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Blogging For Beer

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Well, not quite blogging for beer but more like other bloggers that have set goals for their blog. And, since everyone is setting goals, either for themselves or for where they work, I thought I would provide you with some material to get you started. If you are looking for some ideas for setting your goals, this list from Daily Blog Tips will give you a good head start. If you are looking to kill time at work, this list is a good one.

  1. Making Home-made Wine and Beer - 2008 Goals For This Blog
  2. 2008 Plans for Sk8 Dad
  3. Blog Gigs - Blogging Goals For 2008
  4. My Life with IT - Blogging Goals for 2008
  5. Butterfly Media - 2008 Blogging Goals
  6. Scott Andrew Bird - Blog goals 2008
  7. Objetivos do 1001 Gatos para 2008
  8. 2008 Goals For Money and Blogs
  9. Kris Cpec - Blogging Goals for 2008
  10. Win A Revolution Theme
  11. Non Profit Leadership, Innovation and Change - Goals for 2008
  12. 2008 Blogging Goals and The Rewards They Earn
  13. Blogging Notes - Blogging Goals for 2008
  14. The University Blog - Blogging Goals for 2008
  15. #Comments - Goals!
  16. Agile Business Navigator - (Blogging) Goals for 2008
  17. Goals For 2008: (Almost) Every Blogger Has Some
  18. SeanPAune - Blogging Goals For 2008
  19. Amanda - 2008 Blogging Goals
  20. Why I Never Set Blogging Goals
  21. The Genetic Genealogist - My 2008 Blogging Goals
  22. TechLife - 2008 Blogging Goals
  23. ooof - Blogging goals
  24. zParacha - 2008 Blogging goals
  25. Learn How 2 Earn - Blog Goals for 2008
  26. 2008 Blogging Goals Win Premium Wordpress Themes
  27. happy 2nd birthday, change therapy!
  28. Not-So Techie Goals Set For 2008
  29. Jake Bouma - Blogging goals for 2008
  30. Paasikoe - 2008 Blogging Goals
  31. Train The Trainer: 2008 Goals
  32. Beyond Behaviors’ Blogging Goals for 2008
  33. Fashion by Jenni - Blogging Goals for 2008
  34. Ledger Pad - Plan For 2008!
  35. A contest! A xontest!
  36. Planet Apex - 8 Blogging Goals for 2008
  37. A Writer’s Words - 2008 Blogging Goals? Plans, maybe …
  38. Romance Tracker’s 2008 blogging goals
  39. Global Warming Hub’s blogging goals for the new year
  40. Setting Your Goals Makes You 200% More Productive
  41. Online Tech Tips blogging goals for 2008
  42. ConchoLakeAZ.com Blog Goals
  43. Inspiration just doesn’t get any better than this
  44. Blog About Your Blog - Blogging Goals for 2008
  45. My 2008 blogging goals for Blog Contest Central
  46. Blogging Goals - Christmas Letters To Santa Claus
  47. Mixed Market Arts - Goals for 2008
  48. Have you thought of your blogging goals for 2008?
  49. Vincent Chow - Blogging Goals For 2008
  50. Writing Nag’s 2008 Blogging Goals
  51. ShawnW - My blogging goals for 2008
  52. The Value of Being Incomplete: What Are Your Goals for 2008?
  53. On Financial Success - Goals for the new year
  54. Madhur Kapoor - Blogging Goals for 2008
  55. Work n Play - 2008 Blogging Goals
  56. What I Wish to Achieve with dailyApps in 2008
  57. Gimme a Dream - My Blogging Goals for 2008
  58. New Year’s Resolutions for TailgatingIdeas.com
  59. It’s Write Now! - Blogging Resolutions For 2008!
  60. Blogging: Learning The Lessons The Hard Way
  61. Nazjam - My blogging goals for 2008
  62. JobMob 2008 Blogging Goals
  63. What will your blog look like in 2008?
  64. My 2008 Goals For Newest on the Net
  65. MisEntropy - What I want my blog to be…
  66. The Visitor’s Book (2008)
  67. An unplannd future
  68. Good Bye 2007 - Blogging Goals for the New Year
  69. Life in the Internet - Blogging Goals for 2008
  70. Blogging Goals for 2008 - Learn from the Experience!
  71. Techno Money - My Goals for 2008…What Are Yours?
  72. 8 Goals For Inspiration Bit In 2008
  73. Cyber Street Report - 2008 Blogging Goals
  74. Mary Emma - Writing and Blogging Goals for 2008
  75. Gauravonomics - My Three Blogging Goals for 2008
  76. eBiz Parent - 2008 Blogging Goals
  77. Alphablogs - 5 goals for 2008
  78. Daily Blog Tips: 10 Goals for 2008



