Chicken Vegetable Soup

We put up some chicken vegetable soup today, in addition to the meatloaf. Last night all I got done was the chunky applesauce I still have chili and apple pie filling to get canned, along with more chunky apple sauce. I'm hping to have spiced apple rings canned up by next weekend and that will be all for apples this year!

Canning Coleslaw

Shred the cabbage using a kraut cutter or mandolin, be sure to keep your fingers out of the way!

Mix carrots and onion in with the shredded cabbage and then sprinkle salt over the mixture and allow to sit for an hour.

Slaw after sitting for one hour with salt.

Slaw in jars ready for the syrup to be added.

Syrup for the slaw is ready, make sure you completely melt the sugar and the syrup is clear.

Syrup added to slaw. The slaw starts to wilt as the heat from the syrup settles in the jars.

Remove bubbles using a canning stick or spatula.

Slaw after 20 minutes of processing in BWB.

Dh decided to experiment with this batch and added the slaw to the jars and then added the syrup - the end result was floating slaw! Next time we'll add the slaw to the syrup and then to the jars!

This Weekends To Do List

Can Meatloaf, Chili, Coleslaw, Green Beans, and make Chunky Applesauce, AND if there's any time left in the weekend Apple Pie Filling.

Cucumber Salad

Cut one peeled cucumber into quarters and slice thin. Add sliced/minced onion. Mix together with one eight cup of red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper mix well and enjoy!

Instant Gravy

Served over potatoes it's not all that bad, needed more black pepper though.

Hamburger Gravy

Serve over mashed potatos or slices of bread.

Add to ground beef.

Stir until well blended and thickened.

Add gravy mix to boiling water in skillet.

Mix instant gravy packet with cold water in a measuring cup, mug, small bowl, etc. Heat frozen peas up in remaining water bringing water to a boil.

Place cooked burger aside in a largish bowl.

Brown ground beef until done.

Poorman's Meal ~ Depression Era Cooking

Egg Drop Soup ~ Depression Era Cooking

Pasta with Potatos and Peas ~ Depression Era Cooking

Insulating Windows

Check out this guys idea for insulating windows - I plan to use this method for my oval window this winter: http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/bubblewrap.htm

Pickled Cabbage

The jar on the left has been processed and has turned a dark red violet color, the jar on the right needs processing still.

Purple cabbage jar on the right has the syrup added and has turned a lovely bright red color.

Purple cabbage ready for the syrup.

It was supposed to be Spiced Red Cabbage but I decided at the last minute I didn't want all of the spices in my cabbage. Dh wanted them but I think we'll be much happier about my choice later on, cloves tend to make me sick and the recipe called for a quarter cups worth, and we didn't have any mace which means the only spice we would have used was Allspice so what's the point.

Spiced Purple Cabbage

I'll post the remaining pics tonight as this batch is STILL in progress. I've rinsed the salted shredded cabbage leaves and spun them in the salad spinner they are now resting on paper towel lined plastic food wrap - so my countertop isn't stained purple for all eternity - and needs to drain/dry for six hours. The pickling portion will happen sometime around nine tonight; the purple looks pretty good against my koi yellow walls! We used a kraut cutter to get the cabbage this uniform.

Zojirushi Bread Machine

God bless the person who saw fit to put the instructions right on the machine! I haven't used the machine for six years now and have no idea where the manual is at.

Family Grain Mills Grain Grinder

There's Hard Winter White Wheat in the bucket waiting to be ground.

Assembly was very simple - I love those kinds of appliances! No more concerns if the power goes out I can still grind wheat to bake bread - yes I know the oven is broken but hopefully that'll be fixed next week.

My dad bought me a Family Grain Mill Grain Grinder for my birthday!!! He's telling me I need the flaker now to which I soooo agree. I've ground my first batch of wheat with it already and have pulled out the bread machine to make some bread tonight - our oven died about a month ago so now I"m using "other" appliances to get the same affect, the stove is only 45+ years old.

Potato Bins

I have twelve pototao bin shelves now, these sit on top of a palett that sits over a gravel filled dirt area in our basement floor. That's Angel our sheltie in front of the bins.

Holes were drilled in the end boards of each bin shelf to aid in air flow, we used 1 x 2 inch fencing for the bin bottoms.

Dh stapled lathe to the bottom of the bins to make them easier to pull out and push back into place much like a dresser drawer.

He used 1 8 foot 2 x 4 to make each bin.