The Things We Took for Granted as City Dwellers

Things We Took for Granted 

When we lived in an urban or suburban environment

1. Curb side trash pick up and recycling
2. City water
3. High speed or "normal" internet
4. Quick trips to the store 
5. City noises and lights like sirens, car horns, traffic sounds
6. Neighborhood noises like mowers, weed eaters, chainsaws, loud talkers 
7. 24-hour stores
8. Anything you want within a quick drive
9. Jobs - lots & lots of prospective jobs available
10. School sports
11. Restaurants

My Favorite Biscuits...2nd Place to Grammaw's

Well...I am not my Grandmother.  That's pretty obvious. That lady could make some biscuits that would put our southern fast food chicken n' biscuit places out of business! She didn't use a written recipe and didn't even measure her ingredients. But they were divine. She's gone now and of course so is her family-famous biscuit recipe. Try as I might I can't get 'em right.

So we try various recipes over the past few years and nothing fantastic. No world-stopping results that make us give up the search for the perfect biscuit recipe. But maybe I've found it? I can't be certain since I've only made them once so I'll have to try these again. And again. My daughter has been wishing for a Bojangle's biscuit so I googled that and found a recipe entitled "Bojangle's Biscuits"! Of course, I try them! They were a hit! They weren't quite as greasy as the fast food chain's but I feel that they taste so delicious!

So here's some pictures for you to get your mouth watering! I'll share the recipe soon.

Update: Here is the link to the recipe! :) Enjoy!

This post ranked #3 in our most-read posts of 2015!

Spring Garden Season!

Spring is just around the corner and I, for one, am so very truly excited! We've enjoyed several 80+ degree days already here in south Georgia and I am continuously on the look out for signs of spring!

Back in January, Chief Farmhand Chris planted our North Carolina grown seed potatoes in our creekside potato patch. Those babies sprouted pretty quickly; he covered the sprouts with hay in preparation for a couple of cold nights. Now, all of those potatoes have sprouted and have lush foliage up to 3 or 4-inches tall! Excited to see and eat our Georgia-grown North Carolina tators! ;)

Chief Farmhand Chris sure has been putting the new tiller through its paces! On valentine's day he planted sweet onions bulbs. Over the course of the first four days of March, we were able to plant beets, broccoli, carrots, celery, lettuces (bibb, iceberg, black seeded simpson), both red and white Georgia (Irish) potatoes, and three types of radishes (icicle, scarlet globe, cherry belle).

How's it going?! All the onions planted in February have broken ground and getting taller by the day! The fall garden is still producing small green onions, carrots, and holding our garlic in the ground. That section will be home to pumpkins this spring so we'll keep on using the onions and carrots on a pick-as-you-eat basis and harvest the garlic about mid-April.

What's next?! Let's see...in the front garden we'll soon be planting several varieties of hot and sweet peppers including Anaheim chili peppers and pimientos. We'll also soon be sowing sweet Kandy Korn, a couple types of cucumbers, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, beefsteak tomatoes, and Roma tomatoes! Yummmmm!!! Chief Farmhand Chris has even more he's planting in the field garden during this planting season - more on that in future posts! You can check out our garden photo album here! (I hope to upload a ton of January and February pics to the album next week.)

Get some sunshine & fresh air this week! Plant some seeds or buy yourself a pretty plant! Paint your toenails & break out the flip flops! Spring...is just around the corner!

20 Days to Spring!

Happy 20 days until the Spring Equinox to everyone! I felt urged to celebrate that with y'all! Hope you have a warm-hearted and warm-weathered weekend!

Homemade Breadcrumbs

Homemade Breadcrumbs...Easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Day old bread (homemade bread, of course)

2. Use your handy-dandy food processor to turn that dry bread into...

3. Breadcrumbs! Store in a plastic container (mine is a cleaned, re-purposed sour cream container) in freezer.

Homemade Sour Cream

I love being able to make what we need in our kitchen! The convenience of being able to make your own sour cream when you run out is spectacular! Plus it's easy and you'll feel like a chemist!

Note: The fast & easy version always works well for me. I have not gotten the on-the-counter-for-24-hours version to set. If you do, let me in on your secret!

