Jam Session

Last month's jam-making went very well.  The first day, I put up 12 half-pint jars altogether: nine strawberry, three peach.   Over the course of three days' work, we ended up with 36 jars, about half peach, half strawberry; four of them a combination of the two.

I combined a couple recipes (one here and one here) and adapted them, so I guess I can post my version here.  I followed a small-patch process and found it to be manageable for a first-time jam-maker.  Sometime in the last year, I watched a video that compared assembly-line-style task management with performing a repeating task over and over from start to finish and the results were pretty interesting.  I still have some questions about the video itself (and thus, I'm not posting it), but found that doing everything in smaller batches was much easier on my hands as I wasn't repeating each motion without a break to do other things.  Also, while I clung to the recipe pretty fearfully the first time through, the second, third, and fourth time through I had it down and was able to move more smoothly and with more confidence.  If I'd done large batches, I may have done each kind of jam once, but I wouldn't have learned the process as well, which stood me in good stead over the next few days.

Step One Ingredients:

• 4 cups cut up fruit (I used peaches or strawberries, but this would probably work with other fruit or a blend of two or three, too)
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup xylitol, depending on how sweet (ripe) your fruit is
• vanilla extract or 2 split vanilla beans (I didn't measure the extract, but it was between one and two teaspoons.  If you use beans, scrape the beans from the pod and mix them well into the fruit, then drop the pods in too.  I used extract with the peaches and beans with the vanilla.)

Step One Instructions:

1. Mix everything up in a bowl, then transfer to a quart jar.  
2. Let it sit in the fridge at least overnight.  I cut my fruit up on Saturday and didn't start making the jam until Wednesday.  As long as it stays cold and the fruit doesn't go bad, you're golden.
   

Step Two Ingredients:

• the quart jar of cut up fruit (which will have shrunk a little and have a lot of yummy juice at the bottom)
• 3/4 - 1 cup xylitol (again, depending on how sweet your like your jam and how sweet your fruit is)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
• a couple pinches of salt (brings out the sweetness better than adding more sweetener)
• Pomona Universal Pectin (mix the calcium packet with 1/2 cup water and open the pectin packet, which you'll be measuring out with a teaspoon): 2 teaspoons of calcium water and 2 teaspoons of pectin powder

Step Two Instructions:

1. Pour your fruit into a skillet (cooks faster than a deep pot).
2. If you used vanilla beans, they're probably very soft right now.  Softly scrape them again and mix the rest of the beans into the fruit.  Discard the pods.
3. Add xylitol, lemon juice, a couple pinches of salt, and calcium water.  Mix it up!
4. Gradually add two teaspoons of pectin powder, whisking it in so it doesn't clump (If there's an easier way to do this step, I'd love a comment to enlighten me!).
5. Heat the mixture to 220˚.  Some instructions will tell you to cook until it's thick enough not to run when you dip a spoon into it and run another spoon across the back of it, but some of my batches aren't jelling the way I'd hoped they would, so I'm going to stick to the thermometer from now on; the somewhat confusing part for me was that those last few degrees take a long time.
6. Pour into three clean and dry 1/2 pint jars, leaving about 1/2 inch of head room.
7. Wet bath process the jars for 5 minutes.  Since I'm so new at canning, I'm not going to include instructions, but there are lots of books and websites that break down the process and instruct in safe measures.  I've had only two jars that didn't seal.  I'll re-process them again tomorrow, and if they don't seal after being re-processed, we'll eat them right away.

Variations: I added some lime juice to the strawberry jam to try to develop a more complex flavor, and I think it worked.  I also added apple pie spices to the peach jam and substituted coconut crystals for some of the xylitol.  A few batches of strawberry jam also received a few shots of moscato d'asti.

We've been enjoying the jam with crème bulgare and a grainfree bread recipe that we're still working on (coming when we perfect it).  It's also good on grainfree crackers.

SDG!

This Morning's Chapter...

...of Linnets and Valerians...

Jam and Jelly Progress

I spent a lot of Saturday chopping strawberries and slicing peaches (but not so much that I didn't have time to spend with a friend and attend another friend's birthday party).  The fruit has been sitting in jars in the fridge for the last couple days, macerating in xylitol and vanilla (split beans with the strawberries, homemade extract with the peaches).

I also saved my peach peelings; I boiled them for about a half hour yesterday and then let them steep all night to prepare to make peach jelly.  This morning, I strained out the juice and then squeezed all the peelings in a cloth to get every bit of juice.  I have over a gallon (I think - it's in a big mixing bowl, not in a measuring cup or a pitcher).

After school today, I'll be working on my first few batches of jam.  I'm using small-batch recipes so that I don't feel overwhelmed my first time jam- and jelly-making.  I've never canned before, either, but after seeing some of the pictures on other blogs, I realized that it's not as completely complicated as I thought it would be and that I already have the big equipment.  I did invest in a six-utensil canning set, but that was only about $10.

