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Paintings of old Italian pear varieties listed by harvest month. Different cities and regions had different pears. (There are currently four main varieties of pears grown in Italy.)
Posted on 10/01/2024 6:10:14 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Paintings of old Italian pear varieties listed by harvest month. Different cities and regions had different pears. (There are currently four main varieties of pears grown in Italy.)
I’m glad you mentioned that Lawry’s Seasoned Salt! I’ve been on a ‘kick’ where I’ve been trying to make EVERYTHING from scratch.
A. I have the TIME - because RETIREMENT is AWESOME! I should’ve retired 20 years ago, and...
B. I’m always looking for ways to save money.
We eat a lot of wild game; bear, elk, venison, and Beau likes gravy on anything that doesn’t move! And, of course gawd-forbid you eat a mashed potato without gravy! So, instead of buying those dumb 50-cent packets of ‘Brown Gravy Mix’ to use, I whipped up a batch of Homemade Gravy Mix. No salt in it, other than what’s in the bouillon - which is plenty.
https://iamhomesteader.com/homemade-brown-gravy/#wprm-recipe-container-131750
So, for under $5, I have an entire quart jar of the stuff, well sealed in a Mason jar which is supposed to be good for a full year. I was easily spending $2 A MONTH buying those packets...so that’s $2 more a month to put into savings. ;)
Here are some other interesting sites I’ve been looking through:
https://www.thriftyfrugalmom.com/homemade-foods-to-make-from-scratch/
https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/grocery-store-foods-to-make-at-home/
We eat homemade soup and a veggie wrap on a regular basis, so I want to learn to make a decent Tortilla from scratch to use for the wraps. Store-bought tortillas are ridiculously expensive!
Easy Soft Flour Tortillas
Soft, pliable, perfect for wrapping. A few tricks. Dissolving salt in warm water helps season the dough especially if using coarser salt. Rolling very thin and dialing in pan heat guarantees those appetizing bubbles, and the perfect texture.
Make 10 (8-inch) tortillas 2 cups flour 1 tsp fine sea salt 2/3 cup very warm water 5 tbl light flavored oil, melted shortening, melted lard or melted butter
Direction Add salt to the warm water and stir to dissolve. In a large bowl, fork/combine flour with the oil (or other fat) til it looks crumbly. Pour in almost all of the salty water and stir until a shaggy dough forms. If the mixture seems dry, add a bit more of the water. When the dough comes together, transfer to floured work surface and knead smooth, 2-3 minutes. Cover with a clean dishcloth and leave 15 minutes (up to 2 hours). Resting the dough makes rolling it out easier. Divide into ten equal sized blobs and shape them into small disks.
Rolling pin each small disk into 8-inch rounds. The thinner, the better--don’t worry about making them perfectly round. Stack them w/ parchment between.
Cook Tortillas Heat a wide, heavy-bottomed skillet on med-high. When hot, add the first tortilla. Within 20-30 seconds, you should start to see it puffing up with bubbles.When the bottom of the tortilla has some brown spots, flip it and cook until the second side is browned in places and the tortilla looks dry at edges----will take 1-2 minutes to cook. Transfer cooked tortilla to a dishcloth and cover it, then continue, adjusting heat as needed.
Tips Substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour. The dough might need a bit more water. Make ahead: Divide the dough into smaller balls (this recipe makes ten 8-inch tortillas), wrap them very well, and then place them in the refrigerator for up to three days. About thirty to forty minutes before you plan to cook the tortillas, take them out of the fridge and bring to room temp before rolling out.
Store leftover tortillas in a resealable plastic bag for a day or two or freeze if they need to be stored longer. Fresh homemade flour tortillas are at their softest when warm, so if you have room-temperature or cold tortillas, we recommend reheating them in a skillet until they are warm and pliable again. Freeze flour tortillas in a freezer-safe bag or container, stacked with a small sheet of parchment between. \
Southwest Cream Cheese Chicken Wraps / a hearty lunch or light dinner
Add red peppers, black beans, corn, shredded cheddar and SW spices in flour tortillas.
Ing 1 tablespoon olive oil 3 cups chicken cooked and shredded 1/2 teaspoon cumin ground 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder 1 teaspoon onion powder Dash of cayenne 2 cloves garlic minced 1 jalapeno seeded and finely chopped 1 red bell pepper diced 1 cup frozen corn thawed 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 cup sour cream 4 ounces cream cheese softened and cubed 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1/4 cup chopped green onions 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 6-8 large tortillas 1 1/2 to 2 cups tortilla strips optional
Instructions In skillet, heat ol/oil on med. Add 3 cups chicken, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 2 cloves garlic, 1 jalapeno and 1 red bell pepper. Cook 5 min til warmed through and peppers are just tender. Stir in cup frozen corn, 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed, 1 cup sour cream, 4 oz cubed cream cheese and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Continue cooking and stirring until cream cheese is melted. Remove from heat and stir in the 1 cup shredded cheddar, 1/4 cup chopped green onions and 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro. Divide mixture into 6-8 large tortillas. Sprinkle with 1 1/2-2 cups crisp tortilla strips. Roll up tightly; serve immediately.
I new you’d have the answers for me. Thanks! :)
I think this one’s the best recipe I have.
