Putting the cave before the cheese & It's not a Squeezo but ...

No new news on the Garden Prep, Driveway or In-laws move. Weather & life have gotten in the way. We have had over 18" of rain at the Country House since we started the driveway (about 4 weeks ago). We should have put it in last summer when there was an 18" deficit ;)

I decided to test re-hydrating a few of my carrots. It works!

Top - dehydrated / Bottom - looks just like the original!

On another note, it's windy & COLD. If it was just cold I would be a happy camper. But, the wind makes it miserable. Woke up to 33 degrees w/wind gusts 16 -20 mph & it's supposed to be 28 tomorrow morning. I know that's not anything like many of you guys are dealing with, but for us here in the Southeast, that's COLD. But it's going to warm up to normal, in the upper 60s w/lows in the upper 40s, the next week. I like those temps & am looking forward to Spring but dreading the heat & humidity that comes afterwards. My little seedlings are growing & the plan was to start hardening off this weekend but with the cold temps, I'll wait to start next week.

This was a typical week for me ... Estate Sales Thursday at lunch & Friday afternoon. I try leave work around 3:00 on Fridays & if there is sale nearby, I'll stop. Found a mini muffin pan & 'like new' blanket at one -- ho hum. Then went to one at a very eclectic house where 2 nice gentlemen used to live. There was life sized Betty Boop in the foyer, Marilyn Monroe memorabilia in 1 bedroom & Adonis like memorabilia in another bedroom. However, the kitchen had a lot of nice items, all priced too high (this particular vendor isn't apt to discount unless it is a REALLY high dollar item). I didn't need a Kitchenaide 620 mixer. This particular model sells new for around $800 & they had it listed for $445. I guess that would be a bargain to some, but like I said I don't need one as I already have a lesser one that works just fine for me.

While I continued to browse, I came around the other side of the kitchen & I saw it! It's something I have had on my Craig's List items for quite some time & NONE ever show up. I even mentioned that fact over at  5 acres & a dream a week or so ago. Well, there she stood,  the same brand that Leigh has (but w/o the strainer attachments).

It's a Roma & I got it for $20 & if it's been used, you can't tell. Woo Hoo! 

Now the bad news. I know when I see something that I think will get good use I should just go ahead & buy it (if it's a decent price). I've lost too many deals by not acting quickly. Well, I happened to notice a dial gauge on a pot in a partially closed cabinet. I pulled it out & it was a 21 qt. Presto Pressure Canner! It was one of the older models but was in great shape. It didn't have a price. The vendors were busy & I was on my lunch break so I walked away w/o finding how much they wanted. Told Greg about it & he said that we should ride back over there Saturday morning. We did, & it was gone ;( Oh well, they probably wanted $75 for a $110 item. 

After the Estate Sale we headed to my bosses house. He just remodeled his kitchen & had an old wine cooler that he wanted to give me. Yes, I said give me! 

I have a smaller wine cooler that is stocked w/wine so didn't really need another one for that purpose. But, I have been reading about cheese making & have learned that if you don't have an actual wine cave, root cellar or continually cool spot to age cheese, that a wine cooler will work great. So, even though I have never made hard or aged cheese & I don't have a source for milk yet, I have a place to age my cheese when I do get around to making it. Plus, the price was right this time.

Lastly, we are yet again making meat stock. This batch is the best yet. I used frozen meat pieces, leftover pork roast, porkchop bones, ribs bones & of course chicken bones. We cooked it in my roasting pan for about 28 hours, cooled, skimmed off the fat, warmed & canned 12 pints this morning. 

I put Tattler lids/rings on 2 of the pints as a test. The only real difference in instructions that I can tell so far, is that you tighten the outer ring as soon as you take them out of the canner. Crossing fingers that they work as advertised. Of course, the real test is the 2nd, 3rd, etc. uses in the future.

I also saved all the bones I had used & put those in the crock pot, covered w/water last night. Today, we are trying our hand at making mock demi glace with that bone broth. We started with about 2 quarts of triple strained bone stock & it has been simmering for about 6 hours & reduced by a little more than 1/2. It doesn't seem to be thickening though, so we'll see. Probably not enough marrow left in the bones.

It's marinated ribeyes, twice baked potatoes & roasted asparagus for dinner. Going to cook those steaks quickly, cause it's windy & COLD outside.