abbie hoffman

teepi, you can't even know how your post just now touched me (not the lutefisk post though, the one before it ). I just really needed to hear it, long story....family crap....don't really want to open that can of worms, but what you said is so very true, and thanks. I sometimes think we are all tied here in some cosmic bond, not just HERE, but here and universally, and I'm rambling, but hey, hugs to you, sister.

 

lol Lutefisk is what the old school scandinavian types make up here around the holidays...it is nasty stuff but some people like it. It is fish cured with lye or some such .... but cornbread and cheese grits, mmmm. and you all with the homemade stout and wine, that sounds great too. how do you/Larry make oatmeal stout? I love that kind of beer. Never thought about brewing it.

 

Hugs to you too sista!!

When I lived down south we ate hominy...it is corn soaked in a lye bath.
There is also hominy grits.
I can eat grits...IF there are plenty of over easy eggs around to mask them and cheese is a blessing if I must eat grits.
I lived in a foster home once and the mother would make a huge pot of grits...I could not eat them.
So of course I got no money for lunch..
At dinner I would sit down to my cold pancake of grits...she would put them in the fridge all day and they would congeal into a big whote pancake. No dinner for me...

Now cornbread is another story...I adore cornbread. I like mine a little sweet. I melt butter in the cast iron skillet then pour in the batter and bake. It gets real crisp around the edges...mmmm
I also like to make baked chili with cornbread dumplings.

Oatmeal stout...do you brew??
If you have never brewed there are numerous sites explaining how.
We crack our own grain and roast scottish oats.
I want to get into roasting our own grain, different roasting times give you different flavors.
Roasting the oats frist give them a bit of sweetness also.
We have 2 glass carboys we bought last year but you can use a bucket foodgrade, with a lid that you can get at a wine a nd beer supply. We have a bucket thats 7 gallons we use for our wine.
And you need airlocks and a few other things. If you do brew let me know and I will send you our 3/11 stout recipe.

I do believe we are sent into each others lives.
Sometimes for a second, sometimes forever.
Sometimes to teach a lesson, sometimes to learn, sometimes to just give or get a smile.

 

thanks teepi, I will check in with you if I ever get a chance to brew. we have some places near here that will help you brew beer but haven't checked them out.

I love grits if they aren't plain. Garlic and cheese and butter helps them out immensely. but plain, they get a very bad reputation that way.


"I do believe we are sent into each others lives.
Sometimes for a second, sometimes forever.
Sometimes to teach a lesson, sometimes to learn, sometimes to just give or get a smile."

that is very true.

 

cause i was made to grumble

chorus;
grumbling man
Bob Seeger

not pointed at anybody,it just struck me...

 

You go girl... We(your friends) got your back...

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Now you're talkin', reminds me of the days I used to live in the South, I gotta remember to pick up some grits next time I hit the store. I dunno why it's been so long since I had grits, prolly cause I hadn't thought of it.

I also have the carboy and equipment for brewin', would really like to get back into it, only my "poison" would be India Pale Ale, the only bummer is it's almost as expensive to make (with all the ingredients, syrup, etc.) as it would be to buy, though I hear if you make your own mash, it brings the cost down considerably.

I think we got makings of a perfect breakfast

 

Hi Mellow...

The last brew we made we experimented and used all barley. Cracked it ourselves. We bought it already roasted. Used crystal,black patent and some chocolate.
No powdered or syrup.
We get the barley for 1.99 a lb. but that is already roasted.
We want to get the roasting times down and do that ourselves with raw barley.
Corn sugar costs a bit but raw sugar gives an inferior product.

We made 5 gallons of stout for about 13.00. This was not oatmeal.
We like the Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout to buy but its 8.00 a 4-pack. So we don't buy it anymore.
The Sam Adams Cream Stout tastes alot like the beer we make.

Brew magazine is online and there are some great recipes.

