Projects a Go Go

Due to the frustration of my week of failed vegetarian dinners (which I still do on and off here and there), I decided to do projects here and there.

Project #1 Homemade vanilla extract on a hectic, bad karma Sunday

Bruce Willis Vodka

Received vanilla beans for Christmas from my best friend Bud as per my request (yes, we do tell each other what we want for Christmas.  Does it take away the magic?  Yes.  Does it save us from the guilt of returning an awkward gift?  Yes.).  Used one in banana bread, but I don't make enough desserts so they sat in my cupboard for four months.

I bought a large bottle of No Name artifical vanilla extract eons ago and still use it.  But thought to make my own homemade vanilla extract for special desserts.  Home made vanilla extract requires vodka.  Being a 50% Polish little family OBVIOUSLY we have vodka sitting around.  In fact, we have two bottles:  Bruce Willis vodka (which is actually Sobieski, a Polish vodka.  Bruce Willis' picture was on the back of the bottle) and Grey Goose, a French vodka.  I asked P if I could use the Bruce Willis vodka because I felt weird using Grey Goose, an expensive vodka, for vanilla extract.  I don't think it makes a difference either way.  P graciously says yes I can use the Bruce Willis vodka.

It was a bad karma Sunday because that same day, P broke out in a bad allergic reaction, he forgot his keys at his BFF's house, and on the way to a friend's daughter's b-day party, our car died.  Okay it was more bad karma Sunday for P than me.

Project #2 Rhubarb jam...Maillardville represent!

Went to a jam making class at a rec centre in Vancouver after work on Monday.  It was taught by one of the mamas from Homesteading Mama's.  During introductions, we had to say what our favorite food out of a jar was.  People said strawberry jam, peaches, rhubarb jam, you know...obvious stuff.  I say bacon marmalade.  Yes, I chose a meat jam to be my favorite thing out of a jar.  Another guy said beer.  Ugh...I wish I was funny like that guy.

The jam we were making was rhubarb.  I never thought to make jam out of rhubarb, so was excited to try it.  Some great tips:

Bought at Homesteader's Emporium

1. You don't have to buy a canning kit.  If you have a very large stock pot, that should be sufficient.  The only accessories then you need to buy are the jars and a jar lifter (which comes in handy).  I will be scouring my favorite local boutique Village de Value (sounds fancier when you French it up).

2.  Pomona's Pectin is a great product to use instead of the usual pectin you buy at the store.  Pomona's relies on calcium instead of sugar to jell-ify the fruit.  The calcium comes with the packet.  By using Pomona's you can make sugar free jam.  Homesteading Mama says that by using regular pectin, you could be using up to 4 cups of sugar for 4 cups of fruit.  Yuck!

3.   It's not suggested you tinker around with measurements in a recipe.  Canning is a science.  Canning comes with the risk of botulism (botulism thrives in zero oxygen environments), so you want to follow a recipe to a tee.  The only thing that can perhaps be changed up is flavourings.  That's why we chose ginger for the Rhubarb jam.

But again...lonely heart.  There were two couples and one girl who was a friend of a couple.  Everyone made a connection with one another because they all lived in Vancouver and talked about all the neighbourhoods they lived in and how dynamic and lively their neighbourhoods were.  This lonely heart  was raised in Maillardville and resides in Pocompton on the wrong side of the tracks.  So yeah...I live near downtown too...Downton Pocompton What!   I don't have the cute fruit and vegetable shops down the street.  I have Coopers at the end of the street and the nerd shop at the end of the block (nerd shop being a video game store).  My sister in law M's car gotten broken into the last time she visited.  I felt like I was too thug to be in this class. 

All in all, a really interesting class and my interest has been piqued for canning.  P's BFF AM wants to do canning too.  I bought myself some jars, some Pomona's Pectin, and I have ordered the recommended book from Chapters and am now waiting for it so I can start my canning.  PUMPED!

As you can see from the photo, the rhubarb ginger jam has proven quite popular in our little home.  We're not big jam eaters, but we're almost done the jar.

Project #3 Making some cheese, preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse

UBC Farm...so far and annoying to get to

Drove all the way out to UBC Farm on Saturday.  What a nightmare.  Honestly, Vancouverites do not know how to drive in the rain.  Was 1/2 an hour late for class.  Argh!

The instructor, David, showed us how cheese making on a small scale at home is really accessible and it really is!  He showed us how to make paneer, yogurt cheese (which he calls dream cheese because you pretty much start it the day before, go to sleep and the next day you have yogurt cheese), and the beginning of camembert.

I would post some useful tips I learned, but his website pretty much walks you through everything so better to hear it from the horse's mouth (not that he looks like a horse).

Paneer in the back, blue cheese in the front

One funny thing from the class is that he was using this cheese cloth that seemed just perfect for his yogurt cheese project.  After giving us his opinion on store bought cheese cloth (which he is not especially fond of), he let us in on a little secret about his cheese cloth.  His cheese cloth is...wait for it...a du-rag.  Yes, a du-rag he buys from a Jamaican hair place (but he says that Homesteaders Emporium on Hastings sells them now too upon his insistence).  His cheese has that extra bit of street cred and a taste of gangster.  One older person asks what a du-rag is and his reply is, "you know, what rappers wear on their head".  I pretty much die of laughter at this point and debated leaving the classroom just to call P (which I didn't because it was cramped in the classroom).

David gives us a drink of kefir.  It's essentially a tastier, carbonated fermented milk yogurty drink.  He then gives us each a clump of grains of kefir, which is essentially good yeast and bacteria.  I name mine P Jr.   

My shopping expedition at Homesteader's Emporium

I went to Homesteaders Emporium today and picked up some cheese making supplies: camembert cheese molds (not mold mold, but shape molds), a thermometer (which David says we don't need, but knowing myself and my hit or miss with cooking, better to err on the side of caution), rennet tabs and the blessed du-rug (I pick up two).  The cashier mentions there has been a surge in du-rag purchases since his cheese class.

My first project is the yogurt cheese.  Not having a deep enough pot, I improvise with the following until P gets home and figures something better (which he always does).

Yogurt cheese in a du-rag

Drainage system until we found an even bigger bowl

 I'm really digging these little projects that allow me to make things from scratch and let's me be self-sufficient.  I'm convinced when the Zombie Apocalypse hits, we'll have plenty of cheese, jam, and vanilla extract.

Project #4 Pancetta 2013 update

Something went weird with the pancetta.  It went moldy in the middle, but it's not green mold, but white mold like on salami.  I'm going to have to investigate this further.

So those are my projects on the go.  Will provide updates.