Small Hiatus

We are leaving for a little vacation. Therefore, I am going to take a little break from the blog-o-sphere.

But don't worry, I'll be back soon with enlightening new posts!


Have a good week.

ROTW and ArThursday Poll & Caravaggio

I have been doing the Recipe of the Week and ArThursday for about 6 weeks. I wanted to see if everyone is still interested in them existing.

So if you feel one way or the other leave a comment with your opinion. Write which one you like (it can be both), you can even write why if you would like. Just let me know. - Thanks Anne

Caravaggio

This week I decided to go with someone old school. In fact so old school he is considered one of the "Old Masters". I learned about Caravaggio in High School when we studied the Baroque period in Mr. Justice's class. I was always really interested by Caravaggio and his intriguing use of shadows. So here is some classic painting for the traditionalists.

Judith Beheading Holofernes 1598–1599. Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome.

The Calling of Saint Matthew 1599–1600. Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome.

Martyrdom of Saint Matthew 1599–1600.  San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome.

The Crucifixion of Saint Peter 1601. Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome.

The Taking of Christ, 1602. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.

Conversion of Saint Paul, 1601. Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome.

David with the Head of Goliath, 1609–1610. Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Snobby Joes

We had a group of friends coming over for dinner last night and I was trying to think of something easy to make for a large group. Snobby Joes was definitely it. This recipe is from Veganomicon, a very valuable book to the vegan crowd. I change just a few things to make this recipe even more healthy than it already is. The "meat" of it is lentils, but it would be easy to substitute grass-fed ground beef. Though I would suggest you try it with the lentils as it is super tasty! Unfortunately I wasn't able to take any pictures of these, but I did steal one.

Image courtesty Seitan Is My Motor

Snobby Joes

Prep Time 10 Min : Cook Time 40 mins : Servings 4-6

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked lentils¹
4 cups water²
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
2-3 carrots, diced³
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon salt
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
4-6 buns⁴

Put the lentils in a small sauce pot and pour in 4 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until lentils are soft. Drain and set aside.

About 10 minutes before the lentils are done boiling, preheat a medium soup pot or large saucepan over medium heat. In a covered microwave safe bowl, steam the carrots for about 2 minutes, no need to add additional water the carrots will have enough. Saute the onion and carrots in the oil for about 7 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and saute a minute more. Add the cooked lentils, the chili powder, oregano and salt and mix. Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Add the maple syrup and mustard and heat through.Turn the heat off and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Serve hot!

Courtesy of PPK(Post Punk Kitchen), a blog of one of the authors of Veganomicon.


Foodnotes:
1 We usually use red/orange lentils
2 I actually used a mix of water and whey, which I had left over from making cheese. Whey is awesome! FYI This makes the recipe not vegan.
3 The original recipe calls for green pepper, but I am not a fan of green pepper. And red, orange and yellow peppers are always incredibly expensive as well as hard to get local. Whereas carrots are cheap, filling and from our area!
4 We had delicious buns from Allegro Hearth in Squirrel Hill

The Great Outdoors - Biking, part 2

This is continued from last Friday's post.

Map Your Route

Not knowing where you're going sucks. Not knowing where you're going when you are biking, sucks more. After you've been biking around and are tired, or it's started to rain, the last thing you want is to be circling around an area. We are incredibly lucky to have multiple resources to map your route in Pittsburgh. First, BikePGH has a free physical map that you can get at many different locations around Pittsburgh, including all bike shops and the East End Food Coop. For a full list of where to pick one up, go here. They also offer a "high quality rip-proof, waterproof paper" map for $10 available for purchase on the same site. Second, they have an interactive online map which you can use to map out where you're going. The online map allows you to see trail access, bike shops, where there are dedicated bike lanes and crash reports. (Here is a great article about why you should report a crash and how to stay protected.) Finally, Google maps offers a "bike" option as one of their modes of transportation under "Get Directions".

