Canning Cherries & Stuff

Finally figured out how to can the cherries that have been languishing in the freezer since last year. They were some of the best we've ever had -- I made sure to get the farmer's name & cell number. Young guy, but he sure seems to know what he's doing! We almost missed out -- flew over to meet him in the next town after work one afternoon, and bought all that he had left. And they were so good, I've been "saving them" for something special. Did use some for homemade ice cream a while back, which they really made sing! But they've been in there long enough that I knew I'd better do something with them, or I'd end up having to toss them -- which would be a real shame! It's been in the back of my mind for a while, and when I was looking through the Ball book tonight, I came across a recipe. Didn't end up using it, exactly, because I didn't have almond extract, but it freed me up. So I made a syrup of honey & water, added a tiny bit of raspberry flavoring (to "goose" the cherry flavor a little, just for fun), and a couple teaspoons of natural cherry flavoring. Came out pretty good, though I think I'll leave the raspberry out next time, just for fun. Ended up with 5 pints of cherries & juice, and 2 half-pints of just juice. (Couldn't bring myself to pour it down the drain -- I'll find a use for it, eventually.) Thickened up a little, they'll make a nice topping for cheesecake, or filling for anything baked. It's lovely to finally start getting the full benefit from the time I've spent learning to can!! I still can't decide if I'm more pleased with the variety of things I'm able to put into our food storage, or the quality of the food we're now able to store, or how little is going to waste around here these days, or the money we're saving on groceries (and eating out, when it's not convenient to cook), or the convenience of having really good stuff ready to throw together in a few minutes' time... In any case, I know this is something I'll be doing for the rest of my life!! Read more!

Canning Creatively

I'm finally able to get creative with canning!! When I first learned this art, I knew there was a whole world of cool things waiting for me to explore. But I got as far as pickles, tomatoes and salsa, and got stuck. When I started using my new pressure canner, I realized that it was time to add a good canning book to my reference library. Boy, am I glad I did!!! The "Ball Complete Guide to Home Preserving", has opened up LOTS of new possibilities. That, and the food acidity list I found online (don't remember exactly where I found it, but it's from the FDA, Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition). It's a 6-page list called the "Bad Bug Book: Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins Handbook".

Having "the Ball Book" handy has already helped me a lot -- the recipes are amazing!! It has a jam recipe that calls for both high- and low-acid ingredients ("Carrot Cake Jam", page 39). But I don't especially care for pineapple, at least not in carrot cake, and wanted to leave it out. So I looked on the acidity list, and selected another high-acid fruit -- raisins. Lovely recipe -- the house smells like Christmas!! I also had to adapt it -- like almost all of the jam / jelly recipes, it calls for sugar -- which I can't tolerate at all. So I converted it to honey, but ended up using 'way less than the converted recipe called for. Good thing the jars are sealed -- or I'd probably have a hard time keeping my husband out of it!!

I'm planning to try some of the sauces and other condiments in the book, as I come across the ingredients for them. That's the approach I'm using -- buy whatever's on sale (or, reasonably priced and interesting or unusual), and find a way to fit it into my food storage. For example, one of the local stores has chicken leg quarters on sale right now for $.49 a pound. Over the past three days, I've bought & canned 40 pounds. Our dogs will appreciate it -- and it's cheaper, and better for them, than the canned dog food we often mix with their dry. Another local store had ham for $.88 a pound, so I have a load of pints in the pressure canner now. (I just did 21 pints last weekend, but I'm making it a point to take advantage of sales -- anything under $1.00/pound is fair game.) Last night we had some of the ham I canned last weekend, and it was excellent. Very nice, after a long day, to throw together some instant garlic mashed potatoes, steam some veggies & warm up a jar of ham. Put it right into the microwave, and we ate it right out of the jar -- no extra dish to wash! And, if & when we ever do have to live on our food storage, I'll be able to pop a jar of it into the solar oven (assuming it's a sunny day) to warm it up.

I'm trying to go about this canning (and food storage) business in an organized way, and so recently spent a little time putting the ingredients & quantities for the things I want to try into my Palm. That way, if I come across a good deal on plums, for example, I can get them, along with the other ingredients I need for Plum Sauce.

