Preparations Update

[LadyLocust]

I'm learning how to bake bread.
It's funny, I remember making bread at home when I was younger, and it didn't seem so complicated - just follow the recipe. But now I'm learning how to "read" the dough and adjust for different conditions (online classes). I've been making a loaf every couple of days, and getting better at it. Part of my problem is that the main oven doesn't heat evenly, so I only bake in a toaster oven - and that's just not big enough. So tonight I'm going to see if I can find a sweet spot in the big oven.

This is something that a lot of people here already do, so it probably sounds silly. In my fifties and finally learning how to really make bread.... But I want to have less dependency on grocery stores for our needs.

Not silly at all! We each have our forte. IMO wise of you to gain knowledge in areas where you feel you have room to learn
We went up the mountain yesterday and got the fuel tank which was empty. We were going to let it go with the house when we sell it but the way things are going, we want it here and will have it filled with e-free.

 

[Tank-Girl]

What's the dog's name, Tank?

Her name is Megs - (short for Megalodon) "TheMeg" is a shark movie and she's named because she's a little land shark.

 

[Amish Heart]

Aww. I like land sharks.

 

[SheepDog]

Yea, until they get too big. You can't flush them down the toilet so you have to dump them in the creek. I don't understand why kids have been coming up missing - you got any idea?

 

[Amish Heart]

Did good bartering tonight at my cousin's place. I brought 3 dz eggs and salad greens from out greenhouse. I brought home 10 lbs of fresh ground beef and 2 gallons of raw milk. I think I got the better deal, but we also share back and forth. Our chickens laid a couple dozen today.

 

[Bacpacker]

I'm trying these this year from tomatofest


Short Season Tomato Seed Collection
Aker's West Virginia - Organic Heirloom Tomato Seeds
Alaska - Organic Heirloom Tomato Seeds
Amy's Apricot - Organic Heirloom Tomato Seeds
Anna Russian - Organic Heirloom Tomato Seed

I just realized they all start with an A lol

The short season collection contains:
Contains: Buckbee's New 50 Day, Early Annie, Marmande, Moskovich, Northern Lights, Orange Roma, Peche Jaune, Siletz, Sunset's Red Horizon.


I'm really hoping to save seeds from them
And I want to experiment with them to see how they do in the greenhouse

WV you should do a cool weather mater thread. I'm interested to see how's your's do. I really like the Anna Russians. I've never tried any of the others you named.

 

[Neb]

Did good bartering tonight at my cousin's place. I brought 3 dz eggs and salad greens from out greenhouse. I brought home 10 lbs of fresh ground beef and 2 gallons of raw milk. I think I got the better deal, but we also share back and forth. Our chickens laid a couple dozen today.

That does sound like a killer deal.

I think they just like you.



Ben

 

[Amish Heart]

Aww. They are my favorite people.

 

[LadyLocust]

Just received my buckets and my Tattler lids Tomorrow the fuel tank will get filled.

 

[LadyLocust]

So just incase censorship worsens, I just ordered the book "Root Cellering." I've read it before but am not in the situation of needing it at the moment. I will be trying to add to my library as $$ allows. @Peanut added to the list over on the herbal remedies thread. Little by little - even if I don't know all I need to, if I have a resource, it might help.
@lilmissy As I was typing this, thought it might be something you would be interested in also.

 

[Peanut]

My Duh! Moment of the month… I’ve thought about building a potato bin several times through the years. I happened to get some 1x12’s this week so now was the time. I was thinking about where to put it and…

Duh! In the corner of the kitchen dad left a space to narrow for another bottom cabinet under the counter top. This gap was left for access to the plumbing in the wall and underneath the bathroom tub/shower in the next room. When we poured the slab for the house we left an open cavity for the shower/tub, again for access to plumbing.

I usually sit my garbage can in front of this gap under the counter. It became a trap for items that missed the garbage can and other grungy things. There is also water damage under there from plumbing drips and leaks through the years. I redid all the plumbing when I installed a walk-in shower a couple of years ago so it’s nice and dry now.

I monitored the ground temp under shower for a couple of days, a stable 54 degrees. I took an old heavy-duty milk crate, set it on a couple of bricks in the open space under the counter.

I now have a potato bin that’s easy to wash and scrub in the shower if I wish. That area under the counter is dark and temperature stable at about 58 degree. I finally have a potato bin.

