Cooking with Chef Jo: Cooking for Health, Wealth, and Happiness in 2021

Usually, for the past 25 years, I've cooked a traditionally southern style New Year's Day feast of Ham, collards, black eyed peas, rice and cornbread. Since last year is carrying on into this year the focus has been global, I'm going global with my New Year's Day feast. It can't hurt, can it? Well yes, my waist line will definitely take a hit so soon after the indulgences of November and December pig outs. But, I'll work it all off, and then some come spring and summer climbing up and down through the garden several times a day, won't I? I'll keep telling myself until it's true. LOL

So come along with me as I plan my New Year's Day meal...

• In Spain they eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight, but they'll grace my morning oatmeal as a side dish. It won't be at midnight so I'll lose 4-5 hours of luck, wealth, health, and happiness. .But 
• In Mexico, they eat tamales, and a tripe and hominy soup. I'll pass on the soup. Tripe is a major no-no for my heart health. But I'll make two tamales. A heck, for all that work, I'll make some up for a freezer meals.
• In the  Netherlands, Oliebollen, or fried oil balls, are sold at street carts during New Year's celebrations. I'm wondering where I can get fish fat to make these. I can always call my brother-in-law whose originally from there. I have a mental picture of me cutting open fish oil capsules from my medicine cabinet, or worse, buying cod liver oil. Do they still sell it anymore? After I called him and asked him about the fish oil, and when he stopped laughing, he explained they hadn't used fish oil in hundreds of years. Olibollen was a Dutch donut hole.
• In Germany and Austria, they create little piggies out of fresh marzipan. This I will be doing because it's my heritage. Putting almonds on my grocery list.
• In Japan, soba noodles on New Year's symbolizes longevity, great health, nights of full sleep, and wealth. Definitely doing this one too. Again, it's my heritage. I'll even pit a link to my recipe for this here.
• In France, they enjoy galette des rois, or King Cake as it's known here. I think I can find a baby new year at the store to put in it.
• In Italy, it's a lentil and sausage (cotechino) casserole. Wondering where I can find cotechino? It's too late in the game to make some. Granted it only fifteen minutes once you have all the ingredients, but would take a hour of prep work for me and then it has to boil for two hours. I'll have a little less luck,
• In Poland and Scandinavian countries, Pickled herring is served. I've actually bought some in cream sauce two weeks ago.

So my New Year's day menus are shaping up. To eat all of this will take all three meals plus snacks to eat it all. I've added the comments and actions I'll be doing while eating all this food on New Year's day just for fun. 😏

Breakfast

12 Grapes

and a slice of King cake

Two very strong cups of hot tea,

Because I spent the last two days in prep and cooking!

Mid morning snack

3 Oliebollen

Another 2 cuppers of hot tea,

Because already it's been one of those types of days!

 

Lunch

My Favorite Wintertime Soup

Lentils and Cotechino

Another slice of King cake

Extra helpings can't be a bad thing, can it?

Mid afternoon snack

Creamed Pickled Herring on toast points

Can I stop eating yet?

Dinner

The transplant duo (us) demanded a southern traditional meal.

Hoppin' John

The tradition states you have to eat 365 black eyed peas to be lucky, 

healthy, & wealthy.  I've never eaten that many before! 

I even used the meat from the smoked hog jowl instead of baking a ham.  

God HELP ME! I managed to eat 209 peas. Yes, I counted.

Collard greens

I finally managed to make them like my step mother does, 

but I could only manage two bites, WAAAH!

Buttered carrots and corn

Meant to bring wealth- coins and gold nuggets. A single bite 

of each.  I stand up trying to force the food down into hollow legs.

 It worked as a child, but not now.

Cornbread

A paper thin sliver. I didn't butter it, but sopped up the butter 

from corn and carrots. I was so ever thankful when half of it fell into 

crumbled mush with the butter.

OMG! There on my plate sat a untouched, steamed Tamale!

My stomach made an ominous rumbling sound and 

the skin stretched way too tight was threatening to 

explode! I unwrapped it with trembling fingers. I had 

intentionally made them 2- bite size. My mouth refused to 

open and the  fingers went slack. The tamale dropped 

back onto my plate. I was done! I called for a wheelbarrow to 

roll me away from the table.

Fours later, I was getting ready for bed that I remembered the German  Fresh Marzipan Piggies! 

I waddled to the kitchen and there they were on a plate grinning at me. They were positively daring me to eat one!  I  grabbed one and viciously bit its head off, SO THERE! In reality, the head equaled about 1/4 tsp of marzipan. I even managed a very small bite of a Tamale. I wanted all the bases covered. I was done with NINE countries New Year traditions for wealth, health, and luck for 2021 to head off my doom and gloom Sunday's post,

I went to bed. New Year's Day was almost done. If things are bad next year, I think I'll do five four, er um, three new countries plus the southern traditional. As I finished my nightly prayers, I added...

God, Thank you for helping me get through a mountain of food and the resources to buy what was needed.  May the traditions claimed come true for us this year. Now, someone pass me some Tums. Amen and Amen!

Back to real time. I'm busy grinding almonds for the marzipan for the Germany recipe. The tamales are made and awaiting the steamer basket. Most have been vacuum sealed and in the freezer for a couple of "TV dinners night. Two are wrapped in plastic wrap to keep them moist before steaming. Japan's soba broth is chilling out in the refrigerator.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo

Counting Down to the Beginning of 2021-From My Soapbox

I  hope y'all had a peaceful and joyous Christmas. Now, just when you thought 2020 will never end, it's less than a handful of days left in the year. I wish 2021 would be better, but I think it won't be for a while. I'm getting on my soapbox for some hard truths.

