Living in an uncertain economy

Hearing stories worldwide about the economy puts a little fear into peoples hearts. We hear of whole countries that are basically bankrupt. There is comparison to the great depression. Could we end up like that again?

The thought of that is pretty scary when one considers how dependent we are on the government now. How unprepared we are living in compact housing and cities with very little green space. At least in days gone by most people had a yard where they could grow some food. How would we cope?

There are lots of great gardening ideas on the web for planting a container garden on your balcony.. or maximizing your growing potential of your tiny yard.. but could that ever be enough?

There are some basic things that we should all know how to do.. even if we never have the need too. One of those things is to growing basic vegetables.. lettuce, potatoes, corn, carrots... of course depending on where you live the list would look different. But knowing how to grow some things that could at the least, supplement your diet could mean a huge difference to your health.

Cooking is another thing. It looks a lot different today than it did in the leaner years. Learning some basic recipes that are easy to make with limited, and obtainable ingredients.. what ever is cheap.. is essential to survival.

Repairing your stuff... when money isn't plentiful you have to make due. In our throw away society we aren't used to that and we also don't have things that are made to last. Could you sew your clothes if you needed too? How about repair your shoes?

Canada was hit really hard by the depression. By all accounts we were hit harder than most other countries. Spending was down by 42% and 30% of the population was unemployed.

Preparing ourselves for what ever adversities could come our way is a smart thing to do. You may never have to worry about money but the lessons one can learn can mean you also don't have to spend it unnecessarily.

I found a really interesting youtube channel called  Great Depression Cooking. Clara, who has now passed away teaches you how to make some very simple meals with what was available then.

I learned many things from my Grandma and I am so grateful that I listened to her... wish I could ask her many more things now though.

Do you have any skills that an elderly family member or friend taught you?

Saucy Spaghetti

Today was a bit crazy... did a lot of running around. The oldest daughter has gone camping with friends. Lucky duck.. we have had a fire ban here for sometime, but it was lifted just recently. So they will be roasting marshmallows galore.

I tackled the mountain of tomatoes... well not really a mountain, only 25 pounds worth. But I am telling you, by the time I was half way through it felt like a mountain. I had a system going.. prick the skin of the tomatoes.. 10 at a time.. pop into boiling water... watch for the skin to crack, then scoop out and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Then quickly put 10 more in the boiling water.. peeling the first 10 while waiting on those ones. Squeeze the juice out and repeat.. many more times!

The reason was for all this was for spaghetti sauce. We eat a fair bit of pasta here.. I love it, the kids love it.. hubby tolerates it.

I had to cook the sauce in two batches, as I didn't have a pot big enough for it all. While the first one was simmering, I ask hubby to cut up some hot pepper to go in.. I said, three peppers.. 1 1/2 for each batch. These peppers were smoking hot.. when I made salsa the other day I had a burning thumb from doing a single swipe to get the seeds out of  ONE. No was was I touching them again. Hubby has calloused hands from his work.. so it doesn't bother him. Well... he heard me wrong... he put all three into one batch. AND mixed it up. *sigh* it is very spicy!

Oh well.. I will most likely use it in some lasagna at some time.

The second batch was much better...

Todays abundance

Today's abundance was pears!! Yummy, sweet, juicy, delicious, pears. I answered an ad on a local online selling site. This person had unsprayed pears ready and we could come pick them for $5 a bag.

I took one of my twins... I like when I am able to split the kids up and taking one of them with me. Even when we are doing mundane things like shopping and errands.. I feel like I am able to connect with them and we enjoy lots of laughs doing almost anything. A lot of great talks happen in those times. Plus lets face it.. the extra help is always nice!

I am not sure who ( yes, sadly it was me ) decided picking them at noon on a hot day was a good idea! Phew were so red faced and thirsty by the time we were done. The lady ended up only charging us $10 for three bags. What a great deal!  I am going to give them a couple days to ripen a bit more before canning them.
We will be enjoying this bounty through the winter!

Zesty Blueberries???

Blueberries.. yum. Who can resist plump ripe blueberries? Of course their season goes all too fast and unless you preserve them in someway you are waiting a long time to enjoy them again. This year I decided to make some blueberry jam... I did not think this would be a hit with my kids.. they tend to be a bit picky and have their favourites that they rigidly stick by. I remind them often, when trying to get them to try something new, that it might be their new favourite thing..

Anyway, the appeal of this recipe was that it also had lime in it. I like zing.. sweet is ok, but with an added zing, it seems to have the right amount of kick. Having seen some rave reviews for it, I jumped in and tried it myself.  I was so happy I did. Not only is this jam low in sugar, it is also pectin free. I love recipes that don't call for a lot of ingredients!

The lime enhances the flavour so much. Everyone in the house had a spoonful to lick... even hubby. It received a resounding thumbs up from them all. This recipe is a keeper.

Here is the ingredients:
4 cups blueberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
zest of two limes
1/4 lime juice (this should be store bought to make sure it has the right acidity)

Combine in a pot all the ingredients.. Stirring often and making sure the berries are mashing to your liking ... simmer for about 20 minutes or till it sets.
Water bath for 10 min.

It made 2 and a half pints for me.. and we happily ate the half pint over the next few days.  I will definitely double or triple this recipe next year.

A Jarring Experience!

I love canning jars... I admit it.. I am sure from my last couple posts about canning it may not be that big of a surprise. There are so many interesting ones out there.. the old ones are my favourite. I tend to like old things.. they have history behind them. You wonder about the family they belonged too. Who worked hard filling them. The comfort and celebrations that the food in them were part of. I can picture people from days gone by spending hot summer afternoons harvesting and preserving their families bounty for the coming winter. Something quite comforting about that.
When I was in Arizona, I found the coloured Ball brand canning jars. I was determined to bring some home. Here the only stores I could find them in were craft stores, and they wanted WAY too much for them. So I found the cases of the pint size jars.. now the decision.. blue or green??? Initially I decided on the blue... but before I went home I went back and got a case of the green as well.

