Dandelion Wine - Part 3

On to the next step in our dandelion wine journey!   After 3 days of primary fermentation, time to strain all the citrus peels out, add some golden raisins (for body and flavor), and fit with an airlock for secondary fermentation (this is where all that special equipment comes in).  Here's what you'll need:

Special equipment needed for step 3:
- 1 gallon carboy
- twin airlock and carboy bung
(see here for example)
- fine mesh strainer (or cheesecloth lined collander)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. golden raisins

Directions:
1.  After 3 days, strain wine using fine mesh strainer.  Pour into sterilized glass carboy (may want to use a funnel or a measuring cup with a spout to avoid spillage) and add the golden raisins. We decided it was easier to strain into a bowl with a spout, then pour through a funnel into the carboy.

2.  Fit carboy with airlock and allow to ferment.

Add water to the airlock first. This is how it let's air out but not in. 

In case you were wondering, it smells much better now! Very light and citrusy.


Plan ahead:

Special equipment needed for step 4: (It's starting to feel a lot like an organic chemistry experiment.  Which I am secretly loving... but don't tell.)
- auto-siphon and tubing
- second carboy or food grade bucket (carboy is easier so you can siphon straight from one to the other)

For part 4:  Once fermentation stops and wine clears, rack*, add remaining pint of water (and more if needed) to fill to the top, and refit airlock. 

*rack - this is a fancy term that means to siphon the liquid from one container to another, leaving any sediment (including pulp, raisins, dead yeast, etc.). This ensures that you will have a nice clear, pretty wine.  Apparently it's also essential for not messing up the flavor, but again, no expert here.  Most of the recipes I've looked at say to rack this wine every 2 months, then bottle after about 6 months.  Once bottled, the wine should age about another 6 months before taste testing.

Dandelion Wine - Part 2

Here's the second part of our dandelion wine making journey!  (You can read about step 1 here.)  Our dandelion petals have been steeping for 3 days, so now it's time to add some citrus for flavor, some sugar for sweetness, and of course, some yeast for fermentation.  Here's what you'll need for this part of the process:

Special equipment needed for step 2:
- large pot
- fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth-lined collander

Ingredients for step 2:
- 2 lbs. sugar
- 1 lemon (juice and peel)
- 2 oranges (juice and peel)
- 1 packet yeast (I decided on this Champagne yeast)
- 1 tsp. yeast nutrient

Directions:

1.  Pour flowers and water through a fine mesh strainer (or cheese cloth-lined collander) into a large pot and bring to a low boil.  Add the lemon and orange peels and the sugar; allow to gently boil for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

I don't know if this is typical, but this part of the process was smelly. The citrus helped, though.

2.  Remove from heat and pour into a jug or plastic container, then add the lemon and orange juice.  Allow to cool to room temperature (70-75 degrees F), then add the yeast and 1 tsp. yeast nutrient.  Cover and put in a warm place for 3 days to ferment.

See the little bubbles forming already?

Planning ahead:

Special equipment needed for step 3:
- 1 gallon carboy
- twin airlock and carboy bung
(see here for example)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. golden raisins
- reserved pint of water

Tour of My New Kitchen!

Here it is, friends!  My new kitchen.  Hopefully my forever kitchen (not that I won't change it around a bit down the road).  I couldn't be more excited to be settling in and starting to cook again.  I didn't realize how much I missed it when we were in the middle of showing/selling our old house.  I'm sure I'll have lots of new recipes coming up this spring/summer to share with you, but first I wanted to make sure you had the lay of the land of what's going on behind the camera.

First of all, I have to tell you about the color of my kitchen.  Not the crayon green it started, but the bright, beautiful, calming Palladian blue that I painted it three days after closing.  No joke, three days.  My sister came over from Illinois and I took full advantage of her freakishly good painting skills (and lack of fear of heights that I have when standing on the counters trying to paint above the cabinets).  Not only is this a great color for this kitchen, but of all the thousands of paint colors out there, my sister-by-marriage has the same one picked out as a contender for her kitchen.  I sent her a few of my favorites, with this in the lead and we were surprised (but then again, not really) that we once again are basically the same person.  Even funnier, I was relaying that story to one of Michael's cousins and she also has picked Palladian blue, but for their bathroom!  Three Musketeers for life, ladies!

