Black Friday - Just Staying Home and Enjoying Family

Black Friday is a day I normally don't venture out in. I never really saw the draw, and after working in retail, I certainly don't get it! People start shopping on Thanksgiving now, and will go all the way through into Black Friday. I've talked to some shoppers that don't even have Thanksgiving until the weekend, so that they can shop! Sorry - I was brought up that Thanksgiving family time started on Wednesday evening and went through to Sunday - when everyone had to return home. I long for those days when spending time with  family was more important than rushing out to stand in line for sales of items one really doesn't need anyhow. But that's just me.

I've been pouring over online seed catalogs, trying to decide what we will be planting next year. I am a Sustaining member of Seed Saver's Exchange and an heirloom gardener. I prefer seeds with stories that are open pollinated and love collecting seeds from the plants I grow. It is so much more satisfying for me to do that than to have to buy packets of seeds every year. Don't get me wrong - I still buy and trade seeds, because there's always something different I want to try.

I came across some asparagus seeds at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I've been wanting to plant some asparagus, but the plants can get a bit expensive. I chose the Precoce D'Argenteuil as they can be harvested in their second year instead of the normal three! The packet holds 75 seeds and has a lot of good ratings stating they are easy to grow and delicious, so I have a decent chance of succeeding with them! With them being an heirloom, I'll be able to collect seed and make a really nice bed of asparagus for $3!

I also like MIgardener. Luke offers some amazing seeds at an unheard of price of 99 cents. He has over 500 varieties to choose from and everything I have purchased from his has always performed well for me. He also has a fantastic YouTube channel that has so many wonderful and informative videos. I have followed his channel from almost the beginning. I've learned so much and it's been great watching him grow.

The other place I get open pollinated/non-GMO seeds is from Fedco Seeds. Their prices are good and you get a nice amount of seed for the price. I've also had great success with their seeds in the past. They are out of Maine and have a lot more than seeds. They have trees, plants, tubers, berries, bulbs, etc. The most exciting thing for me is they offer root stock and scionwood for grafting as well as supplies. After I get out gardens established, I'm going to put my grafting classes to good use. Definitely worth a look at their catalogs!

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

Weird Weather and A Late Soap Update

I can't believe the weather these last few days. We went from snow to 60's! It worked in well for putting out the crocus and the garlic late, but the plants are confused. My daffodils are about ready to break through the soil and the chrysanthemums are coming up. My chives are about 6 inches tall and my hydrangea is budding up. I haven't checked the other plants, but I certainly wonder what this late warm weather is going to do to everything. I lost my all my thyme and now wonder if it was from the same reason, as we had strange weather last winter as well.

While I was out doing some catch-up yard work, I gathered the last of my seeds. I got really behind on things, so I didn't really harvest anything. I was lucky and was able to get the seeds from my Dutch and Siberian irises as well as my garlic and regular chives. I found a patch of chives that had reseeded in an area I didn't want them in, so I dug them up and potted them up to keep inside this winter. I've never overwintered chives inside so we'll see what happens. Right now, they aren't looking the best, but this is just after potting them up - complete with dirt still on the side of the pot!

Crisco Soap curing.

Back in January and February of 2015, I made 3 batches of soap. My first batch of soap was from a soap making class that I took locally and it really didn't do very well (you can read more about it here). The second batch was a soap recipe using Crisco and that one traced really quickly (read more here) and the last batch was made following the instructions from Becky's Homestead. This soap was made using olive oil. (more info here). Well, they were cut, cured and then tried, but seemed like each one needed longer to cure. They were put in shoe boxes, put on the top shelf and there they sat, forgotten about, until this past year.

The bars are definitely dried and some have cracked, but they are all still usable. Out of the three, I like the Crisco one the best. It lathers enough to be pleasing, cleans well and doesn't seem to dry my hands out. Becky's recipe didn't do a lot for me. I'm not sure if it's the additives I put in or just not my type of soap, but that stuff will melt quickly and turns slimy. It is certainly not one for the shower. Even after 4 years of sitting in the box!  The one I made from the class is my least favorite. It just doesn't do it for me at all. Maybe because there was the lack of trace, I don't know, but without a recipe, there's not making again to find out.

