Have you heard of Black Garlic?

I opened up an email recently from Bush Christmas which starts on the 27th November and in it was an interesting article by Budgee Garlic and Herbs about Black Garlic which I had never heard of before. As Budgee Garlic and Herbs is at our Farmers Market each Saturday I called in there and asked if they had any for sale as it sounded quite fascinating.

I expected it to be quite expensive and came home with a 25g bottle for $4. There are ways of making Black Garlic yourself at home which involves having a rice cooker or slow cooker on for 30 days straight which put me off a bit as I wouldn't like to have an appliance going for that length of time. The garlic I bought had been fermented in a special Black Garlic Fermenter although I am not sure exactly which one was used but there certainly are plenty online if you get the urge to give it a try.

I opened the bottle today and had a taste and noted that it needs to be kept in the fridge and used within three months of opening. It certainly wasn't as strong as the normal garlic and was almost sweet. There are quite a few different ways of using it such as in a dip, smearing on meat before roasting and I noticed on YouTube that it had even been used to make a Black Garlic Soap. I like experimenting when soapmaking but would draw the line at using such an expensive ingredient.

I asked the CEO if he had heard of it before and he said he had tried it years ago and didn't like it so I guess it has been around for quite a while although I hadn't heard of it before. You are never too old to learn something new obviously. If you would like to buy some from Budgee Garlic and Herbs then just email them and ask about it as it doesn't show up in their Web Store.

The lounge room was painted today and is now the colour of Hog Bristle Quarter.  Next week the builder comes back to put screws in the floor before the carpet goes down. We won't remove the old carpet till the day before he comes as it might be a bit draughty if the floor boards are as far apart as in some of the other rooms. After that the second bedroom will be painted and the carpet put down and then it is all finished inside thank goodness. The roof still needs painting and a new fence might happen down the track but all in good time. Hopefully our backs hold out as we both hurt them from moving furniture last week and still have a heavy queen sized bed and a solid wood wardrobe to move soon. I have no idea how we are going to do it but no doubt we will as we got this far.

Don't forget the mug-rug giveaway finishes on Thursday 31st so if you live in Australia and would like to enter to win one of them just leave a comment below. My friend Judy made them and she is an expert where sewing and probably any other craft is concerned. These would make lovely Christmas presents.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week.