covid-19

The Instant Pot Wine recipe really works.

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If you have an Instant Pot, you can start this wine now, and it will be ready to drink in 2-4 weeks, aka when stay-at-home rules are starting to be relaxed and we’re allowed to share a drink with a few good friends on an outdoor patio. 

Recipe and tutorial here:  https://foodnservice.com/instant-pot-wine/    Huge high-five and thank-you to this food blogger!

There are only three ingredients: grape juice, sugar, and this Lalvin Bourgovin RC 212 wine yeast.

IMG_20200425_183316268awSugar awLalvin Bourgovin RC 212 Wine Yeast, 5 grams - 5-Pack

If your stay-at-home order gets extended, that’s fine.  Stay in and stay safe.  I mean it.  The wine will taste that much better after the wait.

Back when I first saw the Instant Pot wine tutorial going around, I made a batch and pronounced it ‘not undrinkable’.  So I then made a double-batch (aka a gallon), and added the following to the process:

  • Gave it a full month to ferment;
  • Strained the wine three times through coffee filters; and
  • Discarded the sediment in the bottom of the bottle.

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The resulting wine was absolutely drinkable.  In fact it was so drinkable that I’ve got another batch brewing for when our stay-at-home order is lifted.

Instant Pot Wine

I’m looking forward to gathering with a handful of friends, and although we’ll still be wearing masks and standing apart in a well-ventilated space, we can reach our glasses out and click them together.

IMG_20200426_202304512aw RSR

Making Fitted Masks

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The mask-making frenzy is less of a frenzy now, but masks are still needed, and will be needed for months to come.  I’m making a few masks each day, and trying out some of the other designs available on the internet.  I had been making the pleated masks, but I now also love making the shaped mask version that doesn’t have pleats.

For the shaped masks, I’ve used the fitted mask pattern by Tina Elmore-Wright, downloaded from the Joann mask-making page.

[Pattern download link here:  https://staging.joann.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-LibraryJoAnnShared/default/dw4148ae36/static/landingpage/assets/Combined-Wright-Patterns.pdf]

The pattern has four different sizes, from infant to men’s/large.  My brother the transit driver gave a thumbs-up to the men’s mask.  The second largest size is for women/teens.  That one fits me well.

Shown below are all but the infant size.

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It makes it fun to do sets of family masks. IMG_20200421_155500704aw

It’s fun to use with prints. IMG_20200425_185640442awIMG_20200424_164547590aw

A word of caution:  The pieces need to be cut in mirror images. IMG_20200425_185708066w

Otherwise, you’ll end up with two right or two left pieces, which can make for some er, unplanned combinations. IMG_20200425_185626632aw

There is still a need for the masks in the health care and care home sectors.  Then as businesses prepare to reopen in the coming weeks, they will need masks for staff, customers and visitors.

Thank you to health care workers, care home workers, and front line workers everywhere.  You are keeping us going.