our maine home – zone 5b
Sam got me a food press. Turns out its known as a Torchietto in Italy, where it comes from.
I’m pretty excited about trying this out for oat milk and zucchini fritters and for pressing tofu. We’ll see what else we can do with it. Crush grapes or apples?
It was too much of a good thing, really. But we enjoyed ourselves and addressed the craving for sushi that’s been rumbling here.
I’m spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Really have nowhere else to go.
Big accomplishments this year:
My stock is loosely based on Rebecca Katz’s Magic Mineral Broth, although I don’t demand too much precision in ingredients. Both Sam and I have gotten more diligent about savings scraps in the freezer. When the bag of scraps gets full and/or the jars of broth get empty, it’s time to make broth.
I throw the frozen scraps into the stockpot. I usually add some potato, carrot, leek tops or what’s looking old in the fridge. Then throw in peppercorns, juniper berries, and kombu or other embellishments. It will simmer on the stovetop or woodstove for a couple of hours.
Then, after cooling, I use a measuring cup and strainer to decant broth into my two big jars. The jars are the perfect size for the amount of stock I get from a full pot. The jars are missing lids so I use the beeswax wraps and rubber bands.
I don’t bother freezing stock. That was just causing additional headaches that were complicating the process. If we don’t use it up in two weeks, I make some soup or just discard it on the compost. Happy with this process!
I removed this beautiful fluffy kraut from the crock yesterday. It’s mild tasting and tinged with pink from the addition of some juice from the previous red cabbage kraut.
I’m trying to keep some herbs going indoors this winter. Here they have a lovely snowstorm as a backdrop.
Sam tried making tempeh at home with some purchased starter. Looks pretty good!
The black areas are edible, they say. They mean the culture has entered its sporulation phase.
I cleaned up the hoophouse today in anticipation of very cold temperatures tonight. Harvested some escarole and carrots. A white mold had eaten the tops of many carrots – maybe it cam in with the hay mulch? The roots seemed fine though. I’ll make a carrot soup and some escarole and beans.
Morning visit from a bobcat.
Might be my favorite thing about winter. The stove is a companion. And warms us.
Our stove is the Castine model from Jøtul and it’s perfect for us.
Of course, part of the reason I can love heating with wood is that Sam takes care of all the chores involved with getting a handy supply of ready-to-burn logs.
