Sugar-and-Dairy-Free Chai Powder

 Sugar-and-Dairy-Free Chai Powder

1/4-1/2 cup sugar-free sweetner 

1/2 cup dried coconut milk powder 

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon each ground allspice cardamon, cloves, nutmeg

Can be blended into coffee, or brewed black tea. Can also be warmed in milk and added to espresso.

Keeping Racoons Away from Bird Feeder

 For several years now we've had a battle with the numerous racoons that live under our deck and love to eat our birdseed every night.

We started with an inexpensive feeder from Menards on a shepherd's hook. The racoons would just push the shepherd's hook over in the middle of the night and feast. We upgraded to a 4" x 4" post with brackets and a nicer-looking feeder that also attracted more birds (when it wasn't depleted by racoons, which was every night). They couldn't push it over, but they could climb it easily and feast. We next added a cylindrical baffle (about $75) and spikes from Amazon. As you can see in this picture, the racoons could wrap their arms around this baffle and shimmy up and down it (we had this confirmed by catching one in the act), and it created a nice resting spot for them to sit and eat. We tried oiling the baffle, etc, to no avail.We installed new motion-detecting secutity lights and a Ring camera over the deck, and at one point, it detected motion and I looked out to see FIVE racoons sitting on our deck. I yelled at them and they scurried into the back yard. Andy played with higher brackets off the top of the post (another $40) and different positioning of the baffle, but that didn't help.

The cylindrical post baffle is clearly no obstacle

We acheived a real breakthrough when we added a second, round baffle on top of the cylindrical one (and yet another $62). Between these two baffle types, the racoons have not been able to get to the birdseed or suet for 6 weeks. We're calling this a success so far.

Fermented Dill Pickles

Before adding brine to crock

• Five pounds of cucumbers from the farmer's market for $12.
• 4 qts water at room temperature
• 1/2 c plus 2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp pickling salt
• 2 tbsp pickling spice
• 8 cloves of garlic, sliced (can increase this)
• 4 heads of dill

I followed the instructions in this helpful video, but increased the amount of brine to 4 qts to account for the additional cucumbers and larger crock. I used our 5 gallon crock, which was heavy and ungainly, but I made it work. I fermented them for 3 weeks, although different sources say that shorter times can lead to crisper pickles.

They came out pretty good- although quite salty. I'll plan to play with the brine salinity when I make these again. They filled 4.5 quart mason jars when done. 

 Additional tips:

• Wash the cucumbers, slice off 1/16 inch of the blossom end, and soak them in an ice bath for 15-30 minutes to firm and crisp them up. There are enzymes in the blossom end that can make your pickles soft, so be sure to remove them.
• There seem to be different schools of thought on the salinity of the brine. A minimum of 3% saline is needed, which is 7 grams of salt per one cup of water. If you want a stronger brine or longer ferment, go up to 4.5%. So for example, 3.5% Ratio= 9 grams of salt per 1 cup of water, 4.5% brine =10.8 grams of salt ( 2 tsp salt) per 1 cup of water. Another source recommends a 3.5% salt brine based on the total weight of the cucumbers AND water. So 2000 grams of cukes and water will require 70 grams of salt.Use fine, unprocessed salt (sea salt) and unchlorinated, filtered water for best results. Boiling water for 15 minutes removes chlorine. 
• "Burp" the pickle jars periodically in the fridge. They keep about 3 months.
  

  

  Plate and mug weights