Believe it or not, this thought is not political in nature. Parties come into power and go out of power. It's happened every four years a presidential vote  has been cast. In my lifetime the vote of the people have been counted 15 times so far.  Did he make a effective president or an ineffective one? That's only will  be debated until infinity comes to pass. I look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs pyramid as a guideline and how far we've fallen in the last year. We've (people world wide) taken hits on all levels they'd achieved or thought they had achieved. Not just towns, but entire nations!

Homesteaders probably fared better than urban areas but they were still hit because of shortages. Shortages. I'm talking about just generalities. There were shortages in seed thereby reducing produce availability to fatten or replenish our larders against "famine," The cockeyed weather freezing, drowning or scorching crops. It happened to the big commercial farms too reducing supplies to outlets leading to nation wide shortages. A virus shut down all but essentials with stay at home order for a majority of states here in the US for months. In fact, some states are reinstating shut down rules again. So production mulls are closing again. The country might have survived a couple weeks of this, but not months worth. No wonder the economy is in the toilet with very little encouragement to ramp back up. Fear mongering is at its highest point in decades. For the situation to improvement will take years not months. To make that happen means people have to work and not be so complacent in the future. There's 6 billion people who need to get their backsides together and work it out...not wait on the government to solve all their problems.

A tiny microscopic bug is tettering nations just like Spanish Flu and the Black Death did in their times. We got cocky in our modern medicine, it couldn't happen again, but it did. The testing kits are reading false positives and false negatives so are we any better for them? Does that increase your Maslow security needs? Probably not. They are close to a vaccine against it. I have the antibodies for the original virus, but guess what? There is now a mutated form so I can get it again. The virus isn't as high in fatalities as in the beginning because they know how to fight it even with high risk patients like me. As a side note, the active virus pictured looks almost like a Christmas card, doesn't it? Or, is that too morbid?

Now that I've looked back at 2020, what's ahead in 2021? More of the same I'm afraid to say. The problems we are facing today didn't evolve in several months or several years. It's like when the real estate balloon popped two decades ago and banks started failing. We are facing the same type of situation again now. Nobody is 100% safe from the effects. They'll have a vaccine next year (maybe). What percent of effectiveness can you accept because no anti viral is 100% effective. Then, there are folks like me that can't take them, or refuse because of their belief systems.

We, as a nation, pride ourselves as the land of plenty. But, millions are out of work and businesses are closing. Raw materials that were cheaper to import, now we have to depend on our own manpower to supply again at a more expensive price. Everyone is touting "Buy American," but how many folks can afford the higher price tags to do this? An off-the-grid, fully self sufficient homestead sounds better as each day passes. BUT will the powers that be let us keep it? So many restrictions are being passed to prevent you from living this way. Of course, you could try flying under the radar and praying you are not caught. Big brother is always watching you. Shades of 1984, anyone? Not that I'm paranoid or anything as I watch our rights slip or be corrupted into oblivion.

Believe me when I say, "The fat lady hasn't sung yet." It still can get a whole lot worse in 2021 before it gets better. Unless God comes down and smites everyone, it will happen. Knowing my history and seeing what's going on world wide (even with all the fake news going around), it's insane and scary world beyond our front and back doors. Let's hope I'm wrong, but prepare for if I'm right.

So what's the answer for all this doom and gloom I'm spouting? Tighten your fist, treat others as you want to be treated, and knuckle down. Supply for yourself and others if possible. Recycle or upcycle all you can. Don't know how to do something, learn by talking to others, researching, and try it. You may surprise yourself. Love each other. Protect each other. Respect each other. Shop locally if you can. It all starts with one person, is that you?

Thanks you for reading this far. Have a safe New Year's Eve and ringing in the new year. Raise a glass of whatever brings you cheer for me, because I'll be snuggling under my quilt until it is 2021. I can't soar with the eagles in the morning when I've been grounded with turkeys all night. I'm too old for that stuff, I've got near 50 hungry mouths to feed in the morning including mine.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Cooking with Chef Jo: Christmas Eve-Roasted Stuffed Quail

At my old homestead, we used to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. My children were all grown up with families and extended families of their own so Christmas Eve seemed the best night to do this on. This freed up their Christmas morning to enjoy their individual families, afternoon with Poppa Jack (my dad with a total of 4 generations in attendance), and the evening with their in-laws. It worked well for a decade or two before my children permanently moved to others coasts and countries.

I knew my father would serve prime rib (standing rib roasts), turkey, and a ham. Yes, we normally had 75 family and friends (now the number is close to 100) in attendance. In my own household, my children, their spouses and their children numbered just 20 head of folks ages 1-50ish. I cooked for both events at my house and my father's. It would have been impossible without a full restaurant kitchen and equipment otherwise. Still, we managed each year.

So as you can imagine, it was difficult to find something different to prepare on Christmas Eve dinner at my home. One year, I did whole groupers stuffed with seafood, hushpuppies, German coleslaw (basically sauerkraut was used instead of fresh cabbage), German potato salad, and a selection of cheesecakes and pies. Two members of my family do not eat seafood so they has to settle for grilled T-bone steaks. After that I settled on stuffed quail or Cornish game hens.

On this homestead, we are lucky enough to have our own quail to eat. For roasting whole quail, I take the time while butchering to pluck the birds leaving the skin intact. Normally when I spatchcock quail, I remove the skin with the feathers rather than plucking the feathers. I'll butcher the birds both ways. Plucking the feathers takes longer and the entrails are removal is more tedious with such a small bird.

