Taking Stock Part 2: Recipes for Dry Staples

Popcorn Tins of Christmas Past... great for storing baking ingredients!

     If you read Taking Stock Part 1: My Pantry Basics, ( previously posted), then you know that I make many of my own baking mixes and specialty flours. In my pantry you will find the popcorn tins of Christmas Past. These are generally free for me, as I receive them either as gifts, or ask friends and family for those they no longer need. I save them because they make excellent (and pretty) canisters for my flour, cornmeal, and other dry ingredients. Reusing them also keeps them out of the landfill, (always a bonus). Once made, my baking mixes get stored in the large tins, some of which may hold 20 to 25 pounds of flour and baking mix.
     I thought that you may be interested in sharing some of the recipes that I have collected for staples in my pantry so I have posted a few below. I am always updating with new recipes that I find to further my own efforts in self reliance. Hope you enjoy the post and recipes!

Taking Stock: My Pantry Basics

Canning for the pantry.

     While reading Amy Dacyczyn's "The Complete Tightwad Gazette", I observed the “Pantry Principle”, in which Amy describes her family's food supply. Many of the items are simple staple items, some are homemade, others bought in bulk. As I read I began to realize that she was describing my own pantry contents and that of everyone who has opted for a more simplistic way of living. This makes perfect sense because our goal in living simply overlaps with Amy's goal of living frugally. Many items that we once purchased in the stores we now make ourselves. Basic staples are the key components to a self-sufficient pantry. Basically, my pantry contains lots of baking ingredients, some canned goods bought from the “cheap” stores, (Save-A-Lot and Aldi's), and items that I make to help with meal preparation, like flavored vinegars, liqueurs, syrups and extracts, etc.

It's Turnip Time Again!

      Our turnip patch really surprised us last year. After the long months of drought earlier in the growing season, we had almost decided to turn everything under and retire for the year. Our little turnip patch almost wasn't. But then the rain began again and our enthusiasm was off and running... just like our turnip greens. The patch sprang to life, and soon we had more greens than I could manage. One small patch was enough to supply our household, my mom's house, my husband's parents and his three brothers, as well as my aunt and my cousin and his family with turnips and turnip greens. On the verge of Winter, the patch was still spitting out turnips at such a rate that everyone was about tired of messing with them. In fact, my brother actually said that he would be glad when the patch dried up and died. What a horrible thing to wish upon such a hard working little vegetable patch. :)

Turnip Green patch growing out by the chicken pen. (OMG! We need a new chicken pen!

     

Canning Up the Cranberry Sauce

     Another Thanksgiving is behind us, and while most are wondering what to do with all the leftovers, I am looking at all the beautiful jars in my pantry. I filled quite a few jars with all the good things that Autumn has to offer: cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, turnips, turkey stock, and turkey soup.
My cranberry sauce is so easy to make and easy to can up to enjoy all year. I began making my own when I was just setting up housekeeping 32 years ago. Since then, my family has come to expect homemade sauce. I can't remember the last time we opened a can from the store. Here is my recipe. It come to you straight off the bag.

Cranberry Sauce

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 (12oz.) bag cranberries

Combine water and sugar in a sauce pot. Heat to boiling; dissolve sugar completely. Pour in the cranberries, fresh or frozen, and allow to return to a boil. When the mixture has come to the point of a boil which can not be stirred down, stir to loosen the juice from the berries and be careful not to let the concoction boil over. This should be watched and boiled for about 10 minutes. You will notice that the liquid will begin to thicken slightly. This is the stage we have been waiting for.


Just before they begin to boil. How pretty is that?!

Homemade Buttermilk or The Never-Ending Milk Pail

Growing up in the country, you tend to learn things, whether intentionally taught or simply
 because you happened to be in the right place at the right time. Buttermilk is one of those 
lessons you learn by watching. To clarify, buttermilk is not the same thing as "sour milk". I get
a little irritated when ever I see a recipe that calls for buttermilk, but then says you may 
substitute sour milk. I can tell you now that you will not get the same result in your baking. 
First of all, sour milk is thin and runny, while cultured buttermilk is rich, thick, and creamy. 
 The textural difference will translate through whatever you are cooking.
 Sour milk is nothing more than milk that has had an acid, such as vinegar or lemon juice, 
added to curdle the milk. And while the original buttermilk is the thin liquid leftover from 
churning butter, this is not the buttermilk of which I speak. I am talking about cultured milk.
 The buttermilk that is purchased from the grocery store is a fine example. Our modern 
buttermilk is a cultured product that is far superior to the curdled drool of sour milk, both
 in texture and taste. 

