Preserve Peppers by Drying Them

I have a friend who is big into gardening. He starts his own plants and must have a great system because he has the biggest and most prolific plants I have ever seen. This spring he gave me several tomato and pepper plants. I don't have a garden so I passed them on to my daughters. There were many different varieties. All of the plants produced very well. I would usually get 1 or 2 peppers per plant, but these were loaded. 

I didn't want to see any go to waste so I experimented with drying some. I picked 12 small green and red peppers. I diced them with my favorite Vidalia chop wizard (http://www.thecabincountess.com/2012/12/a-day-of-recovery.html). I had exactly 4 cups. I don't have a dehydrator but I put the diced peppers on parchment paper on the air fryer rack in my Ninja oven. I used the dehydrator setting which was 150 degrees.

I dried them for 7 hours stirring every couple hours. Eventually they were very dry to the touch.

4 cups of diced peppers turned into 3/4 cup of dried peppers.

At this point I ground the dried peppers in a small grinder. I didn't quite make powder but ground it pretty fine. 

To make it simple:

12 peppers = 4 cups diced peppers = 3/4 cup dried peppers =1/3 cup ground pepper

I think it's amazing there is that much water in vegetables. I did the math and a heaping teaspoon (1.33 t) is equal to 1 pepper. It smells really good. I am not sure what I will use it in, but there are a lot of recipes that this could be added to for additional flavor.

Pumpkin Bars

 

I have been asked why I write this blog. I have asked myself the same question particularly when I write stories about insignificant topics like making cheese or chasing bees. It is pretty boring to read about someones family vacation or how to repair a coffee pot. I do it so I can find my own recipes or important events easily by typing the subject in the search bar. It's a way of organizing my life by year. But more than that, it's a way of being heard. It may not be anyone else's experience, but people don't want to hear what you have to say. They don't want details, just the cliff notes. I am an introvert so I would rather not talk then. When I write, I can include a few details. Even then, it can't be too long. People are easily bored. Every single time I post a blog, I get a pang of anxiety but I do it anyway.

The art of conversation is lost. Today's technology is somewhat if not totally responsible. Texting in incomplete sentences using abbreviations is a way of the world. Snapchat is a snap of a persons life that doesn't require a response and disappears quickly. What is the point of that? I am at fault as well. When I tell a story in person, I get tongue tied and skip to the end because I can tell I am losing their attention. Often I miss important details, so what I say is either forgotten or doesn't make sense. I can identify we have a problem but I can't fix it. 

My wish for the future generations is that they ask questions about their heritage and listen to stories their parents, grandparents and even friends are telling. I was in the car with my daughter recently and I mentioned something about my college days. She had never heard it before. It wasn't an important story but it made me realize people don't really know each other very well, even our children. We try to have family meals but even that is hard to arrange. Those times are when the best conversations occur. In the 1970's I listened to a song called Stop and Smell the Roses. We all need to start doing that.

So that being said, I made Pumpkin Bars yesterday. Type Pumpkin in my search bar, and you will see I like pumpkin. Here is the recipe I used for the pumpkin bars. Sorry there is a piece missing from the pan. I had to sample it to make sure it was good. Well maybe the truth is I was so excited to eat it, I forgot to take a picture. 

Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs

2 c. brown sugar

1 15 oz can of pure pumpkin puree

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) melted butter or a scant cup of oil

2 c. flour

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp cinnamon 

1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Mix the first 5 ingredients together until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and pour into the greased jelly roll pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Frosting

4 T.  softened butter

1 8 oz. block of cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

3 c. powdered sugar

1 T.  milk or more if needed.

 

Yellow Jackets in the House AGAIN

This situation in my life was not going to be blog worthy. I wrote about it on facebook and thought that was the end to the story. Ten years ago I also wrote about this and didn’t want to revisit this subject. https://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/08/wasps-in-house.html  Now it is between me and the yellow jackets once again. 

It all started out as a perfectly normal summer day. I was out on my deck watering plants and when I bent over to water the last plant and the one closest to the back door, ouch!!!! I got stung by a bee, then another and yet another. I ran as fast as this old body can run, but they didn’t chase me. There was no need, they had taken up residency near my back door. My concern was soothing the stings and feeling sorry for myself. I didn’t know they had moved in at the time so I let a few days pass. Then I noticed a lot of bees swarming around outside the window. Forgetting all about the experience years before, I went out to look around. Bingo, there it was, a hole as big as a dime in the chinking right next to the door frame. It was the same senario as ten years before. I thought that it was not a problem. I would just plug the hole when it gets dark and that would be the end of it. 

Little did I know it wouldn't be as easy as I thought. It hasn't been easy at all. I did go out after dark and plug the hole. There were a few sentry bees guarding the hole, but not many and I was stealth. The hole was under the curve of the log, but I thought I did a good job. I sprayed wasp spray, plugged it with gap filling foam and caulked over it. The next day I went shopping for a couple hours and when I got home, the windows near the door were covered with live bees. I got the vacuum and started vacuuming bees, counting each one. I removed 80 bees. I guess by plugging the hole, I forced them to find an exit point inside the house. The difference between this year and the past experience is I can't find where they are coming in. At first I thought they were coming in under the door, so I put a new door seal on the bottom of the door. Although they weren't coming in as fast, they were still appearing mostly on the window. My next idea was to get a couple yellow jacket traps. I went to a local store. I live in a small town without many options. They didn't have any traps so I bought some mountain dew. I know soft drinks attract bees. I set up a container inside and outside. By this time it was bedtime, so I would see what would happen in the morning. In the morning there were only two bees in the container but as the day went on I caught more, but not enough.

