Sauerkraut 2.0

So, we sampled and jarred up our second batch of sauerkraut tonight. It is definitely more like traditional sauerkraut, with a distinctive tangy flavor. Also, we fermented it in the same container, the Perfect Pickler, that we made pickles in last week, and even though we had washed the container out, there was a residual bit of garlic, peppers and dill, which you can just taste in the new batch of sauerkraut. Not that that's a bad thing! Anyway, we ended up with just over 2 quarts from this batch. We've got about half a quart left from the first batch, so the timing is good! I look forward to starting another batch soon!

Make 5: Duct Tape Wallet

     Oh, duct tape! Is there anything you can't do? Here in Alaska, duct tape is practically a natural resource. I am willing to bet that at any given time, there is a giant roll of duct tape in every household in the state. We use it for everything up here. I've seen boots that were more duct tape than leather, cars seemingly held together with nothing more than duct tape and wishes, and I've even used duct tape as a bandage after slicing my finger on a fillet knife while processing salmon on the Kenai River. I think the best use of duct tape I've seen is an old pickup truck, "painted" completely with hot pink duct tape. Oh yeah, we even use it to occasionally repair duct work!
     Duct tape also has a long and proud history in the tool kits of do-it-yourselfers and makers, as is evidenced by the many duct tape projects on instructables.com and wikihow.com. It was on the latter that I found the basic instructions for this week's project, a duct tape wallet.
     I've been wanting to make things for family and friends as a part of the Make A Week project, and so I decided that this week's duct tape wallet would be for my son, Dylan.

If you don't know my son, let me tell you a little bit about him. Dylan is 17 years old, and has Asperger Syndrome, an Autism Spectrum Disorder. He is exceptionally bright, and can talk to you (or at you, it sometimes seems) about topics ranging from linguistics to quantum physics. However, he rarely, if ever, reads social cues. He frequently has to ask "are you joking?" when you are obviously kidding. He really can't tell. He also is, well, unusual. He is unlike a typical teenager in many ways. He has no interest in driving, no interest in dating, and no interest in doing typical social things. This includes dealing with money. He has little interest in money, and will frequently forget the $10 and $20 bills that come tucked in to birthday cards. One result of this complete disinterest in money is that he doesn't have a wallet. A cool, hand-made duct tape wallet is just the thing!
     I asked Dylan what color wallet he wanted. I have classic gray, black, and tie-dye patterned duct tape. He chose tie-dye, so that's what we worked with. I started the wallet by going to these instructions. I followed them, mostly, with a few minor deviations.
     I started with my materials: a roll of tie-dye duct tape, scissors, a cutting board, and a tape measure.

I then started to make the first piece of the wallet, a sheet of fabric, more or less, made of duct tape, stuck sticky side to sticky side. This was cut down to approximately 7 in by 10 in.

 I then folded this over, and made the first recognizably wallet-shaped thing.

From here, things moved very quickly. I made 2 more, smaller squares of duct-tape fabric to form the pockets in the wallet. These were taped in, and then I added 2 decorative and supportive strips of black duct tape to each end of the wallet. Here's the finished product: 

And here:

     So, there you go! I actually really liked the wallet I made for Dylan, and may make one for myself, too. It's super easy, and looks pretty good! 

    

Make 4: Switchel

     One of my goals in doing the Make A Week project is to try to make and do things I haven't done before. There are so many things that I want to try that it is already becoming difficult to narrow things down, or even keep my projects to just one a week. Just this week, for example, we made:

• pickles

• another batch of sauerkraut (We've already gone through about half of the first batch) 

• delicious homemade bread (That was all Rachelle. My baking prowess extends to toast, or, if I'm feeling adventurous, Pop-Tarts). 

     We had several delicious homemade meals, and Rachelle also made an all-natural cleaning solution of one part water, one part vinegar. I made an extremely ghetto draining rack for our sprout jar, modeled on one we saw at the store that cost about $30 (mine was made of a wire coat-hanger, an aluminum pie tin, and, of course, duct tape!).  I guess what I'm trying to say is that we are not going to be limited to one make each week. We'll have multiple makes, and some, like the sauerkraut, that will be ongoing. I will, however, highlight one particular project each week, and that one thing will usually be something I have either wanted to make for a long time, or some new (to me) project that I find intriguing. This week's make falls into the latter category: switchel.

