Wednesday 29 February 2012

Seventeen Dozen Woobleepops

Yesterday turned into a day of bottling. Making one's own alcoholic beverages is a lot of frenzy then waiting with more frenzy. The woobleepop is the best example of this.
I discovered this delectable beverage last summer when my sister was visiting. We stopped into Me Buddy's Brew Shop in Bay Roberts and Buddy aka Mike not only gave us the recipe but samples too. For any home brewers or vintners out there...check him out...a lot cheaper than anywhere else for supplies.
To make a batch you need 8 kg of sugar, 25 gallons of water and a package of super yeast to start. It can ferment in as little as three days and it hisses so loud you can hear it in the next room. Next step is clearing...you add finings which takes all the junk out and settles it to the bottom. After a week or so its time to filter. During this week you look for specials on 2L of pop. You need 24...8 of each flavour. Pineapple is best but we have tried grape, orange, cream soda,mountain dew,lemonade, cranberry,swamp water just to name a few. Whatever you want you can make. The other important thing to do is collect lots and lots of clear beer bottles.
The bottles...oh the bottles. Have about 17 dozen and you need to delabel them before you start. On bottling day you need to sanitize and rinse them.
Once you have your 20% alcohol filtered and your truckload of bottles ready its time to mix up the wooblepops. 7 L of alcohol, 5 tsps of citric acid and 8 2L to into your bucket stir gently and bottle. Do this another two times. Enlist anyone to help but tasting will occur so factor that in.
After this marathon of bottling you should have 15-17 dozen of delicious wooblepops. Take it easy because they are potent. And of course they cost about 1/10 of the ones at the liquor store. Cheers!




Monday 27 February 2012

Knitting in public

Today I had to go into town for some appointments at the Health Sciences Center. Knowing I would be in the car for a couple hours as well as spending an unknown number of hours waiting I took some knitting with me.
I located a seat and hauled out my knitting and watched all the older ladies give me the eyeball. There was an old feller sitting next to me who whipped a hat from his pocket and told me his wife knit it for him and what a hat it was...best thing ever he said and it had years left in it. That's when I noticed a lady three seats away knitting a twirly scarf...I gave her the nod...she returned it and her husband rolled his eyes. I told him and the old fella that they were in the knitting section. They laughed. The other knitter got called in and I continued to knit and wait.
Fast forward...the knitter comes back and asks me what I was knitting and she wants to knit other stuff so I tell her about the Anna Templeton Center ans knitting night and whatnot. Then I get called in. Fast forward...I come back out and wait to be called the second time. There is another lady sitting quietly a few seats away. A few minutes go by and she shuffles over next to me...she has a wool band with a pattern on it. The other knitter had given it to her and she is wondering if I can help explain part of it to her. I help her out and a nurse stops to asks what I am knitting at the same time.
Fast forward... old fella comes out of his appointment and wishes me the best and Gawd luv ya honey.
I knit half a hat during my waiting and I think I could have had the whole crowd of em knitting up a storm with me. If you take your knitting out in public make sure your ready to talk about it...cause people want to know.


Sunday 26 February 2012

Bakin' & Bottlin'

This morning I had a hankering to do some baking. So I whipped up a batch of Sam's favorite raisin buns (which he has been known to polish off in one sitting) and a batch of rolled oat buns. Both recipes are in my favorite recipe book, The Treasury of Newfoundland Dishes which was reprinted about four years ago. Mom and Nan T had copies but there was nar the one to be bought. When I picked up a copy to look at while at the Craft Fair I didn't even realize what it was till I opened it. Bought copies for my sister and I in about a millisecond.
Later today I need to filter the batch of liquor that's ready and make up coolers. About 16 dozen bottles from 23 L of 20% alcohol and 48 L of pop. This time I am making grape, orange and cream soda. Its nice to always have booze on hand when you live in the woods.
This spring will be fun because I plan to revamp my spruce beer recipe and try tapping my birch grove to make birch beer and/or wine.


Saturday 25 February 2012

Kats and Dawgs

Nappy time is the only peaceful time when it comes to life at my house. Spider (the cat) and Duke and Chief (the Brothers Beagle) do a lot of rabble rousing. Factor in the Lovebird clan and Dakota (ole big dog Malamute) it can get pretty rambunctious.
Granted I wouldn't want it any other way...I don't need an alarm system or a doorbell or to sweep the floor very often. The gang also keeps my feet warm and gives me an audience to ramble to when Sam isn't (or is) here.
They are all spoiled rotten but I figure it makes up for all the little creatures that don't get the care they deserve.
The chickens keep me company when I am wandering outside on The Compound because they generally follow me around or come bursting out of the woods looking for treats. Its a wonderfowl life when I paws to think about it :)




Friday 24 February 2012

The chicken or the egg?

That age old question. Here on The Compound the answer is...the chicken. My first batch of chickens came from Bishop's Cove after replying to an ad in the Buy and Sell. The man who sold them to me also tried to guilt me into adopting a goat but that's another story. They came home in a deep fryer box and the grandson of the man hid behind the skidoo bawling because the baby chickens were leaving.

So the chickens arrived and I waited and waited and waited for them to grow up. Turns out I had four roosters and seven  hens. Every day I would check the coop...no eggs. But finally there were two little green eggs! I ran up to the house to show Sam like a little kid would. And that's how it began.


Thursday 23 February 2012

Weather weirdness

It might be my imagination but it seems that the weather this winter is wackier than usual. Lots of hard to forecast weather systems which don't live up to their potential. Sneaky storms that weren't supposed to be. Rain, rain and more rain. Weather forecasting seems like a great gig because you can be wrong all the time and you'll never be fired.


Wednesday 22 February 2012

My first blog

Today seemed like a good day to start a blog. So I did. We shall have to see how it goes.