Now I’m Cookin’ With Ga — er, Wood!

My other “focus” project for myself this winter, in addition to the reading/decluttering project, has to do with cooking.  I’ve never been much of a cook, and now is the time to change that.  I’m not aiming toward fancy dishes, nor even toward a huge repertoire.  I just want to expand my list of what I can cook COMFORTABLY — meaning 1) in a hurry, 2) when I’m stressed, anxious or upset, and 3) without thinking too hard about it.  Without a cookbook would be nice, but some things are just going to need a written recipe — my goal is for it to be easy for me — meaning I know which cookbook it’s in, and what ingredients I need (without looking at the cookbook, so I can get the ingredients on a whim in town when I decide to make something) — or make sure I’ve stocked up so that I *know* I have what I need.  I think it’s also important that I develop a sense of what’s important and what’s flexible, for each meal, so that I know when I can substitute or do without some particular ingredient (as well as add extras!).

For example, a few years ago I decided that my “standard” potluck dish would be sauteed mushrooms.  It’s something that most people like, but it’s not a typical potluck dish so I never worry about someone else bringing the same thing.  I’ve made it often enough that I know what I put into it, I know whether I can make a batch with that partial stick of butter or whether I need more (and whether I can substitute olive oil for the butter if I want).  I know how little (or how much) garlic I want.  I know how much time it takes, how much of my energy it takes (ie how far in advance I need to start).  I’m comfortable with it, in other words.

I want to add ten dishes to my “comfortable” repertoire this winter.

Without getting too bogged down in rules, here’s what I’m thinking:

Stir fry, rice/beans, soup, stew, chili, bread, biscuits/gravy, pancakes, pie, cookies, lasagna.

Stir fry:  I’ve rarely if ever made a stir fry.  I want to make it often enough that I can ” throw a stir fry together” using whatever I have laying around.  I have a wok and want to get in the habit of using it (or get rid of it if it’s not the right tool, but from what I hear it’s an excellent tool).

Rice/beans:  Of course I’ve made rice and beans before.  But I want to experiment with some new kinds of beans, and a variety of seasonings.

Soup:  Ditto, I’ve made lots of different soups before.  But none that I can just “throw together”.  I’ve made some I really like (carrot-ginger, mmm!) that I just need to make a few more times so that it’s etched into my mind and I don’t need the recipe in front of me anymore.  With other soups I need to learn about spices, as the veggies turn out horribly bland, and the water isn’t brothy, so it’s just soggy veggies in water.  I think learning a few tricks about seasoning soups will do wonders for me.

Stew:  same as soup, just focusing on root vegetables (and perhaps a touch of meat if I can find local/organic sources — but perhaps not — I haven’t cooked meat at home for many years now, and haven’t decided to change that, but I’m not overly attached to it, as long as I’m happy with the source of the meat — oh, except for beef, I still boycott that).

Chili: I’ve only made chili once, and it was years ago and I’m pretty sure it had ground beef in it.  I’d like to learn to make a tasty vegetarian chili.

Bread:  I tried bread a handful of times in the past few years, and usually got something edible, but not overly.  I want to find a recipe that works for me and then make it regularly, matching however much bread I eat (which currently isn’t much, but the more soup I make, the more bread I will correspondingly want to have).

Pancakes:  I used to make them often when I was a kid, but I haven’t made them in years.

Biscuits/gravy:  I want to be able to make these on an early morning, knowing what I’m doing but not having to think too hard about it.

Pie:  I’ve made really good pumpkin pie a few times, but no other kind.  And definitely no homemade pie crusts — not sure if I’ll tackle that this winter or not.  But I’d like to add at least one other kind of pie to my repertoire.

Cookies:  I’ve rarely made cookies and I don’t plan to make them often — I just want to know how.  Sugar cookies seem to be what I want to know how to do.  The only successful cookies I can recall making were M&M cookies, which must have been about 35 years ago when I was a young teenager!

Lasagna — Never made it, want to know how.  Again, not that I plan to make it often, but it would be a good thing to make in order to have a week’s worth of “just heat” meals.  And, of course, I won’t be using meat, so I need to find a good vegetarian recipe.

Now, one twist to my cooking projects this winter is that I really want to emphasize non-traditional cooking methods.  Whenever the woodstove’s going, any stovetop cooking I’m doing will probably be done there.  And I’ll be interested in seeing how my solar oven works in the wintertime (it’s still sunny, after all!).  Further, I want to get more familiar with using my electric crockpot to slow-cook things — that way I can cook even on days I’m away working.

I’m not going to make a lot of strict rules about how many of these things I’ll get to, but they are all things I want to do/learn/add to my skills, so I’ll just do as many of them as I can get to.

