Boy is it hot this week! So I decided to pretend it was cooler weather, and post about making candy.
This video was taken a few years back of our family friend Ernie. He makes the worlds best Peanut Brittle. It is fantastic let me tell you, I have ate enough to know :) His recipe and method are really easy so you should try it this winter... or ...you can put on some Christmas music and pretend, like me :0D (I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, Just like the ones I used to know....)
Well I'll just let him tell you the rest! Enjoy!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Canned Chicken is so useful! I Love it!
So at our local grocery store we found chicken for 1.99 a pound. Around here that is pretty cheap, so we decided to buy some and jump in to the adventures of canning meat. Canning meat isn't nearly as hard as everyone thinks it is, and trust me it is well worth your trouble. You can use it in so many things, and it isn't taking up valuable freezer space.
You can use the Hot pack method, but we decided to go easy and use the Raw Pack. First you cut up the chicken into squares, about kabob size as mom would put it. Then pack it into your sterilized jars, in this method, there is no need to pour broth or water in the jars, the chicken makes its own broth as it cooks. Make sure there aren't air bubbles, and the rims are wiped off, the whole nine yards, then set the jars in about 2 inches of water in the pressure canner. Lock the lid and let the steam vent for 10 minutes then close the vent and process at 10 pounds of pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes for pints, and 1 hour and a half for quarts. Oh yeah, and if you are worried about the hard water stains on the canner and the jars, put some vinegar in the water, that should do the trick.
The best part about having the canned chicken around the house is all the things you can use it for. We make chicken salad, chicken fettuccine Alfredo, chicken and ramen, just about anything! It is so versatile. To use it for baked things, just use in the recipe, but if you are eating it cold, like chicken salad, cook it ten minutes first, then cool it down. Cooking it first is just an extra precaution to make sure all the potential bacteria and things are killed. Just to be sure.
Anyway we made a video, and tried to describe the important things as best we could, to keep everything safe for eating. Hope it is as informative as we meant it to be :) Enjoy!
You can use the Hot pack method, but we decided to go easy and use the Raw Pack. First you cut up the chicken into squares, about kabob size as mom would put it. Then pack it into your sterilized jars, in this method, there is no need to pour broth or water in the jars, the chicken makes its own broth as it cooks. Make sure there aren't air bubbles, and the rims are wiped off, the whole nine yards, then set the jars in about 2 inches of water in the pressure canner. Lock the lid and let the steam vent for 10 minutes then close the vent and process at 10 pounds of pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes for pints, and 1 hour and a half for quarts. Oh yeah, and if you are worried about the hard water stains on the canner and the jars, put some vinegar in the water, that should do the trick.
The best part about having the canned chicken around the house is all the things you can use it for. We make chicken salad, chicken fettuccine Alfredo, chicken and ramen, just about anything! It is so versatile. To use it for baked things, just use in the recipe, but if you are eating it cold, like chicken salad, cook it ten minutes first, then cool it down. Cooking it first is just an extra precaution to make sure all the potential bacteria and things are killed. Just to be sure.
Anyway we made a video, and tried to describe the important things as best we could, to keep everything safe for eating. Hope it is as informative as we meant it to be :) Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Robbers and Babies
If you look closely, you can even see some capped honey (or sugar syrup probably still) in the top corners on both sides.
And this is some of Dads comb. His bees are hatching out too! And he has 9 frames with comb on them now.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Bee Update
This time, its just a quick update about the bees :)
About 6 frames are fully drawn out in my hive, so its almost time to put on another super. We saw my queen when inspecting, she looks good... and busy, there were tons of bee eggs! On Dads top bar hive, there are about 7 frames with comb on them and an 8th one started. We havent seen his queen, but there are eggs, so she is in there somewhere, (hopefully!)
And another thing, I really thought it would take getting used to, to not be afraid of them, but I am pretty calm with them flying around me already. I don't know about anyone else, but I was afraid they would always just be trying to sting me, you know "My Girl" style, when I got anywhere near the hive. They are suprisingly docile, they just land on you, and chill out, or ignore you for the most part and just walk around. I love them already! I just hope they do well, and live through this first year!!
About 6 frames are fully drawn out in my hive, so its almost time to put on another super. We saw my queen when inspecting, she looks good... and busy, there were tons of bee eggs! On Dads top bar hive, there are about 7 frames with comb on them and an 8th one started. We havent seen his queen, but there are eggs, so she is in there somewhere, (hopefully!)
And another thing, I really thought it would take getting used to, to not be afraid of them, but I am pretty calm with them flying around me already. I don't know about anyone else, but I was afraid they would always just be trying to sting me, you know "My Girl" style, when I got anywhere near the hive. They are suprisingly docile, they just land on you, and chill out, or ignore you for the most part and just walk around. I love them already! I just hope they do well, and live through this first year!!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Busy little bees
Due to all of our electronics being tempermental(everything always has to go wrong at once right?), I am just now able to share these pictures with you guys. They are from the Saturday after we installed them, and this is what they did after 3 days! It truely amazes me what these girls can do in such a short ammount of time.