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2008 Goals For This Blog

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

With the end of the year just around the corner, I want to share with you the goals that I have for this blog. My overall goal is to make 2008 a more informative year on making wine and beer. Also, I want to explore using more video on the site even though it doesn't show up well in RSS feeds. I will continue to post every Tuesday and Thursday as I have for the past 18 months along with a twice a month Friday post. The goals for 2008 are:

A series on different beer styles along with recipes

A series on different wine styles

More basic tips on making wine and beer

Improved navigation to find tips

Increase in video use for posts

Friday post for news articles, opinions and rants

Tweaking the blog design

These are the goals for 2008. I'm excited about trying to achieve them for this blog. Enjoy the holidays and I'll see you right after the new year.

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Blogging Vacation - Safety Dance

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Don't you wish that you could be doing this instead of working? I sure do. So, in keeping with that spirit, I am taking the rest of the year off as far as posting on my blogs.

It's holiday time and time to make merry and enjoy Thanksgiving, Christmas an the New Year.

So enjoy the time, and I'll be back right after Jan. 1




For Your Viewing Pleasure





And remember the true reason for the season


Spirit of Christmas Present: So! Is your heart still unmoved towards us, then?
Ebenezer: I'm too old and beyond hope! Go and redeem some younger, more promising creature, and leave me to keep Christmas in my own way!
Spirit of Christmas Present: Mortal! We Spirits of Christmas do not live only one day of our year. We live the whole three-hundred and sixty-five. So is it true of the Child born in Bethlehem. He does not live in men's hearts one day of the year, but in all days of the year. You have chosen not to seek Him in your heart. Therefore, you will come with me and seek Him in the hearts of men of good will
.




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Patron Saint of Beer

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

I just thought that this is pretty cool. A Patron saint for beer makers.

Saint Arnold was born to a prominent Austrian family in the year 580. Even back in those days the Austrians were famous for their love of beer, and admired for their brewing prowess. Beer was a proud Austrian tradition that was not wasted on young Arnold.

As a young man, Arnold entered the priesthood and began moving his way up that earliest of all career ladders. At the age of 32, he was given the title Bishop, and in 612 was named "Arnold, Bishop of Metz." (Metz is in France.)

He is said to have spent his life warning peasants about the health hazards of drinking water. Water was not necessarily safe to drink during the dark ages, especially around towns and villages. Nasty stuff. Arnold always had the well-being of his followers close at heart.

Beer, on the other hand, was quite safe. Arnold frequently pointed this out to his congregation. He is credited with having once said, "From man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world." It goes without saying that the people loved and revered Arnold.

In 627, Saint Arnold retired to a monastery near Remiremont, France, where he died and was buried in 640.

In 641, the citizens of Metz requested that Saint Arnold's body be exhumed and carried from the monastery to the town of Metz for reburial in their local church - The church where Arnold had so frequently preached the virtues of beer. Their request was granted.

It was a long and thirsty journey, especially since they were carrying a dead bishop. As the ceremonial procession passed through the town of Champignuelles, the tired processionals stopped for a rest and went into a tavern for a drink of their favorite beverage - Beer. Much to their dismay, they were informed that there was only one mug of beer left, and that they would have to share it. That mug never ran dry and the thirsty crowd was satisfied.

