Homesteading - Cheesemaking and Canning and Stuff (oh, my)

[buz]

For reasons of Current Emotional State, I am this week trying to do small things that don't take a lot of effort or mental acuity

I'm sorry but this statement seems completely at odds with everything that follows and I'm somewhat afraid to ask what would be considered a thing that takes lots of effort or mental acuity for you...

 

[Unimportant]

I'm sorry but this statement seems completely at odds with everything that follows

Well, following a recipe that has very few ingredients, all of which are in my cupboard, and that takes no more than five minutes to set up from start to finish, and that is largely liquid-based (with salt added) so it won't matter if I cry into it, and that I don't care if it turns out to be an abysmal failure -- that I find easy!

and I'm somewhat afraid to ask what would be considered a thing that takes lots of effort or mental acuity for you...

Writing fiction! Or tackling a new recipe that takes hours and requires heaps of stuff and that is really finicky to put together. That includes anything with the word "pie" or "pastry" in its name.

 

[buz]

Well, following a recipe that has very few ingredients, all of which are in my cupboard, and that takes no more than five minutes to set up from start to finish, and that is largely liquid-based (with salt added) so it won't matter if I cry into it, and that I don't care if it turns out to be an abysmal failure -- that I find easy!

But isn't the "start" when you decide to go outside to the garden and have to find your boots which turn out to be behind a cardboard box in the hall, and your gloves, one of which is on the garage floor and the other turns out to be behind the washing machine, and then you find and put on a mask because you're allergic to all of nature, and then you have to find the gardening stuff which is under all the wood stuff in the garage and really you should organize all this shit so maybe you start doing that for a few minutes before it gets boring and you reorient, but now your mouth is dry so you have to go get water and start over, and then you go back out and pull up plants and collect seeds, and then you come back in and take off the boots and wash your hands and change all your clothes and shower because even though you were only outside for three minutes you somehow got a substantial amount of mud and plant-bits in your hair, ears, bra and knee-crevices, and then finally you go to the kitchen and pull out the book and--? No?

Hey, though, I hear you. Sort of. I mean, having a thing you can return to you that you're comfortable with...

Writing fiction! Or tackling a new recipe that takes hours and requires heaps of stuff and that is really finicky to put together. That includes anything with the word "pie" or "pastry" in its name.

Mmm. Writing fiction is hard, it's true. But I don't have to find shoes to do it, at least...

In any case--the point is, I mean, not to get bawdy, but you have an impressive baseline; extremely jealous

 

[Unimportant]

But isn't the "start" when you decide to go outside to the garden and have to find your boots which turn out to be behind a cardboard box in the hall, and your gloves, one of which is on the garage floor and the other turns out to be behind the washing machine, and then you find and put on a mask because you're allergic to all of nature, and then you have to find the gardening stuff which is under all the wood stuff in the garage and really you should organize all this shit so maybe you start doing that for a few minutes before it gets boring and you reorient, but now your mouth is dry so you have to go get water and start over, and then you go back out and pull up plants and collect seeds, and then you come back in and take off the boots and wash your hands and change all your clothes and shower because even though you were only outside for three minutes you somehow got a substantial amount of mud and plant-bits in your hair, ears, bra and knee-crevices, and then finally you go to the kitchen and pull out the book and--? No?

I walk outside barefoot, wander across the grass, grab nasturtiums with bare hands, rip them out, pick off the seed pods, and put them in my pocket. That's really all it takes.

 

[Unimportant]

Weirdly, the salted and well rinsed nasturtium seeds are turning the vinegar red. Seeds are solid very pale green inside and out, so I've no idea what is going on.

 

[frimble3]

Weirdly, the salted and well rinsed nasturtium seeds are turning the vinegar red. Seeds are solid very pale green inside and out, so I've no idea what is going on.

So cool! The seeds may be pale green, but whatever makes nasturtium flowers bright reds and oranges is in there, buried deep!
In vinegar you say? Perhaps there's something in acidity that triggers the red? According to Google, nasturtiums like a 'somewhat' acidic soil.

 

[buz]

Weirdly, the salted and well rinsed nasturtium seeds are turning the vinegar red. Seeds are solid very pale green inside and out, so I've no idea what is going on.

If you are bored…would like to know now what happens if you try to use it as a wood stain please? (May take several coats/applications and time to show up)

…context: different types of vinegar react with steel to make different stains you can use on different types of wood. Standard white vinegar left with steel wool steeped in will turn a standard white wood like pine black (eventually…takes a few coats). Apple cider vinegar gets you a nice brown. But if you use it on cedar wood you get gray…

I meant to experiment with balsamic but got wrapped up in needing to actually complete the wood projects faster and forgot…

(Edit: if someone attempts this method of wood stain making pls look up the actual instructions online bc I don’t remember how long you leave the steel wool in the vinegar, what the ratio of steel to vinegar should be, etc and also I think you have to leave a lid off when you do this as the reaction might cause some sort of explosion if you don’t)

 

[Unimportant]

If you are bored…would like to know now what happens if you try to use it as a wood stain please? (May take several coats/applications and time to show up)

You can use vinegar as a wood stain? I had no idea!!!!!

I'll need to find some steel wool. I'll put it on my shopping list. After I ask my partner, who is a chemist, to look into the safety aspects.

