i hope you all have had a wonderful holiday, filled with memories and happiness.
we had a very brief and quiet holiday, bernie works nights so he got up at 1:30 in the afternoon, i didn't wake him earlier.
we had a nice meal, the ham i got the other day, brussels sprouts and roasted sweet potatoes
then we had tea and pfeffernusse cookies.
he had to leave at 5:30 so really he only had time to bring in wood....and relax a bit after dinner
now since this posts in the morning, my day after is going to be errands, post office, feed store, pet food store.
friday i have another eye doctor appointment, plus then some food shopping.
i am trying to get a handle on this new routine, so i can get back to painting
the painting that is currently on the board is the quail!
bernie and i aren't sure the quail are eating.....we put food in their bowl, and i moved the bowl to the back of the pen where they've been hanging out
if i don't see them eating tomorrow we'll move them back to the crate.....they seemed to do fine in there... so if that's what they prefer, that is what they will get.
luigi the baby buck hasn't been around, and i saw a small button buck on the side of the road the other day.......it maybe was him.
it's sad but it's life.
let's see........ oh i am going to be doing a bunch of freezer meals with ham (this is a big ham!) and then broth from the bone for beans ...ham broth makes a good base not only for beans but i also mix it half and half with chicken and make all sorts of mixed soups with it....
a potato or potato and leek soup in a ham broth is very good
i keep ham broth either frozen or i can it (pressure can the clear broth at 10-15 depending on your elevation, for 90 minutes for the quarts)
i hope those of you up north here are staying warm, it was BITTER cold this morning.
bernie called me from the parking lot of his job to tell me he was warming up the car to leave and that it was really cold.
since he put the storm in the one window i can't do myself (in the studio-he has trouble with it too but he's taller) the studio is staying much warmer for a longer time. i was able to sleep til midnight ......stoke the stove then sleep until 4am
i didn't sleep well without him there but i did get some light sleep
and i am so thankful that this year we aren't getting bernie ready to go over the road for almost three months.....he's grateful too.
anyway i hope you all had wonderful holidays.
Showing posts with label canning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canning. Show all posts
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
how to make stock, more pantry notes
here is a past post for you to laugh over, it's from when Thaddeaus Peabody was young (we all know and love the little devil cat from hell right?)
it's called 'are you sure you are a cat'
a bit more pantry notes:
essentials- things like baking soda and baking powder, salt, herb/spices, sugar, flour, various oils and flavorings, rice, pasta, cocoa, jello, home canned pickles.....things like that
things we need every day, i try to always have a backup on the shelf. i occasionally do run out but it's pretty rare now.
i have a list for this too.
i also have a smallish cabinet for some of this
now if you have your list of meals, this list, and an idea of what you'd like put by, we can talk about what type of freezer containers for the meals, and jars for either the dried stuff and the home canned stuff.
i use a vacuum sealer, freezer containers, and currently for the milk i froze, empty spring water bottles. (those are for short term freezing of milk)
for the emergency pantry, i keep actual cooked meals in the freezer and home canned jars of foods such as stews, that really helped during the power outage we had with hurricane sandy. i was able to reheat food on the wood stove. *** i use the OLD corning ware that can go on the stovetop and in the oven, not the french white stuff that is not stove top safe
the turkey stock i froze the other day, is in quart round freezer containers, labeled with the month/year and the type stock 'turkey' ....
if you get into the habit of every time you make a chicken or a turkey, and you use the leftover carcass to make stock, you shouldn't ever have to worry about having stock in the freezer again.
*** a fast way to make stock- you can reroast the carcass or bones to make the stock a darker color, but i don't always do that...i do however scrap the 'fond' out of the bottom of the roasting pans, and i save ALL the leftover juices for the stock.
fill a stockpot with cold water, add the carcass or bones, and if you want to use them, vegetables such as onion or leek, carrot, garlic, celery, and possibly if you like the taste a parsnip.
