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Project Discussions:  What's Going on in Your Kitchen?  |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 20 2017 : 08:22:06 AM
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Carol your bars look & sound tasty.
This morning I'm drying Mexican and Greek oreganos.
Started a batch of sauerkraut - qt jar. I used part of the cabbage for Cole slaw. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
3455 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
3455 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2017 : 10:46:45 AM
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| Those bars do look tasty, Carole! But I do understand when recipes come out too sweet and you know the calorie burden is way more than you want to consume. That is the holdback for making a whole pan of something good for just two people at home. |
Winnie Nielsen #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Girl of the Year 2014-2015 |
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TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
5777 Posts
Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2017 : 2:59:51 PM
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| Carole, I love 1/2 sheet pans too. I found one at an estate sale for 25 cents. A couple of years later my hubby came in with three more. He had stopped at a huge yard sale. $2 worth. I have used them for so many different things. A whole sheet pan will not fit into a home style oven...I have one left from restaurant days. |
Texasgran |
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farmgirl68
True Blue Farmgirl
152 Posts
Katie
Bangor
Pennsylvania
USA
152 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2017 : 05:26:44 AM
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Julie I wish I could send some of our rain your way. You certainly have been busy and I'll pray that you get some rain soon!
Carole, I may just have to try those bars, I love chai too . I will keep your alterations in mind, however.
Today I must blanch and freeze green beans, freeze spinach (man do we have a ton of spinach) and put on another pot of sauce. My sauce takes two days to make. I also want to try out my dehydrator. I've had the thing for 3 years (my mother-in-law gave me hers) and the only thing I've dried is rose petals. When drying herbs, do you strip the leaves off the stems first or just put them in so? |
Katie #7422
Friends are the flowers that bloom in life's garden. |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2017 : 05:53:37 AM
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Katie your 2 day sauce sounds yummy.
Rule of thumb on drying herbs: If leaves are little like thyme you leave them on their stems and strip when dried. Large leaves like mint are striped from their stems before drying.
I dry herbs on circles of wax paper cut to fit my dehydrator. Keeps down the mess of leaves falling through the grid of the trays. Depending on what I am drying the wax paper can be used more than once. To get the dried herbs out of the trays I dump them on to a piece of wax paper - 1'-2' - easy to use the wax paper to funnel the herbs into jars. As you dry herbs you will come up with your own way of doing things. When you do share with us.
Try drying some of your spinach to use in winter soups. Dried greens are so handy to put a couple of handfuls in a pot of soup. I dry kale; spinach; mustard, collard, & turnip greens. My favorites are kale and mustard greens. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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farmgirl68
True Blue Farmgirl
152 Posts
Katie
Bangor
Pennsylvania
USA
152 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2017 : 06:04:43 AM
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| Ooo, thank you, thank you, I hadn't thought of that! Maybe I could dry green beans too? Can I dry them all together? |
Katie #7422
Friends are the flowers that bloom in life's garden. |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2017 : 06:12:16 AM
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I dried green beans once and didn't like them but that's my personal taste. Try a tray - cook them - and see if you like them before doing a lot of them. I always start off with small batches when trying something new.
Not sure what you are talking about drying together. Green beans and greens will take different drying times/temperatures so should be dried separately.
Greens also take different drying times - mustard takes the least and collard the most. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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farmgirl68
True Blue Farmgirl
152 Posts
Katie
Bangor
Pennsylvania
USA
152 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2017 : 06:37:41 AM
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| How about herbs? Can I do mint and thyme and rosemary, lets say, at the same time? |
Katie #7422
Friends are the flowers that bloom in life's garden. |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2017 : 06:45:51 AM
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Herbs pretty much dry at the same time and temperature unless it's a thicker large leaf like comfy which takes much longer. If one tray finishes before the others you can take it out and after cooling put in jars.
I need to dry sage this morning so I better get off my laptop and get it done.
Edited to add: When a tray is removed it can be filled with other herbs/veg and put back into dehydrator. Adding a tray of fresh herbs/veg will not effect the other trays. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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Edited by - YellowRose on Aug 21 2017 06:48:42 AM |
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farmgirl68
True Blue Farmgirl
152 Posts
Katie
Bangor
Pennsylvania
USA
152 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2017 : 06:47:13 AM
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| LOL, me too! Thank you for your insight and have a great day! |
Katie #7422
Friends are the flowers that bloom in life's garden. |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Aug 22 2017 : 06:43:10 AM
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Have 4 pints of Christmas Lima beans in pressure canner. Cooking what didn't go into the jars on stove. Will have for lunch and a serving for tomorrow. Beans I don't mind eating the next day.
It's 83 with humidity of 80 already this morning. We haven't had 100s this summer but with the hi humidity it will feel like 105 by day's end. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
3455 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
3455 Posts |
Posted - Aug 22 2017 : 10:34:13 AM
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| yummmmm, I do love lima beans but have never heard of Christmas Limas. Are they red and green skinned? |
Winnie Nielsen #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Girl of the Year 2014-2015 |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Aug 22 2017 : 10:55:37 AM
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| Winnie, it's a large brownish swirled colored Lima bean originally from Peru now grown in USA. It's one of my favorite heirloom beans. The on-line site says one of it's uses is in curries. The next order of beans I will get a pound to make curry. Shipping is the same whether I order 1 or 6 lbs so I always wait to order when I'm ready for 6 different beans. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Aug 23 2017 : 11:28:35 AM
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Bought a pkg of 8 chicken thighs in the marked down bin for $2.50. I brined them in salt water and now they are on the stove making broth. I hope to pressure can the broth in the morning after defatting. I added carrot, celery, onion, and herbs from my garden - bay leave, thyme, rosemary and winter savory. Should be a tasty broth.
