RENDERING LARD

Well, it took me a bit to get this post written up. We took our piggies to the market and came home with delicious, humanly raised, pretty packaged pork….and some fat ready to be rendered into lard. What a fun project I decided to take on: creating real lard for baking or cooking, from our own pigs who never ate soy, had any medications, or trash food.

I looked up some tutorials, all were easy peasy. The first batch came from what is known as back fat. The back fat is the fat that is on the outer parts, you know the stuff you can feel. J This fat is has a bit of flavor to it and more for savory dishes or sautéing. We (ok the man!) chopped up the fat into small pieces, and we put it into the crock pot to melt down. We left it to melt, and left it to melt, finally went to bed and left it to melt overnight. The next morning we decided it had gone on long enough, not to mention it did not smell so dandy, in fact I (mama) was gagging a bit, IT WAS STINKY! There was no cracklings, it was just soft looking chunks of fat. We drained the bit of melted fat into a mason jar, and decided the rest would be great chicken treats.

Not a family to quit easily, we decided to give it another try with the feather fat. The feather fat is the fat that surrounds and protects the organs. This fat is what those prize winning pie crusts are made with, it has no flavor. Similar process, only we were able to borrow a meat grinder and put the fat through it (ok, again I let the man do this job). The fat was put into the crock, turned onto to low and left to melt. Who would have guessed?! The fat melted nicely, quickly, and the cracklings were there! There was no smell! We put the melted fat into jars, and it hardened into beautiful white lard, ready to be used.

What we learned was simple. The back fat is great for bird and chicken treats, the feather fat is good for lard making. I do think the tutorials I read only applied to feather fat.

We will render our lard again……only using the feather fat.

What new kitchen goodnesses have you been working on or learning about?

To butcher, to butcher, to take the fat pigs.

Home again, home again, with bacon and sausage!

Aren’t I a beauty?

Our first experience raising pigs has proven to be a positive one. We enjoyed the time with our girls. They grew beautifully! They loved the food and the extras. We fed the pigs a hog feed from a nearby Amish co-op. The feed was not oatmeal based, as many are, which is a filler for the feed, not very nutritious for the pigs. We were thankful to learn about oats being used as filler, and thankful to find the co-op with high quality feed for a comparable cost. In addition to the pig feed, the girls enjoyed some of the best goods, brought to them straight from the house, all our scraps were given to them; all the apple peels after cider making; all the peels from pears, peaches; all the discards from cherry and berry processing; all the garden greens we did not eat, some of the trimmings from around the farm, they were treated to lots of yummy foods. Their favorite? Eggs, raw eggs! Twice a day minimum they were visited, fed a treat, had their ears scratched, and back rubbed. As the girls out grew the first pen, they were transported to a bigger one, they were happy with their new quarters. The pair was always nice, not pushy or mean. The wonderful job they did of rooting up and tearing up the area….hard ground had nothing on those noses.

Time came for them to go to the butcher, I am glad to give that job to somebody else! The girls were too cute and nice to cut up, but now that they are home in nice neat packages, they are great to cook up. Next learning task is rendering lard…..that is another first…..suggestions & hints welcome!

We are thankful to have had this experience, we are very thankful to have a freezer full of quality meat. This farming life is rewarding, although at times tiring and hard, we are thankful to have this opportunity. We also are looking ahead to spring with our next batch of piggies.

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Gluten Free World

Perfect Christmas morning breakfast.

We recently learned that our youngest minion is allergic to wheat. It is a mild allergy, not celiac Disease, AND we live in a time where there are so many alternatives to wheat available all of which we are thankful. He is really taking this well, and have said he feels more tired after having wheat so knowing this helps him already is a blessing! The bummer is we learned about this allergy the week before Christmas, the season which is filled with yummy treats, like cookies, rolls, breads, muffins, some candies, and more all generally made with wheat. Being the mama I am, I dove in for a crash course on wheat free baking. I have learned a lot, but have so much to learn. There are many alternative to wheat; it is necessary to have several different flours to create the texture desired. There are a number of pre-mixed multi-flour blends on the market. I have been playing with two, Bobs Red Mill and Namaste. I really like the company and story behind Bobs Red Mill, but can find Namaste at Costco which saves money. J The all-purpose flour blends tend to be bean based (Bobs) or rice (Namaste) I have learned both are versatile, but the rice is lighter, for biscuits, the bean for cookies. I plan to use whole food products, I cannot compromise on that as I am learning this new form of baking.

My first baking need for my boy was biscuits. I found a gluten free recipe on the Bob’s Red Mill site. I followed it using my Namaste flour, just using the total amount of flour called for in separate flours. The biscuits were good, they had a bite, not mushy, and perfect accompaniment to our tomato soup.

