Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training
I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood
[Here is a student, who learned to write and one who could read and take the next step....granny
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/040109_Hit_list_found_at_Hopkinton_High
Hit list found at
Hopkinton High
Officials say threat isn’t credible
Last Edited: Wednesday, 01 Apr 2009, 7:04 PM EDT
Created On: Wednesday, 01 Apr 2009, 7:04 PM EDT
HOPKINTON, Mass. (myfoxboston) - Hopkinton school officials say a hit list with 13 names was found in the hallway at Hopkinton High School on Monday.
A student found the note and turned it in.
Officials said the note, which had “Hit List” written at the top, is not a credible threat.
continued.
http://www.komando.com/columns/index.aspx?id=6293&page=1
[She has a variety of suggestions and links...granny]
Using tech to save money
3/7/2009
The economic downturn has touched everyone. Many are facing unemployment and dwindling home values and stock portfolios. But you still need to buy things and care for your family.
Thanks to the technology and the Internet, you can save money, practically wherever you shop. There are sites that collect coupons. Other sites help you find the best price. You can even use your cell phone to get instant discounts.
continues.
http://spitfirelist.com/?p=5736
FTR #665 Update on the Meltdown, Part 2
Posted March 31, 2009 by Dave Emory, in Category: For The Record
REALAUDIO
Beginning with a frightening article about an electronic draw-down of money market accounts in the United States, the program notes that the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department pumped money in to avert an unprecedented economic and political catastrophe. Supplementing the “fear factor,” the program relates some astounding numbers about the size of the rescue packages assembled in order to attempt to stanch the economic bleeding.
[This has some interesting disclosures in the article...granny]
LISTERIOSIS, MEXICAN-STYLE CHEESES - USA: RISK, RECALL
******************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Mon 23 Mar 2009
Source: FDA (Food and Drug Administration) [edited]
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/torres203_09.html
Torres Hillsdale Country Cheese of Reading, Michigan, is expanding
the recall of Asadero and Oaxaca soft Mexican-style cheeses due to
potential _Listeria_ contamination.
Consumption of food contaminated with _Listeria monocytogenes_ can
cause Listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease.
Listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and
nausea. It can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths. The very
young, the pregnant, the elderly and persons with compromised immune
systems are the most susceptible to infection. People experiencing
these problems should seek immediate medical attention.
Products were distributed to the following states: Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Alabama.
A routine sample of Asadero cheese, taken by an inspector from the
Michigan Department of Agriculture’s Food and Dairy Division on 23
Feb 2009 was subsequently tested by the Michigan Department of
Agriculture Laboratory and discovered to be contaminated with
_Listeria monocytogenes_.
The recalled Asadero and Oaxaca cheese products were distributed to
retails stores and delis in 10-pound balls, 16- and 12-ounce plastic
packages, sold under the name “Aguas Calientes.” Product was also
sold in 6-pound blocks shrink-wrapped in clear plastic, under the
name “El Jaliciense.” Packaging may also include a label with the
name “Torres Hillsdale Country Cheese LLC.” The recall encompasses
all production dates between 1 Aug 2008 (expiration date 29 Oct
2008) and 27 Feb 2009 (expiration date 10 May 2009).
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with the
recalled products. Consumers and retailers are urged to return all
unused recalled product to the manufacturer.
—
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
promed@promedmail.org
[Because of the potential severity of listeriosis for people at risk
(e.g., newborns, pregnant women, people 60 years of age or older, and
those with compromised immune defenses), ProMED-mail is posting this
recall even though there are no reported human cases associated with
the contaminated Asadero and Oaxaca cheese products at this time.
_Listeria monocytogenes_, the cause of listeriosis, is widely
distributed in nature. The organism can be found in soil, water,
silage, raw vegetables, raw meat and poultry, raw and pasteurized
milk, soft cheeses, kitchen premises, and in the intestinal tract of
many animals, including cattle, sheep, and humans, and in
crustaceans, fish, shellfish, ticks, and insects.
Most human infections are foodborne, although vertical transmission
can occur from mother to fetus transplacentally or during delivery
through an infected birth canal, and localized skin infections can
occur in veterinarians and farmers by direct contact with infected
animals.
Contamination of food can occur in nature; e.g., raw
vegetables contaminated by soil and manure, and raw milk from
infected cows, or contamination may occur following subsequent
cooking or other processing. Because the organisms can multiply at
refrigerator temperatures, it is not surprising that listeriosis is
usually associated with ingestion of contaminated milk, meat or
vegetable products that have been held at refrigeration temperatures.
A detailed discussion of listeriosis can be found in ProMED-mail no.
20071230.4186.
The USA can be located on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at
http://healthmap.org/promed?v=40,-97.6,4
- Mod.ML]
[see also:
Listeriosis, fatal, meat product - Canada: unconf. 20090307.0957
2008
Hi everyone,
I thought I’d pass along two good websites that have some pretty good bargains every so often that I’ve taking advantage of.
www.woot.com This website offers one product per day, and when that item is sold out, another one isn’t posted until midnight CT. I’ve purchased good quality head lamps, a portable water tester, and a few other things for my BOB and general preparedness. You never know what will be offered, so be patient and check every day!
www.steepandcheap.com I don’t know if the prices here are that great but they offer a variety of outdoor products, one after the other, throughout the day. I’ve purchased Patagonia fleece shirts and other apparel, but they regularly offer tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, and a lot more for outdoor life.