Years ago a butcher told me to always brine chicken to help rid it of the additives - been brining ever since. Some chicken seems to need it more than others. Does anyone else brine their chicken before cooking? |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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farmgirl68
True Blue Farmgirl
152 Posts
Katie
Bangor
Pennsylvania
USA
152 Posts |
Posted - Aug 23 2017 : 3:34:02 PM
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| I never heard of that, Sara. It makes sense though. I think I may have to try it. How does it affect the taste? |
Katie #7422
Friends are the flowers that bloom in life's garden. |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Aug 23 2017 : 4:08:20 PM
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Katie brining for meat is salted water - the ratio I used today was a scant 1/4 cup of kosher salt to a bowl of water big enough to cover the 8 thighs by an inch.
After brining for 30 min I rinsed the thighs real good removing most of the salt. The thighs will have some salt so I used 1/4 tsp of salt when cooking the broth.
The chicken today was Pilgrim's Pride so I could have gotten by without brining but since I will be canning the broth I wanted to make it as good as I could. I also used spring water for the broth for the same reason.
Hatch mild peppers were on sale so I bought enough for one batch of pickled peppers. Hope to get to them Fri or Sat.
Have baby spinach and kale to dry. The baby spinach was in marked down bin 1/2 off. Both will be used for beans and soups. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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farmgirl68
True Blue Farmgirl
152 Posts
Katie
Bangor
Pennsylvania
USA
152 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2017 : 04:14:34 AM
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Thank you Sara, sounds easy enough. I've never canned anything but fruit and veggies, so broth and meats scare me a little. I do have a pressure cooker and I really should use it! Could I use bone in leg quarters? I got a huge deal on them at our local restaurant supply store; beautiful meat $.49/lb. Trick was, I had to buy 40#, LOL.
I have a pot of sauce on cooking down and I will start another today. I won't have enough tomatoes to do anything except sauce. Except, I did freeze some yellow tomatoes that I plan on making salsa with.
I also have green beans to blanch and spinach to freeze. |
Katie #7422
Friends are the flowers that bloom in life's garden. |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2017 : 04:51:16 AM
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Katie, the thighs I used had bones and skin - I think you need both for really good broth/stock. Backs, necks, wings also are good to use. My sister makes her broth from the caucus of a whole roasted or baked chicken. She cooks it all day in her slow cooker. I don't cook whole chickens so I buy the cheapest pieces - yesterday it was thighs.
You can cook your broth in a pressure cooker but you need a pressure canner to can low acid foods like broth and meat. My 10 qt pressure canner is also a pressure cooker. It's the only one Fagor makes that cooks and cans. I have been happy with my canner and have not used it as a cooker.
Have 2 qts and one pint of broth in the pressure canner. Broth maybe the only thing I will ever put up in qts. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2017 : 04:16:44 AM
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| I sliced the Hatch peppers yesterday to can this morning but I woke to MS fatigue so canning is out but drying is in. After drying I will ground peppers in blender. The powder will come in handy for rubs and other recipes. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
5777 Posts
Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2017 : 05:44:58 AM
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| Data do you coast your hatch peppers? |
Texasgran |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2017 : 06:12:19 AM
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| Marilyn I didn't. Now that you mentioned it roasting would have added another layer of flavor. Maybe next time. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
4642 Posts
Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
4642 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2017 : 08:54:32 AM
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Sara, your energy and canning ideas amaze me. Keep it up, lady!
I wish I had a garden for fresh produce. My son has one and I get a little that they don't use for a family of 5. LOL!
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Linda B
quiltee
Farmgirl #1919
FGOTM for August, 2015 and April, 2017
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farmgirl68
True Blue Farmgirl
152 Posts
Katie
Bangor
Pennsylvania
USA
152 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2017 : 3:29:16 PM
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| I'm freezing more spinach today, blanching more green beans, and I have one heck of a pot of tomatoes cooking down (day 1). I cook my tomatoes for 2 days and the sauce get nice and rich. I'm fit to be tied because I have 5 eggplant and my FIL doesn't like it so my plan to do eggplant parm is out. I also have 5 zucchini. That I'll shred or quarter and freeze. Ok, off to freeze my spinach. |
Katie #7422
Friends are the flowers that bloom in life's garden. |
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darlenelovesart
True Blue Farmgirl
5996 Posts
darlene
Loleta
California
USA
5996 Posts |
Posted - Aug 26 2017 : 5:42:55 PM
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| My neighbor sometimes puts things out on her sidewalk to give a way and yesterday I found a brand new spiral veggie slicer out there. It will make strings out of Zucchini for spaghetti and curly frys and other kinds of things. I will try it soon. It has three slicer blades with it and brand new. I will let you know how it works later. Neat. |
Farmgirl # 4943
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for what he has done.
Philippians 4:6
Just follow God unquestioningly.
Because you love Him so, for if you trust His judgment there is nothing you need to know.
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farmgirl68
True Blue Farmgirl
152 Posts
Katie
Bangor
Pennsylvania
USA
152 Posts |
Posted - Aug 26 2017 : 5:46:24 PM
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| Oh Darlene, I think you'll love it! I love mine. Please let us know how you like it. |
Katie #7422
Friends are the flowers that bloom in life's garden. |
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Project Discussions: What's Going on in Your Kitchen? |
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What's Going on in Your Kitchen?
