Holidays and Stuff

Adorable "get well" bouquet from my godfather and his kids 2 weeks ago!

This last week has been long and exhausting. It was my first week back at work since surgery and my body was not as ready as my mind was. Most evenings I came home, crashed on the couch and Rob made dinner. I must say we ate very well!! Last night was completely different. My state vehicle died and instead of coming home early as planned , my afternoon was spent calling my supervisor, the state offices and roadside assistance. When I finally got home I was fried. It was another evening on the couch....go figure. Only Rob went to a hockey game with the boys. I was in bed by 9 pm.

Last week I made 23- 12 oz jars of mixed berry jam for holiday gifts for my coworkers and for Rob's coworkers. Then over the week end we purchased a case of pickling cukes from the local produce stand and I canned 12 pints of bread and butter pickles and have 10 lbs of dill pickles fermenting in a bucket.  The pickles were in a dish pan in the back room but the room was smelling strongly of pickle juice. Rob was kind enough to bring me a plastic 5 gallon bucket from work and now we have a loosely covered bucket in the kitchen. All of the recipes came from the Ball Blue Book. I had been using a family recipe fro the pickles but they were coming out rather soft. I figured I would try the recipe in the Blue Book as that has not led me wrong yet.

Jam in the pantry with the tomatilla salsa.

Pickle brine- pickles not visible :).

Christmas Eve will be spent with a house full of both friends and family. We are looking to have close to 20 people if you count the babies.  The menu is a little less eclectic than previous years and  a lot more people will be here for the fun. I can't wait to see everyone and enjoy all of the food and entertainment from the little ones.

We will be having a gluten free pear tart and this is a picture of the last one I made. Notice it did not make it to the photo without a piece missing.  Sadly, I have no one to blame but myself!

I'll try to post food picture and notes after the festivities!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we are having a quiet Thanksgiving. Kind of a strategic retreat for me.

I have been scrambling at work to get things wrapped up before I have to go in for surgery next week. I wanted this weekend  to be a time where I can do some gentle yoga, read, reflect and catch up on housework. Maybe, just maybe, I will put some dinners into the freezer for the time period when I will be limited in physical activity.
Rob is working all day today as his club is having a Thanksgiving Buffet and over 300 people have made reservations. We did see most of the family yesterday at Maddy's 2nd birthday party so I don't feel like I am missing out. My daughter in law Ali did a great job putting everything together. It was noisy, boisterous, with great food and all in all a completely amazing evening with family.  

Later I will be cooking a small dinner of corn chowder, a salad of greens from the garden, Italian beans (also from the garden), sweet potatoes and apples, herb rubbed pork with chutney and a pear tart to finish.
The menu may seem long but when you are making small amounts for two people it is not too bad. That and I love to cook.    

After dinner it will be nice to pull out the fire pit, have a bourbon and watch the flames while talking with my amazing husband. A gentle reprieve before another crazy week of work followed by a minimum of 2 weeks of forced inactivity.

I am thankful for so many things..the love of my husband and all of my family, a circle of truly caring friends,
to be able to live in a place of profound beauty and to have no real needs that are not met. We live in a country of profound riches and have so much at our fingertips. We are protected by men and women at home and overseas who are willing to sacrifice for our well being and rights. The pilgrims suffered profoundly before being able to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Because of the actions of many who have gone before now we may simply celebrate.

May everyone have a blessed and beautiful Thanksgiving.

Science Experiments in the Kitchen

Barbados Cherry Jam Accented with Orange Liqueur 

Lately I have been in an experimental mode in the kitchen. By experimental I mean trying new recipes and methods of producing my own food. The garden is great but I really wanted to try my hand at making other items that we consume.

Yogurt was my starting point. I wanted to make a thick , rich yogurt without any additional fillers. In the past I had tried using plain Dannon yogurt as my starter paying close attention to temperature as the recipe suggested. It came out runny and somewhat sour. Not to my liking.  A few weeks ago while looking for seeds for Helda Beans I found a yogurt starter at Nichols Garden Nursery and decided to order.
Here is the address: https://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/store/cmspage.php?page_id=about

The amazing starter and final product!

I did not get a chance to make it until last Sunday. By using the directions on the package I made a thick, creamy, and mild yogurt. It is really good. It is not a thickened by gelatin fake yogurt with tons of sugar and a slimy fruit puree at the bottom. My homemade yogurt is amazing with agave nectar and blueberries. YUM!
I used 1 small packet of starter and 1 quart of milk made with non fat dried milk. Extra dried milk was added to the mix to make sure it would be nice and thick. And thick it is! Even better I still have 4 packets of dehydrated starter and can use the yogurt I just made as a starter as well. We can have yogurt indefinitely if I am willing to keep the starter growing. We shall see how that goes as sometimes follow through is not my strong suit!

