a defence of organic milk and eggs

So I buy organic milk and eggs. I'm generally skeptical of organic stuff, I don't think the label means a whole lot. However, for some reason organic milk and eggs don't go bad for like a month and a half. It's crazy. Now some people may be like: "So what, I always use the milk and eggs before they're bad". Well, in that case, good for you, buy the cheapest milk you can find, however I use very little milk. It's a total waste for me to buy conventional milk, it always goes bad before I've had half of it. Eggs I can sometimes get away with, but sometimes I don't feel like eating a bunch of eggs, so organics give me a nice little time buffer.

I'm convinced I save money by buying organic milk and eggs. But I haven't run the budget. I'm too damn lazy.

The ginger beer Chronicles

So I've been trying to make home made ginger beer. First I tried this recipe with added ginger, but it didn't ferment enough (probably my fault), and it just tasted like ginger ale. I was looking for a stronger flavor especially after trying some Jamaican style ginger beer. It was incredibly strong and spicy. So I looked around and formulated my own recipe:

• Ginger to taste, grated, juiced or sliced. I used most of one root
• 2 allspice berries
• 1 cassia (cinnamon) stick
• 1 star anise
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup brown sugar
• juice and zest of 1/2 lemon or whole lime
• 1/4 tsp bakers yeast
  
• 2 liters water (to fit the container, double the recipe for a gallon container )

From Ginger Beer Recipe 2

Put the ginger, sugar, and spices in a large pot

From Ginger Beer Recipe 2

Add water and boil. Let steep for ~10 min.

From Ginger Beer Recipe 2

Cool to prevent over-steeping. Add citrus.

From Ginger Beer Recipe 2

Put yeast in bottle and pour liquid into bottle.

Ferment for 24-48 hours until plastic bottle is firm when squeezed. Refrigerate to stop fermentation.

I accidentally watered it down a little when cooling it. On the plus side I now have 2 bottles of it. My initial taste says that it's tasty with spices, but is not particularly gingery. We'll see how it is when it's done.

Foodblog!

I love to cook. Today I cooked chicken in a pot for the first time. I got the recipe from The Best International Recipe. I like that series of cookbooks because they let you know why they give the instructions in the book, which helps you improvise. Want to see pics? sure you do:

Doesn't it look tasty? I served it with roasted fingerling potatoes and some veggies cooked by my friend Kristin.