If you love peaches .......

I just finished canning 20 pounds of peaches with the help of my daughter. The heat of the kitchen was making us all mutinous. The good news? Lots of delicious jars of Elberta peaches to go into the cupboard.

Doing this brought to mind brought to mind the best-selling author and South Carolina peach farmer, Dori Sanders. This woman is a fantastic writer and a great cook.

Make it a point this month to buy (or check out from the library) her novels "Clover" and "A Place Of Her Own", as well as her cookbook. Dori is at heart both a humble peach farmer and vivid story weaver.


still Eating Oregon (I have the waistline to prove it!),
-E

small post

A few days ago I related to a friend that I was excited to start canning peaches. She kind of looked at me funny and said "How long have you been canning?". I told her last season was my first and she smiled. Now I know why....

1. It gets old fast.
2. You become a slave to your produce. Since veggies and fruits are oh-so- perishable,it becomes necessary to put everything else on hold to deal with them.
3. While your dealing with fruits and veggies, the rest of your house(and life) falls to the wayside. You wake up at the end of the day from a steam induced fog and realize that your house, laundry and dishes are dirty. bummer.

Having said all that, I wouldn't change a thing. The payoff comes later, I know. But for now, don't expect much of me. And if you come over to visit, kindly pretend you don't notice the mess.
grins,
-E

garden notes.........

Went to my absolute FAVORITE U-Pick place today and got a lot of peaches, carrots and basil that will need to be dealt with. It's early a.m. here so I'll have to post the pics of that after a few hours of sleep.

In the morning, my friend Dawn will come over and help can peaches. In the meantime, I've made several batches of pesto and stashed them in the freezer. As I type this, basil dries up in the dehydrator overnight. I'll use it all winter in casseroles, soups, and salad dressings.

Early yesterday, Max and I dug up our trove of fingerling potatoes. Fingerlings are rather small, irregularly shaped, and elongated. A bit like fingers if you've got a vivid imagination. :) They fetch a costly price in the store as a specialty item. I simply grew them because a friend gave me some starts.

The green beans have finished for the season. Secretly I'm happy. There comes a point when you've seen one too many. For now, I'll be content to make myself weary of the peaches.

And after all these months of waiting, guess what??? Soybeans!! Finally! I'd begun to think they'd never show up. At least once a week some inquisitive person wants to know what that 'green mound' is in my front yard. That, I inform them, is my soybean patch. Minus the soybeans. But now they are growing and I'm quite happy. We may yet have edamame to snack on this winter.

So tune in tomorrow, another spate of pictures is on the way.
Happy Eating,
-E

Too much of a good thing?

I love late summer. Fruits and vegetables are so plentiful it's easy to get carried away. Often I find that I've purchased or grown too much of something and don't know what to do with it. Good intentions lead me to believe I really will can all 10 pounds of beans and Pickle three bags of cucumbers in one day. Then I don't. Panic and guilt set in. What to do? Read on......

Triage your projects, so to speak. If you have raspberries, corn and peas to deal with all at once, chances are your in over your head. Sure you wanted to can them all, but that's not look like a reasonable goal right now. If you just can't live without raspberry jam, deal with that first. You'll be glad you did. If your crunched for time after that, try freezing your corn and putting your peas in to the dehydrator. Or the other way around. Whatever works. Below are some specific suggestions:

Peas: These are best frozen. Peas are the one vegetable that even professional chefs tend to use from the freezer. They don't keep long fresh and tend to get mushy when you can them. Alternatively , pop them into your dehydrator. They'll be great for soups later.

Green beans: Can them, freeze them, dehydrate them. Use small tender beans for making 'dilly beans'. Large thick green beans are better for canning as they don't turn to mush as easily.

Corn: Freezing is great, canning is fine, dehydrating is easy and convenient. For something special, try making corn relish.

Tomatoes: Canning or dehydrating is best. Dehydrated tomato slices are delicious snacks, are great in pastas, and go well in salad dressings as well as casseroles.

Zucchini and yellow squash: These are a toughie. They won't taste very good after being frozen and aren't very tempting canned either. But there are some tasty exceptions: try zucchini jam, zucchini pickles, or freeze grated zucchini for cake or breads. Also, dehydrate the slices for use in winter soups.

Carrots: Who doesn't love carrots? They are so versatile! Again, you can freeze them, can them, or dehydrate them for soups. They adapt well to all types of storage.

