RTRP by Proxy

Dehydrating old school

* reaches for phone in apron pocket,"hey what up".
"I'm @ Aldis thought I give you a ring confirm that were on for Friday", barter buddy gf in a relaxed tone. She must be shopping with out children.
"Yeah I'm good with Friday I've been gathering up stuffs to bring".
"Hey there's cranberries on sale ... discounted to 25¢ a bag ... I'm thinking chutney".
"What brand ... look alright ... I'm thinking orange cranberry sauce and dehydrating" My mind wanders to a biscotti recipe that was in Sunday's paper a few weeks back. Called for dehydrated cranberries of which I was all out. Make a few substitution whole wheat for white flour add extra vanilla. My coffee wouldn't be lonely.
"Ocean Spray ... no they look good but there gonna expires in a few days ... how many you want" ?
"How many's there ... wait I can't give you cash right away but I have TP coming in a few days ... wanna barter" ?
"Sounds good I won't pick up any then what brand ... how many ply ... " ?
"It's the good stuff quilted soft real soft 2 ply baby ... ".

LSS this was a great example of right time (after holiday sales) right place by proxy (trusted friend who shops like I think) along with biting off more than I chew with regards to dehydrating.
There's no firing up the solar dehydrator it's been in the low teens to single digit temps.
I'm down to just one base on my old brown Roncho.  Anymore than four trays filled and I risk mold.
Can't borrow bbgf's dehydrator she'll using it.
Really regretting not making or @ least buying a non-electric air dehydrator. I've added this to my wish list -Food Pantrie Hanging Food Dehydrator


I came up with this alternative which requires frequent fiddling with the berries.
Cast Iron Skillet is the easier of the two as all that is required is a clean hand to reach in and mix. Woodsrunner's heirloom cookie sheet is more labor intensive. I use chop sticks to flip each cranberry half.  The second shelf of the stand is working well with a dish towel redirecting the heat, as soon as the leeks are dry I can replace cranberries.
Hopefully it won't be more than a day of this. Stove's running @ full throttle it's so cold.

Planned preserving method - vacuum sealing with O2 absorbers in pint mason jars. Looking for 1 to 2 years of shelf life. I expect there will be allot of Cranberry Walnut Bread in our future so I'm happy with one year.

14 bags later cranberries have been either sliced (10 bags) for dehydrating or will be made in sauce (4 bags) and canned. An appropriate tune playing while I wield a paring knife.

All my life
Is changing every day
In every possible way

In all my dreams
It's never quite as it seems

Never quite as it seems 

 ~~ pelenaka ~~

As American as

When my Mommie saw this photo she remarked," Usted tiene un selector de América Apple ".

No Mommie I have a good friend who happens to be an American read white, that picks apples.

This is my brother's Apple tree next to his house in a very upper middle class neighborhood far far away from where I live.

I won't dell on the fact that he has a corner lot with an ungodly amount of Sunshine on a daily basis.

My brother grows mostly lawn and a few shrubs besides this fruit tree.

This will be the last harvest from this Granny Smith (?) tree. The inner core is rotten & as of last week a good sized limb broke off. It really isn't very stable. The Americana shouldn't be up there.

Later this fall hubby will stop by with his chainsaw and our daughters. I have a few years to convince my suburbanite brother to go in on a pig with me. Then we can smoke us some hams.

Between the two of us we picked about 7 bushels of organic Apples.

I keept about 4, bbgf got the rest since it was her ride that we used to go pick.

Thank you to the person who planted this tree in the early 1970's. I have enjoyed the last 4 harvests.

You have provided me with Mint Apple jelly, Apple Butter, Applesauce, Pie Filling, and have been a contributor to our homemade cider. I unlike my brother will miss you.

Prepping on my electric stove @ 0148 raining pitchforks & paino stools

It took myself & two daughters along with a hand cranked apple peeler to work up a bushel of apples into pie filling. 100% organic never been cared for apples have allot of blemishes that need to be cut out. I believe a bushel should give me over 15 quarts of pie filling. I'll know tomorrow after service when I plan to can this batch up. Used tapioca instead of clear gel or cornstarch.

Look like cocktail franks huh?

Nothing goes to waste. Apple cores are being dehydrated for rabbit treats later this Winter.

