sparrowgrass
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Posts posted by sparrowgrass
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Well. I went to the 4-H auction yesterday in Redford, MO, and bought a Guinea hog--actually, a Guinea hoglet, only about 30 pounds now. The 4-H member who sold it to me is going to feed it out--I will take possession about December. I will not be doing the processing--it will be delivered to the local processor when it is big enough.
I will keep you posted.
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No. Dried beans will absorb a lot of water, and if you only put a little in, you will end up with crunchy and probably burned beans.
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If you want ham, put it in first--makes it much easier to get the egg out.
I used to make egg 'mcmuffins' for my kids in the microwave. Just be sure to cover the egg--it will pop and spatter.
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I just bought a new range, a kinda mid-range Whirlpool, about $700. I love it, plenty of BTUs for my cooking. Self cleaning too, though I have not used that feature. I love the fact that it has two big grates that cover the whole top, instead of 4 smaller grates--makes the surface much more usable for big canners and fry pans.
I did not have to buy a converter--according to the installer, the hookup has two positions--one for natural gas, one for propane, so it is easy to switch.
I like the fact that I can use the range top even if the power is out--just have to have a box of matches.
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The Ozark method for deer heart is to either cut it up in little pieces and add it to the stock for veggie soup, or to slice it thin, bread and fry quickly. Deer liver--always pan fried quickly in bacon grease, served with lots of sliced onions cooked to sweet tenderness in that same bacon grease.
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I was wondering where you were, to be finding morels in the winter. They came in with the mulch, no doubt.
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I have purchased from saffron.com as well, and it was very tasty.
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I used a hack saw when I butchered my lamb--fine teeth, no bone splinters, and the bones were very easy to saw thru. (Unlike the deer that I did--those bones are hard!)
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I was a little surprised when I moved to Missouri to find rice growing down in the Bootheel. I drive down to Bernie once in a while for jasmine rice from this company: http://www.martinrice.com/
It is so fresh and fragrant. They have other varieties, but jasmine is my all time favorite.
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Tortilla chips and salsa, or other types of chips and dips. A real weakness.
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Turnips and beets--they taste like dirt.
Coffee or coffee flavored anything.
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In the US, all commercial eggs are washed--some get an oil coating after washing to help preserve freshness. (I can't think of the brand name right now, but the eggs that have a little EB stamped on them in red ink are oiled. Eggland's Best!)
I have an old tin of waterglass somewhere around the house--I have never opened it, and from the looks of it, it is probably 75 years old. I am not sure isinglass and waterglass are the same thing.
(Brief foray into wikipedia) Isinglass is a type a gelatin made from fish bladders, but sodium silicate (waterglass) is also referred to as isinglass. To add to the confusion, thin sheets of mica are also referred to as isinglass, and were used as windows in stoves and furnaces.
There, did ya learn anything?
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No, no, no, no. I am an eggspert--used to work for USDA as a poultry grader. 1) Salmonella is INSIDE the egg--it is endemic in hen houses (in the US--some other countries vaccinate) and hens pass it right along inside the egg. Don't eat them raw if you are immune compromised. Commercial eggs are also sanitized by washing in a sanitizing solution, to avoid fecal contamination on the shell. (They do come out of a chicken's butt, ya know.) 2) Floaty eggs are stale, not spoiled. As the egg ages, the moisture inside evaporates, and the air bubble gets bigger. The higher they float, the older and dryer they are. The whites will spread out, and flavor may suffer, but it does not mean they are spoiled. Back before refrigeration, in the Gold Rush days, crates of eggs would be shipped by sea to California--they would be months old before they were ever sold. 3) Eggs are pretty hardy--by nature, they have to last at least 21 days without refrigeration--even at 99 degrees, which is incubation temp for chicken eggs. If they spoiled before that, a rotten egg in a clutch would probably infect all the eggs, and would certainly attract predators with its smell. I have incubated many a dozen eggs, and there are always some that don't hatch. I break them, and they look and smell just fine. I don't eat them, but the dogs love them.
