\u00a0Fortunate, for sure.\u00a0 Lucky?\u00a0 Maybe.\u00a0 Or maybe it’s just that he’s always been with his dad and I, wanting to “help” with whatever we were doing.\u00a0 And since he was a little kid, maybe two years old, he wanted to be “big” and work with us.\u00a0 Sure it was easier to do it ourselves without a kid tagging along, getting in the way.\u00a0 But it was fun, too.\u00a0 Sure we had to re-do his “work” when he wasn’t looking.\u00a0 And yes, it took longer to have him “help” us.\u00a0 But would I have changed a thing.\u00a0 No way!<\/p>\n
![\"little-david-with-hammer-001-copy.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/little-david-with-hammer-001-copy.jpg\" "\\"little-david-with-hammer-001-copy.jpg\\"")
I just ran across these pictures that are so much alike, down to the red fiberglass handled hammer and thought they told a wonderful story.\u00a0 David is still using that red handled hammer, albeit a little less red and a whole lot more worn.\u00a0 He used it after his dad died and I was going through cancer surgery two years ago to help build our house.<\/p>\n
And in doing that, he also learned a whole lot of life skills; masonry, carpentry, log building, roofing, electrical work and plumbing.\u00a0 Now we have a bulldozer; a new tool.\u00a0 And he’s busy “playing” with it and also learning to run it very well.\u00a0 So far he’s leveled a garage\/shop site, widened our trail to the horse pasture, dug a water hole for the horses, cleaned two fence lines and dug up a sand pit to repair holes on our road with.<\/p>\n
I don’t know what David will end up doing for a career.\u00a0 But he has the beginnings of a whole lot of choices of marketable skills and that’s always a plus.\u00a0 And he’s learned work ethic along with how to actually enjoy working.![\"david-with-hammer-001-copy.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/david-with-hammer-001-copy.jpg\" "\\"david-with-hammer-001-copy.jpg\\"")
<\/p>\n
16-going on 17 boy, going with friends to high school sports and dances.\u00a0 He has a bigYes, he plays video games….for a few minutes in the evening.\u00a0 Yes, he’s your typical speaker in his truck that throbs his arrival.\u00a0 But I like to think that he’s different in that he’s learned to enjoy life….whether working or playing.\u00a0 And that’s something a whole lot of folks never do.\u00a0 Way to go David!<\/p>\n
I printed readers\u2019 questions below with my answers.<\/strong><\/p>\n Goat milk soap<\/strong><\/p>\n I recently bought a really nice goat milk soap and matching moisturiser at a farmer’s market but unfortunately that lady has since moved away. Now that I have a Saanen doe in milk, I’m wondering if you have ever run across good instructions for these sort of things. The only soap recipes I could find were not for goat MILK soap but for goat tallow soap [ erk ]. Also thanks so much for the yoghurt instructions. Haven’t tried ’em yet but am going too. Definitely.<\/p>\n Susan Castlemaine Is scorched tomato sauce really bad for canning? I just made some and unfortunately scorched the bottom. It does taste a little burnt but not so much as to be inedible. Is it possible to can or freeze Elaine Christian <\/em>Canning or freezing your scorched tomato sauce won’t make it worse….or better.\u00a0 Try simmering the sauce then adding a few peeled chunks of raw potato.\u00a0 This will sometimes absorb the scorched taste.\u00a0 Won’t work every time, but it’s worth a try.\u00a0 No, there’s really nothing that will disguise the taste. — Jackie<\/p>\n Tomato juice, bread, kraut<\/strong><\/p>\n Love your articles and need your help:<\/p>\n (1) TOMATO JUICE SEPARATES. I heat raw juice until hot, seal in jars, put into pressure canner, 11# for 20 minutes. When done and when cooled it stays separated, with tomato floating in top half of jar and water in bottom half. I shake before serving and it tastes good. How can I keep it from separating?<\/p>\n (2) WHITE BREAD HAS GRAINY TEXTURE. When I make bread in my bread machine (white flour recipe includes 1 egg), rolls or loaf bread is light but has grainy texture. How can I get smooth texture, like dinner rolls or store bought bread?<\/p>\n (3) Cabbage WONT FERMENT INTO KRAUT. I cut raw cabbage into quart jars, add 2 teasp.salt, cover cabbage with hot vinegar & water mixture (1cup vinegar to 1 Gal. water) and seal. Kraut should be ready in 2 wks. Other people use this simple recipe with success, but not me. My cabbage turns a slight pink color, continues to appear raw and never turns the kraut color (when salt & vinegar ferment cabbage into kraut). What am I doing wrong?