Month: September 2010

It’s Alive!

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I just spilled a whole container of sesame seeds on my kitchen floor.

And I haven’t had my coffee yet.

At least this rain is having the positive effect of making me glad I left Portland!  I LOVED living in Portland, everything about the city was a perfect fit for me (except how far it is from home, which ultimately became most important).  My friend once said something along the lines of “I love Portland and Portland loves me”, and this saying became a common line in our circle.   That town really did love me back.

But the rain!  I was so happy in Portland that I was able to overlook the rain but I don’t think I could have kept up that act long-term. It really is wet two thirds of the year (if not more!).

We are on rainy-day number 4 here in Virginia and I’ve had enough.  The first few days were cozy but now I want to go running or walking or biking or take out the trash without getting soaked.  The forecast for the weekend looks clear and I have my fingers crossed.

I attended another lovely yoga class at Ashtanga Yoga Charlottesville yesterday.   Honestly, I was not impressed with the teacher but I am a harsh critic.  She was fine but not memorable or inspiring or innovative, just a solid “fine”.  My body loves the yoga though.

Post yoga I had an exciting discovery, my kombucha is finally ready!

It is fizzy and sweet and tangy and delicious!  Success!  I have been tasting it every day or two for the last week and until yesterday it was still too sweet and too flat.

The kombucha buzz sent me on a fermentation kick and with yogurt making itself in the kitchen sink

And kombucha brewing in the cabinet

I set about making my first batch of sauerkraut.

This cabbage was $1 at the farmers market and it is perfect!

I used this recipe from the Wild Fermentation website.   My variation had 2 carrots, half an onion, 3 cloves of garlic, and some celery seeds thrown in with the cabbage.

Here are two articles on why I have been adding more fermented foods into my diet.

7 Little Known Reasons Why NOT to Avoid Bacteria

Fermented Foods: Top 8 Reasons Why to Eat Them

There is some fermentation of a slightly different variety on tap for this afternoon :).  But first, run in the rain or yoga?

P.S.  My head is full of Brittany this morning after catching up on Glee last night!

It’s All French to Me

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After running a not so fun errand (buying gutters!), Tate and I had a fun outing last night.

Wine and cheese tasting!

This was a free event at Whole Foods hosted by their resident wine guy, Derek.

It was super casual and actually a little less informative than I had hoped but fun nonetheless.  We sampled three wines and three cheeses and although Derek was only pouring an ounce or so at a time he would pour us 3 or 4 “tastings” from each bottle. He mumbled something about “only being allowed to pour a tiny amount” and included himself in the rounds ;).  Tate and I were the youngest out of the 6 attendees by a dozen or so years, made us feel nice and youthful.

The rose was only alright.  I am a fan of rose but I find myself being more picky about this style than I am about reds or whites (I am least picky about reds).  I didn’t get a picture of the white but it was tasty and an Aligote, which is a varietal I hadn’t tried before.

This red is DELICIOUS.  I will be purchasing this in the future when I want something affordable ($10.99 at Whole Foods) and a bit unique.

The theme of this tasting was French wines, which was fitting for us after our French meal on Sunday.  I know very little about French wines, actually European wines in general.  I am familiar with wines of the Pacific Northwest, California, South America, and Australia but I rarely go for European wines.  Or, if I do, it’s usually Italian.  I think I made a conscience decision a few years back when I started learning more about wine to stay away from French wines because the labels are really difficult to read.  And no, I don’t mean the French! There is a unique and strict system for labeling wine in France and it is like learning codes to be able to decipher everything.  Maybe I will give them another shot.

It’s another grey day here in VA and while it’s kind of lovely to have a break from the heat I am having a hard time getting motivated to get off the computer and get my a** in gear.

What’s on your “to do” list today?  Anything out of the ordinary?  The thing I am most looking forward to on my list is a noontime yoga class :).