Dried Cinnamon Apples September 20, 2009

This is a great way to preserve fruit for the winter. This also makes a nice gift when placed in a pretty jar and tied with a ribbon.

I have a dehydrator, but you can dry foods in your oven just as well. I also use my car to dry food on hot days.  Just roll up the windows to keep the bugs out and the heat in. The first time I tried this I burned my hand on the metal cookie sheet I was using.  This way is not only cost efficient (free!) but also makes your car smell really nice. Talk about your natural car freshener:)

Mix a bowl of turbanado sugar and cinnamon to your taste. I usually start with about 1/2 cup of sugar and about 1/4 cup of cinnamon. Mix well. I like to put it in a bowl and toss with a fork, but you can also put it in a ziplock Baggie.

Take your sharpest serrated knife and slice apples as thinly as possible. Dip into the cinnamon sugar mix and coat well. Place on drying rack till dry. You do need to make sure that they are completely dry, or they will mold.

This method works on  about any fruit or veggie. I’ve dried squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers and onions like this. I like to throw a handful of dried veggies in my winter stews.

Here’s a photo of the process.

Pear Preserves September 18, 2009

My Pear tree

I live on .25 acre. An amazing amount of food grows here-a lot of it without a lot of help from me. I was lucky enough to have mature fruit trees already here when I got my house. I have them pruned every year or so, and that’s about it.

This time of year the bounty begins. I feel obligated to use as much as possible. (I laid down to take a short nap the other day, but couldn’t sleep. I kept hearing pears and apples falling  and hitting the ground. I had to get up and go collect them:)  I can it, dry it, freeze it, make into pie filling, make cordials and whatever else I am inspired to try.

This  week I’ve been making pear jams and preserves. I’ve made 4 batches for a total of 20 pints so far. The first batch was pear jam. This is how I do it:

Pear Jam

Dice pears until you have about a quart of them.  I usually add several apples as well for two reasons. The pectin in the apples help to thicken the jam and also because I have two apple trees. I need to use them up!   Add between 1 and 3 cups sugar as you prefer. I like tasting the fruit, so I only add about a cup. Cook this down at a medium boil till thickened-about 20-30 minutes. You don’t need to stir continually but do need to do so pretty often to keep from sticking.   Add a couple teaspoons clove and allspice towards the end. Have your hot water bather heating up and your jars and lids ready. I heat those up in glass dishes in my oven. When the jam is thick enough  pour into the heated jars, seal and place in the hot water bather.  Process for 20 minutes. This usually makes about 4 pints.

Then I got adventurous.  This is the next version:

Spiced Pear Preserves.

Boil 2 cups water. Add 1 cup sugar and boil for 5 minutes. This makes a simple sugar syrup.  Dice or put in food processor pears  until you have about a quart.  Add to syrup. Cook pears until they boil about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups sugar, 4-5 pieces cut up crystallized ginger and or orange peals, thinly sliced lemon or lime, and chopped up pecans. Just made that batch this morning, and unfortunately, I didn’t have any leftovers. So,  I’ll wait till this winter to open and sample it. I like to save my canned goods till I can’t get the fresh food anymore. This also helps me look forward to winter more:)

Here’s the finished preserves-All ready to join the others in my pantry in a neat row.

I”ll talk about drying apples in the next few days.

Pear Preserve

HEAT WAVE August 21, 2009

105. That’s what the sign said as I dove past at about 3:00 this afternoon. Whew.  It’s August all right.

Over the years I have learned how to keep my house cool-at least relatively-during these heat waves.

When it starts to heat up outside we shut all the windows and doors. We always have fans going.  I like to freeze a few pans of water, then put them on a tray and under a fan. It’s wonderful. Poor man’s air conditioning.

Every evening when it starts to cool off, and is cooler outside than in, we reverse the process and open all the doors and windows.

Best of all, though is my outdoor bedroom–my tent. When it’s too hot to sleep inside I blow up my air mattress and sleep watching the summer stars.

Anyone have any other ways to stay cool?

June 27, 2009

Check it out-
There are some good ideas here on how to get rid of bugs without using chemicals.

