The Back Forty

Grateful Friday

2008-07-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

It's that time again...the week happened so fully and so quickly I can't believe it's already Friday night. So much left to do, but now it's time to rest...

Time to pause in gratefulness and thank God for all the blessings He's brought this week. This week I am so grateful for the time we have here, which at times seems unpredictable or much too short. It seems many hardships are happening to those I love, and illness, financial reversal, and the unexpected are taking their toll. We are working hard through some circumstances as well.

I'm not sure life cuts us too much slack as we go along, and so we must hold our friends, neighbors, and family dear in this time we have. I am filled with both sorrow and gratefulness as another dear friend has just been diagnosed with final stage cancer...sorrow for the pain and difficulty of fighting, gratefulness for my friend's life and her uniqueness. My daughter's friend just lost their family home to foreclosure.

How do we continue on through these times, which realistically are getting tougher for many people, without losing hope?

We cherish.

We choose to stop and see the real things and real lives that populate our days -- these friends, family members...and the person at the checkout line. The teller at the bank, the co-worker we just don't see eye-to-eye with, the sibling we're the comlete opposite of, the cranky toddler whose mom has kept him out one shopping trip too many past his nap. We need to call our mother. Pray for the ones we can't visit often. Honor the elderly and be patient with the young. Make someone's favorite meal. Say thank you, I love you, I miss you.

I am filled with gratefulness, and I am not melancholy...I am reflective. Like an ever-changing and epic night sky, each day marks its time, and is filled with beauty and change. I am in awe at God's world, and in this fragile thing called humanity. I am so honored to be among it..

Thank you, God, for the things of real worth, and the chance to have one more day to inhabit them, witness them, and be in this madcap journey called Life. This moment is more than sufficient...dayeinu.

I wish you all a beautiful shabbat...and long pauses that renew, loved ones to cherish.

I leave with you a lovely musical grace note...I'm off to some much-needed sleep. Sweet dreams, and

Shabbat shalom :)

Recipe: Tasha Tudor's White Bread

2008-07-23T20:33:00.001-07:00

Here is the promised recipe from the recent breadmaking post.

This is from the Tasha Tudor cookbook, and I'll be writing more about her soon...she's someone whose life I greatly admired. This is a basic white bread -- I'm wanting to try some of her other breads, too. I started with this one, which yielded a slightly sweet basic white bread loaf. The one extra rising made the difference in texture.

I wrestled with the dough while kneading it the first two times, but after the second rising, it was beautiful to handle. Hope you like it as much as we do :)

White Bread, from The Tasha Tudor Cookbook

2 cups milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick)butter
1/4 cup sugar, or 1 cup honey (sugar gives a crusty crust, honey gives a soft crust)
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups water
11 cups unbleached flour, approximately
2 packages active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water, 110 degrees F
1 teaspoon sugar or honey

Grease or oil four 5" x 9" loaf pans.

In a saucepan, heat milk, butter, sugar or honey, and salt till all are liquid (don't boil), then remove from heat. Put the mixture in a very large bowl and add the water. Then add 1 cup of flour. When the mixture is lukewarm, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup of water with just a pinch of sugar or honey. Let sit for 5 minutes to proof. When the yeast is foamy, add it to the milk mixture.

Add enough flour to make a nice workable dough (you'll be using most of the flour), and knead for 10 minutes (on a floured surface).

Place into a very large, well-buttered bowl. Turn dough once to coat the top, cover with a warm towel, and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until double in bulk.

When the dough has risen the first time, punch it down and repeat the process.

At the end of the second rising, punch down the dough and divide it into 4 loaves, making sure to smooth out any air bubbles. Place the loaves in prepared pans, cover them with towels, and allow them to rise until nearly double, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the dough has almost doubled bake the loaves in the preheated oven for approximately 1 hour, until they are a crusty brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove loaves from pans and cool them on racks.

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The cookbook notes that if you wish to make whole wheat bread using this recipe, you can use half whole wheat flour and half unbleached white flour, allowing just one rising in the bowl instead of two.

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I made mine into 3 loaves and a great batch of rolls. I hope this recipe works for you...it did for me, and I'm NO breadmaking expert. Enjoy!

Simple Changes: Breadmaking -- Additional Comments

2008-07-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

Uhoh...I think I expressed myself wrongly in my recent breadmaking post!

First, I meant no offense at the whole "I'm a woman now!" part...it was just my shoot-from-the-hip way of verbalizing the relief I felt at the time at having FINALLY made a loaf of bread rather than a leaden lump of disaster...which has been more or less my TYPICAL result! No implications were meant by it...and I still have more disasters than I'd like! Please forgive me if the post came off as offensive in any way...

Secondly, I'm hardly an expert. In fact, I'm simply a very stubborn and lucky amateur, and I anticipate remaining in that category for pretty much the rest of my life. I am a little relieved to have SOME successes, and it's probably due to the fact that the recipes are quite forgiving...and I don't have an expert here examining the end result. I'm intimidated by people who seem to be good at a lot of things and just have a natural flow from task to task, never botching anything grandly. Well, that's NOT me!

And there we are...I'm not hot stuff, not actually an expert at anything except not giving up, and didn't mean to offend anyone. Hmmm, maybe I'll post soon about some of my disasters?? :)

Using Those Corn Tassels

2008-07-23T07:53:00.001-07:00

If dealing with fresh corn, this will only work if you have pesticide-free corn to work with...

You know those brownish tassels, or corn silks, that adorn shucks of fresh corn? They make one terrific herbal tea.

I began using them years ago when I ordered some in bulk to custom-blend some herbs for my own herb teas. I haven't done that in years, but with all the fresh corn coming in in our area markets, I was able to save some silks myself.

The dried ones I bought in bulk appeared brown, and these, after air-drying them, retained their lighter color. Their effect is as a very mild, gentle diuretic...very effective but not taxing to the internal organs. Since there is hardly any taste, any other pesticide-free herbs or teas can be added for flavor, if desired.

There may be a more scientific way to do it, but I simply pour almost-boiling water over it and let it steep a minute, then sip. It works for me any time I feel I'm retaining fluid, and I never have had an adverse reaction. I don't pretend to offer medical advice to anyone, so please don't take this post as such. I'm simply sharing something very simple that works for me...and is as close as that ear of corn. I hate to throw away wonderful, nourishing herbals :)

(Later Note: Oops! I forgot to mention that I drink the liquid but not the tassels. It can be strained off, if desired )

Sorry For the Delays!