After these pictures were taken, we have had a cold rainy spell, and when we checked on the bees next, they were all huddled up together. We didn't stay in the hive too long, because of the cold though. They are still getting their 1 to 1 sugar syrup, so I hope they dont die off, not being established yet and all. I guess all we can do is wait and see, and we will be checking again on their progress this week hopefully. Wish us all the best of luck with this crazy weather.
You cant really tell due to all the bees covering it, but there are 3 little ovals of comb under there, and the bees are filling them with the sugar syrup. :)
And this is from my Langstroth hive, dont worry its comb that was covering the queen cage so we had to cut it out. The yellow stuff is pollen! And I cant even believe how perfect each little cell is, bees are amazing creatures!
After these pictures were taken, we have had a cold rainy spell, and when we checked on the bees next, they were all huddled up together. We didn't stay in the hive too long, because of the cold though. They are still getting their 1 to 1 sugar syrup, so I hope they dont die off, not being established yet and all. I guess all we can do is wait and see, and we will be checking again on their progress this week hopefully. Wish us all the best of luck with this crazy weather.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Russians and Italians..... new bees that is!
The new bees are here, the new bees are here!! We are now official Apiarists!
Wednesday we finally went up to pick up our bees up at Parsons Gold Apiaries. They have so many hives, just sitting around the place, and bees flying in and out of the garage, so we knew that was where to go. You would not believe the sound the bees made in there, it legitimitely sounded like all the fans were on, but it was just thousands of buzzing bees. And there were bees flying free just around your head and landing on you, it was all I could do not to freak out at first :) Anyway we had ordered two 3 pound packages of bees, one with a Italian queen for me, and one with a Russian queen for Dad. The family there really helped us out, and gave us a dry run of installing the bees, just to give us an idea, which turned out to be really helpful by the way, and we asked every question we could possibly think of, and hoped we were ready!
The Italian queen went in a Langstroth hive, and the Russians in Dads top bar hive. My hive came as a kit from Walter T Kelley, but Dad's hive was built by himself and Rick, a good friend of his. The installation went without a hitch... and no one got stung! We just hope and pray that they do well and produce a bountiful harvest :) I am just so excited I cant contain myself :0D
So here are our 2 videos, we hope you like them!
Wednesday we finally went up to pick up our bees up at Parsons Gold Apiaries. They have so many hives, just sitting around the place, and bees flying in and out of the garage, so we knew that was where to go. You would not believe the sound the bees made in there, it legitimitely sounded like all the fans were on, but it was just thousands of buzzing bees. And there were bees flying free just around your head and landing on you, it was all I could do not to freak out at first :) Anyway we had ordered two 3 pound packages of bees, one with a Italian queen for me, and one with a Russian queen for Dad. The family there really helped us out, and gave us a dry run of installing the bees, just to give us an idea, which turned out to be really helpful by the way, and we asked every question we could possibly think of, and hoped we were ready!
The Italian queen went in a Langstroth hive, and the Russians in Dads top bar hive. My hive came as a kit from Walter T Kelley, but Dad's hive was built by himself and Rick, a good friend of his. The installation went without a hitch... and no one got stung! We just hope and pray that they do well and produce a bountiful harvest :) I am just so excited I cant contain myself :0D
So here are our 2 videos, we hope you like them!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Using the Dehydrator Again
WOW! Sorry for the lack of posts in April. It has been a hectic month for sure! Anyway on to the good stuff!
This last week we dehydrated frozen hashbrowns. We love to keep them around the house for just frying up, or casseroles, but they take up a lot of freezer space. So with dehydrating them, you can keep them anywhere really. And you can keep alot more of them for the space.
These are one of the easiest things you can dehydrate, because all you have to do is open the bag and pour them on the trays. About 1 bag fits on 2 trays. Don't worry about them touching though, with hashbrowns, it really doesn't matter. Leave them in the dehydrator for six hours or so, or overnight (much easier). And one frozen bag, dehydrated, fits in a quart mason jar.
To rehydrate them, just pour boiling water over them, just to cover. Let them stand about 5 minutes or so. then just treat them like regular hash browns. In fact we just made my Grandma(Nan's) signature recipe, Cheesy Potatoes, with the rehydrated hash browns and they turned out really good, not like her's, but nothing tastes as good as grandmas :) Enjoy the video guys
This last week we dehydrated frozen hashbrowns. We love to keep them around the house for just frying up, or casseroles, but they take up a lot of freezer space. So with dehydrating them, you can keep them anywhere really. And you can keep alot more of them for the space.
These are one of the easiest things you can dehydrate, because all you have to do is open the bag and pour them on the trays. About 1 bag fits on 2 trays. Don't worry about them touching though, with hashbrowns, it really doesn't matter. Leave them in the dehydrator for six hours or so, or overnight (much easier). And one frozen bag, dehydrated, fits in a quart mason jar.
To rehydrate them, just pour boiling water over them, just to cover. Let them stand about 5 minutes or so. then just treat them like regular hash browns. In fact we just made my Grandma(Nan's) signature recipe, Cheesy Potatoes, with the rehydrated hash browns and they turned out really good, not like her's, but nothing tastes as good as grandmas :) Enjoy the video guys
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