Posted on 09/01/2026 5:40:17 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Re: chickens
Have you ever heard of this method for preserving fresh eggs if ever you have too many?
Your Simple Guide to Water Glassing Eggs at Home
https://homesteadingfamily.com/preserved-eggs-water-glassing-eggs-for-long-term-storage/
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Major storms going to blow through between 10:30 & 2:00 today based on radar. It’s a “cold” front that should drop high temps 10-15 degrees & also drop the humidity. A contractor should be by around noon to look at our potential projects. After he leaves, I’m grocery shopping for Monday & this afternoon/evening will be doing what I can to make lunch food ahead: lemon chess pie*, blueberry muffins, roasted carrots, grate zucchini & bake bacon. Tomorrow afternoon should be no rain, lower humidity & dried out a little so after church, that’s my mowing ‘window’. As inconvenient as the rain is, we are still in moderate drought conditions & need it - the river & farm ponds are still looking low.
*I made a lemon pie when my cousin came to lunch. It had sweetened condensed milk as a main ingredient. I had one piece & figured dairy relief pills would make it ‘ok’. Boy, was I wrong & paid dearly for that mistake. The lemon chess pie has no dairy & should be a similar culinary experience.
Thank you for the kind words.
Bon
Survived the storm front, but not off to a good start with that contractor. I had to text him @ 2:00 to see if he was still coming. From his reaction, I think he forgot us. He asked if he could reschedule & I agreed - waiting on a reply with a time. I would be a LOT happier if he had been the one reaching out with a text that he couldn’t make it.
I returned this past Thursday night from a week at my VA shore property. The heat got really bad and I did almost none of the gardening I had planned. My big fig tree had passed its /2 when I arrived, but I still gathered enough ripe fruit to boil up a 1/2 gallon of crushed figs with dark brown sugar and cinnamon to bring back to the city. I only used 1/2 cup of the sugar, so it is not too sweet, so I guess I will have to freeze it so it does not ferment. I was amazed to see the different variety fig bush that had produced a dozen figs last year, but looked dead this year (from drought) has survived. A month ago it had grown from the roots about a foot. Now it is 2 1/2 feet. I wonder if the roots will tell it to bear fruit next year, or if it will have to grow for several years again without fruit. Anyone have an opinion on this?
You’re ADORABLE! I would hire you in a minute for garden chores! :)
Mom loved to make us that ‘Poke and Pour Cake’ - and we never knew what color it would be. :)
I have not water-glassed eggs, but I have a friend that does and she has stored them for long periods of time with no problems.
I had two that were a bit ‘messy’ in the nest today, so I washed them and those two will immediately be breakfast tomorrow.
I don’t refrigerate eggs, but they need to be if you have to wash them. The ‘rind’ (think cheese & bacteria) or whatever is on the outside of the egg protects them so they can immediately be ‘shelf stable.’
In my travels in Europe and Mexico and with our local Amish, no one refrigerates their eggs. The first time I was in Mexico (1977) I was amazed that in the bodega, eggs were stacked in 24-pack layers on the counter by the cash register. They didn’t sell a lot of eggs in the grocery store because everyone and their hermano had their own chickens. :)
Bake the Contractor one of your pies...and you’ll NEVER be rid of him, LOL! ;)
Survived another Fri-Sat with my Mother, ‘The Energizer Bunny,’ LOL!
Friday we went to ‘The Avoca Mercantile’ and while it was AMAZINGLY over-stimulating, I still appreciated all of the work that went into all of the displays. The first floor and basement of the ‘Victorian’ house was the retail shop. OMG! Having a Retail Management background, that woman had to have close to $100K in inventory in that house! Yikes!
Her SISTER was working that day and she filled us in on all the details. The house was only built 30 years ago...but they made it look like it’s been there - forever - I mean the Woodwork and Flooring in that place alone was spot-on! The room I liked the best was once the kitchen. Just perfectly laid out and so functional - once all the ‘decor’ was removed!
Anyhow, they had a bunch of Foster Kids, so the house used to be brimming with kids - which is wonderful. Now days they live in town, use the building as a shop, rent out the upper rooms as a B & B and the husband comes to tend to all the animals (lots of beef bovine, some goats and lots of chickens) every day.
I bought Christmas Presents and Mom found some ‘warty’ cool pumpkins for her front porch. They had tons of Mums and beautiful fall planters. It was worth the trip for inspiration, alone.
Then Mom wanted to go to the ‘new’ bridge over the Wisconsin River at Lone Rock, then we headed for Spring Green and stopped at our favorite HUGE Farm Stand, Hecks. I bought Candy Onions and some of my favorite Popcorn, ‘Mushroom Flake.’ If you ever see it for sale - and you like popcorn - you have GOT to try this variety. Superb in every way. No reason I can’t plant some of the ‘seed’ I bought this next growing reason, Right? ;)
Saturday we hit the ground running at 8am to tackle the garden. The humidity is just BRUTAL, but the day was overcast for almost all of it, so we were sweaty, but still not passing out, LOL! This is what we accomplished in about 2 hours:
Picked:
Beans
Cherry Tomatoes
Regular Tomatoes
Red Jalapenos
Misc. Peppers
We also pulled the spent broccoli plants, and cut enough Zinnia for the church Altar tomorrow.