(save the parsley and or dill for later on in the cooking process)
simmer for a few hours, adding water if you have to
if you do salt, (i don't usually) use kosher salt, as the taste is better i think.
don't be afraid to taste your stock, and also if you need to ....let it simmer down and concentrate it to save room.
when it's finished, strain out the bones, and the veggies.....
you can put it in the fridge overnight then remove any fat layer that's on the top, but i do keep some fat with the stock...... as my dad used to say, 'you need some of the fat' turns out he was right, as there are fat soluble vitamins in it!
stock in the freezer is something i've always done, i've also canned stock for the pantry
that is done in a pressure canner at 10# for my elevation, 15 minutes.
i am also hoping to get around to listing some of the books i love for canning, dehydrating, and putting food by.
plus maybe a list of some of the varieties of veggies i grow for freezing and canning...
if you are interested please let me know.
now the other thing i wanted to tell you folks, i am thinking of moving the blog to wordpress, i've been with blogger for about ten years now, and i am thinking that it's time to move on
i have over 1600 posts here, some useful, some funny, some just daily life, and a few vents on when stuff goes wrong.
right now i am extremely disappointed in google, and blogger so i am going to think seriously about this
if i move to wordpress, it would be a paid website hosting due to the sheer size of the this blog,
which means i would also have to really decide to actively make this a job. that is in addition to painting...... i think i could do both interchangeably
if you have any opinions on this let me know ok?
til next time
vi
it's called 'are you sure you are a cat'
a bit more pantry notes:
essentials- things like baking soda and baking powder, salt, herb/spices, sugar, flour, various oils and flavorings, rice, pasta, cocoa, jello, home canned pickles.....things like that
things we need every day, i try to always have a backup on the shelf. i occasionally do run out but it's pretty rare now.
i have a list for this too.
i also have a smallish cabinet for some of this
now if you have your list of meals, this list, and an idea of what you'd like put by, we can talk about what type of freezer containers for the meals, and jars for either the dried stuff and the home canned stuff.
i use a vacuum sealer, freezer containers, and currently for the milk i froze, empty spring water bottles. (those are for short term freezing of milk)
for the emergency pantry, i keep actual cooked meals in the freezer and home canned jars of foods such as stews, that really helped during the power outage we had with hurricane sandy. i was able to reheat food on the wood stove. *** i use the OLD corning ware that can go on the stovetop and in the oven, not the french white stuff that is not stove top safe
the turkey stock i froze the other day, is in quart round freezer containers, labeled with the month/year and the type stock 'turkey' ....
if you get into the habit of every time you make a chicken or a turkey, and you use the leftover carcass to make stock, you shouldn't ever have to worry about having stock in the freezer again.
*** a fast way to make stock- you can reroast the carcass or bones to make the stock a darker color, but i don't always do that...i do however scrap the 'fond' out of the bottom of the roasting pans, and i save ALL the leftover juices for the stock.
fill a stockpot with cold water, add the carcass or bones, and if you want to use them, vegetables such as onion or leek, carrot, garlic, celery, and possibly if you like the taste a parsnip.
(save the parsley and or dill for later on in the cooking process)
simmer for a few hours, adding water if you have to
if you do salt, (i don't usually) use kosher salt, as the taste is better i think.
don't be afraid to taste your stock, and also if you need to ....let it simmer down and concentrate it to save room.
when it's finished, strain out the bones, and the veggies.....
you can put it in the fridge overnight then remove any fat layer that's on the top, but i do keep some fat with the stock...... as my dad used to say, 'you need some of the fat' turns out he was right, as there are fat soluble vitamins in it!
stock in the freezer is something i've always done, i've also canned stock for the pantry
that is done in a pressure canner at 10# for my elevation, 15 minutes.
i am also hoping to get around to listing some of the books i love for canning, dehydrating, and putting food by.
plus maybe a list of some of the varieties of veggies i grow for freezing and canning...
if you are interested please let me know.
