Honey, What did you do today?
June 3, 2008 at 6:09 pm | In Breads, Food, baking, cooking, my life, thrift stuff | 6 CommentsTags: baking, baking bread, canning, dehydrator, drying food, drying fruits, excalibur dehydrator, homemade bread, homemaking, homesteading, Italian bread, pizza
Today it rained. Boy, did it rain! Rain, rain, rain!
What is a gal to do when it’s raining out? Well, I’ll tell ya– I found plenty to do:
First, I made some vanilla extract. I poured 3/4 cup of Everclear and 1/4 cup brandy (I didn’t have any dark rum) into a glass jar and dropped in 6 vanilla bean pods that I’d slit wide open and chopped in half. In about 8-12 weeks, as long as I shake the bottle up every now and again, I should have some pure vanilla.
I have had that Everclear for years! I bought it to make herbal tinctures, but I had quite a bit left over.
After I set my vanilla in a dark place (my pantry), I decided to try out the Excalibur Dehydrator I scored at the thrift shop a few days ago. For a little under six dollars, I can dry just about anything I want to. It has a heater and a fan, so I can make jerky with this too. I decided to give it a test run with the left over strawberries I had in a little sugar. I threw on the few blueberries I had left that were just about to shrivel too. I also sliced a Golden Delicious apple and sprinkled it with a bit of sugar and cinnamon. I had a few slices of canned pineapple from some other meal I’d prepared, and I decided the dehydrator is better than the garbage can.
These dried fruits will be excellent in sweet breads, cereal, or just all around snackin’.
Dehydrating takes a loooong time, so I knew it was bread baking time. I made my usual 6 loaf recipe for Italian bread, but I decided to keep one piece out for a nice homemade pizza. I whipped up some homemade pizza sauce, sliced the remaining fresh mozzarella, and covered it in sliced pepperoni. Oh, it was a great pizza too.
While the bread was rising, I cleaned out the pantry. I have a lot of rice and I need to think of some good ways to put the rice to use in a meal. I want to empty the pantry and freezer before I have to shop again. We’re on a tight budget this month, and I’m convinced I can get away with cutting way back on groceries this month if I can be more creative.
OH! Last night I scored a small truckload of canning jars for FREE! I believe I have at least 500 canning jars. A very kind family of 12 (yes, they have 10 kids! wow!) are moving, and answered my CraigsList ad and told me they would give them to me free of charge.
I may be canning for two months straight…or longer.
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the bread looks so yummy!
this makes me kind of want a dehydrator! maybe if i come across one at a yard sale i won’t pass it up! how did they turn out?
also, i am ssoooo jealous of your free mason yards!! berry season is coming soon and i need to start getting ready to make tons and tons fo jam and those jars don’t really come that cheap!
Comment by sarah — June 9, 2008 #
Thank you
I bought a bread machine at the thrift store yesterday–for those days I may not have time to make bread. I need to test it out–as you know–electronics and thrift stores are not always predictable. The dehydrator works very well on the fruit I dried. I’ll post a picture soon. The blueberries were a bit disappointing, but normally I eat my blueberries fresh. They take fah-eva to dry.
I know I was lucky to score those jars. I’m sure I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.
Jams sound good right now!
Comment by angelnina — June 10, 2008 #
I think I have a mason jar fetish. I would be soooo happy to get those.
I was ‘gifted’ a bread machine that I have yet to use… supposedly you can set it up the night before and wake up to freshly made cinnamon bread. If I try it.. that would be the recipe I’d try first. I need to do something with it.. it’s just sitting here wasting space right now.
Jam sounds fab to me too.
Comment by Kim — June 13, 2008 #
[...] I blogged here, I was fortunate enough to receive the canning jars for free. So, my total cost for 5 jars of [...]
Pingback by Angelnina’s Strawberry Jam ~ Canning and freezer jam « Angelnina’s Cottage — July 2, 2008 #
Hey Angelnina!
Chickens like almost anything but potatoes aren’t good for them!!!
Love your blog
Comment by Cindy — August 1, 2008 #
HI Cindy, Thank you for reading my blog.
We don’t give the chickens potatoes. I read someplace that the green part in the skin isn’t good for them.
Our younger chickens are more picky about what they’ll eat.
Comment by angelnina — August 1, 2008 #