<\/p>\n Mary Kyer To make your bread smoother and lighter, knead it more than once.\u00a0 But it won’t (thank God!) turn out like store bread.\u00a0 We call that gooshy bread around here.\u00a0 But Mom likes it.\u00a0 Go figure.<\/p>\n Pink sauerkraut is generally caused by a growth of yeasts on the surface of the kraut.\u00a0 These yeasts can grow when there is too much salt or it isn’t mixed well enough with the cabbage or if the kraut isn’t weighted or well covered by brine.<\/p>\n A reliable quart-at-a-time recipe is to sterilize quart jars.\u00a0 Cut the cabbage and press it down firmly into wide mouthed quart jars.\u00a0 Leave 1 inch of headroom.\u00a0 To each jar, add 1 tsp salt and 1\/2 tsp honey.\u00a0 Fill slowly with boiling water and insert a knife blade here and there to release air bubbles.\u00a0 Leave about 1\/2 inch of headroom and put the lid and ring on. Set the jars in a tub in a cool dark place.\u00a0 You want temperatures of about 65-70 degrees.\u00a0 Check the jars every few days.\u00a0 The juice will leak out of the jars.\u00a0 After about 6 weeks, the kraut should be cured.<\/p>\n Open the jars, wipe the rims well, then clean the lids and pour boiling water over them and let them sit in the hot water.\u00a0 Place lids on jars and screw down the rings firmly tight.\u00a0 Process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.\u00a0 Be sure your water bath has returned to a full rolling boil before you start counting your processing time. — Jackie<\/p>\n Finding affordable land<\/strong><\/p>\n Dismayed! I moved to northern Minnesota in May. Coming from 6 hours south I didn’t think the price of land would differ so much, boy was I wrong. My husband and I had a small 5 acre farm in southwest Minnesota and of course have no intention of ever living in town. As we look at places here are mouths and hearts drop a bit. The price is double what we paid for our place in SW Minnesota. I am wondering if there is a trick to finding and buying land up here so that a person can build and have their own homestead.<\/p>\n Cynthia Richardson But there still are places to be had if you don’t give up.\u00a0 But it will take work to find them.\u00a0 Call realtors, put ads in local shoppers, put up flyers, talk to people.\u00a0 You’ll probably have to settle on a “fixer-upper”, but I’ve always loved the challenge of fixing up a tired old place.\u00a0 They have character.\u00a0 And they can become a stepping stone to bigger and better things down the line, if you so desire.<\/p>\n Our 120 acre farm, 12 miles southeast of Moose Lake was purchased for $13,000 in 1972 and folks told us we’d paid too much!!!!\u00a0 This was with a big old barn, a farm house, fields and woods.\u00a0 Go figure.\u00a0 (They just sold the buildings and 40 acres for $129,000!!!) But keep at it and I’m certain you’ll find something you love for a price you can afford. — Jackie<\/p>\n Harvesting sunflower seeds<\/strong><\/p>\n I just logged on to your blog and love it. I need your advice about harvesting sunflower seeds. They really liked this hot dry summer. I think your donkeys are great. I would love to have one or two. Any pointers would be appreciated.<\/p>\n Christy I’m glad you like my donkeys.\u00a0 I love them.\u00a0 They’re so funny and smart.\u00a0 They came from parents adopted as wild burros from out west.\u00a0 They’re learning to stand tied now and pick up their feet.\u00a0 They ran wild with their mothers and were pretty wild when I got them. — Jackie<\/p>\n Potato canning<\/strong><\/p>\n Another potatoe canning question: I have a bumper crop of potatoes and would like to can some. Every recipe i’ve read says to peel them and I agree BUT when I dig them up and scrub them there is no peel left and I can’t tell where the peeler has been. What should I do peel them anyway or scrub them really well and go for it?<\/p>\n Susan Watts Jam gone bad?<\/strong><\/p>\n I took some jam I made out of the freezer and left it out 2.5 days then put it in the frig…hubby thinks we could get sick eating it …what do think.<\/p>\n Betty Hendricks Food dehydrator<\/strong><\/p>\n I was wondering if you have a food dehydrator. If you do, what kind would you recommend purchasing.