     Now, I didn't know what this was either, until I was combing Making It for projects. Switchel is a variation on an extremely old drink made of honey and vinegar called oxymel. This combination has been used for thousands of years as a tonic and refreshing drink, and is, in many ways, a precursor to modern sports drinks. Switchel was popular in Colonial America, and was also known as Haymaker's Punch, as it was often served to those working in the hot sun while harvesting hay. It was usually made with a combination of molasses, vinegar, and ginger. I love honey, so I chose to modify this traditional recipe by including honey as well.

     I started by getting the ingredients together: raw and unfiltered apple cider vinegar, molasses, honey, and ginger root.

I took 1 cup of vinegar, 1/2 cup of honey, and 1/2 cup of molasses and simmered it over low heat, just long enough to let the honey and molasses dissolve into the vinegar.

Once this had happened, I took 1-2 ounces of fresh sliced ginger (I didn't measure this out, I just guesstimated) and added it to the liquid. After simmering for a couple of minutes, I removed it from the heat, and let the ginger steep for another 15 minutes.

     After 15 minutes, I strained the ginger out of the liquid, and poured the switchel into 3 half pint jars, with 2 being completely full, and one almost full.

These I then placed in the fridge to cool.  Of course I needed to sample the finished product. I filled a pint glass with cold, filtered water, and added 3 teaspoons of the switchel mixture. It was sweet, tart, and had just a hint of heat from the ginger.

     Now, whenever I want, I'll then be able to take 2-3 spoonfuls, mix it with cold water, and have a refreshing beverage that has no additives, no preservatives, and no weird, unpronounceable chemical ingredients. Plus, it's delicious!

Sauerkraut Update 3

     Success! We have delicious, homemade sauerkraut after only two weeks! Last night, we tested the sauerkraut, and it was wonderful-salty, tangy, crispy- and an incredible color. Here's the finished product:

     As you can see, we ended up with two quarts of the stuff, both of which are now in the fridge. We had some with lunch today, and it was fantastic. I will definitely be making more sauerkraut, and experimenting with it to see what other variations I can come up with.

Make 3: PVC Didgeridoo

     I've been a musician all my life. I remember singing in church as young as 3, and have been playing piano, guitar, and various other instruments for a long time. I won't say that I play anything with great skill or expertise, but I enjoy making music, and always have. Once, many years ago, my first major in college was Vocal Performance, and I sang in various operas and musicals during that time.

     While that's been some time, I continue to enjoy making music. Over the years, I have taught myself to play, or at least make some noises with, a variety of instruments. One of my favorites is the didgeridoo. I purchased my first one back in the '90s, at a music store in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. It was made of PVC, and I loved it. I've purchased others throughout the years, and have a couple made of bamboo and agave. I also have a traditional eucalyptus didgeridoo that was given to me by a friend from Australia. It's a lovely thing, but I have always found the tone and timbre of my original PVC didgeridoo to be my favorite. So, that is what I am making this week: a PVC didgeridoo, Alaskan style.

     For those of you who don't know, the didgeridoo is one of the oldest instruments in the world. The Aboriginal people of Australia have been playing it for thousands of years. It is a drone instrument, and has a haunting, ancient sound. Actually, to call the didgeridoo a drone instrument is a little bit misleading, since one of the things that makes it so unique is the amazing ability to make a variety of sounds with the instrument. Very similar instruments from the Bronze Age have been discovered in Ireland, and produce similar drone effects. In fact, it is not unusual to find the didgeridoo paired with the other, more famous Celtic drone instrument, the bagpipes. One of my favorite bands, The Wicked Tinkers, incorporate the didgeridoo, the ancient Irish bronze horn, and the Highland bagpipes, creating a style of music they call Tribal Celtic.
     But back to my much less traditional, much more modern version of the didgeridoo. PVC is probably the most easily attainable material for someone who wants to make a didgeridoo. I picked up everything I needed to make two didgeridoos at Home Depot for around fifteen dollars. I looked up a variety of instructions on instructables.com, wikihow.com, and various other sites around the web. My make doesn't follow any one set of instructions, but is a combination of several ideas, with a special Alaskan addition.
     My materials to make one didgeridoo were:

• approx. 5 feet of 1.5 inch diameter PVC pipe

• 1 female-female 1.5 inch coupler
• 1 1.5 inch to 1 inch bushing

• a lump of beeswax ( I forgot to take a picture before I used it, so use your imagination)
• duct tape! (The secret Alaskan ingredient)

     Assembly is fairly easy. You attach to coupler to the pipe, attache the bushing to the coupler, and, if one were super lazy, you could stop right there. I chose to prettify my didgeridoo by wrapping it first with black duct tape, then adding stripes of tie-dye patterned duct tape. I then molded a mouthpiece with the beeswax (the only traditional part of this didgeridoo) for a better seal when playing. Here's the finished product, and a close-up of the beeswax mouthpiece:

     Now, I will be the first to admit that this is not the world's best didgeridoo. It is by no means going to produce the same sounds as a traditional didgeridoo. But, it was fun to make, fun to play, and, if I do say so, looks kinda cool!

