Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread July 23--July 29, 2023

[kyrsyan]

I know I wasn't referring to anyone specific, so if you felt I was, I can promise you I wasn't. Everyone has different ways of doing things. My way works for me... most of the time. I don't presume to think I know what works for other people.

And I'm doing a happy, happy dance. I did the vinegar thing as kind of a wing and a prayer. Because I didn't know if I'd be able to get more strawberries at that price. And I was pretty sure it was going to take me most of the week to get to them. And it worked. Sure, some of them are a little squishy. But none of them are yucky.

And I don't know if it was the cherries or the non-standard sweeteners, but the hot pepper cherry jam turned out pretty mild. It tastes great! Don't get me wrong. But I dropped a full ghost in there and there's barely any heat. And there was heat to start with. I'm just going to have to experiment. But I have to say, I love the flavor. That's going to be a cream cheese and cracker snack jam.

I rarely have done jellies or jams. But other than paying $5 a jar for Polaner, if I want it I need to make it. And Polaner Sugar free is just pedestrian. Actually store bought jams are pedestrian regardless. But last year I just dealt with it because I didn't have the mental state or the funds to experiment. This year... 3 types of cherry jam so far. I think I'm going to do a small batch of super hot experimental just for my brother. And then the rest will become cherry jam for the shelf.

The Luxardo cherry jam... that's being reserved for cheesecake. That blended really smoothly.

I'm about to scrub the pan and do a batch of strawberry vanilla, with the vanilla bean in it. Tomorrow will be strawberry vanilla with a bean, and some bourbon. And I'm thinking a small batch of Christmas Jam. I'm pretty sure there are some cranberries in the freezer. And if I have any strawberries left after that, well I might try the strawberry mint and/or the spiced strawberry jams. Maybe a batch of jalapeno or habanero strawberry jam.

And I'm absolutely in love with the maslin pan. No foaming at all on the batches of jam that I made in it.

 

[anna43]

I had many cans of store-bought beans of all varieties and quarts and quarts of home canned beans. I'm still in the process of throwing all away because my dh passed, and beans are now on the bad list for two of my health problems. I still have a LOT of dried beans which I'm not throwing away because in a SHTF situation I can give them to people. Dried beans do not go bad, but they can take a lot of cooking to soften them. If you pressure can them, they are good. Everyone was too freaked out over expiration dates to take any of the store cans and the ones willing to use the home canned could not use all I had.

For soups you do not care for, try serving them over rice. This works for me because I cannot stand how salty canned soups are, but when served over unsalted rice they are eatable even if not a first choice! In a SHTF situation, I do not intend to go hungry refusing foods I don't prefer. Exception is hominy which I'm not sure I could eat if starving. I'm sure we all have foods like that!!

When I was a child I had hives over all my body. The doctor put me on a rice (plain with nothing added) diet until the hives cleared up. After that I would not eat rice. However, when we started prepping I quickly realized that rice was a staple that would keep indefinitely and was low priced, so I changed my diet. I was and still am searching for recipes using rice that I find palatable. Since rice is a neutral it's fairly easy to add about anything to it in a flavor you like. It can remain a neutral or it can become a sweet or a savory or a salad.

 

[kyrsyan]

I have found that those who have been through hard times tend to care less about expiration dates. But that's me.

Canned beans stretch quite a few meals for us.

 

[John Deere Girl]

I know I wasn't referring to anyone specific, so if you felt I was, I can promise you I wasn't. Everyone has different ways of doing things. My way works for me... most of the time. I don't presume to think I know what works for other people.

And I'm doing a happy, happy dance. I did the vinegar thing as kind of a wing and a prayer. Because I didn't know if I'd be able to get more strawberries at that price. And I was pretty sure it was going to take me most of the week to get to them. And it worked. Sure, some of them are a little squishy. But none of them are yucky.

And I don't know if it was the cherries or the non-standard sweeteners, but the hot pepper cherry jam turned out pretty mild. It tastes great! Don't get me wrong. But I dropped a full ghost in there and there's barely any heat. And there was heat to start with. I'm just going to have to experiment. But I have to say, I love the flavor. That's going to be a cream cheese and cracker snack jam.

I rarely have done jellies or jams. But other than paying $5 a jar for Polaner, if I want it I need to make it. And Polaner Sugar free is just pedestrian. Actually store bought jams are pedestrian regardless. But last year I just dealt with it because I didn't have the mental state or the funds to experiment. This year... 3 types of cherry jam so far. I think I'm going to do a small batch of super hot experimental just for my brother. And then the rest will become cherry jam for the shelf.

The Luxardo cherry jam... that's being reserved for cheesecake. That blended really smoothly.