Will I attempt soap making again? Yes! I just need to get through these bars first. That may be awhile, though, because now that they sat for so long, these guys are taking FOREVER to get through!

Cranberry Sauce Time!

Thanksgiving dinner is not complete without cranberry sauce. Don't take my word for it - ask my son! He will wipe out a whole can himself!!! He prefers my homemade, but will settle for the store bought if he has to, but no matter what kind, it HAS to be on the table.

I'm making 2 batches of sauce from 2 different recipes. I'll be doing my old standby (you can find the recipe here) and I'll be trying the one on the back of the Ocean Spray bag as well as on their website. The one on the bag has less sugar to berry ratio and also has more water and needs to be cooked to gel stage.

I heard that one doesn't need to use a Foley Mill, but can just blend the berries with a hand held stick blender. I don't know how that will work, but will be trying a batch to see. My guess is that it will make a more chunky sauce instead of a smooth one that I get from my mill, because the Foley takes out the skins.

Homemade Jellied Cranberry Sauce

3 cups Cranberries
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Water

Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil, add the cranberries, then return contents to a boil. Reduce heat. Boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

Place a Foley Mill over a medium mixing bowl. Pour contents of saucepan into mill and push through. Remove mill and stir berry mixture.

Pour into serving container or straight-sided jar. Cover and cool completely at room temperature before refrigerating.

Makes 1 cup.

First Snow of the Season

Yesterday at 4:45 am, I woke up to a brighter than normal morning and wondered why. I got up to have a peek and was surprised to see a dusting of snow. It looked a bit more impressive in the wee hours of the morning after the snow. By the time I thought of taking a picture, it was already melting. 

Saturday was a busy day filled with some much needed shopping. First we went to Sam's Club to pick up some of the sale items like peanut butter and raisins. Sam's is never a quick stop because I have so many friends that work there on both Sam's side as well as those that do the demos. Thank heavens hubby is a patient and understanding person!

From there, we went to Tractor Supply because he had to return some tires he had purchased for his garden cart that weren't what he needed. While he was off doing that, I found the clearance section and picked up some crocuses and some organic fertilizer that was on there. I didn't have any clue there would be snow when I woke up yesterday. I may not have gotten them if I had. With that said, the ground isn't frozen yet, so hopefully they'll have a chance and I'll see them next spring.

We discovered the outdoor Amish Farmer's Market was still opened and stopped to see what they'd have this late in the season. It was getting near the time to for the day and they were out of a lot of things, but they had quite a few winter squash left. I got a decent deal on the squash, so I ended up getting about 3 bushels of a mix of spaghetti, acorn, butternut and Kabocha squash for $48. That may seem high to some, but in this area, it's a good price. 

Ollie's was next because we had a 15% off coupon. We had some good finds - like a package of 8 Jello sugar free butterscotch pudding for 89 cents! That's what one costs on sale. We had a few good finds like that and then a few of the normal groceries we get there. 

For the grand finish, we went to the Thanksgiving dinner put on by the local fire department. It's a free dinner for the community, but is all actuality, it's a good fundraiser. I don't think anyone had a dinner without donating something. Personally, I love these kinds of dinners! The menu consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, corn, beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, apple sauce, roll and a dessert - oh yes, and a beverage. 

Overall, it was a great weekend! Nice and busy on Saturday, snowy start yesterday and the rest of the day was filled with church, laundry, and working on the pantry shelves.  Nothing earth shattering, but still busy and at the same time peaceful.

Peanut Butter Crispy Rice Treats

My son is a responsible adult, yet, he can turn back into a kid when he finds out Mom made Peanut Butter Crispy Rice Treats! I saw it last night when he showed up in the kitchen after his Tai Chi practice. His eyes lit up and I swear he was drooling just a bit when he reached for the knife to cut the first piece out of the pan!

