Fall Projects

 Fall is a busy time of the year. The leaves are beautiful when they display their colors but piled up on my decks, sidewalks and doorways not so much. Daily cleaning with the blower and raking and collecting the leaves to feed the many compost piles is quite a chore. Picking up hickory nuts to keep them from being slung through a window by the mower is another chore. I did manage to get Gypsy my little Scottie bathed and clipped and performed a bumble foot surgery on one of the duck hens. Patient and doctor are recovering nicely. Geez the hats I wear sometimes are just mind blowing.

I have been concentrating on dehydrating frozen fruit to clean out the freezer some. Jars of dehydrated okra, figs and herbs put in jars removing the oxygen with oxygen absorbers or my vacuum sealer. I reuse lids for these and have never had a problem. 

Dehydrated figs are addictive. 

Dehydrated okra is not only great for soups and gumbos but makes a nutty snack out of hand.

I got the last of my retired laying hens butchered and canned in chicken broth. Now all I have are my new batch of young Buff Orphington pullets. These young hens should be laying within the next month or two and I will just have to make do with duck eggs for a bit.  My chicken house and duck house are cleaned out and fresh bedding applied. 

SO I am going into fall with ever growing compost piles, the fall garlic planted, the fall butchering done and canned, and my dehydrating knocked out. I have started gathering and drying okra seeds and my other vegetable seeds are now dried and in the freezer. 

My project for the day is canning blackberry pie filling with a couple gallon of frozen blackberries. O Wise One is cleaning and getting walnuts ready to crack. We did not get a great walnut harvest this year probably due to low rainfall but a few for holiday baking will be nice. 

With the wood shed full winter heat is prepped. While we have a gas furnace we always stockpile firewood for those power outages that seem to always pop up when you least expect them.  So we go into the season knowing that we have done all we can to prepare ourselves for the upcoming winter. While the nation struggles we seem to have worked out the food and heat dilemma for the time being. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Dehydrating Figs

I have 6 fig trees now here in the holler. Three are the variety Chicago Hardy and the other three are an unknown variety gifted from a friend. Some winters they freeze all the way to the ground and some years they don't but they always come back and every year they are bearing more and more figs. The picture above is of an ordinary size fig on the bottom and the huge size figs I get off the unknown variety on top. It does not turn dark purple like the Chicago Hardy nor do I think it tastes as sweet but the greenish unknown variety can get HUGE! They usually start getting ripe by August and bear until the frosts of October. There are always figs on the trees though that do not have a long enough season to ripen before frosts but I always get enough for my family so I am happy. 

 

I have 4 large gallon bags of figs frozen for fig jam or preserves that I will take out and do once things slow down but for now I am dehydrating figs daily. I simply slice them thin and dehydrate until rubbery which if I pick early in the morning they are done before I go to bed at night. They end up so sweet that way and are great as snacks or in trail mixes but our favorite way to use them is to add them to our refrigerator oats with some maple syrup or local honey and almond milk.   

Figs and blueberries have become my easiest and best producing fruits. No diseases or pests problems for me and fruit production grows every year. No spraying, easy to propagate and mine require very little pruning. I used to wrap them in winter when they were young but now that they are established I just let winter do what it will and I haven't lost one yet. And for some reason the birds don't even mess with them much maybe because there is so much other stuff to eat like elderberries. Boy they love them. 

I keep my dried figs in Rubbermaid containers until I get enough then I move them to Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. I have in the past also stored them in Mason jars with oxygen absorbers. 

I will warn you though that dehydrated figs are awfully addictive . 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Dehydrating Mashed Sweet Potatoes

 

Other than just consuming my sweet potatoes baked this is one of our favorite ways to consume sweet potatoes other than maybe pie. I simply put the sweet potatoes in the oven and bake them. Then peel the potatoes and mash just like making mashed potatoes. I add apple juice if they need a little liquid and I add to also add cinnamon and maple syrup and then run my immersion blender through them. You do what your family likes to taste. Then I spread the mashed potatoes out on parchment paper on my dehydrator trays and dry like fruit leather only drier. At the end I take it off the parchment paper and let it finish drying to a point it can be broken into small pieces. 

