little kitchen in the woods

I re-read the Little House series about once a year. I don't plan it, but I find myself thinking of it about that often. I don't read it in order anymore, and every year I find something different that appeals to me. Last year it was the yards and yards of lace that was crocheted as embellishments for their dresses. This year it is the food.

Even the sparse meals that the Ingalls family eats sound amazing. I was going to try to recreate some of their meals, but for instance, in On the Banks of Plum Creek, the best-sounding meal is just a baking of bread and beans. The next day it's bread and bean soup. Not exactly the healthiest of meals, plus I don't understand how they ever ate enough of that to feel full. Little House fans will probably laugh if they imagine me recreating any of the meals out of The Long Winter. Anybody have a coffee grinder? Or better yet, two bachelors with wheat hidden in their walls?

The meals get substantially better as the Ingalls family prospers, and I really wish I had Ma's recipe for biscuits. I'm also intrigued just enough by that disgusting sounding vinegar pie that I might have to make one someday. I have had a real craving for blackbird pie, not to mention baby radishes and lettuce picked out of the garden (at least on the years when the grasshoppers don't descend).

Almanzo's story, Farmer's Boy, unleashes such a bounty of food that I find myself snacking throughout the entire book. Awesome stuff: stacked pancakes where the butter and sugar soaks through the layers (perfect for us syrup-haters); apples 'n' onions (better as a ratio of 2 parts apples to 1 part onions); pies upon pies upon pies; homemade ICE CREAM.

I wonder what flavor the ice cream was? It's never mentioned. I had to look up pictures of the Wilder family to see how heavy they were after eating approximately four times the recommended daily amount of calories. They were quite slim, so I guess all that farm work burned it off. I also wonder how much bread a "baking" is. What did a homemade wedding cake look like back then, and did Ma really feel a table was undressed if it didn't have a tablecloth on it? Really? I always forget that they lived in the Victorian era - I believe even piano legs were considered uncouth back then.

I badly want a butter churn, but I don't see one coming to me in the near future. I don't have a cow anyway, so the butter making would be difficult, and I couldn't make the balls of fresh cottage cheese that I want. I did take a stab at simplifying my bread making process so that I could have as much bread as Ma seemed to offer. So far so good, so I will share that soon.

mmm food update

On June 20th, I posted about the staples I bought at BJ's, with the intent to update on how long they lasted.

Two hard drives later and hours upon hours of telephone calls to India, and I'm ready to do that.
It's been just over 11 weeks, and I haven't finished anything except the perishables.

I bought: 4 pounds unsalted butter for baking ($8)
Still have: 1.25 pounds

I bought: 5 pounds margarine for eating ($4.50)
Still have: more than half

I bought: 40 pounds flour ($17)
Still have: 10 pounds

I bought: 16 ounces white vinegar ($3)
Still have: approximately 11 ounces

I bought: 5 quarts vegetable oil ($8.50)
Still have: approximately 2.5 quarts

I bought: 10 pounds white sugar ($5)
Still have: approximately 8 pounds

I bought: 4 pounds brown sugar ($2.75)
Still have: all of it, I found 1 pound of brown sugar in the cupboard and used half of that

The above ingredients cost in total $48.75. The ingredients I used cost $26.25. Over 11 weeks, that's a cost of $2.39 per week.

For $2.39 a week, we made from scratch:

Bread, rolls, muffins, scones, biscuits, pizza, calzones, cookies, brownies/blondies, pies, cakes, tarts, homemade "hot pockets", and probably some other things that I'll remember later.

We did not buy any of these ready-made, except for a trip for giant pizza:

Adding in the cost of fresh produce, milk, eggs, and meat, our monthly cost for food has been under $100 each month for 2 people. I think you'll find that that's below what many coupon cutters pay, and we eat far less high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and other man-made ingredients than most people do.

I probably spend 3 hours each week making food, or less than half an hour each day in the kitchen. When I cut coupons, I spent that much time cutting them, and then had to add in trips to the grocery store (which I now only do monthly, not weekly), cooking, and still ended up spending double what I do now.

octoloaf

Octoloaf with loaf children.

Small but delicious. They made a perfect vehicle for The Silver Palate's tarragon chicken salad. Sliced in half, they were good for breakfast peanut butter toast.

Petit loaf pan, $10. Octomom bread jokes, priceless.

thrift shopping

I scored two antique bone crochet hooks ($2) at "Antiques and Tools of Business and Kitchen" in Pound Ridge, NY. The funny shaped hooks are so much easier to manage than modern steel hooks.

what to eat on a grey day

Electric orange carrot soup.

blithewood

fail.

This is what bush beans are supposed to look like.

Here is what I have:

Yes, that's right. The most successful plant in my garden appears to be lawn grass. I don't even know where to start with this one.