Our search for a new oven. Why doesn't the USA make quality appliances anymore?

:-) Fermentation... I'm playing with kefir now; fermented milk. It's much better than what most folks are probably thinking right now. It's got a sour twang to it, loaded with probiotics, and is effervescent, so think "yogurt soda" but better in person than in ones minds eye.

Once the kefir grains are obtained it's a self sustaining "reaction" and anyone can do it because it's done at 60-70°F, on ones countertop basically.

It's completely unlike commercial supermarket kefir. The supermarket version is OK and something like dilute yogurt. This is an entirely different product and delicious.

The super market version has a handful of strains of probiotics, the real SCOBYs (Symbiotic Colonies of Bacteria and Yeast) from the Caucusus can have a thousand. As mentioned earlier they are self sustaining and grow once obtained. The purchased supermarket type is only good for a few batches then it dies. Not the real SCOBYs.

So far I'm only trying milk SCOBY, there are also water SCOBYs (Kombucha - sp?). I'm not much of a milk drinker, but this milk is like nothing I ever had before. I take my herbs with it as the carrier twice a day. Initially I was skeptical, but I have over 2 gallons of milk in process right now. I drink it and so do the dogs. When I get excess SCOBYs I'll feed them to the poultry for their gut health.

Yeah, definitely the same wavelength. :-)

The other day I had 50# of oat groats and millet come in. I prefer to make my own quick cooking oats and other oat products, including steel cut oats, and millet is delicious as is.

We do cheat now and again, but pretty much we eat real food that we either produce or make. I tell my Dr that I'm not in bad shape for an 80 year old man. He tells me I'm not doing bad for a 40 year old gent. Neither of us is accurate. I wish I was 40 again! :-)

Brian, good to hear you're playing with Kefir! My family has been making Kefir and Kvass for years, it's a national drink, well kinda

What's Kvass?

Edit: Got it! I just googled it. Do you make the bread or beet type? Those 2 are all that I found.

Funny you mention scoby and making kefir. My wife is just getting into kombucha and we're going to start making it. We're getting the scoby from a friend this weekend.

:-) My latest kefir is incredibly effervescent! I agitated a container of it last night and it acted just shy of a shaken soda.

What's Kvass?

Edit: Got it! I just googled it. Do you make the bread or beet type? Those 2 are all that I found.

Rye bread and honey

Brian, I'm going to look into the kefir making - I'm hoping I can find a source of SCOBY to use up here.  

You know its interesting all the time, effort and money that is being spent on trying to find drugs and other treatments to deal with the obesity and general health crisis we are facing in the western developed countries.  Apparently the only metric of health that has improved among Americans over the last few decades is cholesterol and that isn't because of better eating habits but rather drugs like lipitor.  People want a magic bullet that can cure them without actually having to change anything they do.  Its the lifestyle thats killing you!  Not only should you eat less and exercise more but stop putting poison in your and your children's mouths.  Get up off your sofa and move a little or a lot.  I don't know how the tide will be reversed but I suppose we can try to influence our own small circles, ourselves our families and friends.  I don't buy that there isn't enough time to prepare and cook proper meals for your families.  I read a while back that our children's generation will be the first generation in our history who's life expectancy will be less than that of the previous generation.  Thats shameful given the knowledge we have and the access we have to the tools to change that.  I'm going to stop before I get into full blown rant mode.
Mark

We don't have children, but if I did I'd do the same as Mom did with me. She taught me to cook. While I'm no chef I do OK in the kitchen and haven't had many complaints from guests.

As a child we always sat down as a family when we had evening meals during the work/school week. Not so much for breakfast and lunch unless it was the weekend.

There may be some folks who simply don't have time to cook, but I think it's because they have allowed their life to get out of balance. That out of balance existence manifests itself in health problems etc. . I'm no doctor, but it just makes sense that if one is eating out, fast food, junk food, and individually, that family and ones own body suffers. Even when my wife and I were working full time + we still always cooked the vast majority of our food. We did it on the weekend and ate leftovers all week. What we didn't do was escape into individual dead end pursuits on the weekend. I write that knowing I have a match tomorrow, I'm a USPSA Action Pistol handgun competitor, but we're together all week now that we're retired and some time apart is good time. With all of that time together we can get on each others nerves. It's all about balance.

Brian, you said it - out of balance. When machines go out of balance they slowly (or quickly) damage and destroy themselves. Its the same for humans. I watched this Ted talk recently and it struck a chord with me:

http://www.ted.com/talks/nigel_marsh_how...lance_work

I have recently left the working force after years in the corporate rat race. I always tried to have a balance, be home for dinner with the family, take kids to activities and just spend time with the family. I was always made to feel uncomfortable about it and the fact that I was often in the office 2 hours before anybody else didn't matter. If your commitment wasn't seen it didn't happen. I always felt that the results I generated were more important than looking busy for the boss. I'm amazed I pulled it off as long as I did but it was costly in many ways, such as when we have a downturn the little piss-ant face time boys squeeze you out. Best thing that ever happened to me was being told I was retiring last May. My crushed soul is slowly recovering. The problem is that this is happening all over and its hugely destructive to people.