Blueberries: Freeze for use in pies or baked goods. Blueberries make excellent jam and if you want to try something different, they be dehydrated to use in granola, pancakes, muffins, or just snacking.

Blackberries: My husband's favorite jam is blackberry! Around here they grow wild everywhere. Free Food, yay!! Take advantage and freeze as many as you can to make pies.

Apples: In the fall, I can't seem to make applesauce fast enough to put some away for winter. The kids eat it as fast as I make it. Which is good because it's very healthy and easy to make. For a fantastic snack, dip apple slices in sugar before dehydrating. Or leave the sugar out for healthier eating. Try pureeing apples to make fruit leather in your dehydrator. And finally, make some apple pies ahead of time and freeze them to bake later on.

*When you open your cupboards/freezer and see all the good the good things you've stored for winter it's a very good feeling. Best of luck in your endeavors. If you have questions, email me at edibleoregon@rocketmail.com

-E

spring fruits and veggies

Every spring asparagus and strawberries are cheap and plentiful. Take advantage of this tiny window of opportunity and buy all you can! Make strawberry shortcake. Bake your own shortcakes or put the strawberries over slices of pound cake, sponge cake-whatever.

Get brave and buy a flat of strawberries, mason jars and pectin. You'll enjoy the taste of spring every time you eat your own home-made strawberry jam. If the jam doesn't set, it will still make fabulous ice cream topping. Don't you just love a win-win situation?

And then there is asparagus. Don't get me started, I could wax philosophical about asparagus for hours. Steam it and eat it plain. Better yet, go Italian and simply broil it for a few minutes after coating it in a fruity extra-virgin olive oil. Or, my favorite, dip it into the velvety yolk of coddled eggs for breakfast. sigh.....

Tomorrow I'll post a few recipes.

'Night all
-E

Eating well in the middle of winter

As winter has progressed, our shelves of canned goods have dwindled. All the work was worth it, though. Just last night I lacked a little something to spruce up a rather plain chicken dinner. Then I found the last jar of cranberries on a back shelf. It was just what we needed.

All winter we have enjoyed our own blackberry jams, applesauce, pickled beets , squash, and dilly beans. I've used the canned tomatoes and pears. There isn't really much left except some jam and regular pressure canned green beans.

Dante' finds it exciting when I authorize her to go to the basement and bring up some home canned goods. She regards it as 'shopping' at our house.

And I have to say, our homemade jams and pickles have really helped when I've needed a gift for someone but found myself short on cash. I pack a box with canned goodies and Dante' crochets a cute dish cloth to go with it. That little trick has saved my butt more than once.

So here we are in February with supplies running low. Which is fine. We weren't dependent on it. It was just our first experiment in the realm of growing/canning. I have vowed to grow 2-3 times the amount of food this summer than we did last year. It's fun, it keeps us busy and we don't have to eat supermarket veggies from Argentina all winter.

Hurry up, Spring! I want to get down-n-dirty in the garden.

itching to plant,
-EJ

Home Ec for tough times(heftt)

Not to come off all doomsday-ish, but the financial financial difficulties many are facing will not end anytime soon. (Yeah, I've said all this before.)
Rather than panic, I chose to get creative. Its been an incredible learning experience. I have totally redefined what I think of as 'want' and 'need'.

Wastefulness is rampant in our lives but we have been blissfully unaware of it. Re-thinking the art of 'home-making' is a good part of the solution. For years, magazines have been telling us to keep up with trends. Food trends keep us buying expensive ingredients and pricey meals. Decorating trends have us constantly dissatisfied with our homes. More money goes out for new curtains, rugs, paint, or furniture. Clothing trends mean a yearly dumping and re- buying of wardrobes for some people. We go through acres of toilet paper, tissues, napkins, paper towels and paper plates. Even though my family's finances minimize some of these issues, there is plenty of room for improvement.

First, I started buying in bulk. Lots of rice, beans, flour, and sugar. Also lentils, salt, brown sugar and honey. Next came the gardening. Lots of good, healthy food provided for my family. Then canning, dehydrating, and freezing. Also the making of our own cleaning products. Cheaper and healthier than store bought cleaners. And the foraging of local foodstuffs.

But it wasn't enough. For some reason, I just wasn't satisfied. It didn't feel like enough. Thoughts of self-sufficiency kept circling 'round my brain. Then came the goats. We purchased two Nubian does to provide milk for drinking and for making cheese. And possibly goat's milk soap as well. They are currently 'shacked up' with a male in hopes of breeding. Whether or not this will be a successful or worthy endeavor remains to be seen. More on that as it develops.