<\/p>\n Kara Strahan Do not use a steam canner<\/strong><\/p>\n I was hoping you could give me some insight into a “new” (at least to me) canner I have been seeing advertised lately. It is a steam canner and is supposed to be used to can things a hot water canner does, but it uses less water and in turn less energy to accomplish the canning. I have copied and add for the “steam canner” below and wanted to see if you thing it’s safe and worthwile. For me the energy savings would be worthwhile (if the canner is safe) as the added heat and humidity the regular canner puts in the house sends the AC into overdrive- especially as the temps here in Central Alabama have hoovered in the 100’s the past couple of summers. I’d love to hear your take on the steam canner. Also, is there a way to can celery for later use as a cream of celery soup? I know you recommend that cream soups be canned as the veggie alone because the milk curdles, but my canning books only recommend drying the celery. Do you have any suggestions?<\/p>\n Lyn Ankelman Yes, you can home can celery.\u00a0 I do it all the time.\u00a0 I have right now, two nice rows of celery growing in the garden, just waiting to be canned.\u00a0 It’s so convenient to have half pints of celery on the pantry shelves!<\/p>\n To can it, wash and trim off tough leaves and the bottoms.\u00a0 Cut into pieces.\u00a0 Cover with boiling water and boil 3 minutes.\u00a0 Drain, reserving the liquid.\u00a0 Pack into jars, add 1\/2 tsp salt if desired and cover with hot liquid, leaving 1 inch of headspace.\u00a0 Process pints and half pints at 10 pounds pressure for 30 minutes.\u00a0 Very quick and easy and so handy later on! — Jackie<\/p>\n Vacuum sealer<\/strong><\/p>\n I have a few of those ‘seal a meal’ vacuume sealers. I really like how they work and would like to know if you have any experiance with them. I would specifically like to know if you, or anyone, has used them for ‘canning’. I would like to make up large batches of soup, stew, chili, veggies, Etc. seal them up, put them in a pressure cooker and then put them on my pantry shelf the same as canned Mike Wright Canning grape juice<\/strong><\/p>\n Can you can grape juice with the seed……maybe by using a vitamixer to crush the seed and then straining it and canning it? If grageseed is so good for us, I really don’t want to waste it!!!!<\/p>\n Amy M. Hoffman Oily canning jars<\/strong><\/p>\n I was just canning some chicken in wide mouth pint jars and it happened again and I do not know why. The jars are oily from the chicken fat but I do not can the fat just with the broth that I cooked the chicken in and I left the 1 inch headspace and I am concerned that the oil may have gotten under the lid.. In the past when this has happened the jars were fine and when I opened them Michelle Chapin Canning recipe with gravy<\/strong><\/p>\n You are a font of practical information! I’m new to canning and having an absolute blast! My husband is a trucker who’s gone 3-4 weeks at a time, and really enjoys being able to take home Kelly Evans Canning cheese<\/strong><\/p>\n I seem to remember an article you wrote waaaay back (in my younger days) about canning cheese? I was recently able to secure a LARGE quantity of Colby Jack, medium and sharp cheddar cheeses and would like to can them for future use. Can you please help as to the process? I thought it was via water bath, but I’d hate to lose all those pounds by doing something wrong. Also, any info on their shelf life would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much for your help and sharing your zest for all that life holds.<\/p>\n Mary et all However, I’ve read several articles by “experts” decrying this method, saying it could be a potential for botulism.\u00a0 Personally, I’m not convinced, but I must tell you of this.\u00a0 After all, how about aging cheeses for several months at a low room temperature????\u00a0 Wouldn’t want to put a beef roast out on the counter for that long…… — Jackie<\/p>\n Canning a homemade meal<\/strong><\/p>\n Being single I sometimes want to make something from a recipe serving 4 or 6 or the like, divide it up and freeze what I don’t eat right away. Do you know of any reliable way when reading a recipe to know if it can be frozen? I don’t like eating the same thing for several meals\/days in a row. I know I can probably duplicate somewhat things like beef pepper steak and rice that I see in the frozen food department but what about other things?