Darlene

On 3/12/2023 at 12:52 AM, Mt_Rider said:

You'll see a few changes.  SOMEbody has been rearranging the furniture [sheesh...she's moving walls now]       but most is still familiar. 

 

MtRider 

Just wait. lolol

Welcome back! If you ever want to go back to your original id, just let me know and I'll temporarily re-set your password so that you can get back in under that. Or, if you prefer Orchid, that's fine too!

We're just glad to see you again

I ran into the manager of the local co-op yesterday. I, too, had been looking online for a couple of months planning on getting some new chicks since I got wiped out last fall from a predator. I kept putting it off because I didn't want to get chicks too early while it was cold - I didn't even think about selecting a date that was further out.

So, when I ran into the manager yesterday, I casually asked her whether or not the co-op had started to get any chicks in yet, or when she thought they would. She looked at me like I was crazy and told me, "Darlene, we got in 600 chicks yesterday and 300 sold the same day. There are no females left at all". I asked her if she had planned on getting any buff's in later this spring and she told me that they could not find those, or many familiar breeds at all this year. She named off several breeds I was not familiar with that were set to arrive in April, but I was shocked. She said that EVERYone is buying chicks right now. Not sure what "everyone" means because this is a smaller, rural area, but with the huge influx of city/suburban people since covid, I'm assuming that counts as a chunk of 'everyone'.

I went to the co-op to see for myself, and saw several boxes that had "sold" on them. There were just a few chicks available and they were males. I jumped in my truck and went to Tractor Supply to see what they had and they were completely sold out except for a handful of baby ducks.

I have never seen anything like this before. I went to the sites I normally go to, McMurry and others, and sold they were sold out for the year. I found a couple of sites that wouldn't be able to deliver any chicks till October, and found one in CA with crazy prices - 12 chicks would have run me almost $300 with shipping. I did find a hatchery out of MI where I was able to order 15 Buffs poults and 2 males that should arrive the 3rd week of May. Prices were higher than in the past but not the crazy $300+.

I hope I have a broody girl in the mix to self propagate in the years to come. I did have one last year but don't know if she survived the slaughter that happened last fall when I was in Miami helping my parents. I only have 2 Buff girls and 1 (forget the breed) female, and 2 Maran males left. The 2 Buff girls roost in a tree close to the coop and free range during the day.

I'm still kind of shocked by what I learned yesterday though, and we'll see if the order I place for May, arrives.

Today I made the 2nd batch of my rustic chicken and cherry tomato pasta (or chicken and spaghetti), and portioned that out into the really nice little containers and put in the freezer. I had cleaned out moms freezer for her yesterday and threw out a bunch of stuff - some meats going back to 2018. That's what handicap issues due to people. The inability to rotate foods. I also divvy’d up the pork loin with sauce, cabbage and bacon and scalloped potatoes I had made in abundance the other day, and get those into the freezer too. That should clear out the meals I've made so far. I'm also going to make up a huge batch of taco meat and portion that out for the freezer so that all she'll have to do is pull out a container, heat it up and they'll have homemade tacos tomorrow. I also need to make the Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes as well as the pot roast and freeze that up for meals. 
 

I don’t know how I’ll do that in 36 hours but maybe if I start early and pound it out I just might make it. 
 

That’s the update for now. 

I love the colorful history of moonshine lol

11 hours ago, Jeepers said:

Don't need to go to the deep south for moonshine. Plenty of 'shine' in the hills of Kentucky, Tennessee and W. Virginia. Think Appalachia. 

You're right. Appalachia.

But, for some reason, I always think of  KY, TN and WV as "South" lol. They DO have some semblance of that unique southern accent to me. 

Sorry. I'm locking this thread. It is unnecessary and does nothing but antagonize...whether it be against our government or each other or otherwise.

Most important, I don't see how it educates any of us on how to prepare for ourselves or our families or those God brings across our path.

1 hour ago, Jeepers said:

States that have banned the 190-proof grain alcohol include

Or, in the Deep South, one could always go the moonshine route

3 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

I agree that everclear works extremely well, but I don't cut mine; I keep it straight. 

Scientifically, vanilla beans are best extracted in proofs between 80-100. 180 Everclear will dry the beans out and certain water soluble flavonoids will not extract. A certain amount of 'water' is needed in the extract to pull certain flavonoids out of the vanilla beans, while a certain amount of alcohol is needed to pull out other flavonoids from the vanilla beans.