Fall came, the gardening ended, and things were quiet for awhile. Then something really cool happened. Friends taught me to crochet. My daughter learned as well and we are hooked.
(No pun intended) I didn't realize just how handy this was going to be until the holidays came and I found myself with no money for presents. No money? No problem!

William got a handmade scarf, as did Paxson. I also made and gave away hats and (my favorite) a crocheted coffee cup sleeve. It fits on those drive-thru coffees, protects your hands and is environmentally friendly.

Sewing was a blessing as well. I don't sew very well, but I do some basic things. So out came the bamboo pattern fabric and I made a lovely set of napkins and a tablerunner. Add $3.00 worth of pretty green chopsticks from the local Asian store to complete the set. A supercool easy-peasy gift.

Lest you start rolling your eyes, lets get something clear right off the bat. I am not, I repeat NOT, creative, artsy or handy. Although many of my friends are. (You know who you are: Kimmy, Dawn, Annie, Danielle, Shannalee, Jeri, etc.) All of this could not have been thought of or made to happen without the inspiration and help of God. So please don't be intimidated if you are thinking of trying something new. Especially if it benefits your home and family. God will bless a worthy endeavor.

Now then, I 've all of that just to say that this will be a recurring theme on the Eating Oregon blog. Many of the aformentioned tips will be discussed in greater detail with recipes or instructions if necessary. This category will crossover a lot with the whole Urban Homesteading theme as well as the Eating Oregon theme. And forgive me if I've mentioned most of this before. I'll turn 40 in May, blame it on age.

So, anyone out there want to write an article for the blog or send a recipe or tip? email it to :
ellenjeffery@verizon.net

-E

Anyone out there have great moneysaving

what we've been up to

Tonight new friends Paul and Joanie came for dinner. Good friends Joy, John, and Melissa came as well. It was a lot fun. Amazingly, I was still able to pull together enough greens from both gardens for a salad. A few straggling swiss chard leaves from the community garden, and a few tiny lettuces from the front yard.

Dante' and I have acquired a new skill. Our friends Dawn, Annie, and Shannalee taught us to crochet. It is really quite addicting. Not easy at first, then so much fun! My first finished project was a tiny dishcloth. Dante' easily topped me by making two of them and turning them into a potholder. Nicely done.

The pictures here represent the last efforts of our garden and the first efforts at crocheting. Please note Maxwell's french radishes. He grew them himself and is so proud of them.

Also pictured are the cranberries Dante and I canned ourselves. They look so bright and beautiful.

In a pinch

About a month ago my friend Jess gifted me with frozen raspberries. Today I turned them into fabulous homemade jam. I had to. This morning I made biscuits for breakfast. Slathered them with butter. Went to the cupboard-no jam. sigh....... then I remembered the raspberries. Yay!

There weren't quite enough for a full jam recipe so I substituted a cup of blackberries. Here is the recipe:

3 cups raspberries
1 cup blackberries
6 1/2 cups sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin

Follow the directions in the box of liquid pectin for processing. It is too lengthy to type here but jam making is easy so don't be intimidated. It is a simple matter of boiling the berries with the sugar and pectin then ladling the mixture into sterilized canning jars and boiling that for 10 minutes. easy-peasy. Plus, it tasted better than anything bought at the store.

A suggestion: If you don't want to bother with canning the jam, you can simply follow the directions for freezer jam. Its less complicated so long as you don't mind pulling some out of the freezer to use every so often.
-EJ

Fall Garden notes, forage notes, self-sufficiency efforts

Already it's November and there is very little left in either of our two gardens. At the community garden some radishes, celery and beets remain. At home there is only an assortment of half-grown lettuces. The season passed so quickly. Here is what our family grew during our very first growing season:

Lettuce, green onion, Swiss chard, zucchini, yellow squash, cabbage, peas, parsley, beets, mustard greens, mesclun, oregano, radishes, chives, carrots, cilantro, green beans, cucumber, tomatoes, corn, cauliflower, celery, spinach, basil, mint, catnip, and lovage.

Until we actually wrote it down, Phil and I could hardly believe we had wrested such diversity from two tiny garden plots. We are so pleased with the results.