Ride With Friends

The more people riding together, the more visible you are. Though this isn't feasible for all situations, you be surprised who else bikes places. Ask around at your job or school and see if others are interested in starting a bikepool. Using your bike to commute even once a week, can make a big difference. Here are more resources on how to start or join a bikepool. One of our favorite spring, summer and fall activities is going for a bike ride with friends. It is a great way to hang out and explore the city together. Also, because biking isn't always as cardio-intensive, you're able to carry on conversations easily with each other.

Ride Often

Like anything, the more you do it, usually the better you are. When I pull out my bike for the first time in a season, I need to re-learn and re-adjust to using a bike again. This biking season my goal is to ride my bike as much as possible. I want to act like I only have a car to use when a bike just won't work, because I would like to think that I could survive without a car. This season is my experiment in that, and it is going well so far. It doesn't help that we live at the top of a hill, but then again it's Pittsburgh which is all hills. Also, it isn't nearly the biggest hill around.

Some Things That Don't Fit Into Categories

Always, I repeat ALWAYS wear a helmet. I see some of my friends riding around and other strangers without helmets, and it makes me really sad. I don't care how stupid you think it looks or how hardcore you think you are, it isn't and you aren't. I was hit by a car once on my bike and I thanked God that I was wearing a helmet, my injury could have been a lot worse without it. Helmets come in so many different styles, pick one you like and wear it every time.
Get a lock! Preferably a U-Lock, but at least a nice chain lock. You don't want to spend months fixing up a junker at Free Ride just to have it stolen. Also, if you only have a U-lock, lock your front tire AND frame to a secure apparatus. You don't want this happening:

If you are going to ride at night you need a bike light. You MUST have a back red light that blinks, and ideally you should get a front, white light that has a solid and blinking setting. Our house really like Planet Bike, in general, but especially for their front, white bike lights.

I hope this has been helpful and encourages you to ride in the city, or to just ride in general. I find bike riding very rewarding. Often times I get nervous or whinny before I start a ride, but once I get out there I am happy that I made the right choice and I have a great time. What good times have you had on your bike? What's your favorite ride through Pittsburgh?

The Great Outdoors - Biking, part 1

It's that time of the year again, when you go dust off the bike you've been neglecting all winter and go for a ride. I personally would love to be one of those hardcore bikers that rides all through the frigid, ice-filled winter, but I'm not. I try to tell myself one day I will be, but we'll see. Now that the weather is nice though, I take every opportunity to ride my bike. It is great for so many reasons, environmentally better, more healthy, and it builds character. When I first started riding in the city, back in college, I was very apprehensive. It was scary, there were cars and pedestrians, and I wasn't all that comfortable on a bike. But after some practice, I became versed in city riding and now feel like I am one of the cars. Don't be discouraged not to ride your bike; there are plenty of things you can do to make yourself more comfortable and, more importantly, more safe.

Like Your Bike

When I first started riding a bike again I was on a little mountain bike. I wasn't really comfortable on it, and therefore my riding experience wasn't that fun. Then I went to Free Ride and was lucky enough to find a great small road bike. It was an old Schwinn and I loved it. It made riding so much more enjoyable. Part of that was because it was made more for city riding, but more of it was that I felt comfortable. Last year I graduated to buying a new bike. It took a lot of debate, but I decided it was well worth the money. And it has been. When I was looking for a new bike, one of the guys I talked to asked if I was looking for a road bike, a cruiser, a hybrid, or a mountain bike. I said that I was going to be doing mostly city riding, so I guess a road bike. He asked if I was going doing a lot of long distance road riding? No. Then you don't have to have a road bike. Really? This changed my world. I like my hybrid because I feel like I have more control over the bike than I did, even with my beloved Schwinn.

My new commuter

And that is the key, the more comfortable you feel, the more confident you'll be. Confidence is what you need when you are riding in the city. So try some different bikes out, see what makes you feel comfortable. Talk to the people who your buying from. They should be able to help you with what you need and what type of bike will work best for you. If you want to brush up on different bike styles before heading to the store REI has a great bike page.