The container outside hadn't caught any, so scratch that idea. For the next couple days I observed. The bees were still finding a way in through the original hole and had found another crack to explore. 

I got out some steel wool and stuffed it in the gaps. I sprayed WD40 because it worked last time and sprayed a soap and water solution. I emptied two containers of wasp spray, and still they were buzzing around. Now it was war. I got out some Murphy’s Oil soap and a super soaker squirt gun I had in my thrift store pile. I am not sure I can post the picture of me in action even if it is a fake water gun, but I did look a little looney. From my research you can't post real guns for obvious reasons, but non-violent posts like this are fine. 

I filled the water gun lots of times and every time I directly hit the bee, it went down.  I’m not sure if it will discourage the rest if them but in the last three hours I have seen only two live bees in the house. There are still a few milling around outside but the population is less.  If this fails, the power washer is the next thing in my arsenal. One way or another, I am going to win this battle. 

I admit it is probably my own fault. Every year the house should be inspected and any small cracks should be filled. I completely forgot to do this, but I probably won’t forget again.

Homemade Ketchup

I posted this recipe for Ketchup more than ten years ago. https://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/05/make-your-own-ketchup-and-barbeque-sauce.html. It's good but it makes a big batch. It's way too much for me. I recently found an easier and delicious version. 

The other day I wanted to doctor up some canned pork and beans. They are so much better than straight out of the can but I was almost out of ketchup. I had to improvise which I often do. This is what I found. I am not sure where it came from so I can't give credit to the original person, but I did tweak the recipe a bit. I always look for products that contain more healthy ingredients. Many purchased ketchup brands have high fructose corn syrup. This is sweetened with maple syrup rather than the date paste I used in my previous recipe.

Just combine:

2-6 oz. cans of tomato paste

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/3 cup maple syrup

3/4 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup plus a small amount of water if it seems too thick

That's it. Just mix everything together. It's super easy, healthier than store bought and much less expensive. I know people are Ketchup snobs and will only buy certain name brands so this might not be for you, but I think it's just as good. I just put it in a Heinz squeeze bottle so maybe I am fooling myself.  I also made barbequed hamburger. I just kept adding this ketchup to browned ground beef until it looked about right. It's very flavorful so I didn't use any other ingredients. Easy and good for a quick meal.

Grass-carrying Wasps

I learned something new this week. For years I have had a bee hotel filled with bamboo tubes. Every summer several of the tubes get sealed off with plugs. I believe it's the mason bees laying eggs in the tubes and sealing them with a mud plug to protect them. This year looks different. A couple holes are stuffed with grass and another looks like the grass was trimmed. 

I reached out to our local county nature club. Some nice fellow filled me in on what was happening. I had never heard of this. "These are made by a harmless species of wasp...Isodontia. I would just leave them alone. The wasps will not harm the mason bees."

I looked it up. Sure enough, Isodontia. The common name is grass-carrying wasp. Why have I never heard of them. They can sting but aren't aggressive. I tried to get a photo of them in action, but I don't have the patience to sit there for hours. I found this public domain photo. I have seen these wasps, but I never thought much about them. They look like a cross between a fly and a wasp.

I guess we are never to old to learn new things.

Summer 2024

I can't believe it's been 2 1/2 months since I have written. Time has a way of marching forward whether we are ready or not. I have to admit I am out of practice. My first couple years of blogging were very productive. I found a lot of things to write about. Sometimes I wrote every day. I wanted to document my daily life for my family and also to remind myself of certain events and even recipes. As the years go by my history as far as nature, trips and food repeats itself. There is not as much to write about. One thing that has changed are my grandchildren. Where I used to write about the antics of little children, I now have grown or nearly grown grandchildren. They now range in age from 23 to 14 with individual lives and that's the way it should be. 

I have had a few adventures since May. I made the decision to have cataract surgery. I could still see fine with my glasses but it was explained to me that it won't get better and insurance will cover it, so why not enjoy perfect vision for the rest of my life. It is amazing how easy this surgery is now. Except for the preparation at the surgery center, the surgery takes less than 10 minutes. New techniques don't even require drops afterward. I opted for perfect far sighted vision.  I can see close up, but I prefer a little magnification. I wore glasses for so many years that having cheaters is fine for me. I am so used to glasses that I often push up the glasses that aren't even there. Overall, it was a good decision. 

In June, my family and I had a vacation near Twin Bridges, Montana. Everyone could come except for the three oldest grandchildren with adult jobs. Last year my daughter, grandson and I traveled to South Dakota so this time we chose the northern route through North Dakota. http:/www.thecabincountess.com/2023/09/the-summer-of-2023-part-1.html Except for traveling around Minneapolis, it was a beautiful route. We stopped at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We saw beautiful views including buffalo and wild horses.

