One of the Christmas gifts that we made this year was homebrew. It was fun to get brewing again after more than a year off! Also, Brattleboro now has its own brew supply store on High Street, Microbe Brewers' Supply. Very, very exciting (especially after my complaining that we needed such a store). Here is a photo essay from the brewing process. We did the steps over 3 different days--boiling, racking and bottling.
Day 1: Sterilized items laid out to dry
My favorite recipe is one I wrote myself and published in discontent #13. Also one must have a beer while one is brewing.
We had so many grains we needed 2 grain bags.
Removing the spent grains--pressing to get all that good flavor and color out.
Adding light malt extract.
The boil.
Here are the hops we used, bitter Warrior on the left, milder Willamette on the right. Plus your basic brewing yeast, Munton's.
The wort is poured into the primary fermenter, with floating thermometer.
We tried something new this time because we were using tap water. We put 3 gallons of water into mason jars, then left them in the sun all day to burn off the chlorine. Then we refrigerated them--made the cooling period after the boil MUCH shorter.
Activating the yeast. I decided to do it in the warm wort. Not sure if that was wise or not.
Day 2 (about 4 days later): Take the lid off and here's what I see. Activity!
Here's my awesome auto-siphon doing its job--moving the beer into the secondary fermenter.
View from the top. The primary fermenter (bucket) is on the counter, and secondary fermenter (glass carboy) is on the floor.
Closeup! I'm really excited about this carboy I guess.
Airlock on. Ready for the closet.
The sludge at the bottom of the barrel.
Day 3 (about a week later): Sterilizing bottles in a B-brite (bleach) solution.
Corn sugar ready to mix with water and heat. For carbonation purposes.
Specific gravity check.
Lovely color! Racking back into the (clean) primary fermenter for bottling purposes.
Sterilizing bottle caps. Then we filled the bottles, capped them and put them away for another week.
Finished product: I pasted cut-outs from wrapping paper onto the bottles, to make a nice gift for Uncle M. (We also put wrapping paper on a 6-pack holder to make a festive little carry-all.)
The beer was delicious by the way. We used the bitter hops at the very end of the boil and it gave it a great hoppy character that is just what we like.
I'm still taking a break from my weekly radio program, Beef Jerky Time, formerly broadcast on WVEW-LPFM 107.7 Brattleboro, VT. But I haven't stopped listening to music and wanting to share it. So I'm starting a new "Song of the Week" column here on the Cabinet of Prof. Kitty. Yo yo welcome 2011!
This week I'd like to pay attention to "Fences" from Phoenix's 2009 album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. I find this song both driving and mellow. I love the falsetto-y vocals going on. There's a smidge of disco in the background (wait.... hear that tiny handclap? Like around 1:31?). The fact that these guys are from Versailles makes the music extra awesome for me. (I understand that if you're actually from Versailles it's totally lame. But I'm not! And so!)
DJ opinion: I would say this would be a good song for driving into a sunset wearing mirrored aviators, nestled in a playlist between the Strokes and Don Henley's Boys of Summer. Wait, I'll stick those below too so you can see what you think.
Someday by The Strokes: Soundcloud track got yanked so here's youtube
Boys of Summer by Don Henley. As above, the Soundcloud track is gone so here's youtube. I don't mind though because this video is rad. I love the built-in nostalgia of the recurring running-on-the-beach clip.
We were so in love with our Christmas tree this year. It only cost $20 at Lilac Ridge Farm and it was just sweet. Perfect size for our house, perky boughs, gorgeous when covered with lights and ornaments. Thank you little tree for brightening up our holidays and being our tannenbaum.
Sadly though, round about December 26th, it became unclear how much longer we would want the gorgeous Christmas tree in our house. But... remember those crafts where you have to coat a pinecone with peanut butter and then dip it in birdseed? We wondered what would happen if we tried that with the whole tree.
First we stuck it in a snowbank in the front yard (see above).
Then we dosed it with delicious bird friendly ingredients. Specifically, we used peanut butter and birdseed. These items can be assembled any which way, but at our house we first dipped a spoon in peanut butter, then put it in a pile of birdseed, then scraped the spoonful over the tree branch.
We also sprinkled extra seeds over the whole sticky mess. We were hoping birds would be irresistibly drawn to all this. Turns out... apparently squirrels are the ones who are down with the peanut-butter-Christmas-tree-birdseed-vibe. Welcome cute furry peeps!
For my birthday I decided to drag my family to a buffet for lunch and get really full, and then for dinner we'd just have appetizers. Whee! It was a fun day. We got some great salumi from Brattleboro's North End Butchers (hot sopressata (spicy!), Genoa salami (peppery!), Molinari finnociona (fennel-seedy!)). I also got some Maytag blue cheese that was so ripe and moldy it burned the inside of my mouth (but in a good way). And some soothing French brie. Plus as a salute to my childhood, little Mini Babybel and Laughing Cow wrapped cheese products. Some of us drank prosecco and some had sparkling cranberry juice.