Simple but detailed. Hope you like it.
I finally got done processing tomatoes. Reds for maninara and puree, yellows for juice, and cherries split and dried. Saved and cleaned a bunch of seed as well. Today’s garden chore was blowing a a foot of snow out of the driveways. They say it is supposed to get near zero this weekend.
Nature always wins! :)
I like to add some of the yellows to my V-8 Juice. Less acidic, though neither Beau nor I have any problems with that...YET! ;)
It was 34 degrees when I got up at 7am this morning. Lots more leaves down off the trees.
Yeah, it’s coming at me, too!
Tomorrows chores will include cleaning out a few more beds, harvesting the rest of the Jalapenos that I let go to red, and harvesting the rest of my ‘Good Mother Stallard’ drying beans. They never all dry at the same rate for some reason.
Also - got to check the Popcorn. I think it’s ready to harvest, but I’ve got to get at it before the raccoons do!
The paintings alone were worth the price of admission!
I LOVE people that have a PASSION about what they do with their lives. :)
As luck would have it, I just happen to have a 5 gallon bucket of bear ‘lard!’ I WAS going to use it in my homemade bird suet over the winter months, but if I can make Tortillas from it, Beau would love that!
As a kid, whenever we got a cut or scrape Grandpa would put ‘Grandma’s Goose Grease’ on it and we were just fine. I know for a FACT that neither of my Grandmas raised geese. ;)
Beau uses that ‘lard’ on anything leather. It keeps it supple and looking nice and has good waterproofing qualities. And amazingly it does NOT smell nasty. (He renders it OUTSIDE, of course!)
Most people do not have that on hand........but give it a go.
Looks like nobody has used fiberglass rope... :-(
Well, if I try it, I’ll report here!
Busy week so far. Esp. the varmints: 3 squirrels trapped and our tabby deposited a big one on the back porch this morning. Almost invariably she gets the big ones - probably older and slower??? Went out to the veggie garden and there’s a ‘possum in the larger trap. Bones from pork steaks cooked in the smoker draw ‘em almost every time.
Unfortunately, it’s too late for the Opo. Too much damage weeks prior, and it’s too late in the season: Both plants are about 99% dead. We did get 4 fruits in the 12” to 15” range from them, last week. Small (for Opo) but tender and you can just cut ‘em up, skin, undeveloped seeds, and all, like a youngish cuke. Very neutral - can add to almost anything. I used some this week in spaghetti sauce, and some in a chicken casserole based on “Cheese” Tuna Helper.
Bizarrely, that big pumpkin plant is trying to regenerate at it’s original center. Several nice big green leaves have sprung up off the original stem. No way it’s gonna produce anything at this point, but, it is still surprising to me. The later planted tomatoes are still producing some fruits too. Just about all planted in the spring are shot. Some Okra plants are still going, but not flowering. The long range forecast looks like 2 weeks without frost, so, I might hit ‘em with a bit more Super-Phosphate. And water. After Helene, we are dry, dry, dry.
FA...What State? What/s your growing zone!
(
I’ve been reading up on lard vs. tallow. I guess tallow is way more nutritious. And I have always had a problem digesting anything with lard in it like pie crust. Lots of people recommend it is the healthiest for deep frying. We are trying to avoid seed oils and the only this I could find that is healthy is avocado oil but that is too pricey. So I have a tub of tallow in my shopping cart on amazon. We don’t eat a lot of fried foods but hubby and I both like chicken tenders, I have the Long John Silvers knock off batter recipe. And we have a good chicken source. And he likes homemade french fries too.
zone 2a, Interior Alaska
KS/MO border here. We had our first frost a week ago. I covered sensitive things up, we might have 3 or 4 weeks of Indian Summer. Might have some late planted almost red tomatoes, perhaps a few cucumbers. We are losing daylight. No more canning though. Only thing left are things like leeks, kale, turnips, and rutabagas, cold tolerant year end stuff.
I made the Tuscan Chicken recipe. It was very good & leftovers were even better, IMO. I made a mistake with the spinach - used baby spinach leaves and had forgotten that they do not wilt well. Today, I made a minestone soup & used leftover spinach, but gave the leaves a couple of pulses in the food processor first.
Tomorrow is pumpkin chili day. The weather, which has been balmy after warming up from chilly nights, should be cooler, perfect for soups & chili. The weather this past week & the leaf color have been fantastic, the very reason October is my favorite month.
Good to hear a report! There was only a small bowl of leftovers of our Tuscan chicken, and my sweet hubby polished it off for a snack (late lunch) the next day.
The leaves here have been spectacular this week, too. So so pretty! I never understood why people said Fall was their favorite season till I moved to the Midwest. Where you are it may be even prettier than here, but I still enjoy what we get.
I took the night off from cooking, which is very unusual around here. We had a Culver’s open up in our little town a week ago. So we both had a hankering to give it a try tonight. Hubby had a burger and I had a spicy chicken sandwich. Years ago my nephew had told me how much he liked that, and I’ll admit, it was pretty darn good! Been a while since we’ve eaten any sort of fast food. Sometimes you gotta give in. (I had the steamed broccoli as a side just to give my diet conscious self a nod.)
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