We do plan to play with the really really really red one from the flowers, by changing the pH and seeing if the colour stays/changes. If it's acid/base-proof, we might be able to use it in soap making!

EDIT: haven't looked it up, but Chemist In Residence says no need to steep. You use the steel wool, which is so fine it is in sandpaper terms rated 000, to rub the vinegar onto the wood. The vinegar itself causes the staining. The steel doesn't react with the vinegar. And nothing will explode. Kinda sorry to hear that, as it could've been fun to blow up red vinegar. I bet the ceiling pattern would've been stupendous.

 

[Unimportant]

More pickling weirdness:

So, the nasturtium vinegar described above remains a fiery, glowing sunset-red colour, with the flowers smushed into about a third of their original volume and floating in a mass on top. The recipe had called for a garlic clove to be added, which I did. The garlic clove has turned an aqua-green colour on one side and candy-barbie-pink on the other side. I retrieved it from the side of the flower mass and cut it in half, and the colours go straight through to the centre of the garlic clove.

This is kind of freaking me out.

 

[Janine R]

More pickling weirdness:

So, the nasturtium vinegar described above remains a fiery, glowing sunset-red colour, with the flowers smushed into about a third of their original volume and floating in a mass on top. The recipe had called for a garlic clove to be added, which I did. The garlic clove has turned an aqua-green colour on one side and candy-barbie-pink on the other side. I retrieved it from the side of the flower mass and cut it in half, and the colours go straight through to the centre of the garlic clove.

This is kind of freaking me out.

Screw the lid on tight and weigh it down with a couple of books

 

[Unimportant]

Screw the lid on tight and weigh it down with a couple of books

Unfortunately*, the only jars I had to use are emptied and cleaned instant coffee jars, and then have the push-on lids, which work poorly with liquid fillings and keep trying to pop off.

*I'm a hoarder. I keep every jar and lid and plastic takeaway container and everything. And every once in a while, when I'm off site, my long suffering spouse goes through and ditches 95% of the stuff into the recycling. After a period of mourning, I begin collecting again....

 

[buz]

You can use vinegar as a wood stain? I had no idea!!!!!

I'll need to find some steel wool. I'll put it on my shopping list. After I ask my partner, who is a chemist, to look into the safety aspects.

We do plan to play with the really really really red one from the flowers, by changing the pH and seeing if the colour stays/changes. If it's acid/base-proof, we might be able to use it in soap making!

EDIT: haven't looked it up, but Chemist In Residence says no need to steep. You use the steel wool, which is so fine it is in sandpaper terms rated 000, to rub the vinegar onto the wood. The vinegar itself causes the staining. The steel doesn't react with the vinegar. And nothing will explode. Kinda sorry to hear that, as it could've been fun to blow up red vinegar. I bet the ceiling pattern would've been stupendous.

Well, to be fair, I don’t know about the exploding thing, although the reaction does apparently release some gas (but it needs air exposure anyway so… just leave the container uncovered either way ) But my understanding is the reaction is between acetic acid and the iron to make iron acetate or something like it which does something to tannins … but will also stain cardboard and wallpaper and washcloths, although not any color you want them to be. Just, uh, from personal experience.

You don’t need to apply with steel wool, just brush it on after you get your gross vinegar rust juice from soaking steel wool or nails or whatever in it for a while…

I found an actual Science Paper on this that does list a very specific protocol for making the stain (see table 3) that is way more specific and finicky than anything I ever do (which is why I maybe have inconsistent results, whatever) but, critically, they only used a few kinds of vinegar…

Now I want to do a Very Inept Science here with much weirder vinegars

 

[Brigid Barry]

I am on vacation from work next week for Christmas. Finally time to mill the tomatoes from the garden and make another batch of sausage. I only learned recently that Kid prefers my breakfast sausage to the store made stuff, which was nice.

Not sure if this counts as homesteading or I'm just cheap but I got a "food slicer" for the kitchen because it was 30% off. Now I can slice meats for sandwiches because $8/lb at the deli is insane.

 

[Brigid Barry]

I wasn't a huge fan of the breakfast sausage I made last time. The balance of maple syrup to brown sugar was off and it was too peppery for me. It also didn't have enough fat to brown properly. I didn't trim it at all this time and got the same amount of fat in the pan as I get with store bought, so I guess they don't trim theirs either! Not only did I drastically improve the recipe this time around (only one tweak left and I think I've got it!), but to the untrained eye I almost look like I know what I'm doing with the casings.

Writing this, which is after I've made 15 pounds of the stuff so far, I realize that one casing makes three pounds, not five, because 15/5 was somehow five and I couldn't figure out why I kept ended up with two pounds of loose sausage. My recipe is now for five pounds so I guess I’ll end up with three pounds of links and two pounds of ground for each batch.

 

[Brigid Barry]

University of Maine Cooperative extension put out a guide for cooking without eggs. Looks interesting and I wanted to share.

https://extension.umaine.edu/food-health/2023/02/16/using-egg-substitutes-in-baking-and-cooking/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIPg-pleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcX0ETLjLxruUuKMA34gTb_atQQXVIMqSVcMq9ZeoA-EKGdFddsib-Re-Q_aem_oh9UKLJ-NcHS5Q0mDocWxA