On my radar:

1. how to make vanilla bean paste
2. how to make cola syrup with xylitol to mix with club soda for a low-cost, sugar-free soda
3. learning about aromatherapy (I'm thinking about studying chemistry with my high schoolers when they start next month as a beginning point)
4. perfecting my sugar-free (almost), grain-free chocolate chip cookie recipe (improved from Alton Brown's recipe and, really, almost there)
5. experimenting more with almond flour, coconut flour, and whey powder as a substitute for wheat flour (trying to adjust Paula Deen's peach cobbler recipe for dessert tonight; also want to work on sandwich wraps, crépes, pancakes and waffles, and English muffins to go with all this jam!)

SDG!

Yogurt, My Final Word

I've been asked about my yogurt process lots of times since my series about what I learned in my yogurt journey. I usually send people a link to a Google search of my blog and 'yogurt'. But last night, a good friend said that she always does better if she can see the process, so here it is, all pulled together into one post and with pictures!

This makes a gallon of yogurt (unstrained). I'll include variations throughout.

We start by pouring a gallon of half-n-half or heavy cream (when it's on sale) into the crockpot, set on low.

If we've forgotten to pull our starter (in this case, a small jar from our last batch that was put into the freezer) out the night before to thaw in the fridge, we place the frozen jar next to the hot crockpot to defrost.

Once the half-n-half/cream reaches between 112˚ and 120˚ (about an hour and 20 minutes for us, but your mileage may vary), we fill empty, clean jars with hot tap water to warm up (like filling a teapot with boiling water to warm up before actually making tea with a fresh infilling of boiling water and tea). While the jars warm up...

...ladle some of the hot cream/half-n-half into a measuring cup or a deep bowl.

Pour in the thawed starter.

If the starter is still very cold, the cream can be on the higher side of the temperature range. If using Yogourmet starter (one envelope works great for a gallon of yogurt; I've seen recipes that call for four envelopes for a half-gallon of yogurt -- what a waste!), store-bought, plain yogurt, or we did remember to thaw our frozen started the night before, we aim for the lower side of the temperature range.

I'd like to try a cup of plain, store-bought Greek yogurt as a starter, as I've heard it has more kinds of cultures.

Once the starter thaws, it gets thin and runny, but never fear. The cultures are fine and the yogurt should thicken without a problem. If it doesn't, it's not because of the frozen and thawed cultures. Freezing it keeps it fresher longer and you'll be able to get more batches out of each starter before it goes sour, saving money.

Whip it up until there are no lumps.

Pour back into the crockpot.

If you want to add flavoring, it can go in now. I keep ours plain so we can each flavor it individually or I can use it in Silky Buttery Chicken to marinate the meat (see the link below!).

Fill the warmed and dried jars with the cream/half-n-half and cultures mixture and put the lids on. Don't forget to wash, warm, and re-fill your starter jar!

You could probably add different flavors to each jar.

Put them under a thick bath towel or two on the counter to culture.

I used to use four quart jars plus the small jar, but we've been using our quart jars for so many other things lately that I'm running out. Once we replenish our supply, I'll go back to the four quart jars. They fit into our fridge better and my husband takes one to work for snacks there. They also hold the heat better, but the yogurt still comes out thick, even in plastic containers.

After four or five hours, it's nice and thick. Into the fridge it goes to chill.

If it hasn't thickened up after that amount of time, I'll put a heating pad under the jars under the towel and turn it on low or medium for 20 minutes to a half hour. That always seems to do the trick.

This is a good time to strain it for thicker, more Greek-like yogurt. I'm out of cheese cloth now, but want to try this in the near future. I'll try to strain it overnight in the fridge to get out all the whey.

Here it is! Nice and thick and creamy, topped with fresh blueberries.

Since I'm not baking anymore, I've been throwing the whey away, but now that I'm trying some low-carb baking, I may save it and experiment with the new recipes.

Butter Chicken in a Silky Sauce

SDG!

Food Frustrations

One of the big changes that's taken place since I was posting more regularly is that we've gone low-carb. I've eliminated grains, and cut way down on starches and sugar. (A couple of book reviews coming up! And, no, this won't become a low-carb blog.)

I'm feeling so much better than I have in a long, long time. The volcanic acid reflux that was waking me up three or four nights each week disappeared with the grains. My wrist soreness is gone (I had a couple of weird lumps on the insides of my wrists that doctors had no ideas about and was experiencing severe pain when I typed - not so good when one has a deadline and lots of computer work to do to meet said deadline!), and my digestion is greatly improved. I have more energy and it's much easier to stop eating when I'm full (something that was nearly impossible when I was eating grains, wheat to be specific). I haven't had any incidents of hypoglycemia at all. If it's 'time to eat' and there's nothing appropriate around, it's no problem to simply wait until a more opportune moment. I've also found that my previously-thought-untameable sweet tooth has learned to heel - no more cravings for sweets. Even dark chocolates haven't been as appealing as of late.

