More on the Fermentation Front

Have I talked about fermentation before?  I don't remember and honestly, I don't feel like looking back in what few archives I have here so I'll just give you a brief rundown on what it is and why you should think about trying it.

Nourished Kitchen is a treasure trove of info and recipes for foods that are GOOD for you.  Do you ever wonder how people in the "way back" days preserved their foods?  Veggies, meats? How did they make whatever condiments they might have used?  What are they health benefits to eating fermented foods? This website and THIS page, specifically, will tell you all the answers to those questions and more. They have an email list you can sign up for and receive helpful tips and probably recipes too although they have TONS on their site.  They also have a blog and even meal plans! Go check them out and tell them I sent you. ;o)

So, here is the recipe for a basic fermented ketchup from their website.

homemade ketchup, an old-world recipe

• Yield: about 1 pint
• 
  
• Prep: 5 minutes (active) mins
• Cook: 3 to 5 days (fermentation) mins
• Ready In: 8 mins

Deeply robust with the rich-sweet flavor of concentrated tomato, this ketchup differs from the cloying sweet varieties you find in the grocery store. Allspice and cloves, traditional inclusions often omitted in most store-bought varieties, bring a level of depth that would be otherwise absent. Not a particularly quick food, this homemade ketchup is slowly ripened and aged over a period of three to five days as beneficial bacteria metabolize the food’s natural sugars, creating a condiment that is potently rich in food enzymes and probiotics. It’s a traditional process, lactofermentation, that increases the nutritional value of the foods we eat and love. This recipe and over 100 others are included in the latest of Nourished Kitchen’s online cooking class: Get Cultured! How to Ferment Anything.

Ingredients

• 2 cups tomato paste (preferably homemade)
• 1/4 cup raw honey (maple syrup or whole unrefined cane sugar)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp fresh whey* (divided)
• 2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar (plus extra for thinning the ketchup, if desired)
• 1 tsp unrefined sea salt
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

Instructions

1. Spoon tomato paste into a large mixing bowl and fold in raw honey or other natural sweetener of choice.
2. Whisk in one-quarter cup fresh whey or vegetable starter culture into the sweetened tomato paste along with apple cider vinegar, sea salt, allspice and cloves. Continue whisking these ingredients together until the paste is smooth and uniform.
3. Spoon the homemade ketchup into a mason jar, top with remaining two tablespoons fresh whey or vegetable starter culture, cover loosely with a cloth or lid and allow the ketchup to sit at room temperature, undisturbed, for three to five days.
4. After three to five days, uncover the homemade ketchup and give it a thorough stir before transferring to the refrigerator. Naturally fermented homemade ketchup will keep for several months in the refrigerator.

One thing about this recipe that might make it difficult for just ANYONE wanting to make this RIGHT NOW would be the fact they MIGHT not have whey sitting around in their house.  Where do you get whey?  Well, I'll tell you where I got mine: I bought raw milk, made cheese out of it and saved the whey which separated from the cheese, put it in glass jars and froze it.  Hopefully this won't hurt the whey's duties in this recipe... it was chilled in the fridge but not frozen, although the recipe calls for "fresh whey".

Now I just sit back and let it ferment for a few days and then I get to try it... (on the kids... I mean... with dinner...for EVERYONE). I will report back and let you all know how it turned out.

p.s.  I got a pint jar full as well as a tall, skinny jelly jar full. :o)

In other fermentation news, Saturday I made 5 pints of sauerkraut, another fermented food, and my husband and I LOVE it!  He ate more of it than I did so hence the reason I had to make more. ;o)  Another thing I make that is fermented is Kombucha.  I had forgotten I'd made a batch and now it still sits there in it's glass, gallong jar and it's "Mother" is about 2 inches thick or more... with another one growing on the bottom.  Guess I will make a fresh batch and try a new twist I recently learned about.... home-made fermented grape kombucha soda!  I'll make it and test it and get back with you to let you know how it tastes.  I can't rightly post something that's nasty can I???  ;o)

Stay tuned !

