I want to share Alton Brown’s recipe for a home made ginger ale.  I love Alton and his somewhat unusual cooking show called Good Eats. Part science, part crazy cooking show, it’s all in good fun. Big boys love it because he really gets down to the scientific reasons for why things done in a certain way tastes so much better.

Anyways, I don’t really drink frizzy drinks because it’s usually loaded with sugar and all sorts of chemicals and artificial coloring I can’t pronounce. And really, I tell you, if I can’t pronounce it, it usually can’t be good AT ALL! So when Alton came up with a home made frizzy ginger ale drink, whoa! it’s really something to try at home.

Home made ginger ale is not something new. People have been cranking up frizzy drinks in their back yards for years … (can I saw centuries??) now. Some have tried making sparkling apple juice and all sorts of other fruity drinks. If you’ve never had a home made frizzy drink, then this is a good recipe to start with.

Times:

Prep                     15 min

Inactive Prep  49 hr 0 min

Cook                    3 min

Total:                  49 hr 18 min

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounces finely grated fresh ginger
• 6 ounces sugar
• 7 1/2 cups filtered water
• 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Place the ginger, sugar, and 1/2 cup of the water into a 2-quart saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to steep for 1 hour.

Pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl, pressing down to get all of the juice out of the mixture. Chill quickly by placing over and ice bath and stirring or set in the refrigerator, uncovered, until at least room temperature, 68 to 72 degrees F.

Using a funnel, pour the syrup into a clean 2-liter plastic bottle and add the yeast, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups of water. Place the cap on the bottle, gently shake to combine and leave the bottle at room temperature for 48 hours. Open and check for desired amount of carbonation. It is important that once you achieve your desired amount of carbonation that you refrigerate the ginger ale. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, opening the bottle at least once a day to let out excess carbonation.

The young ginger gives a milder flavor than old or mature ginger.

Again though, the most important thing is to use FRESH yeast, and to expect the bubbles to be a lot softer than what you are used to with the commercial stuff.

Finally, Jon is eating something healthy for a change. And reading! …. a kiddy story book.

I was at MidValley MegaMall today (a busy and huge shopping mall) when I saw a 6 month old little girl. She was so small compared to my 2nd son (DS2), also 6 months old. In fact, my baby is about double her size.

I had painful memories while looking at her built because my 1st son (DS1) was also small. In fact, he is still small in stature, but picking up in speed now in terms of growth.

I kinda blame myself for DS1’s size because I didn’t eat that much when I was pregnant. I just ate what I thought was ok, so long as it was healthy, organic food. I ate the same way when I was breastfeeding as well. I realise thereafter, it was not ok because he was born just barely 2.2kg. And continued to be small in size.

We, pregnant women, need to eat a lot for our babies to grow big. Ditto if we are breastfeeding. When DS2 was born, I was determined to do it right the second time around. So, I ate bars of cream cheese with crackers, lots of nourishing coconut, lots of protein, lots of water, lots of fruits, lots of nuts, lots of everything. My criteria was, the food had to be tasty to give me more appetite to eat, not like my previous efforts where I ate lots of organic but not so tasty food. The result? DS2 at 6 months old is bigger than most kids his age.

Despite eating for 2, was I fat? Nah. Ask my friends

Breastfeeding just melts away the fat, unless you are Salma Hayek, who complained she could not shake the weight off. Hmmmm.

ps Go ahead and email me, all you pregnant mums, breastfeeding mums who need comfort and support.

pps forward this message to your pregnant friends or breastfeeding friends or even husbands of these ladies, if you think it would interest them.

ppps in case you didn’t know, DS1 means Dear Son No 1, DS2 means Dear Son No 2