Water and Milk Kefir

I am making kefir from milk kefir grains for years now and  you may remember my posts about brewing kombucha tea as well. Lately  I started  experimenting with lacto fermentation and also making sodas from water kefir grains. You can buy them or you can actually convert your milk kefir grains into water kefir grains. Sounds crazy I know, but it is true. You can read about the process here.  I don't drink juices or pop much, but my son, like most teenagers and adults ( and sadly kids) would drink pop all the time if I let him. So I decided to start making the healthy, natural, fizzy soda at home and now we are all hooked.
Benefits of Kefir:
The resulting hard work by both types of kefir produces a nutrient-rich drink full of beneficial acids and microorganisms. There is a high concentration of enzymes, vitamins A, B2, B12, K, D, phosphorus, nitrogen, and more. Kefir drinks are known to help cleanse the system and aid digestion, and may help with a long list of conditions including psoriasis, gastritis and arthritis.

These two jars of water kefir  are ready to be strain. They were "brewing" two days and ate all the sugar.

Kefir z Tibetske houby delam uz leta a mozna si pamatujete, ze jsem tady psala i o hoube Kombucha. Pred nedavnem jsem se zacala vice zajimat o prirodni kvaseni, hlavne mlecne ale take o vyrobu napoje z Tibetskych krystalu. Ty se daji koupit, nebo si je muzete "preskolit" z tech mlecnych.  Trva to asi osm dnu, nez si zvyknou na nove  prostredi a pak uz je nikdy nemuzete pouzivat do mleka ale zase si muzete zacit doma vyrabet napoje z prirodni karbonaci. Spoustu informaci naleznete zde.

Tyhle dve sklenice Tibetskych krystalu  ( jinak take nazivane vodnim kefirem)  jsou prichystane  na zcezeni. Ja je nechavam "pracovat" dva dny.

 You can see the little bubbles around the fruit.
Muzete videt bublinky a susene ovoce, z ktereho "snedly" vsechen cukr.

 Looking at the jars reminds me of the lava lamp. The grains are rising to the surface and falling to the bottom continuously, they are "alive" and it is very hypnotizing to watch .......

Pozorovani sklenic me pripomina lavovou lampu. Krystalky pomalu stoupaji vzhuru a pak klesaji zpatky ke dnu. Jsou "zive",  je to fascinujici, hybnoticka podivana......

I strain the grains
Takze precedit

 and  use the liquid to make the soda.
a  voda se pouzije na napoj.

 The grains are wash and ready to be fed to start a new ferment.
Proplachla zrna se znovu nakrmi a dalsi fermentace muze zacit.

 This time I made grape soda. This is all the juice you need, you top the bottle with your brew, tightly close it and let it sit at room temperature for another few days to let the "magic" happen. By that time your soda should be fizzy. To stop it from further fermentation (and possible explosion) you put it in the fridge or cold place.

No a my se pustime do napoje.  Ja pouzivam bio dzusy. Tenhle je z hroznoveho vina a tohle mnozstvi uplne staci. Zbytek dolejeme nasi precezenou tekutinou, zazatkujem a nechame dalsi dva, tri dny na teplem miste. Ted probehne tzv. druha fermentace. Ta prave vytvari ty bublinky. Pozor, po par dnech (dvou, trech) ulozte lahve do chladu, jinak by vam take mohly vybuchnout.

 I also made orange/mango.
Dalsi  je z pomerancovo mangoveho dzusu.

 And in the little green bottle my new experiment. Ginger, kefir and kombucha kombo. I tell you, they are fantastic, healthy ( I do use all organic stuff ) and refreshing. You can read more about the health benefits and "how to" here . You can also visit  my pinterest page  and get inspired there :))

V zelene lahvi je muj "experiment". Cerstve nasekany koren zazvoru ( asi lzice) a pul na pul tekutina z kombuchy a Tybetskych krystalu.  Na ochuceni muzete pouzivat i cerstve ovoce a stavy a bylinky podle vasi chute.

 I also made new batch of mustard, this time lacto fermented. I used whey from yogurt  instead of the brine, horseradish, hot pepper and onions. My horseradish started to sprout. I dug it out in the fall and it survived in the fridge till now! After I was done with it, I planted it in the pot.  Mustard taste beter when aged, so after about 5-7 days I will blend it to the creamy consistency and store it in the fridge for up to 6 months before eating it.

Dale jsem se pustila do vyroby horcice fermentovane v sirovatce. Tu jsem si zcedila z jogurtu, pridala cibuli, kren ( ten v lednici zacal rust a tak jsem zbytek zasadila znovu do hliny) feferonku a uzavrela kvasnou zatkou. Po peti az sedmi dnech se to rozmixuje a horcice ulozi do chladu. Mela by se nechat rozlezet a to treba i sest mesicu. Ja  jsem jednu delala uz vloni a je opravdu lepsi nez kdyz se konzumuje hned.