<\/p>\n Molly R. Moody Grapes, grapes, grapes<\/strong><\/p>\n I was recently given the opportunity to purchase slip-skin grapes (I’m assuming they’re concord, but I suppose it doesn’t really make a difference either way) at $12 per large banana-box (I’m thinking Also, a lot of people I know make grape juice, which is not our preferred method of eating grapes, but is a lot easier. Most people just put the sugar and grapes at the bottom of quart jars, fill with Finally, several years ago I found (finally!) a pickle recipe that everyone loves. It’s ‘quick kosher dills’ from Carla Emery’s encyclopedia, and it uses lower temperature pasteurization (water temperature between 180 to 185 F). The recipe calls for pint jars, and a processing time of 30 minutes. Can I do quarts of this pickle recipe? Do I have to adjust how much time to process for larger jars?<\/p>\n Talitha Purdy To make grape juice, wash and remove the stems from your grapes, barely cover with water in a large kettle and heat slowly to simmering.\u00a0 You don’t want them boiling or they may scorch.\u00a0 Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until grapes are very soft.\u00a0 Strain through a bag and add 1\/2 c. sugar to each quart of juice, less if desired.\u00a0 Pour into clen jars to within 1\/2 inch of the top.\u00a0 Process for 15 minutes in a water bath canner.\u00a0 You can home can this juice without sugar if it is sweet enough for you.\u00a0 When you do this you can also use this juice to make grape jelly at a later date.<\/p>\n Sugar sometimes has to do with preservation, but it’s most often used for sweetening and making jelly and jam jell.\u00a0 There are now no-sugar and low sugar pectins that help with the sugarless jelling.\u00a0 You can put up food to your own tastes and preferences; there are recipes available.\u00a0 For instance, when you can peaches or other fruit, you don’t HAVE to use a sugar syrup; you can use straight fruit juice or even water.\u00a0 But the flavor is not the same as when you can with a light or medium syrup.<\/p>\n I have never used the lower-temperature pasteurization method in Carla’s book.\u00a0 I either bring my pickles just to boiling and seal them or else water bath my quarts for 15 minutes when canning “quick” pickles; i.e. pickles packed raw and having had boiling brine poured over them.\u00a0 Done this way and carefull timed, they come out nice and crunchy.\u00a0 — Jackie<\/p>\n Pickles too salty<\/strong><\/p>\n I just made my first one n a half gallons of Homemade Polish dill pickles. The ingredients included water, dill, garlic cloves, kosher salt, and the pickles. After three days, I snuck a taste, and it was saltier than I want. Is there anything I can add to my two enlarge pickle jars to cut down on the taste of the salt. ? Vinegar ?<\/p>\n Ginny Lattin Looking for a homesteader mate<\/strong><\/p>\n I’m a 28 and going on 30 year old man. I have been out of school for a bit now and am looking for a woman who is interested in homesteading and a rural life. I have high standards and am looking Aaron Winter \u00a0Fortunate, for sure.\u00a0 Lucky?\u00a0 Maybe.\u00a0 Or maybe it’s just that he’s always been with his dad and I, wanting to “help” with whatever we were doing.\u00a0 And since he was a little kid, maybe two years old, he wanted to be “big” and work with us.\u00a0 Sure it was easier to do it ourselves without […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37"}],"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=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nVictoria Australia
\n<\/em>
\nGoat milk soap is really easy to make, but the directions take up too much room for me to run this blog; as you can see, it’s gotten huge this run.\u00a0 But you can check out the website, candleandsoap.about.com.\u00a0 If you can’t get it, try going through goat milk soap.\u00a0 They have a nice site and have thorough directions for you.\u00a0 Basically you’re exchanging the goat milk for the water in the lye soap recipe; there are a few differences, though, so check out the site. — Jackie<\/p>\n
\nScorched tomato sauce<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nit still, or will it go bad? Are there any tricks that work well for disguising the burnt taste?<\/p>\n
\nVancouver, British Columbia<\/p>\n
\nWhite Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
\n<\/em>
\nMy tomato juice always separates during storage.\u00a0 That’s normal.\u00a0 Just shake it up before serving.<\/p>\n