It is incredible, and extremely satisfying, to have the ability to accomplish whatever I want to, in the kitchen. And I can finally try new & unusual things, which is expanding our food storage options -- both for now and the future. In fact, a wonderful side benefit of all the food storage work I've been doing is that we're eating even better now! And not only do I always have more (and more interesting) things available, we almost never end up running out to buy a meal because there isn't anything in the house that's quick & easy to throw together -- so we're saving money all the way around!!

Now, if I could just figure out how to add about a half-dozen hours to the day... Read more!

Saving Lots of $$$ & Making Real Progress!!!

Spending Less, Saving More (Food)

I've always considered myself to be a pretty frugal shopper, and thought I was getting the biggest "bang" for our food "buck". But over the past several months, I've learned some new tricks. Tonight I took a minute to do some quick math, and realized that I'm spending at least 30% less than I used to on groceries. Not only that, but I'm actually building up our food storage much faster than I ever have before.

A lot of this has to do with learning even better places to find food bargains. The other factor, and it's huge, is having the equipment necessary to prepare what I'm buying for long-term storage. In fact, I'm sort of amazed at the impact that having, and learning to use, the various food storage equipment I've accumulated has made on the cost, and quality, of what I feed my family.

A great example: Today, I bought 10# of chicken leg quarters at $.49 per pound (with bones & skin). Brought it home, raw-packed it into quart jars, and will use it to "jazz up" the dry food my two dogs (and cat) get, at some point in the future. Each jar has two leg quarters (drumsticks & thighs), so I figure they're good for at least a meal, if not two, each. That works out to $.70 per jar ($.35 per meal, if we get two from them), plus a few cents for the gas to run the pressure canner, although I would have had to use some gas to cook it, whether I canned it or not. Compared to the $1.00 per can you pay in the store for dog food (if you buy it on sale), and keeping in mind all the preservatives, fillers & other junk in that can, this ends up being a real bargain -- even with the skin & bones. And although they don't get the bones, they certainly don't mind the skin, or anything else that comes along with it!

The Ball Book

Bought the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving recently, and sat down with it & immediately marked a bunch of recipes. I wish I'd bought this book years ago!!! Not only does it give some excellent basic canning info, it has terrific recipes!!! Anyone who's working on their food storage, and does any canning at all, will be interested in this information. I am especially intrigued by the various sauce and condiment recipes -- a selection of these would certainly be an excellent way to enhance and add variety to the items folks normally store! I've also been looking for a way around buying those expensive little yogurt cups (although they're awfully convenient), and the fruit sauces & syrups look like they'll be just the thing! I'll have to adjust the recipes a little, though -- I can't tolerate white or brown sugar (or molasses) at all, and most of the recipes call for it. Fortunately, this is something I've done a bit of, and so am confident that I'll be able to obtain acceptable results.

I am extremely pleased with the progress I'm making, and the things I'm learning. I'm looking forward to continuing to learn new things, saving money, and expanding my food storage horizons, for some time to come! Read more!

Ok, so I've learned to pressure can, and now have a stock of various kinds of meat in pint jars. I've expanded my food storage options in a lot of other ways, as well. Which is all wonderful -- except that it means I need to re-think my whole approach to our food storage. Because I originally designed it with things already available in mind, many of the things on the list have changed. That's actually a good thing, because it means we're saving A LOT of money -- and getting better quality food in the process. I had several cases of Spam on the list, for example, which sells for about $17 for a case of 8 (12-ounce cans) at Costco. I just canned 21 pints of shank-cut ham for a little over $1 each -- a savings of about $1.80 per pound. So I'm loving the cost savings, as well as the increased VARIETY, but it's causing me to reorganize my whole approach.

So now I need to redo my spreadsheet. That'll take some time, but it will certainly be worth it, because the quality of my food storage is so much better -- much more variety, and far less cost. And instead of basing it on what I can find already prepared and ready to store, I'm starting with whatever's on sale. My rule: Any meat on sale for $1.00 a pound or less is a candidate. So, instead of deciding what to buy & budgeting out when to purchase it, I'm picking up main dish items (meat, pasta, legumes) and building around them. Which means that I'll be adjusting my spreadsheet pretty frequently -- but I'll trade that for the variety, quality and cost savings, any day!