2008-07-23T05:51:00.001-07:00

I'm overdue for a few things:

Responding to a tag from Christina

Acknowledging a wonderful award from Farm Mom at Children In The Corn blog

Updating the blogroll, which is longgggg overdue

Responding to the Comments section in a timely way

Beginning a weekly book review

Linking all the recipes on this site to a collection

Cleaning my house

Cleaning my house

Cleaning my house

Getting enough sleep

Since I have to do the latter 4 to function enough to find clothes, not contract typhoid, and not fall asleep on the job, the other things on the list will have to wait a teensy bit longer.

And the other thing....we've had big news pending now for a while. Till all the ducks are in a row, though, the fat lady will not be singing. Which might be a good thing, because my singing falls more in the category of "a joyful noise" ;-)

Ugh. Having to sleep when the birds are outside the window and going strong is just sooooooo wrong! :) The counting sheep thing doesn't work...I just get distracted thinking of all the sheep I want to be raising...heh heh...a different sort of dream, but one that energizes me rather than lulls me to sleep.

Ah, that reminds me of one of my dearest friends (who comes to mind daily and whom I dearly miss) and one of her favorite songs featuring good ol' Bing. This one's for you, Lisa B...

Simple Changes: Making Our Own Bread

2008-07-23T05:51:00.000-07:00

This is my second entry under the category "Simple Changes," as I document some of the small changes we've already made toward a streamlined and simpler way of living. One of our goals is to become less dependent on outside sources for our foods, and to bypass processed and pre-packaged foods as well as ones with preservatives and ingredients of unknown origin. The result? More and more, we're making our own, eating at home more, and satisfying ourselves with the basics. Bread has entered the picture here as something easy to make and easy to appreciate. Breadmaking is one of my simple changes.

Last week I made the batch of bread shown in these pictures. I had wanted to try another recipe that had caught my eye, only this one required 2 risings before the final rise in the loaf pans. I committed to the extra time involved, and was glad I did...it had a fine crumb and made robust loaves and rolls. One recipe made 3 hearty loaves and 8 or so large rolls. I froze one loaf, gave one to a friend, and we ate on the other loaf and rolls for a week. The rolls doubled wonderfully as hamburger buns, if they survived long enough. (Some were eaten hot with butter and honey, wherein they immediately set up cellulite colonies on my hips...ha!) The cost couldn't have been more than a couple dollars all told, and that's pretty darned economical in proportion to the finished product.

It was only last year that I successfully made bread by hand, for the first time ever. Not that I'd never tried before, but I'd never stuck with it long enough to have an edible product without the help of a bread machine. Oh, and by the way, I do consider bread made by bread machines real bread! Whatever it takes, if it turns out bread, it works! :)

I needed to learn the skill without a bread machine due to the likelihood of not having one in the future ...since I don't have one now, ha :) (I used to, and loved it) I can't describe it, but every time those raw ingredients morph from flour and liquid into a kneaded yeasty living dough, it just feels so downright womanly. My first few attempts never quite achieved that, though, and the resulting compacted wheaten doorstops dampened my enthusiasm for further tries...for a long time. But last year, something clicked, and lo and behold I made real bread!! It was a challah, and as my daughter ate it hot from the oven, I kept pointing to it and saying "look..REAL BREAD...I made that! I'm a WOMAN now!" (laughing!) Well, don't know exactly where that came from, but it felt primal...

We're not a family that needs bread as a daily staple, but I've noticed that we do buy it at the store regularly enough to warrant making it at home...to fill in for occasional sandwiches, especially for toasting cheese on in the oven. Open-faced cheese toast hot from the oven rounds out a salad nicely, some raw veggies, or cup of soup. It's also nice when studded with a few garlicky green olives or any other addition that's a hint of savory or herb-ey...with a little chopped basil, green onion, or mixed herbs. So...the bread does come in handy, and I'm less and less able to justify buying breads with those long lists of ingredients, most of which I've never heard of. At least when I'm baking my own, I know what's in it -- and the nice thing about most breads is that wonderful results can be produced from the most basic pantry items.

I mentioned in a recent post that we'll slowly explore gluten-free breads for health reasons. I do feel that we'll utilize breads with wheat flour, however, enough for me to try to master some good basic recipes.

Some day I hope to have a grain mill so that we can grind our own flours/meals. But until then, it's just measure, pour, and get my hands right into things...and that part is as fun as mud pies used to be as a child.

It's affordable, filling, and the best house smell in the world...fresh baked bread!

I'm trying some different basic recipes, and will include some great ones suggested by readers here. This is the second bread I've tried in the last couple months. The bread pictured here is a basic white bread I found instructions for in a Tasha Tudor cookbook. I'll include the recipe on an upcoming post in her memory...she was a remarkable woman.

As we move further into simplifying things, breadmaking is one of the basics. Simplicity has never tasted better :)

Gluten-Free Bliss For My Sis

2008-07-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

Hi, sis! (wavingggg)

My sister is exploring the world of gluten-free foods, and forwarded me a link to a great gluten-free website. Different folks choose to eat gluten-free for various reasons, many times because of allergies or intolerances to certain grains. Wheat is the first thing to be cut out, but there are other grains as well...which can mystify the cook when faced with trying to round things out on the dinner plate without the standard selections of pastas, breads, and usual recipes incorporating wheat flour.

Thankfully, there are many other choices to be had, although they might be a bit off the familiar path. But unfamiliarity can be a good thing, and can result in delicious discoveries, and a more deliberate way of eating. The best result, though, is improved health, and for gluten-intolerant bodies there are yet other delicious choices available.

Here is a list of great links to gluten-free sites. On them, I've noticed a lot of creative cooking as well as recreations of standard favorites adapted to substitute non-gluten flours, and such things as ground almonds, xanthum, and tapioca.

I'm dabbling with the idea of easing us into more gluten-free habits ourselves, as I'm convinced it may be a better support for our systems which are presently overloaded with diabetes and weight issues. I may test some of these to see if we can detect any noticeable changes by eliminating gluten from our eating, and if it is playing a role as an irritant in what we eat.