I would toss the boiled eggs, and keep the uncooked ones. Breaking them into a separate dish is wise-- if one is icky it would ruin a whole batch of chocolate chip cookie dough--that would be a crime.
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When you emply a bottle of bleach (unscented, of course), fill the bottle with water and cap it. The residual chlorine will keep the water safe to drink for a long time. I have a dozen or so tucked under my utility sink.
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I just put my garlic out this weekend. I couldn't start the tiller
so I spaded up a 6 by 6 bed and planted the cloves about 4 inches apart, in rows 6 inches apart. Covered them in a chicken litter and a layer of straw--the same method I used last fall. I got a good crop this spring--made some pints of pickled garlic and lots of garlicky salsa. If you are peeling pints and pints of fresh garlic, an easy way to peel is to break up the heads and put the cloves in boiling water for a minute. Most of the cloves will pop right out of the peel if you squeeze them with your fingers.
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Taste the first one--there are bitter hickory nuts. Don't want to go to a lot (LOT) of trouble if they don't taste good.
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Both ways. Limited storage, so one glass is up, the next is down. They are all bigger at the top than the bottom, so i can fit more that way. Cups are stacked, so they are rightside up..
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Annie Greensprings and Boones Farm Strawberry Hill. Ah, to be young again. The pot kept us from puking too much.
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I have formica counter tops--when I use my apple peeler, I open the dishwasher and clamp the peeler onto the counter over the DW. Works great--I put a box to catch the peelings on the DW door
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I don't remember that, but was it TVP? Textured vegetable protein--it is available in health food stores.
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Isaac came to visit Sparrowgrass Hill this last weekend, and he was a perfect gentleman. A leetle stingy with the rain, but all 2.5 inches of it came down gently and slowly. I thought my garden was pretty much done for, but the pattypans and tomatoes are back in full production. I am going to try for some late stuff--I have kale, cabbage, lettuce and Chinese cabbage seeds in the seed box, and I will get to work planting them tomorrow.
It is an absolute pleasure to go out and pull weeds right now--they come right out, with no need for dynamite.
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Wow, just wow. My tomatoes are sad this year--the heirlooms never did much. I had a few Ananas Noir tomatoes--my favorites. I had lots of Romas and Big Boys (planted those only because my mom insisted) that I canned and froze, but the weather has been so miserably hot and dry that the garden just looks awful.
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I have one of those Coleman coolers. Saturday, I put a load of water and ice in it, and still had ice Monday morning. Because the walls are thick, they don't hold as much as the regular coolers of the same outer dimensions, but they sure do keep things cool.
If you put frozen food in it, fill it full with ice, I think you will be ok, even if the car gets hot. Dry ice would add an extra level of safety, if it is available.
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Wow, just wow!! Can you tell us what is in the waffle ones?
Grocery Shopping
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
No problem, Anna. I am a 4-H youth specialist, and I know the young man who is raising the hogs. Some day, I will raise my own, but right now I am too busy for that (I have a couple dozen chickens, 4 dogs, 2 cats, a mother, and a huge garden to tend right now, as well as trying to do my job!)
So--instead of impulse buying the two little piglets that Austin brought to the fair, I just asked if he would feed one of the ones he had at home out for me. Since they are feeding a couple for themselves, it was no trouble to do one for me.
I talked to him about these hogs, so I knew they were smaller. That is a good thing, since I have a small freezer and it is only the two of us eating. They are also being raised on pasture, with some supplemental organic feed and no hormones or antibiotics.
I buy a locally grown side of beef each year, too. The beef is a Corriente steer, used in roping competitions at the fairgrounds. I know the rancher, and I know he does not use hormones or routine antibiotics with his stock. These calves are 'finished' with feed after their time on pasture. The Corrientes are small cattle--again, a good thing for me. (And the meat is lovely, very flavorful, and the custom processor does a good job with it.