What's In a Name

Bannister that is original to the house- LOVE IT!

A month ago, I talked a little about some of the obvious changes going on with this blog (you can read that post here).  One of the biggest changes was to go from The WannaBe Farm to The Historical Homegirl.  I imagine for the handful of people who read/follow this blog, that posed the biggest question.  Why in the world would someone change the name and all links to an already established blog??  First, I was noticing that there were an awful lot of people using the name "Wannabe Farm".  It was no longer a unique name, but one that could become easily confused.  And second, I decided I didn't want to start a separate blog to write about the upcoming renovations on my soon-to-be new-to-me house.  My option was to use the existing blog for everything and come up with a catchier name.
It wasn't easy to come up with a new name.  You'd be amazed at how many cool blog names are already taken.  I finally settled on The Historical Homegirl (The Historic Homegirl was taken, but that wasn't a bad thing).  There is a distinct difference between the definition of the word historic and history and that came into play.  Historic is an adjective that refers to something important or influential from the past (i.e. The Battle of Gettysburg was an historic event.) while the word historical is an adjective that refers to something from the past that may or may not be important (i.e. historical romance, historical replicas, etc).  While the soon-to-be new-to-me home is old, it is merely historical not historic as it isn't part of any important or influential part of history (at least nothing I know about yet.  One never knows where George Washington might have used the outhouse).
It wasn't just the house that lead to the name.  I'm also big on canning, and that is a process that is from the past, as is the idea of homesteading.  And by that I mean that homesteading and producing and preserving your own food was a common thing back in the day, it was a necessity, and during WWII, it was encouraged by the government. Now it seems that preserving your own food is growing in favor again because of increase in food costs and all the GMO food concerns.  Historical seemed like the perfect name.  And homegirl, well I was a girl who was going to be talking about her home and it also fit in that homegirl means a woman from your hometown or neighborhood, or a woman who is your close friend.  That's me: your good buddy here on blogger.
So stay tuned! There will be some of the same blather about chickens and gardens and canning, plus renovations, historical information, and whatever whatnot I decide to throw your way.

Dehydrated

I've been pretty busy the last few days.

Some referred to it as "Martha Stewart on crack",

but it doesn't matter, because I'm getting crap done.

I picked up some apricots at the local Farmer's Market last weekend

and thought I could dehydrate them in the dehydrator 

I picked up at a yard sale

(brand new still in the box).

I have a big hike coming up in a couple of months and 

I'm hoping to make all my own meals with the new toy.

So I cut up the apricots.

Tossed them with some fruit saver to prevent them from discoloring

and popped them in the dehydrator.

One quart did 2 trays.

They turned out okay.

I've also tried zucchini chips (not a fan)

and banana chips (the husband says they're okay too).

Beef jerky is on the list to try!

In the meantime, 

I'm canning beets, pickles, beans and baking bread while battling squash bugs

and rearranging and organizing the apartment. 

I need a vacation!

Carrots

 

 One of our best crops this year

was carrots.

Because of our rocky soil (as evidenced in the above photo)

we never tried carrots after our first attempt

produced very small and extremely deformed carrots.

But when the 8 year old showed an interest in growing some

(I thought he might eat them, silly me, he just wanted them for his rabbit)

I figured what the heck.

The results were so good

we have plans to plant more next year.

 I used 2 different ways to can them but they both start with washing the carrots

  

 Peeling the carrots.

  

and cut the carrots.

 

To can regular carrots

(That is to say just carrots and water no fancy recipe)

boil a pot of water.

Add cut and washed carrots to the water.

Bring back to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Fill your jars with the carrots leaving 1" of headspace.

Use the water the carrots were cooked in to fill the jars.

Make sure you have that 1" of headspace.

You can add salt now- 1tsp for quarts 1/2 tsp pints.

I choose not to use salt.

Remove bubbles, wipe the rim

and process at 10 pounds of pressure for 25 min for pints, 30 for quarts. 

 I also canned some glazed carrots.

You will need:

 

6 1/2 -7 lbs of carrots
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups water
1 cup orange juice

Cut and wash your carrots per usual.