My real challenge was to find a wheat free cinnamon roll. Really, we must have cinnamon rolls to go with our bacon on Christmas morning! In all my searches I came across a wonderful site called thebakingbeauties.com. What a wealth of information…….and TWO cinnamon roll recipes! I used the recipe found herehttp://www.thebakingbeauties.com/?s=cinnamon+rols&submit.x=-895&submit.y=-488 for our Christmas morning rolls. I used 2 ½ cups of my Namaste flour mix for the flours recommended, and used maple syrup in place of the corn syrup; for the filling I melted butter and put the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and a handful of cinnamon chips. The secret to ‘rolling’ the dough is wet hands, instead of flouring a rolling pin, you wet your hands, I did this for the biscuits as well. Wet hands slide right over the dough, and you are able to just massage the dough into compliance…..lovely. To rolls the dough, do not touch it, just use the plastic wrap to sort of push the dough along. The rolls rose nicely and baked up perfectly. Nobody realized they were gluten free. SCORE for mom!!!

I look forward to learning more, to connecting with you all about this new chapter of baking, and hearing about your successes and failures with gluten/wheat free baking.

Memories

Memories……bring about smiles. The memory of a three year old boy keeping his grandma locked in a bathroom with an imaginary gecko

Memories…..bring about laughter. The memory of a two year old boy scared by a turtle, and wanting his daddy to get it out of the house, just to learn it was a stuffed dinosaur.

Memories….bring about nostalgia. The memory of holding hands walking along the beach with the one whom I would one day wed.

Memories….bring back the yesterdays. The memory of playing with Miss. Piggy dolls as a little girl with my sister.

Memories….keep friends and family near. The memory of adventures had with friends, and boys, the real adventure or the imagined one.

Memories…..help us to be thankful. The memory of the poor woman in China, begging for money, holding her baby.

Memories…..evoke fear. The memory of a little boy lost while biking in Japan, with no English speaking people around.

Memories….remind you how fast life goes. The memory of the day each boy was brought into the world.

Memories……bring tears. The memory of saying good-bye to my little boy, forever, the memory of that last hug, the memory of no more.

Memories are special pictures into life, life is full of ups and downs, and even some spins. Memories are special to the individual; all have a unique power to conjure up emotion. Memories can come unexpected, pictures, a sound, a smell, a place, a number, cause a memory to pop into your head. Memories, I will take them all, those that make me laugh, those that make me teary, I am thankful for memories, I have lived and continue to live, I will continue to create memories. I am thankful for the memories, thankful for those whom I share the memories.

Homeschooling and time

We are a homeschool family. Our children at educated at home. We are not ashamed of that, we share that with anybody who asks where our children attend school. We are active in our Church. We are active in our community. We are involved with our children’s extra curricula activities. We stay busy. Interesting we are not a unique homeschool family, we have lived in several areas, and have many, many friends who homeschool, and they are all pretty much like us, involved in growing children into young men and women ready to stand firm for Christ and able to be productive members of the community…..and beyond. So, why is it that people so often want us to volunteer for many extra projects? Why do people think we have so much extra time? Why do people think we need help entertaining our children?

I was slightly offended by comments made to me over the last couple of weeks. Comments such as: just don’t do school, take a break, let dad teach, thought you needed something to keep your kids busy, why can’t you have ladies coffee each week, can’t you just do school during the evening, don’t you want a break from the kids, how can you stand to be with your kids all day, if I were home all day I would go crazy but my house would be clean. After the last comment that was made to me, I had a change of heart, I really think people who have never homeschooled, nor spent much time with a homeschooling family understand the lifestyle of homeschoolers. That is what homeschooling is, it is a lifestyle, not just school at home.

Homeschooling in America has grown tremendously in the last decade, each homeschool family has their own ‘flavor’ as you continue to read this, please do not think about that one person you know/knew who did or did not, think about the many homeschool families, some within your extended family, and try to understand, maybe even walk in their shoes a bit.

We chose to homeschool our children after much prayer, discussion, and watching other homeschooling families. It was evident keeping our children at home was the right choice for our family. We do not think we are creating the next Einstein, Mother Teresa, or likewise, we are enjoying the very short time we have with our children. We relish the freedom we have to disciple our children to become more like Christ. We enjoy reading books together, learning and discovering history as a group, we love creating meals, and eating them as a family. We do not necessarily love writing paragraphs, checking grammar, or trying to understand algebra, but we do it because we have chosen this life style. Our mornings are filled with learning new or reviewing yesterday’s new things, we must spend time in the mornings as our afternoon or evenings are filled with other fun stuff.

