We been busy! Family Thanksgiving, then some kitchen experiments... both good and bad...

     It's been a busy month!  We had Thanksgiving dinner down in South Florida with my (Lee's) parents.  Dad went into the hospital for some breathing difficulties before Thanksgiving, and got out of the rehabilitation center two days before the holiday.  It just didn't seem right to have my parents spending Thanksgiving alone, so my darling wife, my two stepchildren and I did a boatload of shopping on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we headed down to my folks after doing some cooking at our home (homemade desserts.)  Thursday, we woke up, watched the parade on television, cooked up a wonderful dinner, and, to quote the announcers, "A good time was had by all."

     Back at home, in between work weekends, we have had quite a few culinary experiments.  While cleaning up our backyard, LouAnn noticed the kumquat tree and orange tree were blooming, so we decided to do some harvesting.  As we were doing that, LouAnn also noticed a WHOLE bunch of acorns lying around from the three oak trees in our yard.  So, a big plant pot full of kumquats, a big plant pot full of oranges, and a big plant pot full of acorns found their way into our home.

     First experiment... preparing acorns.  First, breaking open the shells.  Then, leaching out the tannic acid through multiple hot water baths.  Then, roasting the acorns.  All told, this entire process took close to 48 hours.  Finally, we get to the wonderful point of taste testing our delightful, roasted acorns, and.... BLECH!  EWWW!!!! GROSS!!! It's probably that acorns that have fallen to the ground are no longer ripe, but we all agree that this particular acorn project is completely in the failure column.

     Next experiment... kumquat and orange marmalade.   First, chop up the kumquats and oranges.  Then, let 'em soak for a few hours.  Next, add a bunch of water and sugar and cook it down for a few hours, until it reaches the right consistency.  Then, taste it, and... BLECH!  EWWW!!! GROSS!!! It tasted like we had burnt a candy bar until it was cinders and then tried eating it, or as LouAnn says, it was even worse than that... something akin to drinking lighter fluid...  (LIT lighter fluid.)  Chalk another one up into the failure column.

     Now comes the giant list of successes we've had the past couple of weeks...

1. From our Thanksgiving Turkey... some SERIOUSLY WONDERFUL soup stock...
2. The next day, a whole bunch of chicken stock so, after some beef stock (coming soon), we will be SET for soup base until we move up north in February...  Then comes some experimentation into making bouillon.  I feel a little bit like Dr. Frankenstein in his kitchen laboratory... EEGORE!  GET ME SOME MORE (fill in the blank)!!!!
3. Home made hand soap... no more chemistry set at our basins and sinks!  Our next venture is into removing ALL chemistry set items from our bathrooms... Say goodbye in short order to our body wash, toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo, and facial cleanser... If my darling (LouAnn) can find a working recipe for anything to clean our bodies, then a' cooking we will go...
4. Laundry detergent... still going strong, and LouAnn's addition of a pure wool ball to the dryer has gotten rid of all of the chemicals from bounce sheets that were formerly soaking into our skin.
5. Spaghetti Sauce... 9 quarts and 3 pints of delicious tomato-based excitement just waiting to be devoured!
6. Salsa... 3 pints of yummy Mexican goodness...
7. Caramel made from sweetened condensed milk... 2 cups of deliciousness!   Orange juice from our tree!  Three quarts of scrumdeliumptious!
8. Homemade peanut butter... 4 pints of taste bud ecstasy!
9. A working bread recipe that we've now used at least five times!
10. A great way to sift our wheat so that my children don't freak at the graininess (also known as wholesomeness) of our home ground wheat flour!
11. Today, we made potato bread... my kids love potato bread, and I am now working toward getting a recipe they'll like so that we can avoid even more chemicals from the store.
12. Pickles, pickles, and more pickles... we've got garlic dills (my favorite) and bread and butter pickles (Michael's favorite).
13. Homemade deodorant for the family.
14. I discussed the cleansers last post... still working strong.
15. Now, we've got a homeopathic remedy for our cat's urinary problems... and so far, it seems like it's working.  Maybe we don't have to go to the vet, but only have to struggle to administer apple cider vinegar to a feline?  Not a fun trade off, but if it's gonna work, I'm all for it!
16. Today, as a special treat for Michael and his friends, we used our ice cream maker for some homemade ice cream!  YUMMY!

Next adventure in the kitchen is canning some beans for soups, stews, and refried beans.  So... fair warning... if you hear in the news about a methane gas explosion in Jacksonville, Florida... it's not a utility problem... we just ate too much.  (Grin)

     Today, Michael graduated with his Bachelor's degree from the University of North Florida... Way to go, Michael!  Tomorrow, my son Jeremy graduates from East Stroudsburg University... Way to go, Jeremy!

Thanks for joining us on this wonderful ride!  Recipes will be posted soon for our projects... Probably in the next couple of days.

PS  Here are the pictures of our canned successes.

