Yesterday afternoon, housemate Dan brought up the crock. It had been sitting in the basement in his fermentation room for four weeks! Here are the contents, prior to draining them off. Mmmm. Yuck!

I asked him to list the ingredients: habanero pepper, garlic, ginger, onion, lemon, cinnamon, horseradish root.

He’s squeezing the gunk, to end up with his famous “fire cider.” That much made only two quarts.

It’s what we sip in the wintertime, when cold, or feeling a bit under the weather. Or, for me, every morning, upon rising, about a tablespoon, diluted with warm water, vinegar, and wild honey. (And/or, I drink one of my infusions: of nettles, oatstraw or red clover; and/or warmed up bone broth simmered for three days with a splash of vinegar in a crock pot with marrow bones from the farmers’ market.)

Dan has been fermenting up a storm. Besides fire water, he now has kimchi, plus beet, cabbage, and daikon radish, each one made into its own fermented kraut. So much better than paying $11/pint jar for locally produced ferments! And soooooooo much more powerful! Indeed, last night’s fixings left so much of it in the air that anyone in the kitchen sneezed periodically for the next hour.

At this point, he’s making so much fermented food that he gifts jars to others. Not just to our podmates next door, but to Shy, our builder, and other friends.

One problem: What’s left over.

We compost, but right now, everything’s frozen outside. (Puppy Shadow and I walked this morning in 4° weather!). Plus, our two worm farms are already full of food.

Yesterday evening, I went over to see Rebecca, found her with a beer in her lap, darning my socks! Can you believe, someone “in this day and age” who knows how to darn socks? I am sooooooo lucky.