Food

[Henry Krinkle]

While I agree with the rule in general, I also have a playful habit of trying to take on tough projects. Home winemaking was one of them, for ten years, on a large scale. A ton of grapes annually, 6 oak half-barrels for aging, crush and bottling parties with many good friends. I stopped in 2011 because we had two cool summers in a row and the grapes weren't ripening, but we still have 30+ cases aging in the basement and it didn't suck!

I guess it's similar to the dozen fruit trees in the garden. When the squirrels let us keep enough, we have the good problem of inundation, and the dehydrator becomes an important tool. The work far outpaces the sense of reward, unless you count the emotional payoff of growing something from scratch, and tasting your own effort in daily meals. You can't exactly buy that.

(Fava beans on the other hand... maybe I'm done with that after a few years. OMG those are a lot of work!)

I get that and I think you and I are very similar in this. There are certain projects that don't add up for me though. Like firm cheese. On the other hand, I only eat homemade ketchup now and I do make some cheese. It's Mrs. Ks birthday weekend. She specifically asked for smoked meat sandwiches for her home cooked birthday meal so I have a cross rib roast that I cured in the fridge developing a pellicle right now. Tonight it'll be smoked and tomorrow I'll steam it will making wood fired bagels.