Lisa in AZ
group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HunkerDown06/
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/node/2356/print
[Has good photos]
Guest chef Abigail: Making easy hard cheese
Easy hard cheese
Guest chef Abigail [0] lives on a family farm in Iowa, and having extra goat’s milk prompted her to learn how to make some homemade cheese!
Abigail graciously agreed to share detailed instructions and photos with us! :)
To start, gather all your ingredients and supplies.
Getting started...
You will need:
1 gallon milk (we use fresh goats’ milk; we’ve heard that cows’ milk also works)
3 eggs, beaten
1 pint buttermilk (we’ve also used Fil milk)
2 teaspoons salt
A large stock pot
A plastic strainer
A clean linen dish towel
A cheese press (or make your own like Abigail did — more details below)
Bringing the milk to a boil...
Bring 1 gallon milk to a gentle boil. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring constantly.
Then add the buttermilk a cup at a time, stirring constantly.
Keep stirring gently as the milk seperates into whey and curds (usually within a couple minutes). Continue to stir until it looks kind of like cottage cheese with a clearish liquid.
Place a plastic strainer in the kitchen sink, lined with a clean linen dishtowel. Pour whey and curds into this and let the liquid drain away.
Gathering up the edges of the dishtowel, hold it above the sink and let more of the whey drain out for a few minutes.
Stir the salt into the semi-dry curds.
Wrap the curds back up into the dishtowel and press out the rest of the liquid. Since we don’t have a “real” cheese press, we used a plastic strainer, some plates, and a couple bricks for weight (see photo). Just make do with whatever you have on hand...it’s not too tricky. :-)
Easy hard cheese
After a few hours, unwrap your cheese and try a slice! :-)
This makes about 1.5 pounds of cheese, depending on the percentage of milk fat in your milk. This kind of cheese doesn’t melt, so it’s not the best for casseroles or that type of thing. It’s perfect for sandwiches, salads, crackers, and other such uses. Store cheese in the refrigerator, and freeze whatever you won’t be using within a week or so.
Bio:
Abigail Paul, 27, enjoys serving her Savior and praising Him for His blessings to her. She also likes graphic design, desktop publishing, editing, HTML, writing, music, reading, scrapbooking, tatting, history, photography, and taveling. Since 1995, Abigail has published a magazine called Hidden Wisdom [1], which is full of encouragement to Christian families. She is also known as “Ed.” (short for “editress”) and is “Auntie Abby” to a number of little ones. :D
Abigail Paul
Source URL:
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/node/2356
Links:
[1] http://www.hwmagazine.org
http://littlehouseinthefoothills.blogspot.com/2009/03/cherry-salad.html
Monday, March 23, 2009
Cherry Salad
With warmer weather days just around the corner, my mind turns more and more to recipes that require less cooking time....recipes that are light and refreshing. So I’ve been thinking more about recipes like Cherry Salad. Sooo refreshing!! Sooo good!!! Just 4 ingredients and they whip together in no time at all! :)
Cherry Salad
*
16 oz. tub Cool Whip
*
1 large can crushed pineapple (drained)
*
1 can sweetened condensed milk
*
1 can cherry pie filling
Combine ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. That’s it. :)
This makes a big bowl full! It’s yummy to serve as a light dessert! We like it on days we grill out hamburgers and hot dogs! When the weather gets really hot in the summer, and you’re just too hot for a big, heavy meal, try some crackers and cheese and some Cherry Salad for dessert! A really cute idea for serving kids? Put some of this into the little individual size graham cracker pie crusts!
I never post a recipe that I can’t highly recommend. Need I say more? :) Hope you enjoy it!
**Find more yummy recipes at Tammys Recipes and Blessed With Grace’s Tempt My Tummy Tuesday!**
Posted by Lori
http://inclotheslinealley.blogspot.com/2009/03/kitchen-basics-bread-staff-of-life.html
[Article has hidden links]
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Kitchen Basics: Bread, The Staff of Life
The making of poison eerr whole wheat sourdough & brioche, for my parents. ;o) These wheat berries will soon be turned into flour.
As a person who enjoys the study of history and is also an avid home cook & baker, homemaking has offered my the unique ability to explore both interests in many cases. This is especially true when it comes to some of the oldest culinary activities known to man, including baking bread. Humans have been baking bread for nearly as long as we have been on this earth and nearly every culture boasts a variety that is uniquely theirs. Most of us have likely heard of San Francisco sourdough or German rye, but may not know about the delicious South Asian flat bread called naan or the wild yeast varieties of bread from the Middle East, the Cradle of Life, where the very first sourdough cultures were caught by man. For such a simple food, and one that is easily taken for granted, bread has quite the fascinating history of origin.
Bread baking ranks high among my favorite kitchen tasks and also in my memories, as mastering my first loaf was one of my “deployment projects” undertaken during my husband’s first trip away, shortly after our wedding day five years ago. Previously I had a bit of experience using a bread machine and mixes but to venture into mixing and kneading my own loaves seemed daunting, to say the least. Looking back now, my awe of this tasks seems a bit comical, seeing as the most simple of breads consist of maybe five ingredients tops: flour, yeast, salt, oil, and water. To this day, however, I am amazed at the many scrumptious baked goods these humble little ingredients can make.