70 proof is the lowest recommended proof because anything below can put the vanilla extract at risk for mold growth. At 70 proof you may not get ALL of the alcohol soluble extractives. 120 is the highest recommended proof due to the higher alcohol % frying the beans and because there is not enough water to extract the water soluble aspects to the beans. For those who try to maximize their extraction, 90-100 proof is considered the sweet spot where the balance of extraction between water and alcohol soluble extractives can be extracted.

There are also different grades of beans - A, B, etc. Grade B beans do better in lower proof alcohols (80) due to the beans having a higher water content in them. Grade A - a little higher proof (100).

There's also the taste of the vanilla extract. Higher proofs will potentially have harsher tastes, and lower proofs will be less harsh.

Obvious differences of opinions but there ya have it.

I started using the home ground grains (soft and hard) as well as the flaked oats from the groats decades ago. I can’t stand cookies made with the store bought flour anymore because of all the fresh ground brings to the party. This is all personal preference but I enjoy knowing that the stuff I make is extra loaded with nutrition. 

1 hour ago, Littlesister said:

I use more vanilla extract than the others. I am going to try this. If I get this going then I will try making others that I use just not as often as the vanilla. 

euphrasyne,  I am going to try your almond recipe above. It sounds good. 

 

I usually buy the vanilla extract in-store when on sale. But it has gotten so expensive now. I don't use imitation ones. 

It’s cheaper to make you own especially if you get into double, triple folds and pastes. 
 

More important is the fact that the taste is superior to commercial products. 
 

I use everclear because it’s the most tasteless alcohol but you have to cut it 50/50 with distilled water. 

4 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

Shaking makes it stronger.   The recipe for cordial is roughly the same as with vanilla extract except with any item (fruit, nuts, etc) and some sugar.   I usually turn it about once a week --no vigorous shaking, just turn the mason jar once.  

We can agree to disagree

On 11/2/2022 at 3:51 PM, Jeepers said:

I wonder if the time came where we saw 'the writing on the wall' and we wanted to hurry and get our grain ground, if they would do small-ish amounts.

Once you bust the grain you'll need to keep it refrigerated or frozen because all of the nutrients that the commercial companies pull out (and then add back a few vitamins) will go rancid unless used in a decent amount of time.

On 11/1/2022 at 5:42 PM, Mother said:

Does anyone store other grain besides wheat and corn?  

I do oat groats and flake my own oatmeal and also semolina.

On 12/16/2022 at 6:31 PM, Jeepers said:

I had them stored in a dark closet. Are they good? Do I just need to shake them up? 

No need to shake unless it makes you feel better. See my formula above to get an idea of how much weight in beans you need to how much oz of alcohol you need.

I have gallons and gallons and gallons of homemade extract. I tend to do a double fold extract vs the single fold that the commercial companies make.

The formula is basically 1oz beans for every 8oz of alcohol. Double fold is 2oz oz beans for every 8ounce of alcohol. I don't split my beans, there is basically no flavor in the vanilla caviar. The flavor comes from the actual beans themselves. I'll pull a bean out of an extract and snip off the end, and then squeeze the vanilla caviar out into whatever I am making for the aesthetics of the vanilla caviar. But, I keep my vanilla beans in their alcohol for at least a year before I use...the longer the better.

Once a batch is ready, you can re-use the beans, except this time you need double the beans/alcohol. For example, for a single fold on a re-used bean, instead of 1oz of beans for every 8oz of alcohol, you'd need 2oz of beans for every 8oz of alcohol.

I also have what I call a "mother jar", where I put in the extra ounces of beans that are not enough to make a batch, and put them all into the same jar. Every country's beans have a unique flavor and aroma so to put them all into one jar gives a really kewl blend of vanilla beans around the world.

I have beans from all over the world. Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, and a ton of other countries. I also make vanilla bean paste out of the beans, which is also very easy to do and is absolutely awesome in pastries.

Anyway, that's a crash course in top shelf homemade vanilla extract!

Yeah, I'm going to make some easy scalloped potatoes tomorrow Dee so that I can portion them out and vacuum seal and freeze. I made shrimp scampi tonight and a ton of it but not sure how the cooked shrimp would freeze and reheat. I'll have to do some research on that.

The freezer is full of ideas - meal components I've bought but not had much time to cook yet. Maybe tomorrow I'll start? The days seem to be side slammed with one thing or another it seems.

