If It's on the Internet it Must Be True!

I have been doing a lot of research on fermenting lately.  All of it online.  I do not own a single book with information on making Kombucha, Water Kefir, Ginger Beer, fermented garlic, and so on.  So as do most people on this planet I head to my favorite search engine and look it up.  But mine isn't Google.  

Some of you know that Google "cooperated" with the FDA and disabled AdWords for many sellers of supplements a couple of weeks ago.  The FDA did not have a warrant or a court order.  They just decided that Americans are too stupid to know that if a supplement says it cures cancer that it might not cure cancer.  Heck, chemo says it cures cancer and most of us know that it actually causes cancer.  But I digress.

That was the last straw.  I broke up with Google, deleted my Google + account and went on with my life.  But not before finding an amazing search engine that supposedly keeps the user's identity secret.  Okay, pineapple cures cancer and Ixquick.com keeps your identity secret.  Maybe it does but I'm skeptical.  

IXQuick Search Engine is still my favorite new search engine.  It seems cleaner, doesn't give you Wikipedia as the first result every time and when you click on a result it always opens in a new tab.  Woohoo!  I can take off into the Interwebs and my original search is always right there where I left it.
And if IXQuick really does keep my identity a secret and doesn't track me all over the Interwebs, all the better.

The Real Scoop on Ginger Bug

What IS the real scoop on making your own Ginger Bug? Heck if I know.  I have spent day after day after day reading different recipes, methods, add yeast, don't add yeast, tightly cover, don't tightly cover, shake it up, leave it alone.  My head is spinning and my ginger bug is still not a bug.  What it did end up being was a delicious cup of ginger beer for my 16 year old son.  I gave it to him over ice and he moaned with pleasure as he drank it all up in one swig.

So I am taking a different tack on my ginger bug.  I will let you know if it works in a week or so.  

Fermented Garlic

I started my first vegetable ferment this morning.  But not after some serious frustration.  I wanted to peel my several pounds of garlic.  So as directed on multiple sites I put it in a low oven and waited until the skins split.  I took it out, peeled the first clove and it had cooked the garlic a little.  The smaller cloves were still crunchy but a more translucent instead of opaque.  I was not happy.  I read about soaking overnight in water, peeling and then allowing them to dry out for house, oven peeling, peeling in two mixing bowls with a manly strength (which I do not posses -- neither do I possess two mixing bowls of the same size and shape), and finally using a dehydrator.  After what I consider a failure with the oven method the idea of the dehydrator popped into my head.  I had read it (on the Internet, of course) and had forgotten it until that very moment.  So in the dehydrator on the lowest setting it went.  Voila! Perfect.  The peelings dry up, crack open and peel right off.

 Internet Rumors, Lies, and Ignorance (which is not bliss)

We all know that if it is on the internet it is true, right?  We also know that everything on the internet is public domain, right?

WRONG!  Copyrights are alive and well on the internet.  Never, ever, copy a graphic, photo, story, article, anything without express permission of the owner.  

Did you also know that if you see a hand-crafted garment, piece of jewelry, knitted design, and other such delights that those are instantly copyrighted by their designers as soon as they are made?  Yep.

So, to recap:

1. If it is on the internet it might be a bunch of bull----- err baloney.
2. Everything on the internet is NOT free.  Someone wrote it, designed it, photographed it, painted it, drew it, recorded it and owns it.
3. You are responsible for checking the truth of what you see on Facebook before passing it along.  You are responsible for getting permission, checking facts, and giving credit while you are on the internet.  

Notice the watermark. Protection from Internet Picture Thieves.

I hope you have a wonderful evening in cyberspace, the amazing world called the Internet.