I originally didn't plan on making the treats when I bought the marshmallows. I had all intentions of dehydrating them (yes - you read that correctly). They were on clearance at Ollie's for 50 cents and then I came across a sale on Crispy Rice for less than $1.50. Still, I had no intentions, until I opened up the marshmallows to find that they had become sticky and globbed together. These certainly were not dehydrating material! Change of plans!

This was not a problem though, as I ended up with a really happy son!

Peanut Butter Crispy Rice Treats

4 Tablespoons Butter
12 oz bag regular sized marshmallows
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 cups Crispy Rice

Butter a 9" x 13" pan. Set aside. Measure all ingredients ahead of time so they are ready to be added in when needed.

In a pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Add vanilla and mix well. Add peanut butter. Mix well. Remove from heat and add cereal, mixing to coat evenly. Do this quickly as the mixture becomes harder to work with as it cools down. Pour into buttered pan and pan in evenly. Allow to completely cool before eating. Some prefer to cut when warm.

Smoked Chicken Bone Broth

4 smoked chickens covered and resting.

My husband loves to smoke all kinds of meats and anything else he can think of. I gave him a barrel type pellet smoker a few years ago and just this summer I bought him a Pit Boss, which was a larger upright one, for his birthday. He was excited and has used it quite a bit, but not as much as he'd like.

While shopping at the grocery store, I came across 4 chickens that had been marked down to half price. They just magically hopped into my cart and whispered in my ear that they were excellent smoking material. It appears hubby thought so, too, because they ended up in the smoker with a nice coating of a new rub recipe that hubby wanted to try. The chickens were good, but the rub needs a bit a tweaking. I wasn't so fond of all the cayenne pepper that was in it, and hubby had even cut the amount in half.

Cooking with veggies

Now, my turn for excitement. I took the meat off the bones and froze it and put all the bones and skin in the crock pot and covered them with water and added a tiny bit of vinegar to draw out the calcium. I let them cook over night. In the morning, I took out my 20 quart stockpot and transferred the carcasses and stock from the crock pot into the pot. I added onion, celery, garlic, broth and carrots and brought it to a boil, then simmered it for a good 24 hours - making the total simmering time about 36 hours.

Straining through cheese cloth

I then strained out the bones and veggies and then transferred that back to the pot, giving it a second straining - this time through cheese cloth. As chilly as are temps have been, when the pot cooled down some, I took it out to the garage to chill overnight.

The next day, the broth was brought back in the house and I peeled the solidified fat off the top. The broth was heated, brought to a boil then put in hot jars to pressure can.Since this broth was cooked with vegetables, I processed it for the vegetable broth time. 

It always amazes me when I do this. Why? I ended up with a total of 13-1/2 quarts of broth from something I might have thrown out! The onions that were added were parts of onions that I might have thrown out. I save the tip end and root end (I remove most of the brown wrap from the tip and the roots from the end since they are not very clean, and keep the white part). I also keep the tough outer part of the onion that lies beneath the brown protective covering. All of this goes in a freezer bag and kept in the freezer. I will also keep the leaves and tougher stalks from the celery and freeze them as well. Then when I do a broth, I take all the frozen veggies and add them to the water with the carcass. My only cost may be the carrots, garlic and any seasonings I may use plus the cost of electricity to cook it.

13.5 quarts of broth from 4 smoked chicken carcasses.
Dehydrated veggies in background.

If I figured correctly, it cost under $2 for lids and veggies for 13 and a half quarts of delicious and healthy broth. (I did not factor in the cost of the electricity.)

I Can't Wait!

