Anyway, back to Kefir. Someone here on the local free cycle offered up some of her Kefir grain and of course, Wayne jumped on the deal. Now, I spent some time in California and while I was there I drank A LOT of Kefir. I happen to really like the stuff and it is great for making smoothies. But, I really know nothing about it. Basically, as I understand it, Kefir is a culture that you put in milk and the culture makes really great pro-biotic additions to your diet. You use it to make smoothie type drinks and you can mix it with fresh fruit, honey, stevia, whatever you like really. It is a culture so you have to feed it and it grows. So, now we have this Kefir grain and really have no clue what to do with it. Wayne put it in about 2 cups of milk and left it at room temperature to culture. Any help/tips/advice/anything from the blog land would be most appreciated! Here's a picture of Kefir - this isn't our Kefir it is just a picture off of the internet. Our Kefir is buried in milk right now!
I was just talking to Wayne yesterday about how little I actually blog about knitting on this "Knitting Blog". Is that disturbing to anyone out there? You must enjoy the non-knitting or loosely reltated knitting stories though because you are all still reading!
I have been asked to speak at the Charlotte Knitting Guild in October - which should be LOADS of fun! I need to make some hotel reservations soon. I have been working on my speech for this event. I have been dyeing all of the Sock Summit yarn (thanks so much everyone for your pre-orders! I can't believe how much of this wonderful yarn we have already sold!). I have also been working on some new yarns and new surprises that will be coming up soon - some that we will be debuting at SAFF in October. Knit Witch has been extreemly busy lately and we are so grateful for that. We love all this Knit Witch busyness and some of our customers have been throwing out some GREAT ideas for us!
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lol... i can't offer you any advice because i've never even heard of that stuff until just now ;) lol... it kinda looks funny lol.. and it doesn't really bother me that you blog about a lot of nonknitting related stuff... i love reading your blog! :D
OK ... here you go. I make a mason jar of it every day by draining the old milk off and adding new and leaving it on the counter all day to grow and then putting it in the fridge at night. They will multiply (the grains) and the spare ones I feed to the chickens and my dog gets a spoonful every day or so. The milky drained part I mix with a spponful of sugar or blend with some fruit and drink every day. I think you can make a cheese out of the extra grains like you can wih yogurt. I haven't tried that yet. When we were in the military it was hard to keep the stuff but now I use it every day. If you have any question e mail me and I will try to help.
Hi, Brittany!
On the subject of speaking at the Charlotte (NC, I'm guessing) Guilding Meeting in October....please let us know when that will be. I'd love to meet you! (you dyed the Unicorn for me)
:) Diane
No idea about the kefir at all. I remember how popular it was in hippie days, though. I'm looking forward to seeing your yarns in person at Sock Summit.
aside from eating or drinking kefir i can't tell you anything about growing it. Freecycle i love!!! I had a lady give me a seriously expensive knitting machine, i didn't enjoy the machine (like some good ole needles) so i passed it on... yesterday i had two ladies pick up a spa foot tub, paraffin pot and upright vaccum from me. It is great vs sending things to the dump (especially in todays economy).
I love Freecycle too. I have unloaded a ton of kids clothes and toys with it. Such a great way to pass stuff on.
I'm nearly as bad with my lack of knitting content. :) I'm dying of curiosity about the kefir grain, though- I love kefir, but never knew grain had anything to do with it.
Needless to say, we know all about kefir :-) If you ever feel like not having to make your own, we hope you'll give us a try. We have so many different varieties, organic kefirs and even a kids' line.
The ratio should be 10% to 15% grains to milk and left at room temperature for about 15 to 20 hours depending on the temp of your kitchen. Never use ultra pasteurized milk as it does not have enough nutrition in it to feed your little kefir kids. We like to use raw milk which you can find a source near you at www.realmilk.com. Once the kefir is done (typically if it separates it has been out too long but you can still drink it, it will just be very sour) you need to strain the grains from the kefir with a plastic strainer. Never use metal around your grains. This has been disputed but I still only use plastic with my grains. Once it's all strained, put it in a jar and put it in the fridge or leave it out for another 24 to 48 hours to "ripen". Add more milk to your grains and off you go again! I sell Kefir Kits that include a quart jar with plastic lid, plastic strainer and enough fresh grains to get started for $25 including priority shipping if you can't find the stuff to get started. Just email angela456 at msn.com to order. Feel free to email me with any questions and Happy Kefiring!!
i was told that kefir seeds should not come in contact with metal or chlorine.So if you wash the seeds or containers where you put the kefir in , rinse with boiled water.
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