There are many extras that can be added to a baking routine, including sprouting grain, grinding your own flour, raising bread with wild yeast, and soaking flour, but for today, we will be sticking with the absolute basics: a simple everyday loaf. The chemistry of bread baking and the skills necessary to knead, shape, and round the perfect loaf are best mastered before one ventures into the more complex forms of bread, to prevent frustration and also to perfect the craft. Below you will find two of the first recipes I started with in my own kitchen. The first is a wheat bread and the second a basic gluten free bread to try. Neither is anything special, just simple sandwich or toast bread, but they are a great first step for a new baker and helped me find the joy that comes with offering up a fresh from the oven loaf of bread. :o)
Wild yeast bubbling up a loaf of sourdough.
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
This recipe makes one loaf of bread.
1 1/4 cup warm milk
1 packet or dry yeast or one cake of fresh yeast
1/3 cup honey
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
3.5 cups of whole wheat flour
1. Sprinkle yeast into warm milk and let stand until foamy, about five minutes.
2. To the activated yeast, add honey, butter, and salt and mix well. (To easily measure the honey or other sticky ingredients, spray your measuring cup with a bit of cooking spray or measure your fat first. This allows any sticky ingredient to be easily released from the measuring cup.)
3. Add roughly 2.5 to 3 cups of the flour and stir in with spoon until stirring is no longer possible. Turn dough out onto a board floured with the remaining 1/2 cup of flour and knead for five minutes, until the flour is incorporated into the dough and the dough is smooth and stretchy.
4. Place dough into greased bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Place the bowl away from drafts and in a warm area of your home and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, roughly 1 to 1.5 hours. (During colder weather or when the a/c is running, I often place my proofing dough in the laundry room, especially on laundry day when the appliances are generating heat. Without adequate heat, the yeast will not be able to raise the bread.)
5. After dough has proofed, punch down, remove from bowl, and place on a floured board. Knead dough briefly and then shape into a loaf. Grease baking pan and place formed loaf inside, covering with towel, and returning to the warm draft free place for the second proof, roughly 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
6. Place pan in a cold oven and turn temp to 375 degrees. Bake for forty five minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan immediately and cool on a wire rack, if can resist gobbling up the entire loaf while it’s warm and fresh that is. ;o)
Sourdough proofing, or napping as I tell Peapod. “Peapod, help mama put the bread night night.”
Now for the gluten-free loaf.........
Basic Brown Rice & Tapioca Bread
3 eggs, room temp
1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups warm water
4 Tablespoons honey, divided
1.5 Tablespoon dry yeast
2 cup tapioca flour
2 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup almond meal (grinding almonds in your blender is sufficient; you don’t have to purchase almond meal itself.)
2 teaspoons xantham gum
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cooked millet or quinoa
1. Activate yeast in warm water with 1 Tablespoon of honey.
2. Beat eggs, butter/oil, and vinegar using a stand mixer or hand mixer, until well incorporated. Add yeast mixture, remaining 3 Tablespoons of honey, and mix.
3. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate and then add slowly to wet ingredients, continually to mix throughout the process. Continuing mixing for five minutes.
4. Place dough in a well greased bread pan & cover bread with a towel. Move the pan somewhere warm and draft free to rise until nearly doubled in bulk, roughly forty five minutes.
5. Once dough has proofed, place into a cold oven and set heat to 400 degrees. Once oven has “preheated” turn temperature down to 375 degrees and bake for thirty minutes. Immediately remove from pan and place on a drying rack. Unlike their wheat counterparts, gluten-free breads CANNOT be sliced until completely cool.
The finished product, half devoured.
Many factors can effect how bread turns out: humidity, the moisture level in your particular batch of flour, a heat pocket in the oven, or yeast that is not as effective as one might hope. In the event your loaf does not turn out as planned, do not get discouraged but try again. With time, you will come to know how bread dough should feel, what adjustments might need to be made to account for a hot humid day or a cold day that requires more proofing time. Laugh if a door stop or brick comes out of your oven, brush off the flour, and try again another day! :o)
This post is part of Kitchen Tip Tuesday.
Posted by Mrs. Amy
http://morningswithmom.com/?p=113
Yummy Oven Fried Green Beans!
22 March 2009 by Julie 14 Comments
This is one of our family’s favorites. My children just love them. I always have to make extra. It’s very easy to fix too!
Here’s what you need:
* Green Beans
* 1 of cup Milk
* ½ cup Bread Crumbs
* ½ cup Parmesan Cheese
* 1 egg
Directions:
* In a bowl combine the egg and milk. Stir it up.
* Then in another bowl mix together the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. You can adjust the amount of bread crumbs you use and the amount of Parmesan cheese according to your taste. Or if you are watching calories you might want to use more bread crumbs.
* Preheat your oven to 375.
* You will need to spray your baking sheet with a Pam or use Reynold’s non stick Foil. I used Pam non stick cooking spray.
* It does not matter if you use fresh or frozen green beans. I used frozen green beans. I didn’t allow for the green beans to thaw I just went ahead and did it with them frozen and it turn out just fine.
* Take your Green Beans and dip them in the milk and egg mixture. Then dip them in the mixture of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.
* Lay the green beans on a baking sheet on a single layer not touching. Then bake until golden brown about 15 to 18 minutes. I flipped mine once about half way through.
You might want to dip into a Ranch dressing or some other type of dip. One of my children does and two does not. So it’s up to you!
julie-02
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/03/the_obama_we_knew_but_denied.html
March 30, 2009
The Obama We Knew But Denied
By http://www.americanthinker.com/kyleanne_shiver/ Kyle-Anne Shiver
What if an American President campaigned as a pragmatic centrist, promised
tax cuts to 95% of the American people and pledged himself to a new era of
government honesty, openness and bipartisanship, but never had any of those
intentions? The result might be a cabinet full of tax cheats, political
cronies and lobbyists, and a president peddling an overstuffed budget of
liberal dream-schemes at a time when the American economy can least afford
an extra nickel for folderol or fiddling.
