Well, I was hoping to show pictures of my beautifully developed water kefir that I'd made today, but yeah...it didn't happen.
I went on E-bay a couple of weeks ago and ordered what was described as water kefir grains. Never having MADE anything kefir related in my entire life, I didn't realize until later that I guess water kefir grains and milk kefir grains look different somehow? But, anyway, I took the little foil packet that came in the mail, followed the water kefir soda recipe I'd found online to the letter. As soon as I'd dissolved the kefir grains the mixture turned cloudy, which by the recipe I was following wasn't supposed to happen until later, but I figured I was just a novice yet and wasn't seeing it properly. So, I waited the appointed 3 days the recipe called for and checked the kefir mixture. And was greeted by a pretty nasty looking concoction that looked like it was growing white floaties with a bunch of yeast looking stuff on the bottom of the jar and not one little bubble was to be found anywhere.
Thinking that maybe I'd done something wrong I wrote to the folks I'd bought the grains from and asked some questions. Well, it turns out they checked my order and they'd screwed up and sent me MILK kefir grains instead of water kefir grains. So, the white floaty thingies in the water kefir was actually milk floaties that were probably NOT good to consume (like I was going to taste that stuff the way it looked anyway). They apologized profusely for the mistake, are sending me some of the proper grains and they even refunded me 3.00 to cover the cost of the juice I lost, so I REALLY can't complain too much. I guess the lesson I learned here is that you can not use milk kefir to make water kefir. Good to know I guess :).
So, since that experiment turned out to be a waste of time this week (I will try again when the new grains come in and let you know how it goes), I thought I'd share a side project instead.
Since I've cut back the deal blogging I have this wondrous thing called "time" again :). As you've seen I've been experimenting with things in the kitchen a lot, but I'm also relearning some old hobbies I haven't done in a while. I decided to pick up knitting again and just for fun I've launched a quest to figure out how much "stuff" I can EASILY make from just plain old knitted squares/rectangles. Not squares with fancy knitted frames or even things that require a pattern (seeing as how I have two kids who are constantly stringing themselves up in my yarn I knew this was going to be the only way I could really DO much in the way of hobby time...I swear my children are worse than kittens when it comes to playing with my yarn). Starting out I went simple. I went to Wal-Mart, bought some cotton yarn (it's like 1.95 per skein there...although I'm so going to invest in the really big spool the next time I go) and am just working on replacing some of the wash clothes and dish towels in my house.
When I had a lack of time I would buy the cotton knitted and crocheted wash clothes off of Etsy and so forth, but just haven't been impressed with the sizes I've gotten (I mean some of them are LITERALLY the size of a Scotch-Brite sponge...not ideal for trying to scrub a squirming kiddo). So, I decided that I wanted to make some larger sizes for scrubbing the kids. So, within the last, what, four days, I've got one dish towel done (or we can use it as a large wash cloth) and one standard sized wash cloth. I'm hoping to get one more standard sized wash cloth out of the rest of the cotton yarn skein I used for the standard wash cloth because if I can do that the cost would be downright comparable to a store bought wash cloth (the cheapy ones anyway).
I don't count my time involved as I consider knitting relaxing (least when I don't have a pattern to worry about). I just knit while we watch our nightly movie and/or when I just need to zone and let my mind check out for a few minutes...I find it's a way I can get into a near meditative state...and all the while I can get something functional out of it *laugh*.
Next up on my list of knitted "non-pattern" projects is I'm going to see about making a bath pouf out of some bamboo cotton (very soft) yarn I have and a soap keeper for the tub as well (to keep it hung up out of the way of the spray so my home made soap lasts longer). So, this should be fun :).
So, my self lesson this week? Patience is a virtue and finding "me" time doesn't mean you have to go out for a manicure. You can find some hobby that you love to do that will just relax you...even if it's just for five to ten minutes at a stretch and it DOES help!
I'm also going to work on doing home made gifts this year, including making some things for my daughter's dollhouse (so excited at making mini-things again *laugh*), so I'll share those projects if they turn out note worthy!
I'm off to work on getting my pantry organized/more functional (trying to find places for my appliances and cast iron that don't count sticking them wherever they'll fit), so later folks!
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