Strawberry Jam

My other experiment was using Pomona's Pectin. I have always used Sure-Jell to set my jams and jellies. Anyone who has used Sure- Jell knows that it can be touchy stuff. There is no playing with quantities or amounts of sugar in the recipes or you jam just will not set.  Yes, I know you can make jam without pectin but it requires a great deal more time than I am willing to spend making jam.  In the past I have made my own pectin using citrus peels and green apples. This again it is touchy stuff and with a slight mis-calculation on sugar or fruit and you get what my husband describes as "strawberry slime." Lovely..... Sigh.

After doing a bit of research I found Pomona's Pectin online. Let me say...It is GREAT! The directions seemed a bit daunting at first but everything worked out well on the first batch. You use a calcium water to help set the pure citrus pectin . You have a bit more leeway with this than you do with the other brands and there is even a no sugar option. Should you have any problems you can call the 800 number on the package. Do not let the cost throw you. It only takes 2 tsp of pectin to make 4 pints of jam. Thus you are using much less per batch and making the cost lower than that of the other brands. I am not being paid by Pomona's I just really like their product. 

Hmmm....I bet strawberry jam would be good with yogurt . Sour cream is next. Happy experimenting!!!  

Putting Food By- Canning Peppers

10 1/2 quarts of pickled peppers

Yesterday my mom and dad came over and mom and I spent a couple of hours canning peppers. My husband and I really like  hot peppers that have been pickled in a bread and butter pickling liquid. I use my grandparents pickle recipe and substitute peppers for cucumbers.  Yum!!!

We washed a case of peppers I got from a local produce stand and cut off the stem end and took out most of the seeds. Then I pulled out the the 15 year old Cuisinart and sliced them thin. I also peeled and sliced 4 large white onions  We had a dish pan full as well as a large enamel coated pot full of sliced peppers. I used roughly a total of a 1/2 cup pickling salt and mixed it into the sliced pepper and onion mixture.  These we let sit while we got all of the canning equipment together and made the brine.

Ingredients

To make the pickling liquid you will need :

1 Qt. Vinegar

5 Cups Sugar

2 tbsp. Mustard Seed

1 tbsp. Celery Seed

1 tsp. Turmeric

1 tbsp. Dried Ginger or about 1/2 inch Grated Fresh Ginger 

Combine all ingredients and bring to a simmer. 

Pack sliced peppers and onions into cleaned and sterilized jars. Remember to leave a 1 inch head space. Cover sliced peppers with pickling liquid and use a knife to release the air bubbles on the side of the jars. Top with sterilized canning flats and secure rings onto jars until they are hand tight. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Remove from water and set out to cool. Do not move jars for 24 hours so they may seal tightly. Check your jars to make sure all of the lids have sealed. If they have not either reprocess or place in the fridge to be used immediately.  

A word of caution- If you decide to can  hot peppers, please, wear gloves throughout the process as the oils from the peppers can burn hours after the fact.       

These peppers are great on salads, sandwiches, pizza and they make a great crock pot Italian beef.

Enjoy!!!!!

  

Voting With My Food Dollars

Currently, I am sitting outside listening to the birds play in the palm tree above me as a gentle fall breeze smelling of cut grass and cooler weather wafts gently around me. The garden is doing ok after the torrential rains that saturated our neighborhood and most of the area  this last week. Watering the raised beds will not be an issue as the ground is waterlogged in the low lying areas of our yard.  The plants need some sunshine to perk them up and dry things out a bit more.

Why you ask are there logos for the major grocery chains in our area prominently displayed at the top of the blog today? The answer is complex. It is all about where my food dollars go and why I spend them where I do. Let me preface this by saying my views have been slowly changing over the course of the last 2 years in my current job and with the changes that have been happening in my life in general.

We are not rich. We are comfortable and we are safe. Most of all we try to be frugal not only to save for the future but to cause less of an impact on the planet. We recycle not just paper and plastic but things as well. Old clothes become cleaning rags, almost all of our furniture is thrifted, or Craig's List find and, yes, we have been known to pull a great item from the curb a time or two. We re-purpose things with paint and elbow grease and do much of our own repairs. We are not alone in these activities. Countless other people do these things but just don't talk about it much.  