From Theodore Roosevelt we continued west to Medora, ND. We slept (or in my case didn't sleep) in a covered wagon. It was so cute and a fun experience, but it should be experienced at an age where it isn't necessary to get up to use the restroom in the middle of the night. Even though this covered wagon had air conditioning, I should have known it did not have a bathroom. 

Before settling down for the night, we attended the Medora Musical and had a pitch fork fondue meal. Steaks were cooked on pitch forks and fried in oil. The musical consisted of an ode to country music with most songs we recognized, an America themed story, the badlands and of course Theodore Roosevelt. There were many talented people performing in this show.

From Medora we proceeded to Pompey's Pillar, Montana. This is a National Historic Landmark with hundreds of historical markings, pictographs and inscriptions. It is the only place where Clark (of Louis and Clark) actually documented that he was there in 1806. William Clark had canoed down the Yellowstone River that summer and carved his name in the sandstone. He named it Pompy's Tower in honor of Sacagawea's infant son. Sacagawea was the Shoshone woman who traveled with and helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition. She was able to establish Native American contacts and had a great knowledge of the history of the area.

Next stop was the Rack and Reel Ranch outside of Twin Bridges, Montana where we spent the next week. 

Since everyone had different likes and abilities, we mostly did our own thing. An example was horseback riding in the mountains. That was a little too daunting for this old gal, but the rest of them enjoyed it.

For those who hadn't been to Yellowstone National Park, they took the day and went there.

The rest of us went exploring. During the week, we sometimes went together and sometimes separately. We went to Bannack State Park. It's a ghost town with a rich history. We panned for garnets, we dug for crystals at another park, we went fossil hunting, we took an old firetruck tour in Virginia City and saw boot hill, ate at wonderful local eateries, we saw antelope, elk, mule deer, eagles etc. and there were breweries and thrift shops. For being so remote, there were a lot of interesting places to visit and see. The Yellowstone crew saw big horn sheep, black bear and more bison. Not a lot of coffee shops or shopping but lots of nature and gorgeous views. This blog is long enough so I won't share all the photos we took.

Ewan my youngest grandchild lives and breaths fishing. Montana is a dream for this activity. He was able to fish everyday and even got a tour of the famous Winston Rod Company including the bamboo division. Ewan ties his own flies and even has his own YouTube channel called Old Time Skills Outdoors. I am sure he would appreciate a follow.

Even staying back at the ranch was enjoyable for me. The views were awesome. It was hot and 90 degrees when we arrived, but it snowed a couple days later. Montana is very dry and the ranchers were delighted to get the snow.

I am ending this blog with one more adventure. Last week we drove to Michigan to attend the wedding of my nephew and his wonderful bride. It was the kind of wedding everyone should have. It was casual but very touching and meaningful. It was wonderful to spend time with my family. We hadn't seen each other for a year, and it is so much fun spending time with people who have enjoyed the same history. We had so many stories and laughs.The downside is that we were so busy having fun we didn't take any group photos.  Hopefully we can see each other soon. Congratulations John and Lisa.

Making Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

In the past few years this blog has turned into a recipe book more than anything else. I apologize for that but nothing very interesting happens anymore. Everyday is a Choose your own Adventure and most of the time that revolves around taking pictures of the same things or making something in the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, I have a very nice fulfilling life, but it’s nothing to write home about or blog about. Today I made Fresh Mozzarella cheese. 

Mozzarella Cheese

1/2 gallon of milk

1/2 cup of white vinegar 

Heat the milk on the stove to 120 degrees. You will need a thermometer for this.

Next stir in a scant 1/2 cup of white vinegar. The milk will start to curdle. Put a cover on the pan and leave it for 20 minutes.

It looks kind of disgusting at this point but don’t worry. After twenty minutes take out the curds in any manner that works for you. I have a fine sieve I use for yogurt but putting cheese cloth in a strainer works just fine. Press out as much liquid as you can.  This process is separating the curds from the whey. Save the whey and start forming the curds in a ball. The ball will be a bit crumbly at first but stretch and knead it just like you would a ball of dough for bread. 

At first it looks a little rough and bumpy, but just put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. When you take it out, it will be a little hot but just keep working with it. Add some salt or even Italian seasonings at this stage and stretch and knead until the cheese is smooth. You can microwave again and again if you need to get to the smooth end product.

Now you can drop the ball in a bowl of ice water to cool it. I cooled it but then refrigerated it for an hour or two. It is ready to use. I sliced some so you can see the texture. It’s good for whatever you use fresh mozzarella for. It is good on pizza, in salads, on crackers or eat it plain. This cheese is lactose free for the most part because all the lactose is in the whey.

Now for the whey you have saved. It can be used for many things. It can be used in place of water or milk in recipes, it can be fed to animals or put it in your smoothie. Some people dilute it and water plants with it. I haven’t done that but Mr. Google says whey contains nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and chlorides. I will try it on a few plants and see if I notice a difference. I mainly use it to make bread. I just substitute the liquid for whey. It gives the bread a little sourdough flavor and adds protein.