My wild rice stuffing recipe can be found here. Quail are small birds and won't hold much stuffing (about 2 TBS at most) so place remainder of the wild rice stuffing in an heavily buttered, oven safe dish as a bed for the quail for roasting. It all begins the day before or today actually.

 Roasted and Stuffed Quail

Serves 2-4, It depends how big your appetite is.

What you'll need

1 gallon of water

1/2 cup kosher salt, or any non-iodonize salt you prefer

1/2 cup orange juice

6 cloves garlic, smashed

6 peppercorns

2 bay leaves, large

6 sage leaves, either fresh or dried

4 whole. skin on quails

4 TBS or 1/2 stick of melted butter 

2 tsp rubbed sage

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp ground rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

                                                            1/2 tsp ground black pepper

                                                            1/2 tsp salt

                                                           4 TBS oil

Putting it all together

• 8-10 hours before service, place first seven ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil.
• Boil for 5 minutes stirring frequently until the salt dissolves.
• Remove from heat, cover, and let liquid cool to room temperature. This will take an hour or two.
• Place quail in the brine liquid.
• Place a plate on top of the birds to keep them under the brine.
• Refrigerate for 6 hours.
• Prepare rice stuffing.
• Mix ground herbs and spices in the melted butter and set aside to let them rehydrate a bit. 
• When the stuffing is cooked set aside until you can handle the rice without burning yourself.
• Remove quail from brine and rinse the birds inside and out.
• Let drain at least 20 minutes.
• Brush quail with butter and herb mixture inside and out.
• Stuff the birds.
• In a large cast iron skillet, place oil and heat until hot.
• Place quail breast side down first, and then brown on all sides.
• Remove quail from the pan.
• Place remaining rice stuffing in the hot skillet.
• Place quail on top of the stuffing.
• Cover loosely with foil.
• Place in 400 degree oven.
• Bake 20 minutes.
• Baste birds with remaining butter mixture.
• Return skillet to the oven and bake uncovered for additional 10 minutes. A meat thermometer inserted into the breast should read 165 degrees for well done quail. The stuffing in the skillet should be crisp on the outside and moist in the middle or under the quail.
• Transfer stuffing and quail to a serving plate.

Serve with a side of broiled asparagus wrapped in bacon that has been dusted with Parmesan cheese after broiling, corn niblet soufflé, and some homemade yeast rolls for a high end, fancy dinner. You could just serve it with any vegetable for a Sunday night dinner. Y'all enjoy!

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo

Still at It- Prepping for Ruth Stout/ No Dig Market Garden

We have been stopped for a few days because of rain, but we've managed to breakdown about half of the huge round bale of hay. Sure, we could continue to work in the rain, but we aren't in any hurry. It also doesn't behoove us 60-ish, widow women have a cold catch us either. The daytime temperatures are in the 50s until mid afternoon and then only rises a few degrees more before it gets cold again. With rain...fuhgeddaboudit!

It's strange the way my body is now. My cold tolerance directly relates to my age. A lot of it has to do with my semi-new heart medicines for low blood pressure and heart rates and in part <cringe> age. I don't get chilly, but teeth chattering cold in temperatures less than 65 degrees. Now, I'm almost like Mel who gets cold below 80 degrees. She's a NE Georgia mountains transplant from Orlando, FL. Up until this year, I was running around outside in T-shirts until the temperature was below 55. Now, I'm already into layer dressing and sweatshirts at 55 degrees let alone the 40s early daytime temps. I'm even wearing flannel nightgowns to bed. It's totally strange to me. But it's still not cold enough for me to break out my winter jacket.

Right now, we've got four rows of a garden on tier three done  to 50'. Then it's down to tier four for another four rows at 50' and that will be it. So we'll end up with eight 50' planting beds plus the three 25' beds we've made close to the house. Mel still has to make steps to each tier with a hand rail so I have easier access to the garden area in the orchard. We'll be hauling three cinder block in the cart at a time down the tiers to achieve them. According to the plan it will take six blocks per step times six steps cut into each tier. It should get us a year and a half of vegetables and herbs of self sufficiency... if it grows. 

Planning the plantings (isn't that what winter is for?)

In total area, it's more than twice as much of what we have planted in the past. With a traditional no till market garden setup that's mostly a salad lettuce mix, ours does not. Less than 1/4 of a row will be dedicated to salad greens. All the rest will be assorted vegetables. I know I'll be using a whole rows for green peas, green beans, spinach, tomatoes, and drying beans (3 types). For the flint corn, I'll plant 20' of three rows for optimum open, cross pollination for cornmeal and for supplementing our chicken feed. Now cucumbers zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, and okra, I only plant ten plants each for our food and the market. Those ten each plants with a normal harvest is plenty.  I may plant sweet corn in the house area garden or I may just buy a bushel for canning and be done with it.

I planted more garlic, can you believe it? All the garlic I planted in the orchard area to protect the fruit trees have naturalize (become self propagating and resow themselves so I get plenty of scraps from them, nut the garlic tastes a bit off. It's hot and super strong.  That's great for the trees because the strong smell keeps deer, rabbits, squirrels, and other predatory insects away from the trees and fruit. Even the birds are deterred somewhat. I planted hard and soft neck garlic and before he hard freezes, I mulched them in heavily. The same went for my onion seeds.

