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I am taking my first step into fermenting today, and fermenting some salsa. It's all mixed up and on the counter as I type, I'll let you know how it goes!

Today I made homemade sunflower-seed and honey bread. YUM! That said, I do have to add a bit of salt to each slice, because when I lowered the amount of salt in the recipe to account for the salt that was already on the sunflower seeds, I apparantly lowered it too much. So that brings me to my...

I have read a few how-to instructions on how to raise your own fish (usually tilapia) in an extra-large water trough in the yard. Seems completely doable, but the instructions are not too long on troubleshooting if something goes wrong. I'm hoping to find people who have done so in the past (or...

Right now I'm eating them fresh, like apples. Once they get a little soft I think I'll dice the remaining ones and freeze them for use in soups over the winter. I love diced tomato in a bean and pork stew!

More Craigslist scores! Today I picked up 12 free chickens, all 3 years old so laying was slowing down. Nine hens and three roosters. The three roosters and three of the hens are in the fridge already - I love free food! The other 6 hens are on the schedule for Thursday, although I may butcher...

Perfect timing! We had breakfast for dinner tonight. I had some ham steaks I wanted to use up so I didn't have to freeze them. And I always have eggs. So I fried ham steaks, did over-easy eggs, and made pancakes. Yum. I needed a lunch for tomorrow that travels well, so decided on Bacon and...

Hubby and I just moved from Colorado to Oregon in a Penske rental truck, and it was EXPENSIVE. For the 22-foot truck , tow trailer, dolly, extra day's rental, and insurance, it was $2000. And that was the cheapest price we could find anywhere, and it included a 12% discount for the AAA...

I am tracking our spending (as part of our budgeting) , so all our receipts have to be saved for each month and entered into a spreadsheet at the end of it. I often just save them in my purse or hubby's wallet for that month. If something needs returned quickly it's easy to find the receipt. At...

I have a quart of raw goat's milk in the refrigerator that isn't drinkable. I'm not the only one grouchy about this batch, apparantly the goats got into the molasses and it affected the milk's taste for a couple days. It's REALLY strong, and I don't like it. Smells fine, the taste is all wrong...

Hey calendula - I had some luck in getting the pot really really hot from hot water sitting in it, then dumping it out and letting it air dry. Some of the burnt applesauce curled up around the edges, away from the pot. It was easy to flick off the curled parts with a fingernail at that point...

Wow, soon you'll know the ER staff by their first names! Hope everyone is recovering nicely. I wanted to chime in on the puppets. I think a sheep and a snake would be easy to make and recognizable. For the sheep you could "fuzz" the felt by roughing it up with a hairbrush. And the snake's most...

I don't know enough about starters to answer you, but I'm chiming in to ask you to post the recipe, please! I just started sourdough starter yesterday, I'd love to have a potato bread one too.

I have three tiny bug bites, but I don't know what bug has been biting me. I live in Oregon, which has ENTIRELY different bugs than Colorado did. I'll try to do a photo in a day or two if I need to, but I'm hoping this is identifiable by description. The bump is tiny - maybe half a match head...

Welcome! I'm up in Springfield. If you get goats, I might ask to rent them for a day for my yard. :D I don't have enough forage to keep any permanently, but they could help a ton for a day or two, I think. Maybe that could be a side business... :D I can see it now... seamstress and goat rental...

How do I get it off? I was making an overly-large batch of applesauce, and did not realize a ring of it was burning on the bottom of the pan. I can't get it off! It's been two days. Scrubbing, soaking, boiling, soap, detergent, baking soda, vinegar, more scrubbing... I get color in the water...

For people who have skin reactions to their earrings, coating the earring post with clear fingernail polish (and re-coating often) usually helps. I wonder if the same thing would help in this instance? Coating the inside of the ring with clear nail polish would keep the metal from touching the...

Got LOTS of free downed apples from a lady via Craigslist today. They fill about 40 gallons worth of plastic bins. They were blown down on her yard, so all have some bruising and insect damage to varying degrees. Some will go straight into compost, but a lot of them look like half the apple or...

Processed five more chickens today! And picked about 4 more pints of blackberries. That brings the total to about 12 pints of blackberries and 11 processed chickens. Plus there are 5 more chickens on tap for tomorrow, I just ran out of light today. Bought an old shipping crate, to make the...

Doing my best to save money by doing things myself. That's self-sufficiency, right? I processed six roosters the other day, and we're about to have our third meal from the meat. First night was Italian tomato chicken breasts. Then was chicken breasts in onion gravy. Tonight is BBQ chicken leg...

Two meals come to mind. One was brunch at the Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs, CO. A 5-star resort hotel, the buffet tables stretched through an entire ballroom, featuring a chocolate fountain for your fresh fruit, omelettes made to order, elk and antelope sausage, fruit juices from fruits...