theneedle.net

Edamame, Romaine, Purple Scallions, Fennel, Carrots, Tomatillos, Red Pepper, Zucchini, 10 pounds peaches (not in the picture), 4 pounds plums (also not in the picture.)

I love the summer.

I remember heading downtown for something.  Maybe I was going to work with my father?  Maybe it was some event at the Aud?  I was too young to be heading to a baseball game at Pilot Field.  Whatever it was, I was fascinated by the mural on the crumbling building at Genesee and Oak.  It stood out as a point of brightness in a drab downtown.

Every time we went downtown I was excited to see it.  I stared out the window as we traveled down the 33, waiting.  Seeing it meant that we were there.

Well shucks, a mere 25 years later, its almost here.

I’d never actively want to listen to The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lil Wayne, ACDC & Gwen Stefani.

But weave ‘em all together & its gold.

wow.  Go get the new Girl Talk album.  Now.

http://74.124.198.47/illegal-art.net/__girl__talk___feed__the__anima.ls___/

When I discover, 30 minutes before the end of the workday, that my bike’s rear tire is completely flat & has what appears to be a staple lodged in it.

Guess I know what I’m doing while Ang gets her massage tonight.

This week’s CSA haul:

• Collards
• Swiss Chard
• Flat Leaf Parsley
• Napa Cabbage
• Romaine
• Some variety of Bibb
• Sour Cherries
• Sweet Cherries

I see a pie in our immediate future.  And a salad.  Salad & pie is a legit dinner, right?

- Don’t bake bread when your apartment is 82 degrees before you turn on the oven.  Still, I’m loving the NY TImes No Knead recipe.

- Security at work yelled at me today for taking my bike into the building.  I was told that I should lock it up at the bike rack under the ER ramp.  The problem is that the bike rack which used to be under the ER ramp seems to have disappeared..

- Its fun to see more and more people viewing bikes as a valid way to commute.  There are only 4 of us at the office right now, but people keep asking questions.  I can feel that they want to do it, they’re just afraid to take the plunge.  I can see the neighborhood being frightening to some - I wonder how much new cycling businesses in “better areas” are seeing.

- The cats should be smart enough to know that snuggling on a day like today isn’t the wisest idea.  Still, its darn cute.

- like Borneo, I’m getting out of here.

Another “I should have paid more attention in Chemistry class” post…

Tonight I bottled my second batch of Berliner Weisse.  Its a simple (albeit odd) recipe that yields a low alcohol, slightly tart beer.  The oddness comes from two distinct sources.  First, unlike other beers you don’t boil Berliner Weisse.  You extract the sugars from the malt, cool & add yeast.  Second, you conduct a sour mash.

The sour mash is what I’m contemplating.  The procedure involves taking about a quarter of the sweet wort you collect from the grain and adding half a pound of malted (but unmashed) grains.  The grains soak in the liquid for about a week before being strained out.  That 25% is added back to the remaining 75%, you wait a few days & then bottle.  The grains you add to that 25% inoculate the mixture with Lactobacillus that resides on the husks.

When I brewed my first Berliner Weisse I stored the bucket of grains & liquid in the cellar which stays somewhere around 65 degrees.  That batch was good but like any proud sourhead I wanted more.  For this second batch I brought the sour mash bucket up to the attic.  I didn’t keep track of the temperature but I’m going to guess that the average temperature was at least in the mid 70s.

Lacto’s optimum temperature is 98 (so says Sparrow’s Wild Brews) and while I’m sure the attic didn’t reach that temperature, what I bottled tonight was noticably more acidic than the first batch.  I think I’m going to try and do a few more batches this summer, monitoring the temperature in the attic, to determine what temperature sour mash I feel produces the best beer.  There was such a difference between the first batch at 65F and (an assumed) 75F that I can’t imagine a sour mash conducted at 98 being good.  Still, I think it can be pushed further.  Its just a question of how much…

Imagine my happiness when a new vendor appeared at the Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market a few weeks back selling rabbits at a reasonable price.  Prior to that the only meat vendors at the market were a bit out of my price range.  Unfortunately I didn’t get a rabbit that day but I vowed to return.

I vowed to get a rabbit , that is, until I went this weekend and found that she was now selling ducks as well.  So I bought a 3.5 pound quacker and portioned him up.  The legs/thighs/carcass are in the freezer, waiting their turn to become confit & stock.

Tonight I seared the breasts, sliced them and fanned them out on a bed of porcini (Thanks M&D!) risotto.  I topped that with a cherry and port sauce.  I had planned to add slivered almonds, but it slipped my mind at the last moment.

The picture isn’t great; I was more concerned with eating than getting a good shot.

I managed to kill the database while upgrading word press.  I believe all the posts are back now (minus comments, for now) but please excuse any oddness you happen to encounter.  A number of special characters (apostrophes, double spaces) are coming up strange in both IE and Firefox.  I’ll try to fix it soon.