Thank you Gramma and Grandpa for the lovely stargazer lilies! They smell amazing!
I consider my birthday the last of the holidays that started way back at Thanksgiving. Now it's time to buckle down and get on with 2011 for reals. Happy New Year!
During winter I feel wrong buying nice fresh lettuces. They can't be in season, can they? So I tried a DIY lettuce substitute straight from my childhood--homegrown alfalfa sprouts.
Through the mists of time I remembered my mom always used a tablespoon of alfalfa seeds. She had a fancy Biosta Sprouter, and before that some Sprouting Strainer Lids (basically plastic mesh tops that fit mason jars). Having none of these, I used a mason jar, cheesecloth and a rubber band. I found the alfalfa seeds in the bulk section of the local food co-op.
Alfalfa seeds in jar, covered with cheesecloth secured with elastic
I put the jar on the sink like the bean sprouts I made in the past, and watered them daily by filling the jar and then pouring the water out again. The cheesecloth got a little funky-looking in the process, but the resulting sprouts were fine.
My alfalfa sprouts were ready in about 5 days. I removed them from the jar and put them in the fridge to stop the growing and keep them fresh. Before refrigerating, I like to hold them loosely under running water to rinse away some of those little brown seed hulls.
Then I store them on a paper towel (the rinse water makes it wet, which is good) in a plastic takeout container.
An egg salad sandwich with sprouts--no lettuce!
P. S. When I was in grade school the other kids picked on me for the alfalfa sprouts my mom put in my sandwiches. "Ew, WORMS!" I just rolled my eyes.
P.P.S. On second thought, I guess lettuce is OK if it's locally grown, like the stuff at the Winter Farmer's Market.
I divided this list into two sections, as seemed natural: "regular new" and "smacks of the 80s." Also I'm trying Soundcloud this year so you can just listen right off the page. (Give it a few secs.)
Regular New 2010 Songs
Subliminal Message: Happy Birthday
This band is from the town where I live. That is remarkable because Brattleboro, Vermont only has about 12,000 people. Yet I did not discover Happy Birthday through word of mouth, or at the bar, or at a show. I found them the way I find everything--on the Internet. It was only after I picked this song for my radio show that I learned they're from like, down the street. Anyway, I love the glides (glissando)--that thing where, like the beginning of "Rhapsody in Blue," the notes swoop from low to high, sounding a bit like a classy siren going off. Nice.
This band from Syracuse was also on my 2009 list (remixed). I just love their sound I guess--joyful, propulsive, perfect pop. Very crisp guitar lines, nice strings, beautiful pogo-sticking from the bass & drums. This song always makes me smile. No idea what it's about.
This is like club music gone psychedelic, plus tabla. I love it. The lyrics play to my drippy nostalgic side: "You might think I'm still that way. It's only natural. It was a past life thing, it was a past life thing. It wasn't anything at all." I also love the apparent shout-out to Missing Person's "Destination Unknown." You guys are awesome.
MNDR & Q-Tip are a great pair on this track. It is super catchy, with a very pleasing stutter-synth that is a real earworm. I don't know what MNDR is saying but her attitude is so cool that I sing along with her anyway. "Shake it to morella!" Or whatever.
Sweet, quiet vocals from Meredith Godreau and some instrument I can't quite identify. Hammered dulcimer? Some gamelan thing? Wait, is it a KOTO? No matter, it's lovely. Her voice makes me want to hang out with her, maybe get some tea.
This song got me running again after baby. I'd cue it up on the iPod and go. It is not even close to electro-pop. Big Boi's rapid rapping, the goofy "buh-buh-buh-buh" bass, the foul language--all great to get you up and moving and singing. Sasha Frere Jones calls it "sparkly and irresistible" and he is correct.
They're from North Carolina, but this song has a fabulous Latin vibe (besides being quite beepy, which is how I like it). "Your line around my neck keeps pullin' pullin'"... and then the pretty children's chorus!
They're Finnish! This cover is amazing, yet with kind of a classic sock-hop sound and lyrics. "I could never be your woman," explains the lead singer. "Why did you play me that way?" Except I'm pretty sure the lead singer is a guy. Apparently this is also true of the original version by White Town (1997). The guitar on this really slays me, it sounds like if Johnny Marr is playing the balalaika. Too delicious.
What better way to make your song sound authentically 80s than to get the guy from The Cure to sing for you? Robert Smith's voice immediately transports me to cold teen Novembers of mild misbehavior and pining to be grown up. This is one of several songs here with lyrics that make me sentimental like a 3-hanky movie: "And we were lovers, now we can't be friends." (The Internet tells me this was a Platinum Blonde song from 1983. BACK IN THE DAY.)