Homemade Cultured Buttermilk and my Never-Ending milk pail.

My Cool Shaker Project

My pretty new flour shaker, filled and ready for baking day.

     It is early and I am at my computer composing an article to share with my blog readers. This can mean one thing and one thing only- I was struck with mammoth insight! I immediately pulled out my scrap paper box, (doesn't everyone have a scrap paper box?), my glue and scissors, and then headed straight for the hall closet where my cleaning supplies are stored. I knew that I had saved a Parmesan cheese container with the intentions of making a carpet scent shaker. But what was a scent shaker compared to my brilliant idea de'jour? That's right- Nothing!

Best Bread Machine Rolls I ever Ate!

      This week is getting off to a slow start. I have been concentrating on cleaning up clutter and I fully intended to get an early start on the basement since my boys are away for a few days. The trouble is Pinterest called out to me, and since I was alone for a change, I couldn't help but play a little. Three hours later... Okay, it's true I am a Pinterest-aholic, but I am in recovery. I just needed to find a recipe for my bread machine, and wham! I was in so deep that I lost all track of time! I seriously need a computer chastity belt!
    In all seriousness, I found the perfect recipe for my bread machine... Bread Machine Rolls! These rolls are so good and so easy to make that I make them almost daily. I was never a fan of the bread machine, and Hubby thinks that the bread is awful compared to the hand-kneaded loaves that I usually bake. I actually got into a debate with a friend over using a bread machine. I was so hardcore homestead that I couldn't see her point, that these machines are convenient for working folks. And I do declare, I was stubborn back then. When I went to work in the corporate world, I missed homemade bread, so I broke down and bought a used bread maker at Goodwill for $15. No, I did not fall instantly in love, in fact the machine went into the closet and until recently hadn't seen the light of day for quite some time. But then I found this recipe for Buttery Bread Machine Rolls on Positivelysplendid.com and pulled my bread maker from the mothballs to give it a try. Everyone- hubby, my children, and all four cats agree that these are some of the best rolls they have ever eaten! The reason? Well, they are light and yummy, of course! And I can set the machine to make dough, go wash the dishes and tidy the house, then  bake the dough in my oven instead of the machine itself. Everyone is happy and we have home baked bread every night with dinner. There you have it. The bread machine as a time and labor saving devise. Works for me! Now on to the dough!

Best Bread Machine Dinner Rolls I ever tasted!

Welcome To Orchard Slope

Here's Lucy!

 

      Hello everyone and welcome to the homestead! This land has been in our family for about 100 years, (give or take). Over the years it was parceled out to various family members, either through inheritance or, as we have done, through purchase. The place is in really bad shape at the moment. The fences posts are rotten and the wire is broken down. It has been allowed to grow up in tall grass, and the house needs such an overhaul that I don't even want to show a photo for fear that the authorities may condemn it! Maybe later on I will show bits of progress as we mend the house, but not at the moment.

Tall grass swallows up the blackberries and the pump house.

     Orchard Slope is not the original name of the farm. It never had an official name before we bought it. But I am a huge fan of the book series "Anne of Green Gables", and I just loved the name of the farm belonging to Anne's neighbor and friend Diana. The name Orchard Slope also seemed to fit our little place quite perfectly, as the property slopes downward into a hollow. As we clear away brush, we intend to plant fruit trees. We began that process last year. As the land becomes manageable and the orchard thrives and becomes larger, we truly will have an actual sloped orchard. Life imitating art? Works for me!
   
      From day one we knew what we wanted the place to be: a place for us to make our home; a sustainable homestead, fully equipped with a vegetable garden, herb garden, and orchard, and a barnyard for raising rabbits, fowl, and other small stock; a heritage home to pass to our children someday. Big dreams and a lot of sweat and cash to make it happen.
     We started our garden last year in the same spot that my father always planted his. As a result, we had a pretty good turn out of corn, cabbages, turnips and turnip greens. Not living on the homestead at the moment, we chose vegetables that could manage without us for the most part. Every weekend all summer long, we made the pilgrimage to the garden to work the soil and tend the plants. We had approximately 200 pounds of cabbage that was worked up into sauerkraut and frozen, bagged cabbage quarters, and enough corn on the cob to last two years! It was a good harvest for people who are absentee farmers!

My husband , Chris, tending our small garden.

Cabbages abound! We got off to a good start.

The little garden is at rest now, but there is plenty of turnips and greens still coming in. I can't wait for the next growing season, when we sink the little seeds into the soil and usher them toward maturity. The rewards they bring to us are amazing! Thanks for visiting Orchard Slope. I hope you'll come again soon!

Traveling at the seed of life.