now the other thing i wanted to tell you folks, i am thinking of moving the blog to wordpress, i've been with blogger for about ten years now, and i am thinking that it's time to move on
i have over 1600 posts here, some useful, some funny, some just daily life, and a few vents on when stuff goes wrong.
right now i am extremely disappointed in google, and blogger so i am going to think seriously about this
if i move to wordpress, it would be a paid website hosting due to the sheer size of the this blog,
which means i would also have to really decide to actively make this a job. that is in addition to painting...... i think i could do both interchangeably
if you have any opinions on this let me know ok?
til next time
vi
Monday, December 09, 2013
painting update
and i am already starting to look forward to the finish on this and starting the next one (6 seems to be my normal series, with the crows being an anomaly right now -- however i plan on doing series of 13 for calenders in the future)
to get back to discussing the stocking of a pantry, i would like some feedback from you folks, if this is at all helpful to you.
in the meantime, once you have a list of meals, also make a list (separate paper) of the things you use with them, such as ketchup, coffee, other condiments, you can even list things like napkins.
*** now i have found that almost everything goes on sale at least once a year, with the possible exception of the 'grain free' cat food that we feed the cats....... for you to save the most amount of money, you need to be able to stock enough to last you from one of the 'best price' sales to the next.....
for some things that is yearly but most stuff that is about six months. take butter, we tend to see it on sale here in may, and then again november. it's under 2.00 a pound on sale- so i tend to get at least enough to last me to the next big sale......and throw it in the freezer. if you don't have a big freezer this won't work for you, but there is also a way to CAN butter..... just a thought***
when i decided to stock the pantry for a full year, i made a LOT of lists.
for a two week pantry it isn't too bad, the list of meals, then double or triple the ingredients, and pick them up. plan for the sale items that week for your meals
also keep buying water,....
i pick up things like batteries, periodically when there are sales, ditto on the light bulbs
i hit a great sale in september on pasta, that normally is about 1.50 a pound, i got it for 67cents a pound..i bought 15 pounds and i put it in mason jars. we eat about a pound for a supper and a lunch for two......that is going to last a bit added to what i already have on the shelf
i would also suggest strongly learning to can if you don't already.
now canning most fruits and tomato products involves a boiling water bath.. i used to use a 'canner' for this, now i use my big stockpot with the pasta insert! works great.
i would also like to suggest that you start either batch cooking, or double/triple your recipes. Storing the extra in the freezer.
when i worked outside the home, i cooked one saturday a month, we went food shopping friday night, and i cooked and put away raw meats in the freezer on saturday. now what works for me is batch cooking.
chicken parts on sale, i get 40 pounds and cook some into recipes and freeze some in marinades....
of course normally once a year i get 120# of boneless skinless chicken breasts (when they are under 1.80 a pound) and i slice them, cube them, bread some (link to my 'bread coating for chicken, pork, etc), and freeze some in marinades.
now a word about where to store everything..... i have a very small house, without closets, and the kitchen is a nightmare-(it's a glorified hallway with four doorways, all of which are essential, very little wall space, too narrow for an real island, and NO COUNTER TOPS- and due to a new faucet, terrible water pressure) ... we also have a damp basement with a partial dirt floor .... the joys of an old house,.... so storing the pantry is in several locations.... even in the damp basement, which doubles as night and winter quarters for the poultry, and a cold cellar for the potatoes. (mom was right, there always is a silver lining if you look hard enough)
for me the challenge to be ready for emergencies and to find new and better ways to save money is not only compelling but it's bailed us out on more then one occasion, so i wish that for you as well.
during hurricane sandy we were just slightly uncomfortable. the biggest thing was no running water.
during times of financial difficulty this made the difference in our surviving or starving.
and during better times, we were able to save some money towards retirement.
now if you want me to continue this as a sort of formal series here, please let me know
for us ..... living this way is a way of life.
without even thinking about it, i get ready for each season.
i even pick the seeds for the garden by what keeps the best for drying, freezing and canning.
