FarmerDenise's journal - full on harvest time = busy, busy, busy

[FarmerDenise]

Yesterday SO came home with only pictures of deer.
We went to Walmart, and got supplies for canning. We don't like shopping at Walmart, but when you're broke you do what you have to. The prices on on the small lids were so much better than any other I've seen.
We were shocked to find that they had no deer gun shells in the ammo dept. The shelves were pretty empty.
We spent a bit of money, but in the long run, it'll save us money.
Afterwards we both got headaches and neither of us did much the rest of the day.
I had a super healthy lunch and then allowed myself some major indulgence in junky food. We ended up the evening watching "The Colony" and me trying to repair my dietary faux pas with wine, yogurt and dried fruit.

 

[Dace]

Congrats on the eggs! Such a simple pleasure but it really makes you proud doesn't it!

Can you tell me about this freezer dough? This is the second reference I have read this morning!

 

[FarmerDenise]

Dace, It's a recipe from Fleischman's yeast. When I was a teen my grandmother got one of their recipe booklets, the ones you get for free, when you send in so many UPC codes or whatever. We loved the recipes so much, that my mother got her own and then I had to get my own also when I moved out on my own.
I'll try and scan the recipe for you.

In college I got my roommates into bread baking. We really got into it and experimented with all different kinds and adding all kinds of goodies to it. We had also joined a food co-op, the only way to get organic food and bulk food at a reasonable price. In my sophomore year, a large group of us decided to rent a cabin (way to small to hold all of us , but we made it work) in a state park. It was the weekend before thanksgiving. We wanted to have our own thanksgiving as a group of friends. Every one contributed something. There was a couple in a cabin across the way and when they found out what we were doing, they let us use their kitchen to make our bread. We made all kinds of different breads and shared some with the couple. It all came together so well. It still gives me warm fuzzy feelings.
We took the doors from the cabin off the hinges in order to make tables to serve everyone. It was just one of those times where we managed to make do with whatever we brought and what we could scrounge. If we didn't bring something that was needed, we had no choice but to do without. We were too far away from civilization to run to a store and get it. Everyone shared what they had. We spent two nights. My boyfriend and I slept under the VW van the first night. It was cold. The next night we managed to sleep in one of the narrow wooden cots in the cabin. Those were hard and there wasn't much room on them either, certainly not enough for two . Some had brought small tents and set them up outside and slept in them. In the mornings the early birds made coffee and fresh bread for everyone for breakfast.
Of course when we left, the doors got put back on the hinges and everythng got cleaned up better than when we arrived. There were a few slobs among us, but then there were those of us, who just could not leave any sort of mess. We even went and cleaned around some of the neighboring cabins. It was a beautifull park and we wanted to keep it that way. That reminds me, I have pictures somewhere....

 

[FarmerDenise]

Here is the recipe for the freezer bread. I don't know how well it came out. It toook me all afternoon to figure out how to do this. It first scanned in as a bmp file I couldn't get it to scan in as a text file. Everytime I tried my computer crashed

 

[FarmerDenise]

Looks Like I'll have to type it out afterall. It looks way to small to read.
If someone wants it please let me know, and I'll type it up.

 

[Blackbird]

I'm not sure.. but I'd try and see if you could find it on this website before you typed it all up;

http://www.breadworld.com/default.aspx

I noticed the Fleischmann's yeast thingy in the corner.

 

[FarmerDenise]

bb thanks for the link, but I didn't find the receipe on there.
Dace, basically it is a recipe for dough for about 4 loaves of white bread that you can freeze. It is quite easy to make and as I said, I will gladly type it up on here, if someone is interested.
I plan on revising it to suit my more healthfull ways. But even as is, if I can get SO to eat this instead of his wonder bread, I figure I am ahead of the game.

I had errands to run today. Our flowers didn't sell very well. 4 out of ten sold. I guess people rather buy food than flowers. Usually we sell out at this time of year.
I bought a few grains in order to make my own bread. And distributed a few flyers.

I made my bread, using my sourdough experiment which turned out well so far. The bread is doing it's second rising and I hope to bake it in a little while.

The neighbors advertized for a garage sale, and we plan on joining them with our vegetables.

It ended up being hotter today than what I expected and we brought the dog in and I was tired enough to take a nap. Tomorrow is agoing to be a busy day.

 

[Dace]

FD what a great Thanksgiving day story! It sounds like a wonderful time for a bunch of college kids

I would like the recipe when you have time to type it. I don't need the details in minutia...just the ingred. and any other specific tips.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Ok Dace, I'll get the recipe for you. I know I really like the idea of having the dough ready. You still need to take it out an thaw it, but that's a lot easier on a busy day.

I really was busy yesterday. I got so a lot done. My bread turned out really good. It is a little pale, but the taste and texture are great. It was really late by the time I shut the oven off. I figured, I can always brouwn a slice of bread in the toaster.

Today I followed up on things that I had started this week. I put the thyme I stripped in a jar. Put seeds I collected in envelopes or ziplock bags and labeled them. Made a batch of blackberry sauce using the blackberries SO picked this morning. Put the dehydrated mushrooms in a ziplock bag and then the feezer. Strained my apple cider. It smells great. I got 1 1/2 gal. Now to wait for it to turn into vinegar. Cooked up some potatoes for potato salad and the water for my sourdough starter. I reduced the potato water a bit and saved it in jars in the refridgerator for my next baking round.

I opened a jar of refridgerator pickles and they are wonderfull. Salty like I remember the deli pickles from the Jewish deli's in New York, and nice and crunchy. I used one in my pototo salad, chopped up real fine.

I also went next door to the yard sale and found some things I couldn't live without. One of the items was a nice old fashioned hand drill. So I asked what I could barter her for, I have a lot of nice vegetables. She suggested my time, since I had already been there more than two hours helping her set up.

We had a nice dinner made primarily with homegrown food. Or food that was scrounged or somehow gotten for free or real cheep. We are not done yet either. For desert we have a choice of water melon, apples, cantelopes or yogurt with fruit. All the fruit from our garden. How great is that. I love this time of year.

 

[Farmfresh]

I just LOVE the way it feels when everything on the table was produced or gathered by me and my homestead. That free food ALWAYS tastes better!