For the most part, we're eating meat, a good amount of healthy fats, eggs (our newest batch of chickens is beginning to lay!), lots of veggies and salads with feta and olive oil and balsamic vinegar as dressing. Snacks consist of fruit (mostly berries, so far) and almonds (yum!). I'm drinking raw milk, just a little at a time a few times each week, some tea and cold-brewed coffee with a little turbinado and heavy cream, and lots of water. I also splurge every once in awhile with hard cranberry lemonade, hard cider (there's a wonderful, light, hard cider served at our local Irish Pub), or a glass of wine. I'm working to keep fresh bone broth (chicken or beef) on hand, especially when the weather cools down and I'd like something that isn't sweet to warm me up. I wish we could afford more pasture-raised meats, but with the size family we have, that's just not in the cards right now. So we focus on pastured butter

I've started trying to experiment with coconut and almond flours, but I'm not doing too well with them! I've come to the conclusion that it's better not to try to eat low-carb versions of high-carb foods for a couple of reasons. First, low-carb versions of high-carb foods that are processed foods include lots of starches to work toward the same textures. The starches, however, raise blood sugar levels too high for me with my weight-loss goals. Second, the low-carb varieties never taste as good as the real thing and they remind me how much I miss the real thing. This sets up psychological cravings, mostly for bread. (I love bread, but it doesn't love me back!)

But, my family (also doing better with no grains) does appreciate my efforts at the variety, so I'll keep trying. The problem is that I know how wheat flour behaves and how to make it do what I want. I need to find a way to learn how coconut flour and almond meal (and other nut flours and meals) work so I can not only follow others' recipes, but play around with them myself.

More on this as time goes on!

SDG!

Homemade Shake 'n' Bake

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately (if anyone is still reading). Been pushing to finish school and graduate student no. 3, while working on The Abigail Adams Project and a secret project that will be released in July.

Anyway, tonight for dinner, the kids pulled out 30 chicken drumsticks and I had to figure out what to do with them. I improvised!

In a gallon-sized zipper bag, I put some bread crumbs, some Spice House Northern Style Barbeque seasoning, and a couple pinches of salt (sorry, I didn't measure any of it and had to do three batches, which probably will all taste different). Then I rinsed each drumstick and placed a couple in the bag, shook them up and now they're all in the oven. It's great grilling weather, so we may finish them on the barbie before we eat, just to give them that certain je ne sais quoi.

The kids will sauté up some potatoes (we were given a 50 lb box straight from the farm and, boy, are they wonderful!) and some veggies to go along with the chicken. Yum!

Menu Plan & Shopping Update

First the plan itself:

Sunday: roast beef, potatoes, carrots, swede, onions

Monday: baked potatoes with the works

Tuesday: stew w/bread (made from Sunday's leftovers)

Wednesday: French onion soup

Thursday: beef pitas (made from the rest of Sunday's roast beef, along with bell peppers, onions, & mushrooms (all purchased on sale) and spiced according to the Greek lists in Culinary Artistry)

Friday: chowder & clamcakes

Saturday: lasagne w/veggie & baguettes

As Judith and I sat down to try to get all this (plus breakfasts, snacks, and lunches) figured out, we were a bit stumped. I've gotten out of the habit of looking at the sale papers and I was finding it difficult to get back into the groove. My other kids were waiting to start a movie until Judith and I were done, so we were both feeling some pressure. Then I had a brilliant idea - at least, I think it was brilliant!. I pulled the other kids in and handed them each a sale paper from a different store. Then, when I needed to check the price on something, they each looked to see if it was on their particular ad. It became a bit of a contest among the boys to see who could find the best price. Once the other kids started working with us, it went much, much faster. Judith entered items into the price book and I ran the calculator and organized our shopping list. I think we'll have all the kids help in the future.

Then, today, Judith and I spent the day shopping - mostly loss-leaders at five grocery stores. It was tiring, but, by the end of the day, we still had over $100 dollars of the budget left to get us through the next couple of weeks (milk and produce and anything we may have forgotten). That should be a pretty easy couple of weeks. Last time we went shopping, at this point, we had only $35 left (and we made it with $2 to spare).

Today, I began to explain to Judith how they lay out grocery stores, with an odd number of aisles and the main things (produce, meats, dairy, bakery) around the outside perimeter to encourage as much impulse buying as possible. Next time we go, I'll start to show her how the shelves are arranged, with the higher-priced goods at eye level. (We did a lot of bending, today.)

What sorts of things are you teaching your children about marketing to help them when they grow up?

SDG!

New Meal Plan

Sunday: maple-glazed pork roast, potatoes au gratin, salad

Monday: chicken noodle soup (made with chicken wings), homemade bread

Tuesday: no peek pork and rice, salad (made with leftover pork)

Wednesday: French onion soup w/slices of homemade baguette with cheese melted on them, carrot sticks, broccoli & dip

Thursday: hotdogs & beans (hotdogs were on special for half price)

Friday: beef stew & homemade bread (made with meat that's already in the freezer and leftover veggies)

Saturday: baked potatoes with lots of different toppings

SDG!

Decluttering Help

My friend, Renée, is posting one decluttering tip per day. I'm not sure how long she's planning on doing this, but I've been finding her tips quite helpful! Check out her blog: Add More Chocolate!

SDG!

Groceries

My 17 yodd is apprenticing with me in meal planning and grocery shopping this year. Because of some health issues, for the past year or so, I haven't been putting in the time and thought that I should be.

Our first step was a 2-week menu plan. I recreated a spreadsheet that I've used before. One column for the day of the week, another for the date (set up so that I only have to change the first date and all the rest re-set by themselves), another for our plans that day, and one each for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner.

