kombucha- a tutorial

kombucha- when people ask me what it is i say "it's this fermented green tea drink that i LOVE!" and i hope they don't immediately google it on their smart phone because the images of the "scoby" are kind of frightening. 
scoby- noun- an anacronym for "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast".
it's this kind of rubbery layer of stuff that sits in the tea and helps it ferment. 
it's to kombucha what a starter is to sourdough- kind of.

the above picture shows several layers of scoby going on- the topmost layer being the newer "skin" forming at the top.
but i admit that i fell in love with kombucha even before knowing how it was made or seeing what a scoby looked like- thank GOD. 
believe me- it's SO yummy and it's good for you too!  it's probiotic.  it's energizing.  it is good for the metabolism.  in short it cures wot ails ye.

so - to make kombucha you first must secure a scoby from a hippie friend.  you know, that friend that if she doesn't smell of patchouli she smells of something because she probably doesn't wear anti-perspirant.  her kids *probably* wear shoes- at least they are optional.  and she excuses herself to pee her 10 month old son off in the woods during a conversation.

once you have a scoby- you must feed it.  what does yeast eat?  sugar. 
so the imporant ingredient in this is sugar.  i use green tea because it is super tasty.  i use a tad bit of black tea because the scoby likes it. 

so to feed the scoby you must make a sweet tea.  i make approx 3 litres of sweet tea for one scoby. 
here are my measurements-
3 litres boiling water
3 bags kombucha tea(i use yogi brand)
2 bags of black tea (ceylon)
1 cup sugar- ***important***  you MUST use the devil's handmaiden.  you CANNOT use honey or agave or stevia or xylitol or anything more holy. 

ok- so then you let this sweet tea reach room temp.  pour it into your gallon sized fermenting vat(costco sized pickle jar or not- it MUST be glass).  place your scoby in the sweet tea and pour the brine the scoby sat in (should come in about 6 oz of brine) into the fermenting vat.  cover with some fabric.  i cut a t-shirt up.  cut a square to cover the top nice a good and then cut a long strip of t-shirt to secure the square down over the top.  this is important because fruit flies LOVE this stuff. 
now wait.  in the summer it ferments fast(one week).  in the cooler winter it's slower(two weeks).  you will see a nice layer growing on top- another scoby to share with a friend who now thinks YOU are the hippie fringe. 

taste it.  when it reaches a nice balance between sweet and vinegary then it's ready.

you can bottle it and throw it in fridge to stop the fermentation process, or....
you can do a second ferment(yummmmm!)
my kids love second ferments because i flavor it. 

i pour the kombucha over jelly (made only with SUGAR! not high fructose corn syrup). 
sometimes i pour it over some fruit puree that i have mixed with sugar and heated up(to dissolve the sugar). 
mango is my kids favorite!  and adding shredded ginger makes it so carbonated you have to watch out when you uncork!
i have also tried adding chia seeds.  it works.  i pour chia seeds into a cupcake liner- fill it up! and then pour them into the bottle.  it's amazing watching them form their little gelatinous shells.  it's got an interesting texture, but my kids don't go for it.
i do the second ferment in ikea stopper bottles.

 or these bottles of french soda i found at kroger in the health food section.

the second ferment takes only 2 or 3 days.  i sit them on the shelf in the pantry.  right now i have two grape(from jelly), two mango, and two peach sitting on the second ferment shelf.  i also currently have about four first ferments in various stages of stew going on.  i'm thinking about expanding my kitchen just to accomodate my kombucha fascination.

diy potty learning carseat protector

if you didn't already know, wool has a natural moisture protection
quality. it works for keeping sheep dry- and, if treated properly, it
works for us as well.
so on with the tutorial.
1- felt a sweater. if you haven't accidently done this already and you don't want to ruin a perfectly good sweater go buy one at the thrift store. cashmere is best. merino is also good. they are softer than lambs wool. wash the sweater in HOT water. tumble on high heat. this should get the sweater nice and felted.
2- next cut straight up the middle of the front and back of the sweater.
3- cut off the arms.
4- cut along the shoulders from the edge of the shoulder through the collar.
5- you can now lay the cut sweater into the butt of a carseat- using what used to be the armhole as an allowance for the buckle to come through. if you need holes for the other parts of the upper harness to come through just cut slits.

felt is cool in that you don't have to hem- it doesn't unravel as an unfelted wool knit sweater would.
all the washing this sweater has gotten has worn out it's natural ability to be water proof. to return the sweater to this ability use a pea sized amount of lansinoh(you can find this in the baby aisle at the grocery store- look in the breastfeeding section- near the bottles etc). melt the lansinoh with warm water into a sink- fill the sink with warm water. let the sweater soak in this solution for a bit- then air dry. this application will last about 4-5 washes. then you must relanolize the wool when the water proofness wanes.

converting a dress to a nursing dress

i bought this dress years ago for chris' best friend's wedding. i
thought it would make a good nursing dress since it can just be pulled
to the side and away. but it wasn't discreet enough and besides not
too modest even when not nursing- as you can see it is so low cut that
you can spot my white nursing tank peeking up over the top.
so i decided to convert it to a more modest nursing dress by adding a
panel.
first i put the dress on inside out.
then i pinned the panel to the spots i needed to sew it to- at the
seem on both armpits and along the waist. every other area is just
floating.
i then cut away until i achieved the shape panel i desired. kind of a
top-heavy hourglass.
then i tacked it down using the stretch stitch because the panel is a
cotton knit and the dress is lycra.
i did hem the panel with the stretch stitch before pinning it to the
dress- it provided a more finished look.
another good option would be using the bottom hem of a lacy tank-
cutting a panel from the bottom and using the lacy edge as a more
decorative panel- like a camisole?
anyhow- thought i'd share:)

homemade butterfly bandages

frankie was dancing around being frankie when she stepped on a piece of cardboard on the laminate floor. the result was much the same as a banana peel. her chin opened up. i texted aunt margaret(sister/pediatrician/superwoman) the above pic and she said she'd need stitches. frankie was exhausted- it was 10:30 at night after a full day and i hated to haul her to the ER for a 2 hour wait and stitches so i also texted aunt kathy(sister/children's hospital ER RN) to ask her how to make butterfly bandages. i didn't want to have to get stitches but i didn't want her to have an open gaping wound that would heal into an open big puffy chin scar either.

she texted the following pictures...

cut the pad off so you have just the end of the bandaid, the sticky portion with a tab of non-stick backing on it still.

then cut length wise up through the whole bandage- leaving on the tab bc you'll need to peel it away easily.

tack it to the top of the wound, pull down ( i had to pinch her chin a bit to pull the skin together) and then tack down the bandage to the bottom of the wound. it works kind of like a staple.

she also said that she knew an ER doc that superglued a gash in his daughter's head and then tied a tight knot with some local hair to close it while they were away in the mountains. she said she wouldn't suggest it because superglue has toxins in it. all i know is that i am going to stock up on durabond next time i am in mexico. that stuff should be OTC.

here she is, snoozing happily with her homemade butterfly steristrips.

i had to replace the bandage often. she is such an active kid, drools alot, and is a sloppy drinker so whenever it got wet it became loose. she even fell and reopened it at about 3 or 4 days out of the original accident.

and here she is a week and a half later-what a pretty chin:)

edited to add that she busted her chin 2 years later and here is that post. I have to include a bit of a warning when making homemade butterfly bandages- definitely use a bandage that you know you aren't sensitive to. she had a reaction to the ones we used in 2013. that being said- she healed up just fine once her skin calmed down.