Meanwhile Rome is burning.
continues...........
Kroger Expands Recall of Shelled Pistachios Due to Possible Health Risk (March 31)
Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:55:00 -0500
Stores under the following names in the 31 states where Kroger operates are included in this expanded recall: Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, King Soopers, Smith’s, Dillons, QFC, City Market, Foods Co., Jay C, Scott’s, Owen’s, Baker’s, Gerbes, Hilander and Pay Less.
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/kroger203_09.html
Vegetable garden tips increase chances of success
March 28, 2009
With our economy in such a fragile state and thousands of persons losing their jobs, it seems there is a renewed interest in raising some food in home gardens once again. Of course, not everyone has ground space to plant a garden, but there are at least a few vegetable varieties or cultivars that have been developed for container culture.
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Individuals who have only a 10-by-10-foot garden space can produce an amazing amount of food. Such home-produced food is generally superior in nutritive value to similar items bought at a grocery store since it can be harvested and consumed immediately, thereby capturing all of the vitamins it contains. Many of these vitamins are either lost or diminished in quantity when several days elapse between harvest in some distant field and the time it reaches your table.
A willingness to do the necessary manual labor to grow some vegetables and the understanding of the valuable benefits to be gained from a “back-yard garden” are the ingredients for success in such a venture. Nothing fancy is required in the way of equipment as a hoe, shovel and rake are about the only basics. Other than seed and a little general purpose fertilizer plus a sunny, well-drained area of soil, few additional expenses will be encountered.
Now you are ready to begin. But before you do, let me share with you a few “tricks of the trade” that will help you in numerous ways.
• First of all, buy fresh seed of recommended cultivars and use the available space to grow the kinds of vegetables that you and your family enjoy eating. Insofar as possible, grow those vegetables that produce over a relatively long period of time. For example, peppers, tomatoes and eggplants can provide food for several weeks while cabbage, cauliflower and turnips give us a one-time harvest.
• Wrap the stems of tomatoes with aluminum foil from 3 inches above the soil line to about that far below the soil line to keep cut worms from severing the stem at the surface of the ground.
• Prune off all but one “sucker” from tomato plants. A “sucker” is the axillary shoot that grows in the joint where each leaf is attached to the main stalk. Leave only the first one below the first blossom cluster to appear. (You will notice that this one is usually far more vigorous than any of the others.) Continue to remove all suckers from both stems that remain. This two-stem system encourages earlier harvest and good-sized fruit.
• Use ladies’ discarded nylon stockings to tie tomato plants to their stakes. These are soft, strong and decay resistant. Celebrity is probably the most disease-resistant cultivar and is a determinate type tomato. Determinate tomatoes were developed for machine harvest and terminate vine growth with a cluster of blossoms at a height of some 4 or 5 feet. Indeterminate tomatoes maintain a vegetative bud at the end of the vine and can grow to a length of 20 feet or more in a single season. Most of the older varieties are of this type.
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• A plastic mulch covering the ground at the base of plants such as tomatoes and peppers deters weeds and reduces soil moisture loss. Although you can purchase the black plastic mulch in rolls 3 feet wide and 50 feet long, it’s sometimes hard to find them in the stores. Black garbage bags can be cut to a suitable size and used for this purpose and you can get several out of a single bag. Once in place, cover the plastic with an organic mulch or hold them down with heavy objects. The mulch covering is the best option.
• Growing cucumbers? Train them up a trellis, wire fence or other support. Research has proven that by so doing you will triple production and reduce disease problems. Besides, they’re much easier to pick when growing on a trellis.
• Squash vine borers can be very destructive on squash plants. Keep a good general-purpose insecticide on the first 12 inches of the stem beginning at the base of the plant from the time the plants begin to grow.
• Make a shallow furrow with a garden hoe in which to plant direct seeded plants such as okra, peas, radishes, etc. Place a small amount of a wet potting soil in the bottom of the furrow and scatter the seed on top of this before covering with soil. This is a particularly good practice on very sandy soils.
• Soak okra seed in water overnight before planting to soften their hard seed coats.
• Use drip irrigation to provide the needed water rather than sprinkler type devices. Not only will much less water be used with drip applied water, but also weeds between garden rows will not be encouraged and diseases will generally not be as much of a problem. The inexpensive “seep” hoses work extremely well and are widely available.
You will find that the above garden tips will help you as a gardener to enjoy gardening more, spend less effort producing your food and avoid some of the common garden problems. But please know that these represent only a few of the tips that skilled gardeners have discovered over years of growing a variety of vegetables.
•
Joe W. White is a retired Extension horticulturist with the LSU Agricultural Center. Write to him in care of The Times, P.O. Box 30222, Shreveport, LA 71130-0222; or e-mail jo2bar@comcast.net. Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for written replies.
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20090328/LIVING0402/903280302
Fruit trees aren’t hassle
by Clint Patterson • April 2, 2009
Some of the prettiest flowering trees are real fruit trees.
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Just go to an orchard in the spring and you’ll see what I mean.
When we plant apple trees, peach trees, cherry trees and real pear trees, we get just as pretty of a display of flowers as if we plant crab apple, Yoshino cherry and Bradford pear.
