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Archive for the ‘Experimenting’ Category

I killed my mother

Posted in Back to Basics, Beer and Wine, Experimenting, Preservation on August 8, 2010 | 7 Comments »

I didn’t know how to tell you, so I’ve put off this post for some time. I killed my vinegar mother—the gelatinous substance that turns wine into vinegar. Over a year ago I acquired a mother from Jackie Dill, the self-sufficient, wise wildcrafter of Coyle, OK. And since I was so grateful that Jackie shared [...]

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Against the Odds

Posted in Experimenting, Garden on June 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Look what I saw in our yard today! It’s a tiny amaranth plant. It doesn’t look like much yet, but look what it can become! Last summer I collected amaranth blossoms from Kamala’s garden, put them in a paper bag, and hung the bag in the basement over the winter. By springtime, the flowers had [...]

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Compost Happens

Posted in Experimenting, Garden, Nature on May 27, 2010 | 3 Comments »

This is our new compost container Matt made from salvaged fence panels Chelsey scouted in her neighborhood. I’m a low-maintenance/low-results composter; though I’m considering adding red wiggler worms for some assistance and entertainment. Mostly, I just don’t like throwing kitchen or garden scraps in the trash, so I bury them in shredded paper, shredded leaves, [...]

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Eat Your Heart Out

Posted in Experimenting, Meat, Recipe on February 8, 2010 | 6 Comments »

For me, February and hearts go hand in hand: conversation hearts, cardboard heart-shaped boxes filled with cloying mystery chocolates, and teddy bears cradling crushed-velvet hearts. But then my mind turns to actual hearts: the thumping, life-giving kind. Oh, dear. Is this going where I think it’s going? This month’s recipe might be a little off-putting [...]

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Chip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

Posted in Experimenting, Fat on January 26, 2010 | 4 Comments »

In early December we bought tortillas from Jose’s Tortilleria. We got a mighty stack of white corn tortillas—still warm—for a few bucks. What a deal! We did our best to use them up with some mole-inspired roasted pork, but didn’t come close. We used a few for breakfast burritos. We even tried them as a [...]

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The Original Jack o’ Lantern Was Creamed

Posted in Experimenting, Recipe, Vegetarian on December 3, 2009 | 2 Comments »

A couple years ago I zealously ordered 5 pounds of turnips through the food co-op. I avoided them so long they eventually became expensive compost fodder. A couple weeks ago, on some unfounded confidence, I decided to make a turnip side dish for our dinner party. Why not experiment at our first-ever dinner party? And, [...]

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Shredding Potatoes

Posted in Breakfast, Experimenting, Preservation on November 28, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Quick idea: If, after dehydrating your potatoes, you still have more you need to use up, make hash browns! Grate the potatoes with a cheese grater, spread them out on a cookie sheet or plastic cutting board, freeze until solid, then transfer the potatoes to a freezer bag. (The potatoes stuck somthin’ fierce to my [...]

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Drying Potatoes

Posted in Experimenting, Preservation on November 2, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Here’s a little clip of me using the handy-dandy mandoline to slice a wee potato. The uniform, thin slices vastly improved drying time compared to last year. Drying the slices takes around 1.5–2 hours at 215˚, depending on the type of cookie sheet and the oven rack placement. It took probably around six hours to [...]

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Wild Food Walk

Posted in Events, Experimenting, Local on June 9, 2009 | 2 Comments »

A couple weeks ago I went on a wild-food walk near Coyle, Oklahoma. The rain let up enough for our hard-core group (or just hard-core nerds) to pile into the back of a 4×4 pick-up to hunt pokeweed, lamb’s quarters, ramps, mushrooms, yarrow, mullein, horsetail, yucca, river reed, heals-all, and Iowa sage. After the walk, [...]

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