So far, I've been working pretty steadily (and, as my husband has patiently pointed out, single-mindedly) toward my food storage goal. At this point, I've accumulated a good number of pints of meat, as well as some grain, veggies and other stuff, so I feel I can relax a bit. So now my goal is to do one thing each week toward getting our food storage in order. My plan, then, is to watch the sales (whether on meat, fruit, veggies, paper goods...), and pick things up accordingly. This should allow me to move forward, picking up a reasonably balanced selection of things, and still have time to do the rest of life! Read more!

Marinated Mushrooms

Lucked into some mushrooms at a great price yesterday. Found a good recipe (on Recipezaar, I believe -- "Laurel's Marinated Mushrooms (Easy Canning)" for marinating & canning them in a water bath, like pickles -- which they basically are. It was good to use the water-bath canner, for a change. I've done so much pressure canning lately (just finished canning 21 pints of ham) that it's a good refresher. The recipe indicates it makes 12 - 15 half-pints, but I ended up with way too many mushrooms prepped. So I'll have to can the rest of them tomorrow. I'll probably end up with close to a couple dozen, which is fine with me -- they'll make great gifts!

I have to admit that I did modify the recipe a little, though. It calls for miniature mushrooms, no larger than 1-1/4 inches, with the stems trimmed even with the bottom. Well, I didn't have tiny mushrooms, and I just can't bring myself to toss out perfectly good food -- and I knew I'd never find a use for just the stems -- so I quartered what I had. As it turned out, 1 pound will fill 3 half-pint jars.

I'm a little surprised at how little I'm spending on groceries, these days. Guess buying in bulk (and at the super-duper discount places) really does make a difference. I have had to invest in quite a few canning jars, and will need to buy more, but that's ok -- as long as we don't drop them, they can be used over & over.

Had a magnificent flop tonight. I realized this a.m. that I still had the last 7 or so pounds of a 25# bag of carrots languishing in the bottom of the fridge (already dehydrated the rest). Went online, looking for a candied carrot recipe for canning. (Found one -- carrots, a little fresh or frozen fruit juice -- it also called for butter, although that's controversial.) In the process, I ran across a glazed carrot recipe that called for vanilla. That caused me to "shift gears", and think about something to dehydrate. I tried to make a carrot-applesauce-yogurt "chew" (like fruit leather), but inadvertently used an ingredient that had gone rancid. Just about curl your hair! So I tossed that, and ended up making fruit leather with applesauce and yogurt (1:1 ratio). Put some coconut extract & a little honey in, just for fun. Sure smells better than the mushrooms I dehydrated earlier (my husband asked if I was dehydrating liver for the dogs again...). If that works out, I may try it again later, adding some carrots, just for fun. Read more!

Canning Ham, Dehydrating Sour Cream, Freezing Garlic

Bought some ham on super-duper special; the second batch is in the pressure canner now. It's true that it doesn't make much liquid, but I'm going to take Wendy DeWitt's advice & not worry about it. I'm very pleased to be able to add it to our food storage -- it'll be a nice way to break things up a bit, if & when we ever need to rely on it.

I've been dehydrating cottage cheese for some time now (see earlier post), and have recently started to dry sour cream, as well. You can buy it already powdered, but I'd rather do it myself. Saves the shipping charges, and I prefer not to pay for preservatives or other junk. (I prefer the regular, but you can dry low-fat, as well.) It's not hard to do, but there's an extra step, once the sour cream is dried. Like cottage cheese, it's easiest to deal with if you put it by the spoonful onto the mesh drying trays. (You can oil the trays, or use PAM, to make it come off easier, but it's not absolutely necessary). I don't use the leather trays under the mesh (except the bottom one) because it slows the drying down, but you can if you want to. Try to make each "lump" about the same size, and spread them out as evenly as you can, so that they'll dry evenly. Like cottage cheese, about 3/8" thick seems to work pretty well. Once it's dry, take it off the trays & put it into the freezer. When it's frozen, break it up and put it into a regular-mouth, half-pint canning jar (if your blender accepts them), and blend until powdered, or use the regular blender jar, or a food processor. Of course, you can use this freezing technique with other things that don't powder readily. (I suspect you could also get a finer grind on things like carrots and celery this way, but I haven't tried it.)

