Well, hello there!
I’m halfway through my week of graveyard shifts at the hospital, and I’m one tired mother. Doling out pills in the dark of night kept me busy, so I didn’t have a chance to eat much – just a can of Ventresca albacore tuna belly in olive oil, a package of SeaSnax, a steaming-hot Thermos of bone broth, and a few squares of dark chocolate.
On my way home from work, I stopped at the post office to send off a mess o’ Nom Nom Paleo socks. I hate to say it, but I’m glad I’ll soon be out of stock. The post office makes me angry.
At home, the lingering smell of the boys’ breakfast made my stomach rumble, so I grabbed a couple of eggs and fried myself a Thai omelet.
This is a recipe I’ve been tinkering with for months. For today’s version, I whisked in a tablespoon of tapioca flour to see if I could achieve puffier, crispier edges.
Success!
For the pièce de résistance, I squeezed on a squiggle of homemade sriracha before eating it up.
After my belly was full, I checked on the batch of kombucha that’s been a-brewin’ in our continuous brewer. I really shouldn’t have pulled back the lid. Let’s be honest: It looks pretty gnarly in there.
But hey – what do you expect when you’re cultivating a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast? A week had passed since I plopped the scobys in the sweet tea pool, and it was time for me to check if it had magically transformed into tangy kombucha.
I took a sip and…it tasted just like kombucha! [Insert celebratory fist pump here.]
My first batch o’ booch was slightly fizzy, pleasingly tart, and had just the right nose. But to be sure, I dipped in a pH testing strip, and confirmed it was indeed beween 2 and 3 – perfect! Hooray!
To toast my success, I poured myself a glass on the rocks and flavored it with dried hibiscus flowers.
I’m a fan of the no-frills essence of this kombucha, but Big-O and I are planning to experiment with the flavors of a second ferment later this week.
As I skipped off to bed with a smug grin on my face, I raised my arms in triumph. “I MADE KOMBUCHA! I AM AWESOME!” I shouted.
Lil-O rolled his eyes. “Actually, mommy, you’re not THAT awesome."
My four-year-old is an ego-deflation ninja.
In the evening, I dragged myself out of bed to make dinner. I scrounged around in the fridge and found a few Brussels sprouts…
…which I broke down into chips…
…and baked in the toaster oven. (Check out the recipe here.)
I reheated a smoky ham steak from 4505 Meats in the SousVide Supreme…
…while I worked on a kelp noodle stir fry with bok choy…
…caramelized onions…
…shiitake mushrooms…
…bone broth, and seasoning.
When the noodles were soft (kelp noodles are gross when they’re crunchy)…
…I seared off the ham with my trusty blowtorch…
…and sliced it up.
And, that my friends, was my meal before heading to work for the night.
Now, let’s circle back to the kombucha. I’m dying to hear everyone’s favorite flavorings and combinations. I’ve gotten personal tips from my cousin Daphne and read the posts on Balanced Bites, Kombucha Kamp, Cultures for Health, and Food Renegade. But I’m a greedy booch brewer and want more ideas.
Help a sistah out. If you’ve got booch flavoring tips, leave ‘em in the comments!