Every Saint needs a miracle. That's how the Church decides you are a Saint. The story of the miracle mug of beer spread and eventually Arnold was canonized by the Catholic Church for it.

Saint Arnold is recognized by the Catholic Church as the Patron Saint of Brewers.




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Utopia

Friday, November 09, 2007





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Yeast Culturing From Bottles

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Have you ever thought of cloning your favorite beer's yeast? Personally, I have never given it a thought but I had a reader ask me I knew how to culture yeast from a bottle. I found this article from Brew Your Own and it explains it better than I could. Enjoy.

Yeast Culturing from Bottles: Techniques Sep, 2005
by Chris Colby

Not every yeast strain is available at your local homebrew shop. For some, you need to hit the bottle. Everything you need to know about how to round-up yeast from a bottle-conditioned beer.


A wide variety of brewers yeasts are available to homebrewers these days. But sometimes the particular strain you want isn’t commercially available. However, it might be possible to culture it from a bottle-conditioned beer.

Most commercial beers are filtered, and some are flash pasteurized, before bottling and do not contain yeast. However, some brewers bottle-condition some of their beers. Often, the brewer will advertise this fact on the label of those products. If not, the tell-tale layer of sediment on the bottom of the bottle indicates a bottle conditioned beer.

Keep in mind, however, that some brewers use a different strain of yeast for bottle conditioning than they do for primary fermentation. The yeast on the bottom of most Bavarian hefeweizens, for example, is a standard lager strain. Franziskaner, for example, is bottled with a bottling strain, not a hefeweizen strain. One exception to this rule is Schneider Weisse, which evidence suggests is bottled with its fermentation strain. British bottle-conditioned beers, more often than not, are conditioned with their fermentation strain. To give one example, Fuller’s 1845 reputedly is conditioned with its fermentation strain.


Read More at Brew Your Own


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Racking Wine

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

With the final harvests in, most winemaking goes through the "sit and wait" stage. The stage where you allow your wine to sit and have the solids settle to the bottom. Transferring the wine off the solids (racking) needs to be done from time to time prior to bottling. I found two good articles from the web and have printed a portion to wet your appetite.

Introduction

"Racking" wine is the process of separating wine from its sediment, or lees, and transferring the wine into another container using a siphon.

Things You'll Need
  • Clamps For Wine Bottling
  • Clean Containers Such As Gallon Jugs Or Barrels
  • Siphon Hoses

Step One

Place the container of wine on a table.

Step Two

Place an empty container below the table, such as on the floor or on a lower table.

Step Three

Place the notched end of the siphon tube into the container of wine. Be sure the tube is in the wine but does not touch the layer of sediment. (The sediment should be at the bottom of the container.)
Read the rest of this article at eHow.com


The fourth essential step in winemaking is to siphon the wine off the sediments (lees) into another clean secondary, reattach the fermentation trap, and repeat after another one or two months and again before bottling.

This procedure is called racking. It is done when necessary, not just two or three times as stated above. The rule is, as long as there are fresh deposits on the bottom after a regular interval (30 to 60 days), even if they are just a light dusting, the wine should be racked. Only when that interval passes and there are no fresh lees -- AND the specific gravity is 1.000 or lower -- is the wine ready to be prepared for bottling.

It is not necessary that the interval between rackings be 30 days, 45 days or 60 days, but it should not be less than three weeks. It is perfectly okay to leave the wine on the lees for three months. Beyond that and the wine enters a danger zone caused by dead yeast cells breaking down -- rotting. While this can cause off-flavors and odors if allowed to go on too long, the bigger danger is the formation of hydrogen-sulfide gas, which smells like rotten eggs and can be the death of the wine. But if the lees are stirred every week or so, neither the off flavors, off odors nor hydrogen-sulfide gas form. Indeed, the wine is actually improved by extended contact with the lees as long as they are stirred frequently.

Read the rest of this article at Jackkeller.net


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Picking A Holiday Wine

Friday, November 02, 2007





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Congressman Brew Beer

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Cleaning out some old news feeds that I have laying around. Interesting reading even though it is dated.





