Good Foodie Hobby

Tonight is the Opening Ceremonies for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Wheeeee! My mussels are in the fridge for the first meal of my official Olympics Menu. To go with all these Olympic festivities, I have indulged in one of my most productive hobbies! Wine Making!! Last night I filtered off a batch of Chablis. Most of the wine tastes better if you let it sit for 1 - 3 months. I try to do that. No, really, I do try...

For those of you not Canadian, we pay a lot of tax on alcoholic beverages so the hobby of making homemade wine and beer has flourished here over the years. I've been doing it for close to 15 years. I've always used kits which include the fruit juice and necessary chemicals. My grandmother used to make homemade wine out of any berries or fruit that grew in her yard, which is pretty neat but all that grows in my yard is chives so I'm thinking I'll stick with the kits.

When I first started making wine it was quite the complicated task. I found a place that would make it for you but that was in New Brunswick and when I moved back to Nova Scotia last year I discovered there were no such places here. I'm back to doing it myself. But between a proper laundry sink, a small room I can properly control the temperature and these improved, practically fool-proof kits, it's a lot easier than I remember. And the results are really good!

A few tips; first of all there are lots of great sites on the internet that show you what to do so check them out, secondly when you have to stir to de-gas - stir like your freakin' life depends on it! (this step is beyond important, stir, shake, beat it to death), lastly filter your wine. No matter how careful you try to be, sediment makes it into some of the bottles. You went through all the effort to make the wine, don't skimp out at the end.

For anyone who's a foodie (and a wino) this is a fun hobby. And you get to indulge in the results!

And now we take you back to the games. My outdoor lights are on starting tonight for the duration of the games as per requested by someone sounding official. My neighbors might think I'm a nutter but oh well. Go Canada Go!