I believe every real german my age knows the clay pot “Römertopf” from the seventies and early eighties – if not from his Mom, then at least from his Grandma. It was very widespread then and everyone I know can remember that thing. Nowadays it became somewhat forgotten compared to it’s former popularity, but it’s still present enough that I got one for a reasonable price these days and of course had to give it a try.
Homemade Butter: How To
I read about this in my doctor’s waiting room in – I shit you not – a women’s magazine. Mediterranean/French style easy homemade butter! They adressed several different seasonings and further uses in the article, but the basic procedure is always the same. All you need is a food processor and half a liter of heavy cream (get the real enchilada: 30% fat). After having my TBE shot, I knew what I had to do…
Firewood Splitter
Yes, I know. Mankind has invented Axes for a reason. But sometimes, special tools make up for a better solution for certain situations and mine is making kindling. Small, slim pieces of wood, cumbersome to handle when you want to place the blade of your hatchet and simultaneoulsy get your fingers out of the way. So a kindling splitter is a useful tool and it has it’s justification. Here’s mine:
How to: Prepare Sauerkraut…
… the traditional german way – or not?
Sauerkraut is so german it even gave us our name 🙂 , it’s very widespread in the nation, very regionally diverse and versatile. It is part of the traditional german cuisine, mostly eaten as a side dish but also as a full meal when made with the appropriate ingredients. It’ very healthy – for example for it’s contents of vitamin C which even increases when cooked.
There’s what feels like a gazillion ways of preparing (especially homemade) Sauerkraut in germany alone (and I bet there are even more recipes all over the world). To condense these down to some kind of a standard formula that everything else can be built upon, here’s my way. BTW: We’re talking fresh and unprocessed Sauerkraut here, not the pre-cooked, canned version from the supermarket.
Finally – a Mousetrap that Works
I stumbled upon this YouTube Video and decided to give this method a try:
→ How to Make a Simple Catch and Release Bottle Mousetrap (that works!)
What shall I say? The counter is on three within two days now – better than every other trap I’ve tried so far. By the way, the secret bait is peanut butter. Jerry seems to like peanut butter 🙂
Barrel Pizza Oven DIY, Part II
Pizza oven progress! The cracks and holes that I wreaked when welding are filled with heat resistant silicone, and it got a coat of heat resistant paint. I also ordered an additional joint for the chimney that I’m still waiting for, so the chimney is only fastened temporarily. Also, an oven door is still missing because I need new material (I fucked up the old one…)
Basic Pizza Dough Recipe
(This recipe is so far authentically italian, as an italian person that I know confirmed to me.)
What you need (3 small-sized pizzas):
1/2 cube fresh yeast
1/2 tsp. sugar
500 g flour (ideally, italian “Tipo 00”, alternatively all purpose flour)
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
300 ml lukewarm water
