Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?

Who among us doesn't love good mustard? French, coarse, honey, yellow...you name it, there are millions of flavors and brands on the market, some better than others. Just imagine, a beautiful corned beef on dark rye, slathered with spicy brown deli-mustard or..........oh, sorry, I was drifting off into a deluxe hot dog fantasy.

But, before I get into this wonderful recipe, I have to give mad props and a shout out to the sources that inspired me to stay home on a Friday night to make mustard - really, who does that? It all started with a Facebook post by David Lebovitz, a food blogger living in Paris, who along with his own awesome foodie adventures, often posts links to other bloggers who are doing insanely cool things. The link led me to Hank Shaw's blog, honest-food, which I consider to be the zenith, the apex - no, the sick-nastiest foodie blog I've come across...possibly ever.

Here's how the mustard deal went down......and once you realize how easy it is to make, you'll be down too.

Start with a nice clean jar - it doesn't need to be a mason jar - any kind that has a tight seal will do. I just happen to like the way these look, and since I have a thing for glass, I tend to collect all kinds of interesting containers to decant stuff into. I know, don't say it - I stay in Friday nights to make mustard and I collect glass containers - I'm a freak - there, I said it.

 You can use a little coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle to grind the seeds, but I like my mustard coarse, so I opted for the old fashioned way - plus, I really, really, really like this tool.

 Grind the mustard seeds up - making sure to leave plenty whole.

 Okay - besides glass, I love. Love, LOVE salt. This is coarse sea salt.

 I used this lovely raw honey to sweeten up the mustard from  Kirk Webster, a Vermont bee keeper - Rock on Kirk!

p.s. Thanks for the gift Bill&Kat

I used straight up golden sherry because I love the rich flavor

 I had chives in my garden, so I used those - just snipped 'em up and blended them in

There she is - my lovely jar of mustard that will now sit for 24 hours before I can use it. I'm already planning to use it on a ham, a mongo deli-style sandwich and salad dressing.

Mustard - Makes about 1 cup (Recipe adapted from honest-food)

• 5-6 Tbsp. mustard seeds
• 1/2 cup mustard powder
• 3 Tbsp. vinegar (cider, white wine or sherry) - I used straight up sherry
• 1/2 cup white wine or water (I used both)
• 2 tsp. salt

Optional

• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. grated horseradish
• 1/4 cup minced fresh herbs (anything you like)

1. Grind the whole mustard seeds for a few seconds in a spice or coffee grinder, or by hand with a mortar and pestle. You want the seeds to remain mostly whole because you are using mustard powder too.
2. Pour the semi-ground seeds into a bowl and add the salt and mustard powder. If using, add one or more of the optional ingredients too.
3. Pour in the vinegar and wine or water, then stir well. When everything is incorporated, pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge. Wait at least 24 hours before using. Keeps for several months in the fridge.