Marti’s Corner – 70

Hi Everyone,

NOTES:

**  You should be familiar with the website:  Alert RivCo | Emergency Management Department | Riverside County Most communities now have a similar alert system to Riverside’s.  It’s always an advantage to get a heads-up.  From this page, you can sign up to have alerts sent to your phone in case of emergencies.  Scroll down until you see “registration portal” and click on that.

** You can also go to Find Your Home’s Climate Risks | Risk Factor.  You type in your address and they tell you what dangers you should be aware of.  My house is “unlikely” to flood in the next 30 years.  Whew.  And I have an 11.8% chance of being in a fire.  So……. now I can sleep at night.

You can get risk information about your community and lists of providers that offer insurance.

GARDEN HAPPENINGS:

**Pest of the week.  

So, I was in the garden and decided it was time to start inspecting the “underside” of the plant leaves.  I’m not always good about it because there are just SOOOOO many leaves and it’s tiresome to look under them all.  But at the bottom of the cucumbers, I found this on the backside of a leaf:

It was totally invisible from the top.

Not EXACTLY sure what they are, but they don’t belong there and I think they are aphids.  I sprayed them with safer soap.  It seemed to do the trick.  

I also found them on this new baby cuke:

I sprayed those too.  I found a few leaves with leaf miner damage and pulled those off.  As the weather gets warmer, the life cycle of the bugs speeds up.  You have to be a good detective!  Spray, spray, spray.  Do NOT let it go.

*** Do you ever see those little white butterflies in your garden.  They are evil!  LOL  Here is the low down on eliminating cabbage worms that eat everything including cabbage leaves, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, kale, etc.  Eliminate the Cabbage Worm – The Living Farm

**  This is the third year I’ve planted beans.  In the last two years, I never had enough beans for a meal, much less to can or dehydrate.  But THIS year…

This is ONE DAY’s pickings!!!  What did I do differently?  1) I sprayed more.  2) planted both pole beans and bush beans to compare them 3)  I get in there every day and take out yellow leaves and look for bugs 4)  I am better about picking the beans and not leaving them on to get old.  5)  I gave them more room to grow.  I put the poles in so they splayed out instead of coming together at the top like a teepee.  I think this is helping with bugs and disease.  6)  I pray for my garden at night.  It may seem silly, but it says in the scriptures to pray over our flocks and fields.  Well… THIS is my field.  

NOW what to do?  Do NOT wash the beans.  They will mold faster.  Put them fresh-picked in a gallon bag with a folded paper towel to soak up any moisture.  I have a gallon bag in the fridge with just this many beans.  I’m not going to “can” them.  I have done that in the past, and it’s just like buying a can of beans – kind of mushy.  I’m going to blanche and dehydrate some, blanche and freeze some, and blanche and freeze dry some.  I’ll try them all and then settle on what I like best.  But I love fresh beans.  A little olive oil in the frying pan, beans, some garlic, and a little chicken broth, and simmer.  YUM.

THIS WEEK’S PURCHASE: canned vegetables

At Winco, you can get cans of veggies for about $.58  This is just under $7 for a case of 12.  Get 2 cases – or whatever.  I like to store beans, corn, and diced tomatoes.  That’s about it for me.  I stored some diced potatoes once, and after 7 years, I opened them to find they were black.  Ewwww.  Now I only store dehydrated potatoes for long-term.  Wait… I DO have some jars of potatoes, but I rotate them pretty quickly because I like to fry them up for breakfast.

MISC PURCHASE: Bouillon

I usually get the Knorr Chicken Bouillon.  You can get a really big jar for under $5.  Of course, I like the “Better Than Bouillon” brand, but it’s more of a short-term product and wouldn’t store for many years without going bad.  I also store beef bouillon.  Just get a jar this week and stick it aside.

FOOD STORAGE RECIPES

Daryl Hoole’s 1/2 and 1/2 Bread

I’ve had this recipe since the 70’s.  Yeah, I’m THAT old!  I used to make 8 loaves a week for my family.  

Thanks to K.O. who just made some last week or so, and said the recipe did NOT disappoint and turned out great!

6 c. warm water
2 TB yeast
2 TB salt
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. oil
6 c. whole wheat flour
     Mix.  It will be runny, like pancake batter.  Cover and let rise.  It will be spongy.
Stir down and add 6 c. white flour.  Knead 10 minutes.  Divide into 4 loaves.  Let rise.  Bake 450˚ for 15 min, then reduce heat to 350˚ for 20 min.  

For rolls, bake 450˚ for 15-20 min.

Mike’s Bread

My brother, Mike, served in a position in our Church that allowed him to visit various congregations on different Sundays.  He was always appreciative when the bread that was used for the Sacrament was soft and delicious.  Now that he is retired, he has made it his mission to make homemade bread every week for this specific purpose.  

Here is HIS recipe:

1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. honey
    Add to a bowl
1 1/2 TB sugar
3/4 TB salt
2 1/2 c. warm water
2 TB yeast
   Add all and let rest 5 minutes to give the yeast a start.
2 TB vital wheat gluten
5 c. flour, then add more, little by little until you get the right consistency.  Should be 1-2 c. more.  NEVER add more than 7 1/4 c. flour

Knead, rise, punch down, divide into loaves, etc.  Bake 350˚ 30-40 minutes.  I think he makes 2 loaves from this (I forgot to write that down.  Ugh.)

Winner Bread

Best Whole Wheat Bread

Someplace online had a contest for whole wheat bread.  They made and tested several different recipes and this was the winner:

Makes 5 loaves

6 c. warm water
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey
2 TB yeast
     Mix and let sit for 5 minutes or until yeast is totally dissolved.
2 TB dough enhancer (I bought some online just for this recipe)
1/3 vital wheat gluten (They used to have this at Winco in the bulk section, and now I’m not sure)
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 TB salt
    Mix.
9 c. flour – Add flour as needed.  If you let it rest during this process, the water will absorb more of the flour and you won’t need to add as much.  This makes the loaves lighter and not so heavy.  In fact, I usually add about 1/2 the flour (4 1/2 cups) and let THIS part rise.  It will be really soupy, but the flour will have time to soak into the water.  Then when you add the rest of the flour, you won’t need as much.

If you have never made bread, you need two risings.  Once before you shape the loaves, and once after.  Watch some youTube videos to see how.

Put into five well-oiled pans and rise again.  Bake 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Making bread is just something you get better at as you do it.  But hot bread makes your house smell SOOOO good, and tastes delicious!

*** I looked up online how long you could store vital wheat gluten.  Turns out it will store nicely for 7-10 years if it is in an airtight container.  I bought some in the bulk section at Winco and vacuum sealed it in 1 c. portions and stuck it in the closet.

***  I also looked up dough enhancer.  I thought this was a good article about both:  Frieda Loves Bread: Vital Wheat Gluten vs. Dough Enhancer

(Spoiler alert:  She likes using the vital wheat gluten and was not impressed with the dough enhancer)

If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, then you know that the youth program is all about setting goals and working to fulfill them.  Why don’t you choose something to work on this summer.  Maybe it’s continuing to build your food supply.  Maybe it’s working on a better rotation system.  Maybe it’s a skill.  I’m just putting this out there:  My goal is to learn how to use my sun oven.  Yep.  That’s it.  I’d also like to learn to use my cast iron pot.  Okay, now I’d better go get both things out of storage so I can feel guilty every week when I see them sitting around unused.  LOL  Really, I can do this.

Marti