Freeze Up, Tater Soup, Gifts and Food Storage
11/30/06 - 5th Day - Before Bedtime. I waited all day to post because blogger is having a problem uploading pictures, but it doesn't look like it is going to work today, so I'll post without the pics, and hope to post them tomorrow. Today was the big cold day, and boy was it ever. Woke up with it about 28 degrees and sleeting. Winds were high and the "real feel" temperature was about 12 degrees most of the day. Started snowing (Yes, it never snows in Central Texas!) later, which was pretty... irritating.
Yesterday we had a friend (our local Longhorn expert Frank) donate a side of beef, which pretty much filled up our freezer (which is pretty nice, don't you think?), and Danielle and I went to Coleman because they were having a huge sale at the grocery and that is when we stock up on our food storage items. We piled up on the canned veggies and other sale itmes while they are cheap, which will help us keep from going into town as much. One of the greatest side-effects of a preparedness lifestyle is that you truly are able to limit your contact with the wicked world. Of course we are looking forward to the day when we can grow most of our food out here, preserve it, and store it in our own root cellar, etc., but we try to always take advantage of the big sales because it helps us in our separation plans. Here is an article I wrote about it that was published in Countryside Magazine:
Be prepared and save money by buying more?
So, today found us stocked up with a full freezer of meat (we had already put about 5 or 6 turkeys in the freezer when we got the side of beef) and enough vegetables to get us through the hectic and worldly "holyday" season. Praise God.
So tomorrow is supposed to be a bit warmer (50's?), although tonight is supposed to be pretty chilly. I found a woodburner in Brownwood I would like to get when I can, but until then we have our little catalytic heater and our oil lamps which keeps us warm enough.
Today I made some Potato soup (a bunch of it) to help keep us warm. Here is my "recipe". I say "recipe" loosely, since I don't measure anything or time anything when I cook.
I took 10 potatoes and cut them into small chunks. I put half of them into a stock pot and let them boil (like you were making mashed potatoes). The other half I put into a very large stock pot (I don't know, maybe 8 quarts or so) which was filled about 2/3 of the way with water. I browned 2 lbs. of Longhorn hamburger beef, strained it well, then put it in the large stock pot with the chunked potatoes. I put both pots on the Coleman stove to boil. When the small pot boils, I turn it down a bit until the potatoes are good for mashing. Mash them like mashed potatoes with butter, pepper, and then pour in some milk to make a creamy, pasty, chunky, creamy, potato glue. Toss this into the other large pot of boiling potatoes. Then I took a frying pan and put in a small amount of olive oil. Season the oil with season salt, garlic salt, pepper, and basil. When the oil is really hot (before it starts to sear or blacken), sprinkle in some flour until it thickens up real stiff. Pour in some milk and stir it in good to get rid of lumps. When it thickens up again, pour in more milk. Keep doing this until your pan is full of this "gravy". By this time hopefully your big pot has boiled off some of the water. If not, and it seems like there is too much water in the big pot, you can ladle some of this soup stock out into quart jars as stock for future soup... or you can pour it into gallon freezer bags for the same purpose. Anyway, once you have the right amount in your large pot, pour the "gravy" into it and stir well. Maybe sprinkle in some dehydrated onions, or any other flavoring you like. Continue to let it simmer, stirring it regularly. If the soup is still a bit thin, then you can make another batch of "gravy", this time using stock from the large pot instead of milk to make the gravy. Then mix the lot back in to the whole batch. If you like your soup chunkier, you can add more potatoes at this point as well. I added in another 5 potatoes. Continue to season to taste. When the chunked potatoes are soft and the soup is thickened and seasoned to taste, serve with tortillas and butter. Yum. It was a hit.
We got the roof put on the root cellar right before the weather hit, so we "somewhat" sealed up the thing with a huge tarp before the ice, snow and rain fell. I am very pleased with the progress, and I hope that it continues so that we can finish it before Jan. 1.
I hope to write more tomorrow, as well as to put out another Q&A Fridays email.
Peace,
Michael Bunker
Yesterday we had a friend (our local Longhorn expert Frank) donate a side of beef, which pretty much filled up our freezer (which is pretty nice, don't you think?), and Danielle and I went to Coleman because they were having a huge sale at the grocery and that is when we stock up on our food storage items. We piled up on the canned veggies and other sale itmes while they are cheap, which will help us keep from going into town as much. One of the greatest side-effects of a preparedness lifestyle is that you truly are able to limit your contact with the wicked world. Of course we are looking forward to the day when we can grow most of our food out here, preserve it, and store it in our own root cellar, etc., but we try to always take advantage of the big sales because it helps us in our separation plans. Here is an article I wrote about it that was published in Countryside Magazine:
Be prepared and save money by buying more?
So, today found us stocked up with a full freezer of meat (we had already put about 5 or 6 turkeys in the freezer when we got the side of beef) and enough vegetables to get us through the hectic and worldly "holyday" season. Praise God.
So tomorrow is supposed to be a bit warmer (50's?), although tonight is supposed to be pretty chilly. I found a woodburner in Brownwood I would like to get when I can, but until then we have our little catalytic heater and our oil lamps which keeps us warm enough.
Today I made some Potato soup (a bunch of it) to help keep us warm. Here is my "recipe". I say "recipe" loosely, since I don't measure anything or time anything when I cook.
I took 10 potatoes and cut them into small chunks. I put half of them into a stock pot and let them boil (like you were making mashed potatoes). The other half I put into a very large stock pot (I don't know, maybe 8 quarts or so) which was filled about 2/3 of the way with water. I browned 2 lbs. of Longhorn hamburger beef, strained it well, then put it in the large stock pot with the chunked potatoes. I put both pots on the Coleman stove to boil. When the small pot boils, I turn it down a bit until the potatoes are good for mashing. Mash them like mashed potatoes with butter, pepper, and then pour in some milk to make a creamy, pasty, chunky, creamy, potato glue. Toss this into the other large pot of boiling potatoes. Then I took a frying pan and put in a small amount of olive oil. Season the oil with season salt, garlic salt, pepper, and basil. When the oil is really hot (before it starts to sear or blacken), sprinkle in some flour until it thickens up real stiff. Pour in some milk and stir it in good to get rid of lumps. When it thickens up again, pour in more milk. Keep doing this until your pan is full of this "gravy". By this time hopefully your big pot has boiled off some of the water. If not, and it seems like there is too much water in the big pot, you can ladle some of this soup stock out into quart jars as stock for future soup... or you can pour it into gallon freezer bags for the same purpose. Anyway, once you have the right amount in your large pot, pour the "gravy" into it and stir well. Maybe sprinkle in some dehydrated onions, or any other flavoring you like. Continue to let it simmer, stirring it regularly. If the soup is still a bit thin, then you can make another batch of "gravy", this time using stock from the large pot instead of milk to make the gravy. Then mix the lot back in to the whole batch. If you like your soup chunkier, you can add more potatoes at this point as well. I added in another 5 potatoes. Continue to season to taste. When the chunked potatoes are soft and the soup is thickened and seasoned to taste, serve with tortillas and butter. Yum. It was a hit.
We got the roof put on the root cellar right before the weather hit, so we "somewhat" sealed up the thing with a huge tarp before the ice, snow and rain fell. I am very pleased with the progress, and I hope that it continues so that we can finish it before Jan. 1.
I hope to write more tomorrow, as well as to put out another Q&A Fridays email.
Peace,
Michael Bunker
posted by Michael Bunker at 11/30/2006 11:17:00 AM
1 Comments:
Soup sounds good! Look forward to seeing everyone soon. God Bless
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