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Make Your Own Hobby Guide

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Found this article and thought that I would share it with you. I have made cheese and butter but have never roasted my own coffee. Something that I might want to try in the future.

"Make Your Own" Hobby Guide Oct, 2007

You already make your own beer. How about trying your hand making your own cheese or roasting your own coffee? The list of foods and beverages you can make yourself is almost limitless. Plus, when you make it yourself you get to craft it exactly how you like it. Check out these businesses that will help you "make your own".


THE COFFEE PROJECT
New to roasting? We've got home coffee roasting equipment, green beans and supplies. Take 10% off your first order by using the coupon code "cheers" when you order online before November 1st. Think outside the line. Call us at 1-800-779-7578 or visit our website.
www.coffeeproject.com

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Brewing A Revolution

Friday, October 26, 2007




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10 Things You Might Not Know About Beer

Friday, October 19, 2007



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5 Tips on Picking Thanksgiving Wines

Thursday, October 18, 2007

I received this in my email in September from Natalie Maclean and it might be a bit early for this article. Of course, your own homemade wine always goes best with whatever your eating.

Five Quick Tips for Picking the Ultimate Thanksgiving Wine

Author/Sommelier Natalie MacLean suggests gobbling good wines at www.NatalieMacLean.com

New York (September 13, 2007) - "No other holiday celebrates the gift
of wine like Thanksgiving," says Natalie MacLean, author of the
bestselling book Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey
from Grape to Glass. "Wine is a taste of the harvest along with all the
delicious dishes on the table. But actually choosing a bottle can feel
like a thankless task, especially with so many flavors to match."

Relax. Have a drink. And try some of Natalie's suggestions for great
wines to pair with Thanksgiving turkey and all the trimmings. In Red,
White and Drunk All Over, which will be published in paperback next
month, Natalie discusses wine and food pairing for Thanksgiving dinner.
A new chapter in the book also addresses the five toughest matches for
wine: vegetables, spicy dishes, chocolate, cheese, and fast food.

Natalie's free online matching tool at www.nataliemaclean.com/matcher

Natalie also offers five quick tips for choosing a terrific Thanksgiving wine:

1. Start with bubbly. Sparkling wine is a great aperitif to sip while
you wait for the turkey to finish cooking. It adds a celebratory note
to the meal and goes well with starters like soup and salad.

2. Consider the turkey. Unlike most poultry and game birds, turkey meat
is very dry in texture. So you need a mouth-watering wine to complement
it. Good options are crisp whites like riesling and pinot grigio. And
yes you can drink red wine with white meat: pinot noir, beaujolais and
zinfandel all have juicy, berry-ripe flavors that go well with turkey.

3. Look beyond the bird. The range of side dishes means that you don't
have to match your wine just to the turkey. Since Thanksgiving dinner
is often a banquet-style meal, with everyone choosing the trimmings,
why not do the same with your wines? Offer both red and white, and
possibly more than one depending on the size of your group.

4. Complement or contrast. A big, buttery chardonnay from California or
Chile can complement the roasted, smoky flavors of squash, chestnuts
and pecan stuffing. But if you'd rather have a contrast to the richness
of cream sauces and dressings, try a crisp New Zealand sauvignon blanc.

5. End on a sweet note. If anyone still has room left when it's time
for pumpkin or pecan pie, offer a late harvest wine or icewine. If
you're a chocolate fan, try serving a liqueur with complementary
flavors such as raspberry or blackcurrant.

Natalie's online wine matching tool isn't just about Thanksgiving
dinner: it allows you to pair wine with other seasonal fall produce,
game meats, pizza, egg dishes, TV dinners, breads and desserts.
Visitors simply search by wine for meal inspirations or by food to find
great wine choices. The site has more than 364,000 food and wine
combinations, as well as thousands of recipes for those planning
holiday parties and Christmas turkey dinner.