If these sites are any indication, it certainly does not mean going without variety and taste...it would seem the only limits are ones imagination and creative flexibility.

Here are the links, first the one forwarded by my sis, and then the others I saw when doing some Googling...I'm sure there are many, many more to be found!

Gluten-Free Blogs and Sites

1. http://www.elanaspantry.com/
2. http://glutenfree-journey.blogspot.com/
3. http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/
4. http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/
5. http://gluten-free-blog.blogspot.com/
6. http://glutenfree.wordpress.com/
7. http://iamglutenfree.blogspot.com/
8. http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/
9. http://glutenfreemommy.com/
10. http://www.heythattastesgood.com/
11. http://collegeceliac.blogspot.com/index.html
12. http://eatingpossibly.blogspot.com/
13. http://justnotdinner.com
14. http://www.leaisglutenfree.com/

Enjoy! :)

Monsanto's Genetic Conspiracy: European 3 Video Series

2008-07-21T10:30:00.001-07:00

This is a thoughtful documentary that speaks to concerns about Monsanto's culpability in obscuring, falsifying, and manipulating data in regards to GM food safety research...worldwide.

Unlabled GM Sugar Now Here

2008-07-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

This is sobering.

Sugar Company American Crystal Now Sourcing from GM Sugarbeets

Here is a clip from Organic Consumers Association website. This site is full of important information we all need in order to stay abreast of these developments.

"GE Sugar Beets to Hit Stores in 2008!

American Crystal, a large Wyoming-based sugar company and several other leading U.S. sugar providers have announced they will be sourcing their sugar from genetically engineered (GE) sugar beets beginning this year and arriving in stores in 2008. Like GE corn and GE soy, products containing GE sugar will not be labeled as such.

Since half of the granulated sugar in the U.S. comes from sugar beets, a move towards biotech beets marks a dramatic alteration of the U.S. food supply. These sugars, along with GE corn and soy, are found in many conventional food products, so consumers will be exposed to genetically engineered ingredients in just about every non-organic multiple-ingredient product they purchase...." read rest of article here

The dangers of unlabeled GM sugar in our food supply has prompted a boycott of Kelloggs and other companies that will not agree to acknowledge the public's concern and fears about GE sugar, which is a primary ingredient in many of their products. Read here for more information about taking action to reverse this rhetoric and to urge these companies that the public does NOT want GE sugar used.

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The BioTech and Corporate Agribusiness Efforts to Pass "Pre-Emption" Laws to Remove Community Resistant to GMOs

Also on the same site is the mention of consumers who are effectively inacting city, county, and local ordinances banning GE crops. As you can imagine, the response from the big GM powers-that-be has been swift and ugly. According to the article,

"15 states have recently passed 'Monsanto laws' taking away the rights of cities and counties to ban GE crops. Now legislators in California, Missouri, Nebraska, and North Carolina are facing the lobbying power of the biotech industry and are threatening to pass controversial "preemption" laws that would take away local rights to regulate GMOs. " read rest of article here

Where does your state stand?

A look at the US map and your state's standing

Garden at Child's Eye View

2008-07-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Startling New Debt Reduction Strategies

2008-07-20T12:53:00.002-07:00

Kiwi Embraces

2008-07-20T12:53:00.001-07:00

Clicking on any picture will enlarge...

Goodnight Moon, Friday Version

2008-07-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

In the ~~great green~~ half-swept room
There was a telephone
And a ~~red balloon~~ flower in bloom
And a picture of
~~the cow jumping over the moon~~ a bride and a groom
There were ~~three little bears sitting on chairs~~ soft pillows with some wear and tear
And two little ~~kittens~~ slippers
And a pair of ~~mittens~~ nail clippers
And a ~~a little toy house~~ cup of tea
And a ~~young mouse~~ missing key
And a comb and a brush and ~~a bowl full of mush~~ the song of a thrush
And a ~~quiet~~ napping lady ~~whispering hush~~ snoring much

Goodnight room
Goodnight moon
Goodnight chores to be finished soon
Goodnight picture from honeymoon
Goodnight pillows with wear and tear
Goodnight slippers
And toenail clippers
Goodnight tea
Goodnight key
Goodnight comb and goodnight brush
Goodnight to the song of the thrush
Goodnight napping lady snoring much

Goodnight ~~stars~~ friends
Goodnight ~~air~~ home

And to all, Shabbat Shalom.... :)

Debunking the Propaganda: Genetically-Modified Crops No Answer to World Food Crisis

2008-07-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

To hear it as told by some folks, genetically-modified foods are the ultimate solution to the world food crisis.

As long as you turn your brains off.

Seriously. This is the best thing since sliced Frankenbread...right?? In fact, it might get so "improved" someday that all we'll have to do is pop open a tube of Engineered Foodpaste, and voila...no thought processes required whatsoever!

The hype is no accident...it takes marketing efforts of monumental proportions to pull off this sort of snow job. I'm sure it took some think tank a while to come up with "hey, I know! We can tout this as the solution to the world's hunger problem...that should help play down the whole GMOs-as-plague-and-pestilence angle, don'tcha think?"

Any worldwide "solution" should examine the power machines, special interests, and political fishhooks associated with anything with that big a marketing budget to back it up.

You just have to see this article at the Millions Against Monsanto site http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_13589.cfm

Genetically modified foods have been a hotly-debated subject of much controversy for some years now. Below are some of the claims widely used to manipulate the world markets towards full acceptance of GM crops -- but research is showing that the claims are quite a different story than reality--

The Propaganda states these things:

1. GM crops are becoming the norm.
However, the evidence is to the contrary.

2. GM crops produce increased yields.
Again, the evidence is to the contrary. In fact, there is proof they are decreased.

3. GM crops require the use of less pesticide.
Wrong. "Although there may have been some initial reductions, recent U.S. data suggest that herbicide use in GE crops is now significantly higher than it was prior to their introduction. Weeds that have developed resistance to the herbicide used with GE crops now infest several million acres, forcing greater herbicide use. Insect-resistant GE crops have reduced overall insecticide use somewhat, but on balance GE crops have not reduced our dependence on pesticides. "http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080618/news_lz1e18gurian.html

4. GM animal feed is more cost-effective/cheaper.
Nope. It's rocketing skyward.

5. It is futile to try to enforce a European "zero-tolerance" policy for non-approved GMOs.
Wrong. The GM conglomerates want that to be the assumption, but it is far from reality.