Homeschool children are allowed to participate in sports, scouts, 4h, music, art, and foreign language lessons. Homeschool families enjoy serving others, when they have time. Homeschoolers are involved in Church, even on a day besides Sunday! Our children are involved in Scouts, sports, 4h, language, mission projects, service to others, and encouraging other homeschool families, not to mention Church during the week that makes for a full week. Our family enjoys dinner, together, as often as possible, and with other homeschooling families or friends. Proverbs mentions a good friend being better than a faraway brother, which is what other homeschool families are, our family.

As a mom, I am honored and thankful that I can legally and freely homeschool my children. I love to spend time with them. I love to listen to them. I love to watch them grow, although they are growing so very fast. My fun is when we are altogether as a family. My break is when we head out to the woods together. My time with them at home is limited, I do not want to find ways to hurry it along; I do not want to find ways to be away from them. I do not spend all day at home, I do not have a clean house most days (your first visit to my house will find it looking clean) I do not spend time arguing with my teen. I do not need help keeping them busy. I do allow for free time where the kids can p.l.a.y. Time for them to just be, that is good, to be. We do not have a school that looks like public school, and that is ok, in fact freeing. Why would I want to miss out of what we are learning so dad can teach and I can hang out? I will have plenty of time in a few very short years to have ladies tea each week, where I can take the day to play whenever the invite comes, I will have a clean house, then, maybe…..

I am not defending or explaining who I am, but rather want each person who knows or knows of a homeschool family to take a minute to understand what their lifestyle is all about.

Jammin!

Tis the season to harvest berries, and make jam.  This year we were blessed with some tart  cherries.  I have never used tart cherries before so the quest to find ways to preserve them.  I froze some, dried some, ate lots, canned some in syrup, and of course made jam. Cherry jam and orange cherry jam.  They came out ok.  The jam was a little soft, but tasty

Fresh from our patch. Delicious, organic berries

Strawberries came on as well.  Freezer jam has always been a favorite treat!   My first strawberry jam, of course, was freezer jam…….but how did I never before take note of the amount of sugar?!?! 2 cups of berries to 4 cups of sugar!!!!  Really?! Yes!  So, I made one batch and began the quest for a healthier jam.  Giggling, healthy jam….

Some things I learned people who share recipes must have more time than me.  The first recipe I found called for some steiva and chia seeds to thicken the jam.  This sounded right up my alley, until I read the cook time…….FOUR HOURS!  Granted it was in the crock pot, but between garden, animals, outside  and inside chores, and kids I don’t have time to wait four hours for jam to even be done.

Next interesting  recipe was simple, strawberries, chia seeds, and stevia to taste, let it thicken………well it is sort of thick, like chunky syrup.  The flavor is just ok.

I thought, I will make my own up, using our delicious maple syrup.  I added one  cup of syrup to four cups crushed strawberries, one vanilla bean, and some pectin.   This made a wonderful flavored jam.  It was not as firm as the freezer jam, but I will be enjoying it.  This is a freezer jam, not canned.

My final strawberry jam was a strawberry margarita jam.  This is a cooked old fashioned jam.  It does not use pectin, rather you cook to a gel stage.  This recipe called for apples with the strawberries (apples are naturally high in pectin)  There is about 3 cups of sugar to six cups of fruit.  After cooking the fruit and sugar mixture for about 30 minutes, the gel stage is reached, and you add tequila and orange liquor.  Boiling for 5 minutes burns off the alchol.  The result was an amazing jam.  WOW.  It set up beautifully as well.  This will be a repeat recipe.

You can find a recipe here

http://http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_page/51.php?pid=150

as it cooks…..

Spring

Freshly cut grass, early flowers blooming, tulips, newly turned dirt, and of course sweet Compost, ahh the smells of spring.  Spring comes bearing so much new birth, so much excitement.

This year we visited an all organic, off grid Gardner.  He lives in a yurt year round, has a greenhouse which has brought two zones warmer, and is full of knowledge.  His vegetables are sold to local restaurants and gross for more and three times what other organic farmers sell their goods. What does he do differently?  Pretty much everything.

We learned about double digging.  Are  you familiar with double digging?  Basically, you remove the top soil, fluff up the next layer of soil, and mix in some compost or leaf litter.  then put the top soil back on top.  This keeps the soil soft and airy.  Often what happens when we till, drive, and walk on our garden the ground underneath becomes very hard and all the mushroom roots are destroyed (necessary for nutrients and soil health).  By double digging oxygen is not introduced too rapidly to the soil, killing the nutrients, and the hard pan is not made, “harder”  After adding the top soil back, amendments are added to the ground, everybody’s is different.

We chose to use our tractors and only mix up the top soil, added some compost, mixed it all up again, then retested the soil.  All areas are in great shape, except nitrogen.  We will work on that more come fall.

Another thing we are doing this year is using straw.  Straw for the walk ways, straw between our raspberry rows, and straw over our potatoes.  The hope is to keep the weed population down (which we were told tilling wakes up the weed seeds…..)

