GrongarBlog began in June 2005 as a way to document our house move and renovation.
Since then, it’s evolved into a place where I can write about the daily lives of our family; our cooking, baking, and gardening exploits; our foray into goat keeping and cheese making; poetry, literature, Antarctic exploration, bees, and any other random thoughts that come unbidden from my brain.
By day, I’m a digital content producer and a freelance writer, editor, and indexer. M works in software. And H is 11 12 13 a teen, a marvelous young woman, and reminding us every day how cool it is to be parents.
You can reach me by commenting on this blog, or by sending an email to reb dot siegel at gmail dot com.
Thanks for reading!
-Rebecca
Grongar 
Hi,
couldn’t find an e-mail address to let you know about the chocolate cake recipe, so here it is:
– 2 1/5 stick/ 8,82 oz butter
– 1 cup/ 8,82 oz sugar
– 2,4 cups/ 10,58 oz flour
– 4 egg yolks
– 2 egg whites
– 4 tblsp cocoa powder
– 7 oz sour cream
– 1 tsp baking soda
Melt butter. Mix sugar, egg yolks and egg whites. Add butter and stir. Add flour, cocoa powder and baking soda, and stir. Add sour cream and stir well. Pour batter into small loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes in preheated oven at 390°F and cover with aluminium foil for the last 10 minutes. It is ready when a toothpick comes out clean, so if it doesn’t, allow it a couple more minutes.
Hi Rebecca; Just read your article on ‘Cheesemaking help’. It was nice to get caught up with you and Michael and Hyla’s life.
Thanks for reading, Ann!
Hi Rebecca, Saw your cheeses on NE Cheesemaking supply. Your cheeses look amazing esp your bloomy rinds! I have a question about how you keep the humidity up high enough in the wine fridge for the rinds to form correctly. Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
Meghan
Hi Meghan. Usually our problem is too much humidity. If you get enough fresh cheeses ripening in the fridge at the same time, there’s a lot of moisture. When the humidity is too low, we just put a bowl of water in the fridge (usually on the shelf right below the cheeses) and that’s usually enough extra moisture. Are you ripening in a wine fridge, too? Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for the humidity advice. I haven’t ripened any cheese yet…out of fear! I even bought a Normande milk cow and have only been making fresh cheese. I think I’ll go out and buy a wine fridge! I had been thinking of retrofitting a commercial fridge and using the NE Cheesmaking supply temp regulator and adding an atomizer for humidity but it kept seeming like a big challenge. Wine fridge it is! Thanks so much.
-Meghan
We considered doing the same with a fridge, but if you can find a used wine fridge, it’s so much easier because it’s in the right temp range already. Good luck! And let me know when you’ve braved those aged cheeses. They’re not as hard as they sound!
Hi Rebecca, Glad to be wordpress and twitter buddies! Maybe one day we can meet IRL!
Tanya
Thanks, Tanya! I feel the same!
I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve taken in your stunning blog, Rebecca. Wow – great work, gorgeous photographs and very inspiring entries. Some day….I wanna be a cheese maker, bread maker, photographer wiz-bang like you!
Thank you, Tammy! You’re too kind. 🙂
Hi Rebecca,
I went looking for an email and I couldn’t find one, but I would like to nominate your blog for a Liebster Award. I just did a post about what the rules are etc.
http://muchtodoaboutcheese.com/2015/04/23/liebster-award-thank-you/
Ian
What is your hearth pad made of? We really like the simple black look.
I stumbled across your blog and loved your piece on the solstice. I look forward to reading more!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your stopping by to read, and your kind words!