The Homestead Inventory
The winter's coming, is farm girl Mathilda* ready?
One not-naked urban homesteader wrapped in a newly "finished" quilt top.
A more practical view of the quilt top.
One newly stocked pantry. It is very unfortunate that a cat who was a guest in our house decided that the concrete floor in this pantry was much more luxurious to pee on than her litter box. It's not near the food, don't worry. It takes the glamor of my pantry down a notch or two but hopefully with some Mrs. Meyer's cleaner I will be able to muscle out the unsavory odor.
Here is what you will find on these shelves:36 quarts vanilla pears
26 quarts diced tomatoes
12.5 quarts stewed tomatoes
16.5 quarts tomato sauce
21 pints 2-bean marinated salad
21 pints salsa
9.5 quarts peaches
6.5 pints apple sauce
9 pints marinated green bean salad
10.5 pints blueberry sauce
6 pints silvanberry sauce
9 pints piccalilli
15 pints dilly beans
8 pints bread and butter pickles
12 quarts dill pickles
11 quarts dill pickles from homegrown cucumbers
10 pints jardiniere
8 pints pickled eggplant
14.5 pints pickled beets
11 half pints peach peach preserves
10 half pints blueberry jam
6 half pints silvanberry jam
7 half pints blackberry jam (this is from last year)
3 half pints sour cherry jam
From the freezer:
9 packages soup
20 packages ratatouille
3 packages tomato sauce
8 packages grilled eggplant
10 packages grilled hot peppers
7 packages oven roasted tomatoes
4 packages green beans
4 packages zucchini
5 packages zucchini fritters
28 packages pesto
Is it enough? Will we be forced to eat the pile of rotting wood we're cultivating in the back yard? Would we fail the frontier house test? (Duh, of course we would, we keep a television in our fire place)
You know what I love about Philip? He has an amazing ability to keep his priorities in order. I also love his enthusiasm for all the activities I get into such as food preserving and this whole eating local challenge thing. I have been doing all the research so far on where we will find our sustenance and our comforts.
Then the night before last he comes rushing into our bedroom where I was watching old episodes of ER and says he's been looking for a local source for whiskey!! (The exclamation points are his, not mine.) He happens to love whiskey, not a treat he gets to enjoy very often due to the somewhat hefty nature of the price tag. Can you believe that? How fabulous is this state we live in that he can buy locally made whiskey?
It's entirely possible that the local junk is really disgusting, but he'll have to report to me on that one because the smell of all whiskey makes my stomach want to crawl up my throat and find out what fresh air is like. I know it can't have a peaty essence seeing as we have no peat here. My mom was wondering if anyone around here produces vodka. Sure enough, Philip found a vodka that is made in Portland. It fills me with pride that when the chips are getting weird, my man will always find festive beverages to imbibe before they actually go down.
Today as I was running my errands I saw a man in an official vehicle with a hair-do I really wanted to talk to him about. I thought as I passed him: Dude! I hate your pony tail so much it's making my brain hurt! I wonder if someone else felt the same way about mine?
Has anyone else been baking bread? I haven't baked any bread since the dog hair fiasco last year. Reading about wheat has made me itchy for some home made loaves. This weather also makes me wish bread was baking in my oven. I just hope I can make a decent loaf in my electric oven.
Time to go make food. Or curl up in a blanket and read. Oh yeah...with something festive in a cup. That reminds me, if anyone has any fantastic tried and true recipes for mustard or liqueurs, please share.
*not my real name.
You know what I love about Philip? He has an amazing ability to keep his priorities in order. I also love his enthusiasm for all the activities I get into such as food preserving and this whole eating local challenge thing. I have been doing all the research so far on where we will find our sustenance and our comforts.
Then the night before last he comes rushing into our bedroom where I was watching old episodes of ER and says he's been looking for a local source for whiskey!! (The exclamation points are his, not mine.) He happens to love whiskey, not a treat he gets to enjoy very often due to the somewhat hefty nature of the price tag. Can you believe that? How fabulous is this state we live in that he can buy locally made whiskey?
It's entirely possible that the local junk is really disgusting, but he'll have to report to me on that one because the smell of all whiskey makes my stomach want to crawl up my throat and find out what fresh air is like. I know it can't have a peaty essence seeing as we have no peat here. My mom was wondering if anyone around here produces vodka. Sure enough, Philip found a vodka that is made in Portland. It fills me with pride that when the chips are getting weird, my man will always find festive beverages to imbibe before they actually go down.
Today as I was running my errands I saw a man in an official vehicle with a hair-do I really wanted to talk to him about. I thought as I passed him: Dude! I hate your pony tail so much it's making my brain hurt! I wonder if someone else felt the same way about mine?
Has anyone else been baking bread? I haven't baked any bread since the dog hair fiasco last year. Reading about wheat has made me itchy for some home made loaves. This weather also makes me wish bread was baking in my oven. I just hope I can make a decent loaf in my electric oven.
Time to go make food. Or curl up in a blanket and read. Oh yeah...with something festive in a cup. That reminds me, if anyone has any fantastic tried and true recipes for mustard or liqueurs, please share.
*not my real name.
Labels: booze, canning, food, Oregon, pantry, Portland, quilting