6. GM crops are more drought-resistant.
False. There is no alternative to good land management. Genetic modification has so far not produced a commercial drought tolerant variety in any type of crop.

The article cited (above) contains the links to the different points above.

Aside from the horrific and irresponsibly-dodged health issues at the heart of GM seeds and crops, has no one considered the absurdity of the argument for****complete reliance on a few GM mega-conglomerates as the controlling forces to world wide food supplies??****

Um...hello?

Makes a person realize just what they have at stake here and why the claims that lack supporting evidence are simply bypassed by the propaganda machines. The GM companies represent big money worldwide. There has been much invested, so they stand to have much to lose...if anyone dares touch them. So far, they have painted themselves as the Providers of the People, the Innovators of the Global Solutions, blah blah blah. Their marketing alone is its own machine.

It is not difficult to remember a lesson from history...that propaganda is not quite the same thing as advertising...it's far more exaggerated and unaccountable; propaganda utilizes (often politically) a selective manipulation (or manufacture) of information, rife with ommissions of full disclosure, typically casting a dictator in a benevolent light as being the author of a "solution for the masses." Look at history's dictators..the benevolent fathers of their people...Stalin, Lenin, Castro, H--ler, Chairman Mao.

Show me where these benevolent dictators have solved the problems they claimed to address historically (other than by wiping out the population so history could be rewritten by their own revisionists)...and maybe then I'll be more willing to trust "Good Father Monsanto"

Until then, I'll just continue thinking for myself and forgoing the communal Koolaid and the microchip implant.

Things About Me: Old Used Books

2008-07-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

In my childhood, I grew to love reading books. At one point, my mother passed along some older books she had had since she was a girl. They were "young adult" books and most were written in the 1920s.

Those books had a different charm than their contemporary counterparts, though we loved many modern favorite children's writers. The Nancy Drew series... Marguerite Henry, Walter Farley & Andersen's horse series...and others were regulars in our books stacks. But older chidren's books had a different charm. They spoke of a world we could only guess at, and were one of my first introductions to lives beyond my memory. In them, there were stark delineations between rich and poor, city and country, "modernity" and "the old ways." In them, a "modern" kitchen was one that had a working wood cookstove rather than an open fire. Factories figured largely into the working-class city jobs, and farming was the country folks' lot. Only the rich had cars and everyone else road the trains for long distance travel.

I still have some of those books, and I've picked up others along the way. They might not be to the satisfaction of most folks, since the writing relies heavily on vernacular accents, in most stories a parent dies and the older children have to find a way to keep the family together, and the setting is so very turn-of-the-century. There's no sex, no dating, they are either "girls' books" or "boys' books," and there is a lot of story line. Usually they're about having to survive a crisis by working hard, ingenuity, and returning to the country and "forgotten" country skills. (the seeds of this bent were planted early in my mind?? :)) I absolutely love them!

I've actually learned a lot by reading period literature, even children's literature. I won't elaborate here, but there's nothing quite like reading about farm life around the turn of the century, written contemporary to that date.

One of my favorite pasttimes is to frequent used book stores, though I've curbed my buying considerably during at this time. It's hard to narrow down the sorts of books I like to find there...I love all sorts...but I always manage to peruse the children's section for some of these "young adult" antique books, and older fairy tale and legend collections...it seems the older ones are better, unless they're straight up Victorian...I don't care for them as much since they are fairly over-dramatic and seem to talk down to kids. One thing that is a sure hook to me, though maybe not to others, is any writing I find in the book. If I see it dedicated to someone, or find handwriting, it fascinates me. The bindings and covers also draw me in.

Here is an old book with some great "quirks," obviously a girls' book, called Breakneck Farm, by Evelyn Raymond. I bought probably for only that reason...in fact, I don't remember when or where I got it. It's literally yellowed and falling apart, some pages are missing (arghh!), it's about orphans who are given a chance to make it on a farm (and do), and at the beginning or end of each chapter, some either bored or diligent person practiced writing their ABCs..and numbers...with an ink pen you have to dip in an inkwell. It's from the 1920s and an ad for other similar books (listed in the back) prices each volume at 75 cents.

Here's the cover. You can see the book is worse for the wear...but it's treasured by us, as is.

Here's an example of their number practice:

And letter practice:

And another mystery...is this the name of this girl's parents...or is it wishful thinking as she pairs her own name with that of a schoolmate crush?

I wonder what ever happened to Rose and Elmer Poole. Were they sweethearts, or was that adolescent wishful thinking? Did Rose go on to marry a Wilbur, and did Elmer marry a Euphemia? (Yes, that's an actual name in one of my old books...) In the scribbles that still inhabit these pages, there are hidden stories...far more fascinating to me than the actual book...and one I'll always have to fall back on my imagination to suppose their endings...

Do you have some favorite old books? Do you love seeing the evidence of lives that cross paths as handwriting on their pages?

As for me, it's one of my favorite things...:)

Simple Changes: Glass Bottles Instead of Plastic

2008-07-15T11:00:00.001-07:00

Like many others, we are trying to change some of our basic habits, for varying reasons of frugality, practicality, sustainability, and simplicity.

I'm slow to change, but I want the good changes to be lasting.

Sometimes I think I'm way behind the curve in comparison with others who have either been living differently than we have for a longer time, or who are just more savvy overall. But I am inspired by seeing ways in which we can continue to improve, and I'm heartened to see that these changes often come in very small packages. Sometimes, it's the little things that add up in the bigger picture.

My Grandma and Grandpa lived simply and well. Many of the changes we've adopted in the past, or simply habits, have been a result of remembering how my grandparents lived. I've noticed that same sensibility in other folks' writings on the web...a longing for the way our forbears did things...simply. Sometimes "simple" means carving out time differently and slowing down to do something that initially takes longer, but produces a better product or saves money. Sometimes it's just a different way of looking at the same set of challenges and applying the widsom of our elders.

