Hounds In The Kitchen » All American Alcohol experiment

Cider Press!

Rachel Tayse — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:14:34 +0000

Meet the newest tool in the hand-powered arsenal at Hounds in the Kitchen:

A cider press!

Charlie of Windy Hill Apple Farm had this press on display with a for-sale sign the last time we visited. I immediately recognized it as a well maintained machine for a good price.

We debated for a few days about whether we need a press when: 1) we have no apple tress, 2) even if we moved to a farm tomorrow it would be years before we would have producing apple trees and 3) how exactly do you use a cider press?

The debate ended when casual mentions of the press for sale were greeted with friends and family strongly encouraging us to buy it and offering up apples ready for cider-making this season.

note: a bucket might not be the safest stand for a child...

Today the cider press is ours. We immediately tested it with some very squishy pears, yielding a quart of juice. Not enjoying the taste of the overripe fruit, we poured it into a jug with a fermentation lock to make some pear hooch. We are determined to master the making of hard cider, as any good pioneer would be.

Soon, bags of apples will be turned into gallons of cider by the power of the screw and our very own hands. We may host a cider-making day once we figure out what we’re doing. We will definitely accept sharing or renting arrangements for those of you with excess fruit.

“Give me yesterday’s Bread, this Day’s Flesh, and last Year’s Cyder.” Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) ‘Poor Richard’s Almanac’

Added to Hearth and Soul blog hop.

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Cider Press! is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

What is Local?

Rachel Tayse — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:57:55 +0000

little hound sniffing a local (backyard) pepper

Part of the purpose of Hounds in the Kitchen is to advocate for local foods and local eating. ‘Local‘ is subjective and prone to green-washing as are so many other terms. With the advent of Local Foods Week coming soon (see below), now is a good time to talk about what is local.

Some define local in terms of miles: In 2005, authors Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon spent a year eating only what was available growing in a hundred mile area surrounding their home. They chronicled their journey in the bestselling book Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet, a highly recommended read. They maintain an informative website, 100milediet.org.

The challenge of a 100 mile diet is that many foodstuffs a kitchen relies on are not available year round within 100 miles of every location. Smith and MacKinnon made many a winter meal of the same few ingredients. While they did have access to a wide variety of foods in the US northwest, there are many locations where a 100 mile diet might be so limited as to not give enough variety to maintain optimum health.

Some define local in terms of their city, state, or country. Wanting to challenge ourselves to drink locally, we started the year 2008 with a resolution to only drink spirits, wine, and beer produced in the United States. We chronicled our progress at All American Alcohol (an old blog, posts now transferred here) but abandoned the cause in the spring when we drilled down into the local foods issue. We realized that California wine travels more miles to get to us in Ohio than French wine. Same with the one brand of American made agave spirit produced in California vs. Mexican tequila. We still often choose drinks that do not travel far, but we are no longer limited by geographical boundaries.

a local meal - veggies from the garden, US bread, Wisconsin mozzarella

Here’s our current version of local: Eat foods that come from as close as possible. Make purchases directly from the grower as often as you can to ensure the freshest quality and direct economic impact.

On many days this summer we were able to eat dishes where we grew nearly every ingredient organically in our own backyard. That’s local!

We visited pick your own farms to pick large quantities of local in season favorites and preserved them for the winter. PickYourOwn.org is a fantastic resource of places to pick and methods of preservation.

But as autumn comes (first frost warning tonight!), our yard will provide less bounty. We will use our summer preserves and continue to put up fall favorites for enjoyment far into the winter. We will shop the farmers markets to buy direct from Ohio growers as much as is possible. We will continue to purchase eggs and milk directly from a farmer friend. We choose organic produce in the supermarket when Ohio produce is unavailable. LocalHarvest.org is a good source of farmers growing unique commodities across the US and I plan to buy some non-Ohio produce in bulk (like cranberries) from Local Harvest growers this year.

There are several ingredients that we knowingly consume from thousands of miles away. Coffee and bananas, for instance, come from oceans away and are sometimes farmed with environmentally and ethically degrading means. We choose fairly traded, organic versions of these long traveling ingredients and savor them.

When making the decision about what to buy from where, we choose local + organic first, local but not organic next, and organic fair trade but not local third, and if not other choice exists, not local or organic. As much as possible, we apply the same standards to processed food.

During the summer, we eat about 70% local (by ingredients used). That percent declines in the winter or when we are busy.

It took years of changing eating and shopping habits to acheive our current level of local food eating. I plan to write several posts in the future about small steps you can take to change your habits if you are so inclined to eat more locally. I hope you do because local food is often more delicious, healthy, and supportive of the local economy.

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A few Columbus local food advocates met last week to talk about Local Foods Week. ‘What is local’ was one of our points of discussion. Lisa the Restaurant Widow has already written a post with the same title. Others may also write their interpretations of local soon and I will link them up here.

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Local Matters, a central Ohio organization advocating for urban agriculture, local foods in schools, and access to local farm foods, is celebrating local foods with a week of activities for Local Matters Local Foods Week coming up October 3 – 9.

They have an impressive lineup of events, starting with the Market to Market bike ride Saturday the 3rd and concluding with a Finale at the Dublin Whole Foods Market on the 9th. In between you will find benefit dinners, kitchen tours, a school garden tour, and a wine tasting.

Part of the motivation for Local Foods week is to build Local Matter’s donation program. They are selling $1 paper Local Matter’s sprouts at a variety of locations. If you join their 1000 Friends of Local Matters ($10/month or $120/year) during Local Foods Week, you can receive a special punch card for free Jeni’s Ice Cream.

No matter where you are in your journey to eat more locally, education and support is key. Participate in some of the events during Local Matters Local Foods week and you will enjoy the company of other local food lovers. Subsrcibe to the Hounds in the Kitchen feed for year round encouragement to eat locally.