Shake Your Can-Can

Okay, I don't know where that title came from, but at any rate, I've been busy lately canning all the wonderful goodies my mom has brought to me from their farm.  Here is the latest I've made:

Here is the recipe for the candied jalapenos, in case any of you were interested.

Candied Jalapeno Rounds

There aren't words that exist to describe how addictive these little savoury, sweet, spicy, crunchy, garlicky pickled jalapeno rounds are. Put them on sandwiches, tacos, rice or bake them into cornbread.  You'll need more and more!

Ingredients:

•  3 lbs fresh, firm jalapeno peppers, washed
• 2 C cider vinegar
• 6 C white granulated sugar (I don't see why you couldn't substitute any other type of sugar, i.e. turbinado)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp celery seed
• 3 tsp granulated garlic or 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper

Instructions:

1. Wearing gloves, remove the stems from all jalapenos. The easiest way to do this is to slice a small disc off the stem-end along with the stem.  Discard the stems.
2. Slice the peppers into uniform 1/8-1/4 inch rounds.  Set aside.
3. In a large pot, bring vinegar, sugar, turmeric, celery seed, garlic and cayenne to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 min.  Add the pepper slices and simmer for exactly 4 min.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peppers, loading into clean, sterile canning jars to within 1/4 inch of the upper rim of the jar.  Turn heat up under the pot of syrup and bring to a full rolling boil.  Boil hard for 6 minutes.
4. Use a ladle to pour the syrup into the jars over the jalapenos.  Insert a knife into the bottom of the jar two or three times to release any trapped air pockets.  Adjust the level of the syrup if necessary. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp paper towel and fix on new, two-piece lids to finger-ti tightness.
5. If you have left-over syrup, and it is likely that you will, you may can it in half-pint or pint jars too.  It's wonderful brushed on chicken or added to potato salad.
6. Place jars in canner, cover with water by 2 inches.  Bring the water to a full rolling boil and then set timer for 10 minutes for half-pints and 15 min for pints.  When timer goes off, use canning tongs to transfer the jars to a cooling rack.  Leave them to cool for 24 hrs.  When fully cooled, wipe them with a clean, damp washcloth and then label.
7. Allow to mellow for at least 2 weeks, but preferably a month before eating.

I haven't tried these yet but I'm still in that 2 week wait time.  You can bet yer britches I'll be partaking as soon as they're ready though!  I'm thinking of a Ritz cracker with a piece of Colby-Jack topped with one of these would be YUMMO!

Stay tuned for my review!

Also on the canning front, I've put up apple jelly, blackberry jam, strawberry-fig preserves, salsa, dill pickles and "come and get it".  Y'all just let me know if you'd be interested in any of those recipes.  Simple simple simple!

Farm / Homestead update:

House planning is going well. Waiting to hear from the bank! :o)
We've added 9 more chickens to our animals (8 hens and a rooster). The first group of hens we got have just started laying.  I went outside the other day and found 3 or 4 eggs but only 1 the days since then, if any at all. 
We've also been gifted a black lab puppy.  I call her Tootie... for a good reason.  ;o)

The garden is still giving us a few cherry tomatoes and peppers here and there but it's almost time to mow it down.  I'm thinking of trying some cabbage for a fall crop.  I need to make another big batch of sauerkraut!

OH!  We discovered we're in a good spot to attract feral honey bees so I'm hoping The Dude or Paw can help me by building a bee hive so I can try to get some.  I'd LOVE to be able to make our own honey for our family... and to sell some too if there's an abundance.

Sorry for the gap in posts.  Things have been so crazy busy here lately that I've not really had the time, although I have plenty to post about.

Is it May Already?

