Absolutely No-Knead Bread

This is without doubt the simplest bread I have ever made; and it's taste and texture are awesome!  We love it dipped in herb-flavored Olive Oil.

Ingredients for 1 loaf:
(for 2 loaves just double the amounts)

3 C flour  (bread flour is best)
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/2 C warm water (no more than 105F)

Whisk the dry ingredients together to combine.

Add the water and using a wooden spoon or large spatula mix until loose and sticky.

Cover with plastic wrap and set in a draft free place overnight (18-24 hours).

Preheat oven and baking container at 400F for 30 minutes.

Pour dough into hot dutch oven, cover and bake 30 minutes; then remove cover, return to oven and bake another 15 minutes to crisp the crust.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It's the day before Christmas and I wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Like most of you it has been hectic here with shopping and baking and visiting.  Last evening while picking up a few salad items for tonight's dinner I began speaking with the produce boy at the super-market about possibly getting some greens for our chickens.  He was so helpful.  After getting the manager's permission he provided us with a huge bag (the size of one of those big leaf bags) full of leafy green vegetables!  The girls will be so excited.  Since it's been difficult for them to find even a few blades of grass lately, they should welcome these treats.

Today I am baking two loaves of No-Knead Bread to take to our daughter's home tonight for Christmas eve dinner.  It is delicious and absolutely the easiest bread to make.  100% no kneading and only 4 ingredients which are combined with a spoon to make a somewhat moist batter, then it sits overnight 18-24 hours, after which it goes into an earthenware covered dish or a cast iron dutch oven for 45 minutes.  I will post the recipe for you later.

Yesterday I received the first of my seed catalogs.  I quickly browsed through it and I am looking forward to having more time to examine it.  Gurney's is offering $25 off orders of $50+; $50 off orders of $100 or more and $100 off orders of $200+.  Definitely worth looking into.

All for today.  It's time to get the bread into the oven and organize the gift bags into the car.... and so much more to do.  We are also driving out to central PA tomorrow to visit Nick's family and see our latest grandson for the first time!  Can't wait.

Have a safe and joyous holiday!

Farmaggedon a must watch documentary on Netflix

Yesterday I watched a documentary on NetFlix called Farmaggedon.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1609113/







It is about how the government has been spending millions of dollars putting small farms out of business and how they otherwise make life miserable for the little guys (us).

From confiscating a homeowner's food supply to confiscating and killing another's herd of sheep and taking all their equipment.  There are several more eye-opening and frightening stories which we all should watch.

We are already aware of towns where it's okay to grow just about anything except food in the front yard.  As well as the fact that each state has it's own rules about raw milk. 

Is it just a matter of time until a SWAT team shows up on our doorstep to shut down our backyard mini-farms and take away the contents of our root cellars, pantries, and our few chickens?

I recommend taking an hour to watch this video if you value your freedoms.

Sugar and a math question: When does 25 ÷ 5 not equal 5?

Recently I purchased a 25 pound bag of Imperial Sugar at Costco for $8.99.  Yesterday I separated the bag, planning to store the sugar in 5 pound bags.  I carefully measured and weighed each amount on my digital scale.  In the end I was left with 4 pounds for the remaining bag.  When did 25 lbs divided
by 5 not equal 5?   I ended with (4) 5 pound bags and (1) 4 pound bag.  No big deal you say. 

On its own, I would agree.  It amounts to a mere $.3596 for the missing pound of sugar.  However, at 3 million pounds (an amount Imperial sells while we are having our first cup of morning coffee) amounts to a staggering $1,078,800!  

Imperial owns in excess of 80% of the world market share with assets in over 100 locations around the world.

For one, I would like to know if this practice is that of Imperial Sugar Company, or is it a practice of short-changing product at Costco in the manner Walmart forces their suppliers to do in order to keep the prices lower than the competition.

Either way, it is once again the unaware public, us, who end up losing while the upper 10% fill their pockets with our money.

This is one of those topics which just sets me off ranting yet again.  Imperial does offer a $.50 coupon on the next purchase, which more than replaces cost of the missing pound, and if that were my only issue I would gladly use the coupon and move forward.  For me, however, it is more than the pennies, it is the principle that gnaws at me.  These corporations who feel it is alright to trick the public out of millions of dollars each day and no one suspects.

Isn't it enough they don't pay their fair share, if any, taxes?;  have the government in their pockets and the run the world?