Combine brown sugar, water and orange juice in a pot. 

Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. 

Keep syrup hot and pack carrots tightly into hot jars, leaving 1" headspace. 

Ladle hot syrup over carrots
(make sure you  leave 1" headspace). 

Remove air bubbles and wipe rims. 

Add hot lids and rings. 

Process pints and quarts for 30 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure for weighted gauge 
and 11lbs for dial gauge.

Makes 6 pints or 3 quarts.

I'm looking forward to eating some carrots this winter!

Busy Weekend

It was a busy and productive weekend around here

for a change.

There was an abundance of produce on the counter that needed some attention.

And by abundance I mean

there was stuff on the counter.

Our harvests this year have been nothing like last year

and that's disappointing.

But I digress.

We have bugs decimating our cucumber plants

so I made sure I used the ones I managed to harvest.

I made 1 quart and 3 pints of refrigerator pickles.

Sadly, these won't last long.

You can find the recipe here.

Then I had a bunch of beets to contend with,

so I pickled them.

We'll see how they taste,

but at least they look pretty.

I also managed to can 2 quarts of green beans.

Hoping to save the cucumbers,

and hoping that the tomatoes on the vine

ripen soon.

Apple Harvest

This fall I decided to make applesauce.

I happened upon a recipe that gave instructions

on how to make apple jelly and applesauce all from 

cooking the same apples.  

You'll need about a heaping gallon of peeled and cored apples

(if you have a food mill you don't need to peel and core them just cut them in chunks

and put them through the mill instead of processing them)

Put chopped apples in a large saucepan and add 1 cup of water per heaping quart of apples.

Bring to a boil then cover and simmer until apples are tender

stir occasionally and smash the apples up a little to release more juice.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the apples into another bowl.

You need to leave the juice in the pot.

You may have to pour any juice from the bowl of apples back into the pot.

Next you need to strain the juice.

I used a piece of cheesecloth stretched over a pitcher 

and secured with a rubber band (see above photo)

slowly pour the liquid from the pot through the strainer.

Any bits of apples or apple mush can be added to the bowl of cooked apples.

Measure out how much apple juice you have 

(should be about 4 cups)

Return juice to pot and add:

3 cups sugar

2 TBSP lemon juice

for every 4 cups

Bring to a boil

stir constantly until it gels up

(when it slides off a chilled spoon in one sheet)

Fill sterilized half pint jars with hot apple jelly to within 1/8" of rim

secure the lids and place in a water bath canner for 5 minutes

made about 4 half pints.

Now for the apples....

puree them in a processor

then return the applesauce to the saucepan and bring to a boil.

(add sugar or cinnamon if you want- I don't add anything).

Ladle hot applesauce into sterilized jars

leaving 1/2" headspace

place in hot water bath canner for 20 minutes (pints or quarts)

Remember to use sweet apples.

I used Golden Delicious and Mutsu (aka Crispin) apples

with some red apple varieties thrown in.

Just Peachy!

Since I've managed to conquer my fear of canning

I've become a canning fool.

I have scoured canning cookbooks and marked recipes I want to try:

Brandied Apple Rings, Applesauce, 

Mint Jelly

and my famous Chicken Corn Soup

(though I'm still slightly apprehensive about canning meat).

When I went to the local store and saw they had some peaches, 

I grabbed some of those for some jam

(because Big E loves peaches and I love Big E)

The recipe I used was delish!

Vanilla Peach Jam

Ingredients:

8 cups peeled and chopped peaches (about 7 large peaches)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 vanilla bean (or 3 tsp of pure vanilla extract)
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp Bourbon (optional)

 

Put the peaches, lemon juice and sugar in a heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven

slice the vanilla beacn in half lengthwise and using the flat side of the knife

scrape out the seeds and place in pot along with the pod

(or dump in 3 tsp of pure vanilla extract like I did)

Bring to boil then reduce to a simmer.

Add the bourbon now if you're using it.

