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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Thursday, August 18, 2005 I need another kitchen I said I was going to do my canning outside this year, but I never quite managed all the things required to accomplish that—fix the leaking outdoor faucet so it can be used without spraying water everywhere, get a gas ring and propane tank to heat the canning kettle, clear all the poison ivy out of the area where I wanted the summer kitchen to go. So I've done the canning inside, in spite of concerns about the load on the air conditioning and the resulting electric bill. You have to do some canning at home before you can really comprehend the amount of water and fuel the food processing industry uses, or the amount of waste it produces. I can't even speculate on how much water I used to wash the produce, as a component of the canned goods itself, to fill the canning kettle and to wash everything after. I know that in one dry season ten years ago, it was enough to draw down the level in the well to where the water quit running. Fortunately, I have a compost pile for the gallons of apple skins and cores, and what little was left of the oranges. 14 pints of applesauce so far, 6 half-pints of orange marmalade and 7 pints of apple jelly. If I didn't love the end result, the shiny jars of Real. Home-made. Food. lined up on the pantry shelves, the brightly colored labels announcing "Applesauce, 8/17/05" and "Spiced Applesauce, 8/18/05," I could almost be convinced that this isn't worth the trouble and expense. And for someone who has to buy all the raw materials, including the water, and who isn't concerned about pesticides in their food, it may not be. The time it took me to put up those pints of goodies, billed on an hourly computer job, would bring in hundreds of times what this food would cost in a grocery store. But then, it wouldn't be made from the completely pesticide and herbicide-free apples from the trees outside my bedroom window, or organic oranges and lemons from my natural-foods co-op, It wouldn't taste half as good. And there wouldn't be that indefinable sense of having created something important and valuable.The only real problem is that this kitchen is just not big enough. The counter space is practically non-existent, the stove and sink are immediately adjacent to each other with only the corner space in between (so a lot of food preparation takes place on the edge of the kitchen sink), and the sink itself is too small to hold more than a couple of plates and glasses at a time (which means the canning kettle has to be filled one pitcher-full of water at a time). I'm already drawing up plans for the kitchen I want when I build the addition.Back to slicing apples. The next batch is going into the dehydrator, which is then moving out to the front porch to exhaust its heat and humidity directly to the great outdoors. posted by Liz @ 12:17 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
I said I was going to do my canning outside this year, but I never quite managed all the things required to accomplish that—fix the leaking outdoor faucet so it can be used without spraying water everywhere, get a gas ring and propane tank to heat the canning kettle, clear all the poison ivy out of the area where I wanted the summer kitchen to go. So I've done the canning inside, in spite of concerns about the load on the air conditioning and the resulting electric bill. You have to do some canning at home before you can really comprehend the amount of water and fuel the food processing industry uses, or the amount of waste it produces. I can't even speculate on how much water I used to wash the produce, as a component of the canned goods itself, to fill the canning kettle and to wash everything after. I know that in one dry season ten years ago, it was enough to draw down the level in the well to where the water quit running. Fortunately, I have a compost pile for the gallons of apple skins and cores, and what little was left of the oranges. 14 pints of applesauce so far, 6 half-pints of orange marmalade and 7 pints of apple jelly. If I didn't love the end result, the shiny jars of Real. Home-made. Food. lined up on the pantry shelves, the brightly colored labels announcing "Applesauce, 8/17/05" and "Spiced Applesauce, 8/18/05," I could almost be convinced that this isn't worth the trouble and expense. And for someone who has to buy all the raw materials, including the water, and who isn't concerned about pesticides in their food, it may not be. The time it took me to put up those pints of goodies, billed on an hourly computer job, would bring in hundreds of times what this food would cost in a grocery store. But then, it wouldn't be made from the completely pesticide and herbicide-free apples from the trees outside my bedroom window, or organic oranges and lemons from my natural-foods co-op, It wouldn't taste half as good. And there wouldn't be that indefinable sense of having created something important and valuable.The only real problem is that this kitchen is just not big enough. The counter space is practically non-existent, the stove and sink are immediately adjacent to each other with only the corner space in between (so a lot of food preparation takes place on the edge of the kitchen sink), and the sink itself is too small to hold more than a couple of plates and glasses at a time (which means the canning kettle has to be filled one pitcher-full of water at a time). I'm already drawing up plans for the kitchen I want when I build the addition.Back to slicing apples. The next batch is going into the dehydrator, which is then moving out to the front porch to exhaust its heat and humidity directly to the great outdoors.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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