The deer hit my Daikon radish pretty hard by the deer and the wild rabbits. I went to harvest some for Kimchi and to store. It was a trade off because our firewood young man, he brings the wood up and stacks, he'll even split it for us if he brings his splitter, for us for hunting pledges on our property. This year he shot an 8-point buck. So we got half the meat too. Not too shoddy of a deal. Well, worth my going to the grocery store to get one radish. With the ginger pots moved onto the back deck, harvesting the ginger for my kimchi was a breeze too. I put up twice as much kimchi than I did in previous years because I always ran short and store bought kimchi is BLEECH! I'm guessing that those folks that like the supermarket kimchi don't know, any better and have not had kimchi made by a Korean before. I can't blame them for not knowing any better. That's like the difference between store bought sauerkraut in the can versus homemade. There is no comparison. Fresh grown and fresh made, and fermented  is more packed with vitamins and minerals that does the body good.

So being slow and steady with our prep work in the new  garden.  Once again, sort of starting from scratch. The orchard area already has three or four years of soil building already accomplished. Once again we are shaking things up at the Cockeyed Homestead. We're going back our base plans we made when I first moved here. Sometimes, you have to take several backward steps to move forward in the right direction. May all your forward steps be giant and your backwards ones be tiny.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Cooking with Chef Jo: Thanksgiving Dinner Revisited

 We enjoy turkey many times during the year (on average of once a month). It's not just at Thanksgiving. But I do make my cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving and can it for the rest of the year. With just the two of us, there was no need for a whole turkey. Besides, we like the dark meat so the hugest portion of meat is the white meat breast. It's far easier to buy legs and thighs for us. We also don't have months of leftovers to go through. Once a year, I'll take all the leg and thigh bones and make several pints of broth with it.

Now this year, having no propane for our oven, posed a problem. I couldn't roast my bird, or could I? There was a plan brewing in my head. 

I have a Coleman oven in my collection of gadgets I brought with me. This thing was old. It was bought in the 1960s, but still works as advertised.  You can't say that about many products you buy today. Now the 1 lb propane cylinder wouldn't roast the legs and thighs by itself, but it would put a nice color on the meat. The fact that it was chilly outside, we had our wood stove cranked up to a roaring blaze. Why couldn't I put the portable oven on it to heat up and roast the meat? I actually got the internal temperature of the oven up to 300 degrees! But it would be hard to maintain that heat over the two hours for the meat to cook through so I'd just brown the pieces in the oven on the wood stove. I could also use the oven for dinner rolls later. 

I made a key lime pie for dessert. Untraditional, but I had the limes and they had to be used. I also made some cheesecake for later in the week. I baked off the shortbread and the lard pie crusts in the oven on Wednesday so I could fill them and let them cool. Did I tell you that I bake my pies in muffin tins? They are perfect single serving size.

I decided to make most of Thanksgiving dinner a hands off affair. Instead of breaking out my slow cooker, I'd use a modernized hay box to finish the cooking for me. You don't know what a hay box cooker is? Let me explain the concept to you. You have a box stuffed with hay or other materials that insulates and retains the heat to continue the cooking process. It was our pioneer forefather's version of an electric slow cooker. Neat, huh?

Now my modernized version of a hay box (my foremothers used wooden boxes or hay bales) uses an old Coleman, metal ice chest. It has rusted out in spots and the liner is cracked in various spots so it can no longer be used as an ice chest. This was another item bought in the 60s, and still useful today. Remember, we recycle and repurpose everything on this homestead. It ain't discarded unless we can't use it anymore. Think very tiny bits and pieces.

Now, normally when I use the hay box, I'll use my cast iron Dutch oven, but this time I was using my Crockpot insert. Both materials are conducive holding heat for a long time. But I was concerned whether my oyster cornbread dressing would take on a metallic taste so I opted for the insert. I put the insert on top of the oven to heat while I browned off the turkey pieces.

I crumbled the dried cornbread and whole wheat bread (fresh made a few days earlier), spices, herbs, and sautéed in butter vegetables, in the bottom leaving one side clear for green beans. I poured enough broth to moisten the dressing knowing the turkey juices would add their own moist yumminess as it cooked. I put the turkey pieces on top of the dressing, added the green beans in their spot. Lastly, I poured a cup of my homemade cream of mushroom soup over the green beans. I snuggled two small, foil wrapped sweet potatoes around the edges. Finally, the lid went on and it was placed in the hole dug out in the center of the hay. More hay was added on top. It had 3"-6" of hay all around the liner. The lid was closed and latched. We left it alone to do it's thing for four hours.

As tempting as it was to peek, I didn't. Opening the hay box to peek would have meant a loss of heat. A big no-no with this type of cooking. Our foremothers carried these boxes of food to barn raisings and get togethers. They were ideal for traveling and cooking at the same time. It could take hours until it was meal time and hot foods were served hot or at least very warm.

So when it comes to cooking things without propane or electricity, I return to my grandma's journals for stories from her mother's time. I remember being a pre-teen listening to the old stories around a quilt frame. That's what the wives would do while the men folk built a barn. The younger women and older girls usually took care of the children playing games with them in the fields. But me, I knew my way around a quilt frame from a very young age so I was tolerated to either quilt along with them, or be allowed to sit nearby embroidering sheets and pillow cases. I kept in mind that children should be seen and not heard, so I quietly listened soaking in all the stories of how things used to be.

I continue keeping the old ways still alive. I taught my children and grandchildren in turn so that the knowledge wouldn't be lost. Of course, I'll use modern conveniences and gadgets when I can, but it's nice also practicing doing without. Not that I believe it will happen in what's left of my lifetime, but just in case it does, I'm prepared. Knowledge is never lost if you take the time to listen.

It's Wednesday, I'll bet you are wondering where your recipe is, aren't you? I've talked about tons of food and how I cooked it this year. Or, I'll betcha thought I forgot. I didn't. I made it in half pint jars this year. It's just enough for one meal for two. Here it is.

