I'm Hungry! You?

I've mentioned before, I'm stuck at home alone while my wife is at work. Sometimes that means I need to get creative to satisfy hunger pangs, or a sweet tooth.

I came across a group of microwave snack recipes, and decided to try one; Cinnamon Bun Cake.

Whenever I try out a new recipe, I line up the ingredients, so I can be sure I have everything. Well, I didn't. I don't have buttermilk, so I decided to try regular milk. Uh, oh. No brown sugar, This may stop me fast.

But wait! I have molasses, and sugar. I know that's all brown sugar is, so if I can find the right formula, I'm good.

 And, there it is.

Everything else seems OK. Oops, applesauce. Hmm, doing my Pooh impression. (Think, think, think)

We do have apples. I wonder if I can just puree one. Well, I tried it, and the results looked right.

 OK, so everything is all lined up, and we are good to go.

In separate cups, I mixed the dry and the wet/damp ingredients, then combined them.

The recipe calls for microwaving everything for one minute, and that's exactly what I did.

Looks good.

I let it cool for a few minutes, then tried it. Delicious!

The texture wasn't quite right, but the taste was wonderful!

Next time I try this (And there WILL be a next time.) I think I'll microwave it a bit longer, maybe 5 seconds more. I know microwave ovens vary, so it's just a matter of dialing in the right time.

But the taste! This is absolutely a keeper.

Really?

I started brewing in 1989. That means I've been making beer for...um (2015-1989=26) 26 years. You would think that I had gone every path by now.

But no! I'm making a beer, by kit, that I never have tried before; a Bavarian Weissbier. And, I just developed a recipe for my first lambic-ish brew,

Anybody who has brewed for any length of time can appreciate this. There's always another hill, another turn, another door. Somebody is out there, trying different combinations and flavors.

I forget who said it, but I have to agree; We are in a new Golden Age of brewing.

Now What?

Now, I find myself on the horns of a dilemma. I had developed a couple of recipes that sounded like fun, tailored for my Mr Beer keg. Just yesterday, Mr Beer sent me a coupon for 10% off any recipe in their database.
So, I poked around a bit, and found a couple of recipes that sound really tasty. After I figured the discount, the price came out to almost exactly the same.
Now what do I do? Experiment, Or a tried and true recipe? I'M SO CONFUSED!

Back To Beer

There's one theme I constantly go back to; in this blog, in my other online sites, in my old podcast. If you start with wort, and use yeast, you're a homebrewer. I've seen and heard others try and draw the lines more restrictively.

Really, it doesn't matter what method you use to get your wort. Did you develop your recipe, fine-tuning your grain bill until it had just the flavor profile you wanted? Did you think long and hard about the hopping schedule, so each addition brought something unique? Great! Did you heat up a can of mix? Good! I do both, depending on time, money, and mood. There's room for both ends, and anything in between.

So, The beer I have fermenting now, and the next, are both kits from Mr Beer. (I don't get anything. They aren't a sponsor.)

Is it the best I've ever had? Well, no. That's not the point. It's good drinkable beer that I made. That's the only claim I make, and really, the only claim I ever make.

Unexpected Expected news

I apologize for the delay.

I have several sites online, as you may know, and I wrestled for some time with exactly where to put this. The news was rather personal, but relates in many way to what we all grapple with daily.

Over the last 10-15 years, I've found myself in declining health. I've had increasing difficulty in standing without support, and walking without assistance. I've been seeing doctors, to try and pin down a cause, and I finally got some answers. They aren't good.

I have a form of ataxia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ataxia) without specific cause, and therefore no specific course of treatment. It also means I'm not getting better.

That takes some getting used to. The future doesn't look anything like it did a few months ago. I had hoped for a retirement full of exploration, adventure, and travel. Instead, I look at a future of isolation and immobility.

Now that I've decided where to put my thoughts, I hope to more faithfully document those thoughts. As we work through a treatment plan, I intend to let you all know how I'm doing, and whether or not the plan is showing any success.

One bright ray of hope is that there is a plan. It seems relatively certain that there will be a decline in my abilities, But we can do a great deal to ensure that the downward slope is as shallow and gentle as possible.

The on thing that I hate about this more than anything else is the isolation. So many friends, from so many years, that I'll probably never see again. That makes me sad. I hope to find, somehow, a way to become more mobile, and see some of those people who have touched me so deeply over the years.

Well, that's all for now. I promise to post more frequently.