In our efforts to save money and submit ourselves to the discipline of the church calendar (including efforts to make Sunday a bit more special than the rest of the week), we've eliminated sweet snacks Monday through Saturday (fruit is as sweet as we'll get during the week). Sunday dinner will be the nicest meal of the week (including a nice dessert), with leftovers used throughout the week. This week's dinner plan looks like this:

Sunday: maple-baked ham; spaghetti squash; cranberry, almond, feta salad; cannolis

Monday: Tuscany peasant soup (beef and tomato base with sweet Italian sausage, onions, tomatoes, summer squash, and zucchini - leftovers for lunch Tuesday with grilled cheese)

Tuesday: three quiches - one with leftover ham, asparagus, and cheese; one with leftover Italian sausage and veggies from the soup; one with breakfast sausage (leftover from biscuits and gravy in honor of our son who is heading back to college next week) and fresh tomatoes from the basket of produce we bought through Bountiful Baskets. We're also planning a King Cake in honor of Epiphany, which we'll eat while we watch Twelfth Night (and thus ends our holiday season).

Wednesday: turkey sauce (pronounced the French way: soce), which is simply leftover turkey in a blond roux served over potatoes, and a veggie

Thursday: ham and cabbage soup (leftover ham, half a head of cabbage), with homemade bread

Friday: noodle bowls with leftover ham and the other half of the head of cabbage

Saturday: spaghetti and meat sauce with veggie and homemade bread

If there's any ham left after all that, I'll make ham salad for lunches next week.

SDG!

Gravy

Last night's dinner was a simple pot roast, but I changed it up a little and it was better than ever. And it didn't take much extra time or effort.

Instead of adding water to my green-with-white-speckles roasting pan, I added a carton and a half of beef stock. I put the veggies (carrots, onions, potatoes) in first and then sprinkled them liberally with salt and parsley. Then I placed the roast (still frozen because of a miscommunication with the kidlets) on top of the veggies, where it sat above the level of the broth and the juices would run down onto the veggies.

After roasting for 4 hours (I told you it was frozen), we removed everything from the pot and covered it with foil to keep warm. Normally, I serve the juice alongside the roast, but yesterday was cold (for Arizona) and rainy and I felt like making some gravy.

I got out my trusty Culinary Artistry and looked up 'beef'. We strained the juice into a pot, which I then turned on to simmer after adding some chopped shallots, basil, red wine, and a bit of salt and white pepper.

On another burner, I made a blond roux in a small skillet. (I would have made a darker roux, but my family was as hungry as a pack of wolves, so I thought it best to speed up the process a little.) Once the roux was cooked sufficiently, I added a little of the broth to the skillet to begin the process of loosening up the roux to make it easier to incorporate into the broth. Then I whisked the loosened roux into the pot of broth and served. It was the first beef gravy I've ever made, and the best beef gravy I've ever eaten.

I used to make gravy with milk shaken together with flour and poured into whatever base I was using. In order to avoid lumps, I had to stand over it and whisk it constantly (and hope I'd added enough flour to thicken it, but not too much milk to dilute the flavour). In order to get rid of the floury taste, I had to simmer it for quite awhile (whisking the whole time). It was a hot and steamy business.

By using roux, the gravy comes together much more easily and I know it won't taste floury, since the flour is cooked more efficiently in the skillet than in the base. And since the butterfat coats the flour particles, they don't clump together, which gives me a smoother gravy with less effort.

SDG!

Inspired by Julia

Life is beginning to calm down after a hectic and difficult several months. Not only did I have energy and time to cook tonight, but my back is feeling well enough that I was able to putter around the kitchen tonight, with help from Drew and older kiddoes.

I went to see Julie & Julia with some girlfriends a few weeks ago. I was taken by the Julia storyline and would have relished more of her and less of the more modern story. I'm about half-way through My Life in France and I was also able to pick up Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. I'm inspired! (No, I'm not going to cook my way through her books, but I'll share what I learn!)

I was hoping to make a cheese souflé for dinner, but school took longer than I thought it would and I had a late afternoon chiropractor appointment. I wasn't sure what to do about dinner, when Drew mentioned that we had some porkchops in the freezer. We put them in to soak in a sink of hot water and they were defrosted when we returned home. I poked around in my CIA Cookbook and decided to make a Lyonnaise sauce to go with the chops (it was more a variation of a Lyonnaise sauce - I had no demi-glace, so we substituted beef stock). After sautéing the chops, we added to the pan butter, a finely chopped onion, white wine (a Pinot Gris), some late harvest Riesling vinegar (yes, it's amazing!), and some salt and white pepper. After the onions were cooked and the liquids reduced, I added some store-bought beef stock (have you ever seen pork broth on sale at the grocery store? I figured beef was close enough). This simmered for awhile and reduced even more. It was absolutely heavenly.

We'd stopped and picked up a couple of baguettes (I've not been baking lately because of my back) and I made a white wine and butter reduction and then sautéed some leeks in it; I also added tarragon, parsley, salt, and white pepper. After baking the baguettes for about 10 minutes in a 450˚ oven to crisp up the crust, we sliced the bread and ladled the leek and butter sauce over the top. More heaven!

