Making Mead

Mead Glass

This weekend I’ve decided to make some Mead. For those of you who don’t know what Mead is it is usually the alcoholic drink that elves, humans, and goblins drink at bars in fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings. Mead is one of the very first alcoholic drinks ever discovered. It is simply honey, water and yeast. The yeast ferments the sugar in the honey and produces alcohol. Because so much honey is used the alcohol content is relatively high, around 15% to 20% by volume. Mead is much closer to a wine than a beer, however there are many different ingredients that can be added to a mead that will give it different characteristics and different names.

Mead Types:

  • Mead – made with honey, water and yeast optionally with flavoring ingredients
  • Melomel – mead made with fruit or fruit juice
  • Metheglin – mead made with spices and extracts
  • Acerglin – mead made with maple syrup
  • Pyment – mead made with both honey and grapes
  • Braggot – honey and malt, sort of a mead-beer
  • Capsicumel – honey with chili peppers
  • Lactomel – mead made with milk

I intend on splitting the batch into two or three different fermentors after the primary fermentation. This will allow me to make small batches of different flavoured mead. I’m going to use the No Boil method of making yeast. The hard part with that method is that the honey doesn’t dissolve as quick as if the water was boiling. The benefit is the honey’s subtle characteristics will not be boiled away. I’ve picked up about 14lbs of honey from a farmers market. I’ll dissolve the honey in approximately 18L of water, throw in the yeast, and let it start to ferment. After a couple of weeks I’ll rack the ‘must” to three separate glass carboys and then and the spices and extracts to add flavour to the mead. I think I will try a vanilla mint flavour, as an after dinner drink. I would like to try and make butterscotch mead, and some sort of tea mead.

I’ll let you know how things turn out, but it will be at least 6 months before it will be ready to drink. I’ve read that meads are best left for 2 years before drinking, but I’m not that patient!

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Buying a Canoe

I’ve recently been looking for a canoe and was surprised to find out how expensive new canoes are and how hard it is to find a used one. I figured the classified ads in my local paper would be littered with used canoes, but that was not the case.

eBay has a number of canoes for sale, but for the most part are not in my area and are out of my price range. So I started to shop around at some of the more common big warehouse stores and found a Coleman canoe on sale at Canadian Tire.

Big Red Canoe

For those of you who don’t know what Canadian Tire is it’s one of the first bigbox hardware stores to offer more then just tool in Canada. It was very successful when I was growing up, when there weren’t Home Depots and Walmarts. It still does well because there is a Canadian Tire in every town, but I’m sure they are having a tougher time competing with their American counterparts.

Anyway the Coleman canoe was regularly $600 and was on sale for $400 which was exactly what I was looking for. I just wanted something to get out on the water and do some fishing. The hull of the boat had me a little concerned though. It is made of a material called RamX. It’s a flexible plastic material and the canoe requires a metal bar running along the bottom of the floor to keep the boat from getting out of shape. I did some research on it and found a number of people really liked their Coleman that they bought back in the 80’s. Apparently around 2000/2001 Pelican International bought the Coleman brand of canoes and many of the recent reviews I’ve read of the canoe have been bad. Many compare paddling the Coleman RamX to paddling a dock across the lake, not a lot of fun. There were also a number of complaints of it being unstable on the water and being pushed all over the lake with just the slightest wind.

In the end I was able to talk to the owner of a river touring company in my area that rents out canoes. He confirmed that the Coleman RamX is a terrible boat and he would not recommend it to anyone regardless of their budget and uses. The main argument is if you find a good used canoe and spend $500 – $600 you will have a boat that will last a long time, will be easier paddle in the water, which will make being on the water that much more enjoyable. So as it turns out this touring company is having a season ending used canoe sale in a month. The owner assures me that although the canoes are scratched they are all in very good shape. They are selling Mad River, Old Town, and Scott canoes. I’m looking forward to purchasing one of those canoes and enjoying a lot of time on the water from now on.

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The Automate Home Winery

The Automate Home Winery

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are crushed, frozen, and delivered to your home to ensure your wine is top quality.

The system wirelessly transmits fermentation, grape sugar level, and temperature information to a PC, allowing you to analyze the information using the included software. You will be alerted when to smell and taste the must or press down the grape skins.

The software has step-by-step instructions, production techniques, and allows you to share winemaking tips and results with a global community of fellow users. The wine maker automatically controls the fermentation heat and the aging temperature using thermoelectric heating and cooling, and the grape press automatically lifts the grape pomace out of the basin, ensuring ease of clean up.

Included in the package is an oak sto rage barrel for additional aging, siphon, and 48 bottles. Requires Windows Vista, XP, or 2000 and a USB port for wireless key.

The entire package costs $5,999 US and is a very exciting product. Knowing that you will receive freshly harvested grapes from Napa Valley instills confidence that you will be producing a quality bottle of wine. This is certainly the type of product I would love to have if I was retired and had $6,000 just lying around. It would be a ton of fun learning the different techniques to producing wine, but I’m not sure if this is something that can be done only on the weekend.

