Traditional Homemaking Fall/Spring 2009! - Page 5

[marimara]

Originally Posted by artparent

my friend came over and taught me to drop spindle!!

i've been practicing using this video.

i love it. my yarn is really slubby.

i started packing, we'll see if i can cram it all in.

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This is my new dream project! I want to learn how to spin and then dye the yarns in beautiful colorways. I paint and have always loved the unique combinations of colors created by watercolors. But I have so many other projects going on that this won't happen for a while but I'm dreaming!

[Katico]

Originally Posted by mommathea

Today is bread day. Right now I have 6 loaves raising. Hopefuly this afternoon I'll get to another 6 loaves. We'll see how the day goes.
...
What kind of soups do you normaly serve? Favorite recipies???? PLEASE?!?!

Oh, I am so jealous of bread makers. I can never seem to find the motivation and we have the most beautiful french bakery right around the corner....

As for soups, we don't eat alot of soup but I always try to keep some frozen - usually chicken with sweet potatoes and white wine, and ham/kale/white bean. Yum.

Originally Posted by simplespirit

Books are the best gift ever!

true dat. I think books are a beautiful gift. I love to find vintage copies of favourite books to give as gifts.

Originally Posted by 1jooj

I have a houseguest, and she gave me the excuse to drop in on the bees. Wow. They have made up their honey stashes and are almost ready for winter, I think.

Bees! How much honey do you get?

Not much happening here. Knitting on Little Miss' new sweater, about 1/2 done. I also caved and bought some new wool for her winter hat/mitts/scarf instead of using stash. It's a pale blue mohair that is just going to look so sweet with her blue eyes, I couldn't resist.

I put my back out a couple of days ago and have been very appreciative that the house is clean - I have a schedule where I deep clean a room or area each day of the week, so if something happens, like me parking on the sofa for a few days in pain, the house survives because everything was done recently and can wait until next week to be done again!

[mommathea]

Here's what I do when canning beans -

Soak over night
Drain water off and rinse.
In a large pot add beans and enough water to cover beans by quite a bit
Bring beans to a boil - boil 10min
Pack beans in hot jars, add the boil liquid to the beans leaving 1inch headspace
Wipe rims, put on lids and rings
Add to pressure canner/cooker that has 3-4 inches of water in it at a simmer.
Cook for 1hr 15min for pints - 1hr 30min for Quarts. At 10lb pressure.

[artparent]

thank you thea!!

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[Katico]

Simple Green Frugal Co-Op

This is an awesome, inspiring, informative site!

[artparent]

you might like this blog too, she used to write at the co-op. she has a forum now, too. busy!

i also adore this one for a round-up of great tutorials and crafts online. very worth it to subscribe to the feed.

we just made these paper flowers, very sweet.

i have half a mind to start blogging again. so much interesting stuff to share. but then i might be too busy blogging to make the interesting stuff!

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[AFWife]

Which would be the best buy iyo?

Sewing machine
Food Vac
Canning system


Just an opinion. Which has saved you the most money?

[artparent]

i would buy the top and bottom, not the middle (plastic!) and i would try to get them both used...

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[AFWife]

Originally Posted by artparent

i would buy the top and bottom, not the middle (plastic!) and i would try to get them both used...

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How do you store foods that you get in bulk (namely: meat) without plastic? Right now we're using freezer ziplocs and it's just not working well enough

[artparent]

are things thawing out + making a mess? i use butcher paper (well, i ask the butcher to) and when i thaw it i just throw it in a bowl. i wonder if this would work for you or if there's other issues?

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[AFWife]

Originally Posted by artparent

are things thawing out + making a mess? i use butcher paper (well, i ask the butcher to) and when i thaw it i just throw it in a bowl. i wonder if this would work for you or if there's other issues?

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We tend to buy all of our meat for the month at once (or at least for 2+ weeks) If I leave it in the packaging it's usually fine...but if I separate it out (like, if I buy 3lbs of chicken breasts and separate it to a pound each or a couple of pork chops instead of 8) it tends to get a bit icy. And things start to not fit so well...

We don't have a butcher. We just do the straight grocery store.

[Katico]

Originally Posted by AFWife

Which would be the best buy iyo?

Sewing machine
Food Vac
Canning system


Just an opinion. Which has saved you the most money?

Sewing machine all the way. I make gifts of all sorts, clothes for DD, cloth pads, etc. Big money saver for me. If I am careful not to buy all the fabric I want

[1jooj]

I'd do the canning stuff first, then sewing machine. I use more plastic than I like with freezing (our butcher uses butcher paper and we use freezer bags for chicken and vegetables). Wish I knew a better way. I'm glad I can at least can some stuff.

Then I'd need to learn to sew.

We had to return a kitten dh brought home to the farm we got it from. It was a ringworm carrier, and the kids and I all have ringworm now. Incredibly aggressive ringworm. My mosquito bites are turning into ringworm. Dd's face was covered in it. Ugh. Of course right before a big holiday.