The Elimination of a Chemistry Lab in our Kitchen and Bathroom, and the Dream of a Pure Life

November 12, 2015

     It's been a VERY busy few days, and it doesn't seem like it's going to get any less busy, at least until December.  We've been continuing on with the "Beyond off the Grid" webinar series, and Tuesday was GREAT!  There was a discussion by Amber Bradshaw, of thecoastalhomestead.com.  The topic was "How to Make your Own Household Cleaners."  For years, LouAnn has wanted to purify the our lives, eliminating most of the unpronounceable chemicals, and doing without chemicals and additives that we can and should do without.  Unfortunately, it hasn't always been easy to convince our children (LouAnn's three children, my stepchildren) to join us in our spirit of purity.
     For a time, living purer and healthier was not a battle that was worth the cost of infuriating our children.  In the past, we tried to have homemade soap and cleansers, homemade laundry detergent, drying our clothes on clothes lines, eliminating 99% of processed foods, etc., etc., etc.  Many of these projects met with fierce resistance from our children, especially the boys, who have been immersed in our "immediate gratification" world and can't see the benefits of a purer, simpler lifestyle.  Well, at this point, the boys are grown and about to graduate college, the little lady is a teenager, and LouAnn has decided that we WILL go forward with our ideas.  We no longer have cable television in our home, we are eating healthier, we are planning to begin our homestead, and this webinar by Ms. Bradshaw was WONDERFUL for some product education.  I always thought that ammonia and bleach were required chemicals in a "back to basics" cleaning closet... apparently, I am mistaken.  Vinegar, Baking Soda, Washing Soda (which I can make myself). Alcohol, and a few herbs and essential oils seem to be all that is needed besides good old H2O.
     So... we made homemade all-purpose cleaner, homemade glass/window cleaner (WOW!  MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE than Windex,) are getting ready to make our own laundry detergent, dryer balls, and personal hygiene products.  My darling wife has gone on a mission to dispose of as many AWFUL chemicals as she can in our home, and hopefully, we can get our children to "get with the program" as we go to homemade soap and shampoo, homemade dish detergent, etc... etc... etc...  My dream is that step by step, we will be able to take a few steps back from this ways of a world that has become too toxic, too superficial, too relativistic... just too... TOO!  For my own self, I hope that over time, I can keep on strengthening my relationship with my son (he lives in PA now), because out of our three boys, I think he is the only one who might appreciate the pure lifestyle, and the hard work and rewards that are such an integral part of the mindset of that lifestyle.  But, whether LouAnn and I are the first generation of many to return back to basics, or the first and only generation of our family to take this venture, WE ARE taking it.
     Oh... as a humorous aside, I have REALLY got to learn how to be a better blessing to my wife in the kitchen.  I made some homemade bread on Tuesday... just so-so.  Along with her wonderful cooking of our meals (I married somebody just this side of a country gourmet) LouAnn made some apple crumb this week and banana bread yesterday... DEFINITELY NOT so-so!  My wife is a FABULOUS cook, and I feel so inept sometimes at how wonderful she is at domestic life, and how my only skills seem to be "guy" things.  She is plenty capable of "guy" things as well.  As a friend of mine said last week, "Lee, you married up."  He's right.
     Yesterday, we watched two webinars - one was about chickens by Maat Van Uitert (thefrugalchicken.com).  Chickens are something that we want to raise on our homestead, so she will be a fount of useful information for us.  I also took a look at Maat's website, and the Frugal Homesteading part seems to be worth checking into.  Then, we watched a webinar by Tammy Trayer (Trayerwilderness.com), and all I can say is, "WOW!!!!!!!"  She, her husband, and son, moved from Washington, DC to raw acreage in Idaho (sight unseen) and over the past five years, through determination, ingenuity, and some genuine elbow grease, have established a PHENOMENAL homestead.  Solar electricity, hand tools both in and out of the home, running their own sawmill for their wood, cooking with solar, heating with wood, building outbuildings, raising animals, hunting and gathering, and starting their own garden.  They go shopping about once every three months!  I DREAM about being able to have my family live that simply, and hopefully, God will bless my family as much as he as blessed the Trayers.
     Now, it's time to take care of my Mom and Dad.  Dad is having a difficult time physically and emotionally, which obviously affects Mom, so LouAnn and I are spending a few days with them to hopefully help right their ship.

Georgia, Mount Dora, Wal-Mart and the Web... Wattaweek!

November 9, 2015

WELL!  The past few days have been invigorating.  I had a road trip to Athens, GA.  On the way up, I kept seeing all of these ramshackle barns and farmland and the thought was "I want it NOW!"  I know that I have to wait until the situation is right, but the city-slicker in me wants immediate satisfaction.  Anyway, the rains came and washed out my tournament before it even began.  So, it was back home to Jacksonville, the day after I left.

Yesterday, for a spur-of-the-moment excursion, my beloved and I excurded to Mount Dora, Florida.  Mount Dora is a favorite spot in the state for antiquing or flea-marketing, or crafting, or whatever else you want to call it.  We're kind of oddities there... we don't actually go there to buy anything, but to get all kinds of ideas.  For example, I love to do woodwork, and am looking forward to re-establishing my workshop in my new home in Ohio when we get there.  There are a few MAJOR pieces of furniture that I've been promising LouAnn and Kourtney.  LouAnn is going to be the proud recipient of a large butcher block table and a china cabinet.  Kourtney is gonna get her canopy bed.  Also, there are going to be other projects that come along.  So... we go through all of the antique shops (there is a phenomenal indoor flea market that we love to visit, and Renninger's is a wonderland for me) and I look at all of the old woodwork.  I see how I am going to use old-tyme design in my craft projects for my family.