But we also get the fruit!
So why not plant fruit trees?
Many people will say that they do not want the mess, or, that maintaining fruit trees — pruning, spraying — is too much trouble.
I think that this is a very unfortunate way of thinking.
After all, once a fruit tree is established, it will produce a lot of fruit every year with minimal effort.
And, it can be done without chemicals.
In many countries around the world, fruit and nut trees are actually a major component of the urban forest.
America has so far been blessed with abundance.
We have not seen the need to protect our food security or insure that adequate food supplies can be obtained locally.
This is beginning to change in these times of economic uncertainty.
Backyard gardens and community gardens are becoming the in thing all across the country.
Seed companies are having a hard time keeping up with the demand this year. Hopefully, this trend will carry over to an increase in the planting of fruit and nut trees as well.
Many European countries, although just as affluent as America, plant fruit trees extensively in the urban setting.
“Plant something you can eat,” is common advice from urban foresters and landscapers. Perhaps they remember the hardship of war when food was hard to come by.
Less affluent countries, out of necessity, also commonly plant orchards of fruit and nut trees in public places such as parks, vacant lots, school grounds and church yards.
The trees provide an annual supply of food for the residents, add beauty to the landscape, and also encourage community involvement.
Harvesting, preserving and preparing food together is intergenerational and a large part of our heritage as humans. It gets the youth, who have energy and physical ability, connected with the older folks, who have the know-how. Everyone benefits.
Locally, there are some groups trying to promote the idea of community gardens.
Last weekend, Brandon Hills Community Garden had its “Garden Gala.”
They have established community gardens on vacant lots in town; even involving the youth from the Alternative School in doing this.
Also, another local group, The Harvest Network, has recently helped start a church garden in town.
Wouldn’t it be great to see some of the large church grounds become orchards?
Check out http://www.harvestnetwork.net to learn more.
Gardens are a great idea.
Community gardens are even better.
Just remember to include fruit trees too.
Clint Patterson is the city forester for Clarksville. He can be reached at 645-7464 or by e-mail at clint.patterson@cityofclarksville.com.
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20090402/COLUMNISTS/904020302
Veggie gardens prosper in hard times
BY BARRY SHLACHTER • MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS • March 25, 2009
FT.WORTH, Texas — Unfazed by losing her vegetable crop to a freeze last year, Debbie McNeill is more than just gearing up.
The 49-year-old Haslet, Texas, resident is upping the stakes, putting down twice as many tomato, onion and jalapeño plants in a 15-by-15-foot raised garden at her mother’s home “because it’s fun and because of the economy.”
McNeill is not alone.
From seed producers and greenhouse growers to retailers, all are reporting booming sales. All attribute it largely to family financial issues.
“This happens every time we have a downturn in the economy,” said Rick Archie, the third-generation owner of Archie’s Gardenland on the west side of Ft. Worth, Texas, founded in 1934. He estimates that vegetable plant sales have increased 20% to 25% so far this year.
Seed companies have recognized the market demand.
Park Seeds of South Carolina rushed out multiseed packets called Victory Garden, lifting the name from successful federal programs during World Wars I and II that boosted home garden production.
W. Atlee Burpee Co., the Pennsylvania pioneer in the mail-order seed business, which also supplies major chains, matched Park Seeds with Money Garden.
The latter is priced at $9.95 for a packet that will grow six vegetables.
If weather doesn’t get in the way, Burpee estimates that the modest investment could yield an edible bounty that would have cost $650 at a supermarket.
Sales of vegetable seeds at Burpee “are exploding across the board,” George Ball, Burpee’s chairman, said.
During the last week of February, orders were up about 25% over the same period in 2008, far more than the seed producer expected.
“Last year, we saw increases of 15% to 20% because of the (salmonella) food scare over tomatoes and peppers,” he said. “And we thought we’d see a back-off, not an uptick.
“We never anticipated the mortgage crisis and the effect on people’s 401(k) retirement accounts.
“And we haven’t seen produce prices back down when fuel prices dropped last fall,” Ball said, rattling off reasons why more folks might be planting vegetables.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090325/FEATURES01/903250345
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/blog/category/recipes
How to Make Ricotta Cheese
March 19, 2009
Here is the final post in my mini series “What I Can Squeeze out of Two Gallons of Milk”. If you recall…with two gallons of raw milk, I was able to make mozzarella cheese…fresh butter…and now…ricotta cheese!
Ricotta cheese is made with the leftover whey from your cheese making process. It is SO easy. I am so amazed that after I’ve finished making mozzarella cheese…there’s still ricotta cheese lurking in the whey! (What smart person discovered that…I want to know?)
To make Ricotta Cheese:
Pour all of the whey left from making your mozzarella cheese into a large stock pot. Heat it to 170°. Try to keep it right around that tempurature for a minute or so…then remove it from the heat. It looks something like this:
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I apologize for the quality of this picture. It’s…yucky looking. That’s what happens when you stick your camera inside a pot of almost boiling whey. Look closely to TRY to see that the whey is bubbly with a thick layer of white froth on the top. Can you see it? Ah well…thanks for trying.
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Pour your bubbling whey into a strainer lined with a tea towel. (You will put something under your strainer to catch the liquid, right?) Allow the liquid to strain through the tea towel. This takes a little manuevering because the ricotta starts to line the bottom of the tea towel and doesn’t allow the liquid to go through as easily.