Chef Jo's Cranberry Sauce Jelly/Jam

It's pulpy like a jam, but it sets like jelly. It is also a no pectin set.

8 half pint jars plus 1 cup for instant service

What you'll need

24 oz fresh cranberries, whole washed

1 1/2 cups orange juice, freshly squeezed

1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 TBS lemon zest, finely grated

3 cups sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground

1/8 tsp nutmeg, ground

1/8 tsp cloves, ground

Putting it all together

• Place juices and zest in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan.
• Add sugar and spices.
• Stir over medium heat until sugar is melted. Do not scorch the sugar.
• Add cranberries and continue to stir.
• The cranberries will pop releasing their juices.
• Bring mixture to a boil.
• Reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
• Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve crushing pulp through it but catching most of the seeds and skin of the cranberries. do not be concerned if most of the spices are caught by the sieve. They've done their job.
• Pour strained liquid into hot, sterilized jars leaving 1/4" headspace, wipe, lid, and ring them. 
• Water bath for 10 minutes.

Think three cups of sugar is too much? You can reduce it to 1 cup and have a 

reduce yield. It will still set. I haven't tried this recipe with a sugar substitute, nor no sugar although I've read it can be done. The combination of lemon juice and cranberries is just too tart for me. You are welcome to try it if you like. Enjoy!

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo

Puppy Update

It's my oldest daughter's birthday! She's 44 years old. How did she get so old! Wait, I'm her mother that makes me REALLY old! 

Onto what you really wanted to see when you stopped in. They are the cutest things! Adopted assistant grandma Jo says so, and the other adopted grandma and chief babysitter Mel agrees! Of course, I'm talking about the PUPPIES!

The puppies are six weeks old today! Okay, okay, there's only five birthday candles on the cupcake. The sixth one just wouldn't fit. Here comes the pictures. (This will be slow loading because of all the pics.)

The milestones that have been conquered along the way...

• From thin, wiggling pups and whining constantly for warmth, getting lost away from the pack, having to pee, being hungry, or just wanting attention.

• Their round, full bellies made us think their legs would reach the floor to walk. Like their mother, several have taken to lay on their backs in "milk comas."

• Their eyes and ears open. They actually could determine light through their eyelids and hear certain sounds. (2 weeks old) They are getting more adept in getting around and can use their front legs to hoist themselves up and push themselves forward with their back legs. We tried boarding their area up to contain them but Mama Kass refused to be boxed in. She claimed (through animal whisperer Mel) that the 3'x4' space was too small for her to tend to her pups properly. The pups have doubled in size and already weigh four pounds each!

• On their 3-week birthday, their little legs have strengthened enough to stand and walk. Running or should I say attempting to run meets with disastrous tumbles head first into the carpeting. But they'll learn. Now that they are mobile, we are considering moving them to Mel's garden bathtub. or at least the bathroom. It's much bigger than mine. The linoleum will be be much easier to clean up puppy messes since Kass no longer has to prompt them to go. 

I guess we could put the doggy doors up in the kitchen that we contained Bennie with. Kassity has a pretty strict schedule where her puppies are concerned. I'm not sure which option we'll choose, but it needs to be  soon. They have started playing with each other for a few minutes after eating. Then, they just flop over and sleep. Their attitudes are developing. There's one little girl who growls at us and her siblings alike. Not sure if it's aggressive tendencies or just trying to be a bully. Either way, we'll try to train it out of her, if not she'll have to be destroyed. We don't want the responsibility of selling her (rehoming fee) and having her growing up and possibly attacking a child. For now, we are watching her closely.

Tan and white girl, 3 weeks 

old Yes they are huge!                  Puppies at play

<====Puppy pile! Puppies pause to nap @ 3 weeks old.

Yes, as they become more active and it demands more pictures. They growl, whine aka starting to howl, bark, and we have begun training them... mainly hush and go to sleep. They now have 1/4 of the room to explore. Kassity deemed it was enough space for them. They have decided that their initial area is their bed.

She awakened me early one AM, to ask if I'd help her corral her pups. When only one gets out of their nighttime enclosure, it's no problem for her. But when four get out and are all crying, she's at a loss going to one pup then another and dropping the pup she was carrying. They also weigh almost 5 lbs each and getting to be a mouthful. Poor Kassity and her ADHD. I got up and helped her.

• At four weeks old, they had their first of many trips outdoors. This is the beginning of potty training for them. They don't know what to think about the grass nor the cold wind yet. They've got the hang of walking, running. and climbing now that they are older toddlers now. 
  playing King of the wood pile.
                                 nap time
  
  
          
  They are developing their unique characteristics and personalities. For example, the only male expects to be ganged up on by his younger female siblings,  and the little runt will shake her head while she bites them to stop them from "attacking" her. She has developed a "I'm going to kill you" growl too. They have all learned the word, "Puppies!" means Mel and I are ready to be swamped by them to give them love and kisses. They will play, explore together, and fight as all toddlers do.

They understand simple commands like "come" with a finger gesture, and "Nap Time" is their get into bed and be quiet command. They are still learning "Go pee pee." It's still a very much a trial and error thing. They are so cute after the "Nap Time" is uttered by Mel. They will all get onto the comforter that serves as their bed and jockey for position in their favorite spots. Before they settle down. They'll quietly play and nibble on each others' ears or tails, or simply look at you with wide eyed innocence until they fall asleep. They don't always listen either. Usually there are one or two whose out and about doing their own thing. A quick head count will have Mel searching for the wayward pup(s). She'll pick it up when found and at eye to eye level, she'll say "Nap Time" and put the puppy down. If it refuses to go to bed, she'll clap her hands and repeat the command. Usually, the puppy will scurry to their bed.

