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On the Preservation Front: In Jars

November 20th, 2008

I am part of the Harvest Keepers Challenge over at Freedom Gardens, so I’ve been trying to preserve some of the things I’ve grown, been given or bought at the Farmer’s Market. I’m not a big fan of canning, but I do all this to be more environmentally friendly and reduce the frequent flier miles of our fruits & veggies and because it’s much healthier to eat locally and preserve your own. So what have I been preserving in jars?

Chicken Stock. Not just any chicken stock, this is made with locally raised pastured chickens. I bought them from a local farm. They spent several years of their lives laying eggs and when they quit laying eggs they become soup chickens. I bought 3 of these from the farm and made 3 batches of chicken stock. I have 15 quarts of stock in my pantry. These will come in handy for those winter soups.

We use tons of tomatoes in the winter for soups and sauces. So far this summer I have roasted one bushel of tomatoes and frozen them and I have canned 7 quarts of fire-roasted tomatoes, 19 pints of diced tomatoes, 7 quarts of frozen roasted tomatoes, 6 half-pints of tomato paste and 31 pints of tomato soup. 75 lbs of these came from my garden and the rest were bought at the farmer’s market (my mom gave me a few of hers as well).

I also canned 2 batches of elderberry syrup. My mom gave me the elderberries so they were FREE (can’t beat that price). This will be so good in tea & on pancakes. I have 9 pints of elderberry syrup in the pantry (although some of this might be traded with my mom for some of her elderberry jelly). I also canned 5 pints of elderberry jelly.

Remember those pears that my mom gave us? I canned all of those (pears are a tons of work to can, especially organic ones). I ended up with 27 quarts of canned pears, 7 half pints of pear butter, 1 quart of spiced whole pears, and 10 pints of roasted pear chutney. These will come in handy this winter for pre-run & pre-race fuel.

5 quarts of pickled peppers also grace my pantry, as well as 21 pints of peaches. (As you can see by the photo, some of the peppers are already gone, Mr Chiots has been enjoying those on pizza and sandwiches.) I also have 45 pints of applesauce, 25 pints of apple butter, 12 pints of peach chutney, 7 pints of BBQ sauce, 7 pints of sweet and sour sauce, 10 pints of peach salsa, 25 pints of pickled beets, 5 pints of zucchini pickles, 12 pints of green tomato chutney, 10 half pints of hot pepper relish, and 8 half pints of mulled cider jelly. Many of these will be given as gifts during the holidays.

This doesn’t even include all the stuff I have in my freezer or dried. I’ll be going over those later this week.

Omnivore’s survey of 100 things eaten (or not)

November 18th, 2008

I’ve seen this on several blogs this week so I thought I’d join in. I’ve eaten 50 things on the list that I know of, it would probably be a lot less if I hadn’t grown up in Colombia, S.A.

I realized that I do need to try a few more European & Asian foods though, if I drank alcohol I would have been able to bold a few more, but I’m kind of a dry person, a little wine here and there and some champagne on New Year’s is about the extent of my alcoholic beverage intake.

Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Mark any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here with the link to your blog with you answers, I would love to see what’s bolded on your list and post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results (so far there are over 1170 comments)

The Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison – almost every year my dad gets a deer for us
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros – very popular in Colombia, love love love them!
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile – does alligator count? I think so
6. Black pudding – they have this in Colombia – NO THANKS!
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht – my mom made a big pot of this once, sadly it all went down the toilet, none of us liked it. I should try it again.
10. Baba ghanoush.
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi – I’m a big fan of almost all things Indian
15. Hot dog from a street cart -sadly yes, from a cart in Cincinnati when I was in college
16. Epoisses – I think I ate this while in Europe, but not positive, I was in high school wasn’t paying attention to the names of foods.
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream – I prefer vanilla bean.
21. Heirloom tomatoes – are there any other kind you’d want to eat?
22. Fresh wild berries – oh yes, remember these?
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans – any kind of beans are good with me, particularly frijoles antioquenos, YUM!
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper – no but I would like to
27. Dulce de leche – ooooo yeah, it’s called arequipe in Colombia.
28. Oysters – nope, never will.
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas – love Wasabi
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi – never salted but the mango ones are fantastic!
34. Sauerkraut – my dad makes the best on New Year’s Day!
35. Root beer float – yep, YUCK! no melted ice cream for me please.
36. Cognac with a fat cigar – nope but my friend Jennifer can blow a killer smoke ring!
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail

41. Curried goat – no, but I would love too
42. Whole insects – MMMM, fried ants, ate these when I was a kid in Colombia, we caught them ourselves and fried them up.
43. Phaal – don’t think so but maybe, I’d love to if I haven’t!
44. Goat’s milk – yeah, didn’t love it so much.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more – nope rather spend my money on plants (this is a gardening blog after all)!
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel – don’t think so but maybe (sometimes you don’t ask what you get on your plate).
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut – Mr Chiot’s LOVES them, we often stop when they’re, “Hot & Fresh Now!”
50. Sea urchin – see eel.
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer – LOVE IT
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal – happy to say a big NO
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini – shaken or stirred? Just saw Quantum of Solace yesterday.
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine – I prefer mine with ketsup
60. Carob chips – yep but I prefer 60% dark chocolate chips
61. S’mores – of course
62. Sweetbreads – of course, who hasn’t. My fave is a roscon, a sweet bread filled with guava.
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst – not sure, perhaps in high school while in Germany
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs – yep, taste like chicken
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake – never funnel cakes or elephant ears but churros – yes
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain – yes, both ripe and green, one of my favorite foods! I just had some yesterday (see photo above).
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette – no thanks
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini – caviar, delicious.
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost – not the real stuff, I have made whey cheese myself, does this count?
75. Roadkill – we’ll see how bad this economy gets
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie – proudly NO
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong – no but I would like to
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict – no but I’ll be making them soon
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef – nope, I prefer mine local
86. Hare – yep dad hunted these as well.
87. Goulash – Hungarian is my fave.
88. Flowers – yep, our summer salads include nasturtiums
89. Horse – not that I know of, but do we really know what is in hot dogs?
90. Criollo chocolate – maybe
91. Spam – just a taste, I prefer Buehler’s red foil hams!
92. Soft shell crab – anything from the sea is good to me
93. Rose harissa – I made regular harissa once, next time I’ll put rose in it.
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano – any kind of mole is good in my book!
96. Bagel and lox – bagel and anything is good
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Check out Bad Human’s list of things eaten (or not) and Cheap Like Me did it as well.

Post your list on your blog and make a comment here with your list. I’d love to see what you’ve eaten (or not).

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

November 17th, 2008

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland here at Chiot’s Run. It sure makes the day much brighter! We loaded up Lucy in the car to take her to vet to get those staples taken out and we enjoyed listening to some great Christmas music on the way! When we got home I snapped a few quick photos of some blooms covered in snow. Soon enough there won’t be any color left in the garden.

Larkspur in snow and ice

Aptly named, Carpet of Snow Alyssum.

A few marigolds are still hanging on, although I think this will be the end of them.

Kelly over at Brooklyn’s Blog posted about the snow they got, they got even more that we did up in Northern Indiana.

Anyone else out there get any measurable snow accumulation?

Food Safety = Local Food

November 16th, 2008

Civil Eats had an article last week stating:

“According to a Consumer Reports poll released this week, Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about U.S. food safety, and the overwhelming majority want the government to do more to monitor the American food supply.”

“The American public wants to know more about their food, where it comes from, how safe it is, and will vote with their dollars to support highly meaningful labels,” says Urvashi Rangan, senior scientist and policy analyst at Consumers Union. “Consumers want to know that the food they buy meets the standards they expect—our poll shows that right now, that is not the case. Whether that means that ‘organic’ fish eat 100% organic feed without contamination, or that people know which meat and dairy products come from cloned or genetically engineered animals—consumers want the government to ensure safety, quality and meaning in the food marketplace.”

Do we really think we can rely on the government to keep our food system safe? I don’t think so. This is why I shop at farmer’s markets and buy my meat and dairy from a small local farm. I know exactly where my food is coming from and how well it’s being treated (while living and during slaughter). We don’t need more government regulation, we need to speak with our dollars. Shop locally, invest in your local food chain.

What do you think? Do you think government regulation will help the safety of our food system?

America Recycles Day

November 15th, 2008


Today is America Recycles Day, a day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle more and buy recycled products.

We recycle here at Chiot’s Run, always have. All of our plastic, glass and metal goes to the local recycling center about once a month (no curbside pick-up here). All of our organic waste goes into the compost pile as does all of our newspaper and cardboard. This is the best kind of recycling if you’re a gardener. All that stuff becomes black gold, it feeds your plants better than any fertilizer you can buy! We also try buy recycled products and try to buy products with less packaging or do without the product at all. This has made a huge dent in the amount of waste we produce. Our actual waste that goes out to the curb only takes up a grocery bag each week.

What are you doing to reduce your waste footprint?

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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