I didn't because I didn't have any

but next time I think I'll try it

(it's supposed to enhance the flavor of the vanilla)

 

Simmer for about 1 1/2 hours

stirring occasionally

Allow to cool slightly 

then ladle into jelly jars discarding the bean pods.

I canned this in a water bath canning method

for 20 minutes.

This was super easy to make because it didn't require constant stirring or attention

and used only a few ingredients.

It's definitely on the list to make more!

Plus, it made the entire house smell fantastic

and it tasted fantastic as well.

Can't wait to have some on some vanilla ice cream!

Why Do I Can?

Okay, 

so maybe it's not really the looming Zombie Apocalypse 

that got me canning.

But

the possibility for some other real life crisis

(natural disaster, power loss, alien invasion...)

did.

I'm not saying I'm a full on prepper

because seriously, I don't think 8 quarts and 6 pints of canned tomatoes,

6 jars of red pepper jelly and 2 quarts of roasted garlic pasta sauce

are going to see me through in the long term.

It's a start, though, and knowing it's there is a little piece of mind.

I also think canning and preserving is a smart economical decision.

Food prices have increased pretty steadily over the past few years

and with that price increase, the quantity has reduced.

So you're getting less for more.

And don't get me started on all the genetically modified food

or the antibiotics and hormones pumped into everything.

(really, and people wonder why kids today are so different than kids of the past??)

 When I can, 

I know what goes in the jar.

I know how it was grown because I grew it.

I grew it from plants or seed that I knew were organic.

And finally, I'd say I have a nostalgia for the simple ways.

I'm not sure why that is since I never grew up on a farm,

and though my mom canned at one time, I don't remember it.

Maybe it comes from my hectic life running from one thing to another

and constantly feeling like I'm spinning.

I want to spend time at home

doing homey domestic things.

I want to pull my family back into 

being a nuclear family.

Spend time together

can together 

eat together.

And survive the Zombie Apocalypse.

Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce

When I finally got enough nerve to use my canner,

I picked an adventurous recipe: Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce.

It is amazing.

The recipe makes about 3 quarts or 6 pints.

Ingredients:

6 bulbs of garlic

3 Tablespoons olive oil

4 medium red, yellow and/or green sweet peppers cut lengthwise and seeded

12 pounds ripe tomatoes Peeled

(to learn how to peel tomatoes, go here)

3 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

2 Tablespoons kosher salt 

(or 4 teaspoons regular salt)

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves snipped

1 cup lightly packed assorted fresh herbs

(such as oregano, thyme, parsley and/or basil)

6 Tablespoons lemon juice

• Preheat oven to 400 F
• Cut off the top (about 1/2 inch) of the garlic bulbs to expose ends of individual cloves
• Leaving garlic bulb whole, remove any loose papry out layers, place bulbs cut end up in a 1-1 1/2 quart casserole dish
• Drizzle bulbs with 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil cover dish
• arrange sweet pepper halves cut side down on foil lined baking sheet
• brush with remaining 2 Tablespoons of oil
• Roast garlic and peppers for about 40 minutes or until garlic feels soft and peppers are charred
• Cool garlic in dish on wire rack
• Bring foil up around peppers and fold edges together to enclose. Let peppers cool 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle Peel off and discard skins chop peppers and set aside.

•  Remove garlic cloves from paper skins by squeezing the bottoms of the bulbs and place in food  processor.
• Cut peeled tomatoes into chunks add some of the chunks to the garlic in the processor and process until chopped
• Transfer chopped garlic and tomatoes to 7-8 quart stainless steel, enamel or non-stick heavy pot.
• Working in batches repeat chopping the remaining tomatoes in the food processor.
• Add all the tomatoes to the pot

• Add brown sugar, salt, vinegar and black pepper to tomato mixture. Bring to boil
• Boil steadily uncovered for 50 minutes stirring frequently
• Stir in chopped peppers Boil for 10-20 minutes more or until it reaches desired consistancy stirring occasionally 
• Remove from heat and add basil and assorted herbs

• Spoon 1 Tablespoons lemon juice into each of 6 sterilized pint jars (or 2 Tablespoons in each 3 quart jars)
• Ladle sauce into jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace
• Wipe jar rims, adjust lids and screw bands.
• Process in boiling water canner for 35 minutes (time starts when water returns to boiling)
• remove jars and cool on wire racks.

