Necie

14 qts beef stock

Welllp... I killed it— kinda. Pure neglect. I kept thinking I’d get to it. It’d be fine. Nope. Kahm yeast took over. While I know that kahm isn’t *bad*, I don’t feel like messing with it, trying to dig down to the good stuff and feeding possibly more kahm. 🤢 It’s all fine. Good thing I have more dried that I can restart whenever I feel like it. Right now... I don’t feel like it.

There’s no link. ?

I shouldn’t try to do 10 things at once... seems nothing gets done. Need to get the broth canned... Need to make lotion... Blew a 100 amp fuse (half the garage. Impossible to find. Wish DH would just let me order it from Amazon. He’s still trying to catch the hardware up town open... they’re never open. If not, I have to run to Shipshewana to get it— and then I might as well do some work in our building before season opens. I need 2 days to make soap. One to make. And one to cut/stack since my shelves are full and I have to clear and box a shelf before I can stack. Pretty sure I won’t have 2 days together until next week. Gotta go with Mom on Friday for MRI and she’s doing Sunday dinner this week (corned beef and cabbage). Still need to clean out van and camper.

Long day yesterday, but didn’t get as much done as planned. I did get the broth started... I’m not sure what I’m calling it. I got beef bones for it. But when I went to add all the veggie scraps out of the freezer, there was a chicken carcass from one of my niece’s chickens that I roasted. And every veggie imaginable, plus apple, plus lemon halves and ginger from the chicken. This ought to be some miracle cure $hit!! I added acv, and will add amino acids later today or tomorrow. Didn’t get lotion made... instead, I bought a CAMPER!! 😂 It’s an older one and needs a little bit of work. Hubby can fix about anything and, if not, DS2 works at a trailer factory and can help. 😉 We’re going to put it at the farm. So now I don’t have to camp in my van. And Mom has shown an interest in camping with us occasionally, so she can stay in it too. 🥰 Running today... hair appointment with DD and DGD(13). Was DGD’s birthday yesterday, so will do lunch after hair and then she has a big birthday party this afternoon.

Got up and worked on a spreadsheet for soap inventory on my phone from an app that I didn’t even know I had. And, of course, I have no idea what I’m doing. I entered all my soaps... alphabetically. Then realized I missed one. Can’t figure out how to just *insert* a new line. Worked on it off and on all day... asked the gals at the Verizon store. 🤷‍♀️ Text my DSIS6... she had me *send* her the thing... No idea how I even figured out how to do that. She couldn’t play with it cuz she doesn’t have the app— iPhone vs Android. Finally, tonight I posted on fb and she must’ve seen it and text me a screenshot of a google search on adding lines... well, that wasn’t it. But it did get me playing with *dragging* things and I figured it out!! I’m getting all techie. Mom came down at noon and we went to town. Verizon store, Rural King, Meijers... Meijers always pi$$es me off, so we went to WM too. Highlights: Red Pontiac seed potatoes at RK— got 50#/$50. Not sure if that’s great, but I got them. Meijers— got chia and hemp seed for some crackers I want to make. WM— labels and card stock for soap/lotion. Got a bunch of other stuff at all places and overall probably spent too much... but we had fun!! Tomorrow, starting a batch of beef bone broth (with veggies) and making lotion. Hopefully will have time to play in the kitchen and if nice enough, get my van cleaned out (didn’t get done whatever other day I was gonna do it—Tuesday??). I keep forgetting what day it is... 🥴😂 and Necie

Cut soap this morning. Crocheted for about an hour. Made 2 batches of lotion. I have 3/5 totes ready for flea market. Wrapped 90 bars of soap for porch inventory. Worked on the porch and upstairs just trying to get everything (soaps/lotions) organized and inventory figured out. Somehow I found 30 soaps that I thought I was out of... the label fell off the box. And I can’t, for the life of me, figure out how I have 2 identical stacks of soap curing..???? Both are Coconut Lime (75 bars each), and both say I made them on February 23rd. I remember making Coconut Lime. I thought I still needed to make another batch. It’s absolutely impossible that I made them on the same day... I only have enough molds for one batch. Mom says it’s because it was only 3 days after Dad’s funeral. Maybe I put the wrong date on one of them... I did have a 3 day hangover. 🤕 Maybe I have a soap fairy making soap for me. 🧚‍♀️ Whatever. One less batch that I have to still make. I also found enough soaps of two other kinds that I can cross them off my *to make* list. Mom and I are going back to town tomorrow. She needs to go back to the Verizon store. Maybe this time I can get everything that’s on my list... since I’ve since wrote it down on the SAME list. I’m tired... And I hope my sourdough starter doesn’t die of neglect. and Necie

I was thinking about you (MT3B) yesterday... Even checked her profile and I don’t think she’s been on since Saturday. Hope all is well.