Well, I came back here to find my post where I'd mentioned buying our first chicks only to realize it's been over a month already AND I haven't posted since then! Wow. Those chicks are now probably about 6 weeks old or maybe a bit more depending on how old they were when we first bought them. I'm not sure if it was the next week or the week after that Autumn and I went back and bought 4 more. These will be surprises! We know they're pullets but we just don't know what kind. They must be the same age as our original ones because they've grown at the exact same rate. Their only difference really is their color. If you remember, I'd bought 2 Amberlinks and 2 Red Sexlinks the first time and they are evolving into exactly what their name suggest... amber and red-colored birds. These new 4, however, are white. There's no color on their wings or heads or anything. I need to surf the web some more to see what kind they might turn out to be. It's rather exciting... sort of like not having an ultrasound during your pregnancy! The baby kittens are doing well. We lost one, Melvin, as The Dude named him, to Copernicus. He didn't kill it, he was just playing with it. After all, Cop IS a puppy and they like to play with things and especially things that smell different and move. So, after 2 or 3 days of The Dude taking extra special care of him, Melvin finally let go. He was buried under the tree in the backyard. :o( The other 4-named Tiger (I call it Tigger), Janet, Shadow and Guinea are all getting so big and they're adorable to watch when they start playing together. Sometimes I find Janet playing with her mama's tail as it swishes back and forth across the grass or concrete patio. The pups have been on lock-down for a while. Copernicus was first, after the incident with Melvin he tried it again with Shadow and I tied him up. One day a few of the chicks got loose and Zeta took off after one into the dry creek bed. The chick was saved only by diving head-first into a nook created by tree roots. Then I tied Zeta up. I am finding that longer, plastic-covered wire leads are not a good idea for them. They like to chew and so they've chewed them to the wire and that causes it to kink somehow. They're also constantly getting wrapped around trees, roots, the dog house and anything else they can find to tangle themselves into. We are debating now whether to use the tie-downs that go into the ground instead of one that runs from tree to tree. Today is Mother's Day! I'm thankful for my family and that I was given the opportunity to be a mother. Some aren't. I also feel like I'm the mother to all these animals because they rely on me to feed, shelter and clo...oh wait...feed and shelter them. They're teaching me a lot as far as what life is like with a bunch of animals... Many days I don't feel like getting out in the cold or the rain to feed them or let them out of their coop or take them for a walk or pet them, but then I realize... they depend on me and if I don't take care of them they would die. It really is a huge responsibility to take on but I'm glad we did. I love having them all. I just can't wait to get our own home so we can move ALL of us out there and get settled. Speaking of the house: A lot has been going on there too. We've still been contacting builders and such but recently we found one and he seems to be a good one. He gave us references and an address for a house he build recently. We never got that from the other builders. :o) So we drove by to look at the house and since they were home we decided to try and talk to them and ask them about it. I think it's safe to say that this guy is probably going to be the one we pick. Next step: The fun part-talking to the banks. Weeeee. Needless to say we have been very busy lately but the end of the school year is near (only 2 weeks away) and that means Mama gets to sleep in a bit. ;o) I hope to be busy with gardening and house building stuff over the summer... and canning! I've been doing nothing but baking lately...cakes, and cookies galore and the scale is witness to that! I need to work harder on feeding us all better. Man can't live on cookies alone, after all! So, that's all from the Homestead-in-the-works. Maybe I will remember to blog a little more often than once a month. ;o)

Is it really Spring?

So...long time no post. :o)

(This first part was a draft I had saved and never finished, therefore it never got published.)

We have begun the garden! YAY! We took the tiller over one afternoon and set to work...or The Dude did anyway. We have 2 garden plots, one smaller than the other. The smaller one has been planted with Spanish onions, potatoes and Ginger so far. I still have some bunching onions and garlic to plant in that bed and it will be full.

The second bed only has carrots so far AND I planted them going the wrong direction (oops). When we chose the garden spots we decided to take advantage of the natural clearings since we don't want to take down any trees unless it's just unavoidable. Still, we have to keep in mind the direction the sun moves across the sky and plant accordingly. You don't want taller crops casting shade over the other, shorter crops. Most plants need full sun, or probably 6-8 hrs of sunlight daily and it's hard enough getting that in the woods-even with somewhat of a clearing.

