A Word on Using Weird Cuts of Meat
I generally detest all food waste, so I can appreciate all of those who opt out of buying a whole pig or a whole cow because they can’t figure out how to use the weird cuts. But that, my friends, is where the fun lies.
A Little Processing Pep Talk for Beginners: 3 Crappy Lessons Learned While Process my Own Food
The first time I canned anything, I set Brad and I up to be poisoned. (It was an accident officer, I swear). And mentally, it broke me. I did not can again for something like 4-5 YEARS.
But since then, I’ve learned a LOT about processing food. Like… a shitload. I literally did a whole podcast season about it. And since my near-poisoning, I have gotten back on the saddle and, aside from how not to die (which so far in life, I’ve been quite successful at), I learned three key lessons about managing my expectations of processing food.
4 Ways I Prevent Canning Season from Ruining My Life (and my Kitchen)
Canning season is the world’s longest sustained assault on any kitchen. It makes every food-centered holiday look like an itty-bitty baby 5k; it's the ultra of ultramarathons, battering the body of my kitchen for hours and hours and hours and hours. For us, nestled in the Northeast, it lasts from early August to the end of October and involves some sort of prep, cooking, or cleaning almost every day.
You should totally do it.
Here: 4 ways that I prevent this assault from completely ruining my life, and my kitchen.
Some Lessons from a Year of Hugelkultur
I was once that I am the master of parallel truths. And this is one: I’m quite willing to spend money while also being exceptionally frugal. It’s why I can justify buying a great big house, purely for its acreage, but can’t justify putting expensive garden structures on that acreage. And this is how we found ourselves making Hugelkultur beds in our garden this year, instead of building any sort of raised beds or other garden structures. Was this a good idea? Perhaps...?