The sweet potato pieces are in the jars in the above picture. You can easily take out small pieces and just let them melt in your mouth. We personally like to add them to our refrigerator oatmeal again. A great source of potassium. They can also be reconstituted as just plain mashed sweet potatoes or used in bread, pies and casseroles. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Heavy Hitter Okra

 

Another overachiever in my garden this year has been the okra. I tried a new variety to me called Heavy Hitter from seeds I purchased 2 years ago from the farmer in Alabama that developed this okra. In the past I have traditionally grown Cajun Cowhorn variety and also Clemson Spineless.  Cajun Cowhorn is an heirloom variety that my parents grew in Louisiana when I was a child and the great thing about that variety is that the pods stay soft and edible even when very large. Heavy Hitter is a variety developed by a farmer over many years by selecting the best producing Clemson Spineless plants in his garden and saving seeds from those specific plants. It is known to be an extremely heavy producer and has lived up to it's name. I see it is available now at Bakers Creek Seeds if anyone is interested in trying it. I will say that it has produced spectacularly for me. We did have an extremely cool spring and it was slow to get started but once started it will produce now till frost. I found the seeds just a tad expensive at first but now save my own so have plenty for years to come. I also maintain a supply of Cajun Cowhorn seeds as well. 

Like any other okra Heavy Hitter makes a beautiful yellow Hibiscus type flower and a large bush. My okra in the garden and around the place tucked here and there are between 8 to 12 feet and some are 4 foot wide so give them plenty of room to grow. They also like rich soil and produce well in heat and even dry conditions to a point. I like to cut my okra pods  from 3 to 5 inches in length so that they are good and tender. 

Right now I am averaging about a gallon of okra a day. I have frozen about 40 vacuum bags with 4 cups each now in the freezer. This we love just tossed with olive oil and sea salt and roasting in the oven.  I have also canned okra and tomatoes in jars for making a dish that starts with a traditional roux with shrimp and onions served over rice. It is just okra, tomatoes and onions in the jars. I also use this in soups as well and sometimes gumbos. I have also frozen okra breaded for frying. 

So for now we are dehydrating okra. My husband eats it straight out of the container as a snack because it takes on somewhat of a nutty flavor. Dehydrated okra will eventually once I am finished go into Mylar bags with an oxygen absorber and be stored in food grade buckets with gamma lids. This way it should keep for years as long as it is dried completely crunchy. Rehydrated okra can be used roasted, in soups or even breaded and fried. It all works and no slime! 

There is also a pickled okra recipe under canning recipes above if you want to give that a try. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Turkey Tetrazzini and December Musings

 Well Thanksgiving has passed and December has been busy. The grandchildren are all back home and the house is again quiet and peaceful. I got the Christmas tree up and the leftover turkey has become frozen turkey tetrazzinis. They should make great meals for us when I am not in the mood to cook. 

Turkey Tetrazzini

1 box 16 oz. pasta (spaghetti or linguini )

3 cups turkey or chicken

2 cans cream of mushroom soup ( I use homemade )

1 cup chicken broth ( or turkey)

1 cup sour cream

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

1 cup mushrooms sliced and sautéed in butter

1/4 stick butter

2 cups grated cheddar

Parmesan

Pepper and salt to taste

1. Cook pasta el dente
2. Sauté mushrooms in butter
3. Mix chicken broth, soups, sour cream, peas, cooked mushrooms, shredded cheese and salt and pepper in large bowl. 
4. Mix in pasta and chicken
5. Put in 2 greased 8X8 pan or one 13X9 pan
6. Top with parmesan cheese and cover with aluminum foil greased with butter to prevent cheese sticking. 
7. Freeze at this point or bake in 350 degree preheated oven for 1 hour. Allow to sit once cooked to stiffen up. If frozen allow to defrost in fridge overnight before baking. 

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here is a link to making your own cream of mushroom soup. I dehydrate or can mushrooms for this use. 

https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a79484/homemade-condensed-cream-of-mushroom-soup/

Christmas is the time of year that I take advantage of the holiday sales to restock my pantry and this year has been no exception. I have refilled the containers of sugars and baking supplies to hopefully last well into 2022. I found a great sale on some bags of chunked pineapple and bought 8 pounds. Once home I dehydrated them for snacking food. We love dried fruits and they store so well. 

It's as simple as putting the sliced fruit and trays and dehydrating until rubbery kind of like raisins. 

It took about 12 hours to completely dehydrate and then I simply let it cool and put in jars. 

Made a half gallon of blueberry brandy and put it on to age. We are still picking out walnuts. My gosh we got a bumper crop this year but probably won't get a nut next year. That seems to be the way that works. 

So like the squirrels we continue to stash our nuts and wait for spring taking advantage of a warm day here and there to catch up on garden cleanup, mulching and pruning jobs. We are not going anywhere this Christmas or expecting much company as "O Wise One" is fighting a severe case of bronchitis. So for this holiday the aim is quiet, restful and easy. We will make our usual end of year donations to the local fire and rescue and the local humane society in the spirit of the season. 

