Sunday, October 31, 2010

THERE ARE BABIES IN THERE

I just went out and took a good look at Jean Doe...the one that didn't want to be bred. I can see her tummy moving! There are babies in there. Jane Doe on the other hand....I can't see anything! And she is the one that actually got bred.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Ok I know I really should be cleaning house but...

The thawed roast needed to be tended to.



This roast is very fatty. This might not work for drying. So i only took a small part of it and cut it into strips to dry.



The trimmings are in a pot to make beef broth. As with the BBQ Pork, this will go in the fridge 24 hours and I will pull off the beef tallow. The broth will be canned and the tallow will be rendered if it is not clean and then frozen.



My bread is done. Slight dent in the middle. Hmmmm my bread making skills are a little off this weekend.



4 smaller unbaked loaves are in the freezer.

Breakfast tortillas are in my tummy. And the left over tortilla dough went to make this yummy looking pizza. This will be dinner for me and the boys tomorrow night before cubscouts.



The other half of the roast is going into the crock pot to cook. I am not sure what I will make out of that yet. I will probably freeze it until I decide.

SUNDAY MORNING BREAD

To get my confidence back up I am making my normal white bread which I am good at. The failure of the salt rising bread was a horrible blow to my self confidence. Silly isn't it?

On the side while the yeast was proofing, I made a batch of homemade tortillas which I have never made before. How do they get them so soft in the packages at the store? Mine came out stiff. Yummy but stiff. My ADD kicked in and I found that after 5 tortillas, I was bored and will need to use the rest of the dough for pizza.

I doubled my recipe for bread which will give me at least 4 loaves maybe 5.

I will bake one. The rest I will get through the first rise (which they are doing right now) and will form them into loaves and put them on cookie sheets in the freezer.

After they are frozen solid I will take them out, wrap them in plastic wrap and foil and then put them back in the freezer. When I need bread I will take them out, unwrap them, put them in a greesed loaf pan and set in a warm place to thaw and rise.

When it is risen I will bake it like normal. So it's kind of my normal bread but with a twist.

I will start looking for a really good heavily nut'd seed'd wheat bread. That is what I would like to get really good at.

Anyone have a recipe?

Saturday, October 30, 2010

TOOL HOUSE HAS A FLOOR



Today's list:
1. feed store-bought 150 lb chick food
2. bought 6 gallons of gas
3. trimmed several trees of low hanging branches as well as scrub growth
4. cleared out the scrub growth in the garden from the old tree
5. pulled out asian yard long beans and threw the bean cages into the chicken yard for them to clean off
6. pulled weeds and winterized 3 raised beds in the kitchen garden
7. fed the rabbits armloads of pulled weeds
8. weed eated the front along the deck
9. dad mowed 2 acres
10. trip to home depot for screws
11 assisted dad floor the tool shed
12. made a batch of homemade pizza crust and froze (small experiment)
13. started a batch of basil vinegar..ran out of vinegar


Sunday to do:

1. make several large batches of home made white bread, give the first rise, punch down, make loaves and freeze them, wrap in plastic wrap and put back in the freezer
2. work on the kids room...clean and make beds, organize the closet
3. guest room-move the cedar chest to my room, make the bed clean and organize the closet
4. wally world: 2 gallons of vinegar; finish the basil vinegar
5. drive to the pumpkin batch and negotiate the purchase of the remaining pumpkins for dehydration
6. come home and relax with a glass of sweet red wine

THE GUILT TRIP

Really mommy...it's cold out here!

Friday, October 29, 2010

SALT RISING BREAD

Tonight I have mixed 2 1/4 cups of flour with 2 cups of very warm water until smooth.

I put it in a bowl that I warmed under hot water and set it on a crock pot half full of warm water and set on low.

I covered it to keep in the warmth because my windows are going to stay open tonight and it will get to 45 degrees outside.

This must ferment for 10-14 hours. I will know it is ready because it will smell like stinky cheese and will be bubbly and foamy.

Tomorrow I will post the next steps.




Thursday, October 28, 2010

FALL PIDDLING

it is an amazing day out. 65 degrees breezy and blue sky! Finally fall is here (I think...you never know about TX)

One load of laundry is drying in the breeze on the line and another is washing.

Frost warning tomorrow night so I know I won't be able to protect the only feeble watemelon so I picked it and a few okra.



It wasn't ripe but I put it in the fridge. I am convinced I can do something with it. My mom used to tell me I would get a belly ache if I ate the rind of a watermelon. You can understand my shock the first time I saw them pickled and just knew someone would be poisoned.



I was looking in the freezer to see if there was something to eat for lunch. I didn't want to eat anything heavy because it is my dad's birthday and we are going out tonight. I found this which I had forgotten about.



This is a package of cantelope that I grew in the summer of 2009. I vacume sealed it because we ate all the rest and I wanted some for the middle of winter. Then I forgot about it.