I don't have measurements for any of this, but it wasn't hard. I was playing with the technique of reducing liquids before using them that Julia mentions in her books.

On tap for later this week: orange roughy filets with a beurre blanc sauce; Hungarian goulash (after I receive my sweet Hungarian paprika from The Spice House); and Julia's boeuf bourguignon; oh, and that cheese souflé, baked in phyllo dough sheets.

My Grocery Shopping Philosophy

A philosophy for grocery shopping?  Well, yeah, I think we should have a philosophy for everything - grocery shopping, furniture arranging, the way we dress - everything (whoever said caring for the home was a mindless job certainly had no idea).  

So, here's my grocery shopping philosophy.  [drum roll, please; cue the choir] 

Purchase ingredients.

Whew!  I'm glad I got that off my chest!

I'd rather have my pantry stocked with flour, oil, cocoa, sugar, vanilla, and baking soda and powder and my fridge with butter, milk, cream, eggs, and yeast than with lots of packaged mixes.  With those ingredients, I can make brownies or crépes (sweet or savory) or yellow cake with chocolate frosting or sugar cookies or pancakes or tortillas or bread or crackers or biscuits or baguettes (my newest baking challenge) or pie crust or English muffins or crumpets; you get the idea and I'm getting hungry.  Making sure that I'm stocked up with the basics gives me much more flexibility than purchasing mixes.  I can go with the flow much more easily.

So, why is this a money saver?  Well, even though I've rarely seen a coupon for a dozen eggs or a gallon of milk, ingredients still end up being cheaper than mixes.  They're also healthier.  And if you find a screamin' deal  (let me know, okay?), most can be stored without refrigeration (storage costs need to be figured in, too).  Just as it's easier to de-clutter the kitchen with multi-use tools rather than lots of space-hogging, single-use gadgets, it's easier to declutter the pantry with multi-use ingredients rather than lots of single-use packaged mixes.

Using teriyaki sauce as an example: I could purchase a bottle of teriyaki sauce.  It wouldn't take up that much space.  But it's teriyaki sauce and that's all it can ever be.  Yes, I can use it in a meat marinade (recipe coming soon) or in stir fry, but there isn't much else I can do with it.  However, if I have brown sugar, garlic (something like this), fresh minced ginger, and soy sauce on hand, well, life just got much tastier.  I can use the brown sugar for granola, on yogurt, for cinnamon/raisin bread, bread pudding, pancakes, rum sauce, etc.  (Is there anything brown sugar can't be used in?)  I can add a bit of ginger to chicken soup, cookies, bread, pudding, tea for an upset tummy, etc.  Garlic goes in just about anything and we use it all the time.  Soy sauce goes well in marinades, soups, veggies, noodles, and rice.  I can still have teriyaki anytime I want to make it, but I have lots of other options, too, because I bought separate ingredients.

Now, it's not like I didn't have the ingredients for teriyaki on hand before, well, except for the ginger - that's a new thing in my fridge (I've never been much of a fan of dried ginger and the jar in my pantry is at least 25 years old, but the fresh stuff is heavenly), but by not purchasing a bottle of teriyaki, I'm saving space.  You could argue that I simply traded a bottle of teriyaki for a jar of ginger, but I can do so much more with ginger than I could with teriyaki, that I still think I've come out ahead.  But really, how much space does a bottle of teriyaki sauce take up?  Not much, but that's where having a full-blown philosophy comes in.  If I do this over and over again, searching out recipes that use basic ingredients that I have on hand for bottles, jars, or boxes of things I might otherwise buy, the savings in both space and money begin to multiply.

I'm still looking for recipes for my husband's favorite bar-be-que sauce, our favorite bourbon chicken from the greasy spoon at the mall, and orange chicken.  Alton Brown piqued my interest in making my own mustard.  I've already conquered Drew's favorite honey-mustard salad dressing, mayonnaise, hummus, and raspberry vinaigrette (all absurdly easy).  We've found fairly simple homemade ice cream and smoothie recipes.  I don't know if I'll ever find a replacement for ketchup, onion soup mix, or for canned cream of chicken soup (used in several dishes that are family favorites), but those cans, bottles, and boxes can be used in more than one dish, so I'm philosophically okay with them, at least for now.  (I have tried a replacement for the cream of chicken soup, but it wasn't worth the time it took to cook and it wasn't really a good substitute for the concentrated soup in the can - the texture was all wrong.)

SDG!

And the Results Are…

Instead of putting boiling water in the jars before pouring in the hot cultured milk, I got the tap as hot as it would go and used that.  The yogurt in the jars thickened up in the same amount of time that the crockpot usually takes and the jars stayed warm under the towel.

This morning, after spending the night in the fridge, it was thick and wonderful.  I think this technique is a winner.

