Recipe from the road, and a home video

Homemade (Organic) Wine

Since we are now suddenly overcome by the desire to DIY everything, despite our small living space, I decided to embark on my own homemade wine adventure. I also thought making my own organic, sulfate-free wine would be super fancy since you can't buy it in a store, at least I don't think you can. And believe it or not we DO have space for it!

For my first batch I went with an organic cranberry/blueberry/cherry mixture since that's all they had at that particular Winn Dixie. It came out very tasty, and strong! Plus I'm saving $$ since I haven't bought a bottle of wine (or beer for that matter) in probably a month and a half.

Start by mixing a cup of warmed juice with your packet of yeast. Let that activate while you pour 1.5 to 2 cups of sugar and 1 container of juice into your gallon container. Shake vigorously until the sugar is dissolved.  The amount of sugar you add just depends on your taste. 2 cups will make a fairly sweet wine. (I went with 1.5 cups). Add your yeast mixture, as well as the rest of the juice.  Leave some room at the top for bubbles! Shake it all up again.

Since I'm super lazy and did not happen to have a balloon in the RV, I just used the original cap, loosening it just enough to let access gas escape. Or you can use a balloon with a pin hole at the top. Put a note on your wine to indicate when it was started and what type of juice you used (this is more important if you make a second & third batch, etc.)

Now you have to patiently wait.. which is the worst, but worth it. Your wine should be done fermenting anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks. After most of the bubbles have subsided you can pour your wine into another "racking" container using a coffee filter and funnel. Filtering can be a slow process, and the filter may need to be rinsed a few times, especially toward the end. If you skip this step you will end up with a bunch of yeast 'dust' in your glass! 

Now simply let it age for 6 short months.. Kidding! Enjoy immediately. It's apparently supposed to taste even better after aging several months.. but I guess I'll never know. Make sure to leave the cap slightly loose at this point, as it will still expel a little bit of gas.

For my next batch I am trying Acai Berry because it was on sale for like $2.90 a bottle so I bought 10. I would love to try process using fresh fruit instead of store bought juice some day, but not in this rig :/.

If you make some yourself, let me know how it comes out!

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon juice of choice (about 2- 48oz containers)
• ~ 2 cups sugar
• 1 packet yeast

Also needed:

• Funnel
• Gallon sized container
• Balloon or airlock (optional imo)
• Coffee filters

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And now for a tour of our RV after 4 months on the road:

Chilling' with James, Frankie and Rosann

Central Florida

Blog Update:

You may have noticed that we now have ads on the site. We can actually earn money for clicks and impressions, which is pretty cool! And motivation to keep the blog interesting. Feedback and critique is always welcome to help improve our posts.

Also, check out our new page of >awesome RV art!< (This will be updated regularly.)

Destination: Holiday RV Resort, Leesburg

We are staying in the same park as Jim and Rosann Pavlov (Jame's dad and step mom) for the month of February. Coming to Florida this month was basically the only solid plan we had before we left nearly 4 months ago. The rest has been kinda wingin' it. Winter is the height of the busy season here, and does require a reservation months ahead of time so we had to plan a little bit.

Jim Jr. & Jim Sr.

This park of 1000 park models & RVs (!!) is pretty much exclusively retirees but we feel very welcome, as everyone is real friendly. Our neighbors are mostly Canadians and one of our neighbors has 2 greyhounds which was a nice coincidence. There is so much to do in the park I can't even begin to list it all, but includes 2 pools, fishing, a variety of sports, clubs, gaming, dog park, a restaurant, bingo, donuts, more.. It's basically summer camp for retired people. And of course there is bingo twice a week (I swear I'm 70 years old at heart):

Rosann and I played Bingo and I WON! Which is a good thing, because after a disastrous Bingo loss in Arkansas I was ready to pronounce the game Dead To Me. 

I checked out the Florida Aquarium in Tampa with one of my best buds from way back, Bethany! We both love aquariums and this was a great one. After the aquarium we went out to eat in the artsy Ybor neighborhood. A very neat place where cuban cigars and cocktails are enjoyed in open cafes. You're also likely to see a chicken or two wandering the streets.

We spent a rainy day peeling and preserving TONS of garlic home grown by Jim and Rosann :). We ended up pickling it, which should keep for up to a year. I'm sure it will be gone in a few weeks at our pace though.