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While browsing through Youtube the other day, I ran across a video on how to safely preserve chopped garlic in oil. Because of the risk of botulism, I've always been leery of instructions that saved chopped garlic in oil either in the refrigerator or the freezer. In reading the description of...

I needed something to let my chickens out in the morning & shut them in at night. The fully-automatic chicken doors were just too expensive for me. Here's what my hubby came up with. With supplies from local recycling stores, we got a plastic track that's for attaching siding, and a plastic...

I recently pressure canned my very first batch of sweet potatoes. Par boiled the potatoes, cut into 1" chunks. Added boiling water that had a little liquid splenda added. Processed for the correct amount according to the Ball Blue Book. When I removed the jars from the canner, the liquid was...

I recently replaced my older flock with 16 new chicks who are now 10 weeks old. I've had them in the outside coop for about 7 weeks now. And I've encountered a problem I've never had before - RATS!!! Since the chicks are still young, they don't weigh enough to open the treadle feeder I have, so...

I did my first picking of my green beans last week. This year, instead of freezing them, I thought I'd give canning a try. Following the instructions in the Ball Complete Book, I washed & snapped the beans, boiled the beans for 5 minutes, packed them in quart jars, and pressure canned them for...

The University of Wisconsin & the University of Georgia recently published a peer-reviewed article on the "Home Processing of Acid Foods in Atmospheric Steam and Boiling Water Canners." Big title for the safety of steam canners for recipes that can be BWB. Their conclusion, which I'm sure many...

I make a simple sweet potato & chopped pork soup that my DH just loves. I usually freeze it, but would love to can it for the convenience. The soup is mashed baked sweet potatoes, finely chopped smoked pork, onions, celery, & chicken broth. When finished, it has the consistency of a light...

Does anyone know what's the equivalent measure of a cup of sugar once it added to juice in jelly making? For example, if I have 4 cups of juice and add 3 cups of sugar, once the sugar is melted, how many cups of liquid will I have? Sometimes I try a recipe that does not give the resulting...

I recently had a computer failure and lost all of my collected recipes. Yes I know, I should have been doing backups, but I didn't. I'm slowly getting back the recipes that I had collected over the years. The one that I can't seem to find is my Lemon Curd recipe. You were able to water-bath can...

I recently started sprouting barley seeds to use as supplemental greens for my chickens. So far, they just love it! I do have one question for those of you who are more experienced in sprouting. Do flies & other insects just seem to hang around a lot? When I first started, I was sprouting the...

I have a small flock of chickens who spend the night in a coop with an attached run. During the day, the girls are let out into an enclosed chicken yard and the door to the run is left open. The door is out 6' tall so that I can get into it. The run contains their food & water. The food is in a...

I recently heard of a Maslin Pan, similar to this one: http://www.chefscatalog.com/product/29174-chefs-maslin-pan-with-lid-10-quart.aspx Does anyone use this type of pan, especially for jelly/jam making? I think the size would be large enough for me and the size of the jam batches I make...

A friend of mine asked me the following question. Since I live in New Orleans and don't have an altitude problem, I thought I'd ask all of you: I live in West Texas where the elevation is almost 3000' above sea level. My jellies seem to never gel quite enough. I finally figured out it is...

Last Saturday, I scored on a lot of muscadine grapes, and decided it was time for me to get a steam juicer, so I treated myself to one from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mehu-Liisa-Liter-Stainless-Steel-Juicer/dp/B000SSU6V2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1376921108&sr=8-6&keywords=steam+juicer It will...

I was given several glass gallon jars that originally held pickles. My intent is to make some blackberry vodka in them. But, after several washings and airings, the jars still smell like pickles! Is there any secret way to get rid of the smell? I thought about a baking soda or lemon juice or...

Yesterday, I was canning some carrots from the garden, using the Ball recipe for glazed carrots: raw carrots packed into pint jars, filled with syrup & pressure cooked. When I opened the pressure cooker after the pressure went down, I could see one of the jars on the top rack had no liquid and I...

Spring is here & I've got lots of strawberries! I'm looking for a good strawberry nut bread recipe, similar to banana nut bread. I did a web search & came across several recipes, but the comments all said something like add more strawberries or add less sugar. I'm looking for a tried & true...

About 1 am this morning, I was laying in bed reading (one of my insomnia nights) when I heard what sounded like an egg song coming from the chicken coop. Since I've been having opposom problems, I grabbed a flashlight to go outside to check on the girls. All 7 of my RIRs were on the roost and...

Recently, someone gave me a several boxes of old canning jars that she had for years and no longer used. Along with the jars, were about 4 boxes of old Ball canning lids. These are so old that the price sticker said 59 cents!! I was wondering if you think these are still good. I'd hate to use...

I came across this article titled How To Peel, Cut, Core, and Dice: 20 Tips & Techniques for Fruit and Vegetable Prep. http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-peel-cut-core-and-seed--174347 It had some really great tips of preparing fruits & veggies. I love the way she peels butternut squash!