Please over look my 47-year-old cabinets and 70’s brown wall paneling, if I had the cash I'd replace the entire kitchen down to the studs…

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Been working on plumbing here at the moment and replaced a tap so that we can get water gravity feeding from our tanks on the tank stand shed so that now works if our power goes out we can get some water.

Also replaced washers in all the outside yard taps and worked out how to fix the tap we took out of the tank stand shed and reused it to replace a seized tap further down the yard.

We are advancing on saving up for and getting a pump for the tank stand garden shed so we can pump water from our back creek that we own half of to water the vegetable gardens and fruit trees. Over the last few weeks we have been tracking a pipe back from the creek and it ends at the tank stand shed but we found a break in the line and will get pipe to fix that and some joiners. Then it will be just a matter of feeding 1.5" pipe through that down to the creek and getting the plumber to connect it all up for us along with the piping to the fruit trees, gardens and shrubs around the home.

 

[Morgan101]

I'm learning how to bake bread.
It's funny, I remember making bread at home when I was younger, and it didn't seem so complicated - just follow the recipe. But now I'm learning how to "read" the dough and adjust for different conditions (online classes). I've been making a loaf every couple of days, and getting better at it. Part of my problem is that the main oven doesn't heat evenly, so I only bake in a toaster oven - and that's just not big enough. So tonight I'm going to see if I can find a sweet spot in the big oven.

This is something that a lot of people here already do, so it probably sounds silly. In my fifties and finally learning how to really make bread.... But I want to have less dependency on grocery stores for our needs.

You are learning how to do it correctly, and I do admire that. I will readily admit I am lazier than a teen aged boy. I use an Oster Bread Machine, and have had some wonderful results. Even my son who is like Mikey "he hates everything" , liked it. Upside: it is much easier. Downside: limited capacity, and requires electricity. Amazon sells them, and they are not to pricey. Doesn't the house smell great when you are baking?

 

[goshengirl]

Thanks, @Morgan101

I do have a bread machine (and I think it's an Oster, too! lol) - bought it for $5 at a church rumage sale years ago - can't beat that! And I've enjoyed using it (in a utilitarian way) on and off over the years. It's been a while, though. There are some downsides to bread machines - the funky shape bread, etc - but you really can't beat them for ease of use! I'm a big fan. And I have several boxes of bread machine mixes as a sort of prep item (dependent on electricity, yes, but still a prep).

But I've been wanting to learn how to "really" bake bread for a long time - to get us off of overly processed breads. For years I've have this romantic vision of having a once-a-week baking day, and baking all our breads, rolls, hamburger buns, pizza crusts, etc. using home-milled flours. So I'm intentionally doing it by hand now, so I understand it all better. I finally decided it was time to stop thinking about my vision and start working toward it. The video lessons I have will take me from basic yeast bread to home-milled flours, to sourdoughs, to sourdoughs with home-milled flours. Once I've mastered all that, then I need to learn how to bake without electricity. That'll keep me busy a while!

You're right, the house does smell great. And I love it when my youngest (18yo) walks in with a smile on his face and says, "Oh, you're baking bread" and looks happy about it.

 

[Amish Heart]

Once a week baking days used to be a thing that should be brought back. See gdonna.com's latest post.

 

[goshengirl]

Once a week baking days used to be a thing that should be brought back. See gdonna.com's latest post.

I enjoyed that - thanks!

 

[CalicoKatie]

Picked up orders today from two different stores and helped fill a couple of areas. For drinks I now have Kool Aid, several boxes of Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix and some of the Spiced Hot Apple Cider. I stocked up on soups, both canned and dry mixes, and got three more whole chickens for the freezer. One of my grandsons really likes hot and sour soup so when I saw the Kikkoman mixes I got one to try out. If he likes it, I'll load up on those, too. I've started another Walmart list and plan on filling it next Friday. I feel the need to prepare even more strongly so will probably put in an order when the sales come out every week for as long as I can.

 

[Peanut]

One of my grandsons really likes hot and sour soup so when I saw the Kikkoman mixes I got one to try out. If he likes it, I'll load up on those,

Please post back on those... I've tried a couple hot&sour soup mixes that weren't much to write home about... but I didn't try any made by kikkomon. Lets us know.