We potted up the Mums I had growing on into a larger porch pot and Mom brought me an adorable trio of Mums which I put together in one pot. So pretty!
Then, Breakfast, which was Tomato Sandwiches on Sourdough bread, with a side of Cottage Cheese topped with the Tomato Jam I had made earlier. YUM!
We watched some episodes of ‘Rosemary & Thyme’ and played Cribbage (she won 2 out of 3) and had an early supper and she headed for home...and to deliver tomatoes to her neighbors. She also helped me with all the dog/barn chores; Mom was Water Girl, and also got to commune with her ‘Grand Mule’ Ithaca. She is the only human on EARTH that he loves. The rest of us are mere SERVANTS to him...
I’m heading for a shower and early to bed to read. Pretty sure I’ll sleep well! ;)
I tried to boil and peel 72 eggs so I could puckle them
I have never had this much difficulty peeling hard boiled eggs.
Used some vinegar in the water
.put them in an ice bath and then tried to peel them. Pretty sure I got less than half that are usable for pickling.
I’m going to he eating Sriracha deviled eggs all week!
On the plus side I filled deer feeder yesterday and I had 2 12 point and a 10 point white tails there today along with a bunch of does.
The 10 mount is younger and still has velvet on his tines bit both 12 points are FAT!!! There is enough meat on just their necks for 20 lbs of summer sausage.
We are only 2 months from opening Day.
I will have to throw up a deer stand since my last one burned down in the fire in February.
It’s really not hunting when you have a deer feeder and only a 50 yard shot....more like harvesting but having all that meat in the freezer is sooo worth it.
Wow - don’t know how you & your mom have so much energy! I am not back to 100% energy & Wednesday, when we got home from our trip to Old Town, mom looked at me & said “I’m tired”. Neither of us has slept well this past week with 2 funerals, lots of cooking, & an out of town trip, all requiring very early mornings (like 5:30) & late nights with trouble falling asleep for both of us.
Re: chicken eggs:
“The natural protective coating on chicken eggs is called the bloom or cuticle. This thin, waxy layer is secreted by the hen just before laying and serves as a barrier that seals the shell’s thousands of microscopic pores, preventing bacteria from entering and reducing moisture loss to keep the egg fresh.
In commercial settings where eggs are washed and the natural bloom is removed, producers often apply a replacement coating such as food-grade mineral oil or other edible polymers to restore the protective seal and extend shelf life.”
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I don’t do many pies, so I doubt that would entice the contractor to either show up or stick around. My Jalapeño Pepper Jelly might be a different story! :-)
Eggs. I have been poking a hole in the blunt end of the eggs and steaming them for 13 min. I let them sit for 3 or 4 min and then run cold water over them. I use cold water in 1/2 full 1 qt mason jar put 4 eggs in, shake 4 or 5 times, then pull them out and peel the cracked shells. It goes quickly, but I am doing 12 to 14 and not 70 at a time like you!
You’ve invented my new technique! I’m never going to give you credit and I’m going to claim it was my idea!
This thing is great for hard boiled eggs. Only recently discovered it. I have never had a bad result.
https://www.amazon.com/DASH-Rapid-Egg-Cooker-Scrambled/dp/B0D3W6XGLR/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1
It’s the peeling part that went bad.
Maynbe they were to fresh having gotten them fun my buddy who had his own big brood of hens
The freshness was more than likely the reason. And Paul I do something similar without the jar. After the eggs cook I put then in the sink in a stainless steel bowl and fill with cold water. After about 30 minutes I crack each egg a few times against the bowl, then change out the water a few times with very cold water. After an hour or so nearly all peel beautifully. If a few stick I just run cold water over the egg while I peel the rest off. And the eggs are all fresh. As the eggs cool they shrink and if you can get cold water under the cracked up shell they peel quickly and cleanly.
My Mom uses an egg cooker and she swears by it.
I’ll second that the freshness of the eggs makes a huge difference. We keep laying hens, and unless I set them aside for a good 2-3 WEEKS, they are still too ‘fresh’ to make hard boiled. Well, for me, anyway.
The only reason I still buy a dozen ‘store’ eggs from time to time is to make hard boiled. Mom peeled a dozen of them before supper last night. We used a few on our tossed salads and I’m making the rest into Egg Salad for sandwiches this week.
I will use a little less mayo, fresh Chives instead of the Green Onions (because I have them on hand) and I like to add some celery too, for crunch.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/147103/delicious-egg-salad-for-sandwiches/
I like celery too if it is finely chopped. Also use some celery salt.
Its the same here in Eastern Kansas with a slight chance of rain/thunderstorms tonight and into tomorrow.
Go out early and get things done. Last night the temperature at the start of the game was 97F. (6:10 PM or 18:10 hours.) Probably a good day to be splashing around in the Puget Sound!
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