But back to my kitchen... it's no longer green, it's blue.  With a hint of green... and gray.

Here's the before and after... Pretty crazy!

Dandelion Wine - Part 1

When life gives you a couple acres full of dandelions...

... make wine!!


Sounds bizarre, right?  I agree, but Michael has been wanting to try this for years.  We figure, what better chance are we going to get than when I look out and see our entire yard covered in them.  Plus, it was a reasonably nice day and girls were all for going outside to pick flowers.  Worst case scenario - we spend an enjoyable afternoon picking flowers, a couple hours time making the wine (over the next several months), and it tastes awful.  We still get the experience and to say that we've tried it.

Disclaimer:  I have never made nor tasted dandelion wine.  I am by no means an expert on the matter.  But if you want to give it a shot, I figure I'll write it up as we go and we can make it together!  So here goes nothing...


Dandelion Wine - Part 1 - Pick, Pull, and Steep

Ingredients:
- 6-7 cups dandelion petals (about 1/2 gallon or so of picked dandelion flowers)
- 1 gallon water (remove 1 pint, we will use that later)
- large air tight container

Directions:

1.  Enlist little helpers to pick a big bowl full of dandelion flowers.  You don't need the stems or green parts, so just pick the flower.

2.  Remove the stems and green parts, leaving just the yellow petals (and maybe a bit of the green around them - just not too much or it can make the wine bitter.  However, some recipes do use the whole flower and just add more sugar).  Ours made about 6 1/2 cups of petals.  We saw recipes that called for anywhere from 4 cups to 4 quarts of petals, so we just decided to go with whatever we had.  Again, not experts or dandelion wine connoisseurs (you think there is such a thing?).

3.  Take the gallon of water and remove 1 pint (2 c.); bring to a boil.  Place petals in a large airtight container and pour boiling water over them.  Cover and allow to steep for 2 days, stirring once or twice daily.

Planning ahead:

Special equipment needed for step 2:
- large pot
- fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth-lined collander

Ingredients for step 2:
- 2 lbs. sugar
- 1 lemon (juice and peel)
- 2 oranges (juice and peel)
- 1 packet yeast (I decided on this Champagne yeast)
- 1 tsp. yeast nutrient

Special equipment needed for step 3:
- 1 gallon (or larger) carboy with lid or stopper
- twin airlock and carboy bung (Michael picked out this one.)

Ingredients for step 3:
- 1 lb. golden raisins
- reserved pint of water

Cheddar Dill Beer Bread

I came across this recipe while unpacking my cookbooks.  It was on a little blue post-it I had shoved in my index card box of recipes, mostly from our first few years of marriage.  I always intended to buy a new box and rewrite them all onto neat, tidy, matching recipe cards, but instead I started a food blog.  In hindsight, I actually like my funny little conglomeration of post-its, magazine clippings, and recipe cards from friends.  It has character.  Even if I end up losing deliciously simple recipes like this one, only to be rediscovered years later.  It was like unpacking all the girls' toys after the move - Christmas in April!  Especially when you see how easy it is to have homemade bread on the table in about 10 minutes (plus cook time). Here's how Mama makes it:

Cheddar dill beer bread

Ingredients:

- 3 c. flour
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 1 t. salt
- 1 T. baking powder
- 1 T. dill weed
- 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
- 12 oz. beer

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, and whisk until combined.

2.  Stir in shredded cheese and beer until just mixed.

3.  Pour into a greased 9-inch pie plate and bake at 375 for 45 minutes.  Cut into slices and enjoy!

printable recipe

We forgot to take a picture before I cut into it. Our BFFs were staying over and we were eager to get the bonfire started so these cuties could enjoy some s'mores before bedtime.

Creamy Ham and Wild Rice Soup

Call me crazy, but I jumped at the opportunity to host Easter less than a week after we moved in to our new house.  I was eager to show the house to everyone and it made for a great excuse to make sure my kitchen was painted ASAP.  I used this ham glaze from the Pioneer Woman and IT WAS AWESOME!!  Everyone really liked it, but as usual, I over-cooked so we had a good amount of leftovers.  Based on a Betty Crocker recipe, here's how I used some of the leftovers to make a soup for my mom, grandma, and aunt who came to visit a few days later.  It was a big hit, too!