Hot n sour and egg drop soups are real easy to make. The bulk is beef or chicken broth which have a short shelf life. Just add some fresh ginger, a few spices, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and an egg... only takes about 15 min.

 

[CalicoKatie]

I'll probably make it for him this weekend so I'll know whether or not to add it to next week's list. It says it is 3 servings but it makes 2 1/2 cups. Pffft, I don't think so. That kid can eat 2 1/2 cups of soup in one sitting. I'll let you know what he thinks of it.

Walmart Grocery - Kikkoman Chinese Style Egg Flour Mix Hot & Sour Soup, .88 oz

 

[Peanut]

@CalicoKatie I posted this book a couple of years ago. It was the first asian cookbook that made sense to my brain... I started out with his recipes for hot n sour and egg drop soups, yummy... I've modified them over time. I make a seafood hot n sour soup now. I add oyster or fish sauce and about 3 minutes before it's done I throw in a handful of frozen shrimp, so good!

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/t...need-to-cook-before-you-die-by-jet-tila.1065/

 

[Double R]

Picked up orders today from two different stores and helped fill a couple of areas. For drinks I now have Kool Aid, several boxes of Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix and some of the Spiced Hot Apple Cider. I stocked up on soups, both canned and dry mixes, and got three more whole chickens for the freezer. One of my grandsons really likes hot and sour soup so when I saw the Kikkoman mixes I got one to try out. If he likes it, I'll load up on those, too. I've started another Walmart list and plan on filling it next Friday. I feel the need to prepare even more strongly so will probably put in an order when the sales come out every week for as long as I can.

Please post back on those... I've tried a couple hot&sour soup mixes that weren't much to write home about... but I didn't try any made by kikkomon. Lets us know.

Hot n sour and egg drop soups are real easy to make. The bulk is beef or chicken broth which have a short shelf life. Just add some fresh ginger, a few spices, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and an egg... only takes about 15 min.

As far as prepared soup mix these are my go to. Have been for years. Keep several boxes on hand. They are so expensive in our local stores. Definitely one meal.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Received part of my order for shirts.
I now have 5 flannel shirts. I had 2 but bought 3 more.
And I have a new thermal henley shirt. that gives me 3 of those now
Ordered 3 long sleeve tshirts but only one was in stock( pine colored). The others are on back order and should ship in about 2-3 weeks. These I plan on putting back for storage. I have plenty of them now but wanted some for storage. Same with the flannel shirts. I plan to store 2 of those
Hubby ordered 2 more pairs of bibs in black and they came yesterday

I stocked up on socks and underwear for both of us years ago and we're set for those for some time

Pants are fine but I would like to get some more sweat pants. Just haven't done it yet.

I just keep thinking the price of things are going to go up big time now that the fuel prices are going up and the $15 minimum wage goes into effect prices are going skyrocket.

 

[kd4ulw]

@WVDragonlady I find myself at the age where half of my brain wants to purchase electronics and the other half wants warm clothes.

 

[Aerindel]

Changed the oil on my wife's car. Which is not a big deal. But I tested out the car ramps for the first time which was. Also welded a hole in the exhaust. I love these things. I've only needed them for about 30 years:

 

[goshengirl]

I love these things. I've only needed them for about 30 years

SWEET!!!

 

[CalicoKatie]

Thought I'd post this in case it could help somebody out. I don't know how good they work but it has some good reviews and the bags are reusable.
Amazon.com: Sous Vide Bags 20pack Reusable Vacuum Food Storage Bags with 3 Sizes Vacuum Food Bags,1 Hand Pump,4 Sealing Clips for Food Storage and Sous Vide Cooking: Kitchen & Dining

 

[Terri9630]

We picked out our new woodstove. We are going to buy it this spring or early summer.

 

[Aerindel]

Anything you can afford to buy now, I would buy now even if your not going to use it for awhile. Just saying, it may not be available next month.

 

[Amish Heart]

Beautiful!!!

 

[Terri9630]

Anything you can afford to buy now, I would buy now even if your not going to use it for awhile. Just saying, it may not be available next month.

Its on the list. We already have a 24x40ft high tunnel, 40x50ft metal building and the materials for a barn, wood shed and fencing for the new 12 1/2 acres on property and waiting for decent weather. I'm out of storage room and don't want to be on the roof putting in new chimney pipe in this weather.