Thanks everyone for your ideas and suggestions.

The good thing is that the vacuum sealer will preserve and protect for a long time, whatever foods I make for the freezer.

I'm sure everyone's different, but as everyone knows, when you feed the starter, you have to remove a decent portion of it to make room for the feeding. It's always been hard for me to throw away but it's very easy to get quickly inundated with an enormous amount of sourdough starter.

I liked the ability to do the above, and to feed something exceptionally healthy to the chickens, whose eggs I also enjoy.

I'll be leaving on Wednesday to go back to Miami for a week to help my mom and dad while daddy is recovering from a 2 month hospital stay. I don't think I've talked much about what went on from last October-January in the main forums. It was a really rough time and I confined what little I did talk about, to the Moderator's forum we have.

Suffice it to say that my dad has been unable to get out of bed, much less walk, since the middle of last October due to an almost catastrophic illness he had. Insurance is a joke and while they technically have decent insurance, it's like trying to fight City Hall on getting them to do what the policy says he deserves. Consequently, one of my brothers has stepped up to the plate and spends countless hours at my parents home, doing PT and OT and daddy is slowly making progress.

Anyway, I spent 2.5 months down there helping in a variety of ways when my dad was in the hospital and inpatient rehab facility. I caught covid down there on New Years day and came back home to recover on a variety of levels. It has been incredibly difficult for my mom to carry both herself and my dad, so I am going down next Wednesday to spend a week cooking up a variety of meals in excess, to vacuum seal and put in her freezer so that she will just have to pull out a home cooked meal to heat up for her and my dad.

I've been putting together a list of things that I can make that freeze well (not everything freezes well) and wanted to ask if any one has any other ideas or suggestions. This list is not all encompassing and I don't know if I'll make everything, but I wanted to make sure I had enough variety and see what the time there will allow me to make. I also know there are a ton of threads on this subject but I'm pressed for time and don't feel like doing a bunch of searches.

Here's the list - and if y'all have any other ideas or suggestions, please share:

Salisbury steak (I don't now if mashed potatoes freeze well...I think they freeze well but do they taste as fresh as when freshly made?)

Tacos - basically the meat portion

Bolognese - it's easy to just boil up some fresh spaghetti

Beef barbacoa - basically a taco type meal with shredded beef

Beef bourguignon  - a fancy beef stew

Roasted pork loin with a side of sautéed cabbage w/ bacon

Chicken cacciatore 

Chicken with small tomatoes made into a sauce for spaghettil

Stuffed peppers

Swedish meatballs (does sour cream freeze and heat up well?)

Homemade wood fired pizza (I'm thinking cooking it and freezing it might work?)

Anyway, that's the list so far. Any ideas, comments or suggestions is appreciated.

I saw a video recently of a local woman around here who takes her excess sourdough starter when she goes to feed it, and pours it into little pancake like disks in a hot pain, quickly cooks it, and then turns around and feeds it to her chickens.

I thought this was a brilliant way to use the excess sourdough starter and a very healthy treat for the chickens.

Happy belated birthday ((((mother))))

Thanks MM for your ideas. It helps to know that our concerns are not limited to just the Mods and Admin.

P.S.

If you start to see forums disappearing, just sign into your account or join MrsSurvial (We'd love to have you!!!!) All of it will show again for you.

We're still in the planning and organizing stages, and at some point I will send out a site wide email, but I wanted to give the membership a heads up, and any lurkers that have not joined MrsSurvival yet...

In an effort to (in a weird way it feels) keep up with the times, we're going to be adding some security levels to our site. What this will mean is that we will be taking a large portion of the site (or at least I'm seriously considering taking a large portion of the site) and requiring that the person sign into their MrsS's account in order to gain entrance to these portion of our website.

Right now, regardless of whether you are a member or not, and regardless of whether you are signed into your MrsSurvival account, everyone and anyone can view the entire site. I'm not comfortable with that anymore, so Annarchy and I, as well as the Moderators, are in discussions as to how much of the site will be taken down to a more secure level that will require either joining MrsS, or will require you to sign into your account in order to view all of the forums.

I'm giving everyone a heads up as we work on this and we will keep you posted as to the progress. I've been thinking about this for a while and think it's time to make this change. It won't be difficult, it won't be a massive change, and it won't require anything more than either joining MrsSurvival if you're not a member, or, signing into your existing account.

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Thanks!