Fast & Easy Homemade Sour Cream

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk (heavy cream works best but I've used whole milk and 2%)
• 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar

Fast Directions

1. Combine your 2 ingredients into a glass jar with a plastic lid. 
2. Shake well.
3. Refrigerate for 1 hour (or you can quick freeze the jar, add ingredients, shake and return the jar to the freezer for 3-5 minutes).
4. The cream will have risen to the top! Add a tiny dash of salt if you like and voila! sour cream!
5. Ready to use that night, but do use within 2 days.
6. You can use the liquid left over at the bottom of the jar in recipes calling for buttermilk.

For more traditional, thicker sour cream:

1. Combine your 2 ingredients into a glass jar with a plastic lid. 
2. Shake well.
3. Leave mixture out at room temperature for 24 hours.
4. Store in refrigerator for up to one week.

Healthy, All-Natural Beef Broth

Neck bones & veggie scraps ready to simmer!

Making your own homemade broth is easier than you think, save you money, and way better than the highly salted processed kind from a can or box at the store. I use neck bones and you can actually use one bone through multiple batches. You can use any good beef bones including saving the bones from your crockpot roast, steak, or ribs. Just freeze them until ready to use. You can even include leftover pieces of cooked or raw beef and the cuttings and fat you take off before cooking your meal.

After I make a batch, I put the meat and bones into a dated, labeled bag and stick it in the freezer until the next time I want to make broth. I'm going to see how many batches (my batch makes about 4 quarts) it takes to have the neck bone down to just bone as there is quite a bit of meat on these inexpensive cuts of beef.

Simmered for about 8 hours

You also will need vegetables for your beef broth. Save the skins and tops of onions, the little stem on your garlic cloves, green garlic scapes, the base and leaves of celery, the top and fresh leaves of carrots as you work in the kitchen on other meals. Or I'll use up any of these vegetables that need to be used - like before the carrots get soft. Just toss these scraps into a freezer bag and use them within the next year! When my freezer bag is full, then I know it's time to make broth!

Once the broth is cooked up and simmered for hours and hours, I strain it into clean and sanitized glass quart jars and apply lids and rings then allow to cool to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator. (Use within 5 days or reboil before using or freezing.)

If I haven't use all the fresh beef broth with 5-7 days, I freeze it! Simply fill up ice cube trays with the cold broth, pop into the freezer for 3 to 4 hours, then pop out the cubes into labeled and dated freezer bags or containers. Each ice cube is about one ounce of liquid so if you need just one cube for seasoning or 8-ounces for a recipe, grab out exactly what you need. The cubes will be good for 6 months to a year in the freezer. Mine don't last long! I use them in a combination with water for boiling rice, toss one cube into a pan of stir fry veggies, making sauces and gravies, roasting meats, using in stews and soups, and in any recipe calling for broth or stock.

Just a note, my recipe below can be made with fresh brand new ingredients you bought or grew just for this reason or with your wise, freezer supply of scraps! I indicated celery as an optional ingredient primarily because I rarely have celery as I've never been successful at growing it! 

Okay, ready to make your own beef broth?!

Ramsey Farms Beef Broth

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 beef neckbones
• onion
• garlic
• carrots
• potato
• celery (opt.)
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• fresh herbs: basil leaves, oregano, thyme
• (dried herbs are fine too, just go lightly)
• 4 to 8 oz. wine
• water

Directions

1. Add meet and veggies to large stock pot with lid.
2. Add about 1/2 to 1 cup of wine (opt.)
3. Add enough water to float the veggies. About 3 to 4 qts. You can also use a jar of the previous batch of broth you made!
4. Season with salt, pepper, and fresh or dried herbs to your taste.
5. Bring to a boil slowly over medium heat, stirring as it heats to avoid burning or sticking.
6. Reduce heat to low, cover but crack the lid.
7. When the broth gets to a low simmer, stir, cover completely with lid.
8. Cook for 6 to 12 hours, stirring occasionally.
9. Allow to cook for about an hour, then strain. 
10. Save your neck bones to freeze for your next batch of broth making, but put the veggie scraps in the compost.
11. Pour strained broth liquid into clean, sanitized glass quart-size jars leaving 1" space at the top of the jar. 
12. Add lid and ring. Allow to cool before storing the jars in the fridge. 
13. Use or freeze within 7 days. 

Be sure to check out this article on freezing broth, I got a lot of great ideas from it!