I'm about to scrub the pan and do a batch of strawberry vanilla, with the vanilla bean in it. Tomorrow will be strawberry vanilla with a bean, and some bourbon. And I'm thinking a small batch of Christmas Jam. I'm pretty sure there are some cranberries in the freezer. And if I have any strawberries left after that, well I might try the strawberry mint and/or the spiced strawberry jams. Maybe a batch of jalapeno or habanero strawberry jam.

And I'm absolutely in love with the maslin pan. No foaming at all on the batches of jam that I made in it.

I really would love to have your recipe for Luxardo cherry jam, and the Christmas jam sounds wonderful too!

 

[philkar]

Thought I would share my spot of beauty today. Our dinner plate hibiscus bloomed today! We love hibiscus and with a bit of tender loving care they come back year after year here in north central Alabama.
Sherree said that her garden vegetables were boiling in the rain and heat. We haven’t had the rain but our vegetables are steamed! High humidity and high temps!
A thought on preps…do what works for you! Since the family elders have moved in with us our preps now include different things that I have never prepped before! But it is what we now need.
Love all of you, my friends that I have never met, and pray that you will be content and peaceful.

 

[John Deere Girl]

God has really blessed our garden this year, and I'm so thankful to be busy canning and dehydrating now!

I got most of the fall garden in a few weeks ago, but I've decided to add more. Not only do I feel the nudge to do so, but I have a little one asking me to plant more beets.

This year I am growing a new variety of pumpkin called the Cherokee Tan pumpkin. My close friend had heard about them from Patera, so I found the seeds and told her I'd grow them for our families to share. She knew they were doing well and was very excited. They are heavy producers, and so far I'm very pleased with them.

 

[kyrsyan]

I really would love to have your recipe for Luxardo cherry jam, and the Christmas jam sounds wonderful too!

I was going to add a link, but I haven't gone over the new rules for them yet.

Google for Drunk-Cherry Jam by Roseanne Carrara, The Lunchbox Season.

I subbed Luxardo for the bourbon. Full amount. I let it simmer for a half an hour or so before adding pectin.

I made other changes to make it sugar free. I swapped out the lower amount of sugar for a mix of stevia, monk fruit, and allulose. And used Pomona pectin.

I'm going to enjoy that jam. And I may splurge on another bottle of Luxardo next year so I can make more. Because I also made just plain Luxardo soaked cherries. Those are steeping in the fridge.

The Christmas Jam is one I found online. I haven't made it before. So that'll be a small batch. If I have enough berries...

 

[philkar]

Fall garden is underway here also. But we are still planting peas, as in purple hulls. We deliberately chose to plant them late hoping to avoid that processing overload that happens when everything needs to be harvested. We did pull 4 ears of Hastings corn tonight for supper and we were not disappointed. Ears were about 12” long and delish!
My prep this week was getting hooch cabinet up to snuff and practicing flat breads. I need to get summer kitchen bleached and scrubbed to get ready for phase 2 of processing be it dehydrating or canning. Great problem to have as it means it has already been used a lot!

 

[John Deere Girl]

Thank you, @kyrsyan!

 

[kyrsyan]

Ow. Woke up with two versions of headache going on, and a kink in my neck trying to add in a third.

First headache is barometric/heat. So acetaminophen and Liquid IV. Second headache is blood sugar.

I woke up hungry and didn't move to eat fast enough, so the liver did a sugar dump. And that sent my blood sugar too high. I just ate some summer sausage. That will help until things settle enough that I can cook breakfast.

And I'm about to grab the arnica massage oil and handle the neck kink.

I'm just glad that I woke up with enough brain function to sort it all out and deal with it. Also before it all lumped into one big headache that I couldn't sort out the parts of.

And after breakfast, it's time to get the trellis fixed. And then harvest the gardens. Get most of the outside done before the heat hits.

 

[nomifyle]

We've finally found someone to help DH clean out the camper where the roof fell in. Such a blessing. They got started about an hour ago and have made huge strides already. Ahh youthful strength and energy. And Dh goes like that pink bunny.

Oscillococinium is just the best stuff. One of the savy ladies on here turned me onto it years ago. Its not cheap, but it works wonderfully for allergy issues with none of the side affects. I don't know why I got away from using it, maybe the cost, I guess it just happened. I'm starting to think that maybe the allergy meds had something to do with my balance issues. I need to check out the side affects of the ingredients.

If I hurt any ones feelings I had no intentions of doing so, I didn't say anything to anyone specifically, so I'm not sure what the point is. If someone doesn't like what I have to say then put me on ignore. I stand by that vegetarian vegetable soup being disgusting, it is an off brand, so no telling how the campbells tastes. I'm still keeping it for dog food, the dog has different taste buds than I do.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We got up and out the back door early this morning. It was already hot. 99 today with 111 (changed to 114) heat index is forecast for today. No rain.