\nMoose Lake Minnesota
\n<\/em>
\nUnfortunately, real estate prices took a sharp upward leap several years ago.\u00a0 I know because we were looking for land about at that time.\u00a0 Then (about 5 years ago), you could buy a 80 acre farm up here on the Iron Range, for about $69,000, with buildings.\u00a0 Now you would pay double for it!\u00a0 Ouch!\u00a0 I know what you mean.<\/p>\n
\nWilkesboro, NC
\n<\/em>
\nYou can begin harvesting your sunflower heads when the seeds look ripe and the petals start dropping off the head.\u00a0 Beat the birds to them, because they sure love sunnies!\u00a0 I tie some hay string around the stalk part of the head and hang them upside down, two at a pair, over a rafter in the dry basement or in an attic, away from birds and rodents.\u00a0 When they are nice and dry, I either hold the head in my lap over a big bread bowl and rub the seeds off or put a frame made of wood and heavy duty hardware cloth stapled to it, over a small barrel or even a wheelbarrow, lined with a clean sheet.\u00a0 You rub the seeds over the wire and it shuck them right off the head.\u00a0 To clean them, toss them up from a wide basket in a breeze.\u00a0 This will blow most of the chaff away, leaving clean seeds.<\/p>\n
\nYelm, Washington
\n<\/em>
\nSure, just scrub those new potatoes.\u00a0 You peel them because some potato skins are thick and tough or because people “just peel potatoes”.\u00a0 Personally I like potato skins and prefer not to peel mine; just personal preferences again. — Jackie<\/p>\n
\nSwartz Creek, Michigan
\n<\/em>
\nI don’t know the recipe you used, so I can’t tell you for sure.\u00a0 Generally, if a jelly looks fine, smells fine and tastes fine, it’s okay.\u00a0 But again, I don’t know what recipe you used, so I can’t say for sure. — Jackie<\/p>\n
\nAngola, Indiana
\n<\/em>
\nYes, I have 2 dehydrators.\u00a0 They are different brands but are basically the el cheepo round plastic dehydrators with stacking trays that are available at most chain discount stores and larger hardware\/farm supply stores.\u00a0 But like everything else, you get what you pay for.\u00a0 Mine do a very adequate job for me, but some day I sure would like one like the Excalibur!\u00a0 Only I can’t seem to find the cash.\u00a0 Sigh.\u00a0 I’ve used the back of our old Suburban, sheets on a tin roof and tins in the warming ovens of my wood stove.\u00a0 They all work, but a dehydrator is faster and neater.\u00a0 — Jackie<\/p>\n
\nThorsby, Alabama
\n<\/em>
\nSteam canners are NOT recommended safe method of home canning, regardless of all the advertising.\u00a0 I don’t have one and wouldn’t advise anyone to buy one.<\/p>\n
\nfoods. Should I just ‘can’ them the same as normal and see how that works? I would love to open up that space in my freezer and be able to store up a lot more food.<\/p>\n
\nSt Cloud, Minnesota
\n<\/em>
\nNo, I really haven’t used the Seal-a-meal vacuum sealer.\u00a0 But, no you can’t use them in place of canning.\u00a0 Removing the air from a bag is not the same as processing the food at a high enough temperature to kill possible lurking botulism spores.\u00a0 Either freeze your meals or else can them; I can a whole lot of “instant” meals in a jar and find them very useful for hurry up meals. — Jackie<\/p>\n
\nHelena, Ohio
\n<\/em>
\nThere is no reason you can not can grape juice from whole, processed grapes; it’s just a matter of preference as to the final taste and appearance.\u00a0 Give it a try and see how you like it. — Jackie<\/p>\n
\nthey were sealed and I haven’t lost a jar yet. Am I doing something wrong or is this just what happens durring the canning process.<\/p>\n
\nFresno, Ohio
\n<\/em>
\nThis happens when you can any meat or poultry; sometimes the grease in the meat blows out during processing.\u00a0 I can’t remember when I’ve ever had a lid fail to seal because of it, although that could happen.\u00a0 If the jars are greasy feeling when they cool, simply remove the ring and wash the jars with warm soapy water.\u00a0 This will not cause the seal to release and lets you store nice clean jars. — Jackie<\/p>\n
\ncooking with him. I have a family recipe that I would love to be able to can & send out with him, but am unsure of how without killing him. The buttermilk chicken that I make has lots of thick, buttermilk\/mushroom gravy and I haven’t found anything on how to safely can buttermilk. Do I just follow a standard, boned chicken canning recipe of 75 minutes at 10 pounds pressure (pints)? Will this keep the buttermilk safe? Also, every canned chicken recipe I’ve found says to leave the skin on. I always take the skin off before I cook any chicken recipe. Do I have to leave it on?<\/p>\n