(which can be a whole other series)
in the meantime
my turkey stock for the other day is in the freezer, part of the ongoing pantry.
Friday, November 29, 2013
GOOD morning! how was your holiday?
i hope everyone had a wonderful day.
we had a very quiet day.
we won't discuss HOW stuffing ended up on my head......
(except to say it was my own stupidity--)
we have hot water again so i was able to take a shower....YEAH!!
i really didn't want to walk around smelling like sage and turkey, (cause no matter how hard you try a sponge bath doesn't really do it as i have discovered) i had visions of every stray carnivore in 15 miles following me around.
i will admit to being lazy about our meal prior to yesterday. we'd had mashed potatoes earlier in the week so we had saved them for yesterday. we roasted sweet potatoes instead of that casserole with the marshmallows and i threw the cranberries in a pot to make sauce as i was letting the turkey rest.
here is a very fast way of making home made cranberry sauce.
i don't really measure things so i am going to give you an approximation
1 bag of fresh cranberries, usually about 12-16 oz
1 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider, or apple juice, OR orange juice
1 whole organic orange or tangerine (you're going to zest the colored part of the peel into this
3 spokes off a star anise
zest the citrus fruit into the pan, and if you didn't use orange juice as the liquid, then squeeze the juice out of the citrus fruit into the pan.
then dump all the rest into a sauce pan and bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally.....i gently boil it until things sort start to pop and the liquid is nice a red.
it will start coating the spoon....
that's it .....it is pretty much done. fish out the star anise and toss that into the compost.
chill it, and there you have it
if you want to can it, i put it in either the small (see the picture-i even made it sorta pretty for you all) 4oz jars or the 8oz jelly jars.
i use a boiling water bath canner and it's 10 minutes time.
now you can also at that point chop some apple into it
and or add some chopped nuts
one of my friends chops bananas into his.
this is fun so experiment a bit.
i was snacking on this sauce last night long after supper.
a fast note on this, i put it in the small 4oz canning jars for serving, cause it looked so cute in there, and it was just about the right amount per person (if you love cran sauce like i do)
ok, now in my painting news, i am still working on photographing my work, having discovered that thought i THOUGHT i was doing the custom white balance correctly, it turns out i wasn't! (remember the polar bear painting from the other day where i showed you what a difference a good crop makes?)
so since i discovered that youtube video on my camera's white balance i realized i needed to reshoot almost all the paintings again.
guess what i am doing today? and tomorrow most likely, and well......i guess every day until i get them all done.
i am working hard on getting them ready to offer the prints in the etsy store i in the middle of working on.
i've also started writing the stories behind how each series started, and what i was going through while painting them, which will go on the listings and also be printed and enclosed with the digital prints.
i am also beginning to plan a kickstarter for valentines day or spring/easter
so if anyone wants to give me some feedback on what they would like to see my images on....... that will become part of the set up. and yes i will blog about it
i personally would LOVE to offer garden flags, i don't know why i want to see my work on them so much, maybe because i have a few and really do like them.
i will be submitting to toland flag in a few weeks hoping to become one of their artists, but i am also going to inquire about having them do a run of a custom flag for me to maybe offer on etsy.
i will tell you folks, any imput any one of you may have for me would be invaluable.
so either post in comment or email me from the 'email me' button
(actually someone want to email me from that email button to make sure it works ok? i tweeted it a bit)
now december of 2014 marks the 10 year anniversary of this blog. yes it's true, i been blowing hot air for ten whole years on this blog! amazing huh?
i am thinking i need to celebrate, so i am planning on having a giveaway.... i am not sure what yet, or how to do it but i'm open to suggestions
so now, i am going to finish this cup of coffee, and get started on my list of chores
i hope everyone has a wonderful start to the holiday season
edited to add, since the inception of this blog, it's been a way to talk to my online friends over a cup of coffee, normally i post either after supper (and publish that in the morning) or in the morning when i drink my coffee. just so you all know.....for the most part it is just us over coffee!
someone pass the bagels now?
we had a very quiet day.
we won't discuss HOW stuffing ended up on my head......
