Cornbread Inspired by Bourbon Recipes

 Recently I was reading about the different mixes of grains (mash bills) that are turned into bourbon and other whiskeys. They usually start with a mix of corn, wheat, barley, and/or rye that are fermented with yeast and distilled, then aged. Different brands have different ratios of the different ingredients. 

The mix of grains reminded me of a recipe for cornbread. So I decided to bake some cornbread with the same ratios of grains and see how it turns out.

I found a family recipe for cornbread:

• ¾ cup wheat flour
• 2 cups cornmeal
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 1 T oil
• 2 cups buttermilk

Wet and dry ingredients are mixed separately, then combined. Bake in oiled preheated 10" cast iron skillet for 20 min at 375ºF plus 10 min at 400°F.

This recipe was a good starting point, but I wanted to make two small batches of muffins as an experiment so I could compare different versions easily. First, I divided the recipe into thirds to use only one egg. Then I calculated the quantity by weight of the wheat flour and cornmeal in the original recipe, which added up to a total of 120 grams of flour. Then, I calculated the amount of corn, wheat, rye, and barley to substitute for the ratio of each specific brand. 

I bought rye flour at a regular grocery store, and then found barley flour at Desi Brothers Indian grocery store. I already had cornmeal, stored in the freezer because we don't use it very often. 

For the first batch, I followed the mash bill of Woodford Reserve bourbon. That worked out to be 86g corn, 22g rye, and 12g barley.

For the second batch, I used the mash bill of Maker's Mark: 84g corn, 19g wheat, and 17g barley.

General Recipe

• ~120 grams total [grain]
• 2.4 grams (1/2 tsp) baking powder
• 1 gram salt
• 1 gram baking soda
• 1 egg
• 5ml (1 tsp) oil
• 160ml (2/3 cup) buttermilk (or milk+buttermilk powder)

Each recipe could probably make 6 muffins. I filled 7 1/2 because I didn't know how much they would rise. I baked this at 395°F/200 °C for about 15 minutes (I actually forgot to set a timer but the toothpick came out clean). 

I compared the two batches, and I honestly couldn't tell much of a difference. They both taste like normal corn muffins to me. My mom instantly detected the taste of rye, which makes sense because she doesn't usually like rye bread.

To finish the muffins with another tie-in to bourbon, I made brown sugar bourbon butter sauce to put on top.

• 2 parts brown sugar 
• 2 parts butter 
• 1 part bourbon 

Melt butter and stir in brown sugar. Then add bourbon.

Battery Powered Light Bar

I found an LED light bar for cars on clearance. It was a great deal for a light., but I didn't want to wire it onto any of our cars. For now, I thought it would be more useful to convert it into a portable work light. 

Normally, it would be powered through the car's 12V system. Using batteries instead would make it more portable. AA batteries wouldn't work because it takes 12-24V. I decided to buy an adapter to convert it to use Ryobi 18V rechargeable batteries. I decided not to wire up the extra bright setting (72 watts) because the regular setting (12 watts) is bright enough. 

Next, I needed a way to hold the light. The brackets it came with allow it to be tilted to any angle, so I kept those and mounted it to a board that was the right size. Then I attached that to a sturdy tripod-style metal stand. The stand used to have a roller on top to hold up the ends of long boards when the workbench or table saw wasn't large enough, but the old plastic roller parts had broken a long time ago.

Now I have a very bright portable rechargeable light. It creates a narrow band of light and can be aimed wherever I need it.

Sway Bar Link Replacement

Our 2000 Dodge Dakota truck is older than I am, so the rubber and plastic parts are wearing out. When I replaced the brake fluid, I noticed that the bump stops had crumbled. Then I saw the sway bar links had also worn out. 

We ordered new sway bar links online and looked at information on how to replace them. We had to use one jack on either side (with some cribbing just in case). Then we removed the lug nuts on both front wheels and took the wheels off. After that, it was easy to take off the old parts, put the new parts on, and then use a torque wrench to tighten properly.

This was a good time to clean out the old rubber from the bump stops. They had distintegrated to the point of being soft and sticky like playdough. Unfortunately, the new bump stops haven't been delivered yet (on a detour from here to another state and back), but as soon as they get here I will install them.

Turning an IKEA Bedspread into Kitchen Towels

From my project archives: Several years ago, we bought a cotton bedspread from IKEA. It was rough, not soft. Nobody wanted to use it as a blanket, so eventually we decided to cut it up and turn it into hand towels for the kitchen. We used an old towel to measure the right size. 

After we cut the whole blanket into over a dozen pieces, Mom hemmed the edges, folding it over twice to prevent fraying. Then I added decorative stitching on each edge. This was an easy project to practice with the sewing machine.

Upcycling Plastic Straps from Boxes

I saved some plastic strapping pieces from cardboard boxes of heavy items. My dad wanted to throw them away, but my mom coiled them up to store neatly. We used one piece to tie up an extension cord to store it without getting tangled. I tried to think of something else to use them for, but after a few months my mom decided to use them to weave a basket.

She cut 14 short strips for the bottom and 7 long strips to go around. After weaving the bottom, she clamped the edges to keep it together. Then she folded each strip up to form the sides. There was enough black and white to make a pattern. The final row has extra layers to hide the cut ends. The strapping was split lengthwise to make thin strips to stitch around the rim to make it secure. 

Electric Car Cable Holder

 We recently acquired an electric car. It is convenient to charge it using the wiring I had originally installed in the garage for my welder after replacing the outlet. However, I needed a place to store the adapter for the welder and the charging cable to prevent them from getting tangled or run over.