Sauerkraut Update 2

We checked on the sauerkraut last night to see how it was coming along. There were a few tiny spots of mold growing on the surface of the liquid, but nothing significant. Once these were scraped off, we removed the plastic plate covering the sauerkraut, and had a look at the stuff itself. It looked great! The color was fantastic, a beautiful ruby color as a result of the combination of red and green cabbage. We tasted it as well, and it was delicious, but not quite done fermenting. We put lid back on, and will just let it it sit for a bit longer. Once its ready, we'll let you know!

Make 2: Paracord Bracelet

     Anybody who knows me knows that I am a gadget geek. I love all sorts of gadgets, and have a collection to prove it. My definition of gadget is somewhat expansive, and doesn't just mean a new shiny electronic toy. It can mean a new multitiool, or knife, or backpack, or anything that if functional and cool. This goes back a long way, to the days I was a Boy Scout, and loved collecting camping gear, from terribly cheap "Rambo" knives to can openers you wear on a chain. My latest make harkens back to these childhood obsessions, and is also useful, functional, and, I daresay, attractive. Behold: the paracord bracelet!
     I have been thinking about making a paracord bracelet for some time, ever since reading the instructions for making one in The Best of Instructables Volume I, a collection of some of the best projects for DIY-ers and hobbyists from the amazing website Instructables.com. If you're not familiar with Instructables, then I highly recommend checking it out. There are instructions for making and doing practically anything, and I plan on mining the site for future projects for the Make A Week project. But I digress. This week's make was a paracord bracelet. This is a really useful piece of gear that, in an emergency or survival situation, could supply you with approximately 6 feet of 550 paracord. If you don't know what paracord is, look here. In short, it's super tough, super useful cordage, that has a wide variety of applications in the outdoors. The bracelet is a handy way of carrying a decent amount of this useful gear with you at all times.
     The first order of business for this project was to procure paracord. After looking at a couple of general merchandise and hardware stores, during the week, I came up empty handed. So, on Saturday I made my way to Sportman's Warehouse, an enormous store catering to outdoors enthusiasts. Think of it as the Red State version of REI. I knew that they would have it in stock. I was able to pick up 100 ft. of paracord for approx. $7 (a pre-made bracelet of the same style was available for $10.99). I was also looking for a side-release buckle for the  bracelet, but they were out of stock of the appropriate size. This wasn't a big deal, since there are other styles of bracelet that use knots and loops to attach it to the wrist.
     Once home and settled, I started looking up various plans for the bracelet style I wanted to make. After combing Instructables.com and Youtube, I had a general idea of how to make it. You start with a loop, made of a length of paracord that is equal to 2 times the circumference of your wrist:

The first step

Pictured below is all of the equipment needed: the loop, another 6 ft. of paracord, a knife, and a lighter.

All the stuff

     Once you have your loop, you take the long piece of paracord, fold it evenly in half, and place it behind the loop. You then start making something called the cobra knot. I had a difficult time figuring out this know at first, but once I figured it out, it was pretty easy. I won't go into details here, but check out this video to demonstrate basically the same steps that I took.

     Here's the completed bracelet, on its own, and on my wrist:

Awesome!

     So there you go! A simple make, and one that's potentially useful. Plus, I think it looks pretty great, too! I have materials to make plenty more, which I probably will, now that I know how easy it is. So, what do you think?

Bonus Make: Reusable Dryer Sheets
     Several months ago, Rachelle bought a great book at our local used bookstore, Title Wave. Her excellent score was The Big-Ass Book of Crafts. This book has dozens of cool, funky craft ideas, from the whimsical to the practical, and reusable dryer sheets definitely fall into the latter. The instructions are pretty simple. Take some cloth, cut it into 8 inch squares (or thereabouts) with pinking shears. Wash the squares. Take liquid fabric softener and put it in a spray bottle. When you're ready to use the dryer, take a fabric square, and spray it 6-8 times with fabric softener, then toss this in the dryer. No pictures (the squares are in the dryer), but you get the idea. Easy, simple, and green.