This doesn't happen to me often, but I actually ran out of fresh garlic recently. So I bought the industrial-sized container of peeled garlic yesterday at Costco. I'm going to mince it in the food processor (with a little oil mixed in to make it easier to work with later, but you can skip that if you prefer). I learned recently that you can freeze it in little "logs", and break off little clove-sized pieces when you need it. Shouldn't run out of garlic again for quite a while!!

Everything I'm doing has or will ultimately save us money, and I'm extremely grateful for that. I'm saving money now on meat and other perishables because I can stock up when they're on sale, I'm saving money by making sure fewer things go to waste, and I'm saving money (and making my life easier) by pretty much always having what I need on hand for whatever I'm in the mood to cook. I'm also finding that I'm not cooking the same old things out of habit, because I have a greater variety of things on hand & ready to use, and we're both enjoying that!!

I'm very grateful for the opportunity to build up our food storage. And I can't decide which I like better -- the adventure of learning all these new things, the satisfaction of seeing the results of my efforts adding up so quickly, or the money we're saving!! Any way I look at it, I really do feel blessed!!

Note: I added the word "pressure" in front of "canner" above. Even though the banner at the top of the blog reminds the reader that meat must always be pressure canned, I wanted to emphasize that fact and so added this clarification. Read more!

Taking Stock -- Making Progress!!

I'm a little shocked to realize how far I've come. In the middle of January, I set a goal to put together a food supply that would last us for a certain period of time. My goal was to have it in place by the end of the year. I was shocked yesterday to realize what substantial progress I've made toward my goal!!

Obtaining the equipment I needed (new dehydrator, pressure canner) has made a huge difference. So has obtaining a bit of knowledge. But most importantly, I've prayed for -- and received -- assistance.

Part of our goal is to become a good deal more self-sufficient. To that end, even though it's a little late, we're working on a garden. Our goal is to be able to harvest something all year. It can be done, if we plan carefully (and the weather cooperates). I'm intrigued by some of the concepts that can be applied to increase the yield of a given patch of ground -- "square foot gardening" in particular.

Great fun with the flour mill this weekend -- my niece was over, and she couldn't seem to stay away from it!! We ground the flour for the first loaf of bread together, then I turned her loose and she did enough by herself for a second loaf (which she took home). She wanted to do a third batch, so we agreed she would take it home, along with a little yeast, to bake in her stepmom's bread machine. I'm always very pleased when I can give her an experience she probably wouldn't have, otherwise.

Heard back from the Cooperative Extension folks. They sure don't want you to can anything that they haven't personally tested!! I can understand their caution, but it seems to me, if you understand and follow proper procedures, and apply correct principles, you ought to be able to get creative. The whole reason I invested in the pressure canner in the first place is to be able to can whatever I want to! Just the same, I've ordered the Ball book (the "last word" in home canning info). But of course, I couldn't wait -- canned some beef stew last night. Took a look at the beef stew recipe / instructions in the book that came with the canner first, of course. The jars all sealed (you can tell by gently tapping the lids -- a high-pitched "plink" means they're sealed; a low, dull sound means you need to refrigerate & consume in the next few days), so I'm assuming they're fine.


Very encouraging to realize the progress we're making! Read more!

I'm No Longer Afraid of Home-canned Chicken

I'm no longer afraid of home-canned chicken.

I spent a good part of the day on my feet, in the kitchen, "putting things up", to use that quaint old expression, and now I get my reward (the one I get today, anyway)-- I get to write about it.

I set a goal earlier this year, and I've been steadily working toward it. And up til this week, we'd gathered several quart jars of dried carrots, a quart or so of dried celery (very glad for my new dehydrator!!), 36 pounds of pasta, some powdered eggs, and a few other assorted items. I now own a new dehydrator, and have begun using my trusty old FoodSaver in a new way.