Kassity has determined to wean her pups. She wants her freedom and is done with motherhood. When the pups now, help themselves, she walks away leaving them crying after her. She either jumps on the sofa, out of reach for the puppies, or goes outside. The puppies still have not figured out or at a size where they can use the dog door. I've never known a dog to have this behavior before so soon. We now feed the pups exclusively Puppy Chow. They seem to be handling it well with no ill  effects. Kassity did show her pups the water bowl before she stopped nursing them. We're thanking God for small favors.

• The pups has entered their 5th and 6th weeks of life in their environment outside the womb. They are independent individuals. The males are the explorers and often finds themselves stuck or lost from the pack. They have to be found by his human mamas and rescued. He'll strive to be on top of the indoor firewood pile when we bring it in. We have to time or ventures into the house with the wood or we'll be swamped with puppies trying to get attention. 

They have free run of the living, dining room, and kitchen now. We've barricaded the bedrooms from access. Neither one of us wants to get up and step in a puppy pile in the dark. They now have toys that they can "kill" and chew on to their hearts' content. This is courtesy of Mel starting to downsize her stuffed animal collection. They were meant for the thrift store donations, but they are living the rest of their lives being chewed and cuddly toys for the puppies. These small toys bring the puppies hours of pleasure. 

SCREECH! Full Stop.

Frankenbaby @6 weeks

They were too much of a trip hazard for me. We've had to corral them using wire shelving. We built one 8'x8' inside and one 12'x12' outside because they all scatter every which way when you try to catch them. The white female with brown spots that I call Frankenbaby because she looks like her father (Frankie), whines and howls constantly when put in the enclosure. The more attention you give her to shut her up the worse and louder she becomes when you leave her. 

Bully @ 6 weeks

Another female, I call Bully because she reminds me of a bulldog,  is another one who hates the enclosure though not as vocal as Frankenbaby. She'll hang onto the top of the shelf and walk on two legs around the enclosure. She's also turned into quite a bully wanting to be the alpha of the pack. Both hate nap time too. They are the last ones to go to sleep and usually the first ones up.

Bruiser & Eeyore

We found out that we have two males and six females this week. Mel and I each held a male up that we each believed was that only male of the bunch and they were different puppies. LOL With eight puppies to care for, it was easy to get confused. Mel calls one Bruiser because he's so big (8 lbs and paws to match)and the other, equally as big, Eeryore because his tail is always dragging close to the floor and has a laid back, sort of "ho hum," personality. Both are sweet natured puppies and actually paper trained. In fact, they all are good natured overall. If they were totally potty trained and not a fall hazard for us we'd have no problem letting them loose. As it is, we'll have to steam clean the carpets before we tear it out.

Baby Girl @ 6 weeks

The only other puppy I've named is Baby Girl. She's the runt of the litter. She's smart! She was the first to learn how to "kill" her siblings (bite, shake her head and growl) out of defense because of her size, the first to actually bark, and the first to learn how to get out of her new enclosure, It's extremely difficult to reprimand her, but we try. She comes to find you when she gets out and she's so happy (her tail wagging furiously) and proud of herself. When I pick her up to your eye level reprimand, she's a wiggle worm. When I put her next to me to adjust my hold on her, she'll tuck her head under my chin to cuddle or she'll smother me with kisses. Her latest antics is to bounce forward on her front two paws  a couple of times like she's going to attack, bark at your feet,  and then bounce backwards a couple of times inviting you to play. Another first for the pups. 

We have started advertising the pups for rehoming in two weeks. We are making every inquiry aware that these will be big dogs when grown. They must have a large yard to allow them to exercise in. There are other screening requirements also. Because these pups are part pit-bulls, the new families must have a loving home with at least one person to give the puppy almost undivided attention. It's been our experience with handling and raising the breed that if they are well loved, and socialized well, they'll grow into fabulous dogs. We don't know how they will react to small children because we've got none around. But, they are young yet. They can be taught. We don't want them raised to be hog hunters nor that will exploit the pit-bull's negative traits. We want them to be family oriented and much loved family pets.  Guarding and protecting instincts are also firm traits with most well loved dogs. We will do our best to house break them before rehoming but they are babies yet and accidents will happen.

We have decided to give up Kassity. As loving and sweet natured as she is, she has started killing chickens again. She killed all my hand raised chickens thus week. A week before my proposed butchering date for them for out larder. She kept after them in the chicken tractor little by little until she dislodged the stakes. No amount of reprimanding her worked. Once the stakes were dislodged, it was a small matter to tip it over and kill the young cockerels and hen. She would be ideal for a homestead or home without chickens. This was the straw that broke my back and made the decision for us.

The plan is to keep one of her pups who shows all the characteristics of bravery, protectiveness, lovingness of Kass, and is trainable that we want. Right now, we've narrowed it down to Baby Girl or Eeyore.  Kassity despite our efforts with her ADHD tendencies is untrainable for our needs besides the very basics. The decision on which of the unspoken for pups will be the keeper.

So that's the puppy update. We are looking for four new homes for Kassity and three pups. The screening process has begun for prospected new owners over the next two or three weeks.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Christmas Goodies Tasting and Making Shortbread Cookies

 Since I had to mail my fruitcake to my family this year, I checked on their basting progress. Usually I don't do this until two weeks before Christmas... not the week of Thanksgiving. The question in my mind was did it have enough baste/soaking time to be my fruitcake. I was pleasantly surprised that the nonalcoholic version was just as moist and tasty without the additional final baste and soak time. Now whether or not the alcoholic version fared as well...I dunno. I'll have to make some phone calls this week and find out. 

