I usually post very early in the morning but I have found myself spending my morning catching up on the news. If what’s happening isn’t enough to convince people to prepared for an uncertain future, I’m not sure what will.
I made a big batch of applesauce/strawberry fruit leather yesterday. Applesauce makes a great base for leather. The flavor goes well with most things and the texture means that much less time is spent cooking a fruit down to the right consistency for drying. I still didn’t cook it long enough and it took almost 24 hours to completely dry. The flavor is amazing. I had a couple of extra trays left so I cut up some canned pineapple and dried that at the same time. It’s fabulous! I think I’ll do another batch and try some mandarin orange slice too. I’m thinking about how good some of this fruit would taste dipped in chocolate. It has real gift-giving potential.
I did end up going shopping on Monday. I only hit the 3rd and final markdown racks and got some tremendous deals. Phoebe has all of her school clothes for next year, Karen got some basics like t-shirts and sweaters. The mall was pretty empty. A lot of elderly people were there to walk and some teens were hanging around but there seemed to be few shoppers and the ones I saw were hitting the same sales racks that I was.
The sun looks very different. You can tell that spring is out there, buried under deep snow and ice. I’m getting itchy to get to work outside. For now, I have to be satisfied with getting some inside projects done. I see we have a few potatoes that need to come out of the root cellar. I can think of about 25 jobs I would rather do than clean out the potato bin but it has to be done. I’m treating myself to popovers for breakfast, served with raspberry jam. It makes up for a lot of nasty in the basement.
February 23, 2011 at 9:42 am
I love pop overs, what a great idea! We have 11 more inches of snow, so my little seedlings won’t be going out any time soon. One of our local churches has a clothing exchange, so I haven’t spent a dime on clothes for my daughter, except for underwear and socks. I even found some really nice clothes for me and my husband there. I hear that cotton is way up and clothes as well as foodstuffs are going to get expensive. toodles!
February 23, 2011 at 10:00 am
I LOVE popovers, but I stuff them with a piece of sausage or bacon and cheese when i eat them. I have to hit the basement for clean up too…one of my jars of juice unexplainably fell off a shelf. still not sure how, but it left a mess.
I’m still trying to figure out how I want to make shelves for just home canned items.
February 23, 2011 at 11:38 am
Anyone willing to share thier receipe for popovers ? I’;ve never made them but they sound yummy !
I need my fellow prepers advise on a food saver. I know we’ve talked about the hand pump kind before but I wanted to know what you guys thought of which FoodSaver Brand works the best for what we are doing ? Thx
February 23, 2011 at 12:42 pm
I’m moving into sustainability these days and find your column tremendously helpful–canning, gardening, emergency preparedness–but as a 10-yr foster parent vet, I’d love to hear occasional bits about your fostering–if you’re still doing it. I’ve read both your fostering books numerous times and they still inspire me.
February 23, 2011 at 12:42 pm
We love popovers here too, though I don’t make them as much now that I’m off gluten (selfish baker that I am!) I use the Joy of Cooking recipe:
Preheat oven to 450.
Have all ingredients at 70 degrees (I think this is where I rush things and why I sometimes have popovers that don’t pop much.)
Beat just until smooth:
1 c milk
1 tbsp melted butter
1 c sifted all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
Add one at a time, but do not over-beat:
two beaten eggs
The batter should be no heavier than whipping cream.
FIll buttered baking cups 3/4s full; don’t over fill.
Bake at once. After 15 mins, lower the temp, without opening the oven, to 350 and bake 20 mins longer. (As I recall, I only go about 15; I really need to properly gauge my oven temp)
Its a tempermental recipe, but we love these, even when they don’t “pop” as they should and when they do its like winning the lottery!
February 23, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Just checking Kathy to tell you I appreciate your blog and am a faithful reader.
February 23, 2011 at 9:07 pm
I am very much enjoying your blog, I am going back and starting at the beginning. I look around at what is happening, and realize, it is time, now, to take this all seriously. So thank you for a great job!
And…do you have the recipe anywhere on the site for the fruit leather, I hv apple trees, the apples arent the greatest, but I could make sauce (just have to cut alot off!)Recipes for this would be very very welcome!
February 23, 2011 at 9:16 pm
I know what you mean about wanting to avoid cleaning the potato bin. I’m sure glad for those tubers but–! I need to try the reward option more often. Thanks for the inspiration.
February 23, 2011 at 9:21 pm
I have a foodsaver brand and LOVE it! AND, the foodsaver website has sales all the time – sometimes even 50% off!
February 24, 2011 at 11:13 am
I have a Food saver Model #V2440. It has been a life saver for me. I did purchase the jar lid sealers for both pints and quarts and have had no problem with them sealing properly. If one doesn’t want to seal I usually find that I simply need to push down a bit harder when I attach to the jar. As for fruit leather, I never have cooked mine. I just put whatever variety of fruits that will blend together taste wise (raw) into my blender and pulverize. I use bananas, pineapples, apples – really what I can find on sale or from my apple or pear trees. Once pulverized I simply spread on the mylar sheets and pop into the Excalubur and forget it for a while. This has always worked for me and I feel I don’t loose any vitamins in the cooking process. When finished, I cut into long strips and store them in a pickle jar that is bigger than a quart jar. It is tall enough to accomodate the long strips. Oh yes, the Food Saver site does have sales frequently and I usually buy my bags and rolls from them. Walmart does carry bags and rolls that are the Walmart brand but I have difficulty in finding them most of the time. They are a bit less expensive though.
February 24, 2011 at 11:24 am
Kathy, Have you tried the newer method of canning dried beans ie the one using 1/3 cup dried beans, boiling water and pressure cooking for 75 mins. I am curious to know the amount of water that you add. Do you fill the jar up or leave room for expansion etc?
February 28, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Does Tupperware make those 5 gallon plastic buckets?
Do they make anything super-sized that can store things safely (crush-proof, water-tight) during earthquakes or other natural disasters?
March 4, 2011 at 12:03 am
To herbalpagan:
I’m not sure if you are still looking for ideas for the shelving, but here are a few links to low-profile set sized for canning jars. The links are from the Dehydrate2store website. The first is a video of the complete process showing how to build the shelving from scratch – but they ARE holding dried goods and therefore are a lighter weight than jars with canned goods.
http://www.dehydrate2store.com/videos/?id=24
and the instructions:
Storage Shelves (Part One- Assembly) http://www.dehydrate2store.com/recipes/viewRecipe.php?id=17
Storage Shelves (Part Two- Fastening)
http://www.dehydrate2store.com/recipes/viewRecipe.php?id=18
March 4, 2011 at 12:20 am
Forgot to mention why I particularly like these (apart from the low profile) is the retaining dowel rod to prevent jars falling off the shelves.