One small step towards homesteading

I ordered a dehydrator a couple weeks ago and it's been sitting on the table waiting for fresh produce for too long.  So this morning we went to the local farmer's market and bought some strawberries (and some yummy bread and pure honey) and then we went strawberry picking to get even more strawberries.

They measure by the gallon and we had over four gallons.  We picked three baskets/gallons ourselves and we bought 5 quarts.

As soon as we got home we got to work.  I washed and cut the tops off them while the youngest used an egg slicer to slice them up and spread them out on the dehydrator trays.

Six trays of strawberries are drying today and should be done between tonight and tomorrow morning.

A cookie sheet of strawberries is in the freezer.  Once they're hard, we'll seal them with the FoodSaver and put them in the basement freezer.

Then we'll start on making jams for the first time ever.

I actually let the child help in the kitchen

Today we made mini pizzas.  Just the typical recipe of English muffin's cut in half and then a scoop of spaghetti sauce, three slices of pepperoni, and some mozzarella cheese.  He ate one for lunch and the rest were put away to add to school lunches this week.  Normally I would freeze some, but the freezer is a bit full right now.

Sadly, the entire time I was beating myself up because I couldn't stop thinking "I could probable make those muffins..." and "Next summer I will have my own spaghetti sauce from my tomatoes..."  and "I have that recipe for making fresh mozzarella cheese...."

Someday.

Homesteading, butter, and bread

I kept finding a bunch of cool ideas on various blogs and websites that had the word homesteading in the title.  I had no idea what this was, I mean I figured it had something to do with country living, but that was all I knew.  So I finally looked it up.

I know I will never be one of those people who is really self sufficient.  There are too many modern conveniences that I wouldn't be willing to give up and I am just not willing to kill an animal (but I will eat them).  

I suppose I have already been on a path that leads to me being more self sufficient.

Years ago I was eating dinner at a restaurant and I suddenly stopped and thought "Why am I paying for this meal? I could easily make this."  It was a basic chicken and pasta dish and it just dawned on me that it was a waste of money to be paying for it at a restaurant.  That helped to start my cooking spree, and lead to me taking a sushi class (because it was the only food I really liked to eat that I couldn't make myself.)

Living out here, getting eggs from the chicken, having a garden, wanting to get into canning and freezing... It all leads to being a little more self-sufficient, and also ties in to me being more "green".  It also means I save a little money.  I like those ideas.

So I am now consciously being more self sufficient.  Even if I am only trying to do something once, just to see if I can.

So today I made this mush of shredded newspaper

Which I baked into these cups

And next weekend I will plant seeds in them and get them growing on my table before the outdoor planting season starts.  The newspaper cups will dissolve in the dirt once they are in the ground.

And then I made butter and buttermilk...

That is pure butter :)

 And I used the buttermilk to make biscuits

Yes, I use a plastic wine glass as my biscuit cutter

I made a lot of them (18 buttermilk and about 30 with the fresh butter) so I froze them all.

And then I made two more loaves of bread (I made two last night).

Blackberry Pie

When you live in the country you just HAVE to pick wild blackberries and make a pie!

Okay, so the neighbor had cleared the blackberry bushes and we literally found 2 tablespoons of wild blackberries.  Giant (grocery store) provided the rest.

I made my first ever blackberry pie and ate my first ever slice of blackberry pie...



Here's the recipe I found online:

             Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh blackberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Combine 3 1/2 cups berries with the sugar and flour. Spoon the mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup berries on top of the sweetened berries, and cover with the top crust. Seal and crimp the edges, and cut vents in the top crust for steam to escape.
3. Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown. Cool on wire rack.                 

Peach Pie

When you live in the country... You have to make a peach pie.  :)

"Taa Daa!"

Tomorrow we are picking wild blackberries from the property next to us and I'll make my first blackberry pie too :)


Here is the recipe I found online:

Simple Peach Pie

• 
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Servings: 8

About This Recipe

"This recipe is from C.A. Lynd of lyndsgourmet.com. Every year we anxiously wait for Lynd's farm to put out their peaches. They gave us this recipe with the peaches I just bought and it is simple and wonderful."

Ingredients

• pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie
• 5 cups fresh peaches, sliced
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Stir together flour, 1 cup sugar, and cinnamon and set aside.
3. Wash, peel, and slice fresh peaches.
4. Mix together peaches with the combined dry ingredients.
5. Turn into pastry-lined pie pan and dot with butter.
6. Cover with top crust, cut slits in it, seal the edges.
7. Sprinkle top with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
8. Cover the edges with foil to prevent over browning; remove foil for the last 15 minutes of baking.
9. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through the slits in the crust.
10. Pie may be frozen for future use.

I also added it to my cooking blog

http://leanneiscooking.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/simple-peach-pie/