alexpgp | Six weeks...

The apple juice I set to fermenting seven weeks ago has not bubbled for some time. The shimmer of small bubbles I saw a day or two into the process gave way to a riot of suds that reminded me of soapy dishwater, but eventually, things settled down, and today, I decanted enough of the result to fill two 24-oz. (700 ml) bottles with a little left over for taste-testing.

I added some honey to sweeten the cider and a dash of cinnamon because it felt like the right thing to do, and hey! presto!—I found the end product to be quaffable. (The acid test? Galina did not wrinkle her nose upon tasting it, this after I exerted some significant effort to get her to do so, which historically has a tendency to bias the result.) It's not champagne, but it is the product of my own industry, and that's got to count for something.

* * *Galina and I finished shopping for the little New Year's shindig we're hosting, and I managed not to forget to move the turkey from the freezer to the refrigerator compartment to allow it to thaw before we roast it Thursday afternoon.

* * *Another day with not a lick of translation done (although I did continue with some OCR, formatting, etc.). I could get used to this routine, but I'm afraid it won't do for the coming year. Tomorrow will be a good day to hit this end of the world hard, so I can go back and slack off a bit on Thursday, as Galina and I help each other get the place ready for the New Year.

Cheers...