My son gave me some of his college books on WWII and said he thought I'd find them really interesting. It started with "Maus" and then "Maus II". Both books are a definite must read! The have left a lasting impression on me. I then read "Night" and have "The Good Old Days" as well as "The Butcher's Tale" to still read. WWII has always interested me, as my father served proudly served our country during World War II with General Patton's Third Army, 10th Armored "Tiger" Division and 21st Tank Battalion. He participated in the Rhineland, Ardennes and Central European campaigns and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge. Unfortunately, he never spoke of this until just before he died, and many times he was difficult to understand. So now, when I see footage taken at any of these places or find something written about them, I pour over the footage and photos to see if I might see my father in any of them. I know it's probably silly, but there's always that chance.

I came across a find the other day and decided to order 2 books. They are both reproductions of instruction leaflets that were given out during the war and center around how to live with War Rations. The one is a cookbook entitled: "Eating for Victory: Healthy Home Front Cooking on War Rations" and the other is the companion book in the series called "Make Do and Mend: Keeping Family and Home Afloat on War Rations". Both of them are hard cover books that I ordered from the original country of origin: England. I found them online at Abe Books and they cost me less, even with postage, than I could purchase them here in the States! I think it's cool that they are coming from the place that the leaflets were originally published. So many times, reproductions are done elsewhere.

I think these will not only be informative, but could be very useful. It would be nice to have more ideas for using items out of the garden as well as cutting back on meats, etc. I have read that England encouraged healthy living at that and those recipes were part of it. Both books cost $11 including shipping and tax. Now, the hard part will be waiting for them to arrive!

Are they here yet?

How about now?.....

It's going to be a long wait!

Applesauce and Apple Butter - Finished!!!

It really felt good to pull out the last jars of applesauce and apple butter and listen to them ping! They will taste so good this winter. I really hadn't planned on making any this year, but I heard our local orchard had really nice deer apples available for $8.99 a bushel.  I asked hubby to get a bushel on his way home from work one day and was floored to see these "nice" apples! Many were the size of golf balls and some may have reached almost tennis ball size, but that would really be pushing it. What was I going to do with all of those pathetically small apples?!!! (As you can see in the photo, that is only a half bushel of apples. They are tiny!!)

I ended up making 2 large apple crisps, few jars of dehydrated apples, and the rest in sauce and butter. I'm pretty sure the orchard is not organic, so I had to peel them. I had put it off, since I know how long that takes and tried to ignore them as long as possible. I made and apple crisp first and although it was good, I kept wondering if I lost my mind getting these! Then I did the dried apples - oh my. That took forever. It about killed me to to compost all the peelings, because I really wanted to make apple jelly out of them. But at least they didn't go to waste!

I left the second half bushel in garage as long as I could. I tried to ignore it but as the temperatures went down in the teens at night, I knew I had to use them or lose them to the  cold temps. Ignoring would no longer be an option! I peeled and peeled and peeled and then cored for 5 LONG hours. Nope, not an exaggeration. They were too small to go on the apple peeler, so it had to be done the old fashioned way. I can't complain though, as it gave me time to listen to some podcasts that I wouldn't have found otherwise.

I added a few larger apples we had gotten at the university outlet. They have a nice orchard and gardens that are used as classrooms/research for the students. Every year, the abundance is brought in to the outlet and sold. Hubby will pick them up on his way home from work sometimes, so I had a mix of those apples as well. I didn't care for the one batch of sauce that I made. There was a flavor from one type of apple in it I just didn't like. I made apple butter out of that batch and the batch that was made specifically for the apple butter was turned into sauce. That batch had apple cider in it. It's a good thing that one cooks down the apples first before sweetening and adding spices!

I don't normally sweeten, but the spices seem to add a bitterness I didn't like, so I put in a bit of honey and a bit of sugar - I'd say not even a quarter of a cup,  but it made all the difference. I don't think I would have even had to do that if I had cooked this batch with the cider, but it wasn't an issue. I certainly wouldn't have added all the sugar that the Ball book has. Three whole cups for a batch and I had more than one batch in the pot! UGH!