For now I suppose I will just have to settle with buying my wine from the LCBO.

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The Simpsons Movie Review

I am, as many are, addicted to the Simpsons. I have the DVD sets and have watched all the episodes uncountable times. I’ve played the trivia games and quote the Simpsons daily. So it is with great regret that I have to tell you the Simpsons Movie is not worth going to see in the theatre.

I fully expected to write a totally biased review praising the genius of Matt Groening and that the Simpsons franchise is live and kicking, despite what others were saying leading up to the debut. I expected when I went to the theatre that there would be 80 or so other people just like me ready to laugh out loud at the stupid antics of the Springfieldians. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. That’s not to say there weren’t times when I was laughing, but it wasn’t a non stop laughfest. I didn’t get the feeling like the audience was really into this movie.

The Simpsons Movie

I find it very difficult to understand why after 18 years of developing so many funny characters that they made a movie focused on just Homer. Granted Homer is the star of the show and constantly makes me laugh in the series, but there was literally nothing out of Mr. Burns, Carl, Lenny, Moe, Dr. Hibbard, Dr. Nick Riviera, Krusty the Clown, or Bart’s nemesis Sideshow Bob. I understand that it is difficult to come up with something new since just about everything has been done in the 18 years it has been on TV, but again I always believed there was one more hidden story that would be the crowning moment in Simpsons history.

I think the sub plots were too serious, Bart looks to Flanders for a father-son relationship he’s never had with Homer. Marge breaks up with Homer and takes the kids away and a boy named Colin, which Lisa has a crush on, is introduced for no apparent reason.

If you still want to see this movie, which any Simpsons fan should, then wait for it to come out on DVD. You will probably have more fun with your friends watching it at home on the weekend.

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Poker Strategies

I have written in the past about my online poker experiences and tried to provide a few tips here and there. I always felt, as I was writing them, that my poker lingo and theories were a little too advanced for those that were just starting to play poker. I’ve found a site called Poker on a Mac and the entire site is dedicated to playing poker. When I was playing I generally played cash games at the limit hold’em tables. So I went to the poker strategy area of the site to see if I could pick up some pointers and improve my game.

Firstly the poker strategy area was well laid out and earned my respect immediately. I went to the Poker Cash Games section and selected the Limit Holdem strategy article. Again I was impressed with the layout and the construction of the article. It clearly introduced limit hold’em and identified that limit hold’em is a far different game then no limit hold’em, which is a key point for new players. All key strategy aspects of the game were touched on, starting hands, table position, play on the flop, turn, and river, pot odds, and bank roll.

I can’t stress enough how well written the articles are for beginner poker players and the scope of the content is complete. I would suggest also looking at the Poker Math section in the strategy area especially if you are playing no limit hold’em. You’ve got to know your pot odds before you push all your chips in!

I’ll had a lot of fun navigating through this site…it makes me want to go play some poker this weekend!

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Last Minute Bookings to the United Kingdom (UK)

My wife and I have been considering going to the United Kingdom to travel around, visit different locations, and have some fun. Although at some point our family ancestries lead back to the UK we have very small families and no known relatives there so we have never been.

I started looking on the net for travel packages and found this site, which I was very impressed with. It is called Hotel Shop UK and specializes in booking 2-5 star hotel accommodations and short breaks throughout the UK. This was a perfect find. We figured to get the most out of our time there we would spend a few days or a weekend in one location and then head off to another.

Planning the vacation was a breeze. I was able to select the Short Breaks link and then the type of short break we were looking for. I wanted a Golf Break, how can I pass up golfing on some traditional links courses! My wife wanted a Shopping Break and we both agreed we would need some food so we picked a Gourmet Break as well. It was simple and straight forward. I figured a trip like this would take a long time to plan for two people that have never been to the UK, but it didn’t. The nice thing about it is if we get there and we want to make changes Hotel Shop UK is great for last minute hotel bookings in the UK.

With that out of the way I can relax and look forward to taking my first trip to the UK.

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Wilderness Essentials

Looking for camping gear I came across a site called Wilderness Essentials. Unfortunately for me they are located in New York and do not ship outside of the United States. However I still had a look around because they’re layout is so simple. If you want to find camping chairs click on the picture of a camping chair. There have been a few things I’ve been looking for recently tents, boats, and cooking gear.

I was camping at Awenda provincial park and the day we were supposed to leave it rained, eventually the tent started to leak. Wilderness Essentials has a huge tent selection for all types of trips and people. I was impressed with their selection of 2-4 person tents such as the Backside T-5 tent. A slick looking tent that can handle any weather conditions in any locale. They also have a great selection of what they call Family/ Cabin Tents. These are very popular in my area and have replaced many of the hard shelled popup trailers people use to use.