Allison, I went through the grainy and thin yogurt stage and never really figured out why (sun spots?  a butterfly fluttered its wings in Hawaii?  a yogurt curse?).  I've been told that making yogurt is more an art than a science.  I'd let it sit a bit longer next time and see if that helps.  I also found that turning the crockpot on low for about 10-20 minutes if it was taking awhile to thicken seemed to help - at least, I think it did; if I hadn't turned it on, it might have thickened up on its own anyway--no way to tell.  (If I needed to do this with the jars, I'd put them either in a shallow warm water bath on the counter or set them on a heating pad set on low.)

Another tip from Elise - I poured about a cup of the half-&-half and starter mixture into a small jar and set it on the counter under the towel with the quart jars to thicken up.  When the yogurt had thickened, I put the small jar into the freezer.  I'll take it out and let it defrost in the fridge overnight and use that as my starter when I make it next.  This tip might make the starter last longer.  I was using an envelope of cultures every few batches, and using a half to a cup of yogurt itself as a starter in between.  Freezing it will help it remain fresh longer and therefore I can get more batches for each envelope of starter, cutting my costs even more.

SDG!

Bread!

(This is for you, Cora!  If you have any questions, let me know!)

I started with a basic recipe and then researched how bread works and tweaked and tweaked and tweaked (I'm still tweaking, but the foundation is solid).  This is for the Bosch, but it can be cut down and made by hand (see instructions below).

Ingredients:

4 C warm water

2/3 C neutral oil (I use grapeseed or safflower)

2/3 C honey

4 eggs

3 1/2 T instant yeast

3 1/2 T dough enhancer

1/4 C wheat gluten

2 T salt

approx. 5 lbs. freshly-ground whole wheat flour (I like Prairie Gold best.)

Instructions:

Add all the liquid ingredients to the Bosch (set up with the dough hook).  Turn on low.  Add all the dry ingredients except the wheat.  Slowly add the wheat until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl.  Turn the Bosch to the second speed and knead for about 10 minutes (until a small glob of dough can be stretched thin without breaking).

Divide the dough into 6 lumps (mine are about 1-1/4 lb. each).  Using a rolling pin, roll out each lump on an oiled counter; roll into a loaf (similar to making cinnamon rolls) and place seam-side down in a sprayed or oiled, 1-lb loaf pan.  Cover with a tea towel and let rise until at least doubled in size (mine get even bigger).

Preheat oven to 325˚.  Place a metal pie plate or cake pan on the bottom rack.  When the oven is heated, toss 3 or 4 ice cubes onto the pie plate (the extra steam helps the bread to rise higher).  Bake loaves for 28 minutes.  When they're done, flip them out of the pans and onto a rack to cool.  When cool, place in bread bags.  I freeze whatever we won't be using in the next day or so.  Remember, there are no preservatives.

I sometimes brush an egg wash on the loaves and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  I also sometimes add 1/4 C non-instant dried milk for extra calcium.  

This dough can be used for cinnamon bread.  Make the dough as instructed.  Roll out enough for a loaf very thin; sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on the rolled-out dough.  Roll up and bake as directed.  (You don't want to put cinnamon into the dough itself as it will inhibit rising.)

I also add herbs and olive oil and sometimes substitute white bread flour for some or all of the flour.  I have a baguette pan that I'm eager to try.

By Hand:

To make without a Bosch, halve the recipe (it's pretty hard to stir that much dough by hand).  Place liquid ingredients into a large bowl.  Place all dry ingredients into the bowl (except flour).  (Even though most recipes tell you to proof the yeast in water and sugar or honey before adding the other ingredients, when I was first learning and doing it by hand, one of my recipes explained it the way I've explained it and it turned out better.)  

Add the flour a cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon until it's too hard to stir.  Dump it out onto a well-floured counter and continue to add flour until it's got enough (the amount of flour used varies, depending on your weather and the moisture content of your flour).  Once you have enough flour, continue to knead by hand, adding as little additional flour as you possibly can.  Kneading develops the gluten, which traps the carbon dioxide released by the yeast, which makes the bread rise.  It's also a great time to pray about worry or frustrations.

Oil a large bowl; place the dough in it and then flip the dough over.  Cover with a tea towel and place in a warm place until the dough has at least doubled in size (an oven, heated to 150˚ and then turned off works very well).  Punch it down.  You can either flip it over and let it rise in the bowl again, or you can go straight to forming your loaves.  An extra rise will make it more fine (less coarse).  Bake as directed above. 

SDG!

Vigilance

'The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.'  

~Thomas Jefferson

While I don't often write about history, politics, economics, demographics, or current events, I am intensely interested in them.  There are much better-informed and more logically and eloquently-written sources for this type information and philosophy than I could be, so I won't try to fill a niche that's already being well-filled.  However, I will be writing about different policies that will affect us here at home and how we're planning to respond to them. 

As we see by the signs that a storm is coming and prepare accordingly, so we must keep an eye on our world, not so that we become frightened (after all, our trust is in the Lord and his loving sovereignty), but so that we can prepare.  Better to keep watch and prepare ahead of time when possible than to scramble and try to figure out what's happening when the winds blow, lightning strikes, and hail pummels you.

In light of our current president's economic views and his emulation of FDR (whose economic policies caused the depression of the 1930's to become great), our household is preparing for very hard times.  We're watching not only current policies, but demographic trends.  As we move through the next few decades, the Baby Boom will retire and, as is usual during that season of life, will spend less, which will lead to an almost permanent drop in the stock market as consumer markets are significantly reduced.  Life for our children and grandchildren will be very different from what we've know to this point.