No, I don't randomly send out or take my fruitcakes to everyone. These are friends and family who request them--all eleven of the families. The same went for my grandmother's oatmeal raisin, molasses, gingersnap, and peppernut cookies, and my mother's sharp cheddar cheese cookies. They are a dyed in the wool requests because they are too labor, cost, and ingredient intensive to mass produce for anyone who won't eat and enjoy them. Each box that went out was personalized to that person's/family's likes and dislikes so nobody got anything they didn't want.

For decades, I've done this for my huge family of 4 generations and have 7 siblings instead of buying them commercial gifts. For brothers, sisters, and my children, and grands there would be special handmade Christmas ornaments and a little something extra...also handmade. Being the oldest of them all and having five children, I set the example. It made Christmas more enjoyable and financially easier on everyone. 

This year I made shortbread and butter cookies for everyone. This included my neighbors and friends here next week.  I personally love both cookies. They are relatively low in sugar but huge in taste. A shortbread crust bases all my cheesecakes, not the cream cheese and whipped cream version, but the real cheese cheese cakes made with ricotta cheese. It's the way I learned to make cheesecakes decades ago. 

I always have ricotta cheese around from making mozzarella or hard cheeses during the year. I never let a good whey go down the drain, and it freezes wonderfully. I extract every gram of protein out of it now that I don't have medium to large livestock that enjoy it. I do save the whey for baking and give to the chickens during the winter months. The chickens thoroughly enjoy the warm whey in the winter. The extra protein in the absence of bugs is good for them.  With all this chatter about cheesecake it almost sounds as if I'd follow up with my baked cheesecake recipe if you didn't read the title of this post, doesn't it? But it's all about my husband's great grandma's shortbread cookies. I used to listen to stories about her at family get togethers. If I remember the stories correctly, she was still living when my beloved was born. So to me, this was one of those stories recanted in a time when I was alive which makes it part of living history for me. She died in 1963 at age 105 years young and my husband was 15 so he had lots of memories of her.

According to the family, she had an German embossed rolling pin that she used just for these cookies at Christmas similar to the one pictured left. I don't have one of those so I substituted my own version pictured below. Where she got the recipe from I don't know. But, it became part of my dearly departed husband's memories and family legacy. No one other than I successfully replicated the taste of her cookies according to the family. I guess it was the honor, respect, and the love that I put into making her recipe. The pictured version is my decorating this 4 ingredient cookie, but I made it five for added flavor. Grinning

Great Grandmother Havers' Shortbread Cookies

Makes 8 dozen

What you'll need

3 cups unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted twice*

4 1/2 cups twice ground all purpose flour, sifted*

1 1/2 cups corn starch, sifted *

1 tsp vanilla (not in original recipe)

Note- * General instruction for all sifted ingredients- measure after sifting. If you do not, there will be too much of the ingredient in the recipe.

* Firmly pack flour into measuring cup. Add it to a blender and pulse it until ground again. Sift contents of the blender onto parchment paper. I believe this is now called pastry flour. Spoon into measuring cup and measure out 4 1/2 cups for this recipe. My husband's great grandmother used a hand powered flour mill to grind the flour again.

Putting it all together

• Sift flour and corn starch together.
• Place sugar and butter in a mixing bowl.
• Beat on high until the mixture is fluffy and light (of course, Great Grandmother did this by hand)
• Add the flour mixture in 1/2 cup increments beating well between additions. Continue until the all the flour mixture is fully incorporated.
• (Great Grandmother's instructions) Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness using the imprint rolling pin on the last roll to get the impression to cut the cookie. Cut cookies apart.
• (My version) Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into a round ball. Flatten it to form 1/4" thick circle. Or, press in center like the mini Hershey Kiss and strawberry jam variations above, and then, flatten slightly. Like thumb print cookies.
• Fill the thumb print cookies with strawberry jam, lemon curd, chocolate, or fig preserves as I did.
• Place cookies on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake 300 degrees for 20 minutes.
• Let cool on the pan before removing.
• Decorate as desired.

Warning-It's very important not to remove the cookies from the pan before it's cooled or it will crumble in hundreds of pieces if you do.

You must work quickly when rolling out the balls. The heat of your hands will melt then butter too quickly. You need the butter to be in the semi solid state to have the fine crumble that is classic to shortbread. You may put the dough in the refrigerator and bring it out to room temperature(between 60-72 degrees) before rolling the balls if it gets too warm. This is why I never make her shortbread in the summer time in Georgia. I'll make the bases of cheesecakes in the winter or springtime and freeze them until I need them.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo

Are You Ready for Christmas? Yes and No.

 Again for the second year I'm not going home for the holidays. My children and grandchildren won't be visiting us neither (not that they ever have). It's just Mel and I. The first couple of years I made a point of attending all the family get togethers (4th of July, Thanksgiving, or Christmas). That all changed when I couldn't drive because of my seizure in July year before last, and the loss of my vehicle this year. No, we haven't replaced it yet. It's a relative low priority.

Mel won't let me drive her Blazer even though I paid for it. She says I shouldn't drive anymore, but that's her opinion. We both can't be gone from the homestead at the same time for over twenty-four hours because of the critters. We really can't  afford to pay someone to do our chores, nor pay for a motel room to go anywhere. So we're both kind of stuck. But other than me having not seeing my family, we are both right where we want to be.

As far as decorating our homestead for any holiday or season, we take a bah-humbug approach. All the time and hassles of us putting it up, changing it, taking it down and storing it away is just too much trouble. But, we do buy a new American flag for the front of the house just after Memorial Day each year. The winds blowing through this hollar rips them to shreds in a year. With Mel's depressive state during winter, there's no merriment nor giddiness here. 