A new All American pressure canner (the one that doesn't need a gasket) arrived on Monday -- and I have not been able to leave it alone since I hefted it out of the box. When I ordered it, I knew it would be invaluable for putting together food storage for the future. But I had no idea what a blessing it would turn out to be for now!!

Learning to work with this (rather substantial, in every way) new piece of equipment was a good challenge, though not an insurmountable one. I kept wishing I had my grandmother at my elbow, to guide and reassure (or my mother, although I don't think she ever got into pressure canning -- pomegranate jelly was more her style)... But Grandma's gone (so is Mom), so I make do. There are many information resources (books, the web (although some should be taken with a grain of salt), the manual that came with the canner), but there is absolutely no substitute for experience. Happily, I've begun to gain a bit of that.

I've begun to learn what things can be canned, and how best to can them (raw pack, hot?). The coolest thing I've learned, so far, is that I can raw pack meat into pint jars (just the right size for my family), can it, and put it on the pantry shelf. And when I come home from work, too tired to cook, it will be there, waiting for me to toss it into a salad, or throw it into a quick sauce, or slice it for sandwiches...

And I'm no longer afraid of home-canned chicken. Because I've canned it myself, and now I understand the process. And I know that it was kept at the appropriate pressure, for the required length of time, and that it continued to boil in the jars, sitting on the counter, for a good half-hour after they came out of the canner.

The sloppy joes turned out great, although I'm not sure they had enough liquid in them. I substituted powdered carrots for the sugar (which doesn't work for me), and I think it made the mixture too thick, once it cooked (in the jars, in the canner). I'm waiting to hear back from the Cooperative Extension as to whether I should keep them, or toss the contents & reuse the jars for something else. Either way, we got at least one meal for my effort, and it was a good thing to try for my first adventure. (4/9/09 Ended up tossing the sloppy joes -- may have been ok, but better safe than sorry...)

The corned beef came out beautiful -- tender, and full of flavor -- although the jars had less liquid in them when they came out of the canner than when they went in. Assuming it's just because I overpacked them (which I'm pretty sure I did), they should be fine to eat. In fact, I don't think I'll ever cook corned beef any other way from now on -- this even beats the crockpot!!

Today, I canned two batches of beans: One plain (black beans), and the other (pinto) sweetened, on the order of three-bean salad. I was surprised when I opened the jar -- the beans are a lovely mahogany color. They could be a bit softer, though -- next time I'll make sure they boil a little harder (they should be boiled for 30 minutes before canning, but I barely kept them at a simmer).

Finally, as the local grocery store is featuring boneless, skinless chicken breasts at a great price, I picked some up. Cut them up (raw) to fit the jars, threw in a little salt, and tossed them into the canner.

So, after carefully canning this chicken, and watching it boil in the jars for a good half hour after I took it out of the canner, I'm no longer afraid of home canned chicken! Read more!

A Pleasant (and Corny) Surprise; Life Under Pressure

Canned my second batch of meat today -- happened to be corned beef, which I picked up at a great price the other day. Wasn't sure how it would can -- you have to simmer it for an hour before you can it (75 minutes at 10# pressure, for pints). Thought it might be overcooked. But, what a lovely surprise to open a jar and find the tenderest, most flavorful corned beef imaginable!! Even better than if I'd cooked it in the crockpot!! DH liked it as much as I did, so I'm hoping to pick up a little more to can.

This pressure canner has opened up a whole new world!! Next I'm going to can some beans -- some plain (black beans) and some pickled (pintos, like 3-bean salad). I read somewhere on the web that a little acid (vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda) in the soaking water will make them more digestible, so I'm planning to try that. I'm hoping that by eating a few of the pickled beans often on our salads, our systems might get more accustomed to them... Especially important, as we lean toward being veg, and a good part of our food storage features legumes in one form or another.

