TOM

Tin of Meat in this case Spam for medium to long range food storage if it lasts that long. Made children swear that they won't pop open a can. K, to those of u who are making a face @ the thought of SPAM on your plate all I can say is the we enjoy it fried up with scrambled eggs. It's also very packable and needs no refrigeration until opened well even after it's open because there won't be any left to refrigerate.
I've had SPAM $1 off 3 coupons for over a month waiting on a good sale. Finally CVS had tins for $2.50 each, I actually had $6.50 in quarterly bonus bucks = 3 tins free & 1 @ $2.50.
Went back four days later since I had another bonus buck and coupon bought 3 tins = 1 @ 50¢, two @ $2.50.
BTW SPAM if you didn't already know stands for Specially Processed American Meats, just ask any WW2 vet.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Rubber Bands

Our 16 daughter main mode of transportation besides walking is her bike. Last week her front tire popped so we were left with an inner tube that was in fair shape. Before hubby could patch it though I cut it up for rubber bands something my mother use to do. Yes, before rubber bands were commercially offered in colors this is what she used to put my hair up with. She had a personal vendetta not to leave my long hair free so we went thru allot of bands.
Depending on how thick u cut them is how much give u will have.
After cutting toss them in a dishpan with a bit of soapy water and swish them around to remove that white powder residue that is inside the inner tube.
Hang to dry.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Mrs. Kravetz

Recently a more famous urban homesteader I has had some tribulations due to her farming activities.
She got popped for selling ... wait for it, let it simmer, exhale ... selling chard.
Seems that her raising rabbits for food may have sparked the dime being dropped to Oakland's code man.
An act of food terrorism.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Put ah Lid On It

The following blog post is 2nd in a series of fugal home food preservation  for the novice.

Pictured are examples of what is left of my meager lid stash hovering some where around 200 maybe a bit more. More than likely a bit less.
The wide mouth lids are only used on the half gallon mason jars that are used for dry storage/vacuum sealing. I made a decision years ago to only stock regular or small mouth canning jars, so then I only needed one size lid - regular. Others will disagree as wide mouth is nice when your trying to stuff a chicken breast into a jar but, generally speaking regular canning jars tend to show up in the second hand market more often. Regular lids tend to be on the store shelves longer.
The Ball box with the yellow graphics is pre-Internet. On the back is a mail order form to send away for a Ball Blue Book 32nd ed. $3.50 check or money order. Top tab reads,"Thank You for Buying This American Made Product".
Remember what I wrote about not using wire bail canning jars (jar rubbers), and how I had even bought a few boxes. Apparently I own allot more than a few boxes.
This box has a date of 1975 which brings to mind just exactly how long are jar rubbers good for ? What exactly is a split tab & why was it needed.
Side of the box advertises the 29th ed. of the Ball Blue Book for $1. The back of the box gives directions for use with zinc caps.
The next box of regular dome lids dated 2002 and except for the box graphics is unchanged from what is sold today. Besides the helpful one eight hundred help line the company's website is listed. And as before a canning recipe (freezing & dehydrating) book is offered for $ 4.95 + $1 for postage & handling. We bought these thru eBay 4 or 5 years ago worked out to 12¢ or 14¢ each.
Lat Summer I was able to score new Ball lids using coupons that were doubled due to a Tops special promotion.

Years ago I use to buy American Harvest or Golden Harvest brand lids for 99¢ per 12 or 8¢ a piece @ stores like Family Dollar and Big Lots. Last year when I checked they were $1.69.
This brand is my favorite to use for the simple reason that the lids are blank. No graphics no logo just a blank lid ready for a quick scribble of date & contents in marker.

Wish  I had some sage advice on buying lids for pennies but I don't.
Just know what prices run so you can spot a deal, keep checking eBay for case lot sales, and if your in a $ store and lids are under $2 a box grab me ten.

Paraseal Wax, W.&F. MFG. Co., INC., Buffalo, New York 14240 net weight 1 pound - 25¢.

Produced wax novelty candy such as those wax lips and coke bottles we all loved as kids.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Got Balls ?

The following blog post is the 1st in a series of fugal home food preservation for the novice.

K, by Balls I mean jars. Canning jars. Mason jars.
NOT Mayonnaise jars. I don't care if every auntie you have ever known always canned in them don't. They aren't made for canning.

The six canning jars pictured are from my 1949 Ball Blue Book of Canning, back cover. Cost was 25¢.
The top left jar with the gold Ball dome lid is what you want. Accept no substitutions unless you want to use the zinc screw caps or wire bails for storing buttons, dried herbs, or peanut butter cookies.

Very sweet Grandmothers and thrift shop owners with an agenda will try and tell you differently. They will regale you with stories of how they themselves or their dear mothers or wives canned with wire bail jars, (pictured in the middle). They will tell you with authority that the rubber rings (bottom right hand corner) needed to use the wire bails can still be purchased, and they are right. I myself have bought a few boxes.
They will with a smile on their face and a distant look of joy in their eyes tell you that jelly jars (bottom left) need only paraffin wax and a lid to contain that which is known as heaven on earth, marmalade.
They will tell you this and they will be wrong.

Know your jars. Know your lids. Always check the rims for cracks or chips.

That said know your price point on what a new jar retails for. In my area a six pack of quarts can go for $6 and some change to a high of almost $10 for quart size. My rule of thumb is that I won't pay over 30¢ for a jar. The exception is half gallon jars.
I once bought over 250 jars for $25 on ebay from a woman who was cleaning out her mother's home. I've also had limited luck with craigslist as well as church thrift shops and auctions or estate sales.
Jelly jars & pints are harder to locate and generally speaking are priced higher. While I won't think twice about parting with quarts pints and jellies are another story.

That said the majority of my quart canning jars have been free. There is just something about meeting another canner especially a newbie who is in need of jars that compels an old canner, more so if the jars are just sitting idle in the cellar. It's a hard task to just throw away perfectly good mason jars. Which is why so many who once canned will tell you that even though it may have been years since they heard the ping of a lid sealing they can't just throw away perfectly good mason jars.

How to obtain free canning jars

1. Place a sign on your front door "Canning Jars Wanted".
2. Leave index card with your N&N (name & #) at senior centers.
3. Tell everyone that you have started canning. Jars will find you. 
4. Let everyone know that the perfect gift is canning jars.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Scarp'ng 4 Eggs

K, ignore the date stamp on the pic it's off by a few weeks.
2nd, there was suppose to be a follow up pic of quiche that I made using these eggs,
cheese from the great buy out, and home canned Swiss Chard along with other veggies from our garden. Problem was family ate the pie before I had a chance to photograph it.

These lovely eggs were purchased from Harper Hill Farm with money earned from selling our tin cans & scrap metal to a metal salvage yard. After collecting cans & a few metal what nots totaling 4 huge trash bags full this is how the stats played out Gross - 215, Tare - 140, Net - 75, Price - 8, = $6.
Yes, u read right six clams, six marigolds, six greenbacks, one fin & a Washington.
I had expected more. Not a whole lot more but more.
Since we were in the same county as our friend and we needed eggs I decided to blow my whole wad of dough on her wonderful multi-colored eggs.
Well that and I wanted visit with her kids. K, I'm throwing farm terms around. By kids I mean baby goats. Who much like lost puppies will snuggle up against you when you hold them and let out a cry that sounds like a baby. Did I mention that new baby scent that all new babies have even goats.

So the great tin can scraping exercise is wasn't a complete waste but I think that I'll stick with soda & beer bottles. There's a redemption center on almost every block.


~~ pelenaka ~~