Saturday, October 3, 2020

Coming Up For Air

This past week has been devoted to food preservation.  19 quarts of chicken have been canned.  This evening another load of meat will be set out to thaw for canning over the weekend.

The dehydrators have been running nearly nonstop with apples onions and potatoes.  A couple of weeks ago I dried carrots.  Carrots need to be blanched before drying and I tried a microwave method that worked like a charm.  But this week I found that the same method doesn't work for potato cubes.  They turned black in the dehydrator.  Lesson learned:  stick to the tried and true methods.

So today is a day of catching up on all those pesky household chores that tend to go by the wayside when busy working on food storage.  

There is one thing I have noticed in the past 24 hours.  Since our President came down with the virus, I have seen some of the most vicious, vile, hateful remarks by some blog commenters (Not here.  You all are too classy for such things.), on social media and on the left leaning news shows, that I never thought possible.  There is something seriously wrong with people who delight in the fact that our President and First Lady have contracted a virus that can kill.  I guess this is what happens when you insist God be removed from our schools, public buildings and all the rest.  

Pray and prepare.  Not only are we fighting a virus and civil unrest, we are fighting evil.  Pray and prepare. 

22 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Rev. Paul...I must be awfully naive for until recently I did not realize how much evil lives among us.

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  2. A Good day to you Vicki! I was reading on another site and found this article with a list of healthy foods to store.

    https://www.americanpartisan.org/2020/10/healthy-food-storage-basic-storage-for-one-person-for-one-year-by-busmc94/

    There is no mention of meat, veggies, dairy, eggs or chocolate. I was surprised by the amounts for one person.

    I'm still drying veggies and once it cools a bit, will be planting more veggies for winter. I will be transplanting some tomato plants which grew out of the compost pile.

    Red

    There will be many with empty bellies this coming year, and beyond.

    Those who wish harm forget the old adage of "What goes around, Comes around." The evil wishers will not like the results.

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    1. Hi Red...I took a look at the link you left. You were right about the recommended amounts. And honestly, I think I might have a hard time staying sane on that diet. No meat? No dairy? And especially, no chocolate? That is just wrong on so many levels!

      I have a kitchen table full of pork and more chicken thawing to be canned and frozen green beans are included in the grocery order to be dehydrated. Now is not the time to slow down. I fear things will get dicey very soon. Good on you with the planting and preserving!

      I wonder just when it was that so many completely lost their humanity. God help us if they ever gain complete power.

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    2. I spoke with a friend this morning. She and her fellow Sisters are totally pissed at the Pope for his sjw attitude. They are praying for the insanity to end on many fronts. On a brighter note, 15 pounds of cooked, shredded chicken is now vacuum packed and in the freezer. Red

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    3. Red...We need to pray for the insanity to end. It seems to have spread like wildfire - much faster and more deadly than any virus. Seems to me that the sjw attitude is merely an excuse to break stuff.
      Way to go on the chicken. We just keep on stacking it up for when our country goes completely off the rails.

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  3. Replies
    1. They don't even try to hide it any more, Gorges...That's the scary part.

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  4. Yep, I've been hearing that ticking clock too. Trying to stay focused and calm, which is not how I feel, but is the only way to get things done.

    About the whole evil thing, there was a time when I would have scoffed at the notion, but not anymore because there really isn't another explanation. Pray without ceasing!

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    1. sbrgirl...I think that ticking clock thing is fairly common to those of us who keep track of what is happening around us and who are doing our best to prepare for whatever happens. Every day I hear more reports of upcoming food shortages that may or not be true, but I am not willing to bet against it. Stack it to the rafters.

      There was a time when those who wished harm to others were rather sneaky about it. These days it is out in the open for all to see. I don't know what else to do but pray.

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  5. Meant to ask: Vicki, do you can ham? (I know it's considered "rebel canning") Thank you, Robin

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    1. Robin...Well, what do you know. I'm a rebel and didn't know it!
      Seriously, yes, I can ham just like I can any other meat. Cooked before canning - add liquid to the jars. Raw - no liquid. The only exception is browned hamburger or sausage that I can without liquid.
      Mostly I can large pieces to use as I would use baked ham for a meal. Other times I cut it into about half inch cubes to add to scalloped potatoes or scrambled egg dishes, etc. It is just another item to add variety to my choices.

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    2. Okay, I'm going to give it a try. Thank you!

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    3. If you want to go a bit more rebel, try canning bacon. Cut slices into one-inch pieces and lightly brown. Drain and pack into jars - I do mine in half pints - with no liquid and pressure can for 65 minutes. So many uses - in scrambled eggs or breakfast casseroles, in soups, sprinkled on salads or just heat and eat with your morning eggs and toast. You maybe already do this, but in case you didn't, I thought I would mention it. :)

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  6. So, the carrots that I dehydrated without blanching are no good? I'm new at this, had no idea. Are most vegetables supposed to be blanched before dehydrating? I also found out that carrots are to be blanched before freezing. So much to learn!