At any rate, I'm starting a series here of small changes we're making that we're trying to incorporate as habits. This is open to everyone, and if you have one you'd like to include, I'm happy to post it here as well :)

Small Changes: Glass Bottles Instead of Plastic

This is something my Grandma did. She saved glass jars of every sort.

Selecting store items packaged in glass not only cuts down on plastic in landfills, but is a better all-round reuseable storage solution for anything small. I like to use mine for storing dried pantry items such as pastas, rice, seeds, nuts, etc. They are also great for organizing nails or screws, buttons, office supplies, and sewing items.

I have to wash my jars a couple of times, and often I'll just leave the label on. If you need the label off, it'll take some soaking in hot water and possibly working the sticky glue off with a soft scrub pad. These are some jars after their first washing...

I have a friend who uses Mason jars for hearty drinking glasses. She rinses a few clean jars with water, and while still damp, puts them on an empty shelf in her freezer. Her husband works really enjoys any beverage in those icy cold frozen Mason jars when he comes in from his long, hot, days as a painter. They are really refreshing!

They are also fun for projects with children, whether as temporary housing for interesting insects, storage for found rocks (I loved collecting those with my Grandpa!), or for making sand art by layering different colors of sand or soil and then making designs by running a broomstraw down the sides for different effects.

What do you use your glass jars for?

Ricotta, My Whey

2008-07-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

I'm from Memphis...sorry, I couldn't resist! ;-)

Caspian Sea Yogurt, and What to do with the Whey

We're back to making Caspian Sea Yogurt. What's interesting is that our original live CSY culture was purchased (via internet)during the cooler spring months. It didn't get as hot during shipment as the culture we recently purchases did.

The yogurt produced from the milder-weather shipment was itself very mild, and had a unique honey-like consistency when poured. It endured a range of temps and fermentation times, and to make it was as easy as adding one part culture to 5 parts milk, any sort. We poured it into clean mason jars, covered each with a coffee filter and jar ring, and set them on top of the fridge to ferment anywhere from 8 to 12 hours. The consistency of the resulting yogurts ranged from a thin cream-type consistency to thicker, denser yet "slick" honey-type pourable yogurt. If we over-fermented some of it, it began separating into strata of solids and whey, and all we had to do was insert a knife or such down the side of the jar and pour off (and collect) the clearish whey liquid while the thicker solids remained in the jar. We stirred up the solids (which were not in fact solid, but just very thick yogurt) and store all in the fridge.

It was the perfect self-perpetuation yogurt, though it did not have the taste or consistency of what we'd come to think of as yogurt from the supermarket. This was more or less like cream, with a different viscosity, and Caspian Sea Yogurt is so mild, it's adaptable to eating straight or in almost anything else...smoothies, over granola or cooked oatmeal, you name it.

I grew to enjoy it, and Jack absolutely loved it...in fact, craved it.

Then I killed off my culture :(

I left the jars on top of the fridge too long, too many repeated times, and also began mainly culturing the new batches with the whey...which is ok but I won't ever do exclusively any more. The end result is that there was no middle ground final product...all the CSY became solid and whey, half one and half the other, and was very very tart...a sure sign it was over-fermented. After a while, every batch was just too sour to enjoy eating, though not dangerous to consume. More and more batches went out to be poured at the base of our potted fig tree. Eventually, I faced the music and discontinued making the CSY till we could get a fresh starter culture.

I started making the CSY again a week or two ago, and the starter culture was shipped during excessively hot weather. I suspect that would explain the different consistency of my former CSY and the ones I'm making now. But thankfully, till we can order another in the cooler months of winter, this CSY still has much to love about it...no cooking, no fuss, delicious...just with a bit of a different consistency than the first batch..not as "honey-like" to pour and quicker to form solids and whey. That's my first clue it could easily over-ferment, so I'm keeping diligent watch on the hours I leave them atop the fridge, before removing them to the fridge to halt the fermentation.

There is still some whey produced, and I pour it off after it's been chilled (easier then)and save it. Some of the solids make their way there, too, in with the poured-off watery whey. Whey is very tart and if you pour it off the CSY, the CSY is very mild and goes with more things.

So....what to do with the whey? If it is kept as is, it's still alive with probiotics...good bacteria that pump up the body's defense systems and increase immunity and digestion. However, I wanted to explore more uses.

It's said to be a good hair and body rinse, but I haven't tried that yet.

I saw mention that whey from cheesemaking can be used to make ricotta, and I wondered if the CSY whey would work as well, even though CSY is not a cooked hard cheese. The instructions were easy, so today I tried it out, just to see what would happen.

Making Ricotta from Caspian Sea Yogurt Whey

The instructions said to heat whey to 200 F degrees, stirring occasionally, then to line a colander with a clean pillowcase (or very tightly woven cheesecloth, not regular cheesecloth) and drain it through itand allow it to drain. Sounds easy!

I had heated 3 quarts of whey (shown in picture above), which had some CSY solids in it. At the end of the heating period (a few minutes)it foamed up and had to be stirred down. I settled a pillowcase-lined colander over a separate stockpot and poured the heated whey through it. Most of the liquid went straight through, and at first I thought there wouldn't be anything to show for the experiment. But with a rubber spatula, I gently scraped the fabric and there was a little something there...some ricotta. Yayy! Could it be that easy?

I let it drain a couple of minutes and scraped it together into a small pile. It probably made 3/4 - 1 cup, and was nicely moist. If I'd wanted it dry, I'd simply drain it longer. I lightly salted it, as the instructions suggested, and the flavor was delightfully mild and delicious! Refrigerated, it can be used over salads, to stuff pastas, to add to cheesecakes and sweet creamcheese desserts, or with chopped herbs for a spread for crackers or crusty dark homemade bread. I tasted it on whole grain crackers and nothing else, and it was great!

So ricotta can be as easy as Heat, Strain, and eat...who knew???

Are there any of you out there making Caspian Sea Yogurt? I wonder if kefir whey would also work...anyone tried it? One of the nicest things about fermented milk products is the ability to experiment and come up with really useful, easy, and delicious foods!

Raw Milk and SB201

2008-07-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

The Fresh Milk Act of 2008

New news from the Weston A. Price Foundation I found in my email box about the next steps for AB201:

LET'S CLEAR THE LAST COMMITTEE HURDLE FOR SB201, The Fresh Milk Act of 2008!

We are getting closer to passage of SB201, the Fresh Milk Act of 2008, which will replace AB1735 (the "sneak attack" against raw milk) and guarantee the future of raw milk in California.

We appreciate all your support so far in making calls, which helped the bill pass unanimously out of two committee hearings. The fate of SB201 will have a big impact on raw milk throughout the country so we are sending this action alert to all WAPF members.

Once past the Appropriations Committee, we are expecting a vote by the full California House and Senate before the end of the summer.

ACTION TO TAKE
Please take a few moments on Monday and Tuesday to make your calls to committee members. SB201 will be heard on Wednesday, July 16 in the Appropriations Committee. With your support we can make it to the Assembly Floor.

Please call the Assembly Members below before Wednesday with this short message: "Please support SB201 this Wednesday July 16th in the Assembly Appropriations Committee." Let's inundate them with calls!

ASSEMBLY SPEAKER
Karen Bass • 916-319-2047

APPROPRIATIONS MEMBERS
Anna Caballero • 916-319-2028
Mike Davis • 916-319-2048
Warren Furutani • 916-319-2055
Ted Lieu • 916-319-2053
Pedro Nava • 916-319-2035
Jose Solorio • 916-319-2069

Your Calls Have Made a Huge Impact - Thank You and Keep it up!

Closing the Week

2008-07-11T17:50:00.001-07:00

What a week...

and I have so much for which to be grateful.

I've been reflecting a lot on relationships, both present and past. On how many mistakes I've made throughout my lifetime, and how those have shaped the person I am today, the world I inhabit.

I realize that what I have that's good is because of God's continued goodness and forgiveness, and I am so grateful. How careless, overly busy, and irresponsible I've been at different points in my life, sometimes now, with the fleeting and most cherished of gifts...relationships. For some reason, I can remember so many words I wish I'd never said..and I wonder how many I don't remember.

I heard a rabbi once paint a verbal picture by quoting a tradition...that each word we utter is a living thing, and like an angel it can be an agent of life or of death. I wonder how many of each I have contributed, and I'm resolved to either keep closer watch on my words altogether, or make sure they adhere to the admirable goal of "do no harm." I know the words I give my daughter come back to me many times, and I marvel that they've become a part of her. What an honor...what a trust. What a wake-up call!

As far as the blog this week goes, I've not had the time I'd like to have had to post and to answer comments...I will hopefully do so after shabbat. Thank you for your patience...every single person who comments here is appreciated so much by both myself and Jack!

It has not been a bad week, it has been a full week. For some reason, today I've been moved by the realization that life is so fleeting and so precious, and is to be honored and protected. And valued...

Jack surprised me this week with a gift...it's the 4th anniversary of our engagement. We celebrate both our engagement and our wedding anniversaries, since our engagement was probably the highlight for both of us that sealed us as committed to each other for life, even before it was made "official" with wedding vows and signed papers. Anyway, I completely forgot the day this year...oh my! :( But Jack didn't forget, and the words he shared with me are even better than the lovely token he bought for my gift.

This week closes, and I feel I've fallen behind with many tasks, feeling nostalgic, and quite tired from the week's demands. But the beautiful thing about shabbat...or at least one of the beautiful things...is that it is a clean slate. It is a required rest in which you're rewarded with an oasis of 24 hours of no labor, projects, busy-ness, and preoccupation. We can eat, sleep, and take time to actually see each other...watch a sunrise or sunset, be together, worship in the ways that are most natural.

I had a slew of projects that never got done this week...I was going to post some of them here. Life happens, and blogs sometimes can't keep up. It was that way this week, and so goes the rhythm of our days. Ah, that's life...and life is so good :)

I wish for you the very best of refreshing tonight and tomorrow...I may not be here as often at times, but it's not for lack of loving my blog friends :) I appreciate you so much!

Hug your precious ones :)

Shabbat shalom!

Latent Granola Instinct

2008-07-08T09:17:00.001-07:00

I made granola. Granola I made. I am a granola-maker. Oh my gosh, I am now officially qualified to drive a beat-up VW van, stop shaving my legs, and burn patchouli incense...ha!
(I refuse to replace my curtains with love beads, though, or go braless in public) ;-)

I'm on a quest for simple foods...the sort we want available homemade but requiring very little expense, preparation, and fuss. The sort that's the backbone of the everyday, and will sustain us dependably despite the vagaries of future crop fluctuations...things that are easy to stockpile.

I've never realized my full granola/muesli potential. It was high time to take a stab at it...Jack was told by his doc to cut out ALL flour products, most simple starches, and must replace them with only straight-up whole grains.

It's time for me to embrace my inner granola...

I'm not sure what the differences are between muesli and granola. But I know I've wanted to try making this for years...years. Why haven't I tried making this, ever? I've tried soooo many other things, but I've just had a granola mental block. Maybe it was the long list of ingredients, many of which are not regular pantry items for us...wheat germ, bran, flax seed, sesame seeds, etc.

So, in complete muesli/granola ignorance and stubbornness, I waited too long and then found myself in the kitchen with a freshly-fermenting batch of Caspian Sea Yogurt/Matsoni, needing something earthy and crunchy to go along with its fresh, cool blandness for a morning breakfast, or simple evening meal.

I had box of generic old-fashioned oats, and dug around in the cabinets and unearthed a couple handsful of pepitas (pumpkin seed hearts) and some slivered almonds. And a look in the pantry found a pristine bag of sweetened dried cranberries. In haste and without a lot of foresight, I just put a layer of oats, pumpkin seed hearts, and almond slivers on cookie sheets and drizzled the last remains of my jar of honey over them all. I didn't add any salt since the pepitas were salted.

I put them in the oven for 30 minutes on 350, though now I know it should more likely be 300, and stirred every five minutes to make sure nothing scorched. If I did it again, I'd add the almonds the last five minutes. Anyway, when everything seemed pretty toasty and stirred, I put them in a jar and mixed in a full bag of the sweetened cranberry "raisins"...and hey, it was good!

