L’oiseau que tu croyais surprendere battit d’aile et s’envola.

Sitting here on a Tuesday morning, sipping on my half-regular, half-decaf coffee (don't want to get jittery like a withdrawing junkie with a seizure disorder), eating my Very Healthy breakfast of blue corn tortilla chips, and enjoying my hour or two of solitude before I have to start cooking for the next couple of days.

It's a very exciting life, mine.

Oh! Oh! I have a new little mini-project I have to show and tell! "Have to" because it's one I actually finished! I am proud! I should probably be less proud!

I have several friends (read: know several people) who home-brew, and while it doesn't appeal to me as a hobby beyond the casual (because I don't like beer and wine is only so-so), I am interested enough that I wanted to try making something I DO like with the fermentation process: hard cider, and ginger ale.

Since I am too lazy and poor (drink three shots, readers) to bother with all the S locks and stoppers and tubing and food-grade pails and crap that proper homebrewing involves, I went the ghetto route: glass jars, rubber bands, and *ahem* saran wrap.

It's pretty easy, actually. You mix some brewer's yeast (bought for 80 cents a pack at the local homebrew store...you know I live in Hippie Heaven when we've got an honest-to-god, brick-and-mortar HOMEBREW STORE, for heaven's sake, and yes, 80 cents I can manage) with sugar, dump it into your container along with your liquid and whatever other ingredients (I put grated ginger root and lemon juice in the ginger ale), and then add some water. Stretch the plastic wrap over the mouth of the vessel very tightly, secure with rubber band, poke the tiniest little hole so the evil bacteria (hopefully) won't get in, put in a warmish, darkish area....and wait.

My hard cider won't be ready for a couple of days (it takes a week because all the little yeasties are eating the sugar and pooping out alcohol), but my ginger ale was ready last night!




I obviously have to strain all the ginger and errant lemon seeds and crap out of it first, but look at that glass! YOU CAN SEE BUBBLES.

it turned out pretty well! Fizzy and gingery and decidedly not fake-tasting like most ginger ale. I futzed up the recipe by mistake, because I put all the ingredients into a quart jar instead of a 2-liter bottle, so it was waaaay too sweet, and I hadn't had a whole lemon, so it wasn't as tart as it could have been, but all in all, I'm ready to call my first attempt at homebrewing a resounding success.



Now I just hope the hard cider turns out. Friday is my 29th birthday, and I aim to get shit done. And by "shit" I mean "liquorin'."