Side benefits will be less money spent on eating out, more self-reliance, and a reduced chance of letting any of my stored food go to spoilage, once I actually follow the cardinal rule of food storage:  Store What You Eat and Eat What You Store.

Now I better go, because I’m getting hungry.  Let’s see if I can start on one of these projects tonight!

Yes, Deer, No, Deer, Whatever You Say, Deer…

We’ll see how well my garden fence actually keeps out deer once there is something  in the garden that the deer might like.  So far there isn’t much in the garden that is more than an inch high, except for a tomato plant I got from a friend, a few pepper plants, and some potatoes that have sprouted.  More will grow or be planted shortly.

Anyway, here are the photos I’ve been promising of my deer fence.  I had the wooden pickets and wanted to use them just because I already had them.  But they are only about three feet high, and a garden generally needs an 8′ fence to be confident of keeping deer out.  Here’s how I compensated and made do.  Click on any photo to make it bigger.

One technique I used was to take advantage of some terracing of the yard.  The terrace is only about three feet high, but with the shrubbery above it and then a three-foot-plus fence above that, I think it will deter the deer quite effectively along that side:

Then, from the other direction, this is how I tackled the challenge:

You might not be able to see the details in that photo, so here is a better closeup:

I used branches from pruning the fruit trees to extend the posts higher.  Then I strung some thick orange twine across at a couple of intervals, then hung some lengths of twine vertically to create the illusion that the area is “occupied” by a fence.  From what I hear, this will work on deer even though there are gaps that might be big enough for a deer to jump through.  For good measure, I hung some garbage cds to provide shiny movement and distraction.

Two other views from inside the garden area, looking out over the terraced part:

 

Here’s my favorite piece: part fence, part art.  This is a giant metal door hinge that R and I found at the dump.  It’s got a kind of medieval look to it, with the horizontal straps that extend all the way across the door.  I didn’t get to take it when we split up, but when I told him I had a use for it as a garden gate, he was kind enough to lend it to me on a long-term basis.  I searched the junkyard for a lightweight interior door or screen to put in it, but found nothing suitable.  (Not to mention that any solid door would have taken to the air with the first good wind gust).  Finally I had an absolute brainstorm about what to put inside the hinge:

One of the things I like about the fence is the extent to which it’s cobbled together from stuff I already had or stuff I found.  The white and brown pickets were all originally bought by me, but years ago for use at earlier homes.  They were used as garden fence at R’s in a clever double-height scheme.  The green pickets in the hinge were in place at the house I bought in 1996, but when I had a better fence built there, the pickets became part of my “stuff” that moved around with me.  Some of the fenceposts were here on this property and I just relocated them.  Others I bought new, and I might have brought a few from R’s.  The branches, as I mentioned, were pruned off fruit trees here on the property.  The orange twine was here on the property — a giant roll of it, sitting on the scrap lumber pile.  Even the cds were repurposed — they come to the library where I work, one every month or two, and we use them to update the electronic card catalog.  Once we’ve used them for the update, they’re trash — except that I’ve been saving them for months now, in anticipation of this use.  And although I’m not showing off the garden itself yet, until I’ve removed some weeds and until things are growing a bit more, I will point out that the walkways you see in a few of the photos are made from cedar planks that were left over from that fancy fence I mentioned that I had built at another house.  The cedar plank boards came in 6′ lengths, but for much of that project we could only have a 4′ high fence (building permit laws — back fence may be 6′ high, front and side yard fences can’t be more than 4′ — sheesh).  Anyway, I saved all those 2′ lengths of cedar planking, through three moves now, and finally have found a use for them as garden walkways and weed suppressors.

So, overall, ten fenceposts was all that I bought new for this project.  Oh, plus some bolts and nuts for attaching the door to the giant hinge, and the hinge to a fencepost.  Not bad!  As long as it works, that is, and the deer decide to admire it from afar only. 

To make the garden also rabbitproof, I have some chicken wire I will staple along the pickets.  That part of the project is coming up pretty soon.

 

I Made Ends Meet!!

No, I’m not talking finances, although with this new part time job, I’m finally making more than I’m spending for the the first time in about four years…

No, I’m talking garden fence!  I finally completed the perimeter — the ends have met!

Of course, there is still much to do — latches, vertical extensions, chicken wire, etc.  But all the major pieces are in place!  Photos to come soon.  This is a funky “with whatever I could find laying around” kind of fence.  But I think it will succeed in keeping deer out, as well as rabbits (and of course dogs).  I’m not so sure the ground squirrels won’t be able to make their way in, though, and I might have to react if they turn out to be destructive.  But — woo hoo!  The ends have met!