We also have seeds started indoors. They include cucumbers, lettuce, turnips, a hot pepper mix and bell peppers. I have plenty more seeds to start and have all the ingredients to get that done... except time. :o)

My parents have gifted us 2 blueberry baby bushes in pots that they started from their own HUGE/high producing bushes and I think we've determined where we will be planting those. The garlic and bunching onions I mentioned earlier are in pots and came from them also. Those need to be planted in the potato bed with the other onions. I also have a terracotta strawberry pot loaded with green plants with blooms. :o)

(New post begins here.)

Yesterday we went and purchased our first baby chicks. They are "supposed to be" Amberlinks and Red Sex Links. In other words... they are reddish-yellow and BETTER put out some big brown eggs! I said "supposed to be" because apparently the people we got them from thought they were one thing and the sign said the other. In fact, they said that about EVERY trough of chicks... yet all the signs said something different. Go figure.

Anyway... they are in the custom-made coop complete with wood shavings, water and food dispenser and heat lamp. Locked in, safe from the rain and cold (and dogs and cats). :o)

Speaking of cats... if you follow me around on Facebook you will have knowledge about these cats that just showed up at our house one day (did I blog about it too?). Well, anyway, one of them got herself knocked-up. Not really a big deal to us. Well, I went out to feed the cats/dogs one day and she walks over to me meowing and I'm like, "Whoa, you got skinny. Did you have your babies?" After coming to my senses and realizing this animal was NOT about to respond to my question... I set off to find them. No luck. Few days later... no luck. I thought they must have died because she was always around but I never saw or heard any kittens. Well, recently The Dude said someone had come by looking for their cat (the mama) who then told him that she'd been feeding them because you know what happens as a mama if you don't nurse your baby? Yeah, well, she was NOT suffering and that milk was going somewhere so we set off to find them. So we went into the building behind the house and as soon as we walk in Sambo says... "I hear them! Listen!"

Sure enough....

Five widdle baby kitties! Which is a good thing, because the owner of the mama wants her back. She will be taken home after she's finished nursing these guys. Speaking of "guys" I have no idea if they're males or females or both! WOW.

So, the latest about the garden is that the onions and potatoes are up and going well. No sign of the carrots yet, but I topped the ground with mulch too so it might take a little longer. The seeds we started came up in some pots but then died off. I guess we can dump the dirt back into the bag and start over. WITH A SHARPIE MARKER THIS TIME (who had the bright idea to write the types of seeds on the pots in Washable Marker? Durrrrrr. I'm not naming names. ;o)

I think I will go over there and check on things shortly and see how the strawberries are coming. Maybe I will get some new picture to post.

Also, my parents are coming for Punkin's Birthday next week and bringing lots of garden stuffidges to share: herbs, veggies, daffodil bulbs for the girls to plant, etc.

The excitement continues....

I'm still alive!

So, just to update since it's been... well... quite a while now, I suppose.

I started juicing!  I have to say I LOVE it and how I feel overall since starting it.  WHY did I start it in the first place, you're wondering, right?  Well, I watched this documentary called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead  and it really opened my eyes about what I've been putting into my body lately. The part that REALLY got to me was when I learned that Joe and the other guy both had auto-immune diseases.  Like me.  They showed a picture of the meds they took and named them off and I'm like.. "Hey, I take that too." So, I have now been juicing for 5 days (I think) and I feel pretty good.  I have found that if I eat anything of real substance... like say, a salad, I will be munchy-hungry the rest of the day.  So I'm better off fighting that desire for something to chew and sticking with just the juice instead. Today I didn't do too well and yesterday I didn't do so hot either so this week I really have to crack down on it.  Wednesday will be hard because I have to make a birthday cake for a meeting I'm going to and of course Valentine's Day is coming up too on Tuesday. Well, I guess I could reward myself by eating chocolate whenever I reach the goal I've set for myself.  When will that be?  I don't know how long but soon.

