Look what's on my desk today: Mad Hectic Oatmeal. Describes my mornings, too. Kids sometimes wearing matching clothes, fed so their brain cells can absorb the lesson de jour. Does the dog have food and water or more importantly, did we let her out? Trouble is I can't dive into breakfast that early in the morning so I often land at my desk in the morning with nothing but a few vitamins in my belly. Hunger strikes and there's nothing easier and quicker than oatmeal. The national brands we all know are fine, but this Mad Hectic Oatmeal stands out. Loaded with protein, fiber, Omega-3's and most importantly really fine flavor. Almond Pecan is a traditional tasting instant oatmeal with nuts for crunch, flavor, and nutrition. The French Chocolate is a novelty--the bits of chocolate pieces melt so the whole mixture is brown and chocolatey. I like it late in the afternoon when I need something sweet. http://www.madhecticfoods.com/

Look What's On My Desk Today: Callies Shortcakes. Yum, yum, yum. They are tall, light biscuits with the flavor of shortbread cookies. They taste wonderful straight out of the oven, but when fresh berry juices soak into the tender shortcake...wow. Buy them at calliesbiscuits.com.

Ok, I'm a few days late with Day 14's post but I won't have a problem remembering what we did. For starters, it was an easy process. Then there was the interesting fermentation gasses. :-) The yeasty-winey smell was expected and doesn't perfume the air until you take the top off.

Anyway, Day 14--halfway there!--means it's time to add the stabilizer and clarifier. The mixture in the tank was golden and pretty cloudy, like apple cider.


 

After sanitizing the tools, I took off the top and added a plastic cone to the center. Stir in a couple of packages, then replace cover.

For the next 3 days, I unlocked the container from the base and rotated it a couple of times. This releases any sediment that accumulates on the walls. So far, so good. Can't wait until it looks like wine.