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    1. Alice...Your carrots should be just fine. Just check them for any signs of deterioration before using them.

      Most vegetables are blanched before drying or freezing. Here is a link to the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

      https://nchfp.uga.edu/

      This site tells you all about canning, dehydrating and freezing. But they do get a bit into the weeds with some methods. For instance, they tell you to put vegetables in a cheesecloth bag and dunk that into boiling water for a certain number of minutes. I have a kettle with an inner kettle full of holes. I get the water to boiling, toss in about 4 cups of veggies and let the water come back to a boil. Then I let it boil for the recommended number of minutes, pull out the inner kettle, letting the water drain back into the pot. Then I dump the blanched veggies into a large bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain the veggies in a colander and spread them on the dehydrator trays. It isn't nearly as much work as it sounds like. :)

      There are some veggies I do not blanch.
      Onions - I either slice or dice them and spread them out on the trays.
      Cabbage - I just cut cabbage into the size pieces I want to use for soup, etc., taking out the very thick bits that don't dry well and spread on trays.
      I like to buy the packaged cole slaw mix at the grocery when it goes on sale. That I just dry without blanching. Same for frozen hash browns. And because I live in an apartment and can't garden, I dehydrate all sorts of frozen vegetables. These are already blanched so just spread out on trays and dry.
      By the way, you probably already know this but if you have a Nesco or other brand dehydrator with round trays, the plastic mesh liners for the trays are a must. So many foods dry down to very small pieces that drop right through without the liners.
      I love having a variety of dried foods on hand. They take up so much less storage space than canned. Dehydrating isn't rocket science, so enjoy!!

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    2. Thank you for your help Vicki.

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    3. Glad if I could help, Alice...Good luck with the dehydrating.

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  7. Yet I notice no comments from the conservative side about hoping bad things, including death threats, directed at liberals, people of color, and women in general? What about "rot in hell" and "I'd dance on her grave" comments about RGB? IMHO, there seems to be a race to the bottom on BOTH sides. But politics isn't what I stop by here for....

    About that new canner gasket - is it possible it needs heating & cooling cycles in order to get the seal set in? And I agree that food list on the link anonymous left leaves something to be desired. Not only that but unless you already use that many nuts and raw seeds in normal rotation, they'll go rancid fast unless frozen. Lastly - yes, I was amazed how much things shrink in the dehydrator. I have a round one with stacking trays (brand ???) but if I were to buy another dehydrator, it would not be that style. The moisture from the bottom trays slows down the drying on the upper trays more than you'd think, especially when drying wet things like tomatoes.

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    1. JustGail...I think both parties could benefit from leaving personal opinions out and concentrating on what is good for we the people who pay their salaries. They all seem to have forgotten, in the midst of all the name calling and virtue signaling, that they work for us. All of them remind me more of third graders fighting in a schoolyard than of adults in charge of a nation.

      I hadn't thought about the canner gasket needing 'seasoning.' Thanks for the reminder. I am canning again tomorrow, but after that I will switch gaskets and try the heating and cooling method. Sure is worth a try.

      One reason I like dehydrating is that the food shrinks and takes up way less storage space than canned food. Because I live in a small apartment, that is a big deal. Both my dehydrators are the kind with round trays. If the time comes when I can afford to buy another, the Excalibur type is at the top of my list. But until then, I rotate the round trays about half way through the drying process and so far, everything has dried just fine. If your dehydrator has the heating element and fan at the bottom, it makes sense that moisture from the bottom trays slow down the drying on the upper trays. I guess the reverse is likely true with dehydrators with the heat and fan in the lid. Both may take longer, but so far the results are good.

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  8. My dehydrator of 10+years gave up on me last summer. It was round with the heating element on the bottom. Purchased at the thrift store for about $10 and still in the box.It was great.

    But it's replacement is even better. Also round but with the heating element on top. Not digital. Made by Nesco. I also bought screens to go on top of each tray..worth every penny.

    Right now, two bags of frozen hashbrowns are being dried using four trays.
    Cheers, SJ in Vancouver BC Canada

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    1. SJ...The first dehydrators I had were like your thrift shop model with the heater and fan in the bottom. I used them for a long time but managed to wreck both when bits of dry food fell down into the fan and broke it.

      The ones I use now are the same as yours. I can stack them up to 10 trays high and everything dries if I rotate the trays halfway through the drying process.

      I love having dried hash browns on hand. They rehydrate so easily and don't take up valuable freezer space. And they taste just as good as they did before dehydrating.

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