Holidays are just another day except for our main meals of the day. I always try to make them special. I prepare favorite foods on birthdays, lamb for Easter, a grilled feast for the 4th of July, turkey for Thanksgiving, and a standing rib roast for Christmas. Of course, there's all the fixings/sides to go along with it. We rarely exchange gifts anymore because if we need or want something, we get it for ourselves during the year.

There's almost something sad about only roasting two ribs worth of of a standing rib roast when I used to make servings for 50. Beautifully roasted to perfection (rare to medium) with the centers of the crowns filled with Yorkshire pudding and a side of my homegrown and made horseradish sauce. But still with beef prices soaring this year even locally sourced, I'm thankful I don't have to buy two full racks like days gone by and still have enough ribs to grill during the year. Of course back then, I was buying a whole heifer each year too. Now, I make the pudding in a 6-hole muffin tin. It's good, but not fabulous as the pudding cooked in the meat.

Since my father is bedridden now, my brothers and sisters plus families come to visit during Christmas week instead of all coming at once Christmas day. Plus, my chef daughter and I aren't there to help cook in mass. To be honest, those days are gone for me. Plus, I'm six hours away now, and my chef daughter and her immediate family live in Ireland. That's a far piece to travel for home for the holidays for the five of them. But still, I miss going home and catching up with everyone. 

Mel may or may not visit with her niece and family during the holidays. It all depends on how bad her depression is. I know we have to make the hour trip to her hometown the first week in December for my doctor's appointment. Maybe they'll get together then. They've missed the quarterly meet ups the past two times because of the COVID stuff and the baby being ill. That's the only family she keeps in contact with other than sporadic phone calls or Facebook.

So what are y'all doing for the holidays? Are you ready yet? Nineteen days and counting.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Cooking with Chef Jo: Curried Chicken Stew

 The fall like temperatures plummeted with the rains leaving. It was time for something that would stick to your ribs and be extra yummy. It had to be easy to prepare and not use my stovetop. It's still full of canning stuff. This week it's beans of all types. I try to keep a case load of dried beans canned for easy meal preps. 

Beef or lamb stew instantly came to mind, but I didn't have any thawed. I had carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes that were turning wimpy. All I had thawed was chicken breasts and pork chops. But that's the thing about stew, it can be made with any kind of meat. 

Yes, I have a monthly menu plan, but that's the beauty of having a stocked pantry, I can change it up when I need to. For example, on the menu for tonight was chicken pot pie. Being dark meat lovers, I use the breast meat, from our butchered chickens, for pot pies and soups. I had put this on the menu when I checked my cold storage of vegetables and noticed the above mentioned root crops were starting to get soft. They were to be used in the upcoming week. Not all of them were in trouble...just a handful of the late spring harvest. 

The late fall harvests are waiting to be dug or in the cold storage system I mentioned a couple of posts ago. We gutted and modified a neighbor's refrigerator that died, so as soon as we bury it, we'll have a bigger, more permanent root cellar. We're still looking for a chest freezer to do the same. I've had great success in doing this type of root cellar in south Georgia. But, I digress as usual. Sigh! On to the recipe. It's made in a slow cooker so out of sight, but ready when I want it.

Curried Chicken Stew

Serves 6

What you'll need

2 half chicken breasts, diced chunky*

1 medium onion, diced chunky

3- 6" carrots, diced chunky

2 large Russet potatoes. diced chunky

5 ribs celery, diced chunky

1 lb mushrooms. sliced 1/2" thick

5 large cloves garlic, minced

1 can Cream of Chicken soup*

1- 10.5 oz can of coconut milk or whole milk*

1 qt chicken stock

3 large bay leaves

1 TBS Madras curry powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, ground

1 tsp of salt                                              1/4 tsp black pepper                                                                                                                                1 tsp rubbed sage                                                                                                                                     2-4" sprigs of thyme

                                                                                             1/4 cup flour with 1 tsp corn starch

                                                                                             1 TBS oil

                                                                                             Parsley for garnish

 Notes- * I consider a chunky dice to be 1"-2" big.

* I use my canned cream of chicken soup- 16 oz jar.

* I love coconut milk in this stew, but Mel doesn't care for it so I substituted milk.

Putting it all together

• In a bag, place flour, salt, black pepper, curry and powder, cayenne, Shake well to combine and add chicken. Shake to coat and set aside.
• In large frying pan, heat oil until shimmering.
• Add onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and garlic. Stir fry until onions are translucent.
• Add chicken and any remaining flour.
• Cook until the chicken is browned.
• Add the chicken broth while stirring, a little at a time to deglaze the pan and form a thin gravy.
• Pour into slow cooker.
• Add cream of chicken soup, thyme, coconut milk/milk, and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
• Add potatoes.
• Cover and turn setting to high. Cook for two hours.
• Check the carrots. They may still a little tough.
• Turn slow cooker to low and continue cooking until the carrots are tender (about 4 hours).
• Or, you can set your slow cooker on low and cook for 8 hours.
• Remove bay leaves and thyme twigs before service.

I make my buttermilk biscuits to go with the stew to round out the meal. That's another too busy to cook/can't use my cooktop meal. This dish can't actually be made on the cooktop also in about two hours. You can add leftover vegetables to your stew too. Green bean, peas, corn and/or okra make this exceptionally tasty when added the last hour of cooking. In the past I've used parsnips, rutabagas, and daikon radishes to substitute for carrots and potatoes with the same wonderful results. I use what I have to make this. Isn't this what self sufficient homesteading is all about?

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo