We had a wonderful time last weekend at the second Food Preservation and Frugality Workshop. We covered many topics concerning Old Fashioned Homemaking. We faced our fears when it came to Pressure Cooker Canning, Stocking a Pantry, Cooking from Scratch, Dehydrating Food, and Baking Bread as well as Frugality in the home! Proverbs 31 speaks of a Godly woman who rises early and cares for the servants of her home. Most of us in America do not have actual servants in our homes, but our Crock pots, and washers, and blenders, and ovens and yogurt makers, and many more appliances serve us during the day. I for one am thankful that I do not need to take my laundry down to the river and bash it against the rocks to wash it clean, and the ......
Dehydrating Food section gave us time to explore the world of drying Herbs, and Vegetables and Fruits using an electric Dehydrator.I was able to pick up a Food Dehydrator at a thrift store that had 3 trays, but only an on and off switch which works fine, but two degrees of air temp is helpful as well. I know of someone who built wood frames and covered them with screen, covered them with mesh fabric and hung them from ceiling hooks to dry their items. Be creative! After baking my own bread, I don't like loosing a slice or two to mold, so if we don't eat it all, I can put it in the freezer, or slice it up into small bits and dry it in the dehydrator to make bread crumbs to use in a meatloaf, or to make stuffing with some dried herbs.
We faced our fears when it came to Canning and Pressure Cooker Canning! Picking up a book on Canning and finding a good USDA recipe is a great way to begin. Familiarize yourself with your supplies, and the instructions, pick some perfectly ripened fruit or veggies, and begin! If you are afraid of the old "beasts" the old Canners, there are many new versions with seals that pop instead of the whole Pressure cooker exploding and beyond that, there are electric Pressure Cookers that take all the guess work out of using a Pressure Cooker! The Workshop was so much fun and we all enjoyed some time getting to know each other a bit more after class. Thanks to Dollie for the pictures and if you are going to make it to the next Workshop on August 27th in Spokane. where we will be exploring many more topics in the realm of Food Preservation and Frugality. I look forward to meeting you soon! Monika
We faced our fears when it came to Canning and Pressure Cooker Canning! Picking up a book on Canning and finding a good USDA recipe is a great way to begin. Familiarize yourself with your supplies, and the instructions, pick some perfectly ripened fruit or veggies, and begin! If you are afraid of the old "beasts" the old Canners, there are many new versions with seals that pop instead of the whole Pressure cooker exploding and beyond that, there are electric Pressure Cookers that take all the guess work out of using a Pressure Cooker! The Workshop was so much fun and we all enjoyed some time getting to know each other a bit more after class. Thanks to Dollie for the pictures and if you are going to make it to the next Workshop on August 27th in Spokane. where we will be exploring many more topics in the realm of Food Preservation and Frugality. I look forward to meeting you soon! Monika