In other news, the pups are beginning to really grow up!  And I don't just mean physically!  When my kids and I go outside so they can get on the school  bus they always go with us.  When my oldest goes out to catch his, which is before the one comes for the littles, they go out with him.  He is highly annoyed by this and thinks they are attacking me... but if you know Bricker you understand.  They've also begun with the barking.  I mean SERIOUS barking.  The other day I drove up and someone was on a tractor behind our yard and a strange small beagle was with him (strange to me anyway). When the tractor turned off and the dude climbed down the dog, namely Copernicus, started in on his barking.  He perked up all over and looked so majestic standing there!  Then he crossed the creek and got a bit closer to whomever it was he was barking at, whether the man or the dog or the squirrels-I don't know, but as soon as the dude climbed back on the tractor and starter her up and drove off Copernicus relaxed his entire body and turned around, crossed the creek again and proceeded to flop back down on the patio which is normally how I always see him.

About a week ago I began looking at the dogs following us out to the bus more like they were going along with us as our bodyguards instead of just puppies.  I think it started when Bricker started walking out to the bus alone.  I would stand in the doorway watching... and then the pups would always trot down there to where he was.  As soon as he got on the bus they walked back up to the house.

I think they know what they're doing.

Also, after I put the 3 youngers on their bus (and yes, the dogs are with us down there), I ALWAYS walk back to the front door, go in, walk through to the back door and go feed the puppies.  Around the same time all this with Bricker started going down.. or I started NOTICING it anyway, I also started watching them when I walked in the house.  In the beginning, Zeta would paw at the front door after I went in... wanting me to come back out or me to let her in. But now she watches ME and when she sees me open the back door she and Copernicus run around to the back door so they can see me again and so they can eat.  I know, I know... ANY dog can learn that!  Sure...  I agree. But I still think they're smart.

Case in point- I started working more with them lately on some simple commands. One I've been REALLY wanting to teach them was "WAIT". I take a treat and hold it in my hand right in front of their face and every time they start to nab it I say the command and they stop.  If they touch me I voice my disapproval and they back off.  Then, I use the "GET IT" command when they are allowed to have the treat.  I am getting closer and closer to their faces with this exercise each day I work on it and they've pretty much gotten it down, but I want to get them REALLY good at it, meaning that I want to be able to sit the treat on their nose and them not move until I give the "GET IT" command.

After we finish that fun exercise I then tell them "GO EAT" and they move on to their food dish.

It's all about repetition, really.  They're doing great and I'm having fun teaching them things.

One "problem" I need to break them of is that they LOVE to play with the cats.  Zeta in particular.  When I say "play" I mean pin them down on the ground with oh, say, her mouth around their head or throat.

MMyeah.  So... even though she never HURTS them... I still don't believe it's a good habit of play because what happens when I have goat babies or chickens? Not a pleasant thought.

We had to buy new collars for them recently too.  The martingales (see the collar pic) we got when

Martingale Collar

they were babies were so tight around their necks that I had to literally cut them off! Anyway, so the new ones are made for LARGE dogs and have metal locking clasps.  It was a bit difficult to get their dog tags on them but The Dude is strong and able!!!  So now they have nice, bright, easy-to-see collars which aren't covered up but all the hair....

Speaking of hair, they need a good brushing out.  But honestly, every time I think about doing it they go and run through some wet, black soot from the burn pile or go run through some Alabama mud somewhere.  Another day, perhaps.  Too cold anyhow.

Anyone planting yet?  Starting seeds?  I bought a LOT of seeds recently as well as my potato and onions to plant.  We've decided to plant them on our "farm" as opposed to here where we're living.  Why not?  We have the land... shouldn't we use it?  Absolutely! So maybe when it warms up just a TAD we will get over there and clear a spot and till it just a bit and get these babies in the ground.  I'm SO ready for Spring!

So I need some help from you....

My mother and myself are thinking of opening an etsy store together to list our crafts for sale for all you lovelies out there.

But what to NAME it?  It's been suggested that I just use the name of my blog and tie it all together...

Opinions?