Have A Local Bike Shop

We are blessed in Pittsburgh to have multiple great bike shops to choose from. A local shop where you get to know the people is the best asset to have. You are able to stop in if you have a question, they can show you how to fix things on your own, and they can help when the job is too big for you (though I have been told that no job should be too big).

Thick Bikes

62 South 15th Street, Pittsburgh PA; (412) 390-3590
Located in Southside, this where I bought my new bike. The guys in here are really easy to talk to. They sell some used bikes as well as new bikes and various accessories.

Iron City Bikes

331 S Bouquet St, Pittsburgh, PA; (412) 681-1310
Located in South Oakland, and is probably Ben's favorite bike shop. They are a smaller store but can do orders if they don't have it in the shop. They sell new bikes and accessories. And have a local racing team.

Love Bikes

212 1/2 44th St, Pittsburgh, PA; (412) 235-7026
Pittsburgh newest shop located in Lawrenceville. They are mostly a repair shop right now, but plan to start selling complete and refurbished bikes soon. Unfortunately, I have not been here yet to have a personal opinion of them.

Ted’s Excellent Bike Repair

2110 E Carson St, Pittsburgh PA; (412) 224-2324)
Also located on Southside, it is suppose to be a pretty great repair shop. I haven't needed a repair shop yet, but have heard great things from many friends who've used them.

Kraynick’s Bike Shop

5003 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA; (412) 621-6160)
In Garfield, Kraynick's is the Yinzer of shops. Not the shop to go if you have an overwhelmingly expensive bike, but definitely the place to be if you need to be economical. Also if you want to work on your bike for free and be able to get some knowledgeable advice, come here. Many people can only sing the praises of how awesome this shop is.

Free Ride

214 N. Lexington Ave, Pittsburgh, PA; (412) 731-4094
Another great place to work on your bike for free. Free Ride does a great job of teaching you how to build and take care of a bike. They call themselves a "bicycle educational facility". You can literally start with a frame and build your bike, for free. I highly suggest you check out their website to see all that they have to offer. They also sometimes have finished recycled bikes for sale, which is how I got my Schwinn, but this is rare.

BikeTek

5842 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA; (412) 521-6448
Located in Squirrel Hill, these guys were pretty nice. I ended up getting my rack from them. They sell mostly new bikes and accessories, but they also do repairs.

There is REI(Southside) and Pro Bikes(Squirrel Hill). As per my experience, I am not a huge fan of either of them, especially Pro Bikes. But I love REI, so if I need an accessory I would go here, but I don't use their shop. If you aren't in Pittsburgh, do a google search or talk to friends who bike. If Pittsburgh has this many choices, chances are you city should have at least one.

Here is BikePGH's list of resources in and around Pittsburgh.

Check out Part 2 coming on Monday with the topics "Map Your Route", "Ride With Friends" and "Ride Often".

Slinkachu

Fantastic Voyage

Slinkachu is a street installation artist and photographer based in London. His work is fun and I get enjoyment out of it. But as he describes there is also a more serious side to it:

My 'Little People Project' started in 2006. It involves the remodelling and painting of miniature model train set characters, which I then place and leave on the street. It is both a street art installation project and a photography project. The street-based side of my work plays with the notion of surprise and I aim to encourage city-dwellers to be more aware of their surroundings. The scenes I set up, more evident through the photography, and the titles I give these scenes aim to reflect the loneliness and melancholy of living in a big city, almost being lost and overwhelmed. But underneath this, there is always some humour. I want people to be able to empathise with the tiny people in my works.

Susan

I definitely see more humor in them.

Jesus Saves

I Can't Actually Graffiti

Chicken Tikka Disasta

Company Car

Majestic

Relic

Boys Own Adventures

Close Shave

Last Resort

If you enjoyed these I recommend you visit his website or search him on Google images. He has many more great ones online.

Albondigas

Albondigas is the Spanish word for meatball. When I think of Albondigas, I think of the Mexican dish. The Mexican version consist of meatballs in a tomato broth soup. I found a few different recipes that I combined and then tweaked, there are still some changes that I would make in the future though. I noted these changes, if you would also prefer it to be a bit different in places. I hope you enjoy this delicious dish, after tonight it has become one of our new favorites.