The sauce looks gorgeous, smelled gorgeous while cooking 

and tastes amazing.

Note that I pressure canned my sauce at 11pounds of pressure for 15 minutes.

This is a time consuming recipe.

Because I really like the flavor of the sauce, 

I'm willing to take the time to make it

but I think I'll prepare the tomatoes one day

and assemble the sauce on another.

How To Peel a Tomato

Peeling a tomato seems like a tedious task,

but it's actually pretty simple.

First, cut an "X" on the bottom of the tomato.

Not a deep cut, just cutting into the skin.

Then, blanche the tomatoes for 30-60 seconds.

I did mine around 45 seconds on average.

Immediately remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and place them in ice water.

You'll go through a lot of ice if you have a lot of tomatoes,

so it might be a good idea to have a bag of ice on hand.

Once they're cooled (which doesn't take long)

the skins pretty much slide right off.  

It's really that easy!

I also discovered that to peel tomatoes and 

make sauce is an all day project.

You can peel the tomatoes one day

and refrigerate them till the following day 

to save on time.

The Pressure Canner

I purchased this Presto Pressure canner from Amazon some time ago

after I thoroughly read each review

(OK, maybe not each one since there were a lot, but a good many).

And once I had it at my house

it became apparent that I have a canning phobia.

It does not have its own name on the phobia list but it should.

Eventually the prospect of having wasted $70 for the canner,

not to mention the wasted tomatoes,

prompted me to go ahead and attempt to can and not blow up the house.

 The result?

I managed to can 3 quarts of Roasted Garlic and Pepper Spaghetti Sauce

(it's delish! I'll share the recipe in the future)

 I also realized that I didn't blow up the kitchen

and it doesn't appear that I will kill anyone with botulism either. 

I have since managed to can several quarts and pints of chopped tomato

and 7 jars of red pepper jelly.  

This canning thing is a cinch!

There's An App For That

While checking out tips on canning

(because while I have obtained the tools, I'm still quite intimidated by the whole process)

I came across an app for my iPhone.

Seems Mother Earth News

has a free app for canning.

I of course downloaded it.

I'll let you know if it's helpful

(you know, once I get over my canning phobia).

The State of the Garden

These are apparently Mexican Bean Beetle larvae.

We made the choice to pull up the bush bean plants

as a large majority are chewed up presumably by these critters.

We have pole beans growing now so we'll still have plenty of beans.

The broccoli is also gone.

Sadly, the pumpkin plants will also be pulled up

having been decimated by squash bugs

and powdery mildew.

The squash plants aren't looking so hot either,

but at least I can replant those.

The peas are pooping out.

Some of the pea plants got too wet and mushy.

On an up note, I'm going to be a canning fool

(provided I figure out how to can)

because we're going to have more tomatoes than we'll know what to do with.

And we've frozen 17 quarts of squash, 2 quarts of beans (with 3-4 quarts still to freeze), 2 quarts of chopped green bell pepper, a quart of chopped hot pepper

and a quart of peas.

The corn still looks great (knock on wood)

and we have a zillion peppers.

Now, I'm thinking along the lines of fall/winter gardening.

Kale maybe?

Arugula?

Cabbage?

Pickles

With the garden producing copious amounts of veggies,

I needed to get going on the preserving otherwise all the time, 

effort and money but into the garden would be wasted. 

I started with pickles. 

I've never made pickles.

And because I have yet to gather all my canning needs,

I went with a recipe for refrigerator garlic dill pickles

(if they taste good, I'll share the recipe).

I ended up with 4 quart jars and 3 pint jars.

We get to taste them on Thursday,

hopefully they're good or I wasted a lot of cucumbers

(though there are plenty more where they came from).

I also cut enough zucchini and squash to fill 7 quart freezer bags.

There's still an entire basket of squash and more in the garden. 

I see zucchini bread in my future.