This year we have added a row of tomatoes, and Japanese radish.

Yes, spring brings so many possibilities, new life, and warmth!

 

Retired. How do you make it work?

Dad, a Marine, who served his country for 30 years!  Mom and dad married for just over half that time.  We have moved all over the country and even lived in Japan.  When the time came for dad to retire we knew a few things: 1 – we did not want dad to have to get a job where he had to travel and be away from home and the young men that have been hand picked by God to be in our care.  2 – we wanted to live in the country where we could homestead. 3 – we did not want to start retirement with or incur extra debt. 4 – homeschooling is a priority so mom needed to be able to stay home to school the boys.

Was that asking too much?  We did not think so, but it did mean planning.   Often we hear comments  such as, “you must have deep pockets, you must be rich, you must be taking on a lot of debt, the military retirement must be great”. The reality is that we have never taken a loan, never will take a loan for anything unnecessary, that means improvement to the home, land, furniture, vacation, etc.  We feel credit card debt is equivalent to a loan.

What did we do to be stable when dad retired?

We never had new furniture, we just made do with ‘hand me downs‘ or used stuff from another Marine family who was moving.  We made our own repairs on vehicles, always had used vehicles until managed to save enough to buy a new or have at least half down, the focus on paying off the loan with more than the minimum payment due.  When we were still active duty, we never rented a home for more than our housing allowance, including utilities, this meant we did not always have new or fancy homes, but they were comfortable and we were not drowning in bills.  Whenever we could we opted to live on bases (this is a real money saver!) Monthly bills, i.e. phone, cable, electricity, gas, etc. can really add up if not careful…….we opted to have no cable at times, less options on phones, turn off electric suckers, etc.  Air conditioning can be nice, but can really spike an electricity bill…we would wait to use it (there are places it is necessary, places where you can survive without it….learned that living in Washington without a/c) Shhhh….this is sort of secret….when we were active duty, or just near a base during a prime moving season, the night before trash was a treasure to be found, so much stuff being purged, nice stuff too.  I say, sort of secret because the were many cars casing the trash piles, military wives know how to make it all work out…Semper Gumby!!!!

All that is great until the reality of retirement hits.  Pay is about half, medical..(I will refrain from the medical care soapbox right now) no more off the base resources, it all can take a toll.  We did plan ahead, saved, and did not incur debt.  What we also did was make sure to buy a home in an area we could afford to live within our means.  The repairs on the house (and many there were and are) have been done by us or bartered for with the exception of the electrical rewiring.  We do not drive new cars, mom does not get to have a pretty pink four wheeler, dads tractor was not new.  We make do with so many things, or defined a way to fix it.  One great example is our old jeep, the floor board were rotting so dad found old license plates and bonded them to the floor.  It worked great, it cost little.  The boys participate in some activities but they are in reason, and they get to work to earn the funds for some of the Boy Scouts camps.

Our fun and entertainment is usually free since we all like to be in the outdoors.

The biggest unexpected expense since retiring from the USMC was medical, so we plan for the extra expense by putting a little aside each month.

We do not live with new, but we are not suffering at all.  We are comfortable, we can afford to be generous, we are thankful for all God provides daily.

Friends, do not feel guilty if you do not participate in lots of extra activities.  Do not be embarrassed if you do not have a home of nice furniture, or matching dishes.  When you are being a good Stewart with what has been in trusted to you, when you are planning ahead, you will be blessed with peace, peace finically and from God.

Pumpkin sausage soup

This rainy cold  spring is making soup season continue on.  Soup is so comforting and homey.  Soup is a great way to get lots of veggies in the boys.  Soup makes me smile.

Today I had a hankering for pumpkin sausage soup……time to play in the kitchen…..around all the jars of maple syrup…

this soup turned out delicious, but no picture to share because I was not sure if it would taste great 🙂

Ok, so what I did.

Brown one pound of chorizo with one onion.  Chorizo is a Mexican sausage, either mild or ‘spicy’

Add one quart of chicken broth to the sausage mixture, let it pick up the brown stuff on the bottom, and come to an almost boil.  To this add one 14 oz can of plain pumpkin, again, let it warm thoroughly.  Add about one tablespoon curry powder, 1/2 tablespoon sage, and sprinkle of rosemary.  Mix up nice, then add a 1/2 can off coconut milk.  Let all the flavors get to know each other well in this hot tub.  You can add a handful of kale if desired.

Use your whiz whiz (aka handheld blender) to blend everything, but you don’t want a smooth purée

Serve hot with plain yogurt, cilantro, and crackers.

Ahh, warm to the bones….time for a nap!

Warm for your tummy kale soup

Warmth in a pot