Our foraging results have been successful as well. So far, the lovely Oregon coast has provided, free of charge, : Huckleberries, blackberries, Salmonberries, and Thimbleberries. In the mushroom category we have wild harvested Chanterelles, hedgehog mushrooms, and lobster mushrooms. In the Miscellaneous category we have obtained crabs we caught in nets at the dock and even picked wild fennel seeds to use in salads and cook with.

Phil has not had any success yet at shooting a deer. Nor has anyone else I know bagged one this year. Still there is hope. Elk season is about to begin and I think Phil is going to give it a try. For some reason, the critters around just know when it's Fall and they disappear. I am convinced there is a four-pronged buck kicked back on a beach somewhere sipping pina coladas and laughing quietly 'til the season is over.

Other changes our family has made this year:
1. being really picky about turning lights off in the house.
2. All veggie peels and other bits of unused produce are being fed the various animals we own.
3. Buying in bulk and saving up for an emergency.
4. Canning our own veggies, fruits and jams at home.
5. drying veggies, fruits and herbs for home use.
6. making our own soaps and cleaning products.
7. bakin our own bread.
8. treating our belongings well and not regarding everything as expendable or easily replaceable.
9. Re-using grey water for the watering of household and garden plants. (confused? read my pre
-vious post explaining grey water and its uses.)
10. purchasing more clothing from second hand stores.

This isn't enough, but its a start. Next we need to look at additional ways to improve self-sufficiency, frugality and preparedness. But again, and I can't stress this enough, my families attempts at saving money were not done to make our life more complicated. It really has been a fun process. It has made us closer as a family, it has put us back in touch with what is really important, and it has seen us living a little better even in financially devastating times.

We may not always be able to pay the bills on time, but we are surviving, and in many ways, thriving. I am not suggesting these methods for everyone. But it sure is working for us and we are grateful.
peace, -EJ

taking stock

The year is beginning to wind down and I'm looking back on the positive changes of the last several months. I feel the need to evaluate all the endeavors of this year and fine-tune it all a bit for next year.

coming up will be final reports regarding gardening, canning, dehydrating, energy conservation and self-sufficiency efforts. What worked , what didn't and what I can try that I havent' already. It has been a lot of fun and a great education.

Update on the goat situation: Phil and Richard finished both the fencing and the goat pen. It looks really great. The girls are spending their first night in it and I hope they like it. Thanks again to my hubby for playing along with the wild ideas generated by his wife and daughter. :)

mounds of mint

It's been said that in case of nuclear holocaust , only cockroaches and Hostess Twinkies would survive. Or maybe George Hamilton. That man has more preservatives in him than an embalmed cadaver. But I digress...
Allow me to add the lowly mint plant to the "post-armagedon party" guest list. This stuff grows anywhere. With a little encouragement, mint could grow in the Le Brea tar pits. I swear it has the half-life of Mc Donald's french fries. (anyone seen "supersize me"?) Have I made my point?

That said, be careful where you plant mint, as it is a notorious garden bully. Thus we come to the crux of today's post. My friend Coral has a mutinous patch of mint threatening to dominate the entire back yard. Mowing has only made it stronger and more determined. She was more than happy to let me take some home. After my verbal assault on mint, why would I want to take some home? Answer: Mint tea and mint jelly.

My kids love mint tea. They drink it like water. And I , like a dork, have been buying it at the grocery store. So today, as I lugged home a trashbag full of mint, I gleefully added up cash savings in my head. As I write this, the first batch of mint is drying in the dehydrator.

Tomorrow,if time allows, I would love to conjure up a batch of mint jelly. Yummy. Thank you Coral!

What to do with green tomatoes

It's pouring rain in October. Some blight is overtaking the tomatoes. The plants are heavy with large, green fruits that will not ripen before succumbing to either the blight or the weather. What's a girl to do? Turn the internet! Twenty minutes of browsing yielded a fascinating jam recipe.

So at 8 pm, Max, Richard, Dante' and I stood in the unlit community garden cutting green tomatoes from the vine. I got home to find my friend Coral was visiting. "Aren't you going on vacation tomorrow?", she asked. Well, yeah. "Are you packed yet?", she pressed. um, no. How do I explain an almost obsessive need to can and preserve the fruits of our labor? (all puns and cliche's aside)

The outcome is 5 pints of very tasty but odd jam. Odd because it calls for pureeing the green tomato, boiling it for 15 minutes with sugar, then pulling it off the heat and adding raspberry jello from the box. Amazingly, it tastes like raspberry jam.

My personal thanks to whomever came up with this recipe. It saved a lot of tomatoes.