I've since been perusing the recipes online for granola and muesli, all of which include some kind of oil or butter and some of which have different sweeteners. But I think they all fall back on the basics of roasted grains (with oats at the base of most recipes) and seeds and nuts, with varying degrees of dried fruits and perhaps coconut. Looks like it can be personalized to about anyone's preferences. But I have to say that even without the oil or butter, this mix I made was really great for sprinkling over yogurt for a hearty crunch, and definately makes a stick-to-your-ribs meal.

Here's a shot of what it looks like....but I'd never eat a bowlful like this...it's powerful in small quantities :)

Update

2008-07-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who has expressed their concern and support regarding Jack's mom and her illness. We feel really loved and thank each one of you...it really makes a difference!

We do have an update, and an unexpected silver lining...

Yesterday, Jack arrived at his mom's house just as the visiting hospice doctor was there for her weekly check-in. He was able to speak with her about just what is going on...something we've had to piece together for ourselves as we go, since information has been sketchy. The actual diagnosis is that the doctors don't know exactly what she has. They are sure there is a mass or tumor, and they are fairly sure it's cancer, and yes, it's grouped in the pancreas and liver. Just now, his mom seems to be holding her own, and the doc said it may be possible that she'll live to see a few more months, maybe even to the end of the year. Since her pain is currently managed by oral medication and doesnt seem to be progressing to a worse stage in the past week, that is very good news to us! The fact the doctor would be up front about the unknowns, too, was encouraging...they simply don't have all the facts. If his mom lives through the fall, they will do more tests.

So what seem imminent, as in a few weeks' timeframe, now has relaxed at least a little, buying Mima more time, hopefully, and Jack more time with her. She was installed on the couch in the late afternoon yesterday, holding court with well-wishers and thoroughly enjoying it. She seems to have a period once a day that she can sit in the living room and relax with her husband by watching some TV or taking phone calls and seeing the occasional family member who drops in to help out. It's an adjustment for Jack, who is used to seeing his mother up with the birds and steamrolling through the day with just brief periods of rest. To see her sitting is a rather strange thing for him. But she has a routine, and it's working for her...and we're very relieved. She sleeps all night and most of the day, with the meds doing their thing, but she's still as saucy as ever when she is queen of the living room :)

Thank you for all your prayers...we'd love it if you could remember her whenever you think of it. Though this blog is not intentionally a place to air private happenings, that line gets blurred since it does operate as a journal of our real life journeying to a homestead. This is our real life, and I'm not segmenting the life events into a closed-door category, though I am withholding many of the more private details.

This was a welcome development, and we are really happy we'll have more time with Jack's mom. Just wanted to share the good news!

Planning for Aging

2008-07-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Though we're not exactly spring chickens, Jack and I aren't quite at the point where we feel we need to be too preoccupied with planning for our dotage yet. I say this, but even if we're not in our advanced years, we've come to understand life can certainly "happen" despite our plans, or lack of plans.

His mother, a healthy and strong woman all her life, was diagnosed recently with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. She has chosen to forgo any treatments, and instead to die at home where she most wants to be. She has chosen, true to form for her, to do things her own way. I admire her for that...Jack and I usually find ourselves choosing to do things "our way," meaning not always following the prescribed or expected way.

Jack is traveling to his mom's today, and has been under more stress lately. One of his job assignments came to an end recently, putting him down to a single day of work last week. That will not pay our bills. He's job hunting...and trying to figure out the arrangements surrounding his mother's impending death...and trying to deal with the reality of her no longer being in his life. Add into that some sticky situations with family members best not to be around, but impossible to avoid since there will likely be some folks coming out of the woodwork as the funeral date draws nearer.

His mother had the foresight many years ago to make arrangements in advance of just such a situation. This has made things much easier for Jack, since all her wishes are in writing, are prepaid, and she gave him documents to that effect a long time ago. It's still painful for him to have to be dusting them off and reading through it all, grieving and yet trying to remain clear-headed enough to keep it all straight. Add to that our financial situation...a single fill-up of gasoline for his vehicle is $70, and our incoming money is but a whisper just now. Every trip out of town to his mother's is necessary, important...and extremely taxing to our resources. I'm not complaining...this is our reality at present. You can't always pick your timing...

The stimulus check was anticipated, prior to any of this, as being designated for some backlogged necessities and tools...mostly to pay off more debt, which would give us some more budgetary breathing room. Possibly to chuck some towards a water distiller, as our Berkey still does not remove the sulfur smell/taste from our water ....though it's pure enough to drink and cook with, it imparts an awful taste that fouls food and upsets the stomach. Think rotten eggs, that's the sort of smell/taste. Our idea is to run the well water through the Berkey in batches, and then to distill that into 5 gallon containers, which fit onto a drink stand (with spigot) we already have, which can be used either plugged in to cool and heat, or can be used unplugged, at room temperature. But I digress.

We spent the money a different way. We bought Jack a suit...he doesn't have a suit. Because we rarely dress formally, and the relaxed nature of Florida is not nearly as buttoned-up even for special occasions as it is in the other parts of the country, he's always gotten by with a sport jacket and some nicer trousers. That's entirely different than my upbringing, where men had at least a few nice suits that were kept impeccably pressed and hung and had varying ties to match. It did my heart good when we walked into the menswear store when the salesman assessed the situation very smoothly, and made the selection, sizing, and fitting a seamless process from start to finish...as well he should for that price. It's been a long time since either of us has needed some clothes like that. We also included an appropriate blouse for me, too. By the time we'd shopped for these and purchased them, it was bye-bye stimulus check. But we realize it came at just the right time. We had no idea there'd be a funeral in our near future to plan for. With him as his mom's only child, he will be the sole survivor of her line, and the key person at the memorial to be alongside her surviving (and frail) husband.

I'm so proud of him (my husband) and I'm so glad he'll have something nice to wear now. I find it hard to know how to help him at this time, because he's a strong person. So is his mom. As she sleeps more and more right now due to the increased doses of pain medicine, I find her remarkable. She has chosen where she wants to be...at home where she most loves being...and how she chooses to spend her last days. She has never been a person who tolerates much sentimentality, and she seldom speaks of her personal feelings...that's simply how she has always been.