Recycle, Repurpose, Reuse Ideas

Most of us these have gotten accustomed to setting out our recycling materials with the
weekly trash pick-up, and we should be proud of ourselves for doing so. 

Repurposing and Reusing items is something I grew up seeing my family do all the time. 
My grandmother told me how during the Great Depression she could get beautiful
woolen army coats from the thrift store for 50 cents and after un-ticking it she could get
enough fabric to make winter coats for two of her six children.  Men's coats in those
days contained yards and yards of quality woolen fabric.  Thirty years ago my sister did
the same process in order to dress her four young daughters.  I used men's shirts for
little dresses and quilts, as did my grandmother.  I still remove all the buttons from
shirts and blouses before using the garment for fabric, rags or adding to the re-cycling
bin.  Buttons are much too costly to toss into the trash.


Baby food jars were used in the workshops by my uncles.  With the lids mounted to the
underside of a shelf the jars were filled with bits and pieces, i.e. nuts, bolts, screws, etc.,
and were in open view and easy reach.  I have an old silverware case (box) in which my
grandmother kept needlework tools for knitting, crochet, making spider-lace, bobbin
lace, etc.  When I was very young and learning to knit with little plastic needles, this box
was a treasure chest to me and is one of my most valued possession.


 



These days I continue to save plastic peanut butter jars for my sewing room, baby food and spice
jars for buttons, etc.      

Spice bottles, baby food jars, jelly jars with their lids painted blue and yellow, Crystal Lite containers hold bits of trim, crochet hooks and other odds and ends.

Now that our chickens are laying regularly, more than I can hold in my apron pockets, I had been on the look-out for an egg basket for colleting eggs.  I finally noticed the ideal basket hanging on my porch.  One of those heavy wire hanging baskets that are used with those heavy matted liners.  Without the liner it makes a
perfect egg basket. 

Empty candle jars make perfect canisters for my kitchen.  It keeps tea bags, sugar and
sweeteners handy.  Just make certain to bleach them and air them out for a while until
the scent of the candles have dissappated.  If not done, your sugar and tea bags will take
on the aroma/taste of the essential oils used to scent the candle.







An old tie or belt rack is perfect for holding scissors and other things such as a work in progress like this apron on a hangar.

Canning jars with a bit of cardstock and ribbon can be transformed into lovely containers for scrapbooking enhancements or gifts.

Cover the lid with a bit of card stock and a bit of matching ribbon glued around the ring is all it takes to make theses pretty little containers.

The Cycle of Life on our little farm....

On Sunday and yesterday, Monday, we experienced the "life" part, sort of, with our chickens began to lay their first eggs.  Total: two eggs.  This morning I looked out a window and saw that one of the girls was out of their fenced yard and seemed to be trying to get back in.  I went out and scooped her up without any resistance on her part, which is very unusual for her, and brought her back inside the hen house.  Along the way around the pen I noticed the other girls were all huddled up in a corner and there was an abundance of feathers everywhere.  With that sinking feeling in my gut I did a head count, then counted again, I must have counted them 6 times.... only 10.  Then I counted them by breed and two of our friendliest birds were missing.  One of whom laid the first egg on Sunday.

I began a search of our property hoping to find them hiding somewhere, but that was not to be.  I found the remains of the first one in the area we named "the love garden".  The other must have met her end in the front yard, there was a trail of feathers and then a flattened spot in the grass full of feathers and nothing else (except a fresh pile of scat form the culprit)

I cannot figure out how the critter got into the yard or how the terrified chicken escaped. 

Meanwhile, inside the hen house, while I was doing all this searching, another hen was busy laying her first egg.

Although an egg isn't exactly life, she has to start laying eggs so she can create offspring later.

Our chickens are our pets, as well as a means of putting food on the table, and we love them. 

Thanks for letting me share.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie.....yum

I found this in a book of Amish recipes.  It made 36 little pies which disappeared quickly.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups cooked, mashed pumpkin
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 Tbsp.. cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp. ginger
1/2 Tbsp. ground cloves

Cream sugar and oil.
Add pumpkin and eggs.  Add flour, salt, baking powder, soda, vanilla, and spices.  Mix well.

Drop by heaping teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes.

Make sandwiches from 2 cookies filled with a dollop of Whoopie Pie Filling.

*I added some chopped nuts from our black walnut tree to half the pies for a little variation.

Whoopie Pie Filling:

INGREDIENTS:

1 egg white beaten
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 cups shortening

Mix together egg white, milk, vanilla, and 1 cup confectioner's sugar.  Then beat in shortening and remaining 1 cup of confectioner's sugar.