So, what changes are we making in the day-to-day running of our household?

• We're cooking more from scratch.  (This includes the yogurt recipe previously posted, and making granola instead of purchasing boxed cereal - recipe coming soon! - baking more bread, making mayonnaise, and I've gotten our sprouts grower out again.) 
  
• We're working to get the garden to produce again.  (We started a compost bin this weekend - Arizona soil isn't so good and we'd rather use our own free scraps and yard waste than purchase compost.)
  
• We're sewing more of our own clothes (with fabric purchased at low prices on sale).  
  
• I'm going to study pattern-making to give us more flexibility in clothing design and save money on expensive patterns.  
  
• We've been using fountain pens for years, but we'll be purchasing more for the whole family (a bottle of ink can last for years and costs less than other pens which don't last as long).  
  
• We're cutting back where we can in order to purchase tools that will make our family more productive and less dependent on public policy (for example: a knitting machine, a clothes line, wood-working tools).
  
• We're learning new skills.  (The girls are learning to crochet; I'm re-learning to knit; I'm teaching the girls to sew; we hope to learn to embroider and draw and even paint; as well as the above-mentioned pattern-drafting, and Drew is teaching the boys wood-working skills.)
  
• We made many of our Christmas presents this year and will continue doing that for birthdays.
  
• Drew and I are going out for dessert for our date night, instead of eating dinner out.  We're also going to the movies less often.

We're not doing these things only for our family, but we hope that our preparation and work will put us into a position to minister to and help others.  Here's one example:

The new administration is planning to put into effect an energy policy called 'Cap and Trade'.  This will require local power companies to produce less electricity.  Our tax dollars will then be given to the electric companies so that they don't see a loss of revenue.  This will give us rolling blackouts and brownouts along with higher taxes.  We are working to save for solar power for our home.  When the rest of the neighborhood is sitting in the dark, we'll have light.  What an opportunity to invite our neighbors in, to share what we have, building relationships with them, and possibly having an opportunity to share the gospel.

The coming times will be challenging, but we hope to rise to the challenge in a joyful and faithful manner.

SDG!

The Mother and Her Reading, II

Most of CJ's focus was on spiritual growth, developing an affection for the Saviour; as we read, so we think and as we think, so we feel.  In order to develop passion for the gospel, we must be reading books about it, books that will help us look at it freshly and to see new aspects of it.  We must strive never to grow familiar with the gospel.

So the first category of our reading must be books that care for our souls. Scripture is a no-brainer, but also we should be reading books that challenge us spiritually to examine our hearts, books that remind us freshly of the gospel, books that help us get a firm grasp on solid theology. Not all at once, but they should be part of the plan.

This applies to every believer. Yet it applies to moms at home because it affects our children as well as ourselves.  In a very real sense, we are pastoring and discipling our children as we raise them. Their souls must be a focus of our efforts. However, we cannot give them something we don't have. If Mom isn't experiencing a deepening faith and relationship with Christ, she can't pass that onto her kidlings, nor will she be quick to walk in dependence on the Lord. (Yes, Dad is the head of the family and ultimately responsible before the Lord for child-rearing efforts, but most moms spend more time with their children than dads do; we must be working along with our husbands, following their leadership, submitting to their goals; but often the time, effort, and day-to-dayness of raising children falls on our shoulders, not as a burden, but as a privilege.)

CJ also, rightly placed a specific emphasis on books about our specific callings. For those of us whose calling is to keep house and raise our children, this would include books about being a godly wife, a joyful mother, a skillful teacher. 

Books to help and encourage us in our home making activities: cooking, gardening, household organization, home crafts (sewing, knitting, crocheting, tatting, things that make a home and a life beautiful), the theology and philosophy of keeping house (there are many voices telling us that we are wasting our lives by devoting it to drudgery - we must remind ourselves of the truth of the high calling to which we aspire so that we don't grow weary in well-doing), leadership, bargain hunting, hospitality, cleaning tips, caring for the sick and elderly. The list goes on and on.

Homeschooling moms would also benefit from reading books about educational philosophy and practice as well as literature, history, biographies, logic, science, even some math books. Part of this is to equip us to help our children learn, but this type of reading also keeps our minds sharp. We may not remember everything we read, but we'll be much better able to point our children to books that will benefit them and we'll be able to discuss them together.   It is also an excellent example to our children of the joy of a lifetime of learning.

My intent isn't to overwhelm anyone by these lists of possible topics for us to read about.  I point them out so that we can be intentional in our reading choices.  I certainly don't read all these types of books at one time.  I have certain areas in which I lack skill or motivation and  I need to be reading books about those topics (my current focus in school is books about writing and teaching writing).  There are also certain areas of particular gifting or topics that appeal more to me than others; those are books I want to read.  These lists are more suggestions to get you thinking about your reading.  It's better to start anywhere and read one at a time than to feel so overwhelmed that one never starts.  I hope these lists lend themselves to a lifetime of reading.