 You can buy lids with airlock , but Neil made mine from regular caning jar lid and airlock. It works great!
Kvasne zatky se daji koupit. Neil me ale udelal otvor do zavarovaciho vicka a ja jen nasadila vodni uzaver.

I hope you enjoy your visit, have a great weekend!
Dekuji za navstevu a  preji vam vsem krasny vikend.

not so Lazy Days :0)

More snow and rain kept us inside, so I was working on  projects that needed to be done, which is great. I crocheted this little cotton basket.

Stale je "nasnezeno" a tak se drzime vic doma a ja mam alespon cas na me resty.  Konecne jsem si uhackovala bavlnenou misku.

Refinished this table. Actually it was a pair and they already sold.
Zrenovovala tenhle stolek. Tedy vlastne dva ( byl to par) a uz jsou prodane.

Also I just finished and listed this wooden settee yesterday. Update: The bench is sold :)
Vcera jsem dodelala tuhle lavici a dnes prodala :)

I started working on this baby blanket. This is the color theme my daughter is going for in the nursery this time . It is fun to crochet, I am making it from three strands of yarn, so it is (will be) very chunky and cozy :)

Take jsem zacala hackovat deku pro mimco v barvach, v kterych Tereza tentokrat dekoruje baby pokoj. Pouzila jsem trojitou prizi, takze prace rychle pribyva a deka je (tedy bude) krasne tlusta, mekounka no zkratka "jen se zachumlat" :)

Snowshoeing on Mt. Washington

Ctvrtecni vylet na sneznicich. Priroda, jak casto pisete opravdu panenska.  Bydlime v udoli, na jedne strane more,  na druhe hory. Toto je 15 minut autem od domu asi v puli hory Washington. Nejenom ja si uvedomuji jak je tady krasne. Vzdy me prekvapilo a potesilo to slyset  i od deti, zvlast kdyz byli jeste male!

Thursdays snowshoeing on Mt. Washington, about 15 minutes from our house.We live in a valley surrounded by ocean on one side and mountains on the other. Many of you comments on how beautiful the nature around here is. I do agree and I was always surprise and happy to hear that from my kids as well. It is nice to know they appreciate their surroundings!

Na cerstvem vzduchu vyhladne :0)
Fresh air sure increases your appetite :0)

Je libo  "stopecku snehove" whiskey?
Anyone in for "whiskey slushie" ?

Krasne odpoledne ve spolecnosti bezva kamaradek  ❣

Awesome afternoon in the company of awesome friends  ❣

Pohled z vrcholku do udoli. Foto ztazene z teto webove stanky, kde najdete vic fotek lyzarskeho strediska na hore Washington.

View from the top of Mt. Washington. This and more photos  here.

Martha Stewarts Cozy Mittens

Tuhle prochazku jsme stihly po tom co roztal minuly snih a pred tim nez se v nedeli prihnala snehova vanice. Byli jsme par hodin bez elektriky ale druhy den uz bylo zase krasne slunecno. Ted je venku tajici brecka :(

We squeezed  this walk in between the last snow and our Saturday's snow storm. The power went out for few hours, but the next day the sun was out again. Now we just have the melting slash on the ground :(

 Prochazkova stezka vede  lesikem,
This walk way goes through forest area,

 okolo potoka
with little stream

 maleho letiste
by small planes airport

 a to vse v tesne blizkosti more.
and all of this right next to the sea.

 Zajimavy popis na rukavice z webove stranky Marthy Stewart.  Po upleteni tohoto prototypu jsem zjistila, ze nemam dostatek vlny.  Jednoduchy ale velmi zajimavy (tedy alespon pro mne) vzor.

I tried this interesting pattern from Martha Stewart . It is a clever pattern. When I finished the first one I realize I don't have enough yarn for the other one :( 

 Takze "paracka" a kombinace z jednim z dalsich, mnou umotanych, klubek. Musim rict, ze pleteni rukavic z vlastni vlny je velice uspokojujici a tyto male projekty jsou perfektni pro vyuziti vsech  zbytku!

So, I took it apart and started again with one of the many little balls from my stash. These are perfect for projects like this. I love to knit gloves and mittens with my wool.

Po upleteni se rukavice ve svu zhackuji  kontrastni prizi.
The mitts are join (crochet) together with contrasting color. 

Happy Birthday Mak!

Oslava Makeefa 4tych narozenin......

Makeef's 4th birthday party .......

 Milujem ho ❤
 WE LOVE THIS PRECIOUS BOY ❤

Jak to rychle uteklo, jako by to bylo vcera co se narodil.....

It feels like yesterday when he was born.....

a v kvetnu uz z nej bude starsi braska :)

and he will be "big" brother in May already :)

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