Wilderness Essentials does not have any boats, but they do have inflatable kayak’s for family fun. When I was at Awenda we rented a canoe to paddle around on one of the lakes in the park. A family showed up on shore with an inflatable kayak. They got in, started paddling, and to my surprise they were gliding across the water easier then me in my canoe. I always thought that inflatable boats were mere toys, but I was wrong. This family was able to enjoy their day on the water paddling in their boat that could be deflated and packed away without having to tie anything to the top of their car. What a great product!

The selection of cooking products is most impressive. Wilderness Essentials has everything from spoons and forks to dutch ovens and roasters. Cooking with Camp Chef Keg Roasters would make you the king of the campsite! Imagine making a juicy beer can chicken or turkey to perfection while camping!

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The Bigs by 2K Sports – Xbox 360

I just played The Bigs by 2K Sports on the XBOX 360 and have to say without a doubt this is the best baseball game ever! Many people find baseball very boring and it’s understandable when some games are 3.5 or 4 hours long with multiple pitching changes.

The game can really drag sometimes. So instead of making the most realistic baseball game 2K Sports has added a little flare to their latest release.

In The Bigs teams gain big play points and turbo power. Big play points are accumulated by getting hits, being hit by a pitch, and turning double plays to name a few. Once you’ve accumulate enough big play points you can go into big power mode on either offence or defence. The result on offence is almost a guaranteed “moon shot” homerun. If you are pitching and use big power your fastball can comes across the plate at 120mph. Each time you strike out a batter in big power mode you steal some of your opponents big play points.

The Bigs by 2K Sports - Xbox 360

Turbo power can be obtained by throwing strikes when pitching and batters can power up by not swinging at balls. Turbo can be used at anytime as long as the bar is green. When at bat, turbo forces the pitcher to throw a strike and puts a little umph behind your swing. It can also speed up your runner when you are trying to leg out an infield hit or steal a base. On defence turbo will give the pitcher more power and bring back any pitches he has lost. Additionally it will give your infielders more speed and power on their throws.

There are also mini games inside the game. When a homerun is hit the area will be marked on the wall. If you can get your outfielder to the wall before the ball gets there and hit the A button your player will start to climb the wall. You will be presented with a button combination that must be completed correctly in a short time period. If you do it right your outfielder will jump high above the wall and bring the ball back in the park robbing the hitter of a homerun.

On a play at the plate the game will focus in on the runner and catcher and present a meter. This is a little like a tug of war. Both players have to hit the A button as fast as they can to move the meter to the Runner or the Catchers side. Whoever hits the button the fastest will win the collision at the plate.

As I mentioned this game is a ton of fun even if you are not a big baseball fan. It is real enough to impress the baseball die hards and arcade enough to attract any sports gamer.

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Increase Your Page Rank

Want to increase your Google Page Rank? Well, good news friends, Everyday Weekender is a Google Page Rank 5 site and I’ve decided to give away free linkbacks to your site.

A linkback from this site, will help increase your Google page rank, your Technorati rank, your search engine rankings and it will drive some traffic your way too.

You’ll get a permanent link in a blog post and get a link to your site on the cool blogs page.

How to Increase Your Page Rank

All you have to do is write a review about this blog, link back to this article and link to this blog’s home page with any of the following anchor text:

  • Cottage
  • Food
  • Weekend
  • Fun

You are also free to link to anyone of my posts as part of your review.

Here’s an example of what I’m looking for:

Everyday Weekender is a fun site that talks about everything from cottage life to food. If you review his blog, he’ll link to it and help increase your page rank!

Ohh, and he’ll also teach you a thing or two about cooking a juicy steak.

Once you post the review, let me know and I’ll give you a Page Rank 5 linkback. Send me the URL and the anchor text you want for your home page.

Happy posting!

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Rainy Day Cottage Movies

So you’ve decided to go to the cottage this weekend and the weather has taken a turn for the worse.

It is absolutely pouring down rain outside and you are stuck in the cottage with your friends.

You could play a fun game like Acquire or you could watch a movie.

Here is a list movies that has a little something for everyone to enjoy.

Horror

  • Friday the 13th
  • Blaire Witch Project
  • Evil Dead

Three classic horror movies set in the woods. These will have you and your friends jumping at the slightest noise. Definitely a good scare.

Comedy

  • Spaceballs
  • Meatballs
  • Dumb and Dumber

Three hilarious movies. Only Meat Balls is set at a campsite, but on a rainy day locked in a small cottage Spaceballs and Dumb and Dumber are sure to have everyone laughing on the floor.

Action

  • Predator
  • Platoon

If it’s action you are looking for Predator and Platoon feature plenty of weapons and killing in the jungle. How can you go wrong with two Governors (Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger) in one movie?

Drama

  • Stand By Me
  • Shawshank Redemption

I have not met anyone who dislikes either one of these movies. These are true stories that everyone can get caught up in.

*Deliverance
Set in the backwoods and has some great actors, but the whole “piggy” scene is just too disturbing to put on this list.

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