-EJ
btw, anyone with a good green tomato recipe send it to me please

Can it!

The need to get everything 'put up' for the winter has kept me from posting regularly these past few weeks. Still, I can't complain. Our family has been blessed with blackberries, apples, tomatoes, even pears. Here are the fruits of our labor, no pun intended: 1st pic: blackberry jam and canned pears make a fall centerpiece, 2nd pic: spiced apples, 3rd pic: spiced apple syrup heats in pot, 4th pic: my sister with the giant pressure canner I affectionately call "The Beast".

dehydrating, canning, and Cheese

When it comes to food preservation, it seems wise not put all your eggs in one basket. After all, long power outages can wipe out all your frozen goods. Canning food is great but time consuming. And it's difficult in an emergency situation to load your backpack full of cans, obviously. Welcome, food dehydrating! It's ridiculously easy and not-at-all time consuming. Best of all, the food you dehydrate will retain it's nutrients while shrinking into an ultra-light product.

I picked up my dehydrator for about 40 bucks. The first thing I tried was simply slicing onions and laying them on the rack. Viola! Dried onions for very little money. The jars you buy in your favorite stores spice section probably contain about 10 cents worth of onions for which you pay at least 2 bucks.

How about those costly 'sun-dried' tomatoes from the gourmet section? Just grow or buy some decent tomatoes. Dehydrate them and use as usual. They are fabulous in homemade salad dressings. Try this:

Put about about 1/2 cup mayo in your blender
Next add two tablespoons veggie or olive or canola oil(or whatever)
add a tablespoon or two of your personally dehydrated onions
add a clove of garlic
add a tablespoon of dried basil or your favorite herb
don't forget about a 1/4 cup of any good vinegar
Toss in a slice or two of dried tomato
blend til smooth

adjust seasonings as necessary. Thin with a little water if needed. This is one the best salad dressing ever. Cheaper than buying it and tastier. The tomatoes add a depth of flavor but will not make the dressing taste "tomato-ie"

For about two weeks I've been drying onions, green beans, mushrooms, lobster mushrooms, celery, dill, peas, just about anything I can get my hands on. So tonight Max and I tried a little experiment. We called it "dried things soup". Our family had spent the day at a friends BBQ so I was tired and not in the mood to cook much. I put a big pot on the table and handed ingredients for Max to put in. All of the dried foods listed above went into the pot. Plus some garlic and browned ground turkey. Next a can of corn for color and diversity (dried foods are not real colorful). Finally we added lentils,bouillon, and pearl barley for flavor and texture. And of course, water. Roughly thirty minutes of simmering and the soup was done.

Surprisingly, it was a big hit. Who knew culinary laziness could be so rewarding? It took Max and me all of two minutes to pour the ingredients into the pan. The rest was just simmering time. Dried food is pre-cut so there is no chopping at cook time.

This week the goal is to can more blackberry jam and find reasonably priced tomatoes to can. More on that later.

Dante' and I finally made the mozzarella cheese. It really isn't too hard. However, try not make yours the first time just from a recipe. There are tricks to it you should probably learn by watching. I'll dedicate a whole post soon to the cheese issue so you'll know what I mean.

Finally, a garden mini-miracle: The squash are having a turn-around. We've suddenly been finding Zucchini and yellow squashes making it past infancy and headed for full growth. Bees are matriculating around the flowers so that has to be a good sign. Tomorrow, there should be some to pick.

At our plot in the community garden the tomaoes are showing color. The beets are growing and new lettuce is nearly ready to harvest. The celery are huge and invasively leafy. They are also tough, stringy and strong-flavored. No clue what that is all about. Looks like some research is in order.

Today I was watering the community plot when an inebriated bum wandered into the garden. Dante' flipped and crouched in the potting shed while making frantic gestures in my direction. Turns out the poor guy just wanted some produce. He asked for someone's rhubarb in the scratchiest voice I've ever heard. Well, you can't pick other peoples veggies, I informed him but offered some of our carrots. The guy was so pleased his voice was almost normal for a moment. After securing the carrots he leaned over the fenced and yanked out a stem of rhubarb anyway. Gleefully, he informed me that his mom used to grow them and he loved 'em.

'Ya know, from the look of that guy's teeth, that garden produce was probably the only healthy thing he was going to eat that day. Probably the only NON-liquid substance he would ingest that day. So I hope the rhubarb owner isn't too offended at the missing stalk. It went to a good cause.

peace,
-EJ