I like the India pale ale also...when I worked in the drug store one of our customers was a member of a homebrew club and brought me some he had brewed...it was terrific.
We made 15 gallons of wine this past summer.
10 apple 5 grape.
I can't believe how smooth it has turned out. I did put back 2 gal apple and 1 gal of the grape to open next summer but the rest is being consumed....me wait a year???? haha

 

Oh...Hi POD....{{{{SMOOOOCH}}}}

 

Wow Teepi, that's impressive, sounds like y'all have mastered the art of brewing, I've always understood that last step (mashing) to be the one that separates the men from the boys so to speak. 5 gallons, 13 bucks, that sure makes it worthwhile! Plus the big bonus is you know what went into what you're drinking, and you know it's fresh. Yet another skill I need to learn so I can pack it in, move out to some remote wooded area, and say good-bye to "civilization."

I'm also a big fan of Samuel Smith products, but I don't get it often, just for a treat now and again.

 

WE have Muscodines here, (grapes) and that makes for a great wine, add a little yeast and corn sugar and strain every few days and your set to go in two weeks, we never lasted a yr either, heh heh.. I also grow Cncord and green seedless grapes for wines, jellies and jams. Concord is *medicinal* of course ) and has a rich flavor. We'll all have to get together one day and have a wine fest..each bringing our own creations to share. Ahhh.. I can feel the love.
sh

 

Sloth Outta Here...

 

I have a great sweet cornbread recipe I'd like to share

I cup Yellow Corn Meal
1 cup Flour
2 tblespns Baking Powder
1/2 ts of Salt
1/2 cup Applesauce
1/4 cup veggie oil
1 1/2 cups of sweet milk
3 eggs
Mix dry ingriedence together and add milk, eggs and oil blend mixture. Pour into a hot greased skillet or baking pan and cook at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes or untill golden brown.

Great with beans and taters.
Yum Yum
sh

Hi Carol, all is well thanks, kids got home and I miss them already. Hope all is well with you and yours.
Brightest Blessings
sh

 

afternoon ms heifer, how are u today, its a nice texas afternoon hope u are doing well
peace love and kindness
white rabbitt
p.s. tell mr heifer i said hi
and your little heifers hi
my god s.h u got a whole heard of heifers there lol

 

Oh Mary,that is perfect for us.
I will try it in a few days.
Larry has to have a bit of flour in his cornbread to make it less grainy.
The applesauce sounds like a great touch also.

Carol, thank you for appreciating fine art...lol.
I really do bask in the compliments thank you so much for the kind words.

Mellow, oh yeah baby!!!
I am a big proponent of learning every skill you can, getting rid of debt and telling "the man" to get screwed.
We bought our 8.5 acres after saving for just 2.5 years.
We put down a good down payment and pay 167.00 a month for it on land contract. It would have been better to just pay for it outright but we used part of the money to build our house.
It is about 1100 sq. feet now and we spent about 4,000 dollars building it. We used ALOT of salvaged materials and paid about 50 cents to 3.00 a window. And about 10 bucks per door. We have three doors that go to the outside and Larry built one with poplar on both sides and a sheet of foam in the middle.
The other 2 are metal with foam insulation.
We have a friend who drives a refuse truck that drops off and picks up those big construction dumpsters. He called us from Dayton and told us of a company that was building a modular addition onto a school and they had ordered too much fiberglass insulation and they had thrown the huge R19 rolls in the dumpsters. Us and some friends with a pickup went up and loaded it all up, the foreman on the job told us to come back for 1/2" drywall the next day.
They also had 2x4's.
I totalled it all up and it came to over 1300 dollars retail...for free!!

We prayed on a woodstove and met a neighbor up our road and mentioned we were looking for one and he showed us one in his garage...70 dollars. It is beautiful..in more ways than one.

We have never had to buy wood. People keep coming by and giving it to us, and there are portable sawmills that they log with all over, we just go and they give us the slab wood.

The lumber for our house..all oak and poplar was bought for 120.00 for 1,000 board feet..rough cut. We had to haul it ourselves but well worth it.
We've bought 5 of those bundles.

We dug a 25ft well ourselves with a hand auger, it went dry this summer...drought here, but there is a local spring with really good water.
We catch rainwater also....

I could go on but this is boring for those not into it.
My best advice if you want to move to the woods, country, or not, but want to homestead as much as you can in the city.....get OUT of debt, don't buy crap you don't need(but remember,you NEED art), subscribe to backwoods home, back home, and countryside journal....or check your library. We have the Old Mother Earths, Larry has been dragging around for over 30 years so we had a good start.
Learn how to grow your food, about solar,wind and water power, start stock piling salvaged building materials. Get a good chain saw.