The matching tool is updated regularly, as Natalie responds to her
readers' suggestions for more dishes and wines. Many of these
suggestions come from the 78,000 subscribers to her free e-newsletter,
Nat Decants, which offers tips on how to buy, cellar and serve wine.
Got a dish or a wine to stump Natalie? E-mail her via the web site and
she'll suggest a match for you. Happy Thanksgiving!





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Hard Apple Cider Recipe

Tuesday, October 16, 2007


It's not beer and it's not wine, but making hard apple cider is always fun. You can do it the old fashioned way by pressing the apples or you can purchase the apple cider. If you purchase the cider, just make sure that there are no preservatives in it. Personally, I buy the apple cider from a local fruit market.


The recipe I found is from Sallys-Place.com and will make a 5 gallon batch. There is also an interesting history of hard cider on that site that is worth reading.

Enjoy the recipe and the reading.


Cidermaking is easy and fun. Here is a basic recipe for a Farmhouse Style cider (ingredients for five gallons):

5 gallons of fresh pressed sweet apple juice (known today as apple cider)
5 cups of sugar
1 package of Wyeast liquid lager brewers yeast (available at homebrew supply stores)

Transfer the juice and sugar using a sanitized funnel or food grade plastic hose into a sanitized glass or stainless-steel container at room temperature. Allow the sugar to dissolve and then pitch the lager yeast and affix a fermentation lock atop the carboy It will soon begin to bubble away releasing carbon dioxide as the yeast converts the sugars into alcohol. Allow the cider to ferment and mellow for at least two months before transferring it with your sanitized food grade hose into bottles, a keg, or any vessel you prefer. Then enjoy. Any homebrew supply shop can get you started with the proper advice and equipment.



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Another Reason To Make Your Own Beer - Miller Coors Merger

Thursday, October 11, 2007




Wow, with MolsonCoors and Miller merging it will leave only 2 major breweries selling their crappy swill. Just another reason to make your own beer.



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Soapy Taste In Beer

What Happens When - I Have a Soapy Taste In My Beer

I was at a recent wine club meeting and one of the members was discussing how his beer has a soapy taste to it. A couple of us that make wine and beer tried to fiqure out what his problem was. We first thought it might be from soap residual in his glass. He assured us that it wasn't from that. We were stumped. So, I did a little research and found this.

Soapy flavors can caused by not washing your glass very well, but they can also be produced by the fermentation conditions. If you leave the beer in the primary fermentor for a relatively long period of time after primary fermentation is over ("long" depends on the style and other fermentation factors), soapy flavors can result from the breakdown of fatty acids in the trub. Soap is, by definition, the salt of a fatty acid; so you are literally tasting soap.

From How to Brew


And to confirm that it could be caused be leaving your beer too long in the fermenter I found this.

You have left the fermenting beer in the first brewing process too long (bucket). You should have checked the gravity reading and barrelled soon after the reading became stable at the correct range (depends on beer type).

Easy How Brew


At this stage of the game, I don't think there is anything that can be done to fix this problem other than mixing it with tomato juice and drinking it. Generally, I don't leave the fermenting wort in the primary for more than 7 days and most times it is around 5 days. Probably the reason that I never encountered this problem.

Well, if you have a soapy taste in your beer, check the glass first and then check your brewing records to see how long you left the wort in the primary fermenter.



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Cheap Way To Make Wine

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Thought that I would experiment with some video and found this series at YouTube.com. I like the way he takes ordinary household items to make his wine. Just goes to show you that you don't need to spend a lot of money to get started. Hope you enjoy.



More In The Series:

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5




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Pour Yourself A Pumpkin

Friday, October 05, 2007




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Wine Recipe Index

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Index of all the wine recipes that have been posted on Making Homemade Wine and Beer.

