The Monkey And The Plywood Violin

I've been doing Science! in the kitchen again. Yesterday I made some simple ginger beer based on this recipe and matociquala's efforts. Mine differs in that it has about 3 tablespoons ginger in it, which I cooked in water before adding to the bottle, and it is dark brown, since I have a lot of brown sugar to use up. The result is...bitey. There's a vague fermentation smell to it, but the taste is much like strong ginger beer in the glass bottles. Not very carbonated, probably due to my kitchen being cool, but tasty nevertheless. And no explosions!

Now, what else can I ferment?

Intentional ones! In Champaign, I'd gotten used to being able to buy my yeast in bulk at the natural food store. None of the ones around here seem to sell it, so I wound up with some packets from the grocery store, which are damnably expensive, at least comparatively. So I decided to experiment, and have been yanking a chunk of dough off the bread each time I bake. I just toss that in some liquid and let it warm up for a few hours before I bake again, and so far, it's been a success. It may be much less elegant than a sourdough, but it seems to be a viable colony. Plus, if I forget and use up all my dough, I won't feel as bad, since a very similar colony can be purchased at the supermarket.

Unfortunately, all I have in the house is pastry flour. That's because the white wheat (as opposed to red - the standard type) I bought turned out to be soft white wheat, not hard white wheat, as I'd hoped. Hard wheat makes bread flour. Soft wheat makes pastry flour. That means I can't make bread till I use it up. Why not buy some bread or all purpose flour, you ask? Well, I have a very small kitchen, and a limited number of storage jars. So, in the meantime, it's going to be muffins and such. Which, I have just discovered, can be made quite nicely with yeast (had to keep the colony going, after all!)

Angela and I have been talking about doing more Science! around the house. She's mixing more glazes in the future, mostlike, and I'm getting into egg tempera and a little natural dyeing again (the two go well together, since madder dye is the first step to getting a good madder lake pigment). What's the difference between Science! and science? Less exact measuring, for one. Glaze chemistry is more like alchemy, really.

Don't worry - we have rubber gloves, chemical respirator available (should get one of my own soon) and a good knowledge of what doesn't go near food.

Did you know that you can make copper carbonate out of root killer and washing soda? I didn't until recently, and now I must try it. The world needs more blue-green powder.

Currently, I'm turning fifty feet of nylon rope orangey-yellowy-brown with onions.

Downside to my small weight loss: my back support corset doesn't. Since my back has been killing me, this is a problem. I took it in a bit in the back, which is helping, but I could stand to lace down another inch across the shoulders. There's still not enough bust room in this one, though, making it a prime candidate for becoming an underbust soon. On the plus side, current corseted waist: 37" without strain. I could probably reduce another two before it got awkward.

That's right, I was meant to be packing.