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5:32 pm
October 17, 2008
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It's great to see everyone enjoying (and using!!) what they learned at the Retreat!!!
Would love to see some blog posts from you for FBR of your new experience with canning or the dehydrator or cheesemaking!! Takes some pics of all the new things you've learned and share with everyone….along with some words of course :)
Carrie setting up her cheese cave and wielding that brand new Maslin pan and all the NEC goodies….
And everyone that's getting into dehydrating! We've talked about dehydrating quite a bit, but you saw it in action, it finally "clicked".
It was amazing to see your faces at the Retreat, would love to see some of your creations!
5:58 pm
February 8, 2009
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AND *I* would love to hear about who has already opened and eaten their goodies they canned and what do you think?
dede 
10:24 pm
May 23, 2010
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Eat them? Are you crazy, Dede??? Shoot, those are my TROPHIES!!! 
I show everyone who comes to my house…"Look what we made"! I'm so proud of them. They will sit on my bedside table at the nursing home when I move in!!! LoL. I can't thank you enough to all of you for giving so generously of your time and talents. 
That CarrieJ, MrsFuzz and banjobetsy are putting their training to good use. As teachers, you should be proud of those students!
Dede, my mother just gave me some of my grandmother's bale wire canning jars. If and when I get equipment to can food, what's your take on using them? Some of the wires are rusty. I know I will need to buy new rubber seals and I plan to throw the old seals away tomorrow. They've been stored with the old rubber seals for probably 30 years.
10:51 pm
September 26, 2010
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HAHAHA… Cincyjojo… I am so glad you admitted they are your trophies first! I too am too busy admiring my chicken and beans to even THINK about opening them to use them! I think I will join you in having odd nursing home decorations!
Cindy: I used some of my liquid soap as laundry soap, but it wasn't my intention to use it yet! However, the double ziplocs sprung a leak apparently, and the remainder had to be moved to a canning jar! So, the towels I used to clean up the spillage became the basis for my load of laundry, so the soap wasn't wasted! The laundry came out very nice, by the way! LOL
11:31 am
February 8, 2009
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ROFLMBO!!!! 
So, are ya'll going to can more chicken etc so that you can actually TASTE it? LOL!
Cincyjojo, I hate to tell you this, but I can't in good conscience tell you that you can safely can anything in those jars. If the TSHTF some day and that's all you had to preserve food in, well that's different. But they make fantastic storage (with new rubbers) for dehydrated stuff, herbs, spices, and so on. And they look great.
dede
11:44 am
December 28, 2008
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That's what I do, cincyjojo – use all those old, and some extremely meaningful, jars for storage of all sorts. The prettiest family jars sit on top of the refrigerator with nuts, odd bits of grain and such in them. (Stuff I use up quickly and want handy.)
It was only recently that I discovered that our local hardware has the rubber rings, and some without the pull tabs. They may have been there all along, but I just noticed them. I've added some of those rings to the oldest blue jars and find that they now keep their dry contents better. Now I can also use old jar lids to increase the "pretty" factor - the zinc lids seat quite nicely on those rubber rings.
Some people might not like the idea of using the zinc lids this way but I don't fear their use for dry storage. That's a personal decision – I might not feel this way if I had small children around. I dunno.
But back to your retreat trophies! I understand the feeling, and saved and saved the first jars I canned, too. Just an incentive to get some more things canned so that you have some you will actually use!
1:02 pm
July 29, 2009
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My god…I thought I was the *only* one with canning trophies…. :D Glad to see I'm just as abnormal as the rest of you. lol I bought a watermelon today, with plans to dehydrate it (Cincyjojo, you got it into my head, and I can't get it out… :P ). I'll do it up right and FBR it. :) I'm going to a picnic today, and wanted to take Pepperoni rolls, but the freaking dough is NOT rising (my yeast proofed fine). It might be too cool in the house, but I've got it in the oven with the light on. Ah well. We'll see what happens. Wish me luck!