I’ve never canned anything except Pontiac reds, so can’t speak from experience on the others... With the reds, I peel, cut into pieces and put into a big pan of water as I go. Once done, I drain them, fill back up and swish around, drain again. So, two rinses and into the jars and fill with water (raw/cold pack). I don’t get much sediment (starch). I’ve only read on some of the canning groups about gals canning other varieties. Some rinse MULTIPLE (4-6) times and/or soak overnight, parboil and rinse, and still complain about the starch in their jars. I googled once and saw that red, white and waxy varieties have less starch and yellow, Yukon, and russet have more starch. If you google glycemic index for potatoes, there’s a lot of starch info. Also, if you can new (small) or fingerling potatoes whole, uncut, with the skin on, there’s almost no sediment. 😉 I always sort those out and can them together for soups/stews. ETA: I also drain and rinse canned potatoes before using. Except the small ones... dump them right in the soup pot.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I commented about flat-sour in Ambergris’ post about the 3 day *canning*/sterilization method. I’ve never had a problem with a light kitchen dish towel. When I was young, my mom used linen tea towels. The reasoning to cover was that the house was always chilly and in the winter with everyone running in and out, there would be downright cold drafts/wind coming in. If that cold hits hot jars, then you can get thermal shock. BOOM! I saw the bottom blow off a jar once as my mom was lifting out of the canner and almost had it set on the table and was yelling at my sister to “SHUT THAT D@MN DOOR!!” as she came in the house. Kidney beans everywhere!!

I can potatoes every year in the fall when we dig them up. Any that are damaged get canned. Variety makes a difference. I grow Pontiacs. Reds and whites have less starch. Yukons and Russets have more and leave the *sludge* at the bottom of the jars. I believe it was Lowie that asked about waterbath canning. IIRC, she’s in England. Many countries don’t have access to pressure canners. Waterbath times for potatoes is 3 hrs at a rolling boil. And always boil for 15 minutes after opening a jar before consuming.

Crocheted this morning. Made soap. Finished getting soap inventory on the porch set up. Printed and cut another 7 sheets of labels, but didn’t get any soap wrapped... maybe tomorrow. Cleaned out 3rd flower bed and burned the pile of stuff from all 3 beds. @Jeepers... the video.. ?? Covering hot jars with a towel? I do that. Always have. Is there some new reason not to? @Littlesister... I do some rebel canning, but still can’t bring myself to dry pack. Headspace... vacuum... just can’t wrap my brain around it.

Got up and around this morning and headed to fill up the lp tanks. Flat rate is $12/20# and $18/30#. But if they’re not empty, then they go by weight. Ended up costing me $24!! And they have the COOLEST store (Amish)!! I spent way too much, but they have all the casings and seasonings and stuff for sausage/brats/snack sticks, gal/qt/pt bags for the food saver, AMAZING baking/spice isle (I got LEMON baking chips!! ). I also got a salt and pepper shaker set like the old Tupperware ones with the snap-tight lids for the cabin, and the cutest little rolling pins for the younger grandkids. Then headed to DS1s and picked him up to go to the farm. Mom followed in her truck. We took a walk down the lane to see what my uncle had moved from our sale barn to the back barn when he redid the floor last fall. Then we cleaned up a bit of the house. DSIS4 had taken a couple curios out to use at the flea market, so we need to figure out how to rearrange to fill in the empty wall space. Dropped DS1 off and unloaded lp tanks in the cabin. When I got home, made dinner, wrapped another 90 bars of soap (farmer’s market soap inventory done) and started filling totes for the inventory I keep at the house for buyers that drop in. Got to the L/M area, figured I’d missed a couple, had enough for the day and finally sat my butt in my chair!! Tomorrow, plan to make soap, work more on the inventory totes and mess around in the kitchen. Maybe clean out my van if the rain lets up early. and Necie

Energy?? Who has energy?I’m a mess!! Organized chaos. But I’m soooo far behind. Staying at Mom’s for 2 months to help her take care of Dad really got me off my winter schedule. I’m way behind in my crocheting and still not working on it as much as usual cuz there’s so much else that needs done. Canning has almost been put on hold... DS2 still has 2 deer in his freezer that I need to get done. I do have a check on soap making... I can only do 8 batches every 3 weeks. That’s all the shelf space I have for curing. I usually make soap from January through March (sometimes April depending on the year) and make lotions in April. Markets and gardens start in May. I’ll never be ready in time and everything else is a disaster. 🥴 I agree with you about horses being barefoot. I never understood shoes for pasture or trails unless they’re extremely hard/rocky. Amish buggy horses need shoes. They really do a number on the roads! Can you imagine the damage to their hooves if they weren’t shoed?! Luckily, in this area, the main roads have buggy lanes. Safer all around and it keeps the road damage (called horse troughs) to that area and not where vehicles can get squirrely and out of control on them.