He calls her every day, and has always called regularly. Most of the time now, however, she is sleeping due to the pills. We sat down last night and wrote out a lengthy Thank You to her for her to read (her eyesight is great) in case Jack cannot have any private time with her to tell her things you want to say before the final goodbye...we have no way of knowing how much longer she will be conscious or feel like having conversation at all. He is there right now as we speak, delivering it to her and seeing how he might help out. Boy was that a hard letter to write. How do you sum up the things you want to say to the person who has always been a core part of your life and identity, in just a few paragraphs? How do you reduce a lifetime of relationship down to a few words of gratitude on paper? It's very inadequate.

It helps me understand that what they are to each other even now is what they've always been to each other, and it doesnt always need the right words as a vehicle. His mom's great qualities are many, and her unique personality is simply her. She raised a great son. I'm the word person, but in this situation, I'm witnessing how words are not the substance that defines anything...not even the words my husband will or won't say at the memorial service. There is a space Jack's mom occupies that cannot be filled by any other, and when that space is vacated, no one else can fill it in the same way. There are those of us who look to a time of reunion beyond this time and space, and don't call it a vain hope. We had hoped to one day have his mother join us on our future homestead, to enjoy the growing things, the flowers, the seasons, the clean and good food with us. That's not how God saw fit that things would be, however, and we don't question His ways. He knows what we don't. Acceptance is not always the easiest thing to embrace.

I'll look more at the issue of aging, as we move into a different phase soon of our journey to and on our homestead. It's an issue we can't get around, because our mortality is one of those defining events we can't exactly get around :) But, like Jack's mom, there is much we can discuss and prepare for in advance, as we contemplate the reality that people do get sick, do get injured, do lose some abilities, and do need a plan for life beyond whatever is the "prime." It can happen at 20, or like Jack's mom...95. As we look into some of those things, I'll write about them.

At the present, we're continuing to learn so much from his mom. She continues to be our respected and loved elder, parent....and now teacher, in this, an unknown chapter in which she precedes us. We are so very, very grateful for her.

I'm Honored

2008-07-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

I'm very honored that Meadowlark at the Just Wandering Through blog gave me this award...thank you!

It's called the Arte y Pico award, for creativity, design, interesting material, and contributing to the blogging community (in any language). It's to be passed along to 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award based on those criteria.

I think everyone I know in the online homesteading community has their unique ability in creating, designing...and are definately interesting to me. All have contributed to me as a community. It's always so impossible to narrow things down here. It's also difficult for me to know who may have already received this...

I'm going to have to shoot from this hip on this one. Here are the 5, among all the deserving others, that came to mind for those reasons...

1. Edifice Rex -- Annie is an artist in the truest sense. She is a sculptor, potter, gardener/landscape designer, and knows how to create from the ground up...construction, design, problem-solving, do-it-yourself, aesthetics. She's finishing the building of her own home that she built herself. If you haven't stopped in to see her blog lately, it's definately worth the trip :)

2. Maria at Dirt Under My Nails -- definate creativity, as a lifestyle. I can't get enough of seeing how they built their cordwood home, complete with the planted roof! As always, this blog is a delight, with a can-do attitude, and a very wonderful spirit of family teamwork.

3. La Ferme de Sourrou -- I love when two people carve out a life that is authentically theirs; in this case, hardworkinghippy and her hubby have integrated into their local community as well as have wrought, through a lot of effort and vision, a hand-built home for themselves, their animals, and their prolific garden. Combining the potager with chickens, goats, wildlife, and traditional skills, they embody inspiration and grit off the grid in France. Do check out the lush photography, as well.

4. Tina at Irish Dexter Cattle, Cheap Sheep and More Creatures, otherwise known as Wilamar Farm, is the industrious and artistic micro-farmer who does an awful lot on what most folks would consider a small property, considering all the animals who call it home. Her careful planning and diligence really pay off, and these are some very happy creatures. Tina is usually tackling a creative project, and she has trained one of her dogs to be a therapeutic companion for trips to visit residents of nursing homes. She is also a proud mother and grandmother, and finds time to keep experimenting in the kitchen as well. All that, and a garden, too. She has the stuff that turns a homestead into the hearth of a community, and is well-deserving of this award...

5. Katherine Dunn's Apifera Farm always blends accomplished art with a child's-eye wonder. I love how she interprets life on her lavender farm...named for the bees that adore the nectar there...and how farm life and its inhabitants populate not only her homestead, but her imagination and her expression through varied media and writings. Lovely!

There are so many others that should be named as well...

I hope you enjoy revisiting these, and please check out the wonderful blogs listed on the blogroll on my sidebar if you haven't yet...you'll find so much to appreciate and by which to be inspired!

Hope Your 4th Sparkles!

2008-07-04T11:04:00.000-07:00

This is the celebration of our country's Independence Day, and I'm grateful to be a citizen here.

I may not sound like it at times.

But I am. I am in a country where I can express my opinions and work to preserve the rights our Constitution was designed to protect.

Freedom to change things is something to celebrate...

Here are some of the fireworks from the Capitol last year...I hope your celebration is warm and full of family, friends, or some peaceful down time. I'm so grateful forthe risks and sacrifices of many who came before us whose actions helped to shape the freedoms we have today.

May we shoulder that responsibility with wisdom and grace...

Have a wonderful night and day tomorrow.....enjoy the fireworks in your own neck of the woods :)

Shabbat Shalom and Happy 4th!

Old Wives' Tale?

2008-07-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

I can't seem to find anything on the internet about this, and I find it interesting.

Jack's mother is really good at growing things, and one of the things she's always had in her sub-tropical zone backyard is papaya trees. She has a few tricks she uses to have success in their bearing fruit, it seems...

Her advice to Jack, after being consulted about our non-bearing papaya trees goes like this:

1. Stick a sharp nail well into the trunk, then remove it.

2. Take a portion of a papaya leaf and bind it over the nail hole so that it won't get infected.

She said if we do that, that some of the trees should "change" reproductively, and we'll find that it/they will begin producing fruit.

Will it work? What is the science behind this?

I can't find anything on the internet, but I'm putting it here on this post. Let's see what happens!

(I don't even particularly LIKE papaya fruits, but Jack loves them, and they are great chicken feed...for when we have chickens. Plus they're great marinades for tenderizing meats, and I imagine there are salsas, etc they'd be good in. They're good for me, so I'll likely eat some anyway. They seem to grow like crazy down here without too much fuss, so who can pass up an easy-to-grow fruit?) :)