Since it was still very orange I opened it and tried it frozen. It is amazing! Ok so more cantelope next year to put in the freezer for smoothies...which I am having for lunch today. Just like frozen grapes, these make a great snack frozen. I have heard they are mushy when you let them thaw so I won't.

This is my fall/winter cut and come again salad garden. Since we have frost coming that means due to my procrastination, I will have to go to Lowes after dinner and get pvc and brackets and screws and make a mini green house to protect this.



It is time to make some more pesto too.



Pray for peace for me. I have started the process of refinancing and the stress of what needs to get done before the appraisal is almost too much for me.

I don't know how this lettuce survived. It was eaten completely down by grasshoppers twice. Then the guineas got the hoppers and everything started to grow again.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

FINISHED PRODUCT

Had some boil over. The water is orange. So this might effect the seals on these. I hope not.

THIS IS WHY I SKIM FAT

Right now I am listening to my pressure canner hissing away in the kitchen. I am canning 7 pints of BBQ pork. It tastes so good.

I bought two large packages of boneless pork. I marinaded it in a "not the norm" BBQ sauce as I hate hate hate the kind that has liquid smoke in it.



The next day I put the whole load into my large crock pot and slow cooked it for 10 hours.

Then into the fridge for 24 hours.

This is why.....



I didn't want this much fat in my jars of BBQ Pork. So I skimmed.

Now I have a bowl of fat that I will render and freeze. Who knows what I will use it for. BBQ Scented candles maybe?

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Saturday, October 23, 2010

SATURDAY STUFF

The day outside is drippy...I don't know how else to describe it. Not enough rain to do any good but too much to do much outside.

I am working from home today but took an early lunch to get stuff done. Here are the projects I have started:

PROJECT (EXPERIMENT)1: CANNED EGGS

I only found one website that finally gave details of why people don't can whipped eggs. The end product is not satisfactory...rubbery! Rubbery is ok with me. I feel that if the eggs can successfully you can slide them out of the jar and slice them for sandwhiches ir chop them for salads. Lots of fear is spread through the web pages when you "google" pressure canned eggs. They like to steer you toward pickled or freeze dried eggs with fearful details of botullism and how it can live for hours in boiling water. Well.....it can live on green beans also! But we do that.
So today I began an experiment which will spread over a month or so. I am trying to pressure can eggs.

1. Gather wash and sterilze pint jars
2. Boil lids and keep hot
3. Gather and use only fresh eggs
4. Crack all eggs into a large bowl
5. Today due to the number of eggs, I will be canning only 2 pints. One without salt and one with salt (I forgot to photo the jars in the canner)
Right now I am listening to my pressure canner hissing and and the weight rocking. I am canning at 10# pressure for 40 minutes.




The reason this experiment will take a couple of weeks is because the girls heard I was experimenting with eggs and I think they are hiding them somewhere. So I will tempt them back in the hen house. I put out three 5 gallon white buckets set on their sides and filled with hay as a new egg laying area. They shouldn't be able to resist.

While I was waiting for my jars to sterilize, I started another large batch of cereal.

2 large containers of oats, pine nuts, pecans chopped, walnuts chopped and coconut. The sauce is honey, vegetable oil, molassas and a pinch of salt, vanilla and apple pie season. I will add raisins and dried cherries when it is done baking and has cooled.





I brought my sauce to a boil, put all my ingrediants into a turkey pan because this is such a large batch, and poured the sauce over the dry ingrediants. I stirred well and put into an oven set very low...200 degrees this time. I will bake and stir every 15 minutes or so until it is dry and browned.

When I got the pan in the oven I filled my jars with the experimental eggs and closed the lid. While waiting for the pot to start venting, I sliced my "todays harvest" for the dehydrator as well as a left over bunch of organic celery which I was not going to use before it went bad.



Jalepenos, banana peppers, pablano peppers, and monster okra. Yes it was a little tough but I am going to dry it anyway and will add it to something that has to cook a while.




It is about time to start working again. I will give the cereal one more stir.


****Update; experiment failed

What the websites don't tell you is that the eggs burn! And 1 inch head space is not enough. Eggs swell!

TEXAS RANGERS

OH MY GOSH WE ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!

Friday, October 22, 2010

THE FAIRIE CAME! THE FAIRIE CAME!

Getting home as usual for the last three nights....leave before daylight....get home after dark. Tonight I got home just a little before dark and OMG what did I find???

I pulled under the carport which houses the rabbits and ends in the under construction tool shed and the shed is half sided!!! A ladder was leaning against it and two empty beer cans laying on the ground!

I looked and what did I see? The rabbits were all fed and watered, the egg chickens were all fed and watered and the meat chickens were all fed and watered!

My cat flash said he was NOT fed but I know he is usually a liar.

I walked into my home and what did I find????

