Pickles, Soap, and Chicks

Problem: Our garden is producing enough veggies to eat for meals, but not enough to can in vast quantities all in one day.

Solution: We preserve just a few mason jars at a time.

Exhibit A:

I pulled 5 cucumbers from the garden yesterday. Not nearly enough for traditional canning methods. I created my own recipe last year and our family LOVES it. Besides tasting delicious, it is sooo easy to make and there is very little cooking involved and no canning necessary, either.

I heat 3 3/4 cups each of vinegar and water and dissolve 3/8 cups of canning salt into it and remove it from the heat. I like crunchy pickles, so I don't want the cucumbers to cook in the brine. Meanwhile, I slice my cucumbers into 1/4 inch slices. I add these, 2 heads of dill, 2 cloves of garlic (sliced in chunks), and 1/4 tsp Cayenne (to taste, really) to a mason jar. I pour the luke-warm vinegar mixture to cover the contents, leaving about 1/2 inch head room in the jar and cover with a lid. Most of the time, I find that these lids seal without any further processing. Even when they don't, the pickles are preserved in vinegar and salt, I feel that mine are safe to eat. (If you prefer to process them in a canner, you should.) The pickles are ready to eat in 2 days, but get better the longer they sit. What I love the most about these is that they start out tasting like garlic dill pickles and finish with a little spicy kick. The pickles stay nicely crisp. It is so simple, I can easily preserve just a few jars at a time as our cucumbers are ready to be picked. ♥

 

Sometime in the next few days, we will tackle our first batch of canning ♪ Salsa ♪ of the season. I am excited about this prospect. It feels like I have been waiting all summer for this... because. I. have. Spicy, delicious, home made salsa. Oooooh yeah. Sean and I spent a little time last night to pick the tomatoes and peppers we are going to use. We decided to pick some of the tomatoes even though they were still green on the vine because it seems lately that if we wait for them to fully ripen, the various bugs spoil them or they split open. I placed our pickings into a brown paper bag and stored them in a cool, dry, dark place to ripen over the next few days. When the tomatoes ripen, the salsa making will commence!

 

The soap came out really well. I love that it leaves my hands feeling soft for a long time after I have used it. I am definitely going to purchase two more soap molds because I think I prefer the clean, shiny, finished look of the ones that were molded in them. I like the homey look of the bars I cut and shaved into the traditional shape and size of soap, but I am not sure there is a market for these. The four bars in the top left corner are what the raw cut soaps look like. The lower two on the left are bars that I carved and smoothed out with a knife. I wrapped one in handmade paper and sealed it with a sticker. "E" to mark those with the eucalyptus scent. The four bars on the right were made with the soap mold. These are cucumber melon scented and look much more "finished". I would love your feedback on these.

Specifically:

 

1- Do you prefer the unfinished or finished bars?

2- Are the simple paper wrapping attractive?

3- How much would you expect to pay for a bar of hand made, goat's milk soap like the ones pictured?

 

I would love to get your opinion on the finished product. The soap needs to cure for 4 weeks so that when it is used, it doesn't melt away. The soap I will sell, will be aged for the full time recommended. But, I have 10 sample sized cubes of the eucalyptus soap, which I would love to send out for some of you to try out. If you are interested in receiving one, please request one via a comment on this post. I will honor the first 10 sample requests received. The samples will be provided free of charge and mailed to you, but I do respectfully ask that after you try the sample, you will share your honest opinion on the product. I will create a post on the blog specifically for you to leave your comments and improvement suggestions. ♥

 

Broody Wyandotte is proving to be as good a mother as Broody Barred Rock hen and better than the incubator! We now have 12 fluffy, peeping chicks living in the brooder inside the living room. I think I wrote you about checking the eggs inside the incubator already; how they are alive and developing, but seem to be younger than the ones from the nests outside. After 2 more chicks were hatched today, Sean and I candled the remaining 3 eggs in the outside nest. They are also alive and look suspiciously similar to those in the incubator. That being the case, Sean and I returned all 6 developing eggs to under Broody Wyandotte with the hopes that she will hatch the remaining chicks safely and naturally. The hens have a 12/20 hatch rate or 60% hatch rate as things stand now. If the other 6 hatch, that would increase the hatch rate to 90%- really Excellent, by any standards. ♥

How Cute Are THESE ????

 

I'm glad you stopped by for a visit.

Sonja ♥

 

 

Jam... Out!

I posted HERE about picking strawberries with Kristen and Meaghan. I attempted to make strawberry jam, but since I refused to add FOUR CUPS of SUGAR to a mere two cups of fruit, the pectin did not have enough sugar to bond with and my jam did not set. Not one to throw away my delicious concoction, I froze the tubs anyway and called it Strawberry Topping, figuring this would be perfect for strawberry shortcakes, as topping for home made ice cream, or mixed into oatmeal or fresh yogurt.

On our trip to South Carolina, Sean and I bought a box of fresh peaches, which were just about the most delicious, juiciest fruit I have ever eaten. I was determined to attempt to make jam with what fruit survived our eating them on the drive home. I followed the recipe on the sugar free pectin box. I could live with 2 1/2 cups of sugar in this recipe. But, the plastic tubs did not set again. Hmmm....

The girls and I went strawberry picking again on Tuesday. We picked nearly 25 pounds of fruit. Some we gifted, much I froze into more shortcake topping, but I wanted to attempt some jam again. I tried to religiously follow the directions on the box, but I could not, COULD NOT add the requisite 4 cups of sugar. Two cups of sugar made the fruit into a crystallized, grainy mass, which even when it dissolved was soooo super-sweet. I added the gelatin mixture since I had gone through the process of preparing it and filled my plastic tubs with the results. It had a better consistency than my first attempt, definitely thicker, but it still was not gelled perfectly.

So, it is at this point that I decided that jam making was not for me. I would need to stick with creating wonderfully delicious shortcake and ice cream topping and oatmeal and yogurt dressing, instead. These all carefully frozen to preserve and living in my freezer.

I did take some time yesterday to look up some non-pectin using recipes and they look promising. I think when the raspberries ripen, I will give it another try.

In other news, I bought some vegetable rennet, mesophilic culture, and lipase at the local natural food center. Tonight, with a gallon of fresh goat's milk waiting, I am planning on making either true chevre or feta and ricotta cheeses with the help of Sean. I can't wait to try. And, of course, I will let you know how it goes!

Have a great day!
Sonja ♥