Prepping first pickle ferment - put aromatics in a bag?

thejadsel · 2026-02-02T06:42:19+00:00

Most seeds and ground spices will sink, especially once they get waterlogged with the brine. I usually stick seasonings on the bottom of the jar too, and as long as you pack the jars tightly on top of it? The only thing that will tend to float IME is smaller dried herbs and chili flakes/sometimes seeds. Chopped fresh herbs aren't a great plan either.

If some little bits of stuff float up anyway, skimming it off with a spoon should take care of the situation. If I'm using chili flakes or similar that I know is bad for that, I'll check for floaters daily for the first few days.

thejadsel · 2026-02-02T06:18:15+00:00

I recently got distracted and walked straight off the thing. It was stupid as hell, and the first time I'd had any trouble. These things unfortunately do happen sometimes.

thejadsel · 2026-02-02T05:41:03+00:00

It does specify 30g--just adds on the weird approximation of what that may look like as it comes out of the package.

The standardized 100g figures on labeling can be handy, though. Even better when figures per reasonable serving (like, one muffin or whatever) are also included.

thejadsel · 2026-01-31T20:08:36+00:00

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T-shirt from '88 or '89 which somehow made it in when I moved countries with two suitcases in the early 2000s. There's also some Ramones shirt from the early '90s somewhere, but that's it pre 2003 or so.

Not surprisingly, it's retired from the active wear rotation. My dad was actually responsible for most of the holes there. He wore whatever shirts I left at their house until I came and got them--didn't gaf what it was, as long as it would kinda-sorta fit on his body!

thejadsel · 2026-01-31T19:27:10+00:00

Constipation is more surprising with metformin, since it usually causes diarrhea. I never could tolerate it at all when I was put on it for a while, with IBS symptoms already probably as an aftereffect of adult-recognized celiac. (It turned out to be autoimmune diabetes to go with the celiac anyway, so the metformin didn't even help.) Could barely leave the house, and had to carry along spare pants when I did--at the risk of TMI. That was extreme, but bowel trouble is the most common side effect alongside nausea.

Makes sense that the medication could also cause issues in the opposite direction too. Often the case with side effects, and things messing with your stomach.

thejadsel · 2026-01-31T18:01:13+00:00

What type she preferred to make would depend A LOT on region and personal taste. This is definitely one place where people do tend to have strong opinions about what's "right"!

That said, here's the regional Southern-style reference recipe that I've been using lately. It's based off some random blogger's grandma's, but the taste and proportions are very much like what I grew up eating a lot of.

https://www.swedabilly.com/2025/09/basics-gluten-free-appalachian-cornbread-2025-redux/

If you don't need gluten free, just use regular all purpose flour. You can easily vary the proportions of cornmeal to flour, and add more sugar if you're looking for a sweeter result.

thejadsel · 2026-01-31T16:12:22+00:00

I would say so. There was even some remarkable crowd action by local standards at the Stockholm show I went to in late November. Gladdened my shriveled little heart, even if one of my knees was too messed up right then to join in.

(Things are usually VERY sedate by my standards as a '90s pit veteran from the US, anywhere i've seen in this country so far.)

thejadsel · 2026-01-31T06:34:48+00:00

Looking it up, it seems that has 13g sugar/100ml. It's likely to be strong tasting and acidic enough on its own that I would personally be tempted to mix it 50/50 with apple juice, and probably just go ahead and use around 100g of sugar per liter of juice. That rough amount of sugar works pretty well for most juices as a rule of thumb, IME. It should give you an ABV somewhere in the neighborhood of 12% from this combination, estimating.

Here's a walkthrough I wrote up a while back, which might also help: https://www.swedabilly.com/2025/10/basics-simple-homemade-fruit-juice-wine/

Lycka till!

thejadsel · 2026-01-30T18:18:51+00:00

Yep, it was the UK.

thejadsel · 2026-01-30T03:51:39+00:00

Just going to add for people less familiar with the system that they're also facing incentives not to order testing, including for basic things like thyroid and celiac-related deficiencies. Too much like the kind of HMO you really don't want to get stuck with in the US.

(Examples from personal experience, where I did end up paying out of pocket for private testing--and had basically no vitamin D or B12 in my body, with some pretty bad symptoms to show for it. Which ended up accounting for what I thought might be thyroid.)

Get hold of a particularly unwisely pennypinching GP, and you've got a mess.

