I don’t usually start my post at lunch time but I wanted to show off the burger I ate for lunch Friday. It was at Carley Sue’s on Gregory.
After work I got home and Heath was loading Pumpkin and Alli into the van. We were watching Alli and taking both the girls to Pumpkin’s check on your weight doctor appointment. The appointment was quick and went great. Pumpkin had put on over a pound in the last month and that was exactly what we wanted. We headed home and fed and played with the girls.
After a while some craigslist people came over and checked out our old fridge. They gave me $75 for it and another $15 to deliver it to their place in Olathe. On my way home I stopped by Price Chopper for a few things. When I got home Jon and Amanda were there to visit and pick up Alli so and all of us were hungry so we roasted some BBQ chicken thighs, broccoli, rice and beans. After dinner they left and we got Pumpkin in bed and after some TV we went to bed early.
Heath got up early and went to Joplin. When I got up I cleaned a bunch and worked on a bunch of random projects and started getting things ready to brew home made beer and make home made yogurt. Pumpkin slept in and I had all my mini projects done when she got up. Once awake and dressed for the day I fed her then we ran a couple of small errands. I replaced the floor vent between the kitchen and familly room so it would be flat and not a trip hazard and got some fruit to dehydrate.
Once home I played with Pumpkin some and then fed her some more. 
As I was feeding her she started resting her head between bites so I knew it was time for a nap. Jon came over and I put Pumpkin in bed. I was mostly ready so Jon and I jumped right into brewing Hop Scare IPA.
I brewed the IPA on Saturday with Jon and Stephen and a Dark Wheat on Sunday with Heath and Pumpkin so I’m going to mix all the pictures and only describe the process once.
First off we cracked a Amber Ale home brew from last time. 
Then we got out the brew kettle and started heating up 2-3 gallons of water.
We brought the water up to 155F and got our grains ready by lightly crushing them with a rolling pin.
Once the water was up to temp and the grains were ready we put them in a mesh sack and steeped them for about half an hour.
Then we took the pot off the burner and took the grains out and poured in our barley malt. This is a thick sugary syrup that provides all the sugars for the yeast to eat and make alcohol. It takes a while to get it all out of the bottles and in the pot and then it needs to be dissolved or it will stick to the bottom and scorch so we mixed it up good.
Then we moved the pot back to the burner and cranked it up. Heath loves to sit next to warm things and stir so this is probably her favorite part.
We brought the pot up to a boil and then added the hops.
Hops make the beer bitter and IPA is pretty bitter so there were 4 packages for it and 2 for the wheat.
All the various packages of hops need to boil for a different length of time but both times we spent 60 minutes boiling, drinking and playing. It was really nice outside both days so we kept an eye on the pot and burner but mostly played outside. Pumpkin had a blast exploring the snow or tossing her ball around.
Once the hour was up we turned off the burner and carefully moved the brew kettle inside and into a plastic tub of ice and water. The pre beer is called wort and it’s important to cool it down as fast as you can. From this point on it’s a battle to give your yeast the best environment you can and fight bacteria from taking over and ruining your beer. 
We added ice and stirred till the wort was down to 80F. Then we moved to the large bucket. We added water until we hit 5 gallons. Then we took a gravity reading to make sure there is enough sugar in the wort and get a good idea of how much alcohol we should end up with. My IPA was 1.062
And my wheat was 1.064
These were great readings according to my instructions. Then we added the yeast and sealed off the bucket.
Everything is set for 2 weeks or so now. The yeast will eat and the gas will escape from the air lock and the mix will gradually become more alcohol and less sugar.
I moved both the fermenter buckets to the basement shower next to the bottles of Amber Ale that are busy bottle aging.
Saturday after brewing Pumpkin woke up and Jon went home. Stephen and I hung out, had a beer and fed Pumpkin till Heath got home. Once home Stephen left and all of us hopped in showers. We put on our fancy pants then head to dinner for my mom’s birthday at a Japanese steak house. 
We had reservations but the place was packed as it was the weekend before valentines and also a dance for some high schools. This was actually fine because they had trays of free crab ran-goon for the waiting people and the bar was open. We had a few drinks and way to many appetizers and got to talk to everyone. We were not sure of the egg content of the crab ran goon so when we finally got to the table Pumpkin was starving.
She kept an eye on the crazy guy making the huge flames and throwing shrimp at us but mostly she shoveled food in her mouth. It was a little tough to avoid the eggs but we did ok and she did not get sick.
After dinner we went home and all 3 of us went to bed. In the morning we all got up kinda early and had bowls of cereal then worked on the trim around our mirror. 
We got it all up and looking good then Heath cleaned the glass.
I still need to fill in nail holes with wood putty and stain them. I made yogurt this morning and got a bunch of fruit dehydrating.
We decided it had warmed up enough to go outside so went for a run with Pumpkin in the jogging stroller. 
We got a good run in and Pumpkin slept some on the way back. Once home we were pretty hungry so we made BLTs and some soup. Then relaxed a bit.
Then Pumpkin laid down for a nap and Heath hopped in the shower then went bridesmaid dress shopping with some friends. My mom and sister came over and we worked on cell phone stuff for a while. Pumpkin got up and was ready to eat. Mom and Kelly headed out and I fed Pumpkin. Then we went outside and brewed/played.
Once done brewing we made a pork pot pie full of lean pork, sweet potatoes and squash. It was really good. We all 3 laid on the couch watched TV and ate some pudding till we were ready for bed. This morning we tried out the dehydrated fruit and yogurt and it was both pretty good. 
Happy Valentines Day