I packed them in my carry on and carried them through two airports.. more than one border patrol inspector looked twice when it went through the x-ray machine. I also had to unpack my bag at both airports to show them that they were empty *sigh* .. by the time I got home, my arms were tired from carrying the bag, but I was glad I had bought them.

I also bought the top accessory to turn them into a drinking cup. I thought they were kind of fun.

 

The blue and green coloured jars were brought out on Ball's anniversary. Many people love the old vintage blue Ball jars. The original blue was caused from a mineral in the sand that the Ball company used to make them. It was very unique to the area it came from and I think it is safe to say was a trade mark.

I was shopping at a local second hand store and found some wonderful glass top canning jars.. these have the vintage zinc rings. While I wont use these for actually canning, I will use them to store things in.

I only paid .50 a piece for them. Somehow the jars we have now, pale in comparison to these lovely old jars. But they still look pretty good when they are filled and stacked up on a shelf.

More Canning!

My family loves pickles. Really loves pickles. I used to be able to buy these amazing and huge dill pickles at a grocery store, bulk. They were so big you could fit maybe 3 in a container. They always sold out quickly, and unfortunately now they don't carry them. When I would bring them home, the kids would dive into it.
I decided to make some yummy extra extra garlicky dill pickles. I went shopping at the local farms and got the dill and pickling cukes.. I had no idea how much the recipe would make.. frankly I put as many as I could possibly fit into the jars. I put the cukes in a bowl and sprinkled sea salt on them.. then added water until it was just covering them. I placed a dinner plate over top to keep them under the water and let them soak for more than 12 hours.. I didn't time it, but you can soak them from 12-24 hours.

At the same times as I got this part going, I did a sea salt bath for my dill. Hanging them upside down in a salt water mixture will ensure you don't have any added surprises in your jar.. and yes there were a few in my water afterwards.
I got my pickling mix ready.. and boy does it make the house smell of pickling! Heated my jars.. and got my canner boiling. Peeled my garlic and cut it into quarters and then once the jars were sterilized and hot I packed them with the garlic, dill and cucumbers. Then poured the pickling mix into the jars and wipe.. lids and rings.. and into the canner they go.

 

 

This was the first time I ever had a jar break on me when canning. I was given the jars and there may have been a small crack that I didn't notice. I was sad, because I didn't want to waste any of the pickles. I didn't notice that it was cracked until the water bath was done, and some of the liquid was gone. I took that jar and emptied the contents into another jar.. thankfully I had enough of the pickling liquid to cover it and I put that jar to ripen in the fridge. Water bathing it again to seal it would of meant some very mushy pickles .. so we will see how it turns out.

Next year I plan on growing my own pickling cukes.. The cheapest I could find was $1 lb and that adds up quickly. Those little cukes are heavy.
On with the domestic fun!! Wonder what will be next...???? stay tuned :)

Jammin

I was oh so fortunate to be able to pick raspberries at a friend of mine's Mom's place.. plump juicy berries.. with nothing yucky sprayed on them.
My girls love raspberry jam. well lets be honest. .who doesn't love raspberry jam!?!
My friends Mom told me how she was making her jam.. with no pectin. Sounds good to me, so I gave it a try this round and was very pleased with the results.

• 8 cups berries
• 6 cups sugar (I have seen online there are recipes calling for equal amounts of fruit to sugar, I didn't think it needed that)

How easy can that be?? Seriously!

Get your jars sterilizing and the lids and rings in a pot heating.

Heat your berries and give them a good mashing.

Add your sugar and bring the whole mixture up to 220 degrees.

Fill your jars.. then put them in to the canner for their water bath. 5 Min after the water starts to boil (time from the point of boiling)

and voila

 

What to make next?... hmm stay tuned to find out :)

Spicing things up a bit

To add some spice to my day, I decided to make some salsa. I made a tomato, red/green pepper, corn and garlic salsa... extra spicy.

Call me Martha

I am starting to feel all domestic, or domesticated (hmm? lol) I did more canning today. I canned 11 jars of pears. It felt like an accomplishment and that seems pathetic! I may actually buy some more pears tomorrow and do a few more jars. My kids love canned pears and the price of the ones in the stores is horrible. The large noname can is 1.97 and it has two pears in it. That's crazy. Anyway, I will see how energetic I am and what kind of mood Hanna and Leah are in tomorrow.
So as I was pealing pear after pear, I couldn't help but think about the people in the past that had to can things. This was not a choice, there were no stores open til midnight for shopping convenience and probably not a lot or money to shop with anyway. We always like to think we have come so far, but really have we? Seems like we are always busy with a lot of things, that dont really matter...

Day flying by

Today, after taking my daughter to school I ran a few errands. When I got home I used up the last of my blackberries from yesterday and made some more jam. I made blackberry/pineapple this time. It was a concoction I came up with yesterday. The little taste I had after it was finished cooking was delicious. Such a brilliant colour too. The yellow from the pineapple deepened the blackberry red and made it rich and yummy looking. Hmm, wonder how long those three jars will last :)
I had just got the girls to sleep when I heard a roaring in the sky. I just had the chance to grab my point and shoot and step out the door. Right over top of me, and I do mean RIGHT OVER TOP! Was the Snowbirds. I had only a split second to hit the button and get this picture.

We have been dazzled with their performances a few times but I had never seen them fly this low. I don't know what was going on today that had them in town. Other times we have been able to see them it was because of the Queen visitin, or a Canada day celebration.

* I found out that the Snowbirds are performing this Sunday.