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Use a spoon and scrape all the ricotta off of the tea towel.
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Place your ricotta cheese into a jar for storage. Stuffed Manicotti anyone?
So, what do you think? Not too hard, huh?
How to Make Fresh Butter
March 12, 2009
If you recall, last week when I showed you how to make mozzarella cheese, I mentioned that if you’re making it from raw milk, you skim off the cream and save it to make butter. HERE is one way I make butter!
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Fill your food processor 1/3 full of heavy cream. Be sure not to fill it more than 1/3 full…it will probably not turn into butter if there’s too much in the container.
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Turn your food processor on high…and then flee the room. (It’s really loud and annoying!) The food processor will whip and whip and whip the cream until it turns it into butter. It should take somewhere between 8-15 minutes.
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Once the fat has been “pulled out” of the cream, it should look something like this…and you can turn off the food processor.
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Pull all the solid pieces and squish them together.
Place the solids in to a clean bowl.
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Run some clean COLD water into it.
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Clean the butter with the cold water by squishing it with a wooden spoon until all the liquid comes out of it. Repace the cold water 2-3 times as you clean it.
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Squeeze the excess water out of the butter and shape it with your hands.
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Ah, look…a lovely little butter ball.
You can add salt to the cream if you want salted butter…this will also be a preservative, making the butter last longer.
OR…if you don’t have a food processor and want to have a little family fun…put your cream into a jar and shake it like crazy. Pass the jar around, and take turns shaking it. (I’ve tried shaking it all by myself once when no one was around to help…and I thought my head and arms would fall off from shaking the jar so much all by myself. I don’t think I ever got butter out of that jar.)
Have you ever made butter before? Isn’t it COOL to see the butter form out of the cream!?
I LOVE how with just one little gift from a cow (or goat or whatever) you can make SO MANY great yummy things!
P.S. Even if you don’t have fresh cream…go buy some heavy whipping cream at the store and try making butter. It’s just…cool.
Here’s a simple recipe that you can serve with just about everything! Really…these Ranch Potato Wedges are a great side dish with any meat (steak, chicken, hamburgers, meatballs, fish…).
They are a perfect thing to make to go with your lunch…they are a super easy side dish to make with dinner. Good grief…you could even scramble up some eggs with them and serve them at breakfast or brunch.
Like many of the High Five Recipes…this recipe takes just a few minutes to prepare.
Ranch Potato Wedges
4 medium sized potatoes
1 T. mayonnaise (I use Hain Safflower mayonnaise)
½ package ranch dip mix (I use Simply Organic brand)
Scrub potatoes and slice into eight wedges each. Stir together mayonnaise and ranch dip mix in a large bowl. Toss potato wedges in mixture until coated. Lay wedges singularly on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
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I am SO hungry now for a meatball with Ranch Potato Wedges!
How to Make Mozzarella Cheese
March 5, 2009
Want to know what makes me excited (besides little plastic drawers)? The fact that with only two gallons of milk…I can squeeze out THREE great dairy products. With the two gallons of raw milk you see pictured below, I was able to make three eight ounce balls of mozzarella cheese…a half pound of butter…and about a cup of ricotta cheese.
Talk about milking something for all it’s worth! (Whoa…very cheesy joke.) (Which I feel is appropriate because this post is about making…cheese. Cheesy-ness abounds.) Anyway…
Even if you don’t think you’ll ever make your own mozzarella cheese…you may still have fun reading about how it’s made!
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To make Mozzarella Cheese you will need:
* Two gallons of milk (I use raw, organic) (As far as I understand, you can use pasteurized and homogenized milk too…although you won’t get the butter and ricotta out of it since the cream doesn’t rise to the top.)
* 2 t. citric acid dissolved in 1/4 cup water
* 1 cup cultured buttermilk
* 30 drops vegetable rennet mixed with 1/4 cup water (I get my rennet from Azure Standard or Wilderness Family Naturals.)
* 1 gallon water
* 1/2 cup sea salt
* Large stock pot
* Long knife
* Food thermometer
* Strainer
* Tea towels
Okay, ready to make cheese? You’ll need to block out about two and a half to three hours of time…but most of that time is wait time, not work time!
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First, if you’re using raw milk…skim off the cream. You know I’m usually big on leaving in the fat…but the fat separates itself out of the cheese while you’re making it for some reason. So, skim it off, put it into another jar and save it for making butter!
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Pour the milk into a large pot (I use my big stock pot). Stir in the buttermilk and citric acid mixed with water. Heat to 91 degrees. Remove from heat, put the lid on and let it sit for one hour.
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Add the rennet mixed with water to the milk. Allow it to sit for at least 15 minutes, or until the milk solidifies slightly and it able to be “sliced”.
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Use a long knife to “cut the curd” into one inch squares.
Let the curd sit about five minutes.
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Heat the curd to 91 degrees. Remove from heat, place the lid on the pot and allow it to sit for one hour. After one hour, the curd and the whey should have separated.
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Place a strainer into another large pot and cover it with a tea towel.
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Pour the curds into the strainer/tea towel…straining out as much whey as you can. Save the whey!!
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Rig up something fancy like this to hang your curds, making sure you have a bowl underneath to catch more whey that will drip out. I usually leave mine overnight as it takes several hours for all of the whey to be removed.
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In the morning…remove the tea towel. Wow, a big hunk of cheese! Now…the fun part begins!