Anyone who knows me knows I use coupons. However, rarely are there coupons for organic or gluten free items. Many times when I shop I do not have coupons for anything or the coupon items are no less expensive than the store brand. (No double coupons here). Thus all purchases need to be thought through and a calculator is a must while shopping. So if I am going to all this effort to get the best buys on my food why am I spending my money in large corporate chain stores like Publix and Sweetbay? I know they are clean, I  inspect them but are they concerned with the environment? Do they have ethical practices? Do they care about me and the food I am purchasing or the bottom line? Am I just going there for convenience? The answers are no, not really, the bottom line and definitely for the convenience.

Today, I made arrangements to purchase a case of peppers to pickle and can to build our non existent supply back up. I am getting them from a small produce stand that has been around for years. I am paying a lot less than at a grocer and will do the work myself . He gets my business and I get a fresh product. He is very clear that he does not grow these thus I know they are conventionally grown. I am ok with that as I am keeping my voting dollars in the area.

I do not purchase eggs or milk locally as it is illegal for it to be sold in the State of Florida and it is my job to close them down if I find them. It is better for me not to know about that part of the economy.  It is there I am sure, but I am not part of it.

We do have a health food store locally. The prices are high and a couple of the staff a bit militant. Also I inspect them so I usually just go there when I really need something that I can't find online or am running out of gluten free items. The man who runs it is anti -vaccine and anti modern meds and much of his information is grossly outdated and highly misguided.

What does that leave me. Not much. The local ethnic place can be a bit sketchy and let's not even discuss food safety standards. So my dollars, for now, are going to Whole Food's. The store brands are no more expensive than Publix and the quality s very good. The politics of business is always questionable be it Publix or Whole Food's but at least I know my dollars are going to slightly more sustainable practices.  I am voting with my dollars by growing my own, buying locally when possible and if that is not available then it is Whole Food's. If Whole Food's is not an option there is the local health food store and lastly Target, Publix or Sweetbay.  

So how are you voting with your dollars? I would love to know.  

Check out www.foodday.org for National Food Day on October 24!

The Listeria Outbreak- What it means to you.

Listeria Monocytogenes or simply "Listeria" is a gram positive bacteria found it water and soil and is carried by some animals. It can be found in fruits and vegetables, soft cheeses and deli meats ( hot dogs etc.) It can cause diarrhea, vomiting, meningitis and even death. There is an even longer list but it gets really depressing. It mainly affects young children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with compromised immune functions.
Please note I am not a scientist, I am a food safety inspector, so this post will be mainly in simple terms.

O.k. so why a post about the outbreak in Jensen's Farms Cantaloupe? I was at a news website that I love to read with my morning coffee and found a bunch of what a blogger named Orac calls "flaming stupid" or "burning stupid." People were blaming the FDA, the CDC and anyone they could think of that was not themselves.

Here are a few things I do know.
1) Listeria is in water and soil. What are fruits and vegetables grown in???? Soil and they are watered with you guessed it "water".
2) It can take upwards of 2 months for listeria to show up in a person.
3) Once someone is symptomatic it can be confused with other illnesses like a particularly virulent strain of staph.
4) This makes the process of identifying the source even tougher as you are so far removed from the consumption of the affected product.
5) Listeria loves cool damp places like, say, your refrigerator.

Why were the melons a prime candidate? Soil and water. See #1 Cantaloupe have a porous surface with ridges making it hard to wash. Water can enter into the melon through the stem in of the melon after it has been picked. If the melon is cut whatever bacteria on the exterior of the melon, the skin, is introduced into the interior of the melon. Peeling does not remove the Listeria contamination. It potentially introduces more of the Listeria into the fruit. If you have melons that you don't know where they are from do not attempt to wash them or peel them. Throw them out!!! Most Jensen melons are out of circulation by now but if in doubt...throw it out!

The worst case of "burning stupid" I have seen throughout this recall was a local news team showing people how to wash a listeria contaminated melon. Listeria can be waterborne. It does no real good and could give people a false sense of security. Throw it out!!! Washing melon however is normally a great practice under normal circumstances. It will remove soil and other potential contaminants like salmonella or e-coli. An affected melon with Listeria- a Jensen's Farm Melon- not a good idea at any time. Throw it out!!! More on washing veggies later.

Now for everyone screaming about it taking so long to identify work backwards. It is now October, it was identified and a recall in place the middle of last month ( roughly). Prior to that the cases had to be identified in each person through countless doctors, hospitals tests and labs.  Those cases had to then be submitted to the CDC. So now we are into early September. Subtract 60 days and we are looking at early July. That is pretty close for some rough math.