Cary watered the cucumbers and peppers. Everything else in the raised beds are finished. He also set back up our irrigation system for the big garden. Everything, except the green beans are doing ok down there. I did see a few more green beans putting on, so, maybe, there's hope for them, yet, if the weather cools. The late tomato plants are loaded, but haven't started ripening, yet. If they do well, I plan to can them, also. I only got 6 pints from the other tomatoes. They produced great, but the heat and humidity caused a lot of them to split, before getting fully ripe. I tried picking them early, before they started splitting, but they developed rotten spots as they ripened.

I had a load of ironing to do, yesterday. I got that all done. I've got several household chores to do today. Pork chops are already in the crockpot for supper tonight. I love my crockpot, when I can almost make the whole meal in it, especially in this heat.

 

[philkar]

We got rain late yesterday evening! Water in the ditches kind of rain!! Pleasant this morning if you just sit and swing…which I am doing!

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We got rain late yesterday evening! Water in the ditches kind of rain!! Pleasant this morning if you just sit and swing…which I am doing!

No rain in our forecast for the next 9 days. After it raining almost every day for the last several months, we need the break, even if we have to water the gardens. August usually starts our dry season and is our hottest month.

 

[nomifyle]

I don't know what the temperature is out side but its not bad. I just checked on the camper progress and they are starting to brace up the ceiling.

One thing i saw in the trash pile was a whole case of campbell's chicken noodle soup. My bad, but I considered taking it out of the trash and checking the dates, but I probably bought is years ago so I let it go. I still had some canned goods out there in the camper.

 

[aviax2]

Well DH’s cousin couldn’t take the green beans he picked this morning so I’m snapping beans again He thought there would only be 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket, but there was a full bucket plus a 1/2 a bucket. I can’t believe they are doing this well in the heat we’ve been having and not much rain. Maybe the garden is trying to make up for the loss of the sweet corn. Despite several strands of electric fencing and all DH’s best efforts the raccoons and squirrels decimated the corn. We only got to enjoy 2 cobs each! Hopefully the electric fence will continue to keep the deer out of the peas and we’ll start having some of those soon.

@John Deere Girl I saw those Cherokee tans that Patera had last year and wanted some. I looked around online for seed but the places that sold them were out of stock, then I completely forgot to look this spring. I’d love to know how you like them.

Well my break is over, back to my beans. Everyone please stay as cool and hydrated as you can.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I'm finally finished with all my chores. Laundry all done and put away, floors all swept and mopped. I'm tired, and ready for a break in order to catch my next wind. I plan on sitting here for a little while to catch up on the forum, instead of darting in and out.

Home fellowship, tomorrow, so I needed to get the majority of my cleaning done today. Will wait and do the last minute stuff in the morning. I still need to decide on what light snacks I will make for everyone tomorrow morning. Our fellowship runs through lunch, so I like to have some little something for everyone to snack on if they like. Always with sweet tea, coffee, or water to drink.

I sure have pity on all those who are having to work out in this heat today! Our little AC is just chugging along. A few minutes ago, Cary walked outside down the driveway to the mailbox. He was drenched when he came back in. He popped a cold one and planted himself in front of the tv to watch soccer games.

 

[kyrsyan]

I did a restart. After doing all I could for the different things, the body was just not having it. Partially because it turned out that the kink in the neck was actually part of a rather nasty tender tension headache that I had missed under all the rest of the symptoms. And while the arnica did it's job, I was getting the backlash. So I went and laid down for a quick nap. Sometimes that works. And this time it did, for the most part. I'm at the tender edge of having a really nasty migraine. But if I'm careful and don't do something that will trigger it, I will be okay.

At the same time, I can't exactly not do things all day. I was surprised that the heat didn't kick it, but then I was being careful to move slow and make sure my blood pressure didn't rocket. So we got the cardboard and landscape cloth down for the sunchoke area. And the privacy screen up on the fence. And picked the cucs and squash. And reconnected the water hoses.

Now I'm going to do lunch. And then I'm going to work on a few more batches of jam. And dishes. And laundry. Friend stopped at the liquor store to grab me some Jim Beam Vanilla and Jim Bean Honey. While there he found Black Cherry infused Jim Bean. So I'm going to have a little fun experimenting with flavors. Then, if everything goes right, tomorrow will be picking the tomatoes and peppers and making a batch of Rotel.

And Monday I need to stop hiding from the van problem and call the shop. It's time to get an idea of what it's going to run to have the shop that Dad recommended to take a good look at those tires and wheels. At this point, it'd just be diagnostic because I seriously doubt that it's going to run less than $200 to fix. But at least it will give me a forward moving path and goal. I'm tired of the vagueness. And if they can't do it, maybe I call around until I find a tire shop that still has someone that knows how to do tires and wheels without depending on a machine to tell them everything. Or even just experience.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Friend stopped at the liquor store to grab me some Jim Beam Vanilla and Jim Bean Honey.