\nRaleigh, North Carolina
\n<\/em>
\nIt isn’t recommended to can recipes containing “gravy” that is thick because the inner temperature of the jar might not be high enough to ensure safe processing. I can chicken both with the skin on and with the skin removed.\u00a0 It makes no difference; depends on your preference and the recipe you choose to use it for. — Jackie<\/p>\n
\nBraxton County, West Virginia
\n<\/em>
\nI have successfully canned cheese by putting wide mouthed jars in a roaster pan half full of water on a low heat, cutting the cheese into chunks and slowly melting it until the jar was full to within half an inch of the top.\u00a0 These pints were water bath processed for 35 minutes or pressure processed at 10 pounds for 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
\nSan Antonio, Texas
\n<\/em>
\nYou can freeze just about any homemade meal.\u00a0 If in doubt, just try it!\u00a0 It’s how we learn to do so much more than we think we can.\u00a0 Sure we’ll fail sometimes, but frozen food won’t harm anyone.\u00a0 Most meals freeze just fine.\u00a0 It is a good idea to date them, as many foods won’t freeze for long periods of time due to insufficient removal of air from the containers.\u00a0 Use freezer type boxes\/bags for best results.\u00a0 They lock better and are thicker to retain freshness longer. — Jackie<\/p>\n
\nlike 20 lbs?). I had the same deal last year, and made a lot of jam. A lot. I still have a bunch left over, and I’m already out of pint jars from jam and pickle canning this year. What we really like is
\npie (I have a grape pie recipe from Farm Journals Country Cookbook that we love). We are big pie eaters, and I usually just freeze the berries till I need them. Is there a way I could freeze slip-skin
\ngrapes? Should I freeze them first, and then slip and de-seed them after they defrost? Should I slip and de-seed before I freeze them? Should I make the pie filling in it’s entirety, and freeze that? Or
\nis there really no good way to freeze slip-skin grapes?<\/p>\n
\nwater, and process. Then they strain it right before serving. Could I do this without adding any sugar, or is that a necessary step? I really don’t care to sweeten grape juice, or at the very least, not that much (1\/2-1 cup sugar per cup of grapes!). Actually, while we’re talking not-so-sweet, I recently saw a recipe for “grape butter” that didn’t use any sugar at all (from the book, “Stocking Up”. It only used grapes and water, and then got cooked down as apple butter would be). Is sugar necessary for preserving, or does it just help jam jell up? (I don’t have health issues with sugar, I just don’t care for things that taste that sweet. Good fruit is pretty sweet on it’s own.)<\/p>\n
\nChenango Forks, New York
\n<\/em>
\nYou can cut the grapes in half, seed them and freeze them in a light syrup, slip the skins and seed them, freezing them in a light syrup or make your pie filling and freeze that, depending on your preference.\u00a0 All will work for you.<\/p>\n
\nBrookfield, Connecticut
\n<\/em>
\nWithout seeing the amount of ingredients in your pickling recipe, I’m kind of lost.\u00a0 But you may just have to wait for a couple of weeks; pickles don’t develop “pickle” flavor for at least that long.\u00a0 Yours are too fresh for sneaking a taste.\u00a0 Let ’em ripen more.\u00a0 Then taste them.\u00a0 It’s hard to “remake” pickles as you have to reprocess them and that softens them.\u00a0 If after several weeks, they still taste too salty, I’d make a fresh brine with less salt, drain the pickles and pack in a hot, sterile jar.\u00a0 Then pour on the fresh boiling brine and reprocess in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.\u00a0 And hope for the best. — Jackie<\/p>\n
\nfor a young woman who is fresh out of college and ready to start a family. Where do I look?<\/p>\n
\nIslamorada, Florida
\n<\/em>
\nWhy not try putting a personal ad in BHM?\u00a0 Several people have told me that they had wonderful luck doing this.\u00a0 It IS hard to find homestead-minded match mates; we seem to be a breed apart.\u00a0 You seldom find ’em around the usual places.\u00a0 Give it a try and see how you do.\u00a0 The price is right! — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"