How do you know your melon does not have listeria? You don't.

Seriously, there are no guarantees on any fruits and vegetables. However, I can say that the FDA and your local inspectors will be sampling melons and sending them for testing now that they have been identified as a food with the potential to be contaminated. Also I am positive there has been an FDA team at Jensen's Farm since it was identified as a source of the outbreak. They will go into the fields and any packinghouses the product went through to try to determine the source of the contamination. Let me caution you,  it may have simply been the dirt. Or it could be living in a cool damp place the melon are stored or pass through. Even carried by an employee, not very likely but still an option.    

Every day in every state throughout the nation there are food inspectors of some kind pulling samples of foods that have been determined to be leading causes of food illness. Ground beef for e-coli, fresh juice for salmonella or molds, soft white and blue veined cheeses for listeria, tomatoes and cilantro for salmonella and e-coli....imports for contaminants.....the list is seemingly never ending. These items are then tested and these tests have led to countless recalls that most Americans never hear about because the product is pulled before anyone gets sick. So for the people spouting "flaming stupid" blaming the FDA and the government get a grip. They save your hiney more than you will ever know!

For the people posting the "burning stupid" about it being caused by, "big factory farms" get a grip. It is found in soil and water. Organic does not guarantee safety! It is a guarantee of a lack of harmful chemicals. I am not saying I am for big farms I am saying Organic produce has similar risks.

You can protect yourself and your family by washing your produce. Wash all produce! Even organic. Use the sprayer on your sink and your hands or even a vegetable brush. Wet the vegetables and scrub with your fingers or the brush to remove both visible and invisible contaminates. Soap or veggie sprays are not necessary.

Remember to wash your hands prior to washing the vegetables and keep all of the items you will be using to prepare your vegetables clean and sanitary as well. Counter tops, knives, cutting boards etc.- keep it all clean! It may not fully eliminate all pathogens but it will definitely help keep you from getting a heavy dose and becoming ill.

Simply, try to be smart about how you handle all of the foods that will be going into your body and the bodies of those you love. Oh and ignore the "burning stupid" people are spouting.




   

Fruits of the Garden!!!

Today the barbadoes cherry tree was awash in red and after a brief rainfall I went out and picked all that I could reach. Now I have a couple of pounds of fresh cherries.

Soon to be cherry jam! YUM!

Limes are a gift from the gods great for marinades, a slice in a beer or a base for a margarita.

Avocado's to be ripened and made into a buttery chunky guacamole laced with the aforementioned limes and some cilantro. Heavenly.

Between that and the 20 or so small plants I transplanted into larger pots we are set for a while.

Have a lovely day!

Cooking .....

My coupon post and a suggestion from my husband got me thinking. Saving money can be tough. Right now the economy bites, food prices are rising and gas is still higher. In our area homes are continuing to fall into foreclosure and there does not seem to be any relief in sight. Today's paper said unemployment in Lee County is at 11.6%.  Personally, our retirement took a huge hit and we were both forced to change jobs when the company we both worked for filed for bankruptcy. Two jobs later and I am making less than I did when I graduated college in 1997. Luckily, the hubby has a good paying job and most of what we own is ours.  That is what living at the epicenter of the housing crisis in Florida will do to you.

Saving money is tough even in good times. How is one to make it when the savings have been depleted and there is little extra to go around? The answer is obvious but not one most people want to hear. Change the way you live. It can be through small changes or through drastic measures.  It can be done. It does require work on your part and the good thing is that the works gives one a feeling of success and accomplishment.

There are some truly great ways to save money and the web is filled with sites and blogs to lead you on your way. What has worked for me is to change my priorities. Where 20 years ago clothing and being in style were high priorities now spending time with family is much higher on the list. Family can be much less expensive than shopping. I must admit I do shop but normally there are no full price purchases for anything except bras.    

One of the easiest ways to cut costs is through savings on the food your family consumes. Coupons and bargain shopping are a jumping off point into food savings. That was a previous blog entry. Today the topic is cooking from scratch.

Another way to save is to cook at home instead of buying prepared foods and eating out. It is fine to eat out. In fact my husband and I both enjoy a nice dinner in a restaurant. Our wallets, however, tell a decidedly different story.  Luckily, we BOTH cook. Yes, my husband cooks too. Ok, ok, I admit he is a chef and he doesn't mind cooking and not everyone is that lucky.