In your large pot…heat one gallon of water mixed with 1/2 cup salt. (Hint: I use Redmonds Real Sea Salt and it can be too chunky if I don’t try to dissolve some of it first. Therefore, I put my water and salt into a jar and shake it well, then pour it into the pot. The residue from the salt remains in the jar, leaving only salty water…without chunks!
Heat the salt water to 170 degrees. Meanwhile…
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Cut the cheese (oh, my boys think it’s SO FUNNY when I say that…) into 1-2 inch squares.
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Once your water reaches 170 degrees, remove it from the heat and dump in your cheese. Kind of stir it around for a minute or two until the cheese softens and begins sticking together.
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Use a big wooden spoon to catch the cheese from the water. It should start sticking together and forming a blob on your spoon. Stretch the cheese. This part is SO COOL!! Dip it down into the hot water every once in a while to reheat the cheese so that it will continue to stretch, but try not to keep it in the water too long. Keep on stretching and dipping the cheese until it is shiny. This stretching process will take about 8 minutes. (Every once in a while I get a batch of cheese that just won’t stretch. It’s a bummer. The cheese still tastes fine…it just doesn’t look as pretty, shred as well, or melt as nicely. We eat it anyway!)
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After you’ve stretched your cheese and it has formed a big long shiny wad, take it out and put it onto a plate.
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I divide my cheese into three blobs. Squeeze out the excess water and shape the cheese into nice balls.
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Place the balls into a bowl of cold water. This will take out the heat and help them hold their shape.
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Tada!!! Mozzarella Cheese!
I’ll take time during my next two Frugal Friday posts to share how I make butter with the leftover cream…and ricotta cheese with the leftover whey!
So…have you ever made cheese before? Do you think this process looks like something you could do? You wanna come over and make cheese with me some time? (Then we can say “cut the cheese” together and laugh like we’re really funny.)
Simple Sourdough Pancakes
February 16, 2009
I’ve really been enjoying experimenting with my new sourdough starter…and the older my starter gets, the better it does! Mmm!
But I keep falling back on my old stand by pancakes. They are SO good and SO good for you and SO easy.
I make them by soaking my flour in buttermilk overnight which breaks down the phytates and makes them more digestible, thus creating sourdough pancakes. Here’s the recipe:
Simple Sourdough Pancakes
1 cup whole wheat flour (or whatever grain you want)
1 cup cultured buttermilk
1 egg
3 T. melted butter (or oil)
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. sea salt
Stir the flour and buttermilk together in a glass bowl. Cover with a cloth and leave on the counter overnight. In the morning, stir in the egg, melted butter, baking powder and salt. Whisk together, adding extra milk or buttermilk for the desired batter thickness you prefer.
Cook pancakes on a well buttered, hot skillet or griddle, flipping once bubbles begin to form. Serve with real maple syrup, applesauce, jelly, or any of your favorite pancake toppings!
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I triple this recipe for our family of six. These pancakes also freeze well. Frozen pancakes reheat great in the toaster!
And…add blueberries or chocolate chips for a yummy variety!
My kids devour these pancakes…and they are hearty enough to keep them full all morning long.
Move over IHOP!!
Penny Pincher: To save $, time to get seedy
By Penny Pincher
Philadelphia Daily News
Yo, Pincher Nation! Rising up against the downturn, we have shared our recession-resistant remedies: cutting credit-card bills by calling those greedy creeps and saying, “Lower my rate!”; making vinegar-is-vonderful cleaning stuff; stretching a roast chicken over three thrifty dinners, etc.
Today, we hear from a woman in the Temple University area who calls herself “Simple Bucket” and is using two old washtubs to grow veggies:
“In one tub, I’m putting tomatoes,” writes Ms. Bucket. “I started a few from seed in January. If they don’t work out, I’ll get some starter plants, and I’ll do one row of something else - maybe a mix of beets and carrots.
“The second tub will be my experimental garden - spinach, a veggie I’m new to growing.
“In a large round pot, I planted lettuce. Last summer, lettuce and basil were the things I used most from the garden. You just keep harvesting and they keep growing! Nothing like fresh, just-cut lettuce in a salad. And it is pretty!
“I’m thinking about planting peas in baskets along my fence, and lots of marigolds with seeds harvested from plants in the park, where they are FREE. Lots of color and the price is right!
“In front of my house I grew mint, thyme and sage last year. This year, I’m planting chamomile - that I can make tea out of - in pots, so I can bring them in at the end of the summer.”
Pincher Plea: Send your hard times hints to: pennypincher@phillynews. com, with your name and neighborhood or hometown. Read more Penny Pincher columns at http://go.philly.com/pinch
Kathryn Rem: First Garden sets a good example
By Kathryn Rem
GateHouse News Service
Posted Mar 31, 2009 @ 02:37 PM
For foodies, the best news to come out of the Obama administration so far has to be the decision to create an organic garden on the south lawn of the White House.
A grassroots movement to start a national garden had been growing faster than corn on a hot day after food activist Michael Pollan proposed the idea in an October 2008 New York Times Magazine article.
The burgeoning local foods/organic/sustainable agriculture communities led the charge for replacing some of the neatly manicured lawn at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. with an American pie of a garden.
It will be a living, practical use of space that will not only provide fresh food for the first family and White House guests, but — critically important during these hard economic times — serve as a national symbol of self-reliance.
When Eleanor Roosevelt started growing her own produce in 1943, it spawned backyard Victory Gardens that helped feed the nation during wartime. By the end of World War II, 40 percent of the produce consumed in America came from home gardens.
