Monday, March 9, 2015

DIY -- next stage

So here's 2015 and I haven't done any DIY stuff yet, except knitting like a maniac all winter.
For me, that's because Passover comes in exactly three weeks and there's no use starting any food work until it ends. 
The next time I can do something is 12 April.
Except for planting cool weather veggies.
Which I won't be able to do until the end of March because of all the snow.
But I sure can plan.
For one thing, I can calculate whether I want to cure turkey and brisket again this year and make lox.  If it won't save me money, there's no sense doing it.  I think the turkey and lox will be the best bets, but I should use fresh meat for Shabbat sandwiches half the time.  Chicken, meatloaf, eggs, cheese and tuna are cheap alternatives, with the occasional roast beef or salami splurge.  I can buy the first round during my Passover shopping even though it will stay in the freezer until April 12.
On April 12, I'll bake some Italian bread and make a pizza with part of the dough.  In the middle of the week I'll start a batch of sourdough.
That week I will also incubate yogurt, a gallon of milk making 4 quarts of yogurt for a savings of $8.  It will take all week, incubating each quart overnight in the oven.  Then I will make 1 quart into yogurt cheese for veggie dip or a substitute for sour cream on baked potatoes, and freeze some of my fresh yogurt.  The rest of the fresh yogurt will go to make the next batch.
And salt down some cabbage for sauerkraut.  That will take a week and it will go in the freezer.
And make a batch of kimchi, and another of Amish sweet pickled cabbage.  Both of these take at least a week to be ready to eat.
I can start the turkey curing, which takes a week, and then it freezes well.
I can make the lox the first time I can get a 2 pound slab for a decent price compared to what they charge for those dinky little 8 ounce packages.
From April 12 to the end of the month, I will be prepping my warm-weather veggie bed.  Can't plant squash or tomatoes here before 1 May and last year it was later because of snow.

By the end of April I'll have a pound of sauerkraut, one or two loaves of bread, one or two quarts of yogurt, 3 pounds of cured turkey and maybe 2 pounds of lox in the freezer, along with fresh meat and fish and cheese.  It will be full. 
And I'll have 2 quarts of pickled stuff in the fridge with shelf space for more.
In May the farmer's market will open, if I remember correctly, and then blanching and freezing can start.  I'll write more about that in April.

© Patricia Jo Heil, 2013-2018 All Rights  Reserved

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