I plan on bartering my fresh baked Apple pies made with organic apples this Winter.

~~ pelenaka ~~ 

 

Keeping the lid on

Sometimes after you have opened a home canned jar it's nice to be able to close it up for storage without using a metal canning ring. Caps are also nice when you have vacuum sealed a dry product such as rice in a glass mason jar and want an extra bit of protection on top of the canning lid. Also helps to keep the canning lid from rusting if you happen to store the vacuum sealed jar in a cellar. Caps are also great for sealing jars for freezer storage.. Beware frozen caps are brittle.

Caps pictured above are; white - Ball brand something like under $4 for 6. I use them on my 1940's glass canister jars for counter storage since white matches my decor. If I could have found 50's pink well then I'd be a happy June. The bright blue are from Aldis mayo, darker blue from Aldis peanut butter (could be the other way around), red also gotta be from Aldis, dark blue top of pic reads Hellman's Mayo (snagged from an empty jar @ work), yellow rings were in a box of jars I bought @ a tag sale. Love those. Have never seen them for sale retail.

Drop a line if you know where to buy them. I won't since I'm ghetto cheap but it would make me happy to know that they can still be had.

~~ pelenaka ~~

P.S.  10/11/2010 - The head Goat Gal & owner over @ Harper Hill Farm which produce some of the best Goat Milk Soap sent me this link for those plastic screw on lids that have the center cut out. Scroll down almost to the bottom of the page you'll find them.

in the bag

Quick post using my local library's WIFI connection then it's back to preserving.

Long story short I have fired up the 2nd freezer, a small chest in preparation of the produce bounty that has been coming our way. Namely Green & Wax beans along with Broccoli.
Having a small chest freezer is different than a larger one as there is generally only one if any baskets to help organize contents. Ours has a small one.
My system has to organize the contents of the veggie freezer frugally.
Has to be basically idiot proof.
Must not use up valuable freezer space or restrict the operation/air flow of the freezer from doing it's job.
So as I'm bum side up with my head stuck in this chest freezer digging around it comes to me.
Organize the contents in plastic shopping bags.
Yeah say it with me ... duh!
Green Beans beige Tops bags.
Wax in bright yellow bags from Family Dollar.
Broccoli in white Wally World bags.
We don't have allot of plastic shopping bags because we normally use cloth bags. I'll have to ask fellow church members & neighbors for shopping bags.
Or another alternative is to make large draw string bags out of old sheets. Label near the opening for contents.

~~ pelenaka ~~

MD 2009

Yeah, I know I'm a very blessed. This is what I got for Mother's Day.
The only other thang better than receiving a NIB wringer would have been a solar hot water heater. Bet you though I was gonna say a plow huh? Silly rabbit no place to park a plow or hitch one or really no need to use one on this urban homestead.
So here's the low down on my ever expanding nonelectric washing system.
DH was perusing Craig's list when he located this wringer out in Hamlin, New York for a steal.
The seller is raising funds to sponsor a soup kitchen. So a win win all the way around especially since the wringer only cost $10.
Originally this was bought from the Vermont Country Store price unknown as when I checked the website it wasn't listed. Lehman's carries a what appears to be the same make of wringer for $189.95.
One other item that I really want to try is a pants stretcher which both VCS & Lehman's carry (Lehman's is about $4 cheaper). According to the write in Lehman's catalog you insert the pants stretcher after washing into each leg then adjust it so it's snug & hang to dry. Suppose to give that just pressed creased down the legs look.
My Abulea always said that being poor & looking poor have nothing to do with each other - clean pressed clothes that have been well maintained will never give away the truth about your finances.

