Keeping Produce Fresh ~ Cucumber Tip

 

It was suggested that I buy these larger Fresh Longer containers for keeping summer cucumbers fresh "longer."

The tip:  I was told, when I bring in a lot of cucumbers, but cannot can them the same day, to immerse them in cold water first, then put in these containers.  I'm always taking notes for the next year, so if you immerse in cold water, is there a reason for that?

Well, out of the blue I spotted these three at a local grocery store about a month ago.  On clearance!  I paid $6.49 for the large one and $2.50 each for the smaller ones.

Our bell peppers were huge in harvest this year, so I put some in the large container, and I can tell you they stay fresh!  I had the ones on the right in that container for over a week, and the ones on the left in the bowl only were going soft in one day.

I will be buying one more larger container for summer harvest.

Lily Sugar n' Cream ~ Peaches and Cream Cotton Yarns

 

Look the same, but they are not.

Top one says "Made in Canada from 100% USA Cotton

Bottom one says "Made in China from 100% Cotton

We are slowly being deceived.  You may have to biggy-fi some of these photos to read the labels.  I discovered this while in bed recovering from a recent sickness.  I am not only sad, but mad about this.  I have always been so proud to sell a hand knitted dishcloth made with USA grown cotton, even when the yarn was made in Canada. 

I have not bought cotton yarn (in the smaller balls) for 2-3 years, so these were all in my tote stash.  Apparently, over the years, China bought it.  They bought the label, and at one point took off the USA flag, and made the print smaller, only to take over the manufacturing.

It now has labels looking the same, but without the USA flag, so you don't think twice unless you read the label.  It is so sad that America would rather have money than be reliable on USA made, support USA made or create USA made.  It really makes me sick to my stomach, that an American company will sell out to China, giving them more power over our country.  I won't be making dishcloths, unless I can locate more older balls of USA cotton yarn.

The one on the left - made in China, thinner, longer, same weight.  The one on the right, USA grown cotton, made in Canada, thicker cotton yarn.  Note:  both labels still say the same Canadian address, but the one on the left says "Made in China."

The newly produced cotton yarn from China is thinner, and does not even feel like it's cotton.  It almost feels like it has stretch to it.  I have one ball of Peaches and Cream that says it was made in China, and it was wound back up.  I am not sure what I will do with it, but I am mad that I was duped to thinking I was buying the same USA grown cotton yarn I had been buying for years.  Same label, same look, but if you look closer, the yarn is not the same.  The cotton is not the same.  

If you have any extra balls of either of these brands, that were still being made in with USA grown cotton, you are lucky.  They made a much nicer product.  

By the way, I tried googling when China bought these yarn manufacturers, and could not find anything on the internet, but a few articles from 2011 when they stopped making yarn in the USA and sold to Canada. 

Just sharing for those who knit/crochet.  Okay, off my soapbox, but had to share in case you care and didn't see these labels.

How I Grind My Dried Hot Peppers ~ Garlic Honey ~ Winter Medicinal Preparedness ~ New Meat Source

I forgot to load the photos yesterday, on how I grind my dehydrated hot peppers.  I also use this method for grinding other dried foods, like garlic powder or onion powder.

I have an electric coffee grinder that I specifically use for this purpose.  The inner piece is removeable, making it easy to wash for the next use, and the cord winds up, and is stored in the lower inside of it.

I use mini funnels to pour the ground hot peppers into a spice jar or recycled glass jar.  The color and flavor of our "Fire Powder" varies due to the mix of hot peppers.

 I mentioned making a new "medicinal" and here it is . . .

Garlic Honey.  You fill your jar about halfway with cloves of garlic (instructions say add how many you want on most that I have read), fill the jar with raw honey and cap it.  You have to burp the jar daily for about 2 weeks.  Some instructions say to flip the jar each day to coat the garlic with the honey.  

Need a boost?  Take some honey.  Feeling sick?  Eat the garlic.

I'll let you know if this was worth making or not.  Raw honey is not cheap around here.  Have you made and utilized garlic honey?  I would love to hear your feedback on it.  I'm late on getting winter medicinals made, but back at it now.

Speaking of medicine and illnesses, we did have covid.  We are finally back to feeling somewhat "normal."  There were employees going to work with covid, and not staying home, so the spread continued after my husband stayed home.  I guess these people were not showing many signs, but enough to know they should have stayed home.

Moving on to some chit chat . . .

We discovered a butcher with non-gmo/free range/no antibiotics within a 2 1/2 hour drive from our homestead.  We picked up a turkey tenderloin, 1 # sausage, 1 # ground beef, and a slice of smoked ham.   

We have already tasted the turkey and it was delicious!  We are talking a real turkey tenderloin.  Not that stuff at the grocery store they pump with sodium. 

