the sweet truth of the matter

Today I started making liquid stevia... I hope it works out because it's very expensive in the store.  Here is my Stevia plant.  This was taken after I harvested some from it.  I didn't take it all because I want to be sure this recipe is a good one.  I've had this stevia plant for a couple of years but I never knew how to extract the sweetness from it.

I took the leaves off and washed them.

Then I put them in the sun to dry.

Then I put them in a dark jar and covered with cheap vodka.  You can also do a water version, but most recipes use vodka so that's what I went with.

This will sit for 24-36 hours, and be shaken up a few times during the day.  After that I will strain it and simmer the liquid gently for like 20 minutes to cook off the alcohol.  After that it goes in a small dropper bottle.  Man, I hope this works.  I'll let you know in a couple of days.

Oh, by the way... here is the Tai hot pepper plant that I had brought in the house for the winter.  It did magnificently well, and now it is producing a great crop of peppers.  They will soon be turning red.

Ok, so today I won't talk about anything serious... because as it was, my day was way too serious.  I tried to play guitar and sing 2 new songs... and Darryl said I sounded really good.. but you know, it is hard to sing when you are upset.  My passion definitely came out... but then I had to have wine to calm my nerves.... so nothing serious will be written tonight.