My kitchen was clean! The dishes were washed and ready to put away! My stove was scrubbed clean! The floor was clean and the counters wiped off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got a huge sinking feeling...it's the feeling when I know my mom has seen my kitchen dirty.

I called Dad and yes he was at my house but no Mom was not at my house!!! It was all my Dad!!! The whole thing. Mom sais he was gone all day long which was nice so that she could clean her own house in peace but I could tell she was a little miffed that her 80+ yr old husband cleaned someone elses kitchen!

It's like Christmas!

Monday, October 18, 2010

NEW COLLECTION

Last night I went through all of my loose change and pulled out all quarters and dimes dated 1964 and before. I hope you do the same.

This is called junk silver. There was still silver in coins made before then.

Also I will have to soak my pennies in coke to be able to see most of the dates but I will seperate out all pennies dated 1982 and before because they were made of copper then.

Also started a nickel collection. Nickels are still 75% copper and 25% nickel.




Like it or not, metals are a good investment.

I also buy silver coins and squares when ever I can. Beginning this holiday season, I will be gifting silver to my kids and grand kids as well as "preparedness" type stuff. Might seem boring to them but I can't help being concerned the way our future looks.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

I HATE SUNDAY EVENINGS

Yes most of the time they are peace filled but it means the weekend is almost over!

Tonight I made homemade bread in hopes of a visit from my friend but I wasn't feeling good so I had to cancel.



I also made 3 bottles of homemade Ginger Ale. This is by far my favorite homemade soda.



These are my garage sale finds. 1.50 each. I will hang pots or something off of them; Maybe lanterns.




This is one of the table cloths that I got from the dollar store for 1.25. It is heavy and has cloth on the back.

DREAM

I wanted to document this before I forget it. This was the dream I had last night:

I had a job. My job was to identify special people. You know the kind. Those with special abilities. Possiblly magic or special powers of some kind.

It was very important that I find them quickly because I wasn't the only one trying to get to them.

How did I identify them? Well first I used my intuition. Once I thought that maybe I had someone I would track them and watch them....when I was doing this it was like I was invisible because I was with them...right next to them....and they didn't know I was there. I would watch and listen to them.

I would gather the tidbits of information I collected about them and store them in quart sized canning jars. As each jar got full I would put it into a lidded box with dividers.

I would always watch the woods while I was tracking a person because I knew what was coming. I could see flits of movement through the trees...occasionally a tail...a wing...and eye.

As soon as an identification was made I had to grab the person...usually a teenager...and kidnap them for the purpose of protection. I would take them...and their box of jars and we would board a train....to where I do not know because when I had the boy's arm in my hand....and I was guiding him onto the train (the kind you would get on at the zoo...not a real train)....I looked toward the trees and I could see them coming...winged monkeys with very mean eyes and very large sharp teeth.....and then I woke up.

Soooooo no more fudge before bed?

Friday, October 15, 2010

ASSORTED FARM STUFF

Here's the gang chasing bugs and seeds and getting ready for bed:




Here is how high I let the grass get. I did this to allow the grass to go to seed. Hoping that when we mowed it would re-seed it's self. Tonight I was looking at it and remembered seeing a video on The New Survivalist on his rabbits. He pulls weeds and drys them for food for winter.




So I got scissors and started cutting and carrying armloads of grass. But where to dry them where Bull won't pee on it?




This will kill 3 birds with 1 stone. First it has a place to dry where it will get air above and below. Second it sticks down inside the bunny cages and provides something for the bunnies to play with and eat. Lastly, winter is coming. It will provide insulation.

Today I was out running errands and ran by Southwest Feed Mill in Mesquite. It was not so busy and I got to speak to the owner. She seems like a wonderful woman. I switched the laying hens to a 16% layer pellet so that they will eat slower. They also make a 20% broiler pellet which is very small and will be cleaner for the meat birds.



You remember Ruby. She hears that there is a very handsome tom turkey in NC by Ft Bragg that knows how to tell the weather better than any human. She wishes she could meet him one day.



The honeymoon is definatly not over. This poor girl hardly has any feathers left. I bet she can't wait for some of the new hens to grow up a little more!



Here are my giant zuchinni. Not a single female flower on them though! Any ideas why?



Here is the shed: progress is very slow but the window is framed in:



Have I told you lately how much I hate spiders? I have destroyed this girls hard work each morning for about 2 weeks now. You'd think I would remember she was there in the same spot! Pre Coffee Moments.



Well here they are. No more deaths. Three weeks old and heavy! Full crops, and settling down for the night.






I need to let the grass grow more often. Here is what grew up in my front yard:




That is pretty much it. Tomorrow is work day in the morning and tomorrow night is my daughters birthday dinner at Love and War in Texas. Good food and fun atmosphere.

She and I are beginning plans for next years celebration: Big year for both of us...she will be 30 and I will be 50! Woohooo