What are you using in your shooting competitions? I've looked at practical shooting as a hobby but for the time being I just put holes in stationary targets. Its quite relaxing and I'm thinking of maybe doing a little more with the hobby now that I have more time on my hands.
Mark

Before I decided to retire at age 55 eight years ago, it was either that or go postal, but I saw the danger in that to myself and to others, went to a psychologist, and decided to just leave... But anyway... I spent 23 years staying under the radar and just doing my job. Before that I was in a different state doing a much different job and was on the way up. When I wanted a change I had a headhunter working for me and he'd find someone who would pay the fee to get me. Since I was in demand I set my own demands. I never worked over 8 hours per day and 40 hours a week... period. More than that and I was gone and I made that quite clear during the interview. If they didn't like it it was no big deal. I had companies in line willing to pay the scalpers price to get me. I was in a new job within days when ever I wanted one. No employer ever violated my conditions. Today it might be different with a glut of workers and not enough jobs. But not everyone had my skills. But that was over 30 years ago, I'm retired now and have no desire or need to reenter the workforce if I was even hirable at my age.

What is happening is all by design IMO. Just look around; evil abounds and it's getting worse. Folks appear to be drawn to it. I won't expound any further on that thought.

--------------------

Note to mod's... if what follows is against rules please just delete what follows. I had intended to ask if it was OK a few weeks ago, but then decided to not even post it. But I was asked and this wasn't planned. I'll bring it to Andrews attention for him to OK or delete.

To answer your question, I stopped competitive shooting 4 years ago because I was shooting a .45 and it just got too expensive, plus I was just too busy for scheduled matches. But I stayed in practice, and continued training since I have a range on my land. I'm also one of societies sheepdogs and since I have a CCW permit and have for 30+ years I'm moving from the 1911 in .45 ACP flavor and variants for CCW to a platform that has a higher round count since todays threat has changed. The wolves now run in packs. 20 years ago if someone had asked me what to carry I would have responded that it should begin with a .4. But that was then and this is now. Todays 9mm is the equivalent of yesteryears .4. The terminal ballistic technology has progressed. So my new comp' gun was going to be in 9mm. I did the math and I can reload 9mm for less & than I can buy .22 for today.

I spent 6 months trying things by buying and selling, some buys it appears I need to keep since they won't sell, no big deal, but it makes trying new guns a bit more expensive. Understand that in Maine there is no place that I know of where one can rent to try. That means buy to try and then try to sell. I wound up at my gunsmiths and we were discussing options. I was there to get work done on some handguns but as always we got into discussion. Shooters are like that. He suggested that I fondle his M&P. It was instant love. It fit me (and that's critical) and not easy to achieve since I have small hands. He also had an APEX trigger in it to make it somewhat like a 1911 trigger. So I bought a S&W M&P #10098 (google it) as a test bed for my new CCW and also to get back into competition. I decided that the micro red dot is a keeper (Trijicon RMR adjustable LED). The APEX trigger wasn't useable since it moved the trigger break too far forward for me, so I'll send it out during the winter for some trigger work. For the Carry Optics division (think Old Fart Production Optics, but that's not what it's called) the ported barrel wasn't kosher so I replaced the ported barrel with a Wilson. I also added an extended mag release to it for my small hand to reach without changing my grip, and I stippled the foregrip. That's my new comp' gun. But it was all as a test bed to decide what I needed for a new CCW gun with increased round count. As my "home gun" it sports a Surefire TLR4-G in addition, so I pretty much have all the bases covered. As described it's in the Carry Optics division, but by putting the ported barrel back in place, the use of extended capacity mag's, and the use of a speed holster and such I can shoot in the open division (think race guns, as in race cars) and against folks who take Action Pistol a lot more seriously than I do. I'd still be under a handicap due to my gun being a 9mm and most of the serious Open Division shooters shooting "major" power factor cartridges. The difference is in the scoring of hits. Major power factor has the advantage and that's why they shoot major and I don't. I'm there for the fun of the sport, I'm not as serious as they are. But I'm happy to be in the Carry Optics division.

But that was all to test guns for CCW anyway as well as getting back into competition... I discussed the possibility of a M&P Compact CORE with S&W, since I'm shooting a full size CORE in competition. I was told nicely that it was never going to happen by a shooter at S&W older than myself with the same "old eye" problem and wanting one for his own use. But as long as gunsmiths exist I won't be denied. My new CCW M&P Compact will ultimately get a trigger job, be milled for a micro red dot, have the high sights for cowitnessing, and I'll stipple it since it won't come with the aggressive backstrap that the #10098 comes with. I'll probably keep the factory barrel in place. The Compact has a round count of 12+1 but will accept my 17 round mags for recharging the gun. So basically I'll have my "Compact CORE" I'll just need to get there by different means than the factory. It'll be custom work but most of my guns today are custom since factory guns just don't work for me out of the box and haven't for many years.

If you have older eyes I strongly suggest a Micro red dot sight. Like a 'scope it puts everything in the same focal plane. I was told that it would take a great deal of practice to get good with it, but I've been shooting a 1911 for 46 years and the M&P has the same grip angle. I put a laser on the M&P and I'd practice pointing the gun, instinctively, at targets and it was right there when I'd touch the laser on. So I spent the $ for the Trijicon and there was no training to get good with it. It's right there and on target just by muscle memory over all of those years. It was responsible for me shooting a brand new comp' gun, in my first competition after a 4 year lay off, and scoring at the next higher level than before my hiatus. I didn't realize that my older eyes were having so much of a negative effect on my shooting.