It's line drying weather here once again, and I couldn't be happier after a winter of using electricity to dry our washing. As I pulled my clothespins out of storage, I was reminded of how the quality of modern goods continues to decline... have a look at these clothespins! The top one is from a large bag of old clothespins that I found at the thrift store recently for all of $2 or $3. It's so hard to find these nice old ones and they last forever so I snap them up whenever I see them. The newer versions are completely useless and fall apart constantly. The metal spring mechanism is FAR too weak to hold any kind of weight and the wood is weak and thin - the ends snap all the time, unceremoniously dumping clean laundry onto the ground... so frustrating! They are cheap and shoddy so I've tossed all of them out now that I have enough of these nice old ones (LOVE them).
In kitchen news, I've been busy making several new ferments in an effort to boost our probiotic intake but the beet kvass pictured below was an epic fail - the taste was TERRIBLE! If you have a good recipe for Kvass that DOESN'T take like drinking dirty sea water - let me know :)
Ginger Carrots are the opposite of the kvass and are absolutely delicious! I'll be making them again very soon (recipe courtesy of Nourishing Traditions). I know they look like mush, but they really aren't - it's simply grated carrot with ginger, whey and salt (a very tasty way to boost your gut health).
In baking news, I finally used some coconut flour that I had on hand to make up this batch of coconut chocolate chip cookies. They turned out quite tasty, but are distinctly coconut"y" so a few of my family members aren't exactly thrilled with them. Oh well - change is good and there's no harm done trying something new, is there?
I've also been busy planning the 2015 garden and will be soon seeding some cold hardy crops in the greenhouse. First, we need to run the hens in there to clear up the weed seeds and (hopefully) deal with the mice! That's for another post :)