After a few canner loads of jars, I had finally finished what I had put off for so long and it felt good. The jars still need their rings removed, then washed and labeled and finally put away on the shelf. That's on today's to-do list.

 

Not As Prepared As I Thought!

Our electric company scheduled an 8 hour power outage that took place yesterday. They've been warning us about it for weeks, which was really quite nice of them. It was in the 30's yesterday and I got up early to warm the house up, make a nice hot pot of coffee and bake some muffins. At exactly 8am the power went off and stayed off for almost 9 hours.

Although others in the area were upset, I was thankful for the outage. For me, it was like a practice run for the possibility of outages this winter and I found that although I was "prepared" for this one, in all actuality, I was not. Since our home is fully electric (sigh..) we have to improvise a bit. We do have a generator and we tested it out to make sure all is working properly, but didn't really use it yesterday except to run a hot plate to cook dinner on. That's an expensive way to heat up food! I should have had something else like canned heat or tea lights. 

I also need to can some soups or stews so that they will be available to heat up. Nothing warms you up like they do! I'm pretty much an ingredient canner, so I found this to be another weak spot in my being prepare! We did have water and juices but didn't need them, since we are on public water and we didn't lose it. That could always change though.

The house did cool down some, but wasn't unbearable - especially with wearing layers.  The generator will take care of that problem, though. That is, until we would run out of gas. I say that, because I was in an outage that lasted a good week. That was a fun one. We had freezing rain and then snow while there were still leaves on the trees. It took down lines, trees, transformers, made roads impassible and the snow really piled up and covered some of the downed trees, which added to all the mayhem.

I can now take one needed item off the list. I just ordered a pack of Safe Heat Chafing Fuel. That will be one less thing I will need to be concerned about next time. I'm going to have to still put up some soups, but that won't be a problem.

Well, today will be filled with canning up the applesauce and apple butter I made a couple of days ago. I forgot about the power outage when I was cooking it up, but no problem. I just put the big pots out on the grill and that kept them nice and cold. I'll have to heat them up and then adjust the spices, but not an issue.

Playing Catch-up

Summer has come and gone and I won't say I'll miss it this year. It was hot, humid and rainy. I didn't put a garden in because of the cold, rainy weather this spring. I should have attempted something, especially after seeing the prices for produce here! The Farmer's Markets in this area are outrageous to say the least. I know we are in a more prominent area, but gouging will stop me from buying local!

 Wegman's was running a sale on frozen veggies. A pound bag was 79 cents, so I made sure to dehydrate some. I saved 20 cents a pound and all the work was pretty much already done. I told hubby to wait and watch, because the sale ran quite a while, I was sure the veggies were going to go up in price. They have gone back to 99 cents a bag or more, but the bag sizes have gotten smaller. Yup - price increase!

It appears it's really time to buckle down and get serious. We had some serious crop failures this year with lots of rain and flooding plus an early freeze/snow in the midwest as well as down south! Potatoes, seed corn, sugar beets, and dried beans were some of the crops that were affected. I'm sure we are now going to see some price hikes with everything. Those are major crops and many things in the food industry depend on them.

Currently, milk is running $4.20 a gallon at Walmart and Sam's and even more for name brands. I've stopped buying fresh milk. That's just too expensive - especially when other parts of the country are selling as low as $1.50 a gallon! I hate living in a regulated state. It's supposed to help the farmers, but I just heard on the radio that Deen's is going under, because sales dropped, Walmart no longer uses them (Walmart does their own now) and what they do sell isn't enough to support them. It's really sad when specialty milk is cheaper than the real thing! I can get almond milk for $1.75 for a half gallon! I've switched to powdered milk.

I'm anxiously awaiting my garlic order to arrive. I'm very late getting them in, but figured I'd take a chance and try. MIgardener had a sale of them, so I picked up 3 different bulbs to try. According to my tracking number, they are supposed to be delivered today. We've had such cold temps - quite a bit below normal, so hopefully they will do ok. If not - I've only lost 3 heads of garlic and $10.