The wash tub is a holdover from my canning equipment. Before I bought my huge canning pot that holds 15 quarts I used this over an open fire resting on a couple of oven racks that I bought curb shopping. The fire pit was constructed with cinder blocks. A thin piece of plywood covered with aluminum foil cut to fit as a cover (tends to fall off). Add a found cabinet handle & you have a covered huge canning pot for really the cost of the wash tub. Better yet take your homemade lid to the hardware store & ask to have a piece of aluminum flashing cut to fit the underside of your lid with an extra 3 ". Fold over the edges crimping the fold with pliers. Wear work gloves flashing cuts! Screw on with tiny stainless steel screws (won't rust) on the top of the lid 3 screws on each side. The screws & flashing shouldn't run more than $10. You can go as fancy as you want with the lid but do consider painting the top part that won't have flashing on it with something durable. This will make the lid easier to clean.
For the canning rack that fits inside your wash tub pot it can be anything from old bath towels on the bottom & in between quart jars to forming a rack from canning rings using picture hanging wire/stripped wire bread ties. Picture those plastic loops that hold a six pack of soda together. That is what your aiming for.
Definitely prefer the wood stove but in a pinch when you need to get the job done an old wash tub over an open flame in the cool of an August evening is a nice alternative. Add in free firewood & you have lowered the cost of putting food on the table considerable.
A round wash tub fits 15 qt. & 1 pint jar which is needed for spacing. Square tub should be in the same neighborhood give or take a qt. jar. I used a round tub that was already in the cellar as my square tub has a load of wash soaking in the morning Sun.
Addendum 5/18/09 - To prevent soot from the fire adhering to the surface of a pot wipe down with dish soap. Then afterwards just wash off the soot.
~~ pelenaka ~~

P.S. Thank you my husband, I can't wait until Father's Day!

not 'ur grams tissue box

Busy putting my home inorder in ancipation of spring arriving soon.
Last week I came across a stash of plastic canvas bought last Summer @ a nearby street sale, no the street wasn't for sale just a group of neighbors who staged a massive street long tag sale. Now that I have all this free time on my hands I finally got around to converting these to useful food preservation tools.
I scored each plastic canvas for a dime. If your unable to catch a good find don't forget that some of the major chain craft stores offer coupons. Pick a canvas with a small patterned mesh since you'll want these screens to dehydrate items such as herbs & diced celery.
Directions : Take the 1 mesh screen that comes with your dehydrator and use it as a pattern to trace and cut more screen using plastic canvas. Instead of using a marker to trace the circle I pined a screen using clothes pins as my guide. If your screen less from the get go then you'll have to trace a pattern using one of the dehydrator trays. Trim to fit.

I've been trying to work up a barter deal for ingredients to make gourmet brown mustard. Thought I would kick off this year's canning season early using a recipe from Ball Complete Book of Home Preservering page 274, Oktoberfest Beer Mustard. I can already taste this on a white hot !
I found a bottle of beer in the cellar but am still short on brown mustard seed.

UPC update: Third straight month that I've been wrong.
This month the main reasons have & will be due to pork. Last week my bbgf (barter buddy/girlfriend) was shopping @ the local mega market & came across a loss leader sale on pork. The catch was that the pork was packaged in "family packs" of 10 pounds each having a varied assortment of chops & bone in roasts. Long story short after calling me and getting no answer she made an executive decision & bought me a "family pack" too. There was added stress since these were the last two on the shelf coupled with the fact that $ is tight I am on sabbatical after all.
$26 over budget for pork @ $1.38 per pound.
In the next few days I'll be spending $108.50 for half of a half pig that will be butchered this coming week. Same bbgf was cut in on this deal unexpectedly when someone else backed out.
If our math is good should work out to $1.40 per pound (really need to generate more savings to offset this expense).
These two deals got me to thinking about creating opportunities to take advantage of food opps.
Here's what I have come up with - giving a gift card to that one person who thinks & shops as I do (that being my bbgf) so when they're in the right place @ the right time they can snag me a deal too without a cash flow issue.
I'll ask her if she wants me to hold a gift card for her in the same way.

~~ pelenaka ~~

P.S. 3/26/09 My share of the pork came to $128 after all was said & done with the cost of the pig, butchering, & wrapping. So far there's 25 pounds of pork neatly tucked in my freezer.
Along with 17 pounds 5 oz. of pig fat. Anyone besides me see a post on rendering lard in my future?
Everything from Polish & Italian sauage, Chops, Loin Roast, Shoulder steak, & Spare Ribs.
Works out to $5.12 per pound as of right now.
Not sure if the lard was figured into my cost share.
Baccon and hams as being smoked so it will be interesting to see what my share will be of those and the over all final tally.
This pork along with the last purchase that my bbgf scored should with planning last a year other than needing an occassional slab of baccon now & then.