What's for Dinner, Sat., April 19, "No Kings Day" 2025
The protest location I chose to attend is in an area full of fabulous Japanese, Korean, and Chinese restaurants. I so wanted to go after the protest, but I didn't want to dine alone.
So I stopped at Trader Joe's and stocked up on dumplings and other Asian dishes.
I just had some dumplings with hoisin sauce.
Coming up is orange chicken.
Cherry kombucha.
I'm undecided on dessert. Maybe stewed apples with Green lemon yogurt.
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You always make me crave kombucha. Do you make your own?
We’re getting back into the groove after our big, bad move. Hit TJ’s yesterday and son insisted we’re cooking out tonight. He’s a bad omnivore but he insisted on getting me two different vegan burgers. Also having bicolour corn on the cob and baked tatties.
Wish I’d thought to get a watermelon or something to top it off, but the corn alone is going to give me tastebud orgasms. 
Make my own kombucha. I learned how at a kombucha forum. I'm glad I did, too, because kombucha has risen in price from $2.50 a bottle to almost $4 now! And I can go through a bottle real fast.
Another reason is that I like my own so much better. It's tastier and the degree of tartness is more to my liking.
Yet another reason I make my own is the fun of flavoring it. I like experimenting with different flavors and I am always on the lookout for new ways to flavor it. I squeeze my own fresh tangerine juice, and I have several different types of blenders to do a flavor like kiwi or pineapple. A lot of times I will just flavor it with juices--not the kind they mix with grape juice, but the kind you have to go to WF or a specialty store for. One hundred per cent pure cranberry, for example.
The disadvantages of making it on your own, though, are that it takes time. I'll bet I spend 30" a day, 5 days a week making it. Plus you have to rinse out the bottle for re-use and so consequently I have a lot of bottles sitting around. I am constructing a special shelf in the butler's pantry to hold all the bottles so I don't have to have them on my counter.
Here's a pic of some of my flavors:
cherry berry, pineapple-ginger
Yes, the price is ridiculous! I’m thinking it would be a good use for my Grolsch-style bottles, and it certainly can’t be any more difficult or time-consuming than a good sourdough or desem (the much more amazing WW version of sourdough) starter.
I’m also determined to make my own mead, and the flavours are every bit as varied as kombucha. The only problem is that honey is hella expensive and I need like a gallon and a 5-gallon jug for a good batch. I need more than just one ridiculously expensive (plastic) glass of the juniper mead every year at the Highland Games. 
https://advancedmixology.com/blogs/art-of-mixology/how-to-make-viking-mead?_pos=1&_sid=7b194e130&_ss=r
I read your article and it doesn't sound like it would be that difficult--but it would be expensive. And of course, now we have the national problem with the bees; someone posted an article on it here a month or so ago. Really sad, down a huge percentage. I am going to the beekeeper's society meetings to see what they recommend for me at my community gardens.
At least one thing I've noticed is that the bees were swarming around here like crazy today. This was the first really warm day--got up to 82, maybe even higher. Made me feel good. Regular bees, bumblebees. So cool. 
I went to a couple kombucha forums but I think the one that helped me most was Reddit's. https://www.reddit.com/r/Kombucha/
If my memory jogs on some of the others, I'll let you know. And keep us informed about your adventures with mead when you make some!
mushrooms today. Instead we went gambling at the Golden Nugget casino in Danville Illinois. I had enough free money earned at the casino to order a meat lovers pizza to go. Hopefully tomorrow we'll find enough morels to go along side of a ribeye steak each.
Good Evening
