Lilies, Rhubarb Mead, and a New Cooker

Spring is here in the Pacific Northwest as the showers will attest--we've had a wet Spring so far, which is par for the course around here.  Prompted into bloom by the rain, these Checkered Lilies are delicate beauties that I always forget about until they bloom out. 

Another spring treat, local rhubarb, has arrived in the markets.  I always feel like I want to do something different with rhubarb.  With that in mind, I tried my hand at some rhubarb mead. 

The Stripey Cat directed me to this recipe (scroll down to the third recipe on the page). It calls for rhubarb (I threw in some strawberries too), sugar, yeast and water. Here's what it looks like after fermenting for 24 hours:

Then strained and put into bottles:

It's supposed to sit in a cool place for another three days...I'll let you know how it turns out. 

Always a source of interesting recipes, The Stripey Cat  also posted a recipe for rhubarb tzatziki that I think will be my next foray into rhubarb this season. She also directed to me to a link for rhubarb pickles, which I want to try, but I can't post the link because I've lost it.  I'll need to do some backtracking and find it. 

In other news, we got a new cooker. We've been in the same rental house for the last four years, and the stove was a gem from the 70's. When was the last time you saw a "digital" display like that?

To be fair, it worked great until about six months ago when two of the top burners went out...basically the electrical wires were disintegrating. I cooked on two wonky burners for a few months, but then when the oven went, I finally called the landlord, and he brought us a shiny new cooker. 

On the food front, we've been eating lots of beans and salads...nothing too spectacular, but healthy and satisfying. 

I also bought some kelp noodles that I want to try and hopefully blog about soon. Until then, happy April everyone.