Inoshishi (Wild Boar) Sausage

Yabanjin made a batch of Wild Boar (Inoshishi) sausage from the boar he took on the day before the end of hunting season. We opted to try three flavors: mild Italian, spicy Italian, and American Southern-Style Breakfast Maple flavor.

SK-1 hard at work in the Kaitai Shack:
Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation! SK-1 is pretty strict!

We made this extra lean, with only 10% fat content. Here it comes, straight from the grinder:A second grind after the spice was added: Wrapped in 250 gram packs for easy cooking. Remember this is considered as "Fresh Sausage" and contains only spices, absolutely no salt, nitrate, 'cure' or other chemicals or preservatives.

We made a total of 15 kg (about 33Lbs) and shared them with some of our closest friends and asked for their critiques...all good so far with some great tips for the next batch!

Candles!

Scented candles really add to our country home. We particularly enjoy an apple-cinnamon scent when we have our wood stove burning. Store-bought candles can be quite expensive and often are not the scent we want...so...we gave candle making a try!

Start with block wax: Need a few scents to experiment with:

And some jars/wicks/dyes:Some gentle heat:Freshly poured:Finished!This was our first micro-batch (bamboo & lemongrass scent) but we are hooked! Give it a try, it's easy!

Got Dirt?

We at the Yabanjin homestead have been experimenting with making our own soap. Today's concoction was foaming liquid hand soap that we promptly named "Dirty Hands"! This contains a mild pumice abrasive, a natural dried kelp (kombu) exfoliant, and is scented to smell just like freshly tilled garden soil. It cleans awesome, and the smell lingers just enough after you wash your hands so that you know you put in a hard day's work!

We also created an all-purpose shower gel for the Yabanjin guys with a refreshing but not perfumey smell (no girly-men here!). Mrs Yabanjin also created a silky foaming hand wash for the ladies of the house with a mild Asian plum scent.

It was fun working on a project with the wife, plus it might just save us some hard earned Yen in the process, and could be part of the post-retirement plan...we'll see!