“Say something clever.  Ok, doesn’t have to be clever, just has to be words.  Say some words.  Any words will do. Oh my god.  This is the longest anyone has not talked ever.  There is nothing you could say to make this worse.  Say something!” *

I’m feeling guilty. I’ve been a bad blogger. I haven’t felt like I’ve had a lot to say. After some really big things (the honeymoon adventure, the 1/2 Iron Tri, the yoga school, and the Full Iron Tri) I feel a little lost. All my writing just peters out in… well a lot of deleting.

There are some things to share: an update on my big budget project frustration, a little vacation with some fly fishing, some events I’ve registered for and some athletic angst. But I’m going to re-start blogging with something easy to share.

FIRE CIDER**
It’s my new favorite thing.  I found two brands at the co-op.  It’s kept in the dietary supplements section – which it really should be everywhere because I use it:
– As a hot drink with honey
– A drop in my bourbon
– With olive oil as a salad dressing
– Take it just as a shot to clear my sinuses and freshen up

After doing some research I discovered that it’s an ancient tonic used for colds and hay fever, as a digestive aid, or hangover eye opener, or energy pick up.  There are a zillion recipes for the tonic and how to use it.  This is what I did.

I food processed (in batches) what I had (pictured above) which turned out to be these weights:
ginger 6.6 oz
horseradish 6.1 oz
turmeric 2.0 oz
1/2 an onion 6.8 oz
1 head of garlic 3.2 oz
3 oranges zest & juice 5.8 oz
1 habanero chili de-seeded

I mixed the mash up in one big bowl and then divided it equally between two jars because that’s just what I had available.  I then poured 32oz of raw apple cider vinegar over it and capped the jars (plastic wrap separating the canning lid from the acidic mixture).
I put them in my cupboard (they say a cool dark place) and turned them around (to mix) about once a day for three weeks.  They say to let it sit for 2-4 weeks.

Straining it was quite the feat.  I tried several things before it worked.  It’ll go better next time.  My mix was so fine I had to squeeze out the liquid from the veggies.  I then mixed in honey until it tasted sweet enough for my liking (which I completely failed to measure).

Ta-da!  Final product.  There was this bottle plus one smaller one.

Next time I’m going to not de-seed the habanero.  I also am going to just slice the veggies really thin so perhaps I can use them as a pickled condiments after straining.

* So who knew the quote up top?  Anyone? Bueller?  It was Ross from Friends 😉
**Fire Cider is apparently a trademarked brand – but I don’t know what else I’d call this stuff.

Now… for those of you who haven’t abandoned me after weeks blogging absence AND made it to the end of this post… I gift you kitty pictures.  Here’s Pigeon looking like her adorable self.