Ok before my furnace blew up I had been investing in food items for longterm storage and use. I got a deal on 1pound of vanila beans around new years as well as 2 gallons of peeled garlic last week. Anyway with water turned off in my house all day yesterday (furnace being replaced) I decided that it was a good time to do something about all the garlic and while I was at it make some xmas presents for next year (added bonus time spent in front of the stove means warmth). Onto the stove went the last of the water from my sink at a rolling boil for blanching as well as 2 half gallon bottles of smirnoff vodka in another pot. Over Xmas we collected the 2 sixpacks of the cute 8oz classic coke bottles and now they are going to use...into each bottle I placed a cut open fresh vanila bean and then poured 8oz of hot vodka, I also filled various other bottles that I've collected for home use. Carefully moving 12 bottles of hot vodka to another counter to cool before corking. I moved on to the garlic...How does one preserve 12lbs of garlic? let me tell you I never thought there could be such a thing as too much garlic but....anyway 6-7 lbs of it, blanched 3 times and then put into those little drug dealer sized ziplock and froze them...I filled a quart sauce pan with garlic then topped it with olive oil and set it to simmering (talk about a nice smell) and with a a bunch of the rest wrapped it in foil and roasted it in the oven before freezing it as well. I think I have about 10 cloves that are still raw. The oil cured garlic went into a jar in the frige but most of the oil got bottled for salads and cooking. The funny thing is when my wife got home from work she was convinced, from the smell in the house that dinner was gonna be garlic infused but I barely used any (one clove)...the garlic smell did however completely drive out the smell of a dead furnace (yech)...


Four Replies to happy home maker

Lori Lancaster | February 15, 2008
[hidden by author request]

Denise Sawicki | February 15, 2008
The vanilla vodka sounds like a cool gift idea. I like tasty drinks :) Glad you didn't go and make garlic vodka because that might be weird.

...Although, a google search indicates that people say that is in fact good.

Tony Peters | February 16, 2008
not vanilla vodka that would only take a bean for each gallon and it only takes a few weeks I made vanilla extract which will sit for nearly a year...but now that you mention it I think I'll get a bottle of good vodka next week and make some.

Denise Sawicki | February 16, 2008
OK cool... I obviously don't know much about these things!


vagabond-punk

The musings of Tony Peters, a perpetual child, no matter where I am I will find a way to climb something or go skateboarding Read more »

I call him Sushi........

My wife and I have a thing for Amberjack......this is my final sculpture (required anyway) for the semester I shot these before I finished welding the rest of the chain on (5-6 hours today) right now he's covered in salt getting rained on in hope of promoting a patina which I can clear coat. The plan is to add numbers and hang him on the front porch in place of the numbers now there...I'll Go »

Emotionally moving artistically engaging

I just finished watching Rising rebuilding Ground Zero. I started watching it for the construction (I have this thing about architecture) but its the Artistry and emotion thats so engaging. Definitely something to set the DVR to record next Sunday Go »

Magical Mystery tour

well the news today when I got to work was that my holidays will be abbreviated...New Years in Cypress and bowl games in Spain...Getting to Cypress will be easy though it involves flying through Heathrow (my least favorite airport)...it's Go »

I miss the piazza

well after 22 hours in transit I have returned from Sardinia to the land of really bad Capoccino. I spent my birthday (Saturday) sitting in the Piazza in La Maddalena drinking Capoccino...there really isn't any comparision to the wonderful sense of relaxation that I felt there. Go »

argh

I got a phone call this morning from work (I'm on vacation) wondering if I know that I'm transferring in 2 weeks???? SAY WHAT???? yet again (this is the 3rd time) the Navy is transferring me to another job in the same area. Go »

A good day in the studio

In general this week was horrible I got Gastro and lost a half my remaining class days to finish the pair of sculptures I'm working on.......however today was good I got about 3 hours of alone time in the studio, just my my tools (a pair of angle grinders with wood cutting/shaping disks) a block of wood and a dust collector......... I put about 5 inches of chips in the dust collector and got a good start on the last piece. Go »