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What is Local? is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

A note about All American Alcohols

Rachel Tayse — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 16:34:18 +0000

In late 2007 we decided to start a blog about All American Alcohols. It was our resolution to drink only american made spirits for 2008.

The resolution only lasted until April, and the blog petered our in May. You can read the old posts by clicking on the category ‘all american alcohols’ to the left.

Applicable posts from the old all american alcohols blog are also cross posted in the Spirits category. You can find a few reviews, some recipes and general info about US made spirits there. We’ll add more as we can, hopefully including a homebrew series sometime in the spring.

Cheers!

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A note about All American Alcohols is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Ciao

Rachel Tayse — Sun, 04 May 2008 01:19:00 +0000

Work is too crazy and we don’t have time to keep up with this blog. We’re still trying to drink local, but this will be the last blog post. Take it easy. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Ciao is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen. If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation [...]

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Ciao is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Haven't posted in a while and travelling to Florida

Rachel Tayse — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 03:01:00 +0000

We haven’t posted in a while because of illness and a busy schedule. On a brighter note, I will be in Florida all next week on business (West Palm Beach). Anyone got suggestions for a good local hooch? Post an idea or send it to alex@bayinghound.com.

What am I drinking right now? Bulleit Bourbon. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in a good qulity yet inexpensive bourbon.

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Haven't posted in a while and travelling to Florida is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Wines traveling by sail boat

Rachel Tayse — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:02:00 +0000

The folks at 100 mile diet just posted a story about a new/old trend in Europe to ship wines by sail boat. This is how ancient wines were transported, of course. Some winemakers are reviving the trend to reduce their environmental impact (and shipping costs, presumably) by eliminating petroleum transportation fuel.

We say, “Fantastic!” Columbus Ohio isn’t likely to be reached by sailboat any time soon, but wind farms are being built here to generate consumer energy.

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Wines traveling by sail boat is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

What We're Drinking

Rachel Tayse — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 03:15:00 +0000

Busy times here so no detailed post, but here’s what we’ve been drinking the past few days:

Sam Adams Winter Lager – we look forward to this crisp rich brew every year

Full Sail Amber – the only interesting beer in a gas station on our way to Athens Sunday. Alex says “makes helluva boilermaker with a shot of Bulleit Bourbon”

Smoking Loon wine – it’s cheap, drinkable, and has funny text on the synthetic cork. Decent weekday wine.

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What We're Drinking is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Stout Comparison

Rachel Tayse — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 02:04:00 +0000

Tonight we are comparing three stout beers: Rogue Chocolate Stout (Oregon), Bell’s Special Double Cream Stout (Michigan), and Goose Island Oatmeal Stout (Illinois).

Why these three? They were the only stouts available tonight at the unusually understocked Pace Hi, our nearest fine beer carryout.

First Impressions (head, aroma, and color)
Rogue: Clean chocolate smell. Not much hop on the nose. Dark, near black color. Foamiest head.
Bell’s: Slightly chocolate, dark malt nose. Dark brown, cloudy color. Foamy head that remains throughout the drink.

Goose Island: Malty, medium hopped nose. Black, clear color. Least head that quickly dissipated.

The Drink (taste and palate)
Rogue: Strong chocolate and heavy malt flavors with a heavy hop finish. Medium carbonation and light mouth feel. The chocolate was so strong that I asked “Does this have flavoring?” After digging the bottle out of the recycle, we found the ingredients list, including ‘natural chocolate flavor’. Over the whole of the beer, the chocolate became overwhelming.

Bell’s: Well balanced, mellowed malt and hop flavors. Low carbonation and smooth, easy drinking mouth feel. Like other Bell’s beers we’ve tasted, this one is hard to complain about. Well balanced seems to be the name of their game.

Goose Island: Malty, low hop flavor. Low carbonation and rich creamy mouth feel. (Oatmeal provides this mouth feel every time.) Nice, non-challenging easy to drink stout.

Overall
We will not buy the Rogue Chocolate Stout again, instead dreaming of January 1, 2009 when we allow ourselves another purple and orange beauty: Young’s Double Chocolate Stout (brewed in the UK).
We will choose the Goose Island when we are introducing someone to stout, or want something non-confrontational. It would pair wonderfully with a rich stew or meat dinner.
The Bell’s was lovely. We will certainly buy the double cream stout when looking for a sweet smooth stout to pair with a dessert or for a special occasion.

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Stout Comparison is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Small Business Contest – please vote!

Rachel Tayse — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:27:00 +0000

Intuit (makers of Turbo Tax and Quickbooks) is running a contest for small business owners. The winners will receive $50,000 in start up money and other prizes. Unfortunately we did not hear about it in time to enter.

However, a friend and mentor, Alissa DeRouchie, did enter and is in the final five! The winner is now up to voters. Here are five reasons I think you should vote for her:

1) Her business idea (a kid friendly cafe with healthy food) is innovative.
2) We have nothing like this in Columbus.
3) I know of at least 50 families that would support this business.
4) I need a healthy dining out option for my family.
5) Alissa has been successful running other businesses.

Please vote for Lissi (aderouch) at JumpUp Intuit. Vote today and once per day until January 31.

Need more information? Check out VoteCafeandPlay.com.

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Small Business Contest – please vote! is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Let's Be Clear

Rachel Tayse — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:47:00 +0000

We do NOT support alcohol abuse.

We do believe in drinking responsibly.

Alcohol may be good for your health in moderation. However, just one drink of alcohol can cause impairment. We like to drink locally and just walk home. We believe that drinkers should designate a sober driver when needing transportation to and from parties or bars. If you think you have a problem, please get help.

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Let's Be Clear is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!