Spent part of the day vaccuum packing things in jars. I have a FoodSaver, and the cannister set that goes with it. But I'm not using the cannisters to store food -- I'm using them to vaccuum seal jars with food in them. Works great!! There are 3 sizes of cannisters in the set, and I used all three sizes to seal various recycled jars (many sizes and shapes) as well as standard canning jars (from 1/4 pint to quart). I packed raisins, chocolate chips, dehydrated carrots & celery, even powdered eggs. I also packed some chile verde sauce that I decanted from a #10 can (bought it for canning pork). That had to go back into the fridge, of course. Then I packed a cube of butter into a 1/2 pint canning jar and vaccuum sealed it. Now it can stay out on the counter -- very nice to have soft butter ready at any moment, and also to save the space in the fridge. But this means I have to leave the FoodSaver on the counter, so I can reseal it after I use it. Ah, well, I suppose that probably has to happen anyway... Read more!

Under Pressure

The pressure canner arrived, just in time for about 45 pounds of pork I bought on sale. Unfortunately, before I got it (and read the instructions), I was under the impression that I couldn't can meat that's been in the fridge for a few days. This happened to have been vaccuum sealed, so it probably would have been fine. But I cubed it, and froze it in 3# packages. As it turns out, it probably would have been better to leave it whole, and in the sealed bags. Ah, well, live & learn...

You can slice the meat so that it'll fit into the jars, throw a little salt in, and can it (no water or broth). I learned this trick from a Wendy DeWitt video presentation. What a pro!! What a great video that is!! (info@brownbaggifts.com) And now I feel even better about my pressure canner purchase -- I can use what I'm preparing to make my life easier NOW, as well as in preparing for the future. Plus, it'll allow me to build our food storage at a much lower cost. (Wendy DeWitt suggests it can be done for about $1.00 per person, per day, and, with the necessary equipment, I think she's pretty much right on.)

I'm very grateful that I've been able to accomplish what I have, so far. And I'm very eager to keep moving forward in putting our food storage together. And, always, so much more to learn, and share... Read more!

Carrots, Cottage Cheese & Home-milled Bread...

I want to talk about baking with the flour from the grain mill (see previous post), but I have to backtrack a little first.

I need to start with carrots. And the dehydrator. Being a baker, and not able to have anything sugar cane- or sugar beet-derived, I've been trying to work out a honey-sweetened cookie recipe that's actually sweet enough. Until I read Mary Bell's "Complete Dehydrator Cookbook", I wouldn't have thought of dehydrating, then powdering, carrots. But dehydrating concentrates the natural sugars in things, so dried carrots are very sweet. So I shredded, dried and then powdered some carrots (the bases of most blenders will accept a regular-sized canning jar, and a 1/2 pint jar, packed full, is the perfect size for powdering the carrots). You have to compensate for the added liquid when you substitute honey for sugar, but instead I just tossed in a couple of tablespoons of carrot powder. Worked like a dream -- nice and sweet, and just about the right amount of moisture! I've since tried this with yeast breads as well, with equally good results. And now that I have them on hand, I'm finding lots of other uses for the dried carrots (and dried celery, and tomatoes...) -- adding them to salad dressings, and to soups and sauces... I've even powdered some fruit leather (put in the freezer first), and put it into cookies. Didn't make the cookies taste "fruity" -- just added a pleasant sweetness, and a little extra moisture.

I've shredded & dried about 50# of carrots so far, ending up with 8 quarts, packed (large-mouth canning jars are great for storing). (Fruits & vegetables typically dry down to about 25% of their original weight & volume.) I'll probably do another 50# shredded (for powdering, or for rehydrating and using in various ways), and at least 50# in slices. Again, I'm trying to build up a supply of foods that can be stored unrefrigerated, that will sustain us in case of an emergency -- even one that lasts a while.

I'm also dehydrating cottage cheese. It was a pleasant surprise to realize that it's actually easier to use once it's dried. I figure it'll be good protein for us and our animal friends. The best buy, both price- and quality-wise, is a 5# tub available at a restaurant supply outlet. I paid about $6.50 for it the other day. I use the mesh dehydrator screens, and put it in tablespoonfuls -- it's easier to work with this way. Crumble it when it's dry. I've used it in spaghetti sauce, and, along with some chopped dried veggies, to jazz up cup-a-soups.