Doesn't look as good as it tastes, unfortunately

Albondigas

For the "meatballs"¹:
1 cup TVP flakes²
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup brown rice
1 egg
1/2 onion diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 to 1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt
olive oil

1. Cook rice. While rice is cooking heat vegetable broth to just below boiling. Place TVP flakes into vegetable broth and cover. Set aside.
2. In a large pan, saute garlic and onions in olive oil until browned.
3. Place cooked rice, onion/garlic mixture, rehydrated TVP, 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs and spices in a medium bowl. Mix together. If it looks like it needs some more breadcrumbs, add up to another 1/4 cup. Beat egg and add to mixture. Mix until well combined.
4. Stick your hands in and start making meatballs. Place on a plate until all of the mixture is formed. Should make about 15 meatballs.

5. Heat olive oil in the same pan you sauted the garlic and onions. Carefully place meatballs into the oil once it is heated up. You want to let them get really brown before you flip them for the first time. This way they will stay together better. Flip them around, browning on all sides to your liking. We like ours dark as you can see. If they crumble a bit that will be okay too, don't worry about it too much.
6. Once they are done to your liking, remove them from the pan and set aside.


For the sauce³:

1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 5.5 oz can V8
1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper⁴
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup frozen peas (or fresh peas)
freshly-ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Take the same frying pan you used to make the meatballs, add olive oil if necessary and heat. Cook the onion until it is soft, then add garlic and some pepper.
2. Once the onion is looking translucent, add in the vegetable broth and turn the heat up to high. Let it boil for about a minute.
3. Add the diced tomatoes, ketchup, and V8. Wait for it to boil again, then reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Add peas and stir in cayenne. Let simmer for a few minutes.
5. Add meatballs and spoon sauce over the meatballs to make sure they are covered. Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.
6. Serve HOT, preferably with some nice bread. We had Veg Bread,⁵, which worked really well.



Foodnotes:
1 This was a new veggie meatball recipe for me, and while the taste was nice, they were a little finicky on the frying pan. I had to be really delicate with them, so they wouldn't fall apart. I think next time I might try the beanball recipe from Veganomicon, one of my favorite veg cookbooks. But at least these ones tasted great.
2 TVP(textured vegetable protein) comes in many forms, we use the chunks and flakes. We always have both of them in the house because they can be used for so many different things and are dehydrated so they keep probably forever. I don't completely understand the process but it is a by-product of making soybean oil. If you are interested you can find out more here. TVP is available at the co-op in bulk and I have even seen it in some Giant Eagle's if you are in Pittsburgh.
3 When I think of Albondigas, I think of a soup. This turned out being more of a meatball with sauce dish. When I make this again I will probably put in a can of tomato sauce and at least another 2 cups of broth. You can find your own proportions depending on what you are feeling like, a brothy soup or a hearty sauce.
4 As I've mentioned before, we like the spicy in our house. If you don't, feel free to adjust the cayenne to whatever you feel like. However, this wasn't incredibly spicy, at all. If you decide to make the changes mentioned in foodnote 3 to make the dish more soupy, remember to keep in mind the cayenne will be even more diluted.
5 I had this idea to make basically zucchini bread out of a bunch of vegetables and make a double batch consisting of a large loaf pan and 2 dozen muffins. The result was what the house called "veg bread". It isn't sweet zucchini bread, it has definite vegetable taste and is only mildly sweet. It is good, but is much like the difference between complete pancake mix and buckwheat pancakes. Either way, it went surprisingly well with the Albondigas, the mild sweetness was highlighted in just the right way to completely compliment one another. If anyone is interested in the recipe, let me know and I can forward it, just be warned.

Diary of A Slogger, issue 5

...Or why you should change it up.