With food prices on the rise and the nation’s economy in the compost heap, a White House garden is the right idea at the right time.
Ground was broken for the 1,100-square-foot plot by first lady Michelle Obama on the first day of spring. Plans are for the garden to be in operation year-round, with early planting in a few days and the first harvest expected at the end of the month.
Crops will change throughout the year.
The techniques used for extending the growing season into the winter will be especially useful teaching tools, hopefully duplicated by gardeners in cold-winter states who now close up shop at the end of the year.
According to plans released by the White House, spring crops will include spinach, carrots, chard, kale, collard greens, shell peas, sugar snap peas, onions, shallots, fennel, radishes, broccoli, rhubarb and a variety of lettuces.
Spicing up the patch will be herbs: sorrel, thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, marjoram, chives, garlic chives, chamomile, hyssop, mint, dill, cilantro and parsley.
Flowers will line perpendicular walkways through the L-shaped plot. Mrs. Obama said she plans to add a beehive so honey can be made.
Some of the harvest will be donated to a Washington, D.C., food pantry.
Terra Brockman of Congerville was part of a group that created a Web site, http://www.whitehousefarmer.com, to allow the public to nominate a White House farmer to oversee a south lawn patch.
“We were thrilled when we heard about the garden. The idea behind the Web site wasn’t so much about selecting one farmer but to bring attention to a White House garden,” said Brockman. News reports indicated that Sam Kass — a Chicago chef brought to the White House by the Obamas — will oversee the project.
I’m not much of a gardener myself, but I do grow tomatoes and peppers in my backyard each year. Occasionally, I try other crops, such as cucumbers, corn or cantaloupe.
Herbs are a must. Some years I put the starts in the ground, and other years I grow them in pots. But I’m partial to containers because I’m lazy. I’m much more apt to use the herbs when I only have to step out onto my deck to cut them and not traipse through the backyard, a playground for two dogs.
Last year, I grew chives, parsley, dill, rosemary, thyme, basil and mint.
Since hearing the good news about the White House garden, I’ve been thinking about ways to grow more of my own food.
I hope you are, too.
Kathryn Rem can be reached at (217) 788-1520 or kathryn.rem@sj-r.com.
Excellent articles on gardens.
Good morning, hope all is well with you.
The talk of community gardens, reminds me that at Lake Havasua they have had one for many years.
There was a cement septic tank manufacturer, who built a bunch of them, a few inches too small to be legal for the code, so they wound up as planters at the community garden.
Would be perfect, they are about 8’ by 4’ and 5 or 6 foot deep, filled with good soil, should grow well......
A pen pals husband enjoyed his plot in that garden.
I, being the selfish person that I am, want my garden on my land, so I have full control, but if there were no other way, I might want a community garden.
Since hearing the good news about the White House garden, I’ve been thinking about ways to grow more of my own food.
I hope you are, too.<<<
Wonderful thought, so many gardens, that the garden fed cops, will not be able to keep an eye on them and it might even cause that garden law to get re-worked or turned down.
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/blog/category/recipes/page/2
Smells Like Christmas Cookies! Reindeer Cuties
These simple cookies are a hit. Fun to make…fun to eat. I like that they are made with honey and whole wheat. And they really don’t take much time at all.
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Reindeer Cuties
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
tiny pretzels
chocolate chips
red hot candies
Stir together butter, peanut butter and honey. Add egg, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla. Mix in flour. Chill dough for about an hour.
Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a well floured surface. Cut circles using a small drinking glass. Place on cookie sheet. Use fingers to squeeze the circles in the middle.
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Place two pretzels at the top for antlers, two chocolate chips on for eyes and one red hot candy for a nose.
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Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow reindeer to cool 2-3 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.
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And, well…from the Land of the Misfit Cookies…
I just had to show you Malachi’s attempt at a reindeer.
He sure did have fun helping!
Visit Tammy’s Recipes for more kitchen fun!
filed Filed under: Christmas Cookies, Natural Sugar Treats, Recipes by Laura
It’s Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Christmas…Cookies!
November 25, 2008
As you all know, I love tweaking recipes and working to create a healthier version of recipes I find. Thanksgiving and Christmas time give me plenty of excuses to exercise this crazy hobby of mine. Nobody around me seems to mind. :) (Hehe, funny that I used the word exercise…talking about baking cookies! Hey, exercise comes in many forms.)
My favorite part of holiday baking: I LOVE THE WAY CHRISTMAS BAKING MAKES THE HOUSE SMELL!!!
I’m planning on baking up quite a few treats in the next few weeks to share with neighbors and friends…so be looking for several new recipes coming up here!!!
The first recipe I’ll share is one that smells just like Christmas!! MMMmmm!!
Christmas Spice Cookies
1 cup melted butter
1 cup rapadura or sucanat
1 egg
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. cloves
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
Stir together melted butter and rapadura. Mix in egg, cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla, nutmeg and cloves. Add flour gradually until mixed thoroughly. Chill dough at least 2 hours.
Roll dough into teaspoon sized balls. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
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These cookies are soooo yummy with a cup of hot cocoa!!! (If you haven’t tried this hot cocoa recipe, you really, really should!)
Upcoming cookie recipe: Orange Cream Cheese Cut-Outs!! Possibly my favorite!
P.S. Don’t fall out of your chair, but some of the recipes I’ll share might contain some compromising ingredients like powdered sugar and (gasp!) sprinkles. What’s Christmas without an occasional red and green sprinkle??
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