"They were all dressed and washed when Pa came in with the milk half frozen in the pail.
After he had got his breath and melted the frost and snow from his mustaches, he said, "Well, the hard winter's begun"
Why, Charles," Ma said, "It isn't like you to worry about winter weather."
"I'm not worrying," Pa replied, "But it's going to be a hard winter."
From "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
It's turned warm now, for a week or two but I'm still expecting another load of wood any day now. It's better to be prepared . . . Perhaps this is "Indian Summer".
Last week I bragged about saving $50 on this month's groceries. Then the next week's grocery store flyers came out. What's this, chicken breasts for .77 a pound! And pork roast for $1.78 a pound! I did read a prediction that meat would go down before it went up, the supposition being that farmers would first butcher a little early rather than buy the more expensive feed this fall. Later the price will go up to pay for the feed. So I bit and spent another $25. Then I went home and boned 15 chicken breasts and froze them, and with what we already had that's 25, count 'em 25 approximately 1 pound chicken breasts in the freezer. As well as 4 pints of chicken broth with chicken bits in, ready to make soup. That is kind of a big production, and one needs to plan to take off the trash afterwards before it begins to stink!
See the pile of bones and skin on the left?
Note the wax paper instead of lids. That way the jars won't break when the broth freezes. After it's frozen, you may replace the paper with lids, providing that the jar wasn't over-filled and conseqently bulging from the top! If you're going to use them soon, the waxed paper will do fine. Because I poured rather than ladled, most of the fat is in one jar, but that's all right, I'll use that one to make a cream soup or sauce, adding the flour shaken in a jar with some liquid, broth, milk or water, depending on what I'm making, instead of mixing it with butter to make a roux. I boiled this broth down to make it flavorful and rich. I added celery leaves and smoked salt and freshly ground pepper for flavor. As a diabetic, noodles are not such a desirable addition but I was thinking of beaten egg to make those thin shreds such as in some Greek soups.
While I was at the store, I looked at .17 a pound potatoes. Two decades ago I liked to buy potatoes for .20 a pound, in 50-pound bags. So I looked at these sale potatoes. But they were spotty and shriveled. Last years potatoes, the last stored ones before the new crop comes in. I'll wait. I may pay more but I will have fresh potatoes, thank you very much!
My daughter in Seattle is missing the mid-west autumn. We've already had three frosts and windy days and rain so we're a little past the peak but here is a picture of our back yard. I do love the fall!
I've had requests for the Beef and Barley stew from last week. It's very simple:
1 # stew beef or chuck, cubed
1 medium onion, minced
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 can minced tomatoes
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t smoked salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup whole barley. I had to buy Bob's Red Mill this time and it wasn't precooked like Quaker, but it was lovely after cooking all afternoon in the crockpot.
1/2 package of mushrooms, about
About 2 quarts of water, home-made stock or boullion.
I don't brown the meat. I just put everything in the crockpot and turn it on. Wait, I don't put the mushrooms in until an hour before we eat. I did this at 10 am and by 6 pm it was delicious. We ate it with rye toast and butter on the side.
I have been watching Victorian Cooking on youtube and they recommend browning shin bones in the oven and then simmering them in water with unpeeled onions and carrots, salt and pepper, all day for a lovely broth. And I will try that just as soon as shin bones go on sale, but a quality boullion is quite acceptable to my way of thinking.
"Now Laura," Ma said kindly, "You must not be so easily discouraged. A few blizzards more or less can make no great difference."
"The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
On Wednesday we went to the stores and bought 5 weeks worth of groceries. That includes the Butcher store, the Health food store and two grocery stores. It took us about 2 1/2 hours.
At the Health food store, I bought bulk molasses and maple syrup, Tibetian Pink rock salt and Applewood smoked salt, chili powder and decafe Earl Grey Tea, and a dozen lovely red peppers on sale for .33 apiece. These define the tastes of this month's cooking, to some extent. The peppers are frozen, nearly a gallon of them for fajitas, salads and omeletes, Eliyah will make pancakes after school to eat with maple syrup, and the salts, well, nothing tastes better for me than scrambled eggs with smoked salt and ground pepper for breakfast! The total was $24.80 and constitutes my quarterly trip to the Health food store. Counting that and the others, my total for 5 weeks was $300.75. We saved $50. Of course, as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If we find ourselves jaunting to the store in less than a month to get some goodie we're out of, well, that would be a failure of the budget, wouldn't it?
My menus for this week include Pasta, which will make three meals, Beef stew with barley and mushrooms, Pork tenderloin sandwiches and Clam chowder with toasted cheese sandwiches. We bought plenty of ice cream, fruit and chocolate for desserts.
This week I made Rye bread for a change, using the molasses and some cocoa powder to impart some color and flavor. I rolled the loaves in chopped sunflower seeds too. It is yummy.
Today is a very windy day. The air is like, buoyant, as I noticed when I went out to rescue two t-shirts left out to bleach in the sun. So I left the garage door up and the door into the house open, to bring in that leafy air. When I went out to get something in the garage, I found a wren trembling on the work table. She was so afraid of me she wouldn't shoo out, she just couldn't move with fear. I put up the second door and left her alone and now she has gone. It is so windy, the garage must have seemed like calm from the storm.
Eliyah made breakfast Pizzas Thursday, biscuit dough with eggs, cheese, bacon and a slice of tomato. They were very good and he has written down the recipe for his box. We used lard in the biscuit dough, which gives it a special flavor.
Some have mushrooms on them.
My sole decoration for Halloween is the witch in our kitchen, brought all the way from Yugoslavia.
I have been making lists at the dining room table by lamplight, even though it's the middle of the day. I find it makes the lists go better, and now I think I'll add a cup of Earl Grey tea too.
"A b-b-b-blizzard" Ma chattered. "In Oc-October. I n-n-never heard of . .. "
Quote from "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
She originally called it "The Long Hard Winter" and so it was. But her publisher felt that was too frank for her audience of children so it was shortened.
And no, there has been no blizzard here, just some cool weather. But I love the thought of snowy cold weather. Now that I'm retired and don't have to go out to work every day! I have already moved the table close to the stove for warm cozy meals. Eliyah and I have brought in wood and stacked it on the hearth. Every morning I read a chapter from "The Long Winter" after breakfast. Not that we are having fire in the stove yet. The Chimney Sweep hasn't even been here yet. I am just anticipating!
I brought home some souvenirs from Florida. A lovely little Nocturn, a little night painting:
And a reproduction sewing bird. It is impossible to actually stick a pin in the bright red cushion and I don't know how they managed that!
Also a set of Majolica canisters that are actually worth something. You will see them in the background of this next picture. The picture is of a bottle of oil. The plastic bottle was so thin that it crumpled and spilled oil on the counter when I grabbed it to pour in the skillet. I found a nice whiskey bottle to put it into and I like it very much, easy to hold and to pour.
In line with being cozy for winter, I am cooking beans for the next month or so:
I will put them in the jars, cover them with wax paper and canning rings and freeze them. Beans, it turns out, are a proper carb for a diabetic.
It's almost time for our show so I'll stop now except to note I have gone back to monthly grocery buying. It seems to save me about $50 a month. More on this later.