I usually do my slogs on a city trail. One that is paved with just a small section of crushed limestone. But I decided to run in Frick Park last week. For those not from Pittsburgh, Frick Park is a city forest-y park that has dirt and crushed limestone/rock trails. I chose to do this the day after Pittsburgh precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, mist all in one), good idea right? Most of the trails looked like this, but add an incline:

For those of you who don't know, I fall a lot. Correction, slip a lot. I have good balance, but if there is ice or slippery conditions, there is a good chance I will slip. But I wanted to take the challenge. I had decided to go to Frick because it isn't flat and it makes me feel like I am in a forest. Slogging in Frick, under these conditions, was like my own version of Mt. Marathon Race, which a fellow blogger just entered the lottery for. Okay, maybe not that intense, but certainly took more effort and thought than running the flat, paved trail my body is becoming use to.

It was also great interval training. The inclines would go until I almost couldn't take it and then they would top off. And when I was just getting too relaxed that I didn't feel like I was exercising anymore, another hill would start.

I am not sure how far I went, even when you think you know what trail you're on in Frick, you really have no idea. But I had fun and I worked. Muddy work.

How do you try to break your routine?

Listener

I have a rather eclectic taste in music. Some times I am in the mood for honest to goodness country, I am talking Dixie Chicks, other times I want to listen to Boy Sets Fire. I will state that this artist is probably not for everyone.

When I first heard about Listener, I was told it was this guy speaking/singing while banging on a washing machine. I was confused. A few weeks ago half of Listener was playing an "acoustic" house show with some friends, it was promised that there wouldn't be any washing machine. A guy, Dan Smith, got up to do his set. He had a stage presence and personality that I immediately loved. There was something corky and honest about it. He only did his spoken word, no music and no singing. I enjoyed him immensely. As I sat squished in my pastors living room with maybe 25-30 other people, face to face with someone bearing their heart and mind, I couldn't help think that we are all artists. Maybe everyone doesn't like the art we create, maybe we hate it ourselves, but there is magic happening. There are nameless photographers sharing photos with friends, painters sketching trees in the park, and lyricists screaming words in a crowded room on a Sunday night.

Here are the lyrics as I find them impressive, but sometimes hard to know.

You Were A House On Fire


Building Better Bridges


Wooden Heart


Seatbelt Hands


Most Roads Lead To Home


Listener is Dan Smith and Christin Nelson. They are certainly artist in my opinion and if you want more check out their website.

Fermentation

I don't know about you, but I love sauerkraut. I can eat it just by itself.

I was lucky enough to attend the Farm to Table Conference here in Pittsburgh. It is an awesome little conference where local farms and health conscious businesses come to share about their products. There were also speakers, demonstrations and kids activities. One company that was there was Zukay Live Foods. They are a PA company that specializes in non-dairy probiotic foods. They have juices, salsa, salad dressings and relishes, all of which are made with fermented vegetables.

Why Fermented Vegetables Are Important

Don't say anything about her, she is AWESOME!

Fermented foods are full of bacteria. Unfortunately in modern society, bacteria are equated with germs and germs are bad, so they are avoided like the plague(which is also a bacteria). However, not all bacteria are bad, our bodies are filled with good bacteria, or at least they should be. These good bacteria are all throughout our digestive systems making sure that our food is being digested properly so that we can get everything we need out of it. In most people now these good bacteria are far to low and can lead to digestive problems. This is why Jamie Lee Curtis is telling you to eat Activia, yogurt has the same delicious cultures that your digestive system needs.
These good bacteria can also be killed in our body by taking things like anti-biotics. Do I think you should not take these if your doctor prescribes them? No, but maybe up your fermented foods or yogurt intake afterwards to get all the good germs back.

Why it is important to eat RAW Fermented Foods

When you buy sauerkraut in the store it has been canned. This means that it has been cooked. When it's cooked all of the good bacteria has been fried alive! It no longer has the added help of the bacteria, it's just some tasty cabbage. When you ferment raw vegetables, you are keeping those bacteria alive and allowing them to prosper by breaking down the vegetables.


We were lucky enough to see a demonstration by Scott Grzybek of Zukay, who made two fermented recipes in front of us. They were so easy that I decided to share them with you this week. It's a TWO-FER!

