Happy Birthday to me....

Danielle got me an awesome fermenting crock to make sauerkraut this winter and pickles next summer.  I tried kraut once before and it was banned from the house.  I was making it in a bucket and scraping the scum off the top.  The fermenting crock has a water seal that keeps bacteria and mold spores out so you don't have the scum problem.  It was a bit bigger than I was expecting.  See the jar for reference.  It came with weights on the left that hold the cabbage down and surprisingly had 2 lids in the box.  I'm not sure if it was supposed to have 2 lids or if it was mis-packed.  Nowhere in the webpage does it say it comes with 2 lids.  I guess they think you will break one.  To top it all off, it's made in Ohio by the Ohio stoneware company.

You fill the ring with the water and put the lid into the water.  The fermenting gasses can escape but nothing can get in.  For the brewers out there, it's the same concept as a glass airlock.

With lid down.

Moto-X - Made in USA

Of course with Danielle due any day my cell phone would finally die.  After a little research I found out that Motorola is assembling cell phones in the USA. More specifically they are à assembling A cell phone in the USA, the moto-x.  While I have been buying Motorola phones for years with no problems this made it easy to choose a new phone. On Sunday I picked up my new moto-x. So far it has been great.

Chop Rite Two #12 Meat Grinder - Made in USA

For my birthday this year Danielle got me a meat grinder to grind up the old laying hens once their replacements start laying.  We found a company that makes cast-iron meat grinders here in the USA with US iron.  This meat grinder was designed in the late 1800s and manufactured under the Enterprise brand until the 1990s when the company changed hands and was renamed Chop-Rite.  I was a bit hesitant because it is not tinned like the old models but now has a Xylon coating on the cast iron.  We'll have to see how it holds up over time.

I love the warning sticker.  "DO NOT PUT HANDS OR FINGERS IN CYLINDER MOUTH OF GRINDER.  MAY RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY OR AMPUTATION" One has to love idiot labels!  

New Shoes - Made in USA

My tennis shoes have finally degraded to a point that I can't wear them off of the homestead without embarrassing the wife.  Something about being able to see my feet when they're on......  So it was time to get some new shoes.  In keeping with the "try and find American made things" i gave a half-hearted search on google for american made running shoes.  Surprisingly enough, they actually exist.  I had heard of New Balance a few years ago but thought they just made walking shoes for senior citizens.  Turns out they make a whole line of shoes, both within the USA and overseas.  Before buying you need to check and find out what models are made here.  These are NewBalance model MR990v3 (Men's Running 990 version 3).   Yup, look like shoes.  We'll see how they hold up.

New USA Made Jeans

In trying to buy American products, clothing is one area that is always difficult, or WAY too expensive.  After searching the internet for a while I found a company called All American Clothing that sold jeans that are made in the USA, from American cotton, that is milled, cut, and sewn in the USA.  Each pair of jeans that came with a certificate of authenticity and a traceability number.  When typed into their web page it allows you to track your jeans all the way back to the field that the cotton was grown in.  While I could get cheaper jeans at Wally World, these were under $50.  They are quite comfortable also.