Books with author Jerry Zimmerman

A complete guide to using the best ingredients and minimal equipment to create fun and flavorful brews Ancient societies brewed flavorful and healing meads, ales, and wines for millennia using only intuition, storytelling, and knowledge passed down through generations―no fancy, expensive equipment or degrees in chemistry needed. In Make Mead Like a Viking, homesteader, fermentation enthusiast, and self-described “Appalachian Yeti Viking” Jereme Zimmerman summons the bryggjemann of the ancient Norse to demonstrate how homebrewing mead―arguably the world’s oldest fermented alcoholic beverage―can be not only uncomplicated but fun. Armed with wild-yeast-bearing totem sticks, readers will learn techniques for brewing sweet, semi-sweet, and dry meads, melomels (fruit meads), metheglins (spiced meads), Ethiopian t’ej, flower and herbal meads, braggots, honey beers, country wines, and even Viking grog, opening the Mead Hall doors to further experimentation in fermentation and flavor. In addition, aspiring Vikings will explore: • The importance of local and unpasteurized honey for both flavor and health benefits; • Why modern homebrewing practices, materials, and chemicals work but aren’t necessary; • How to grow and harvest herbs and collect wild botanicals for use in healing, nutritious, and magical meads, beers, and wines; • Hops’ recent monopoly as a primary brewing ingredient and how to use botanicals other than hops for flavoring and preserving mead, ancient ales, and gruits; • The rituals, mysticism, and communion with nature that were integral components of ancient brewing and can be for modern homebrewers, as well; • Recommendations for starting a mead circle to share your wild meads with other brewers as part of the growing mead-movement subculture; and more! Whether you’ve been intimidated by modern homebrewing’s cost or seeming complexity in the past―and its focus on the use of unnatural chemicals―or are boldly looking to expand your current brewing and fermentation practices, Zimmerman’s welcoming style and spirit will usher you into exciting new territory. Grounded in history and mythology, but―like Odin’s ever-seeking eye―focusing continually on the future of self-sufficient food culture, Make Mead Like a Viking is a practical and entertaining guide for the ages.

A complete guide to using the best ingredients and minimal equipment to create fun and flavorful brewsAncient societies brewed flavorful and healing meads, ales, and wines for millennia using only intuition, storytelling, and knowledge passed down through generations—no fancy, expensive equipment or degrees in chemistry needed. In Make Mead Like a Viking, homesteader, fermentation enthusiast, and self-described “Appalachian Yeti Viking” Jereme Zimmerman summons the bryggjemann of the ancient Norse to demonstrate how homebrewing mead—arguably the world’s oldest fermented alcoholic beverage—can be not only uncomplicated but fun. Armed with wild-yeast-bearing totem sticks, readers will learn techniques for brewing sweet, semi-sweet, and dry meads, melomels (fruit meads), metheglins (spiced meads), Ethiopian t’ej, flower and herbal meads, braggots, honey beers, country wines, and even Viking grog, opening the Mead Hall doors to further experimentation in fermentation and flavor. In addition, aspiring Vikings will explore: • The importance of local and unpasteurized honey for both flavor and health benefits; • Why modern homebrewing practices, materials, and chemicals work but aren’t necessary; • How to grow and harvest herbs and collect wild botanicals for use in healing, nutritious, and magical meads, beers, and wines; • Hops’ recent monopoly as a primary brewing ingredient and how to use botanicals other than hops for flavoring and preserving mead, ancient ales, and gruits; • The rituals, mysticism, and communion with nature that were integral components of ancient brewing and can be for modern homebrewers, as well; • Recommendations for starting a mead circle to share your wild meads with other brewers as part of the growing mead-movement subculture; and more! Whether you’ve been intimidated by modern homebrewing’s cost or seeming complexity in the past—and its focus on the use of unnatural chemicals—or are boldly looking to expand your current brewing and fermentation practices, Zimmerman’s welcoming style and spirit will usher you into exciting new territory. Grounded in history and mythology, but—like Odin’s ever-seeking eye—focusing continually on the future of self-sufficient food culture, Make Mead Like a Viking is a practical and entertaining guide for the ages.

Jamie Hattori's alter ego, the masked hero Kensei, has been doing pretty well protecting her neighborhood from petty villains with her martial arts skills, her father's katana, and a little help from the local spirits. But things get rough when the spirits start flaking out, the Goddess of Discord throws a few cursed apples, and an online gossip site sics an angry football player on her. Then there's her slipping grades, the vampire owls, and the cute roller derby chick looking for romance. And even worse, Jamie's hero-hating mom is starting to get suspicious. Can Jamie defeat her mysterious nemesis without tearing her family apart? And more importantly, will she score her first kiss?

Jamie Hattori can't get a break. As the superhero Kensei, she defeated the goddess Eris and figured her life could just get back to normal. Or, at least, as normal as things can be when you fight crime and can talk to the spirit world. But now her girlfriend is flaking out on her, her parents have separated, and a World War Two supervillain has come back from the dead with plots to kill Jamie. As if that wasn't bad enough, she has to deal with two of her least favorite people: her grandparents.

Jamie Hattori can't get a break. As the superhero Kensei, she defeated the goddess Eris and figured her life could just get back to normal. Or, at least, as normal as things can be when you fight crime and can talk to the spirit world. But now her girlfriend is flaking out on her, her parents have separated, and a World War Two supervillain has come back from the dead with plots to kill Jamie. As if that wasn't bad enough, she has to deal with two of her least favorite people: her grandparents.

Jamie Hattori, who fights crime as Kensei, is not the only superhero in her neighborhood. Traffic Enforcer is an obsessed vigilante with a grudge against vehicular crimes. When a demon-possessed car begins terrorizing her neighborhood, Jamie is torn between protecting her neighborhood, maintaining her school responsibilities, and protecting the neighborhood from the other "hero."

Parker Fiorenza always wanted to be a superhero. When a supervillain implanted new memories and skills into her brain, she thought this could be her chance. Instead she's dealing with an equal mix of boredom and poorly-timed blackouts. Just as she's about to hang up her mask, she's thrust into being the only person who can stop a sinister plot by a retired super-spy. She might be a hero whether she wants to or not.

Two weeks before St. Patrick's Day, a leprechaun magically appears in children's homes around the world. The Leprechaun tells his own story on how his job is to deliver mischief and fun. But, you have to find him before he can run! He is quite the prankster. At night while you are sleeping he darts all over your home, in the day time he watches to make sure fun and games are carried out. Build a trap and try to catch the little green elf on St. Patrick's Day. If you don't, he will be back to play on next year's green holiday. A charming tale for St. Patrick's Day. For added fun and St. Patrick's Day excitement, Each evening, hide a Leprechaun doll in your home and have your children search for the little green fellow in the morning!