We moved into a 3 room apt. for 300 a month, both worked full time jobs (he got laid off in the winter months) My pay paid for what we needed, his check went into savings, we bought a pickup, library was our entertainment, and saved 18,000 in 2 and a half years.
So it can be done....and I will gladly share what I know if anyone needs it.

 

I'm a creature of instant gradifacation.. I will borrow against money I don't have.. My man on the otherhand holds money in an iron claw and never lets me near it.. heh heh, hey thats not funny!! true but not funny ;p. I never have any money so when I do get lucky and some comes my way, I spend it as fast as I get it. I don't blow it on crap tho, I spend it on my grand kids or someone in more need then I.
Here lately there has been no money due to the fricken high cost of car fucking repair, ruined my kids Christmas and stupid job service sent me on a job they knew would be impossible for me to do and almost wrecked my self trying to make Christmas money, of course the loan company would love for me to come in and refinance the loan I got for last Christmas and am still paying off at 16% intrest compounded daily.. whoa.. I even got so desperate as to ask hubby if I could refinance.. I can't type his responce in mixed company.. yikes. What ever happens I'm sure Creator will provide what is nesscesry and there is a lesson in there for me somewhere.
Brightest Blessings to ALL
sh

 

Hey rabbitt, I am well thank you, hope you are the same. The weather has been super over the weekend and now has turned cold, but sunny. My herd grows larger each year as the grandkids keep poping in or out as it were. I think we are up to 10 now. It won't be long before the greatgrand kids start coming along and then I will move to a cave and become a hermit.
I hope you have a festive holiday
sh

 

HA, oh Mary...at least the DH has an Iron Claw...hahaha

I can't stand to owe money, It keeps me up at night now if I get behind on anything, and lately we have been behind on just the daily stuff.

But I am really about whittling costs down so that we can sock anything away that we can.
Out here jobs are few and far between and I don't like working for anyone else.
So the more I can cut back, the more I don't HAVE to work.
I really enjoy being able to stay home and paint and enjoy the land and my husband.
Although I think I will have to work one day a week...until his social security kicks in.

He cannot work now, can't pass the physical for his cdl and there really aren't any jobs out here for a 60 year old man.
So we are just able to screech by.
Working one day a week will take care of the land taxes and truck insurance.
If we had been in debt when he could not go back to work, they could have put a lean on our land.

Also if you move to the country and carry debt with you, you will have to keep working.
If you do it and have to keep working you need to make sure that you can commute to town for a job.
Out here the closest town is very small, the next largest is a 55 mile round trip.
Our roads are not plowed and as our road cuts through the state forrest one end of it is closed down when its icy.

I cut the store bought gift thing out when my son Donovan became aware of the whole commercilism deal when he was 10. He thought it would be a good idea to not buy store bought items for Christmas and load up on the birthdays....haha
And thats what we did.
So both kids learned to sew,they made cookies and made coupons for gifts of themselves.
Thats what we still do.
This year they are getting lap quilts, cookies and paintings.
I told Donnie he gave us all a great gift that year.....burden relief.

 

i have a blue cornbread recipe much like yours shameless. i love blue corn as it isn't as high in carbohydrates as yellow corn.
hippiewise angel

 

Working construction.it's a sin the stuff i've thrown away.i'd go to the dump sometimes begging people to take stuff.i've taken home lights ,doors,crystal doors,furniture,you name it only to end up tossing half of it.Right now i have a 2 car garage full of desks.i've managed to give a couple away but most of them are still there.i applaud you and Larry for finding new use for old material.Old stuff has spirits and memories,it carries the soul of all who've touched it.

Working construction.it's a sin the stuff i've thrown away.i'd go to the dump sometimes begging people to take stuff.i've taken home lights ,doors,crystal doors,furniture,you name it only to end up tossing half of it.Right now i have a 2 car garage full of desks.i've managed to give a couple away but most of them are still there.i applaud you and Larry for finding new use for old material.Old stuff has spirits and memories,it carries the soul of all who've touched it.