Unwritten Posts

I’ve fallen behind on many things this spring, including blog posts.

I know I owe a book-review post for the book(s) I’ve read for Green Bean’s May Bookworm Challenge.

I probably need to write a few more musing-type posts about my mental/emotional adjustments to the stresses I experienced last winter and on into the spring.

I’m *months* behind on my Riot for Austerity tallies.

But this morning I was reminded of another post I forgot to make, when someone found this blog by searching for “I can’t get my gamma seal lid on the bucket”.  During an Independence Days Challenge report last month, I’d described similar trouble when I bought some gamma seal lids and then attempted to install one on a storage bucket I already had.  The storage buckets were purpose-bought for food storage from a co-op from whom that would be the expected intended use.  The lids said they fit “almost all buckets between 3.5-7 gallons”.  My buckets were 4 gallons, comfortably within that range.  And yet.  Even so.  The lids would not fit.  The buckets were too small in diameter. 

This last month I ordered 5-gallon buckets from the verysame co-op, and lo and behold, whaddaya know.  The lids fit!  I didn’t even need the rubber mallet I’d been advised to use — the ring part of the lid was, first of all, quite apparently the same size as the bucket.  It fit easily over the rim.  I pushed down, used a bit of force, walked my hands around the edge, and *snap*!  The ring attached itself to the bucket lip.  So easy!  So obvious!  It’s now screamingly apparent that the other buckets were simply too small for these lids, but since I’d never done it before, I had no way of knowing what was within the “push harder, it will work” range and what was outside it.  Now I know. Hope that helps you too, mystery googler…

Getting The Word Out About 350 — Something Worth Doing

If there is any chance of the first world scaling back on carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions soon enough to have even a possibility of reigning in the burgeoning positive feedback loops of global climate change, it has to come up as a demand from the grass roots.  Now, we know that big corporations can ‘create’ public demand via marketing.  But in this case people scaling back would not help the short term profits for big corporations, so they have no real stake in getting these issues to the forefront.  It has to happen another way.  Here is one way that I think has a lot of promise.  I sent my email.  Won’t you send one too?  This is forwarded from the blog of Colin Beavan (aka “No Impact Man”):

* * * * * * * * * *

I really, really need support from all of you today (and I’m unashamedly bribing you with the offer of free Reverend Billy DVDs). But first I have to give you some background. Just read the bits in bold if you’re in hurry.

Next Friday, May 30, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York’s Eight Congressional District has kindly agreed to meet with me in his New York office. As one of his constituents, I intend to ask Representative Nadler to support an effective global warming mitigation policy that is based not on what is politically possible but on what is scientifically necessary.

More specifically, I intend to ask him to:

• Introduce, as soon as possible, a non-binding resolution to the House of Representatives asserting that we need a climate change mitigation policy with a goal of no more than 350 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide (read why here). Furthermore, the resolution should say that the United States must collaborate with the international community to achieve an effective successor to the Kyoto Protocol that will achieve the 350 goal or better (depending on how the science progresses).
• Pledge to support the 1sky.org policy platform that also includes creating five million green jobs (through, for example, weatherizing our buildings and manufacturing solar panels and windmills), and placing a moratorium on the building of new coal power plants.
• Pass on to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter addressed jointly to her and Representative Nadler, in his position as Assistant Whip, asking them both to push for the introduction of new and the strengthening of currently pending climate change legislation to reflect the crucial 350 goal. This means, at the very least, aiming for an 80% reduction in climate emissions below 1990 levels by 2050 and a 25% reduction by 2020.

Now then, here’s how I was hoping you could help. My dream is to present Representative Nadler and Speaker Pelosi with between 350 and 3,500 (10 x 350) emails of support for these policy objectives.

Can you help? All it requires is a cut and paste job (see below).

Fellow bloggers: would you be willing to pass this request onto your readers?

Everyone: would you email this around and get your friends to pitch in?

Two bits of good news:

1. Representative Nadler has been an ardent supporter of environmental issues ranging from the thorough cleanup of the World Trade Center site to securing federal funding for state conservation and wildlife grants. He received a score of 95% for his voting record in the 1st session of the 110th Congress from the League of Conservation Voters.
2. Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping have provided me with five copies of their new DVD, What Would Jesus Buy (watch the trailer here). I’m going to give the DVDs to people who send in their emails of support (the 1st, the 35th, 100th, the 350th and the 1000th).

Here’s how to send in your email of support:

Simply cut and paste the below, making sure to substitute in your name, mailing address and email address, and send it to noimpactman+nadler+pelosi@gmail.com (it looks like a weird email address but, don’t worry, it will work).

