More recipes in the works… somewhere… eventually…

So there haven’t been a lot of posts from me lately.  I know I don’t have a huge readership, but I feel bad leaving everybody hanging. 

Just to let everyone know, I’m no longer in grape country.  I’ve taken a new job closer to family and made a move from Pennsylvania to Utah.  So I traded views like this…

For this views like this…

So what does this have to do with sodamaking?  Well, a lot actually as I’ve discovered.  There aren’t many beer or winemaking stores very close nearby, so getting my hands on caps and some different ingredients isn’t going to be as easy. 

Additionally I’ve discovered that I can’t fit my bottle washer on any of my sinks in my new home.  Not a huge issue, I just need to take a trip to the hardware store to figure things out, but it does put a damper on things. 

Instead of having my vintage fridge in a dedicated space in the basement where it sits somewhat out of the way, it’s now in the garage, typically with a minivan in front of it, not allowing me to open it up.  And there’s no way it’s going in the basement either.  Getting it out of where it was I thought we were going to smash someone.   

The cost of CO2 tank refills is going to be a challenge.  The two places I’ve called are around $18 per fill versus the $10 per fill in Erie.  Unfortunately, at the same time, funding is down.  While I took a better paying job, the cost of moving across the country, a longer commute, cost of living changes, and a few other things has shaken up my finances a bit, so it will probably take a while to sort things out.  In conjunction with that, I’ve put my ebay sales on hold (which usually finance my hobbies) with moving, and since I don’t seem to have a post office nearby which is a new experience for me, that will probably stay on hold until I can figure out a way to make it a bit more convenient.

Moving to a new place obviously means leaving good folks behind.  We had a lot of good friends back in Erie, and it hurt to make the move in a lot of ways.  It seemed like there were lots of get-togethers that warranted lots of tasty, bubbly beverage.  Being in a new area doesn’t seem to come with as many gatherings right off the bat.  And no one here is expecting me to provide a keg yet, so I haven’t had many requests.  Sure we have family close by, and our summer schedule is quickly filling up, but it seems a lot of family members are dieting, including myself.  (Which is definitely commendable, don’t get me wrong). 

So, although the summer is a perfect time to make and enjoy a cold homemade soda for family picnics or holiday BBQs, my soda projects are on hold for the moment, or at least toned down.  I have some great recipes planned to post, but they will unfortunately have to wait.  They are coming, so stay tuned.  I haven’t left the sodamaking hobby behind.

I will gladly accept guest posts for the time being, and I would love to hear from fellow sodamakers and their challenges that they've seen.