Creamy Ham and Wild Rice Soup

Cook in a lined or greased slow cooker over low heat for 7 to 8 hours:

- 2 c. chopped cooked ham

- 1 c. chopped carrots

- 2-3 small red potatoes, sliced

- 1 medium onion, chopped

- 2 c. chicken stock

- 1 can low sodium cream of celery soup

- 3 c. water

- 1/2 c. wild rice

- 1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper

add last 15-20 minutes before serving:

- 1 c. half-and-half

- 2 T. dry sherry, optional

- 1/4 c. sliced almonds

- 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

printable recipe
And here's some cute kiddo pics to look at while you're waiting for your soup to cook:

Sweet Potatoes with Salsa

This dish is so simple, I can hardly call it a recipe.  But boy, is it yummy!  I've been making this at work for awhile now and FINALLY talked Michael into trying it (by adding some leftover ground beef to his).  He's now a believer, too.  I don't know why, but sweet potatoes (baked or microwaved) and covered in salsa is an amazing combination.  I like to bake several potatoes at a time and keep them in the fridge to take to work for lunches.  I usually wait to assemble it right before eating because I like the potato warm and the salsa cold.  Maybe I'm just weird though, so do what feels right to ya.  Here's how this working mama makes it:

Sweet Potatoes with Salsa

Ingredients: (makes 4 servings)

- 4 medium sweet potatoes

- 1 jar sweet corn or corn and black bean salsa

- 1/4-1/2 c. shredded cheese

- 1 c. ground beef, optional

(Michael's version)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Wash sweet potatoes, poke with a fork several times, then place on baking sheet and cook for 30 minutes. 

2.  Flip potatoes, cook for 30 minutes longer.  Allow potatoes to cool slightly if eating right away, or completely if refrigerating for later.

3.  When ready to eat, cut warm potato in half, mash slightly, and cover with cold or room temperature salsa.  Sprinkle with warm ground beef (if using) and shredded cheese.

printable recipe

Home Staging Tips

This is a little different from my usual food/family posts, but since my kitchen is currently in a handful of boxes in the garage getting ready to go to our new home, I figure I might as well let you in on what I've been so busy with lately (aside from the kiddos - see previous posts for their updates!).  Selling a house is sooo much more involved than buying one.  I had no idea what we were in for when we stumbled upon our dream home and two weeks later listed ours. 

Anyone who's watched HGTV knows the basics of home staging.  Declutter, declutter some more, clean like crazy, put fresh flowers everywhere, and create an overall inviting experience for potential buyers.  For us, the trickiest part was the time of year.  We listed our house in January, so curb appeal was a big challenge.  The grass wasn't green, the plants looked dead, there was snow everywhere (alternating with ice, of course), and frigid temperatures.  How on earth was I going to spruce up the outside of the house?!  Well, with some creativity and advice from friends, we were able to have our house open house ready, inside and out.  Here's a few of my home staging tips:

1. Declutter - get rid of as much extra furniture, toys, and personal decorations as possible.  This was not at all easy with two little ones, but we managed to keep toys only in the nursery and a couple hidden places in the house (like a kitchen drawer, some baskets in a bookcase, and a reusable shopping bag that went with us during showings).  We stored our extra furniture in the garage, but there are all kinds of long and short term storage options you can use.  We even went so far as to take the small appliances and the knife block off the counters to show off the spacious kitchen.  It was amazing how open it looked!  Before we listed the house, I went through every single closet and purged as much as possible.  Honestly, it felt really good to get rid of all the stuff we hadn't touched in years.

2.  Clean - make it sparkle!  Clean every surface, every wall, every little tiny space you never knew could get dirty. Clean under furniture, fan blades, window treatments, you name it. Remember, to your potential buyer, this is going to be their "new house" and they don't want any reminders that someone else has been living there.  This is especially true in bathrooms and kitchens.  Put a fresh coat of paint on any walls that need it (opt for neutral grays, creams, and tans if you do repaint).  Just before the showing, vacuum the carpets.  Who doesn't love freshly vacuumed carpets with even little lines all going the same direction?  Yes, it's exhausting.  No, it's not what you want to do until 3am after working a 13 hour shift.  But it will pay off.  Don't forget the outside, too! (Pay close attention to the front door, it will be their first impression of the home.)