the Sun.
On the plus-side, I get to stay indoors and bottle the home-made apple-wine and Juniper-mead we've been making.
Which obviously includes taste-testing before each bottle is filled. Can't skimp out on due diligence in such matters.
Mead is a wondrous elixir. I sip it out on the porch overlooking the pond. I also make my famous smoked pork lentil soup with a good helping of mead. I bet your house smells amazing. I have never tried juniper mead, but it sounds good.
Tonight, when I’m out drinking mead at sunset, I will sing your song to the cows, the family of foxes, the great blue herons and the horned owls.
Big thumbs up! I do it like this:
I pick ripe berries and snip off the outmost part of the branches - the soft fresh ones where the needles haven't hardened. Late September is usually right where I live, also means the mead has matured enough when Jul comes.
Say a fitful of berries, a fistful of needles in a pot for ca 10L water. Pour boiling water on the berries and needles, put the lid on and leave like that for 1-3 days. Sieve it (I use a piece of linen cloth) into another pot, add honey (usually a kilo to 10L is what I use, and the cheapest honey works just fine I've found) while heating it to ca 40C-45C (no more!), sieve it again, and pour it into a damejane or similar vessel for fermenting.
Let sit at room temp out of the Sun for 3-4 weeks, then sieve it again into a clean pot and heat slowly while stirring (again, no hotter than 40C-45C). Taste and add spices, sugar, whatever at this point as long as it's things that'll dissolve. Meanwhile, heat bottles to as close as 100C you can (mind that you use bottles that can take being [re]heated!) and fill them up with the warm brew, then cork them immediately - the cooling bottle will "pull" the cork tight, and if you want to you can then further seal it with hot wax or something like that.
Mind you, when opening them after another 4-6 weeks in the dirt cellar, they sometimes are so carbonated due to cold fermentation it spurts like champagne. The taste is different - sweet but with a clear and sharp aftertaste-tang almost like turpentine, though not to an unpleasant degree. Perfect for the salty fatty food of the Jul-table.
Thank you so much for the recipe. I have beehives, so the honey is provided by nature. I will hunt for juniper on my property. What a great start to the day! Thanks again!
https://ifrqfm.substack.com/p/the-food-is-terrible
Thanks, that was an interesting read.