I skipped canning today, and tomorrow I'll be doing more tomatoes. Also plan to get the laundry all put away and get the house caught up, as we might be getting visitors. Sheep will be dewormed.

Anyone know about harvesting pumpkins? Everything I read says I can now, but am I supposed to wait until it's cooler for better flavor? Why would I think that?

[Katico]

Originally Posted by 1jooj

Anyone know about harvesting pumpkins? Everything I read says I can now, but am I supposed to wait until it's cooler for better flavor? Why would I think that?

I'd assume that a frost would sweeten them? Google will know

[vermontmomma]

Originally Posted by AFWife

Which would be the best buy iyo?

Sewing machine
Food Vac
Canning system


Just an opinion. Which has saved you the most money?

the canning system is probibly the cheapest if you're doing water bath canning. you can usually get a starter kit for $30 plus $10 per flat of jars and do pretty well with that.

the food vac is a little gimicky for me, do they really work like in the infomercials? if we were doing more direct sales to the public i could see it looking more professional but for just our own meats and frozen produce we use freezer bags and butcher paper. we just already have so many kitchen machines we never use taking up space that i can't see us buying another one. if i can get rid of our bread maker and rice steamer i may consider a dehydrator to take their place.

the sewing machine, glass blender, and kitchenaid mixer are my favorite tools by far.

1jooj: we let a frost hit our winter squashes and it makes them sweet. i am going to cover the plants tonight with sheets though because we got a late start this year and i want them to develop a little more.

[MamaFern]

today we went to the equinox gathering where the local honey truck comes.. i stocked up on honey and all sorts of other yunmminess..squash & kale and beets and carrots, honey comb too as a treat..mostly all of the things i will be growing myself next year but because we moved in july it just wasn't possible. now im going to make soup, put away my veggies and knit a while.

oh and we got our first raw milk & yogurt. its divine.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by vermontmomma

the canning system is probibly the cheapest if you're doing water bath canning. you can usually get a starter kit for $30 plus $10 per flat of jars and do pretty well with that.

the food vac is a little gimicky for me, do they really work like in the infomercials? if we were doing more direct sales to the public i could see it looking more professional but for just our own meats and frozen produce we use freezer bags and butcher paper. we just already have so many kitchen machines we never use taking up space that i can't see us buying another one. if i can get rid of our bread maker and rice steamer i may consider a dehydrator to take their place.

the sewing machine, glass blender, and kitchenaid mixer are my favorite tools by far.

I'm really looking into the canning thing...I didn't know it was THAT inexpensive. Definitely point on that side.
Yes, the food vac works like on TV. My ILs have one and it works just the same. It just seems like we'd be able to buy more meat when it's on sale. We only tend to buy a few pounds at a time because we can't keep it properly.
The sewing machine is mostly a selfish buy... I like to sew.

[simplespirit]

Originally Posted by AFWife

I'm really looking into the canning thing...I didn't know it was THAT inexpensive. Definitely point on that side.

90% of my canning supplies were purchased used. Last spring, my hubby found jars for $5 a dozen; with rings! We bought all eight boxes. The jars were in perfect shape and that was less than 1/2 price.

My pots, hot water bather and pressure cooker were all purchased used as well. The pressure cooker cost us $10.

I fully anticipate really good canning equipment deals within the next 2 years. My theory is that gardening and canning is very trendy right now due to the economy. People who would never considered canning went out and bought new canning stuff to try (all of the retail stores in my area have nothing on the shelve; sold out) and these 'new frugals' will try canning. Some will like it and keep up with it but I really don't think most of these people will continue to can tomotoes after the economy swings upwards. I think there will be LOTS of jars, rings, hot water canners and pressure cookers at garage sales, craigslist, and thirft stores.

I plan on buying everything I can get my hands on because both of my daughters will be starting thier homes/adult lives soon and will be needing canning equipment (so they wont 'borrow' mine!)

[vermontmomma]

Originally Posted by simplespirit

I fully anticipate really good canning equipment deals within the next 2 years. My theory is that gardening and canning is very trendy right now due to the economy. People who would never considered canning went out and bought new canning stuff to try (all of the retail stores in my area have nothing on the shelve; sold out) and these 'new frugals' will try canning. Some will like it and keep up with it but I really don't think most of these people will continue to can tomotoes after the economy swings upwards. I think there will be LOTS of jars, rings, hot water canners and pressure cookers at garage sales, craigslist, and thirft stores.

we're just too trendy right now!

[MyLittleWarrior]

Sunday's are usually my 'find the livingroom floor and catchup from the week before/get ahead for the coming week' days, so I've been busy! With DH home to mostly handle the kiddos I've cleaned the bedroom, kitchen, and diningroom/livingroom, washed 3 loads of laundry, I have 2 loaves of bread rising, and black bean brownies in the oven. I'm going to start a crockpot of chicken stock tonight after dinner with a chicken carcas and veggie peelings I've got in the freezer. I think dinner tonight will be a chicken noodle cassarole. I also need to make a meal for a friend of DH's whos wife just had a baby yesterday.