Crocheted for a couple hours this morning. Cut batch of soap (75 bars). Made a batch of lotion (30 bottles). Cleaned out other flower bed on west and south side of house. Just my bigger *weed* garden left to clean out. It has flowers and herbs in it. Printed and cut 22 sheets of lotion labels (10 labels on each) and 9 sheets of soap labels (15 labels on each). Took the last 2 batches of soap I made upstairs and stacked them to cure. Wrapped 90 bars of soap. I have all 6 totes of soap ready to go to flea market (just gotta fill in the 2 I’m waiting on to cure later). Now working on lotion for flea market and soap inventory for farmer’s market. DH made venison cheeseburgers for dinner. 🤤 Called Mom at 8 (nightly routine). She went to Shipshewana today with DSIS4. Sis had to finish cleaning out her old building and get everything moved into her new building at the flea market. She just started there last year and and the manager gave her the absolute worst building in the place. Flooded 8” when we had a downpour one day and the drains were clogged. Another time a cat got in through a hole somewhere and couldn’t figure out how to get back out. The poor thing must’ve freaked out... broken stuff everywhere and sis found it dead. 😞 Finally found somewhere cheap enough to fill my small lp tanks for the cabin. So filling them in the morning and going to pick up DS1 and go to the farm for awhile and maybe clean the house up a bit. and Necie

I was on the phone last night with DD til after 2am... so slept in a bit too. After 8 before I got up. Usually the sun in the window gets me right up. DD and her dad are doing a Europe vacation in a couple months and there was a glitch and she was all upset. We ended up talking about all sorts of other stuff and I think getting her mind off it for a little bit helped. Got up and crocheted for a couple hours. Made a batch of soap. (Black Raspberry Vanilla) Loaded all the plant flats that I’ve collected for the last couple years into the van and took them to DS2’s and put them in his garage. He and DDIL and kids were in town getting lumber for a greenhouse and a chicken coop. They’ve also been looking for some feeder piglets and I finally found them some!! 🐖 Crazy story... I messaged a gal I know from goats that I noticed on FB also has pigs. Turns out she works for a huge hog farm... in the piglet department. 😂 She brings home and raises to weaning and sells the herniated ones that the buyers won’t take... FOR $25 EACH!!! Instead of getting 5, DS2 is getting 7 or 8. She also raises a heritage breed herself and DS2 might get some of those to breed his own. The commercial hogs get to 800-1000#, but the herniated ones need to be processed before 500#. Which is more the size that they want and I think the breeder ones only get to about that weight. The cheapest they’ve found at auction is $75-100, so this is a heck of a good deal!! Then, since it’s so gorgeous out, I got 1 out of 3 of my flower beds cleaned out. It’s on half of the west side of the house and on the north side. Came in and wrapped 45 bars of soap (3 different kinds), got 3/6 totes ready for flea market, figured out 5 other soaps that need wrapped... so printed and cut labels, inventoried lotions and figured I need 203 bottles of 22 different kinds. Dang!-I need to get busy!!! Told DH that I wasn’t cooking dinner, so he made himself grilled cheese and I had more egg salad. Probably doing more of the same tomorrow. and Necie

Mom came down this morning and we went to town. She needed to go to the Verizon store. We hit: Rural King, Aldis and WM. Stuck to my list pretty good and stayed under $200 even with oil/filter for my van and 4-1# lp cans for lanterns/cookstoves. I actually missed a bunch of stuff for the cabin cuz I had it on a separate list. She has to go back to the Verizon store next week, so I’ll get the stuff then. Got home and got Mom’s stuff in her truck and unloaded my groceries. DH helped unload 7 cases of water from RK and 6 gallons of distilled water from WM cuz they have to go in the basement... my knees HATE the basement. 😡 Then... I went to the basement and cut the batch of soap that I made yesterday. Played in the kitchen for a bit. Still working on getting my sourdough starter to wake up. I might need to put it on the heating pad— it’s at the far end of the kitchen. Made avocado/egg salad for dinner. DH doesn’t like it, so he had leftovers. Finally sat down and made a list of dinners in my date book so I don’t forget my plan from what groceries I got. 😂 And redid my *list* of need/want groceries/things. Tomorrow, the plan is to make soap and maybe start cleaning out flower beds... everything is coming up. Tomorrow and Sunday are supposed to be really nice. Monday is supposed to be over 70* again and that’s about too warm and DS1 and I are going to the farm anyhow. and Necie

Another day of not feeling like I completed much. Crocheted this morning. I did get a batch of soap (Pet Shampoo Bar) made before noon. Folded laundry. Inventoried soap for what needs wrapped before market starts... printed out 5 sheets of labels and cut. Played with my sourdough starter. It had been in the fridge since October. (Bumped a few posts. ) Tomorrow, I need to cut soap. And Mom and I are going to town for monthly shopping trip. and Necie

I’d never heard of using it for whipped cream, but have heard of it used as a vegan alternative for mayonnaise. Any legume liquor will work, but have heard that the lighter ones have a much closer flavor.

4 qts black beans 3 qts kidney beans I did the same in reverse a couple months ago. So now DS1 has 7 jars of each, which is enough for him to make 7 batches of chili.

Garlic venison sausage and yellow rice.

Yesterday was 73* and beautiful. It’s currently 23* with a wc of 4*. 20mph wind with 30mph gusts. And it’s snowing. Was gonna make soap today, but the lights keep flickering. And the basement is cold. So I’m canning kidney and black beans, baking muffins and boiling eggs. DH has the wood stove rolling. Toasty warm 84* inside.