(except to say it was my own stupidity--)
we have hot water again so i was able to take a shower....YEAH!!
i really didn't want to walk around smelling like sage and turkey, (cause no matter how hard you try a sponge bath doesn't really do it as i have discovered) i had visions of every stray carnivore in 15 miles following me around.
i will admit to being lazy about our meal prior to yesterday. we'd had mashed potatoes earlier in the week so we had saved them for yesterday. we roasted sweet potatoes instead of that casserole with the marshmallows and i threw the cranberries in a pot to make sauce as i was letting the turkey rest.
here is a very fast way of making home made cranberry sauce.
i don't really measure things so i am going to give you an approximation
1 bag of fresh cranberries, usually about 12-16 oz
1 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider, or apple juice, OR orange juice
1 whole organic orange or tangerine (you're going to zest the colored part of the peel into this
3 spokes off a star anise
zest the citrus fruit into the pan, and if you didn't use orange juice as the liquid, then squeeze the juice out of the citrus fruit into the pan.
then dump all the rest into a sauce pan and bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally.....i gently boil it until things sort start to pop and the liquid is nice a red.
it will start coating the spoon....
that's it .....it is pretty much done. fish out the star anise and toss that into the compost.
chill it, and there you have it
if you want to can it, i put it in either the small (see the picture-i even made it sorta pretty for you all) 4oz jars or the 8oz jelly jars.
i use a boiling water bath canner and it's 10 minutes time.
now you can also at that point chop some apple into it
and or add some chopped nuts
one of my friends chops bananas into his.
this is fun so experiment a bit.
i was snacking on this sauce last night long after supper.
a fast note on this, i put it in the small 4oz canning jars for serving, cause it looked so cute in there, and it was just about the right amount per person (if you love cran sauce like i do)
ok, now in my painting news, i am still working on photographing my work, having discovered that thought i THOUGHT i was doing the custom white balance correctly, it turns out i wasn't! (remember the polar bear painting from the other day where i showed you what a difference a good crop makes?)
so since i discovered that youtube video on my camera's white balance i realized i needed to reshoot almost all the paintings again.
guess what i am doing today? and tomorrow most likely, and well......i guess every day until i get them all done.
i am working hard on getting them ready to offer the prints in the etsy store i in the middle of working on.
i've also started writing the stories behind how each series started, and what i was going through while painting them, which will go on the listings and also be printed and enclosed with the digital prints.
i am also beginning to plan a kickstarter for valentines day or spring/easter
so if anyone wants to give me some feedback on what they would like to see my images on....... that will become part of the set up. and yes i will blog about it
i personally would LOVE to offer garden flags, i don't know why i want to see my work on them so much, maybe because i have a few and really do like them.
i will be submitting to toland flag in a few weeks hoping to become one of their artists, but i am also going to inquire about having them do a run of a custom flag for me to maybe offer on etsy.
i will tell you folks, any imput any one of you may have for me would be invaluable.
so either post in comment or email me from the 'email me' button
(actually someone want to email me from that email button to make sure it works ok? i tweeted it a bit)
now december of 2014 marks the 10 year anniversary of this blog. yes it's true, i been blowing hot air for ten whole years on this blog! amazing huh?
i am thinking i need to celebrate, so i am planning on having a giveaway.... i am not sure what yet, or how to do it but i'm open to suggestions
so now, i am going to finish this cup of coffee, and get started on my list of chores
i hope everyone has a wonderful start to the holiday season
edited to add, since the inception of this blog, it's been a way to talk to my online friends over a cup of coffee, normally i post either after supper (and publish that in the morning) or in the morning when i drink my coffee. just so you all know.....for the most part it is just us over coffee!
someone pass the bagels now?
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