The team of Danger Mouse and the guy from the Shins (OK, I know his name, it's James Mercer) formed Broken Bells and released a like-named album in March 2010. It's as good as you might expect. (That is, very.) This particular song starts out a little bit twangy country, then a sweeping string section comes in after 30 seconds, and only after almost a minute does the beat and all the rest kick in. My favorite parts--the little soap bubble pop sound in the background during the verse. Best of all, the raw and twangy Joy Division guitar thing that shows up. Egad!
Boo, the Soundcloud track got taken down, so here's Youtube.
I Can Change: LCD Soundsystem
Do you like Yaz? Gary Numan? How about Flock of Seagulls? If so, then you will love "I Can Change." This song is almost too 80s even for me. But not quite! I can take it!
Living Days: Let's Kiss (Youtube) I Feel Bonnie: Hot Chip f. Bonnie Prince Billy (rcrdlbl) O.N.E. (XXXChange remix): Yeasayer (The Fader) A Million Miles: Don Diablo (SoundCloud) Summer: Atypicals (Bandcamp) Julius: Starf••ker (Myspace) Tom Cruz: Plants & Animals (KEXP) Dissembler: Woodhands (Spinner ***extra stars for video that makes me homesick for Toronto)
In Brattleboro, Vermont, we are lucky because the indoor Winter Farmer's Market starts up downtown right after the outdoor Farmer's Market ends in October. The Winter Market is organized by Post Oil Solutions and runs from November to March on Saturdays, 10am to 2pm. There you'll find agricultural products, artisanal crafts and baked goods, plus hot ready-to-eat food and live music. The market is in the River Garden space at 153 Main Street.
I stopped by the busy market today and took a few snaps. It's so hopping there around lunch-time that it helps to move with the "traffic" of people shuffling counterclockwise looking at the stalls and products and chatting with the vendors. There are many other vendors and products there besides those pictured of course--this is just a sampling.
Crates of vegetables greet you at the front door of the River Garden
As far as I can tell, this stew is "African" because it contains peanuts and exotic spices... like cumin. Perhaps it's as African as calling something "American" because it contains cheese and ground beef. Nonetheless, this slow cooker stew is very delicious. (And it also uses up chickpeas!)
I have a lot of chickpeas and have been trying to use them up. Hummus of course. Also Molly Wizenberg's Curried Lentil Soup is an unexpected and delicious vehicle for chickpeas. Handfuls thrown on a salad are nice. But I still have more chickpeas. Here's a recent invention.
Combine:
cooked orzo (1 cup dry) crumbled feta to taste cooked kale (maybe 1/2 cup) 15 oz. can chickpeas dressing made of lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and dried basil salt & pepper chopped red onion (save for garnish)
If possible, let chill for at least 4 hours. We passed this with the chopped red onion so folks could add as much onion as they wanted (or reject it, as in the case of our smallest diner).
Any favorite uses for chickpeas? Also, do you prefer to call them garbanzos?
One of the Christmas gifts that we made this year was homebrew. It was fun to get brewing again after more than a year off! Also, Brattleboro now has its own brew supply store on High Street, Microbe Brewers' Supply. Very, very exciting (especially after my complaining that we needed such a store). Here is a photo essay from the brewing process. We did the steps over 3 different days--boiling, racking and bottling.
Day 1: Sterilized items laid out to dry
My favorite recipe is one I wrote myself and published in discontent #13.
We had so many grains we needed 2 grain bags.
Removing the spent grains--pressing to get all that good flavor and color out.
Adding light malt extract.
The boil.
Here are the hops we used, bitter Warrior on the left, milder Willamette on the right. Plus your basic brewing yeast, Munton's.
The wort is poured into the primary fermenter, with floating thermometer.
We tried something new this time because we were using tap water. We put 3 gallons of water into mason jars, then left them in the sun all day to burn off the chlorine. Then we refrigerated them--made the cooling period after the boil MUCH shorter.
Activating the yeast. I decided to do it in the warm wort. Not sure if that was wise or not.
Day 2 (about 4 days later): Take the lid off and here's what I see. Activity!
View from the top. The primary fermenter (bucket) is on the counter, and secondary fermenter (glass carboy) is on the floor.
Closeup! I'm really excited about this carboy I guess.
Airlock on. Ready for the closet.
The sludge at the bottom of the barrel.
Corn sugar ready to mix with water and heat. For carbonation purposes.
Specific gravity check.
Finished product: I pasted cut-outs from wrapping paper onto the bottles, to make a nice gift for Uncle M. (We also put wrapping paper on a 6-pack holder to make a festive little carry-all.)
