JCK88

I scored INFJ Counselor...

So I guess I'm on that 1 percent bench with PJC. (I guess this score explains why I am usually misunderstood around here, come to think of it! LOL)

LOL

Reminds me of those elastic band things you hang on the doorknob and lie on floor and it's like running while on your back only the elastic does some wonderful thing. (until it snaps one day, don't ask, LOL) I had one of those things when I was about 30 years younger.

LOL...the banana slicer cracked me up. (but I want to try one now...LOL..not buy one, try one!)

Yes Tracie, once you get used to pressure canning, you will wonder how you got along without it. I have two canners and have them both going at once at times! (Usually in the winter while canning stews or meat...makes nice humidity in the house then) With a pressure canner, there is nothing you can't can--it just opens up the possiblities to you that you don't have with just water bath canning!

Momo, that's what I mean! Cat Litter tubs are great! LOL (I haven't tried them upside down, though....good going!

The designer compost container gets my vote for silliest product..LOL

What about those upside down tomato planters that are wickedly expensive with high shipping costs? It would have cost $107 for two of them with their shipping charge! I have happy tomatoes growing in a worn out-waterbath canner, a couple of 5-gal buckets and some giant clay pots!

SO true, Cheryl. I don't use any of that stuff either...I hate single-use things...even disposable razors. My husband hates those so bad he uses an old-fashioned straight razor!! (Well his Grandpa was a barber)

Those paper mops. I like the old-fashioned kind of mop - the kind you swab decks with. If it gets icky, you sanitize it with bleach. I have a mop bucket with a wringer for it. I also like the old sponge mops, too.

Ah....thanks for bumping it up so everyone can get the duck jokes. LOL LOL

It was just...ducky!

Cowgirl, right on. My mom says the ONLY way to survive is to have the best garden you can afford and to can what you aren't eating for dinner that night. Both of my parents went through the Depression. My father was a city kid, my mother a country kid. My mother says they had a cow ,a horse, and chickens and a pig and a large garden although they did rent their place. She says Grandma bartered for bushels of peaches. Two of her older brothers worked at a local farm in exchange for produce which my Grandma canned. They were able to do okay and nobody starved. All the kids had jobs. They all contributed to paying for the heat each winter.

My Dad told stories of having to dig though the bakery dumpsters where old bread and cakes were stacked to take to a local pig farm. He and his brothers would be very excited if they found a decent cake in that pile. He says they saved bottles for refunds. They ran numbers and messages for the mob for nickels because the mob was the only group who had any cash in that Italian neighborhood. They crawled into abandoned mill buildings to find old pipes to turn in for scrap metal and get a few dimes that way. They saved and scavenged every single can they could for the same reason. They haunted the edges of the railroad tracks to pick up pieces of coal that fell off the trains. They often went hungry. My grandmother got post-partum depression around this time and my father and his sister and brothers were taken by the state and put in an orphanage for about six months. Grandpa visited them every day and the place let him eat dinner there with the kids. My Dad would make him take home the rolls and butter for his mom. Grandpa often pocketed his meat to bring home.

People survived on very little. We don't need the big meals we often eat today. Pancake suppers were a frequent ocurrance at my house--a holdover, my mother said, from the Depression times when they had them for Sunday nights.

Mom says they got moth-holed sweaters from the thrift shop, unraveled them and knit them into mittens. They went out into the woods and scavenged enough butternuts (sometimes called "pig nuts" in New England) to make fudge at Christmas. They gathered bayberries to make their own scented Christmas candles. Gifts were home made. Pennies were saved. Grandma had a cast iron dime bank that when full held $10. That was a small fortune to them.

Big buckets of soup and home made bread would be dinner for a few days. Meat was scarce until my mom's brothers took up bow hunting. Lessons learned--make do with what you have--but if possible live in the country where you can make do with a little more.

Today, many people would be at a loss. We won't be worried about modified this or that or organic whatever when we are because of necessity, growing our stuff at home. For practice, I am doing it now so I get the hang of it.

THANKS for that recipe!! I printed it out for the binders..my family loves marinated mushrooms and this recipe is quite similar to my Papa's own...

hmmm...EMP shielding???

It looks really nifty!

Did the article say how those lids were stuck to the wall? Were they welded or soldered together? Were they glued?

ARRGH....I resemble that remark too...!!

Jules,

Like Darlene, I started with a tomato canning lesson and progressed from there. It's like any other cooking. You follow the recipes and directions-- you have success and you learn as you go.

You might as well ask, "How do you trust that your cooking is safe for your family?" because as you master canning and use and enjoy the foods, it becomes the same question.

In more than 30 years of canning, I have never had anyone become ill from anything I've canned. The only "bad" thing that has ever happened is that when I gave strawberry jam as gifts everyone wanted more and more and more!!! LOL

Just as when you first learned to cook it took a certain amount of faith that you would enjoy the finished product, so also does this apply to canning. Get the directions for the jam, read them through, get going!

You go, girl!

I'ts heartening to see someone new take up this most rewarding craft. It renews my enthusiasm to see your grand adventure unfolding:)

Are you saying serious canners need...an intervention????