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/huddlergreenhome/38/cheap-and-nontoxic-ways-to-get-rid-of-bugs.html

Ripe Cherries June 15, 2009

It’s Cherry Day!

This morning I decided it was time for Cherry Day; an annual event around here.  The vacant lot behind my house has some old and productive Queen Ann’s cherry trees  planted on the edge of my place. They hang over my yard.  So I consider the cherries in my yard mine.  I like cherries, and I like to put up the food that grows on and around my place.

My son and I picked about 3 1/4 pounds of  the small tasty cherries.  We would have had  more, except I ate a lot of them.  I had to keep my strength up. It took us about an hour. Picking cherries on a warm and sunny June  summer Sunday morning is  pretty great.

I’m not, however the only one around that likes cherries. So do the squirrels and the birds, particularly the ravens. They both chew me out when I go into the back yard for any reason during cherry season, even for completely innocent errands like hanging out the laundry. I’m sure I can understand both the squirrels and the ravens. They both tell me the same thing. “Stay away Human! Those are for me!”

These trees are old and probably 30 ft tall. Most of the cherries grow towards the top, tantalizingly out of reach-at least of me, being without feathers or claws. So, I gather what I can from the ground with my ladder. The tops of the trees were filled with a squirrel family feasting and above them was a large raven eating his fill. There is enough for all.

Making jam, especially from free fruit around your place is one of the ways to live easier on the planet. No trucking involved! I find the jars at garage sales, and reuse them over and over.

I was recently given a cherry pitter which I now consider one of the top inventions of all times. Okay maybe not that great, but it saves hours of tedious work, so I love it. If you are going to use fresh cherries, it’s worth finding one.

Once I pitted them, I had the jam made in less than an hour. I just follow the directions on the pectin box.

I got 2 and 1/2 pints of cherry jam for about 2 hours work. That jam will be a special treat next winter, and in the meantime I’ll admire the jars on my pantry shelf.

Here are some photos:

The full Cherry tree.

The fruits of our labor.

A much smaller bowl after pitting them.

The finished jam.

May 11, 2009

Greenhouse!!! May 7, 2009

Slowly but surely it is coming together. The frame was just delivered. Now I just have to get it put together.

Greenhouse April 21, 2009

I’m Getting A Greenhouse! I’m excited!
It’s been high on my want list for a number of years. A few years ago I had a large pantry built. That had been at the top of my list. Now I can start my own starts and have fresh veggies all year long. Talk about eating local
I’ve started preparing the ground for it’s arrival. Here is a photo.
I’ll put up more as the greenhouse progresses. Stayed tuned!

Being vegan April 18, 2009

Check out this cool blog about being a vegan.

http://epicuriousvegn.blogspot.com/

Candle Making March 9, 2009

I burn a lot of candles during the winter months. They help me on those dark gloomy days when the sun seems to set almost as soon as it rises. I keep one or two in each room. They bring light and  joy into my life, and  help me make it till spring.

They do get expensive though. I finally followed up on an idea I had years ago.  I had burned a large scented candle, and when it was burned out, there was a lot of was left. There was more wax left than had burned. I put it in a bag, and added more wax from burned out candles till the bag was full. I had been saving the little jars some candles come in, and had cleaned them out.

All I needed was some wicks. I had bought some and also some soy wax last month, so I was all set. First I turned the oven on to 200 degrees, and set the empty glass jars on a cookie tray in the oven. This was to warm up the jars, so they don’t shatter when I pour in the hot wax. I cleaned out a tin can and bent a pour sprout into it with my hands. I then heated a couple of inches of water in a pan, filled the tin can with the chucks of leftover wax and set the can in the boiling water. When the wax melted I removed the heated jars from the oven, set a wick in the middle and very carefully poured the hot wax in. I set them back in the oven for about a half an hour, and wha-laa- I have candles. They cost me .10 cents each for the wicks.

I then made some soy candles in the same manner. While they look very pretty, disappointingly they do not burn at all well.

Does anyone know a way to make soy candles that will burn well?

In the meantime, I will keep collecting the candle scraps and making  more of my ten cent canldes.