Teddy Roosevelt said that those who read will be those who lead.  We live in a post-literate society.  It's not that people don't know how to read (although they may not have been taught how do it well), but that they don't see the importance of reading; they choose not to read.  We may feel that we're at home, not out leading in our culture, however, cultural change happens the way yeast works in bread.   'A little leaven leavens the whole lump,' is how Christ described the church.  Chesterton said that there is nothing more powerful than an average man and his average wife and their average children living their average lives to the glory of God.  Reading can help us do so, and do so well.

Next time, I'll list specific books that I've found helpful and that I think are worth reading and re-reading.

SDG!

Yogurt Tweak

For those of you who've tried the crockpot yogurt recipe I posted last week, I've figured out how to make it in about 5 hours instead of the 13 1/2 hours of the original recipe.

Most yogurt instructions say that you have to heat the milk or cream very hot and then let it cool to between 110^o and 115^o, as did this original recipe (heat on low for 2 1/2 hours, then cool for 3 hours).  This step is included to pasteurize the milk.  However, if you're using pasteurized milk, you can simply heat the milk to the target temperature and then add your cultures.  In my crockpot set on low, with a half gallon of liquid starting at fridge temperature, that takes an hour to an hour and twenty minutes.  After checking the temperature with a meat thermometer (making sure the thermometer doesn't touch the bottom or sides of the crock!), I add the cultures, turn off the pot, and wrap it in a big beach towel.  It finishes incubating in about 4 hours, not the eight called for in the original recipe.

By doing it this way, I've cut the heating time, eliminated the cooling time, and cut the incubating time, resulting in more flexibility in my day; I can start it at noon and still be able to put it into the fridge before dinner.

Now that I know how long it takes to heat up, next time I'll be able to rely more on the clock to know when to check it.  Play with your own set-up.  The temp in your fridge and your individual crockpot may require more or less time than mine, but once you've figured it out, it should get easier from there.  And some folks think science isn't useful in every day life!

SDG!

Usefulness?

I've been thinking more about my post regarding the way I've been approaching kitchen maintenance lately.  As I continued to mull it over, I began to think it helpful to look at this in terms of usefulness; I want my kitchen to be useful.  But as I looked at it more, I began to see some rocks in that path.  I don't want to descend into hard-hearted utilitarianism and pragmatism, which measure everything by usefulness and therefore shut out beauty, goodness, and joy.  I continued to turn this over in my mind and I realized that it's not specifically about usefulness, rather it's about fruitfulness.

The world tends to look at life in economic terms, telling us that we are wasting our lives uselessly staying at home instead of making a contribution. The world focuses on usefulness. The world's schools train for usefulness.  The world measures people's worth by their usefulness.  The biblical response is fruitfulness. It's not about the economy, stupid. It's about so much more!

A kitchen that has every tool and lots of space to work in, but is stark in its efficiency is useful, but not so enticing.  A kitchen that is painted cheerfully, with pictures on the walls, curtains in the window, pretty utensils and crockery, music playing in the background is much more cosy.  The beauty nourishes the cook's heart as the cook works to nourish her family.

Besides efficiency, cleanliness, and orderliness, there are other, intangible aspects of keeping our homes that we mustn't lose sight of.  If I take an hour to complete work that could take me half that time, but I'm sharing a heart-to-heart talk with my daughter as we work, then that's a good and fruitful use of that time.  If my boys toil in the garden and get all kinds of work done, yet are at odds with one another when they're done, that's neither good nor fruitful.

Fruitfulness speaks to getting the work done, absolutely, but it also speaks to joyful relationships, spiritual riches, mended hearts, and encouraged souls.  If we remember this, the world's criticism will fade away as we make homes for our families, our friends, and even strangers.  

SDG!

Tips

Just a couple of things I've learned lately.

1) If a permanent marker is used on a white board, it can be removed!  I tried a couple of different techniques and they both worked great to get the littles' French vocabulary cleaned off and neither ruined the board's finish.

a)  Take a dry erase marker and trace over the offending mark.  The alcohol in the marker dissolves the Sharpie.

b)  For larger messes, wash the board with alcohol-based hand sanitizer.  Works like a dream.

2)  Yogurt can be made in a crockpot.  I have a yogurt maker and love it, but it makes 7 6-oz jars - not enough for us and a bit hard to fit all those little jars into the fridge.

The recipe calls for low-fat milk, but I've discovered that half-n-half makes a great yogurt.  (Yogurt made with cream is called crème bulgare and is my favorite.  Half cream, half milk (or bought half-n-half) is just as thick, but less expensive.)  I made more than a half gallon earlier this week and we've been enjoying it immensely.  This recipe is easier than using my yogurt maker as it takes less of my time, even though the recipe takes longer overall.

Non-instant dried milk can also be added for a thicker consistency (I'm not sure how much you'd need for this recipe - play with it).  I make it plain and we add flavorings to our bowls.  I like mine with a small sprinkling of brown sugar, but fruit or granola is also delicious.

For those of you who are local, I purchase my cultures from Sprouts.  Or you can use a container of plain yogurt bought from the grocery store, as long as it contains live or active cultures.

Here's the recipe.

SDG!