5:24 pm
May 10, 2010
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Ooopps, :)) I ate my canning trophy, I was just too curious to see how it tasted LOL!! I must say, it sure tasted good. I just canned some more yesterday, and I thought of you the whole time I was working that PC DeDe :)
Cincyjojo, you inspire me..my new excal will be here this coming week and I keep thinking of your watermelon..that might just be my first experience in dehydrating.
Let us know how your bread turned out MrsFuzz.
6:10 pm
September 18, 2011
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I wish I could say I've been canning, but I had to invest in the equipment. I have been learning how to "bid" on eBay, and I did get a good water bath canner – and I just won a bid on a pressure canner!!! I think my husband and kids think I'm nuts, BUT they have not complained over the dinners they've been having!! I have been replicating the meals we had – last Sunday – Firehouse Pork Chops, and the Tialla is in the oven right now, with herb bread rising. Also – pepperoni rolls went with my husband and son visiting friends to watch the OSU game last night.
I enjoyed the trip, and meeting everyone! It was one of the neatest experiences!! It was an honor meeting everyone!
6:22 pm
October 3, 2010
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Welcome to the forum, Kat! We made the fireouse porkchops tonight (with Dede's Golden Mushroom Soup that I canned earlier today) and they were a huge hit!
Joann
11:43 pm
July 29, 2009
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Hey Kat….Just wanted to let you know that depending on size, you can usually use your PC as a BWB. I have the 23 qt Presto, and it works great for both. :)
Oh, and the pepperoni rolls finally took off after I got the oven warmed up. Yet another reason to get an Excalibur….Proofing! They were a huge hit at the bbq (big surprise, I TOLD them they were awesome).
7:17 am
October 3, 2010
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MrsFuzz,
They were just all so impressed that you did it all from scratch!!!!
11:31 am
September 5, 2011
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Here's my addition:
I made some capherphilly cheese (darned if I can spell it and don't care to learn LOL)……had some questions on waxing and did the waxing this weekend. Still don't know if my "cave" is at the temp I need to store cheese, there is NOT ENOUGH Hours in my weekend LOL.
Got some lotion ingredients from Brambleberry and they are still in the box, will probably be hitting up CindyP for some more instructions on that one.
Got my excal on Saturday and couldn't wait to get it started. So yesterday, I did some bell pepper and banana peppers. I had them in there for 4 hours, some were rubbery feeling and others were plain on dry…..I hope that I did those right. Darned if they don't look pretty in that jar! Ill try to take a picture and try to learn how to post that info soon!
I wish I could stay at home all day and play, but I have to make money for all my toys!
I've also been inspired by the Knitting lady to pick up my hat that I started making for my son a few months back, so I work on that on the train on my commute into the office.
I appreciate all the knowledge that everyone is sharing. I wish we could hang out on the weekends but we are too far apart!
I am going to attempt to do jerky this week. That's originally what the excal was mostly bought for, and I have a good recipe from Alton Brown….anyone else have an easy jerky recipe they want to tell me about? I am wanting to learn how to make yogurt in it, I believe Suzanne mentioned something about that and I saw it in the book. WHEW!
2:08 pm
March 15, 2011
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This is my beef jerky recipe. Using round steak cut into thin strips. (usually about one package)
4 TBS soy sauce
4 TBS worcestershire sauce
1TBS tomato sauce
1 TBS ginger root grated
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves smashed
marinate for 4-6 hrs and dehydrate overnight.
Sometimes I add a little cayenne pepper. Then I put in baggies and refrigerate. My son loves it.
Cathy from Ohio
2:13 pm
September 30, 2010
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Since the retreat, I have been doing my usual canning, dehydrating, and baking. I have ordered supplies to make soap but they haven't come in yet. I've also ordered a Maslin Pan, the jar attachments for the Food Saver, and a Danish Whisk (after seeing CindyP's post & how clean that bowl ended up). Can't wait to get all my new toys and try them out.
One item to mention, I have made LOTS of cinnamon rolls since the retreat and have one variation I'd like to share. When using Suzanne's recipe for the cinnamon rolls, I replaced the cinnamon with the same amount of Pumpkin Pie Spice. (Make your own using 4TB each of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and 3 TB allspice.) Then, when you make the icing, instead of using vanilla, substitute Maple Flavoring. It's a delicious variation on an already wonderful recipe!
