Our no-AC summer

Last year was our first summer living here, and we had finally broken down and turned our air conditioner on in mid-July.  This summer has been milder than last, thanks to almost-daily afternoon storms and showers ... so we have still not turned on our AC.  Yes, seriously.  Yesterday was the hottest it has been so far this summer, with an official temp reading of 99F in the town nearest to us.  There has actually been only a handful of days when the temp has gone above 95F.

So, why would we leave our AC off, when it is still functional?!?  Well, this is an older house, built around an old mobile home even (the title to it says it was made in 1960) and not exactly weatherproofed.  Instead of turning on the AC, we bought a couple more box fans and two window screens.  I personally like to hear the sounds of the outdoors while indoors.  Our Ac is an old window unit, and along with being noisy and probably inefficient, it spins the electric meter something fierce.  But, that still is not the primary reason.

Last month we woke up to no power after an overnight storm.  Other than noticing just how loud our roosters really are without the background hum of the ceiling and box fans, our only other concern was warming up coffee.  That is all.  No huge concern about falling out with heat stroke, or even discomfort because we are acclimated to the heat already.  Being acclimated makes it easier to go outside, even in the middle of the afternoon to check the chickens' water.

Of course, there is one big downside to being acclimated to the summer heat ... we FREEZE in quite a few stores and restaurants!  Last summer I even crocheted up a jacket/cardigan to wear into the AC.  This summer I knitted up a tee-shirt to wear in the AC (and outside as well), and good thing too as I had a month-long series on hour-and-half appointments at the VA last month.

So, here we are, near the end of August, and we are still surviving without turning on the AC.

Homemade ketchup

So, apparently making my own ketchup is considered ambitious.  I still say it is surprisingly easy.  Take tomato sauce, a bit of tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, water, and some spices mixed up in a small crock pot/slow cooker and leave it simmer uncovered most of the day.  Once it's cooled completely, taste and add a few more spices if necessary.  Then, bottle it up.

homemade ketchup bottled up and ready to use

Seriously, that's all it took ... the big element is the time it simmers.  Just remember to stir it a couple times an hour, or you'll end up with the bottom corners carbonized.  While I did start with a recipe ... I actually only measured the sugar and vinegar, while guesstimating the tomato sauce and paste and just winging it on the spices.  I also used pomegranate vinegar instead of distilled white, and that adds a bit of zip.

Hubby's verdict is: this is good.  No need to buy any more at the store.

Making my own

As everyone has likely noticed, the prices in the grocery store are looking a bit "anti-pretty" nowadays.  In fact, some of the prices seem a bit ridiculous compared to the ewffort required to make the items myself ... so I have been learning to make my own.  It started back in the fall (autumn) with bread, which also played into our home heating plan for the winter.  Here is a recent loaf, that looked pretty enough to inspire grabbing the digicam:

homemade wheat bread loaf cooling

I have not only become proficient at baking the bread, but also slicing it up into sandwich-thin slices with just a bread knife and a wooden cutting board.  The only kind of bread we buy at the grocery store now is sourdough, as we don't love it enough to keep some starter in the fridge.

The next item that just got ridiculous in the grocery store was mayonnaise.   Last year, the jar of mayo were around $3, but they have steadily risen to over $5 per jar.  So, I went searching for a recipe, and discovered it is surprisingly easy to make my own!  The main trick seems to be drizzling the oil in very slowly while running the stick blender on high.  We have not bought any since I learned how to make it myself.

Last night, I noticed we were almost out of ketchup.  A quick hunt through the pantries showed nothing in reserve, and I have become extremely picky about my ketchup since the no-HFCS/real sugar stuff was brought back onto the market ... but if you don't catch it on sale it is pricey.  Enter a recipe, a good sale on tomato sauce and tomato paste, and a little motivation ... I will need to update the results as it needs to simmer all day.

Lettuce seeds collected

I just spent some time collecting lettuce seeds from the one spectacularly-growing lettuce plant in the garden box I also had peas in.  According to my previous post, the box was seeded with two varieties of lettuce back in February.  Here's the punchline: I am not sure which variety grew the one plant so well, as I had only two sprouts make it and one was puny and weak.  They are both the same ... but nothing to compare it with!  Oh well ....