Suggestions

As I start to plan the different things I want to make, I want to get input from others as well. So, what would you like to see me make? Let me know!

Sauerkraut Update 1

Just a quick check-in folks. Thus far, the sauerkraut seems to be doing well. I took the lid off yesterday, and there is no weird mold or anything. And, it hasn't exploded! From what I have read, we just need to leave it alone for a couple of weeks, tasting it periodically, and then, when it's done, transferring it to jars in the fridge. I can't wait!

Make 1: Sauerkraut

     So, we're starting the first day of the year with our first project. This week, it's sauerkraut! Now, we've been talking about making sauerkraut for a while, ever since I read Mark Frauenfelder's excellent book, Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World, We then got to actually see Mark walk through the process of making sauerkraut on chow.com as his "Go-To Project." It looked easy, simple, and delicious, and seemed a great way to start the New Year: making something that we would be able to enjoy and share with our friends.
     The process was pretty simple. Several weeks ago, we went to our local brew supply shop, Arctic Brewing Supply, and bought a 2 gallon food-grade bucket, with a lid. We also got a fermentation lock, and a rubber stopper. We also had a hole drilled in the lid to place the fermentation lock and stopper when the time came. That time was today. We took 2 heads of cabbage, 1 green, 1 red, and quartered them, removing the cores. We then shredded them on the mandolin, and mixed the shredded cabbage with 5 tablespoons of kosher salt. We did all of this in the 2-gallon bucket, so as to minimize the mess. After the salt and cabbage had been thoroughly mixed, I started compressing the mixture with my fist, so as to extract as much juice from the cabbage as possible, helped along by the salt, of course. The juice, even at this stage, began to take on a vivid hue, kind of the same color as prickly pear juice. Based on all that I've read about this style of sauerkraut, the final product will be a beautiful bright pink.
     Once the salt and cabbage mixture had been compressed until there was a layer of liquid starting to cover it, we placed a plate, upside-down, in the bucket, on top of the mixture, and weighted it down with a heavy glass bowl, filled with a brine solution. The purpose of this is two-fold. First, the plate covers the surface of the sauerkraut, minimizing the risk of mold. Second, the weighted plate adds pressure to the mixture, helping to extract even more liquid. We then placed the lid on the bucket, making sure it was sealed tightly, and inserted the rubber stopper and fermentation lock (filled with vodka to the appropriate line). This was then placed in our pantry, where it is cool and dark, to start fermenting:

The fermenting sauerkraut and/or cabbage bomb

      We'll check on this in a couple of days, and hopefully, we'll see gas starting to come through the fermentation lock, indicating a successful start. I'll keep you posted!


Bonus Make: Preserved Lemons
     Since we were feeling extra productive on the first day of 2012, Rachelle decided to try her hand at preserving lemons, following instructions found here. We had a bag of lemons sitting in the fridge, and we needed to use them before they started going bad. She washed and dried the lemons, and then quartered them length-wise, but not quite cutting them all the way through. She then stuffed each one with a tablespoon of kosher salt each, and placed them in quart-size canning jars, adding a bit more salt when both jars were full. We used a total of 11 lemons, so a split of 5-6 lemons in each jar. We then covered one jar with lime juice, and the other with vinegar. In the jar covered with vinegar, we also added a cinnamon stick, a bay leaf,  some whole peppercorns, and some whole cloves. We then placed the lids and rings on the jars, and submerged them in a hot water bath for 15 minutes, more or less. We then removed them, and let them cool on the counter. As they cooled, a vacuum seal was formed. I think the jar with vinegar and spices is particularly pretty:

That's a spicy lemon!

     They can now be used in any recipe calling for lemons. I am really curious as to how these turn out, as I have never had these before, nor has Rachelle. We'll let you know how they turn out.

     So, that's our make(s) for the first week of the year. I wonder what we'll do next week...

New Year, New Plan

I always start every year with a list of resolutions- make a budget, go to the gym more, read more , etc.- you know, the same resolutions we all make every year. This year, I am doing something different. I am making only one resolution- to make one thing once a week. It could be anything- food, art, craft- but I will make one thing every week this year. 52 weeks, 52 things. A make a week. Of course, some weeks I might make more than one thing. But there will be at least one thing a week. So, let's see what I make this year, shall we?