My friend Kori has been working on a series of fruit ketchups called Chups. Last month I ordered three of them to check them out and was really impressed with the packaging that they came in. It all seemed well thought out.
Simple outer packaging, but the sticker let’s me know what is inside
Last night I went to United Noshes a series of dinner parties to benefit the World Food Program USA. At each United Noshes event, Jesse and Laura prepare the cuisine of a UN member nation. For country number thirty-one, Cameroon, they took the show on the road and cooked in DC. The food was interesting. There was a black-eyed pea cake that was steamed in a banana leaf and a dish made from cassava and corn. I’m looking forward to them coming back to DC so that I can try another countries cuisine.
Spent the weekend grilling with some friends. While Nacin worked the grill I took some pictures. My macro lens allowed for some pretty cool shots. I really like how the fire turned out.
I got my first box from Washington Green Grocer today and the first thing I made is a stir-fry with broccoli, carrots, red cabbage and spring garlic. I seasoned it with just a bit of sesame oil and soy sauce. Absolutely delicious.
Sidenote: Red cabbage should really be called purple cabbage, since that’s the color my hand turned handling it.
For the second time, I’ve set out to make my own bitters. This time I’m making a few different varieties, and I bottled the first of them over the weekend. Apple Pie Bitters.
If you’ve never made your own bitters, it is as complex or simple as you want it to be. You can put everything in a single container or use separate containers. Once you combine your herbs, spices or fruits with high-proof alcohol, all you need to do is store them in a dark space agitate the bottle every day or two. I highly recommend getting glass containers. I went with a variety of Mason style jars in four, eight and thirty-two ounces. For the apple pie bitters, I used three different extractions.
The first extraction is of apples. I took a few apple and skinned them. I then aged them for about a month in high-proof rum. Overall, they ended up being a beautiful red, but didn’t have as much of an apple taste as I had hoped. I think next time I’ll try using dried apples in addition or in place of the fresh.
The second extraction was mulling spices. These really came alive with flavor. Two weeks in a mix of high-proof rum and neutral grain spirit and these smelled and tasted fantastic. There wasn’t much of a color change, but I think that might be more due to the length of time that they spent. There was a reddish tint, but not nearly as much as the apples.
The final component is a general bitter mix that I am using for all the varieties. The liqueur is all neutral grain spirit. I used Green cardamom, Gentian Root, Birch Bark, Calamus Root, WormWood, and Humulus Lupulus. This might be the most bitter thing I have ever tasted and if it was possible for something to smell bitter, this would do it. A bit goes a long way and I think I used a bit too much this time around. It has a beautiful green color.
The final mixture is equal parts all three tinctures. The bitter green, light red and deep red combined to form a beautiful brown. I think next time I’ll cut the amount of bitter mixture in half and also increase the percent of apples. Next up is the more adventurous Fruit Punch Bitters. Ever since deciding to try that one I’ve been wondering what to mix it with. We will see how they come out.
Bottled up, with rye and sugar ready for an old fashioned.
I bottled my apple pie bitters tonight and made an old fashioned with them. A bit more bitter than I was aiming for, but the essence of apple pie definitely comes through.
Open Source Software and BBQ go together like Mac and Cheese. This was especially true on the night of 14 June 2011 when WordPress DC, DC PHP, jQuery DC, and Fathom Creative joined forces to celebrate Open Source Software. One hundred and fifty people came together and socialized over Pork, Burgers, Hot Dogs, Veggie Burgers and plenty of sides.
There are a number of reasons the event was the success that it was. A few people who deserve a huge pat on the back are:
After the success of the 2011 DC Open Source Software BBQ, we have a lot of work cut out for us in 2012 if we want to have this much fun again. Of course the only thing better than one BBQ, is two.