Today, LouAnn was the proud recipient of a badge of honor.  She has officially been rejected by a member of today's society, and she proudly wears the badge.  Here's the story.  In our desire to return to making less of a mark in our daily lives upon nature, LouAnn took some reusable grocery bags to Wal-Mart.  While in the produce section, she pulled out a cucumber and put it into the cart.  She took out some multicolored peppers and put them in the cart.  A lady looked at my darling wife and asked, "Aren't you going to put them into bags?"  LouAnn responded, "No."  The lady asked why, and when LouAnn explained that our cloth bags were an attempt to be more environmentally conscious, the lady just looked at her strangely and said, "You're WEIRD!"  Yippee for my weird wife!  I should craft her a scarlet W for all of her grocery bags!

Today is the start of a week-long series of webinars sponsored by Beyond Off Grid.  Some of the information is very interesting.  Some of the information is FANTASTIC!  Some of the information is kinda lame, in my opinion.  But... it's all information, and at this point, I'm willing to take on ALL information.  Speaking of information...  I know LouAnn has some homesteading groups with which she is associated on Facebook, etc.  If ANY of you folks look upon this blog and can take pity on a future complete homesteading neophyte, I'll be more than happy to accept guidance and tutelage.  So... if you've got it, BRING IT!  I'll take all the help I can get.

Yours in our return to nature,

Lee

The Current Chapter in Our Adventure

November 2, 2015

Hi.  I'm Lee, the male half of our dynamic duo.  LouAnn is our homemaker extraordinaire, resident husband and child psychologist, our gourmet cook, our complete domestic engineering crew, and my biggest cheerleader.

My job is logistics, the bulk of the driving, the mechanical engineering, the financial engineer, the chief grunt work laborer, and to be available for whenever she allows me "in her kitchen."  The rest of the time, I go away from home and am a softball umpire, along with officiating other sports sometimes.

I was born in Brooklyn, NY, weaned in Queens, NY and grew up on Long Island.  Then, I moved to Pennsylvania for four years, and have been down in Florida for the past 12 years.  A few months ago, I stumbled into a career opportunity that allowed us to begin a journey back to LouAnn's roots, country living.

We have talked occasionally about reducing all of our "citification," and now, my career seems to be taking me into Ohio, which would mean a two-three month road trip each spring.  In addition, our middle son, Michael, is graduating from the University of North Florida in December.  Real estate prices in Florida are completely obscene, and rentals are ridiculously expensive as well.  So, the opportunity arrived, and we have decided that a more rural, off-the-grid life is our destination, probably in Eastern Ohio.

A few weeks ago, we ventured up into the Columbus and Youngstown areas, and found that real estate closings are approximately 45-60 days in the area.  So, we were a bit early to go house hunting.  Our lease at our present home doesn't expire until the end of February, so we aren't looking to close until about the end of January.  As a result of finding out we were early, we stayed for a couple of days in Ohio visiting LouAnn's sister and brother-in-law.  Then, we came back to Florida for our return to family and my return to work.  We are planning to return to Ohio to house hunt, leaving Florida on Black Friday.

LouAnn has been really good at getting me foundational reading material for what we hope will be a family farm.  My initial joke about the idea of starting a farm was, "How much does a cow eat?  I haven't a clue, but it's a HECK of a lot."  So, as it sits now, our plans are as follows:

Our goal is a fixer-upper of a home with between 5 and 10 acres of land in Eastern Ohio or the Western Edge of Pennsylvania.  The first year in our home will be most likely spent doing fixup and setup work around the house.

Our eventual goal is to have a cow/calf combination for milk and meat, some chickens for meat and eggs, and some pigs for pork and profit (along with the animals' completely natural fertilizer and grass cutting ability.)  We intend to grow enough food to be provided with veggies throughout the year, along with growing grass, alfalfa and feed crops for the animals, using wood from the acreage to feed our wood stove or wood stoves (I LOVED wood stove heat when I lived in PA,) and using the products of our labor to make as much of our sustenance natural as we can.

We have been reading labels, and seeing the artificial nature of our world, and have realized that so much of our world has contaminated the lives of us and our children.  It is time to reject the crazy nature of what our world and society has become.  It is time for us to go "back to the basics."  I hope you enjoy our trip along with us.

'Til next time,

Lee

Welcome to our blog.  Lee and I are taking a journey to a more natural lifestyle.  We are in the process of buying a farm and learning how to homestead.  We have some knowledge and Lou Ann has some experience but it will be a learning experience for both of us.  We would like to take you all on the adventure with us.  So join us and we will share the ups and downs as well as the funny times as we travel this road together.  May God be with us as well as with you.  Looking forward to an exciting ride!