This years cooking goals . . .

[KatyTheChickenLady]

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[KatyTheChickenLady]

hechicken - would you post your experiences on here? you are one step ahead of me and I would love to learn! what kind did you get?

Big - looks like you are off to a great start with the pasta already! congrats to your wife how long did that take her? I'm hoping to do the same but this bread machine is not helping!!!

AT, Big & Olive - too late already bought my wonderful bread machine and love it to death!

savingdogs - WHOO HOOO goats for milk sooo cool. we have a new raw milk dairy down the road and will be buying both goat and cow milk form them in our cheese making experiments. Rabbits are on my list for next year too. I added turkeys last year and LOVE them, we tried ducks last year too and did not love them quite so much . . . I don't think we are gong to get any this year but we'll see!

Betty - I guess you and Big will be hanging out a lot! Did you see his pasta thread today WOW! have you seen my thread on making a meal plan & budget? don't know if it would help, it's not for everyone but worth a look

cheri - what is your salt to cabbage ratio? and why do you freeze it?

 

[savingdogs]

Katy it might be the kind of ducks you got. We got two kinds last year, cayuga and muscovy. We did not enjoy the cayuga. They were not friendly and had disruptive personalities. Also, we don't like that kind of duck meat. The muscovy on the other hand are very sweet gentle, easygoing and funny. And yummy! The legs are gamey and we plan to use them for dog food, but the breasts.....they taste like prime rib!

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
LOL - I don't feel a step ahead but I'll be happy to post experiences when I get going with it. I got a Presto 23qt. I was actually really lucky, as I researched them for awhile and then because I have a glass top stove, the recommendation on the canning thread was that the Presto is the best (not sure exactly why but I listened to the voice of experience there). I priced them on Amazon and Walmart and they were both about the same price. I checked eBay and bid on a few but they were going for around the same price, if not higher. Finally I bid on one and won the auction - for $6 less than the Amazon/Walmart price. I was happy right there but then the thing arrived and the seller threw in a whole case of quart-sized jars - about $14 worth. He/she didn't even list them in the auction details so they were totally unexpected. I've read the little book that came with the canner, and just bought the Ball Canning Bible a few days ago. I've been enjoying reading up on it and think I understand the gist of how the thing is supposed to work now. You can do either water bath canning or pressure canning with it. My next step will be to buy up any produce that is on sale next time I'm at the store and do a trial batch. Or, I might try making a large batch of soup for dinner and can what we don't eat that night - just to try it out. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
Nope didn't see either but I will look for it and check it out.

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
It's not a bad buy. I have one. It's just... you'll outgrow it. And, IME, relatively quickly. And then it will just sit in the cabinet and collect dust. At least that's what happened with mine. So, in the grand scheme of things it's a money/time saver to just go straight to making real bread, but I understand how that can be daunting when you first start, too. You'll have fun with the machine for a bit.

I do wish someone had told me all this before I got one to take up space in my kitchen though.

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
It's not a bad buy. I have one. It's just... you'll outgrow it. And, IME, relatively quickly. And then it will just sit in the cabinet and collect dust. At least that's what happened with mine. So, in the grand scheme of things it's a money/time saver to just go straight to making real bread, but I understand how that can be daunting when you first start, too. You'll have fun with the machine for a bit.

I had a bread machine years ago and LOVED it. I would still have it today except that I made an international move and couldn't take it with me. The problem for me is that I don't have the "knack" for regular bread making. I'm convinced some people do and some don't. I guess I'm too heavy handed with the kneading or something because I can never get it to rise. So for me the bread machine was not a waste of money because it was doing something I couldn't do without it

Plus, I loved that I could set it up the night before, set it for what time I wanted bread to be ready and it would turn on and make the bread in time for me to wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread. That's something ELSE the bread machine did that I couldn't have done without it.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

Me Too!!!!

 

[cheri222]

Dh knows the recipe, but I think it is 4oz salt to 10lbs shredded cabbage with 6 whole peppercorns.
I honestly don'k know why we freeze it. We learned from my brother in laws dad and they don't can anything. I did talk about canning it next year. Easier to freeze that amount and we have a huge freezer. We have this giant wood tamper and the handle fits in your armpit--ever get an armpit blister? That hurts.

 

[bigmike&nan]

I've cooked most of my adult life. I went to chef school at the California Culinary Academy back in the mid-90s... Near the end of my program there I had an advanced baking and pastry instructor, Chef Elisabeth, who was a master who aside from many advanced baking techniques taught and made the most amazing candies and pastries. This woman, with all her skills and qualifications was livid that her parents bought HER a bread machine for Christmas. Really I suggest INVESTING in a Kitchen Aid mixer. Costco has them pretty cheap. You can do so much more with it.

Rant over, thank you for listening.