A Brand New Book Of Days

Author: HTV9

  • The Fake Wine Attempts Continue

    The Fake Wine Attempts Continue

    —

    by

    HTV9
    in

    Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying a mix of cranberry and grape juice, equal parts of each, or on their own, or diluted in a lot of water to help me drink more of it. So far so good, but it does not taste remotely like wine. On its own it’s way…

  • Sandwich Spread

    Sandwich Spread

    —

    by

    HTV9
    in

    This was an experiment to try to replicate the flavor of the mayonnaise I tried in Japan. On that front it was wildly unsuccessful. However it did improve my turkey sandwich. Here’s the recipe: 1/8 cup (2 tbsp) mayonnaise, I used a vegan brand 1 pinch of sugar 1 tsp grated apple, I used a…

  • Fizzy Ginger Tea

    Fizzy Ginger Tea

    —

    by

    HTV9
    in

    On a hunch, I added some ginger ale to this pitcher of iced tea. It’s better than I thought. Ratio is about 2 parts iced tea to 1 part ginger ale. This pitcher happened to be half-sweetened half-unsweetened iced tea, which probably equates to 4 tablespoons sugar per 7 cups of iced tea, but if…

  • Bamboo Solar Crosses

    Bamboo Solar Crosses

    —

    by

    HTV9
    in

    Many religions have their own traditional versions of protective amulets. This is a Pagan one. They’re called Solar Crosses, or for whatever reason, Alrums. So in my particular kind of Paganism, the purpose and intention of these is to protect you and your loved ones, your hearth, your home and all that matters most to…

  • Wine Analog 1

    Wine Analog 1

    —

    by

    HTV9
    in

    This is not wine. It’s nonalcoholic. It consists of: 1/3 c. pomegranate juice 1/3 c. cranberry juice cocktail 3 tbsp ginger ale 1 tbsp black tea It’s passable. Next time I’ll add some grape juice and skip the ginger ale in favor of 1 teaspoon of juice from grated fresh ginger. Since this has ginger…

  • Body Butter Attempt (dangerous)

    Body Butter Attempt (dangerous)

    —

    by

    HTV9
    in

    Ok so this is an idea I had for a while. Unsweetened chocolate for baking is basically just cocoa solids with cocoa butter, right? Well what if I used that instead of cocoa butter when making body butter? Here’s my super dangerous double boiler setup for that purpose. Broken chopsticks at the bottom of a…

  • Fail

    Fail

    —

    by

    HTV9
    in

    Ah yes, an auspicious start to the New Year. My husband brought me a glass of orange juice with this inch-high froth on it. Apparently he’s been shaking each bottle of orange juice up like crazy before pouring it ever since he was a kid since it amuses him. I thought it meddled with the…

  • Beans

    Beans

    —

    by

    HTV9
    in

    Beans, or as I see them, the sadist of the kitchen. Superfood, really good for you, and absolute nightmare to cook. I had this idea of combining all the softening methods for beans I’d heard of into one and it worked to make the total cook time 1 hour, including the time it took to…

  • An Expanding List Of (in theory) Hardy Trees & Shrubs For Texas

    —

    by

    HTV9
    in

    Okay so this is embarrassing. As someone who cares about the environment and also a Wiccan I’ve tried to plant a whole lot of trees in my backyard. Because of course I would, it’s part of my religion to honor the Earth, right? Guess how many have died? All but one. Something about the crazy…

  • Dusting Tool

    Dusting Tool

    —

    by

    HTV9
    in

    This is more experimental than anything else. It’s three chopsticks rubber-banded together, with one of those knit dustrags I made kind of wadded at the top and attached to it with a hair tie. Does it dust more easily and effectively than just the dustrag itself? Only time will tell. Edited, December 20, 2024: This…