Spread dab of filling on the flat side of cooled cookie.  Top with another cookie to form a sandwich pie.

Our First Egg!

We are so excited!  The first egg from our first flock was delivered at 1:30 p.m. today.....  The poor chicken shrieked as though she was being attacked so Nick ran into the hen house just in time to see what was happening.

I realize probably only other "chicken people" will understand, but that's okay.
We now hope the dozen of eggs we just bought will be the last one we buy.  It's been quite a while since my last visit to a big super-market and I was in shock by how much the prices have risen since my last visit.  $1 each for bell peppers and $4 to $5 if bought by the pound! Next year I will be planting extra peppers, etc and set up a farm stand and cut the prices of the stores. (I wish)

Time to put up some relish and bake some bread......
Have a lovely day.....

Walmart cuts prices by cutting quality and shortchanging products

A week or so ago I ran out of pint sized canning jars during my canning and needed to run out for more.  The only place that had any at all at that time was Walmart.  I had planned to purchase Ball brand but they only had their own MainStay brand at $1 less.  I bought 2 cases of the MainStay jars and took them home to continue my canning project of the day.

Upon opening the boxes the first thing I noticed was there weren't enough lids for the jars.  One box was short 4 lids and the other was missing 1 lid.  The jars seemed okay when I examined them, but the felt flimsy compared to the Ball jars and they were imprinted on the bottom "China".  I try to buy American made as much as possible.

Well I needed the jars so I kept them and continued on with my canning.  Whatever I was canning that day I was canning cold so no need to heat the jars.  However I did wash the jars and rinse them with hot water.  Lost two jars right off.  They just broke apart.

I had enough Ball jars to almost finish the job, I did end up using 3 of the Walmart jars and luckily they didn't break.

I will keep the remaining jars for dry canning dehydrated food, but won't run the risk of any canning requiring heat.

Lately I have been reading/hearing a lot of negative things about Walmart products and how their suppliers must cut expenses in order to enable Walmart to offer the lowest prices such as using fillers, or cheaper materials and cutting steps to save money on production of goods. 

We get what we pay for folks, pay cheap.... get cheap.  I won't be taking any chances with the food I worked so hard to grow and preserve.

Getting rid of Fruit Flies quick, easy and green

My daughter found this on YouTube the other day and said it worked great, so I tried it yesterday and she was so right! 

I wish I could give proper credit to the person who posted the video but my daughter doesn't remember who it was. 

Here it is:

In a small jar, such a half-pint canning jar, pour Apple Cider Vinegar to at least half full.
Add 2 drops of liquid dish detergent and fill the jar with water to create suds.

Place near the area of the pests and go away.   I left it overnight.

In the morning the bottom of jar was filled with all the fruit flies that had been pestering me.

Just remember, it must be apple cider vinegar.

How did your tomato crop turn out?

I wondering if anyone else had a lousy tomato crop this summer.... 

Mine started out great but quickly went bad, like many other gardeners around here.  I don't know if it was the crazy weather we had or if they developed something organic like a fungus or blight.

The first tomato that ripened weighed over a pound, and there were many that size.  However, it went bad even before it had a chance to completely ripen.  I did manage to harvest about 15 pounds, but much more than that went bad.  The last basket of tomatoes I harvested wasn't quite ripe but I brought them indoors to finish ripening with some green ones.  Within two days they all went from being beautiful to being rotten overnight (and still half green).

Several people I spoke with around here had a similar issue with their tomatoes, and I am curious if any of you had a bad crop too and your thoughts on what caused it.

We had crazy weather, a cold, wet spring changing overnight to the dog days of August (in June/July) and autumn weather in August.  Right now it feels like October.

I look forward to your feedback.

Happy Gardening!

Where's the chicken?

Well!  Didn't we have a frightful start to our morning today.  Nick went out to let the girls out to roam and when he did role call he counted one missing.  Needless to say the search was on for our girl.  He looked high and low, backyard and front yard, checked the hen house three times before he told me about it.

Having one of the girls go missing was bad enough, but several days ago one of our neighbors lost a couple of his birds to a coyote.  Since we live in a somewhat residential area that was a surprise.  About all we see here are skunks, hawks, and stray cats.

I went out to help look for his favorite little girl and began counting:  3 Easter eggers, 3 RIRs, 3 Black Sex-link, and 3speckled what-ever-they are.  One of the speckled girls is what he believed was MIA.  Counted again, all girls accounted for.  Poor Nick, for some reason he was thinking we had 4 of each breed, we actually have 3 each of 4 breeds.  What a relief!