We were extremely fortunate to have missed the extreme weather and tornadoes of late. Although we did wake to tornado sirens and sought cover we were at the very edge of the weather and escaped any real harm. Our hearts do just break for those out there who have lost loved ones and property as well. We will hold you in our hearts and wish that you find peace with your losses. We pray for recovery and rebuilding for our northern neighbors. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

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I can also be found at

https://thebackfence.freeforums.net/

Dehydrated Elderberries

 

I have been cleaning out my freezer and still had a couple bags of elderberries in there to do something with. I decided to dehydrate them for tea. In the future I want to develop a recipe for canned elderberry pie filling and also experiment with some elderberry cordial or some sort of elderberry liqueur. But that is another day. I just had my first crop last year. But my bushes are huge and loaded this year and the crop looks promising. 

So I pulled out my berries and had to come up with a way to keep those little berries on my dehydrator tray screens without having to chase down little blue bb's when they shrunk after dehydrated. 

So I took parchment paper and cut the corners and took a paper clip and fastened it. Worked GREAT!!!

I just took the dried berries and put them in jars with oxygen absorbers. I can rehydrate these and cook down for syrup or pie filling but mostly I make tea with them. Just add a teaspoon or two to a teabag.

Elderberries have been such a wonderful addition to our gardens Easy to grow, easy to propagate, easy to preserve. And even better than that disease and pest free.

Blessings from the Holler

The Canned Quilter

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I can also be found at 

https://thebackfence.freeforums.net/

Tomato powder

I have a new love in my life. Tomato powder. How have I missed this ?  

Simply dehydrate tomatoes, peels or even the left over mush after straining tomato products.

Run it through a blender.

And like magic I have tomato powder. 

Throw it in a pot for some extra tomato zing. Add hot water or broth for a cup of hot tomato soup. Oh the possibilities! 

 

Everyone in the path of this storm stay safe. Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.

https://thebackfence.freeforums.net/forum

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Making Garlic Powder

Bottom line if it's empty refill it. My garlic powder spice jars in the cabinet were empty but instead of making a mad dash to the supermarket I looked to my stored food. Hanging in the pantry was fresh garlic so I went through it looking for any that looked as if it might have a blemish, soft spot or discoloration or seem to be drying out. Those cloves were peeled and sliced for the dehydrator. 

For those of you that buy garlic powder from the grocer once you taste it home ground you would never buy it again. It has so much more flavor.

It's really rather simple.....Just dehydrate

Then I ran it through the blender for the consistency that I want. 

Then I sift out the larger pieces and use those as minced garlic. 

The finer stuff I use as granulated garlic. 

Problem solved. I do the same with onions. Have some that are sprouting or getting past their prime. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Questions And Answers

Many times during the week I get questions from my readers and I need a little more space than just a comment square so I thought I would share the answers with everyone. I think that these questions are good ones for everyone to be able to read and many do not go back and reread the posts to see those answers. I think I will start a weekly Q & A post. 

SueSeptember 18, 2013 at 7:54 AM

Can you please tell me how you season your spaghetti sauce? I am making tomato sauce for the first time as we have had an abundance of tomatoes this year. After cooking them down and blending them I am freezing unseasoned except for a little lemon juice for color. When I thaw I need a foolproof seasoning and I have learned soooo much from you and although there are a million recipes out there, I would like one from someone I know and trust! Thank you so much for all you do on your blog!




I can my tomato sauce unseasoned also. I add a touch of salt and lemon juice to my jars. Once I open a jar then I add what my family likes. I have never met 2 families that like spaghetti sauce the same way. You have to season it like your family likes it.  As for me personally I use some basil either frozen in olive oil cubes or dried from my pantry, same with oregano. My family also are huge garlic eaters. We put garlic in everything. I also think a little sugar helps to bring out the tomato taste. My family are really purists. They like chunks of onions sauteed and peppers either roasted and frozen or fresh frozen and sauteed in olive oil. I leave my veggies whole but you can also run your immersion blender through the veggies and puree them into the sauce. I usually add browned turkey or venison and homemade Italian sausage.

If you are looking for a set recipe I do not have one. I am not that kind of cook. Every herb is different depending on how I preserved it, the garden conditions that year and when I picked it and even what variety. So many variables. Some years my tomatoes are sweeter than others.

I saute my meat. Then my vegetables. Add my tomato sauce from jars and then start adding my seasonings about a 1/2 teaspoon at a time. Let it simmer on super low for about an hour and taste. If you need to add more seasonings then add another 1/2 teaspoon. Be very careful though because remember you can not take anything out.

I like to let my sauce set in the refrigerator for about 24 hours and then serve as I find the herbs and spices are mellowed by then and the taste is much better.

In Cajun Louisiana they get really creative with spaghetti sauce. You can find chicken spaghetti, pork chop spaghetti and even alligator or frog back spaghetti. Anything can be cooked down with that traditional red sauce that we associate with spaghetti.

My first husbands grandmother ( from Italy) cooked her spaghetti sauce it seemed for days. She always made from scratch and dried ricotta cheese to grate over the top and dropped eggs into her sauce. Her sauce was to die for!

