today

a busy week preparing for the 70th birthday of my step father with  travel plans too, kvass, regular daily and all the tangled strings of leaving home, so much this week.  i am so sorry i must put etsy on vacation these next 9 days.  so many treasury list inclusions and favorites and convos in the past week...it seems like people are awakening to spring and all it's unfolding things. 
tomorrow i will post of kvass and it's containering and finishing before putting it in the fridge for a month.  
but other than that i will be on holiday until a few days into may.  

kvass

today i begin another fermented beverage.  this one begins with whole grain bread which you dry out in the oven and then pour boiling water over.  wondering why i have to dry it out and then wet it?

my heritage has a bit of russian in it and this is related to that culture. i thought i would prepare this curiosity for my dad for his birthday this year. it takes about 1 month so i have just enough time.  he remembers drinking something like this in his early 20's which they had made at home.  it will be interesting to see if he actually will try it.  he doesn't really trust homemade concoctions.  he never opened and ate the pickles we canned for him one year for christmas.  he is leery of microbes.  i am too generally but what could possibly go wrong:)? 

today the bread, water, whey and grey sea salt combine and then will sit on the counter for 2 or 3 days covered before moving to the next step.  loving this sort of experimentation.  science i can totally relate to.  more to come on all the question marks about this project:)

a photo of my "new to me" electric wok.  it is a rescue from the goodwill thrift store so it has some clues to it's previous life experience...such as a missing handle...but i love all it's forms and the fact that there is no teflon coatings lurking beneath the lid.  it worked like a champ for steaming pork buns outside this week. looking forward to more outdoorsy cookery as the weather warms. 

blooms

revisiting my handmade paper and beeswax flowers again this spring.  it is surprising how much they look like the real deal of springtime flowering trees.  wanting to include them in my etsy packaging somehow.  their color is so fitting for my recent book i have been taking apart for packaging. 

i love the beeswax fragrance of them that stays lingering in the air long after their completion:)

kombucha colony

kombucha harvest day today and a photo of "betty galaxy" (my kombucha colony) and all her wonder floating on top of the recent batch.  she sure was bubbly today after 9 days of fermenting.  she loves this warmer weather. and she loves the darkness in the paper bag i place her in while she is at work on her black tea and sugar solution. 

she is pretty photogenic today in the morning light but she probably looks unappetizing to those who have not met her yet:)

cut and fold

i cut into my "new to me" book of a few posts ago with the cute map of france on the end papers.  a major breakthrough for me  for such a cute old book to go under the knife.  but i am so happy i did because it made two cute little folded paper boxes for an order of acorn pouches i shipped today.  i should have taken a picture but often when i am in the mode of creating i forget to capture it.  next time.  such sweet drawings in that old book with limited writing too and what is written is children's rhymes and whimsy:)  

buns

thought i would try another batch of steamed chicken buns today.  this will be my 4th go at such a thing and mostly because my family dearly loves a sweet doughy bun with chinese bbq chicken within.  it is sweet and savory perfection.

many layers of work probably taking 5 hours from start to finish and that is only if your chicken thighs are not frozen...mine are frozen.  dinner will be late:)
also hoping to put to good use a completely stainless steel (gasp...teflon free!) electric wok(i found at a thrift store) for steaming them.  it means i can cook out of doors and let the steam be free in the wind instead of on my kitchen windows.