Sauerkraut AKA deliciousness in a bottle

Tools
Knife
Ball or other type of jar
Bowl
Masher

Ingredients
Celtic Sea Salt (please read note)
Cabbage
Spring Water (please read note)
Fennel/Caraway seeds, optional

1. Do not wash your cabbage! You want all of that added goodness on there, this is why I bought organic as to ensure it was all good stuff and not chemicals. Remove the large outer leaves that are almost falling off³.Slice the cabbage as thin as you would like your sauerkraut.
2. Throw the sliced cabbage into the bowl and add salt. Scott said to add a few teaspoons, but looked like he was adding a few Tablespoons. He was my kind of guy with the non-measurement thing, but I added about two teaspoons to mine and it was doing fine.
3. If you have the time let the sauerkraut sit in the salt.

See the water pooling on the bottom

The salt will draw all the water out and make the sauerkraut cry. I had to go somewhere so I left mine for about an hour and a half, but 15-20 minutes would be sufficient. If you don't have the time to wait then you can force the process to move more quickly. You want to start "mashing" or beating down the cabbage. This will break it down more quickly. The purpose is to get as much water out as you can, because this water is going to ideally cover the cabbage once it is placed in the jar. If you don't have a lot of water, that's where the spring water will come in. Just work on the cabbage as long as you feel like it. You also want to add the fennel or caraway seeds in at this time if you are using them.
4. Once the cabbage is looking significantly beat. You can start stuffing it into your jar. Having a jar with a wide mouth really helps at this point. You want to squish out as much air as possible, so a small head of cabbage might not even fill your jar depending on what size it is. Just keep compacting and pushing the cabbage down, leaving no spaces or gaps. I also used a small ladle at this point because by hand couldn't reach the cabbage until it was much higher. The ladle really helped push it down.
5. When you feel confident that the cabbage can't possibly get anymore compact, look at the liquid level. If all of your cabbage isn't covered, this is where you need to add the spring water. Add enough to cover the cabbage, anything left out in the air is going to become moldy. Don't fill the jar all the way to the top with water, or cabbage, as it will expand when it ferments. Leave it some space.
6. Screw the lid on the top, but NOT too tight. As Scott explained, the pressure will build up while all the gases are being released and the bacteria are working. You want the weakest point in that jar to be the seal between the jar top and the lid, rather than the side of the jar. This is also why it is a good idea to place your jar into a casserole dish. This way if it leaks, which can happen, you won't have nasty, smelly juice all over your shelf or counter.
7. Place your jar in a place where it won't bug you for the next month. Ideally this place should be warm and out of direct sunlight. We put ours on top of a kitchen cabinet that doesn't get sun.
8. Wait a month. I know it is a really long cooking time. Scott said that at the bare minimum you should wait 3 weeks. But I want to make sure it is good, so I am waiting a month or more if I can take it.
9. Open and eat. You can refrigerate it after you open it, this will just slow down the bacteria. You can also freeze, though it might change the taste. Since it is fermented, it doesn't really have an expiration date, but hopefully it will be so tasty that you'll finish it quickly. Scott suggested putting it on the table with dinner and just adding some to whatever you are eating. If you can't tell I really like sauerkraut and love the excuse to have it every night.

Carrot Sticks

Tools
Knife
Ball or other type of jar

Ingredients
Celtic Sea Salt (please read note)
Carrots
Zukay Raw Veggie Medley Juice⁴
Spring Water (please read note)
1 clove garlic, optional⁵