(Incidentally, I wondered what it will cost me to run my dehydrator, and did a little research -- you can find a calculator online. It's a 1,000 watt machine, if it's run at the highest heat setting, but I haven't used it at its hottest yet. If I did, it would cost just under $5 to run for 24 hours.)

As far as the grain mill, I've found it works best if I start on a medium grind setting (it has an adjustment dial, and is infinitely adjustable between very coarse and fine) and work my way to fine, putting it through several times. I could just put it through once and use the flour, and it would make perfectly fine (if a bit heavy) bread. But I want a lighter texture, so it's worth it to me to spend the extra time grinding -- particularly if I'm planning to share whatever I'm baking.

I've read a bit about how wonderful bread made with freshly ground flour is, and I was very eager to try my first loaf. But, so far, I've been disappointed. I don't think it's the flour, though -- it's either the baker or the recipes, or both. (Although I now understand what folks mean when they refer to the "bitterness" of bread made with flour that was ground awhile before the bread was made.) So I went out & invested in the new "Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book" (updated -- now has a bread machine section), and the Peter Reinhart tome that can only be described as a bread-baking textbook: "Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads". I've baked from the former, and thoroughly enjoyed reading the latter -- and the next time I have a week or two to bake a loaf of bread (after first having stopped to set up an Excel spreadsheet -- which he actually recommends!!), I may try his method. Actually, he gives such a promising description of bread baked using his (rather involved) method, that I might try it anyway. Just gotta figure out how to babysit the starter for the first couple of weeks while working full time...

Another happy discovery was that the powdered eggs I purchased for our emergency food storage dramatically expand the kinds of bread that I can bake on the delayed cycle in my bread machine. Normally, breads that contain milk or eggs have to be mixed and baked right away. But it's lovely to be able to put the ingredients into the machine and program it to be ready when we get up the next morning (or when we get home after work...)

Next Time...

My next adventure will be pressure canning. That will allow me to make and store some soups, maybe a few chicken dishes... Should be an excellent way to expand our food storage options...

Read more!

I Don't Remotely Pretend to be a Preparedness Expert...

but I'm sure learning a lot!! And because I think it might be useful to someone else out there, I'm sharing.

My goal is to have enough food on hand so we can survive for an extended period of time, even if we don't have power. And if we don't have power, we probably won't have any way to keep anything cold (let alone frozen!). So I'm focusing on things that have a long shelf life at room temperature.

A good challenge -- it'll take a combination of commercially prepared things and stuff I'll be making myself. I set up an Excel spreadsheet, to help me plan out what to buy & when. If you'd like a copy, email me at calamityjen47@yahoo.com.

One of the ways to prepare things to store at room temperature is to dehydrate them, so I dusted off my old Excalibur dehydrator -- only to realize, after waiting 24 hours for carrots to dry (should take 6), that it was at the end of its useful life. So I logged on to Amazon, and a few days later a beautiful new Nesco model arrived. Came with 8 trays; I bought an additional 2. Now I can dehydrate 10 sq ft of food at a time, at record speed. Came in handy when I lucked into 45# of kiwis and a bunch of almost-past-date liver (for our dogs)!!

So far, I've dehydrated some of the kiwis (made jam with the rest), the liver (VERY popular with the leash-and-collar set!!), lots of carrots (believe it or not, also popular with our canine friends, but very useful in other ways -- more on that later), cottage cheese (ditto), and some overripe bananas. Also made fruit leather (bananas, a package of strawberry-banana Jello and a carton of strawberry yogurt). Delicious, and how nice to use the overripe bananas, rather than tossing them!!

Like everyone else these days, I'm trying harder than ever not to waste anything. When I prep veggies, I hate to waste the trimmings. I was trying to accumulate them in the freezer for stock, but with all the dehydrating I'm doing, it was getting away from me. So now we're tossing them into the garden. We don't have a compost pile just yet, so we're just burying them under a bit of dirt. They'll break down, either way.

Next Time ~

Just bought a grain mill that can be hand-cranked or used with my stand mixer. It'll roll oats and other grains, and can do some other tricks, as well. I'm having a blast learning to use it (and the flour I make with it!!), and will post more when I've got another loaf of bread or two under my belt (pun intended!!). Read more!