- Kody - You are a brave woman. My mom recently got a new pressure cooker and she's still afraid it's going to explode.
- Me - The newer ones dont explode as often as the old ones. This is the one that Andy gave me and although it has a quirk or two, it works pretty darn well! I'm less afraid of it exploding than the jars breaking because I can't see them....
- Kody - Is that a pressure canner or cooker? Or is it the same thing? We just can with a hot bath, I know no other way.
- Me - If you are canning veggies, you HAVE TO USE a pressure canner/cooker (same difference) Veggies do not have natural acids to kill botulism, so in order to be safe you have to pressure can vegetables. Jams, jellies, pie fillings you can do in a water bath because you usually add sugars and most fruit already have a high acid amount
- Me - You usually will hear about someone getting really sick from home canned foods a couple times a year and the most common thing they get sick from is improperly canned green beans.
- Kody - Remind me to never eat canned veggies unless they come from your house.
- Me - Pickled veggies you can do in a water bath because you are usually using vinegar which adds the acid you need
- Kody - I've only ever canned fruit, Applesauce/butter, or jam.
- Me - Try veggies! Just borrow your mom's canner! Go in on it with friends, easy peasy and safe as long as you follow the rules. This is an awesome website for dat shit:http://nchfp.uga.edu/
- Kody - I need to get my blueberries picked this week and get some apples for Applesauce.... I'm a little behind. :)
I want to do pickles! - Me - Bill Pace in Bellevue has 25lb boxes for $25 I believe... But your local fruit stand should have cukes, too.
- Kody - I'm going to check Country Farms tomorrow. I'm out of canning jars - I use them to store my dry bulk stuffs.
- Me - LOL! That is very good too!!
- Andy - I am SOOOO glad you didn't blow your head off!!
- Me - ME TOO!!!!
- PJ - I just picked some green beans from my garden (that's right...i'm all growin' veggies n shit), so it's good to know that I now have to get all the canning stuff. *sigh*
- Me - If you need to borrow a pressure cooker, just holler
- PJ - Is it possible to pressure cook meat in a jar?
- Me - Actually, yes. You can a lot of meats raw and they will cook as they are being sealed
- PJ - Good to know. I've started making home cooked meals for the dogs to wean then off of kibble and to help Josie's allergies. I just freeze the batches, but it would be nice to just leave them unfrozen.
- PJ - Can you just bring the pressure cooker over and teach me? PLEASE TEACH ME!!!!
- Me - Happily
Monday, August 20, 2012
Yes. You Can Can!!
Friday, June 22, 2012
Well, Poop.
I am currently laid up after throwing out my back, so I have been taking a look at my stats for this blog.
The most common search phrase that brings you to my blog?
"raccoon poop"
That is right, the most common thing that causes people to come to my blog is.... Poop.
Last year, after finding a raccoon latrine on the roof of my garage, I wrote a long rant about the walking bio-hazard I consider them to be. You can find the "Walking Biohazards" post here.
I am not sure how I feel about "poop" being the common denominator that causes people to find my blog. I guess like celebrity, any traffic is good traffic. But, really? Poop?
In total the blog has had 3,780 hits. That means that since I started this blog in March of 2011, I have had 3,780 hits, which in my mind is pretty awesome!
Of that, 1,808 of those hits are due to searches for information on raccoon poop! This is the shit that people want to know about. (pun intended)
They want to know what it looks like. It looks like blunted cat poop with seeds.
Where they can find it. On roofs, in attics, under trees, in crawl spaces. Basically, any flat location that a raccoon has access to.
They want to know is it dangerous? HELL, YES. It is foul stuff full of roundworms and other nasty things.
They want to know what it looks like. It looks like blunted cat poop with seeds.
Where they can find it. On roofs, in attics, under trees, in crawl spaces. Basically, any flat location that a raccoon has access to.
They want to know is it dangerous? HELL, YES. It is foul stuff full of roundworms and other nasty things.
I hope that people are able to find helpful information on how to deal with a raccoon latrine, but I still feel weird that poop is the reason so many people do end up on this blog. I kinda feel like I should be writing a very different blog...
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Entertaining
The house is small but the yard is goodly sized, as you have seen with my garden and livestock(snerk).
But I rarely invite people into my house, because it is, well, small. It gets very tight in here very quickly. So I wait for the warmer months to entertain.
Last month, I worked on expanding my patio a bit, with extra paver stones my neighbor had I was able to bring the flat spot a little closer to the house. Opening up more space for people to gather and tables to be set up.
It is well know among my friends that I make a most evil sangria. It has caused many a friend to fall down. My friends act badly, drink too much, talk too loud, tell colourful jokes in mixed company and are generally wonderful.
