#everybitcountschallenge - Plans of Mice and Men - Planned but somehow Didn't Happen

I am still a little tired from my late night the other evening when I set about cooking the Sourdough late at night.  Perhaps not the best thing to do but I was that excited about actually having a loaf to show for my efforts, that I sort of got carried away.  That is me, an all or nothing kind of girl.  I am either in things up to my neck or things end up rattling round my ankles.

I have for a few days popped the Sourdough Starter into the fridge.  I shall bring that out shouting and screaming at some point in the week for round 3 of Let us tackle the Sourdough. I am not going down without a fight, and I am going to make some adjustments using my Friend Richard's instructions and some modifications to my usual breadmaking practice.  I also intend to start using the Bread machine again for buns and things like that.  I like buns for sandwiches etc. and as I have a lot of bread flour, it makes sense to learn how to use it and get stuck in.

Last night I should have dealt with the Bramble/Blackberry wine.  It did not happen.  So in the circumstances I planned to do it again today.  However I have not been firing on all cylinders for the best part of the day and so tomorrow it will be dealt with.  It is therefore going to be a busy day tomorrow as I have a couple of projects planned in any event as well as playing catch-up.

Tomorrow, therefore the following should happen.

1. The Bramble/Blackberry wine should be strained, added to the Demijohn with sugar and yeast and set to work.  Because of the colour more than anything else I intend to pop the Demijohn into one of the fermentation buckets at least for the first few days.  A mess is one thing, but a stained mess is another.  Purpley Black will be difficult to remove.  Hence measures being put in place in order that there are no unnecessary accidents.

2. The next Batch of wine will be started.  This time it will be dried Apricot.  I am using things that are in my Pantry a lot of the time without necessarily having to go out and buy stuff. 

I am buying some stuff in where it is needed, however for me the #everybitcountschallenge is as much about using what you have to hand as much as new stuff and making the most of what you actually have. I am trying to make considered decisions as to which preserves I am making this year and which ones to put up. I have always enjoyed the preserving process the "hubble bubble" of the preserves bubbling in the pan, and the alchemy of creating beautiful things from a mix of ingredients. The bonus for me for making Apricot wine will be that I will be able to turn the fruit pulp from the wine into a chutney, once the wine has gone through the initial fermentation process.  I shall pop up full details for those of you interested.

3. The Ginger Beer Plant will be made into the final drink, made up and then decanted into sterilised bottles.  The plant will be split and I shall start feeding one of them to start off a new batch. This will slowly build up a stash for the autumn months of a very pleasant drink (well I like it).  With the Ginger Beer Plant you end up splitting the plant every time and normally would pass on one of the plants to a friend with full instructions on how to feed, how to make up, separate and pass on to a friend.  "The Plant" is not a plant as such, but the sediment created from the yeast, sugar and ginger.

4.  I have a pickle recipe to set about.  It is the pickle I should have made the other day and ended up knocking all the flavoured vinegar over.

5.  I have tomatoes to turn into pasta sauce.  Whether I get to these tomorrow will be debatable.  It may well run into Monday.

We are off to pick up some plums on Sunday at some point for fresh eating and I hope some preserving.  In any event I do have some plums to turn into jelly.  This particular preserve is very good for using as a glaze on meat and in stir fries.  Also delicious on hot buttery toast, scones, pancakes etc. I also wish to obtain some more plums as there are a lot of preserves I make on a yearly basis with them including mincemeat and chutney.  My staple fruits I suppose are Apples, Pears, Plums, Cherries and Quinces (if I am blessed).

At some point tomorrow the Excalibur Dehydrator will be moved to its new position and I can then also get that into operation again. I believe I will have some tomato skins to turn into tomato powder.  I would also if I can get hold of some reduced Oranges during the week, like to start dehydrating Orange slices for both use in cooking but also for Home made Christmas decorations.

I have been using the smaller Dehydrator on a regular basis but I need to get cracking now to make sure that we have a range of items ready for the winter pantry.  Lots of little additions can make a world of difference to the flavour of your food.  

Outline Plans For Monday

1.  I have peppers to turn into Sweet Pepper jelly and also Onion and Garlic jelly.  

2.  I have more mixed rind flavoured sugar to make.  A combination of Orange, Lemon and Limes.  Very good for adding flavour to fruit salads, cakes etc.

3.  I also have some spiced, pickled Oranges to prepare.  Large Oranges which I use for decorating a Ham (for Christmas normally).  I usually make a couple of jars.  Equally I use Mandarins or Tangerines a couple of jars so that I have the option of larger slices or smaller to decorate the outside of the Ham/Gammon.  Keeps the Ham nice and moist, and also gives a lot of flavour.

4.  If the weather is good, I also need to harvest more Bay leaves from the tree.  The ones I dried naturally have been decanted into a storage bottle on my Dresser. I find drying them naturally in a darker place helps retain the colour a bit.

5.  I also need to get a bulk stash of home made Sage and Onion stuffing sorted out, packed for the amount I need each time.  It is a very good filler to pad out a homemade meal if made properly.  

6.  Yorkshire puddings are another good meal filler. I am going to make up a Pantry Mix for this also.  I thought that if I decanted them into little zip lock bags, and then stored them in glass jars, it would keep them dry and you could also see the contents of the jar.  

I also have in mind to put up some general pantry mixes (pre-made up ingredient packages say to make Brownies, cookies, Yellow cake, Chocolate cake and Chocolate pudding) with instructions as to what to add to make up the dish, more as a convenience to a busy household to make something up reasonably quickly.  I have plans to investigate this further in any event as I think it would help in many ways. It would mean that I would also make more use of the ingredients I do have and be able to plan exactly what is required to be stocked up on for the kind of things we are using.

Further Foraging

I also need to go foraging again in the next few days. I would like some Blackberries for making a couple of batches of Blackberry syrup/cordial. I am also after some Elderberries for Pontack sauce, Elderberry jelly and also Hedgepick Pie filling.  Crab apples if I can find some and Rowan, Haw and Rosehips. 

Also need to go foraging for some small cones, acorns, teasel heads, leaves. Also some little twigs for kindling bundles and Christmas decorations.  I think I need to invest in a little pocket saw of some kind like my friend Preppergranny.  There are often small branches and twigs that have fallen where I go foraging. It would be a shame to waste them. Although we do not have a fire at the moment, I do have friends who have fires that I can pass them on to.

As usual therefore, there is a lot of planning and organisation going on behind the scenes. 

Take Friday for instance, I set about making for the first time "Saurkraut" using fermentation process.   In reality I have done very little fermentation processing.  I do not know that I am a fan as I have not tried any items.  So this is going to be a whole new learning curve for me.  Another friend has told me that she likes it and that homemade versions are far superior to boughten versions.  

I am pleased to report though that I do have liquid to the top of the cabbage, meaning that all the cabbage is covered and that we shall be trying this probably about Wednesday to see if we like it or not. (that is leaving it five days).  I am thinking sausage buns with some fried onions and some of the Saurkraut would be quite interesting.

A lot of prepping and nurturing work going on with some items, and gradually I am getting stuff onto the Pantry shelf.

Friday, I also started off a bottle of Toasted Almonds in Honey, and did not have enough Almonds to fill the best part of the jar.  Today I have added to that, and we now have a full jar. Going to be very useful for ice cream toppings, baking, Muesli, over Goat's cheese etc.

Very slowly therefore, I am managing to accumulate some quite different items for the Pantry shelf.  Hopefully I will be able to add a whole lot more to the shelves in the next few days.

It is always busy on the "Preserving" front around here.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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