Two weeks ago we began letting the girls run free in the backyard farm area, but because of the huge hawk that roosts in our huge pine tree hunting food, we stay outside with them to stand guard.  The girls love being out of their run.  They eat bugs and greens all day then have their usual grain meal indoors.  They have been growing so fast, can't wait to start seeing eggs in their laying boxes.

That was our morning, now I am canning baked beans. 

Happy Weekend!

One Pot Pasta with Meat Sauce and Cheese

One Pot Pasta with Meat Sauce and Cheese

This is one of my husband's favorite meals.  With garlic bread and salad on the side, it is tasty and filling.  Don't let the amount of water and thinness of sauce trick you, this ends up being a hearty thick sauce.


 Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 pint home-canned meat/spaghetti sauce
1 pint home-canned stewed tomatoes
1 pint hot water
1/4 cup +/- tomato powder (home-made if possible)
1 Tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon dehydrated Parmesan cheese (more or less depending on your tastes)
Pasta    2-3 ounces per person uncooked  (I used 7 ounces of Penne this time)
sliced mozzarella cheese for topping

Process:
Combine and heat over low temperature  Tomato Sauce and Stewed Tomatoes, allow to simmer about 15 minutes then add the boiling water and stir well.
[The sauce thickens as the pasta cooks and absorbs the water. ]

Add Tomato Powder and Parmesan Cheese, stir.
Add Pasta, combine well, cover and set on low until the pasta is al dente.
Add Mozzarella slices on top and allow to warm and melt about 15 minutes.

Serve.

Hello everyone! It's been so busy here......

The end of the garden season has been keeping me so busy with cleaning up the garden and yard, and preserving all the fresh food I can lay my hands on.

Absolutely love my Presto pressure canner and Nesco dehydrator.  I have been canning nearly every day and running the Nesco every day.  I have also been testing Linda's Pantry (225sage on YouTube) meal in a pouch/jar recipes on my husband....  they have been passing the taste test and he even requested that I prepare some meals for him for lunch at work.  We have a small slow cooker (1 quart) that we have never used and will be ideal for preparing his lunches at work. 

For the first time in all the years I have canned food I have pressure canned meat!  The first test was a package of breakfast sausage links.  I processed 14 links in a pint jar.   The next day I opened the jar, they looked okay, completely cooked, but we didn't like the texture.  Too soft and mushy.  So I removed them from the jar, drained and patted them dry, then put them in the dehydrator for a while (about an hour +/-).  Perfect!  They dried out just enough to restore the texture and the flavor.

I have dehydrated tomatoes, corn, bell peppers, carrots, celery, green onions, mushrooms, potatoes (not crazy about the potatoes), and zuchinni.  And have purchased freeze-dried chicken and peas, and dried eggs in #10 cans from Honeyville Farms.  Excellent!

I also processed some leftover roast chicken.  There was enough white meat to fill a pint jar.  It processed beautifully!

Along with these two little jars, I processed 4 1/2 pounds of chuck roast cut into large cubes and filled 3 pint jars and one 1 1/2 pint jar.   I added a bit of S&P, and a few herbs which I usually add to my roasts, and added just a bit of boiling water to each jar.  Processed all six jars for 90 minutes at 11 lbs pressure (for my altitude) and let cool for 24 hours afterwards.

Now I am watching the store flyers for sales on meat so I can stock up.

My cupboard is also holding jars of ground beef, stewed tomatoes, spaghetti sauce with meat, green tomato mincemeat and sliced peaches.


In addition to all this, I thought I would test out the mylar bags and oxygen packets for the food in my pantry.  When I can find things at a good price I stock up, just like the rest of you probably do.  Problem is some items tend to get stale before I have a chance to use them, especially boxed cereal.
So I tested the mylar/oxygen packet on a large box of Cheerios.  It took two 1-gallon mylar bags to hold one large box of Cheerios.  No problem.  I separated the box into two 12-ounce bags, inserted the packet and sealed with the Food Saver.  Then I watched and waited expecting to see the bags constrict, but it didn't happen..... not at first.  Next day the oxygen packets had obviously done their job and I had two nicely shaped,  vacuum sealed packages.  Love it.

This is what I have been doing..... I'd love to know what you have been busy doing now that the season is nearly over and how you are preparing for the next season.  :)

Happy Preserving!