Apple Cider Wine

Apple Wine Recipe

Apricot Wine

Banana Wine Recipe

Basil Wine

Blackberry Wine Recipe

Blueberry Port

Blueberry Wine

Burgundy Wine Recipe

Canned Cherry Wine

Concord Wine

Cornmeal Wine

Crabapple Wine

Cranberry Wine Recipe

Dandelion Wine Recipe

Garlic Wine

Ginger Wine Recipe

Gluhwein or "Glow Wine"

Grapefruit Wine

Jalapeno Wine

Lime Wine

Mint Wine

Oak Leaf Wine

Orange Concentrate Wine Recipe

Paw Paw Wine Recipe

Peach Brandy Recipe

Peach Wine

Pear Wine

Pear Wine Recipe

Pineapple-Orange Delight

Port Wine Recipe

Potato Wine

Quince Wine

Raisin Wine Recipe

Red Clover Wine

Sack Mead

Sangria Recipe

Strawberry Wine

Sweet Mead

Sweet Potato Wine

Sweet Wheat Wine

Tomato Wine

Tropical Wine

Universal Wine Recipes

Universal Wine Recipe Steps

Watermelon Wine

Watermelon Wine Recipe

Welch's Grape Juice Wine

Welch's Grape Juice Wine Recipe

Wine Cooler Recipe




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Beer Recipe Index

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Index of all the beer recipes that have been posted on Making Homemade Wine and Beer.

American Pilsner
Anchor Steam Recipe
Any Pub in London Bitter
Arrogant Bastard Clone Recipe
Barley Wine
Basic British Brown Ale
Basic Pilsner
Basic Porter
Basic Stout
Basic Stout Recipe
Bass Ale Clone Recipe
Bass Clone Recipe
Blonde Ale
Bohemian Pilsner
Braggot
British Bitter Beer Recipe
Budweiser Clone Recipe
Chimay Trippel Beer Recipe
Cherry Ale
Corn Meal Beer
Dos Equis Clone Recipe
Fat Tire Amber Ale Clone Recipe
Flying Fish Brewery - Farmhouse Summer Ale Clone Recipe
Golden Pils
George Washington's Porter
George Washington Porter - Revisted
Great White North
Guinness Clone
Guinness Clone Recipe
Hefe Weizen Beer Recipe
India Pale Ale
India Pale Ale Recipe
Irish Cream Ale
Maibock
Newcastle Clone Recipe
Noah Body 2008 Presidential Ale
Oatmeal Stout Recipe
Octoberfest Beer Recipe
Organic Red Ale
Pete's Wicked Ale Clone Recipe
Pilsner Urquell Clone Recipe
Pumpkin Ale
Saison
Sam Adams Clone Recipe
Scotch Ale Recipe
Sierra Nevada Clone Recipe
Strong Ale Recipe
Troeg's Mad Elf
Vienna Lager
Yuengling Amber Lager Clone


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If The Room Stinks, The Wine May Too

Friday, September 28, 2007




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How To Make Farmer's Cheese

Thursday, September 27, 2007

INGREDIENTS

1 gallon whole milk

1 pinch salt

1 large lemon, juiced

DIRECTIONS

Pour the milk into a large pot, and stir in a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the milk from scorching on the bottom of the pot.

When the milk begins to boil (small bubbles will first appear at the edges or if using a thermometer 190 degrees F ), turn off the heat. Stir lemon juice into the milk, and the milk will curdle. You may need to wait 5 or 10 minutes.

Line a sieve or colander with a cheesecloth, and pour the milk through the cloth to catch the curds. What is left in the cheesecloth is the Farmer's Cheese. The liquid is the whey. Some people keep the whey and drink it, but I throw it away. Gather the cloth around the cheese, and squeeze out as much of the whey as you can. Wrap in plastic, or place in an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator.




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Beer Myths

Friday, September 21, 2007




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Tips You Can Use



Daily Blog Tips recently ran a writing contest that was geared to tips that you can use. I've read a few of these. Because my tastes in reading material are probably different from yours, I've decided to post the entire list for you to peruse.
Here is the list of food related tips:

Food

Here is the complete list:

Blogging

Business & Career

Entertainment

Food

Health & Fitness

Make Money Online

Photography

Technology & Internet

Travel

Web Development & SEO

Random Topics

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