Dear Representative Nadler and Speaker Pelosi–

Thank you for your hard work on behalf of the people of the United States. It is indisputable that the health, happiness and security of the American people depends upon the well-being of our planetary habitat. It is also indisputable that the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases is causing changes in our habitat that will adversely effect Americans on every level–from our health to our economy.

On May 30, Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man will visit Representative Nadler to express to him support for a number of climate change mitigation policies that are much stronger than those currently passing through Congress. Please consider this a letter of support for the measures Colin Beavan will be advocating.

Specifically, I support Colin Beavan in requesting that Representative Nadler and Speaker Pelosi both, together or separately:

• Introduce, as soon as possible, a non-binding resolution to the House of Representatives asserting that we need a climate change mitigation policy that accords not with what is politically possible but what is scientifically necessary–a goal of no more than 350 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide (read why here). Furthermore, this resolution should assert that the United States must collaborate with the international community to achieve an effective successor to the Kyoto Protocol that will achieve the 350 goal or better (depending on how the science progresses).
• Pledge to support the 1sky.org policy platform that also includes creating five million green jobs (through, for example, weatherizing our buildings and manufacturing solar panels and windmills) and placing a moratorium on the building of new coal power plants.
• Push for the introduction of new and the strengthening of currently pending climate change legislation to reflect the crucial 350 goal. This means, at the very least, aiming for an 80% reduction in climate emissions below 1990 levels by 2050 and a 25% reduction by 2020.

Yours sincerely,

<Your Name>
<Your Mailing Address>
<Your Email Address>

Naan Ventured, Naan Gained…

Monday’s trial of “no computer from 10am-4pm” went well.   I peeked at the computer now and then, but didn’t allow myself any online activities other than checking to see if there were work-related emails.  There weren’t.  I didn’t deal with or even read non-work emails during that time.  I did allow myself a few solitaire games though. :)  And once, mid-day, when I needed a rest from outdoor/physical work, but wasn’t “allowed” to go online, I napped instead!  It was nice, and I felt good about the variety of errands/tasks I got done that day.

Tuesday and Wednesday are work days for me, so today, Thursday, was the next chance I had to try it again.  Today I closed the computer just after 9am, which ‘earned’ me a lunchtime hour online, according to my rules.  Of course, is it cheating that 9am was easy for me because I’d gotten up and turned ON the computer earlier than usual?  Hmm, I better check the rulebook on that one.  Today went a little differently than Monday, though it turned out well and I still followed my rules.  What was different was that it was cooler today, not as comfortable to work outdoors except doing something physical that warmed me up, like digging.  I did a little of that today.  But also, my back was in ‘caution’ mode today, meaning nothing was wrong but I felt susceptible to tweaking it the wrong way, and didn’t want to push it.  So, I did no tree pruning today (leaning and reaching from a ladder is a REAL good way to invite Mr. Murphy into my lumbar region).  And I did only a few minutes of garden digging.  Plus, I discovered two different reasons I needed to go to town midday, so I did.  That took a chunk out of my project time, but I accomplished my town tasks, so that was good.

When I came home mid-afternoon, in the midst of doing some indoor projects, I decided to try making naan.  I’d read badhuman’s recipe for it earlier this spring, and had it in mind to try ever since.  I made a few variations — our local grocery didn’t have plain yogurt except in the big size, and even that was nonfat.  So I had bought a small vanilla flavored yogurt to use instead.  Turns out it’s only 6 ounces, so when the dough came out a bit too dry, I added just under 2 ounces of soymilk.  I think a little less would have been better, as the dough went from too dry to perhaps a bit too moist.  Plus, although the yeast bubbled a bit, I think it is not really live anymore.  Perhaps when I realized that, I should have covered my bases by adding a little baking powder, but I didn’t think of it at the time.  Anyway, the bread came out okay, but thick and dense, not light and airy.  It might have benefitted from another 1-2 minutes in the oven as well, even though it browned nicely on the bottom.  Bottom line, I need to try again, but these results are still edible!

Oh, and I will add that I both warmed the bowl (the recipe specifies putting the dough to rise in a warmed and buttered bowl) AND did the rising in the solar oven!  It was cloudy and the sun was low in the sky, but I think the oven got up to 100*F, which was enough to warm the bowl and hopefully warm enough but not too warm for the rising dough.  It was really the only warm place I had — oh wait, I guess I could have set the bowl in the truck, that might have worked too…  I still need to re-establish some wind protection for the solar oven, but soon as I do that, it’s ready to use!

Good news…

… I found toilet paper growing in the yard!

It’s a bit hard to see in the photo, even after I cleared out some of the dried leaves clinging to it. Here’s a closeup:

That IS lamb’s ears, isn’t it?

:)