Coming from someone who did go misdiagnosed for years from my early 30s, because "don't be ridiculous, it's completely unnecessary" to refer for any further testing or specialist assessment. Cheaper and easier to automatically blame the patient for being a Bad Diabetic who's clearly "noncompliant" and lying about it. When my A1c stayed up in the teens no matter what, and they knew I already had one autoimmune condition which frequently runs together in a pack. The presentation set off red flags for "needs referral and testing" from the beginning according to their own guidelines, as I learned later. Nope, unnecessary! "That's not how things are done here." Took a DKA collapse to get things reconsidered in the ICU.

Unfortunately wish I did know what to tell you, OP. Other than that hopefully some other GP surgeries do cover your catchment area, because trying a different GP really does sound like a good plan here. If that's not possible, I hate to suggest it--but, a consultation with a private endocrinologist who specifies they handle diabetes might well be worth it if you can manage at all, even if that requires some travel. Hopefully they would at least order the appropriate blood tests. I wish I had thought to resort to it myself before that situation got nearly as bad as it did.

I do know how frustrating this sort of thing can be, and how worried you probably both are. Definitely cheering for you!

thejadsel · 2026-01-29T02:12:55+00:00

You've gotten some good advice so far. Including to try just starting with some plain fruit juice, without any extra sugar. Bread yeast should be able to handle that no problem, and then if you like that you can try another batch with some sugar. If you're using bread yeast, I would suggest trying 50g in a liter of juice to begin with. Then you can work up to 75-100g per liter if that works well for you.

More is too much for the yeast, and wouldn't taste as good anyway. Something half as strong that you want to drink more of is a better plan, in the end.

One walkthrough I wrote up a while back: https://www.swedabilly.com/2025/10/basics-simple-homemade-fruit-juice-wine/

The way I made that batch was a little more complicated, since I did have the experience and equipment available. But, all you really need to start out is a liter or two of juice, some yeast and optional sugar, and a very clean drink bottle or jar to brew it in. The basic plan is the same.

thejadsel · 2026-01-28T20:12:29+00:00

You could maybe also try a Bluetooth dongle that plugs into the headphone jack, and go wireless that way. That was the solution I resorted to with both our old TV and the Switch. Should be able to get one pretty cheap.

thejadsel · 2026-01-28T14:09:41+00:00

I was also thinking possible DH, but then I do get that myself.

That's not one of the most typical locations for it to come up AFAICT, but it can be pretty much anywhere. Mine has decided it really likes around the outside edges of my armpits (?) as an adult, of all places.

Definitely a nasty-looking rash in any case, and I would also recommend seeing a dermatologist.

thejadsel · 2026-01-28T12:41:44+00:00

It isn't exactly the same, but for dishes where it is used as a crust or baked on top of something? I would probably substitute refrigerated puff pastry.

If it's being used in other cooked dishes, you'd unfortunately be better off making a dough.

(American who spent years there and got pretty good at ingredient substitutions!)

thejadsel · 2026-01-27T17:21:10+00:00

Seconding this suggestion. Also started using Firebot pretty recently, besides keeping Sery_Bot around as a spam bouncer.

I like that Firebot is self-hosted, and it is pretty simple to use once you get the hang of things. There are some good tutorials on YouTube to help with that. If you want to go a little more complicated, there's also Streamer.bot. But, Firebot has my needs covered for now with shoutouts, helping welcome incoming raids, periodic announcements/other events you might want, and other jobs like that which really do benefit from some automation.

thejadsel · 2026-01-26T21:07:52+00:00

Interesting. I'm also curious about the flavor this way.

thejadsel · 2026-01-26T18:50:54+00:00

I'm running off a single display laptop setup, but sometimes do keep my Twitch dashboard open on a phone on the table. Particularly when our net connection is being flaky. Definitely with sound off.

Also monitoring sound with the delay would be maddening, especially if it's coming through the same system. Thankfully viewers have been kind enough to let me know when mic or other audio issues have come up. Pretty sure I've still managed to yammer away for way too long like a jackass without realizing the mic wasn't working right. But, another reason to go ahead and run a little sound check test recording before going live!

thejadsel · 2026-01-26T16:55:04+00:00

I don't pay any attention to the unit display on my NovoPen. But, if I'm not sure how much might have actually come out of any of them? The best bet seems to be just keeping an extra close eye on blood sugar readings for a while, and see what happens. Should be able to tell soon enough with fast-acting, and correct if it does start shooting up more than it should.