It may be a cocktail party but a good gathering should be filled with too much loud laughter, crass conversation and inappropriateness in my opinion. I have been to too many stuffy, boring cocktail parties where people don't drink to excess and don't talk about anything interesting.
A patio on a warm summer's night with good friends laughing uproariously and loudly, enjoying good food and good drink is always wonderful. Wear your best outfit if you must, but if you showed up in clam diggers and a wife-beater, I wouldn't kick you out of the yard.
Patios were made for such things. Just avoid falling into the pool... Carlo the pool boy hates that...
Back Blowout 2
The first time I threw out my back, I was 16. I throw out my back a few times a year and it gets worse every year.
Currently, I am writing this from the comforts of my floor. I would have rather gone to work, or worked in my garden, or a number of other activities that would have been a million times more entertaining that lying on the floor hoping that the boyfriend's dog didn't piddle in this location during a moment of excitement.
Currently, I am writing this from the comforts of my floor. I would have rather gone to work, or worked in my garden, or a number of other activities that would have been a million times more entertaining that lying on the floor hoping that the boyfriend's dog didn't piddle in this location during a moment of excitement.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Yes! We Can! Strawberry Jam!
This last Sunday, I took a lovely drive out to Carnation, WA to Harvold Berry Farm for some strawberry picking. The boyfriend was busy fixing the oil pan on a Volkswagon, so I took Olive, The WonderDog, out for a drive in the "country".
When I was a kid, Carnation was in fact all farm land. Actually, a good portion of that area is now suburbs and Microsoft campus and bedroom communities. A lot of the farm land has gone away and it the city/town councils fight over how many chickens people can have in their backyards because of density. There are a couple of larger berry farms in the same area, but they feel like farm theme parks than actual farms to me, so I never go to them. They have train rides and picnic areas and petting zoos. All very geared towards bringing the families who don't really care what a farm is, but would like a good family outing. Great marketing, but not for me.
So I took the boyfriend's dog for a drive and headed to Horvald's to pick some strawberries. Maybe a bit early in the season, they should sweeten up more as it gets warmer, but they have a good flavour for canning if not the sweetness.
They are pleasant. But friendly, nope. Which works for me, I am not there to chat, I am there to pick berries. I leave Olive in the car with the windows down, since dogs are not allowed in the fields. She may be a chihuahua but she is also all teeth if she doesn't like your looks. I was also close enough to see the car if she were to get into any trouble. I could here her bark from the bed I was steadfastly clearing of berries.
The berries smelled like heaven and there were quite a few families out busily picking. Children in their Sunday best were squealing with joy about finding the most biggest, most beautiful, red ripe strawberries! Parents lugged their huge cameras about and took faux candid shots of their kids, eating a strawberry, picking a strawberry, trampling a strawberry, having a tantrum in the dirt.... But I digress.
Anyways, after about 50 feet of toil and 30 minutes of sweat I had my flat of berries. I do not know how farm labourers do it and I give much props to them for doing so. My knees ached for the rest of the day for that short amount of time of work and the thought of someone doing it for 10 hours a day made them scream. I appreciate those who go out and pick these so that I might enjoy them.
Picking your own berries is less expensive than buying from your local urban grocery store. Twelve pounds of fresh picked strawberries cost me
There are quite a few farms that are open to the public for pick your own and educational farms like Oxbow Farms.
Oxbow Farms teaches the public about environmental stewardship and sustainable food practices.
You can find most of the produce provided by these farms at many of the Farmers Markets in the urban area. In the Seattle area you can find information on those farmers markets at Puget Sound Fresh. Quite possibly one of my more favourite web sites. You can find a listing of farms in the area that provide to your local CSA.
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| Harvold's Berry Farm's Strawberry Field |
I can go on and on about the glory, greatness and goodness of the farmers, and I will at some point. But for now I am going to have to tell you about making strawberry jam!
Eight Lbs of freshly picked strawberries
Four (or more) cups of sugar
Juice of one Lemon
2-4 Tbsp of Pectin
Place berries into a large pot with sugar and mix so that they are covered. Allow the berries to throw off their juices for an hour then turn on the to medium high.Sprinkle in the pectin according to the instructions on their box and allow the jam to come to a full rolling boil.
As the jam boils a foamy skim will form on the top, scrap this off and discard.
You can check the cooled thickness of the jam by placing a plate in the freezer for about a minute then drop a tablespoon of the jam mixture on the plate and put it back in the freezer for another minute or two.
Once cooled it should give you a true idea of the thickness of the jam.
Pour the jam into sterilized jam jars and process per your preferred method. You can find more information on canning at the National Center for Home Food Preservation
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