For almost a year now I have been dreaming of rewiring parts of the basement (where I work on projects) to get proper lighting. Well it is finally done and there were no fires! It was not as bad as I thought it would be, and to be honest I enjoyed doing it.

That was Saturday, but Sunday was nice. I took my beautiful wife to Kent State to show here where I fell in love with design and art. Give me a shout out Kent folks. Check out the pics.

Every year I make pickles. I got this recipe from my step-mothers family but modified it a bit as I had problems with mold the one year. I believe that these are a bit more “brined” then actually “pickled.” I also made Firecrackers– carrots and jalepenos with onions, oregano, thyme. Same prociedure.

Ingredients:
For 1lb of pickles:
1lb of pickling cucumbers, med size
2-3 stalks of pickling dill
1T kosher salt per cup of water
1T vinegar per cup of water
1 head of garlic

Clean and wash your jar. I used food grade sanitizer, but you can boil a pot of water and submerge the lids and jars. Dry on a clean towel. Place garlic and dill in jar, add cucumbers, 1 row at a time. Repeat with dill + garlic until you reach the top. Make a solution of brine by adding a cup of 150deg water and salt and vinegar per recipe above. Pour water in jar until you reach the top. Do not allow anything protrude the water. Cover with lid but keep loose and let sit on counter covered with a tower to keep out light for a week. Place in refrigerator.

*Note: Feel free to omit the vinegar. You may experience molding, remove mold after a few days and then add vinegar. This adds acid that bacteria can not live in. If you do it this way, real fermentation will exist and you will have authentic pickles. I lost many batches to molding so I add vinegar in the beginning.

Well after about 10 more pounds, 500+ more beers, I am back to get another sleep exam. This time, done by a specialist from Case Western. Should be interesting. I met with this physician today for the consultation. Basically, the test I had in February was ok, but he felt the data was not thorough enough. I know that with being overweight, enjoys drinking beer, and lack of the good fibrous diet of years past has much to do with my apnea. On the positive side, I have been to the gym at least 3 times a week if not more for the last 3 weeks. Prior to that it was like one or two. I really want to shed the tonnage, but difficult as I am getting lazy again with cooking and sticking to a healthier diet. I am not a chow bucket or anything, we hardly have sweets in the house! I drink plenty of water, I run at the gym at least 5K, my meal proportions are smaller than most. I bet it is slugging beers back with the boys that ruins this temple. I am sure being 33 has much to do with it as well. Bottom line, next time you see me tell me to stop pounding brews or make fun of me that I have a fit and gorgeous wife and that she deserves a slimmer piece of meat. Heh.