At the risk of repeating myself. Find what your family likes, develop it and stick with it. For me recipes are guidelines to making something but not set in stone. I think so many cooks are afraid to experiment and truly make a recipe their own.

AprilSeptember 16, 2013 at 11:45 PM

Can you tell us more about your vacume sealer??

 April my present Vacuum sealer is a FoodSaver V840. This is actually the second sealer that i have owned. years ago we bought our first sealer from Walmart. After a short period of time it ceased to work. It was still under warranty so my husband called Foodsaver. They said that the model that we had bought was made exclusively for Walmart and had some sort of problem from the factory. So they sent us this machine as a replacement. It has held up fine for many ears now with very few problems. And my sealer does get a workout. It is used 12 months out of the year and many months used very hard especially around harvest and butchering time.  It is by no means a fancy or expensive machine but just a middle of the road everyday model. 

JaniceSeptember 18, 2013 at 6:28 PM

What a fabulous post. I especially like your recipe for apple pie filling. I've never seen clear jell, can you suggest an alternative?

ClearJel is a type of corn starch that can be cooked with fruit as a thickener to make pie filling then recooked ( baked )  and keep it thick consistency yet remain shelf stable. You can find ClearJel online at Amazon.com. It does run about $8 a pound. 

As an alternative I get perma Flo from the Amish. It is a very similar product again made from corn starch and gives similar results.

Below is a link to using Perma Flo to make pie filling. Just use this technique with my recipe!

http://rurification.blogspot.com/2013/09/making-pie-filling-with-perma-flo.html

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Bagging Produce And Weekly Tally

Well another week has passed here on the homestead. We received quite a rain storm  Thursday night into Friday with hard rain, lightning and thunder. The soil needed the moisture so much because it has been so dry for the last couple weeks. 

I want to thank everyone for all those wonderful  birthday wishes! Oldest daughter Fred and her husband barbecued in the back yard and invited us over for dinner and cake. Hank loves any excuse for cake.  She and her family bought me new cordless phones. Guess they got tired of the old ones and the static and bad reception. The old one had been dropped so many times by the grandchildren it is a wonder it worked this long. Now I may have to return to college to figure out how to hook the thing up and program it!

It has been a busy week in this blog hasn't it. We have canned tomatoes together and dehydrated vegetables, we have cried over books, baked cakes and now it is time for me to take my weekend rest. 

We are so glad you have come along for our journey this week.

As an update on Baby O she is doing better. It has been a chore with all the tests but we know they are necessary. She has had stress tests and seen a cardiologist from the city. We still are not sure what happened but she seems on the road to recovery. But now she has developed what looks like strep throat. Yuck....sure hope O Wise One and I don't get it.    

O Wise One and I have begun to bag up all the produce we have been dehydrating lately. It seemed as if every surface in this house either had seeds drying, dehydrated produce or canned goods waiting for me to find a place to put up. It was starting to get deep : )

I love dehydrating my vegetables because they are so easy to store. Many times they are stored simply in jars or vacuum bags either sealed with the vacuum sealer or an oxygen absorber or both.

It is amazing to see pounds of carrots reduced down to just a few bags but a wonderful space saver.

This is the time of year that I like to experiment with the dehydrator seeing different ways that I can dehydrate those end of the year small and varied harvests.

These particular batches were all put into vacuum bags and sealed. From here they will go into a giant rubbermaid tub with a lid. Once there protected from sunlight, moisture and pests. The tub will be stored in the pantry on the floor under a shelf. The small bags can be opened as needed and should fit into pint jars. Once consumed then just open another bag. Sealed out of sunlight these bags of vegetables should last for years.  

And it is definitely lots cheaper than buying those little bottles of dried herbs or dried fruit. 

Weekly Tally

2 quart bags dried cantaloupe
2 quart bags dried watermelon
8 one  cup bags dehydrated sliced carrots
12 pints canned sliced carrots
7 half cup bags dehydrated green peppers
2 half cup bags dehydrated green onions
17 packages frozen rabbit pieces
4 gallon bags frozen rabbit loin
22 quarts  canned tomato sauce

Our harvests are definitely slowing down and it feels good not to get up each morning looking at mountains of produce. It feels like I have got something accomplished though every time I open my freezer or walk in my pantry.

That is not to say that putting food by is over, really it is quite the opposite. Once you start living this lifestyle you get into the habit of always having an eye out for things to extend your pantry and food supply so canning becomes a year round endeavor just not at the level that it happens this time of year from the gardens. Next should be potatoes and onions and then apples. 

Well this is another week down and hope your weekend is safe and enjoyable. See ya on Monday "if the good lord's willin and the creek don't rise".

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter