{"id":3232,"date":"2013-05-23T16:10:21","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T20:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=3232"},"modified":"2013-05-23T16:10:21","modified_gmt":"2013-05-23T20:10:21","slug":"q-and-a-storing-homemade-pasta-canning-pickled-eggs-and-a-day-in-the-life-of-jackie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2013\/05\/23\/q-and-a-storing-homemade-pasta-canning-pickled-eggs-and-a-day-in-the-life-of-jackie\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A: Storing homemade pasta, canning pickled eggs, and a day in the life of Jackie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storing homemade pasta<\/strong><\/p>\n

I recently purchased a pasta machine at my local Goodwill Store. We tried it out this weekend and it made great spaghetti. Much tastier than the store bought stuff. The machine came with 3 versions of the dough: water with eggs, all eggs (we made this one), and water only. Then the question came up…What is the long-term storage time for pasta? Can dried pasta made with eggs be stored long term? (I have a dehydrator which would dry it faster if needed) Or, would it be best to use the water only version. If we get into this I intend to: vacuum pack it once it is dried. Store the vacuum packed pasta in the large metal popcorn tins or large glass jars to keep the bugs and mice out. The pasta would be stored in the pantry in the house where the temperature stays about 75 degrees <\/em><\/p>\n

Tim and Marti<\/em>
\nSurprise, Arizona<\/em><\/p>\n

Homemade pasta, correctly dried, will stay good for about 6 months in airtight storage. Commercial pasta often contains preservatives which make it last nearly forever. You can use the egg recipe, which is what I do. I find that my homemade pasta never lasts longer than a couple of months. Because we love it so much we eat it up sooner! Just dry it in your dehydrator so you are sure it quickly dries hard and brittle, then store it in airtight containers. If you have the ingredients around, which we always do, you can always quickly make another large batch to use fresh and replenish yours in the pantry. Your storage intentions will work out fine. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Canning pickled eggs<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wanted to check with you about canning pickled eggs. Is this still considered safe, or are eggs too “thick”? I have your recipe. And to waterbath for 25 minutes?<\/em><\/p>\n

Judith Almand<\/em>
\nBrandon, Florida<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, pickled eggs can up fine because of the vinegar and because there’s lots of liquid in the jar all around the eggs. Can away! — Jackie<\/p>\n

A day in the life of Jackie<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am sure you are chomping at the bit to get back outdoors and tackle all the many chores that are waiting for you. I hope that you are good as new within a short time and also free of pain. My question is for all of us older folks who are trying to live the good life on our land. How do you plan your day? What are your tasks that you do everyday and those you can put on hold? How do you prioritize and what does a day in the life of Jackie Clay look like? <\/em><\/p>\n

I find that I am getting only about 20 percent of my list done each day and wonder if this is just me or if others find that they run out of steam also. My motto is to slow down and enjoy life, not to be constantly rushing, so that I can savor each moment. Life is like a flower in the field. The wind passes over it and it is gone. Then I look around and see so much that is left untouched, unfinished, etc. Does this sound familiar?<\/em><\/p>\n

I am very excited about the August seminar and look forward to seeing you and Will again.<\/em><\/p>\n

Deborah Motylinski<\/em>
\nBrecksville, Ohio<\/em><\/p>\n

You know, Deb, I’m working on an article on that very same subject! But briefly, what I’ve found out is that often our to-do lists are just too long for reality. Age related problems or not! Sometimes we have to downsize for either physical or financial needs. At one time, I milked 100 goats. Today we have 12 does and we let the babies nurse on most of these. I had 32 milk cows. Now we have one. The priorities are the definite “musts” each day: feeding and watering the animals, harvesting crops when ripe. The other things just have to fit in between. On nice days we work outside mostly, pecking away on things we want to get more done (we don’t always “finish” a project once started, but instead we have several in the works all the time so when our back (or knee!) starts screaming, we switch to a less physical chore. For instance, I’ll plant onions for half an hour then hoe for half an hour. Ouch! So I jump (well, okay, crawl…) on the riding lawnmower and mow the orchard or yard for half an hour, then rest and get back to something else that uses other muscles. (Like eating a buffet dinner!)<\/p>\n

I, too, love to enjoy each day; that’s what homesteading is all about! But often we’re caught up in the hurry and “musts” of getting a homestead going that we overburden ourselves.<\/p>\n

We’re also excited about the seminar and meeting many of our “old bunch” as well as newcomers whom we know will quickly become family! — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Storing homemade pasta I recently purchased a pasta machine at my local Goodwill Store. We tried it out this weekend and it made great spaghetti. Much tastier than the store bought stuff. The machine came with 3 versions of the dough: water with eggs, all eggs (we made this one), and water only. Then the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}