As in "Stop me before I can again???" LOL You mean it's not NORMAL to cook three turkeys for thanksgiving and spend the next day canning meat and broth??? HUH????

I was thinking about this earlier today when I ran down cellar to get a jar of pizza sauce.

I should have written "You might be a canning-a-holic AND a prepper if you took photos of your full shelves just because you thought the colors of the peaches, tomatoes, green beans, pears, soups and meats, and preserves looked so pretty but THEN you were afraid to show the pics to anyone or they'd know what you had in the stash!!! LOL

You might be a canning-a-holic if you have photos of your full shelves just because you thought the colors of the peaches, tomatoes, green beans, pears, soups and meats, and preserves looked so pretty.

.. If you've been the recipient of several boxes of canning jars and lids from one of your best pals at Christmas and thought this was a stupendous gift!

And..you might be a seriously warped canner if you ever stood at the acquarium looking at those huge fish and wondered idly how long it would take to can one of those.....

I dunno...I LOVE using canning jars for things like pencil holders. (but I use ones that have a chip in the top) I even have those mason jar glassware with the handles and the teeny mason jar salt and pepper shakers. My piggy bank is a quart jar....

LOL same here Mama Tiger. I put them into a snapware container but they don't last long at all. You really can't store crackers long term. That's why you should know how to make 'em!! (well...unless you are ARE making hardtack like they had in the Civil War)

The "secret" to not having your crackers come out too hard is to think of them as a type of pie crust and don't over mix or over roll them. Also, you can experiment with different types of shortening. I find that oils tend to make a denser cracker and that solid shortenings makes them flakier. Also keep an eye on the baking times. It's hard at first to make a cracker that's crisp without having it become hardtack! Like anything else, the more you make, the more experienced you will become at knowing how the dough behaves and then you can tweak it.

I made the flax seed cracker recipe by looking at a traidtional cracker recipe and coming up with my own mix of flours that I can have and that tastes good. I'm not gluten intolerant so I use the oat flour in mine. But really, if you kept the same ratio of shortening to flour, you can substitute just about any kind of flour in a cracker recipe.

You can experiement with mixing in such items as parmesian cheese, dried onions, dehydrated veggies, and make all kinds of gourmet crackers.

The funny thing is, if I had not developed wheat allergies, I would never have needed to know how to make my own crackers. It's one of those silver lining things--cuz my family loves home made crackers now AND it's a good thing to know how to do>

And for those who need a wheat-free cracker, may I submit my own creation, Judy's Fabulous Flaxseed Crackers? These crackers taste great topped with cream cheese and sundried tomatoes.

Judy's Fabulous Flaxseed Crackers

1/4 cup soy flour

1/4 cup flax seed meal

1/4 cup whole flax seed

1/2 cup oat flour (those who need this gluten free, substitute brown rice flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.Mix all dry ingredients

3. Cut margarine or butter into dry ingredients. Add honey and water. Continue cutting dough until it forms a ball

4. Lightly dust cutting board or rolling surface with rice flour, roll dough until 1/4 inch thick.

5. Using a one inch cookie cutter, cut crackers. (I use round and square ones) Place on a preheated pizza stone or lightly greased cookie sheet. Prick crackers with a fork and bake 10 minutes or until browned. Note: the crackers will brown quickly.

*I didn't name these crackers, BTW. This recipe was published in an allergy magazine and they called it this, LOL They ARE really good and my family snarfs these down.

I can't do corn! So I'm storing oats and whole buckwheat.

Everyone who hasn't added seeds to their stores should put that on the list NOW!

(If you do a google search on front-yard gardening..you'll find a gold mine of info on how to integrate veggies and herbs into your front yard in a way neighbors won't think you've gone off your meds.)

Also, starting a bean cookbook will keep the bean and rice diet from being too boring. If you store beans, you must be using them--so learn to do all kinds of things with them besides just boil them. http://americanbean.org/soups-and-stews-bean-recipes/

http://americanbean.org/main-dishes-beans/

The americanbean.org site has tons of bean recipes, including desserts!

Grubby use an electric blender--on liquify--and that white stuff turns into slick pudding texture. Either that or use a stand mixer on the highest setting. Yeah...it works!

Thanks Violet...I sorta figured that. So that's why I can the squash and the broth individually--it's not that hard to toss them together and add spices afterwards. But when I do this, I also have to sautee some onions first. That's okay, too:)

I wish the Ball Blue book was more clear about this kind of thing. Hmmmm...we should make up a list of questions that we have and send them to that company so they can address this more clearly in their literature! I'm an experienced canner and yet I have learned new things here. Thanks everyone.

I am wondering if it is safe to can butternut squash soup. (my recipe contains no dairy and uses turkey broth)...but then it's easy to can just the squash in chunks and the broth in jars of their own, and to combine them later with spices and add dairy if desired. So that's what I do so I know each thing is safe...but it would be nice to can just the soup all made!

I just found the Nana's List...and am blown away by its thoroughness. I was a health writer for many years, specializing in contamination control issues. Everything posted is absolutely correct and so very clear. Thanks a million!!!