Brewing Our Own Beer.....Yummmmmm!

I am already excited about the idea of cracking open an ice cold beer at the end of a hot summer day, if that beer was something I brewed at home, I would be so much more satisfied. For months now, my husband and I have talked about trying to brew our own beer and make our own wine. We have several friends and family members who have talked about forming a homemade beer co-op where everyone makes a different variety and then we trade brews at a BBQ or something.

So, this week my husband and I have spent a little time looking at brewing equipment online. We have found that a newbie can get a little caught up in the details. Some of the equipment looks like it came straight out of my 11th grade science lab. Since I am already knee deep in garden work and learning to preserve my harvest, I think we will start small.

My husband found a kit made by Mr. Beer which seems to fit the bill perfectly. It is a complete kit that includes a fermenting keg, several bottles, 2 kinds of beer and a brewing guide. The description says the kit will brew 4 gallons of beer. I'm sold.

And as a bonus, when I went to the Mr. Beer website, I found out that they are located in Tucson, Arizona! I love the idea of purchasing my equipment from a locally owned, Southern Arizona business.

Now, where can I clear a space in the back yard to grow my own hops when we become expert brewers???

How to Make Your Own Smoker

I can't tell you how mind numbing I find food-related television. Thank god for Alton Brown! The man has a knack for making the science of cooking interesting and entertaining. And since my husband is a foodie and watches all the food TV he can, I at least have one program I can enjoy.

Above is my husband's clay pot smoker. He built it after watching an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats. We take no credit for the idea...but it is brilliant. The ribs that come out of this thing are apparently awesome and the cost of building it was much cheaper than buying a commercial clay smoker. I think we spent about $60 total. The hardest thing to find was the unglazed, untreated terra cota pots. Everything else was readily available at our local home improvement store.

If you want to take a look at the Good Eats episode, I found it HERE.

The supplies you need are:

• 2 large clay pots that fit together nicely
• 1 hotplate
• 3 clay pot feet
• 1 round pie pan
• 1 grill grate like those found in a round charcoal grill
• 1 oven thermometer
• Smoking wood

We had to disassemble the hot plate because the variety we bought had a plastic base and it would not fit in the bottom of the pot. Other than that it assembles easily just like you think it would. The clay feet support the heating element. The pie pan holds the wet (soaked for an hour) wood. The grill sits in the top of the clay pot. And the thermometer we found fits nicely into the hole on the cover pot. It is as easy as can be.

I don't eat pork or beef, but my husband has smoked several racks of ribs since we built the smoker and he says they are perfect. In a couple of weeks we are going to try smoking a turkey breast. I can't wait!

Sunflower Sun Screen

This weekend the temperatures are supposed to reach 107.
Ugh...this is the worst part of living in the desert.

When I heard the weather forecast earlier this week, I convinced my husband that we should do something to shade the sun from our kitchen window. This window faces west which means it absorbs the afternoon and evening sun. Our solution? Plant Sunflowers!

We planted the seeds in pots on Sunday and look what I found this morning...

I planted three seeds on Sunday. I think I will stagger planting them in week intervals, so this Sunday I will plant three more. We will see how this works. My hope is to temporarily shade the window and collect some seeds in the process.