5:55 pm
December 28, 2008
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Wow! What an impressive group you all really, really are! 
Am looking forward to pics of how things are going. Actually, posting a pic (even with a story of how you got there) is easier over at FBR than here. So, everyone who would like to share their progress and accomplishments, that is a GREAT place to do it.
Meanwhile, it seems like about all I've gotten done around here is garden planning and getting some vanilla brewing! That is sooooo sad…
Oh, oh, oh!! I did pick up a bit of beef fat today with a promise of more next Monday. So, I will finally get to render some tallow, to use for my friends who don't even want pig fat in soap! Hurray!! 
7:33 pm
July 29, 2009
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My experience with making tallow is that it doesn't render as easily as lard. If you can, I would ask your butcher to put it through the meat grinder so that it's nice and fine. Seemed to take a lot longer, and had a lower ratio of fat rendered. There also seemed to be a lot more of the gelatin-y part that separates out. BUT! I have very nice, white tallow. :) So not complaining at all.
11:39 pm
January 31, 2011
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Okay, my EX came on Saturday. We marinated some lean beef over night in the ex recipe, and I had no worcestershire so I used that amount of A1…The house smelled great, the boys helped load the trays and I have had to hide 3 of the 5 bags I have…They love this thing. I have had helpers slicing bananas, apples, peppers and granola…they can hardly wait for another spicier jerky…
but they took the other to lunch to brag about.
I think I cut the peppers too thin…because they look like red wires. I remember Kellys looking crisp and upright in her jar and smelling so amazing after 4 years ! Sooo…what did I do oddly? Did you blanch yours , Kelly?
Granola is wonderful…and there is all good stuff in it… and I intend to make a cooked brown rice one that my gluten free girl will nibble now and again…
apples were perfect.
Very kool that I can prepare food that is on sale for later. I have just talked the lovely
man into Food saver and jar sealers…! He is excited about the jerky, too…
Made goat milk mozzarella…and i am the only one excited about THAT. But, y'know…they didn't go much for goat cheese beFORE I went to the workshop…so why should I be offended now? Takes time…
Now, the choice is…dry, freeze or can apples for the pies I will make this winter?
The barometer has been wierd here in MO…no sun for about 4 days, and alot of rain after 2 months of not a drop…
I made a hard peppermint bar which hardened perfectly 2 weeks ago, and a lavender basil bar that will not harden. i think the weather has something to do with it…I dried my basil …but the lavender was just flowers that I had popped off the day before. did that make a difference?
i didn't use that many…
Danish whisk. hmmm. So excited to be waking up in the morning with a happy list of stuff to do !
laur
7:14 am
June 2, 2010
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laur said:
I think I cut the peppers too thin…because they look like red wires. I remember Kellys looking crisp and upright in her jar and smelling so amazing after 4 years ! Sooo…what did I do oddly? Did you blanch yours , Kelly?
laur your peppers are fine. Remember, I got to choose which jar of dehydrated peppers I showed you! I've got several jars of pepper wires and a few that are tiny pieces but they all end up tasting wonderful. It takes awhile to figure out what size pieces to use for different veggies. You did nothing wrong, your peppers just looked different than mine. You'll love them this winter when you add them to your meals.
Speaking of meals, I made taco soup the other day. I used a pint of my canned ground beef, jars of my canned pinto beans, black beans, and kidney beans, my home canned rotel tomatoes and tomato sauce. I added dried peppers, onions, garlic and corn. I ended up with a terrific tasting soup and it only took me 5 minutes to throw everything in the crockpot.
I can't wait to hear how you use your dried goodies.
12:19 pm
July 29, 2009
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OMG, Kellyb. I'm furiously jealous of that soup!!!! Hopefully that's me doing that next year. :D How did you dehydrate the corn? Just cut it off the cob, or did you blanch it first? Corn's about to go out of season, and I'd love to get some stored up.
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