food storage – Page 2 – Planet B Gardens

homemade apple cider

What to do with small, blemished apples not pretty enough for pies or eating whole? I’m making apple cider. If you have a juicer, this is super simple. Wash the apples. Quarter the apples and throw them into the juicer — skins, cores, stems and all. Run the apples through the juicer, and that’s it. The cider will last a couple weeks in the fridge. It will ferment naturally, so be aware that you could get a bit of a buzz once that process happens. It could also get a bit sour — let your taste buds be your guide for when the cider is no longer drinkable. You could

October 7, 2015

apple butter

First time making apple butter. Apple butter has no dairy in it despite the name. The end result is supposed to spread like butter, but be made of only apples, sugar, a touch of salt, and spices. The recipe I used also called for apple cider vinegar during the simmering process. I started by washing and slicing the apples into quarters, keeping the skins and core attached. The quartered apples went into a large stock pot with 4 cups water and 2 cups apple cider vinegar. After bringing to a boil and simmering for 20 minutes or so, the apples were soft. I put them into a food mill a

October 4, 2015

fires out, cayennes in

Thankfully the wildfires in the area are out, and we’ve had a little rain over the last month to clear the air. During the height of the smoke we escaped to Colorado for 10 days for an impromptu visit with friends. After that I had to go to San Francisco on business for another 10 days, so most of September was spent traveling. I hated to leave the garden knowing it wouldn’t survive without daily watering, but with the smoke and lack of sunshine it wasn’t clear how well September would have produced anyway. I was able to harvest some ripe cayenne peppers and a couple of quarts of tomatoes

October 4, 2015

winter learnings

It’s been nine months since we moved here to Planet B. In that time, here are a few random things I’ve learned: You can successfully store cheese without refrigeration by painting it with cheese wax and hanging it in a climate controlled area. Mice, too, like climate controlled areas in winter, can jump really high, and think cheese is yummy. They are also industrious and like to nest in engine blocks — it doesn’t seem to matter that the car is being driven. Mine gathered its nesting material partly from the cheese wax and partly from the dried grass under the lawnmower — both of which are quite a distance in opposite directions

April 6, 2015

cheese storage update

Five weeks ago I decided to experiment with unrefrigerated cheese storage. I painted blocks of store bought cheddar and jack w/red cheese wax, tied them with butcher’s twine, and hung them to store in my shop/garage area. The shop stays reasonably cool even though we’ve had days in the 90s. Tonight I cut open one of the blocks of jack. There was a tiny dry spot where the twine had cut into the wax enough to let a bit of moisture out. Other than that, the cheese experiment is a success at five weeks unrefrigerated storage. The cheese smelled right — a smidge sharper than the very mild store bought jack I

October 23, 2014

bison stew pressure canning

Keeping jars of stew in the pantry makes preparing a healthy quick meal easy and tastes much better than any canned stews you’d buy in at the supermarket. When I make a stew, I often set enough aside to can a few jars. Dice onions, yellow potatoes, and cube bison chuck roast for this stew, and put them in a pot separate from the main batch. Toss in a little oil and lightly brown the bison and vegetables. Bison is a naturally lean meat, so the extra fat doesn’t hurt. Add enough beef broth to almost cover the meat and vegetables, followed by a 1/2 cup or so of red

October 4, 2014

roasted hot salsa

I love salsas — the hotter the better. To make my own for canning, I cubed and seeded a couple pounds of heirloom tomatoes. I charred sweet peppers and tomatillos from my friend Nancy’s garden over an open flame, and sliced hot peppers — keeping the seeds of the fresh cayenne pepper in the mix. Chopped a cup of sweet onions. Tossed it

September 28, 2014

cheese experiment

Can you store cheese without refrigeration? I knew cheese makers have been making and storing cheese long before refrigerators were available, so I got curious. Reading up a bit, I learned that you can paint cheese with cheese wax, which allows it to breathe while protecting the cheese as it ages. So I decided to give it a try. For this experiment I used store-bought cheese and cut it into roughly 1/2 pound blocks. I let the cheese sit at room temperature for an hour or so to sweat out excess moisture. While the cheese was sitting at room temperature, I melted the cheese wax (must be cheese wax, unless you

September 18, 2014

storable food favorites

Garage pantry and storage area is finally set up at Plant B, so now I have a good spot to put backup food supplies. Especially out here in the rurals, you never know how long you might be snowed in, have access to town cut off because a river decided to overflow its banks, or have to make do at home for some other unplanned reason. Best to be prepared. My list has been tested and refined over the last seven or eight years. What’s on and what’s off the list boils down to answering: Edibility: Will we really eat that? Perishability: How long will it last at room temperature? Versatility: How many ways

September 10, 2014