So my plan of action is to plant the seeds I just harvested this fall, pick out a couple plants that look strong and impressive and collect seeds from them, and repeat for a few years.  If what grew this spring is a hybrid, then I'll have all kinds of interesting specimens to choose from come next spring.  If it breeds true, then both hubby and I shall feast on green salads through the winter and maybe even share with the chickens.  The chickens will probably feast all winter either way.  I estimate I will have a good, vigorous variety of green leafy lettuce that thrives in my yard in approximately five years ... with a bit of luck, of course.

My dirt, my dream.  Oh, and hubby has been getting some garden ideas of his own (usually involving his jalapenos).

Why we bother

After my grumping in the last post about the Cornish-Rock cross meat chickens I got this year from Tractor Supply, I thought to post a pic of why we bother with the hassle and chore of raising up our meat from chicks, and what makes the slaughter chore worth it:

two Cornish-Rock meat chickens smoking on the grill

These are those last two, and you can probably see just how large they are.  That is bits of bacon on top of the skinless one in the roasting pan, with quartered potatoes around it (her, actually).  Each chicken is big enough to be between three and six meals, depending on how many/much side dishes.

Spring meat chicken update

I bought half a dozen Cornish-Rock cross meat chickens this spring from Tractor Supply ... I think it was the first or second week of March.  I had the employee catch the six liveliest chicks with bright eyes and clean butts.  Even with getting the best six in the bin, on the third morning I had one dead.  Bummer.  The remaining five ate and grew, and in general were the disgusting dirty little meat birds they ought to be.

I started slaughtering the first two the middle of last month.  The first went absolutely perfectly, from a quick clean kill to easy plucking and that one ended up deboned, stuffed, and smoked.  We even invited the neighbors over to share.  The second one, though ... she struggled and not only dislocated her wing, but put the bone through her skin.  While I initially tried to pluck her, I quickly gave up as her skin tore way too easily, so she was skinned, quartered, and grilled.  She still tasted good for being skinless.

This weekend I slaughtered the only cockerel of the bunch on Friday morning.  Other than not cutting the jugular enough at first, he went alright with plucking although I have no intention of trying to debone him as his ligaments and tendons are good and strong.  Late Friday afternoon when I went out to feed the remaining two pullets, I found one dead.  I am not sure if it was just the heat or a heart attack, or even a combination of those, but it likely was a matter of I let her go too long.  Hubby and I both feel it's a waste, as she had a goodly amount of meat on her bones.  So, I stopped feeding the remaining pullet, and slaughtered her this morning, then had to skin her after she dislocated the exact same wing joint as the previous one, and her skin tore when I tried to pluck her.

Overall, this year's meat chickens are a disappointment.  Of the six I bought, only four have made it into my kitchen, and two had to be skinned due to weak skin integrity and ligaments.  Perhaps TSC received a bad batch this spring.  I am glad my luck was not so poor last year, or I might give up!  Instead, I have a new plan.  Instead of buying Cornish-Rock cross birds, I will order heavy breed cockerels from a hatchery.  Several of the hatcheries offer these at a discount, and give it a cute name like "frying pan special" or "BBQ special."  If I feel froggy, I might even order a half dozen Cornish-Rock pullets, which are cheaper than the cockerels because they don't convert feed to meat as well, and ought to be slaughtered at a younger age (Cornish Rock "game" "hens," anyone?).

On the upside, I managed to get all the livers away from the bile duct this year.  What beautiful chicken livers they are, too ... I don't medicate unless I absolutely need to, and this batch was also med-free this year.  These lovely, rich, dark red, large livers make the absolute BEST giblet gravy, or chopped up are the perfect accent in chicken-n-dumplins.

Swallowtail caterpillars on my parsley

So, about a week ago I learned that I did not have funky-colored hornworms on my dill when I read (and saw) a post by Eli a couple counties south of me called "Where did my swallowtail caterpillars go?"  Oops ... I had fed them to the chickens!  The chickens didn't really care for their taste anyway.  So, now I knew that the funky neon yellow, black, and white design on a green hornworm-ish body is a "no-kill" pest.

This morning I found at least four (I swear I counted six the first time) of these swallowtail caterpillars on the one flat-leaf parsley bolt from last year's salad box.  After a quick Google image search, I have decided to let them eat however much of the parsley flower buds they like!  Very pretty, especially if these will have some blue on them.

After several tries, I finally cussed the digicam into focusing on one:

swallowtail caterpillar on my flat leaf parsley