I used scraps from other welding projects to make a rack with hooks and holders for everything. There was a hole in the wall from when I installed the outlet, so I added a piece of square tube that lines up with the hole to store the car end of the cable. 

Threaded Insert Replacement (for License Plate Holder)

 Recently, we tried to install a license plate on a new used car. When we took the plate holder out of the truck, it had only two screws on it. "No problem," I thought, "Just unscrew them and take them to the hardware store to buy more." Except the screws were bent and stuck. When I tried to unscrew them, the threaded metal insert spun but the screw didn't come loose. There wasn't any way to grab the two parts separately. 

Bent and seized screws with old metal inserts

After a lot of unsuccessful attempts with different manual screwdrivers, battery powered screwdriver, pliers, etc., I decided to try replacing both the screws and metal inserts. I used a screwdriver and hammered the inserts out. Then I found a small nut and bolt to replace it. 

Heating the hex nut

Pressing the hot hex nut into the plastic

I threaded the nut onto a longer bolt so I could hold it with pliers. Then I heated the nut with my propane torch, and then pressed it into the plastic where the old metal insert was. The hot nut melted into the plastic, which re-hardened around it when the plastic cooled. The hexagonal nut is slightly larger than the hole from the old insert, and its shape makes it less likely that it will spin in the plastic.

Repair completed

Pesto with Almonds and Cuban Oregano

 My indoor plants with automatic watering system were growing so well that I needed to repot them. I switched to a larger pot and also split some plants up. The Cuban oregano was two feet tall and required a lot of extra support. Unfortunately, in the process of repotting it, some leaves and stems broke. So I needed to find a recipe that used a lot of Cuban oregano.

I was inspired by a recipe I found online for Cuban oregano pesto: https://csaproducerecipes.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/funky-cuban-oregano/

I didn't have any pine nuts, so I used almonds. I added boiling water to about 3/4 cup almonds and let them soak until the peels could be rubbed off. I used about 1 1/2 cups of Cuban oregano leaves. Then I toasted a couple of garlic cloves and added those. I started with 1/2 cup of olive oil. I added at least another cup of herbs from the garden, including rosemary, chives, green onions, and basil. I mixed everything together in our old Osterizer blender. 

The blender has several speeds, but it wasn't working well. A vortex couldn't form in the middle because air got sucked in and then trapped in the thick sauce. I kept having to stop and "burp" it. There wasn't enough liquid and probably too many almonds. I added more oil and some water so that it could puree everything. I did a taste test, and it wasn't garlicky enough, so I added a couple raw cloves of garlic. I decided later that it wasn't salty enough. I don't have the nutritional yeast that some recipes call for, and I'm not vegan, so added parmesan when serving to make it saltier.

I had this flavorful creamy green sauce with homemade meatballs and fresh (from the grocery store) noodles with red sauce. I had a lot of sauce left over, so I froze it in small cubes.

Welding Table from Recycled Materials

 

I do welding in the garage or driveway because that's where the 240 volt outlet is, and I don't have a dedicated workshop for it. This means I need a table that can be moved out of the way of the cars. 

I made a welding table from three different trash-picked parts. I started with the metal frame from an outdoor table that was missing the glass top. To cover the top, I added a metal mesh panel that I collected a few years ago. That worked well, but had a sharp edge. I added rebar to the edge which made it safer and sturdier. 

After using the table that way for a couple of years, I decided that it needed some improvements. First, the table was too short to be comfortable. Second, it was difficult to move. Since I have to move the driveway into and out of the driveway every time I weld, it was annoying. I decided it needed wheels to fix that problem. Wheels are kind of expensive, so I put off adding them. Then I got a broken electric lawn mower that a neighbor was discarding. The wheels are perfect. I only needed two wheels, so that the table will roll when I lift one side, but won't move while I'm using it. 

The set of wheels with the axle between was too narrow to fit between the legs, so I attached each wheel separately to a leg. The new wheels added over 5 inches to the height, but then the other two legs were too short. I made leg extensions from the axle, cut in half with my angle grinder. Now the table is an even height. In the future, I will probably add feet to the leg extensions so that they won't sink into the ground when I park the table outside in the grass.

  

Trying to make Ethyl Acetate

When looking for flavor extracts, I saw that acetic acid and ethyl alcohol can react to create ethyl acetate. I decided to try mixing a small amount of neural grain spirit and red wine vinegar because I don't have glacial acetic acid or anhydrous ethanol. Unfortunately, it sounds like regular kitchen-grade vinegar has too much water. The reaction is very inefficient and tends to go backwards and forwards unless heat or sulfuric acid is added. 

My first try was a failure. I put the mixture in a small bottle, occasionally shaking the bottle and smelling it to evaluate if it smelled less like vinegar. After a few days, it still smelled like vinegar, but did have a slight fruity taste. I decided to try again with a slightly larger bottle. I don't want to work with sulfuric acid, so I decided to add heat. I used my mini dough proofer (a previous project where I converted a 6 pack drink cooler into a heater with thermostat). I set it to 90 degrees F and heated for about 8 hours at a time. After a few days, there was barely any vinegar smell but it doesn't have much fruity taste either.

I'm not sure this experiment is worth trying again. A proper chemistry method would involve measuring the exact amounts and concentrations, and then having a way to measure and quantify the results. I definitely did create some amount of ethyl acetate, but it's not useful as a flavoring because it's mixed with alcohol and vinegar. The good news is all 3 of those ingredients would go well in salad dressing.