We have also tried the sausage.  It does contain brown sugar, but it is not anywhere as sweet as what you buy in grocery stores, and it tastes almost like they smoked the meat for it.  We have also now tried the ground beef by grilling burgers.  The ham will be part of today's breakfast.  We will be taking a cooler back before winter, and stocking up.  

It's a small locally owned business in the Amish community.  They only accept cash/check, and are closed on Sunday.  We are looking forward to a trip to re-stock now.  We may try other cuts of their meats as well.  They do cut their bacon thick, which we are not a fan of (thick cut), but we my try it after another trip there.

Tuesday Tidbits ~ Dehydrating Hot Peppers ~ Ground Fire Powder ~ Using the Last of the Garden Hot Peppers

 I'll admit, the cooler weather has been nice lately.  We've had to turn a few heaters on too.  The rain is moving in, and for several days.  

If you blinked, you would have literally missed this beautiful sky Monday morning.  It was there one minute, and gone the next.  I was lucky to get the camera in time.

Wash, slice and dehydrate the mix of garden hot peppers.  Keep those seeds for more heat in the "fire powder."  I used my mats to keep those seeds.  In the past, I used parchment paper.

Dehydrate according to you dehydrator instructions.  I have a small coffee grinder I used for grinding herbs, and I when these are dry, I grind them up, and pour them into a recycled spice jar and label.

It's a great way to use up all those leftover hot peppers in your garden.  You could freeze them too, but I find that drying them and grinding them, makes a nice spice flavor to add to meals.

Garden Re-Cap ~ Tip for Baking with Pie Pumpkin Puree

 

I took a walk out to the bell peppers, and brought in the last 28 of them.  Even the smaller ones are very thick and smell wonderful.

As for the hot peppers?

There are a few baby jalapenos on some plants, but that is it.  Oddly, the 3 Anaheim plants have tons of flowers.  It's pretty cold here now, so I'll be pulling the plants in a day or so.

We harvested the pie pumpkins, spaghetti squash, and there was only one very small acorn squash.

I follow King Arthur's Blog, and they shared a tip for when you bake with your pie pumpkin puree:  Blog Post Here.

. . . from the handiwork journal

 

. . .started on an order that was long over due.  Three crocheted strawberry keyfobs are on the crochet hook.  I am slowly getting them made.  One of my daughter's painted that box you see with yarn in it.  It's my "kitchen" crochet project box.

. . .another XL hot pad on the afghan hook.

. . .this color yarn is on the knitting needles for another dishcloth.

. . .a scrap lap afghan in the making.  I also have about 6 rounds left to do on a doily, but forgot to get a photo.

Stocking Up ~ Freezing and Dehydrating ~ Herbs ~ Bag Holding Hack (if you have a jar lifter for canning)

 

Our last 87°F day was yesterday.  Woke up to find one of my older hens has passed away.   We are on the downward slide to cooler weather, with a pretty chilly weekend coming up.

Feeling a bit better, I took advantage of the heat, and washed bed covers, bedding and other laundry.  I mostly washed the large bed covers, so they could dry outside.  The bedding smelled so good too!  

Someone else wanted to enjoy the sunshine.

I even unpacked (and washed) our holiday bedding, which I forgot about, and had not used for 2-3 years or so.  I mentioned it to my husband, and he was all for using them the next few months.

Okay, now on to other happenings here. . .

I don't see the price of any culinary herbs and spices going down any time soon.  I am busy putting my herbs into storage for winter/spring.

Bag Holding Hack:  Use a jar lifter to hold your freezer bag in place while you snip away or fill your bag.  I used a quart freezer bag in this photo.  Worked great!  I haven't tried this with heavier fillings, but if I do, I will update.

I dice and freeze my green onion and chives.  These two do not dehydrate well.  They just blow all over inside your dehydrator.  Trust  me on this, as I have tried it.  I am freezing these two in freezer bags this year, due to freezer space.  Otherwise, in the past I have used freezer containers.

I am dehydrating sage, yarrow, spearmint, peppermint, and more oregano, and thyme.  The peppermint this year is limited, as the plant is not that big.  I have my mints in pots this year.  I have yet to convince my husband for a medicinal/wild growing weed garden somewhere around this homestead.

My cilantro has gone to seed, so I am saving the seed.  My outdoor basil is still going strong, so I have taken a cutting for propagation, and the same with parsley.  My dill has also gone to seed, so I am saving dill seed as well.  Not one store in our area sold dill seed (for culinary uses).  We had to travel 3 hours to the Amish area stores to find any.  I will be sure to dry as much of our own as I can.

Mullein that grew up in a flower bed, but has not gone to seed/flower yet.  I will harvest it before our fall frost arrives.

I have been making notes in our garden journal, on new herbs to grow next year.   A few that I used to grow and for some reason just didn't get them planted, like Tarragon and Marjoram.