Category: Around Home

Dijon Mustard

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We ran out of Dijon mustard and the store didn’t have any in stock (and who knows if/when they will again). This was a sad situation until my mom informed me that you can make Dijon easily from dry mustard, WHICH WE HAVE! I looked up a basic recipe online, and it called for white wine vinegar, which is pretty much the only type of vinegar that we do not own. That meant that it was time for an alternate-vinegar Dijon taste-off.

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The assessment (left to right):

  • White Vinegar – spicy
  • Rice Vinegar – softer flavour
  • Apple Cider Vinegar – flavourful, with a lingering taste
  • Red Wine Vinegar – distinct vinegar flavour
  • Malt Vinegar – soft but rich flavour
  • Balsamic Vinegar – definite balsamic taste, almost sweet

The verdict:

I liked the milder flavoured Dijons (malt, apple cider, and rice), while Maciek preferred the sharper flavours (balsamic, red wine, and white). There was no clear winner, although we discussed that some might pair better with different meals. Also, my mouth now burns a little from eating so much mustard.

Planter Box

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Our plants have been growing nicely, thanks to the diligent efforts of the Hamlet staff. But now our little baby plants are big enough to live outside, so Maciek built them a planter box and we brought them home.

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A lot of our nicely labelled tags wore off or got lost, so there are a few mystery plants in the mix. We are fairly confident that the box contains, at a minimum, tomatoes, zucchini, peas, kale, swiss chard, and peppers. Potentially also cauliflower, spinach, kohlrabi, beets, onions, and rapini. We’ll see what else comes up.

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Ideally we’ll be able to find some plastic sheeting to make a sort of mini-greenhouse for the little guys.