Cooking from scratch allows you to make healthy meals for your family and express your creativity. So you hate to even touch the stove and you are definitely not buying the health or creativity pitches?  It is true you can make healthier food or you can make completely unhealthy food. Just look at what Paula Dean does with refrigerator biscuits, butter and brown sugar. Not healthy but a lot cheaper than a premade dessert.... I am wandering from the point here.

If you are cooking from scratch you are not eating in a restaurant thus you can save money. If you are cooking from scratch you are not buying processed foods and can potentially cook healthier and really save money. Cooking from scratch does require more thought and pre-planning than popping a frozen pizza into the oven as you rush in the door from work. You will need to find recipes for foods your family will eat and spend a little more time on planning and shopping until you get your system figured out. Menu planning is a tool many people use to determine grocery purchases and it does eliminate the need to figure out what to cook every evening. After all, there is nothing worse than standing in front of the fridge or pantry staring blindly in and thinking,"What in the heck can I make with that?" Google menu planning and a plethora of sites pop up.

We don't menu plan. We use a fully stocked pantry ( that is another blog entry) and pull a protein from the freezer each morning to be used for dinner that evening. Today it is flank steak to be marinated and grilled for fajitas tonight. Meats are purchase only on sale and vegetables tend to be whatever is seasonal and low cost. Except for cabbage - we don't do much cabbage.  It can be really low cost and not hit our grocery cart. Meals tend to be protein, vegetable and starch. Maybe a side of bread or home canned peppers.

Recipes that I personally use are from the web, a conglomeration of cookbooks and experience. There are three cookbooks I use more than any others: The Settlement Cookbook (1954), Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1968), and Craig Claiborne's New York Times Cookbook (1990). The first two are really good for simple recipes. And simple is where you need to begin if you are not an experienced cook. If you don't want to buy cookbooks try checking them out at the library or looking up recipes online.

With the older books you can make unbelievable brownies and killer cookies with just a few ingredients. These books were printed in an era before t.v. chefs and copious lists of exotic ingredients thus they work well with a basic pantry. The women who used these books did not always have the ability to run in to Publix and pick up a dozen eggs or a roasted chicken. They had to be able to substitute items and cook with what they had in the garden or preserved in the pantry.  Basic recipes could be adapted to what ever was at hand at any given time.  Simple recipes are also a great stepping stone to more exotic cuisines and fancier meals. Once you master a simple recipe the harder ones don't seem as daunting.

Good food does not have to take hours in a kitchen and 22 ingredients-three of which you can't pronounce and one you can only get at an ethnic market two towns away. Good food can be a salad of fresh greens with cut fresh tomatoes,  a seasoned grilled chicken breast sliced and placed on top of the greens and drizzled with homemade oil and vinegar dressing with bread and butter as an accompaniment.   I did NOT say homemade aged balsamic vinegar and fresh herb with extra virgin olive oil dressing.  I said oil and  vinegar as in salad oil and red wine vinegar. Much less expensive!  

Do not think you automatically have to start cooking everything from scratch. Start with a meal or two a week  then as you become more confident add another meal. Once you have perfected a series of meals that your family will eat you can then build your pantry around those items. After all it is no use buying and storing foods that may be shelf stable if your family will not eat them.

Feeding a family of 4 at McDonald's costs about $20.00 (Value Meals) and it is not healthy. This link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IGtDPG4UfI shows you just how unhealthy McDonald's can be for a person. For the same $20.00 you spent on fast food you can get a whole chicken ($4.00 - .99 per lb at Publix this week ), a 10 lb bag of potatoes (around $3.00) for oven fries, fruit or vegetable on sale -squash (.99 per lb). If you have to have soda the cheapest possible is store brand at .99 per litre.  So for roughly $10.00 you have a healthy meal.

If you are saying ..."What a roast chicken? Are you nuts? I have no time."  You can throw that same chicken into the crock pot in the morning. Set it on low and throw the oven fries together when  you get home. While the fries are cooking you can saute the squash.  Still too much? Buy one bag of frozen veg and substitute the 10 lb of potatoes for one bag of store brand fries. Roughly, the same cost. The scenario is now to put the chicken in the crock pot with seasonings in the morning. Throw the fries in the oven as soon as you get home, and microwave the frozen vegetables with a little butter. Voila! A meal on the table in minimal time that is healthier than fast food and costs less.

It takes planning and practice but with a little work you can save money and put a healthy delicious meal on the table for your family. Even better you are saving money in the process.

Happy Cooking!!!!