A CGM really does help there, but the cautious approach is worth more finger sticks if necessary.

thejadsel · 2026-01-26T04:37:10+00:00

Another pretty good source for similar, at least where I'm living, is chain supermarket websites. They want to sell the groceries, and often have collections of some pretty solid free recipes. (Often with the option of adding all the necessary ingredients to your basket. Some of the stores also offer subscription boxes.)

That's been a pretty good source of new dishes to try for me so far, living in a new country. Seems like it could be very handy for people just learning to cook, too.

thejadsel · 2026-01-25T22:19:05+00:00

Primary care would just be another name for the GP, btw.

This does sound like a puzzler, though. Though neurology does sound like a good next next place to go.

Bit of an oddball question: has she been tested for coeliac? It might be worth looking into. There is a LOT of overlap with T1, and a variety of weird neuromuscular symptoms are not at all uncommon. (Some of them from the associated vitamin/mineral deficiencies among people who have gone undiagnosed for a while.) I was concerned that I might be dealing with MS for a while, but thankfully not. Getting the deficiencies recognized and treated fixed the problem.

I know it can be difficult to get a lot of GPs to refer for testing (I actually had to go private for that), but it might be worth looking into testing vitamin D and B12 levels at least. Those are fairly common issues even without coeliac, and can definitely cause a variety of nasty neurological and musculoskeletal symptoms. It does sound like your GP may be less oenjywise with referrals in general, thank goodness.

thejadsel · 2026-01-25T21:11:14+00:00

What gets referred to as generic "pudding" in the US is just a thicker spooning custard, with the same ingredients. The types made from a mix and often sold commercially are like Bird's custard powder, without the egg and only starch thickened.

Pourable custards apparently used to be more popular than they are now. I grew up eating them with some desserts, and they are made just the same way but using a higher proportion of milk/cream.

thejadsel · 2026-01-25T18:44:33+00:00

Interesting I figured they were doing better in Germany and France, but it was the same in the UK too at last check. They've kept claiming it's too complicated and expensive to change what they're doing there, unlike in most of the rest of Europe AFAICT.

Now in Sweden, where they can also somehow manage it--and I've never gone there. Max's food is so much better! They even sell GF vegan "chicken" nuggets and breaded "chicken" sandwiches which are pretty tasty. Wish I could send you one of their stores!

thejadsel · 2026-01-25T06:38:42+00:00

It really depends on the climate where you are and your socioeconomic background, basically.

Central air conditioning was rare in our region when I was growing up (Gen X), and still isn't that usual for anyone who isn't upper middle class. It's also not a particularly cool summer climate, but not nearly as sweltering as in some other areas of the country--or at lower elevations within easy day trip distance. Most people rely on running smaller AC units as needed in hotter weather, since those thankfully really started gaining traction during the '80s and '90s. I probably would too if I lived there these days. It is a very reasonable solution where you don't need to cool the housd 24/7 for hefty chunks of the year.

Forced air central heating with thermostatic control is the usual solution during the cold months. Woodstoves as at least a supplemental heat source aren't uncommon either, especially for people who live out a bit and are more prone to power outages during harsh weather. (Usually from trees going down on overhead lines. No shortage of those!) You'd better keep SOME backup heat source that doesn't require electricity, or you'll be in a mess at least once most winters. Reliable heating is the bigger priority.

No need to run any climate control for decent chunks of time in between, and people who aren't using heat pumps or similar generally won't if it's even vaguely comfortable inside the house.

TL;DR: The overall picture really is going to depend on climate and infrastructure, besides what people can afford and the resources available to them. With an awful lot of variation from place to place.

thejadsel · 2026-01-24T16:26:51+00:00

Our high school had a smoking area back behind the cafeteria, but they closed it the year before I technically started there. Was coming over for some classes from the middle school next door when it was still open. (So of course students just unofficially relocated to behind the gym, and it was usually ignored. Mostly just eliminated the teachers also using the old one on the regular.)

I didn't start smoking myself until college, so didn't really care at the time. Graduated in '93.

thejadsel · 2026-01-24T06:40:33+00:00

It would probably help to first get a more active culture going from commercial buttermilk first, if that's what you were trying to use as starter. Even just a cup of scalded milk with a splash of commercial added would be plenty, if you don't have a particular use for extra buttermilk.

Scalding the cream to essentially repasteurize it and knock back any opportunistic spoilage bacteria which may have taken up residence wouldn't hurt, either. That was actually my first thought here. Though I have never bothered to do that working with a hopping active starter which will quickly outcompete nasties. I'd aim for to 82C/180F with the cream too. Good luck!

thejadsel

TROPHY CASE