Both of those bourbons are awesome! I like the vanilla best. We save the hard stuff for emergencies but have to sample it from time to time.

 

[kyrsyan]

Both of those bourbons are awesome! I like the vanilla best. We save the hard stuff for emergencies but have to sample it from time to time.

I don't drink often. Just not a thing for me. After talking with a cousin or two, I think it may be because we saw a lot of drinking in the prior generations. Not really sure. When I drink, I drink for flavor and not alcohol. Bourbon isn't one of my normal preferred flavors. It was referred by a friend when I wanted to try some recipes that had bourbon in them. The flavor left after cooking is one I like so I'm willing to experiment with their other flavors.

But Jim Beam as flavoring in the jams has turned out really good. So I'm willing to experiment. Honestly, if there's some left, I may experiment with doing a jelly made just from the alcohol. And now that that idea is in my head, I need to go see if a recipe exists. Because Fireball jam would be a fun thing to surprise my brother with.

 

[moldy]

Love that you are experimenting!! Got some weeding done after sleeping in late. I'm going to start on some everything bagel pickled green beans (thanks Kathy in fl), then it's broccoli weekend. Broccoli cheese soup to freezedry for the winter broccoli salad, and what ever other broccoli recipes I can come up with. Today is our 14th anniversary, and DH brought in a bunch of cookbooks he had stashed for "dates that sneak up on him" in a truck we got rid of.

 

[summerthyme]

I don't drink often. Just not a thing for me. After talking with a cousin or two, I think it may be because we saw a lot of drinking in the prior generations. Not really sure. When I drink, I drink for flavor and not alcohol. Bourbon isn't one of my normal preferred flavors. It was referred by a friend when I wanted to try some recipes that had bourbon in them. The flavor left after cooking is one I like so I'm willing to experiment with their other flavors.

But Jim Beam as flavoring in the jams has turned out really good. So I'm willing to experiment. Honestly, if there's some left, I may experiment with doing a jelly made just from the alcohol. And now that that idea is in my head, I need to go see if a recipe exists. Because Fireball jam would be a fun thing to surprise my brother with.

I wonder what Fireball apple jelly... or bbutter... would be like?

Summerthyme

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I don't drink often. Just not a thing for me. After talking with a cousin or two, I think it may be because we saw a lot of drinking in the prior generations. Not really sure. When I drink, I drink for flavor and not alcohol. Bourbon isn't one of my normal preferred flavors. It was referred by a friend when I wanted to try some recipes that had bourbon in them. The flavor left after cooking is one I like so I'm willing to experiment with their other flavors.

But Jim Beam as flavoring in the jams has turned out really good. So I'm willing to experiment. Honestly, if there's some left, I may experiment with doing a jelly made just from the alcohol. And now that that idea is in my head, I need to go see if a recipe exists. Because Fireball jam would be a fun thing to surprise my brother with.

My adult beverage of choice is a good Cab Sav dry and full bodied red wine. I usually have a glass while relaxing at night watching tv. Cary likes it, too, but has to have his dark beer when relaxing in the afternoon. Like I said, we save the harder stuff for emergencies. Cary makes up cough syrup with it if needed. Another alcohol I like to cook with is rum in some of my cake recipes, but just to drink it, I don't like it, unless it's in a mixed drink.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Love that you are experimenting!! Got some weeding done after sleeping in late. I'm going to start on some everything bagel pickled green beans (thanks Kathy in fl), then it's broccoli weekend. Broccoli cheese soup to freezedry for the winter broccoli salad, and what ever other broccoli recipes I can come up with. Today is our 14th anniversary, and DH brought in a bunch of cookbooks he had stashed for "dates that sneak up on him" in a truck we got rid of.

Congrats, moldy!

 

[kyrsyan]

I wonder what Fireball apple jelly... or bbutter... would be like?

Summerthyme

Don't know. But I have a brother who loves hot, and he'd probably enjoy it.

 

[kyrsyan]

Momentary frustration. I truly love strawberries. But the flavor is too bright and needs some balancing. I was hoping that the Vanilla Jim Beam would give it some of the depth it needs. But it didn't.

All the spices I find listed as good to use with strawberries are also "high note" flavors. The sweeteners, ironically, bring a middle note.

I did run across a reference to using balsamic vinegar with them. I may try that. Any other suggestions? I'm looking for a depth of flavor. In music terms, a bit of a bass note. Or in color terms, some shading.

 

[connie]

Hot and dry here. We sure need some monsoon rains in August.

Great news is that they are roasting green chiles at the grocery store here. Last year I didn't get nearly enough in the freezer and had to buy jarred. I was concerned as some of the growers didn't plant this year as they had no one to pick/ harvest. I plan to freeze alot along with the green chile flour and corn tortillas.