1. Don't wash the carrots! You want all of that added goodness on there, this is why I bought organic as to ensure it was all good stuff and not chemicals. Cut the carrots into sticks or julienne them.
2. Put them in the jar, again rather snuggly. You want the jar nice and full of carrots.
3. There was some discussion as to whether or not the carrots needed salt, but I threw some in there because it wouldn't hurt. I put about a teaspoon. If you are adding garlic, slice the clove thinly and add it to the jar.
4.Add enough Zukay Juice to fill about 1/4 of the jar. Then fill the rest of the jar with spring water. Again, anything left out in the air is going to become moldy. Don't fill the jar all the way to the top with water, or carrots, as it will expand when it ferments. Leave it some space.
5. Screw the lid on the top, but NOT too tight. As Scott explained, the pressure will build up while all the gases are being released and the bacteria are working. You want the weakest point in that jar to be the seal between the jar top and the lid, rather than the side of the jar. This is also why it is a good idea to place your jar into a casserole dish. This way if it leaks, which can happen, you won't have nasty, smelly juice all over your shelf or counter.
6. Place your jar in a place where it won't bug you for the next month. Ideally this place should be warm and out of direct sunlight. We put ours on top of a kitchen cabinet that doesn't get sun.
7. Wait a month. I know it is a really long cooking time. Scott said that at the bare minimum you should wait 3 weeks. But I want to make sure it is good, so I am waiting a month or more if I can take it.
8. Open and eat. You can refrigerate it after you open it, this will just slow down the bacteria. You can also freeze, though it might change the taste. Since it is fermented, it doesn't really have an expiration date, but hopefully it will be so tasty that you'll finish it quickly. Scott said kids love these, because you can just pick them up and pop them in your mouth.

Foodnotes

1 You don't want to use table salt, this has been bleached and has had many of it's great minerals taken out of it. Scott suggested Celtic Sea Salt, Redmond's Real Salt or Himalayan Salt. All of which are available at the co-op. I personally used the celtic, oh man does it smell like the sea!
2 Don't use tap water to try to save money. The chlorine that most cities put into their water will kill the bacteria. I used regular Giant Eagle spring water, Scott says that they have well water where he lives and that works just fine.
3 All the vegetable remains in our house go into the broth pile. I don't get special veggies just to make broth, I just through everything in to a pot with peppercorn and a bit of salt and let it simmer.
4 Cabbage naturally has enough bacteria in it to ferment itself, other veggies need help. You have to add a culture to it, like Yogourmet Kefir Culture or something that already has cultures in it, like Zukays juices. I found getting the juice easier than having to deal with a powder. The juice is available at the co-op. The veggie medley is recommended as its flavor will work well with the carrots.
5 Our household has a saying, well it has a lot but this is one of them, "you can never have too much garlic". Apparently when it comes to fermenting you can. Be very careful with how much you add, garlic can add very strong (the bad kind of strong) flavor and smell to your fermented foods. Scott suggested never to add more that 1 or 2 cloves to a jar.

Please share if you have made your own sauerkraut, or other fermented foods, before or if you make this recipe. I would like to see how it has turned out for others.

Diary of a Slogger, issue 4

...Or why you should run with friends, at least some of the time.

I had the joy this past weekend to run with two of my fellow blogger friends, Heya Sparky AKA Lauren and Primus Libellus Digitus AKA Jen. All of us are at different levels, and have different goals, but I had a good time running with company. Why?

No iPod

This is kind of a lie because Lauren did have one on. But in general, it gives you a time to unplug. Though I believe playlists can help get you pumped and motivated to run better, you also miss what's going on around you. Sometimes it is nice just to hear the sounds of the world.

Push You

When you run with others, you often go farther than if you were by yourself. On this particular run we had the purpose of helping Lauren train for the Pittsburgh Marathon Relay. Lauren said okay "let's go to this street" and then as we got closer Jen said "let's push it out to that street". Friends also help you pace, you begin to run all the same speed or speed up when you start falling behind.

Talking

It gives you a time to talk to friends, sort of. It usually leads to very breathless conversations that have too many awkward pauses, but it's conversation nonetheless. Also, if you are able to hold a conversation, you are said to be running at a good pace.

Fun

Period. I do laugh to myself when I am running alone, but when you are running with people laughing together, you look more legit. (Or more like a fitness commercial) You joke around more, get excited about Redhead Ducks

Or something, Jen will correct me

or silly running

Overall it just makes running more pleasurable. It isn't an all the time thing, but a sometimes slog.

Do you enjoy exercising (slogging, weightlifting, biking) with others? Who do you go with?