Basic Wine Making ~ So fine Homeade Wine by MM

A couple years ago Kim and I attended a basic wine making class at the Common Ground Fair.  A large, bearded gentleman in a jean jacket stood before the crowd with a five gallon bucket in hand and said, “I’m going to keep this real simple!”  Since then we have had a great deal of fun with the skills learned that day.  We give wine for gifts, bring it to holiday gatherings, bbqs, and parties.

We’ve also utilized wine for bartering as well.  Exchanging for goods as well as pay back for good deeds done.  Plus it’s just plain old satisfying to sit down and enjoy an ice cold glass of relaxation that you created yourself.

To get started you’ll need an air tight container with an air lock.   We use a multitude of different containers including 5 gallon buckets, jugs, jars, and carbouy’s.  The air lock is just a water chamber that keeps air from entering the wine and lets the gasses out.  Clean all containers including bottles with bleach and water.  Rinse well!!




We have made a great deal of apple, strawberry, and blueberry wine as well as a multitude of other fruity flavors, too many to mention.  I start by soaking roughly 1.5 gals of fruit in roughly 3 to 4 gals of water, mash it a bit and let it set in a cool place a couple of days to absorb the flavor. A refrigerator is the best bet or set it outside if it’s cool enough.  Basically your making a fruit infused water.   Next I strain off the fruit and add 10lbs of sugar and 1  tablespoon of yeast to the juice or fruit water.  Sometimes I use bread yeast and sometimes I use  a packet of wine yeast.  Both work fine however the wine yeast is a bit more user friendly.  It forms a hard layer when it drops out of suspension.   If you start with a fruit juice make sure it does not contain preservatives, which could stop the yeast from working.  This recipe will not work with grapes so don’t try it, just trust me on that!!


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We’ve also fermented tea and lemonade adding a bit of ginger which was a big hit with the ladies.  I’ll do a post on that at another time.

70 degrees is the preferred temperature for fermentation to occur so find an area in your home that is closest to that if possible.  It is not an exact science so don’t overthink it, we don’t and we are able to pull it off.  We live in an old farmhouse and the temperatures can vary room to room by 20 degrees in the winter.  The beauty and curse of wood heat.

The magic begins in 2 days.  The yeast grow and consume the sugar creating a byproduct of alcohol and CO2.  Place the container out of direct sunlight and it will make a wonderful bubbling noise until the sugar is gone or the alcohol content is too high for the yeast to survive.  They die and fall to the bottom in roughly 8 weeks give or take a few weeks.
Lastly, siphon it into sterilized wine bottles or mason jars.  Pour over ice & enjoy!

 

No Can Pickles, Margaritas, Guns...heck ya!

 

Like most people I love pickles! I have canned them many times before. However, last year my pickles were an epic failure! I overcooked them or something because they came out way too soggy…..beyond edible.  Anyone that cans knows how bad that sucks.  Lots of work was put into growing those babies from seed, tending the endless amounts of weeds and insects trying to steal your precious goods, picking, cleaning, canning.  Damn!  Well this year my cucumbers did not do well and regardless I was stuck in Florida in the prime of Maine’s canning season.  Thankfully I was home in time to put up my favorite crop, tomatoes.  I was fortunate enough to make up lots of spaghetti sauce, canning some and freezing the last of it as that is the  lazy easy way out.

 
I like canning but honestly I’m all about making life easier!  Making this type of pickles is a tangible goal for anyone especially if someone gifts you the cucumbers. 10 minutes top to delicious pickles the whole family will enjoy…I promise!
This will make a half gallon

• 4 1/2 cups of water
• 3/4 cup of vinegar
• 1/8 cup & 1 tablespoon of sea salt or kosher salt
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 3-4 dill sprigs (or whatever you want I tend to use more)
• couple cloves of garlic
• several pickling cucumbers washed and sliced lengthwise

Mix first 4 ingredients, bring to boil, cool til warm and place in jar with remaining ingredients.  Cover with something breathable like cheese cloth or a tea towel for 3 days then refrigerate.

The first 2 batches I made NEVER made it to the fridge, we devoured them starting the day after I made them.  Batch 3 that Maine Man made has been in the fridge a couple weeks and are still very tasty.  Not sure what the shelf life is on these but I will definitely figure that out next garden season!




My kids are fortunate to have a good Papa that takes time out to teach them real life skills.

Practicing up so she can beat the boys!

 This is her third year she is able to go out hunting with her Dad.

On a final note I want to share with you a tried and true margarita recipe

This only makes a small amount but if you need, there are lots of conversion charts.

• salt for rimming the glass
• 1 1/2ounces tequila (blanco, 100% agave)
• 1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 ounce Cointreau (not Triple Sec)

Making Treats for our Feathered Friends

Last year for the first time I made some tasty treats for the birds. I posted recipes here.

The other night my girl & I made some without following a recipe.

*We cooked up some pig fat in the oven in my cast iron kettle, the remaining was liquid fat and crackles, I believe that is what they are called. (little pieces of fat)

*Threw the crackles in the processor.*Dug deep into my fridge to find the bacon grease and such I had been saving for the last year or so, against Maine Man's will. Melted it down. He's a bit of a throw away kinda guy and I am a save it kinda gal. I just know I will find a use for it someday! Hence why I do the recycling, as painful as it can be.

*Threw in some bird seed, a bit of cracked corn, a few tablespoons of peanut butter. Mixed it all together and dished it out into pans and plastic containers of all sizes.

I was wishing I had saved a bunch of those plastic containers you get when you buy suet blocks in the store. I only had 1 and it was perfect for this project. Maybe I will put something on Facebook and see if my bird feeding friends will save some for me.

*Set the containers in the barn overnight

*Perfectly hardened! Popped the suet blocks out of the containers. Placed one outside for the birds and the rest in the freezer.

Little Messy but FUN!

Putting Food on the Table ~ day 6

Today we let the kids play hooky. They went out ice fishing with Maine Man.

Country Boy's first Pike (5 lbs)
And a 1 lb Brook Trout

They waited for me to get home and see the fish before they cut them up.


Some people take their kids out of school to go on elaborate vacations. We let ours skip out for an occasional hunting and/or fishing trip because MM often works the weekend.

To make myself feel guilt-free I consider it a Homeschool Day;)

Subjects covered today: Science, Phys.Ed, Math, and Home Ec

Can you guess what we are eating tonight?

In my next life I plan to be an independently wealthy, homeschooling, stay-at-home Momma. (with a Nanny for respite ;)

For now I will just be thankful that I only have to work part-time. And although we do not technically homeschool I can find comfort in all the ways we supplement our children's education.

Easy as Pie

Where did that saying ever come from anyway? Who ever thought pie making was easy? I never did until I attempted making it Angie's way from over at Children in the Corn.
I've been making pie crust for about a year now with NO failed attempts. Bread making.....well that is a different story!

So here is the secret...

* 2 1/2 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 8-10 tablespoons of water
* 2 sticks of butter

Place the first three ingredients in your food processor, pulse for a moment.

Like my new dishes? I picked up a set for REAL cheap at a local thirft store. Beats the mismatch dishes they replaced! I considered starting a collection of fiestaware until I priced it out. I quickly changed my mind.

Soften the butter, cut it up into several pieces then add to the food processor.

Mix until it gets crumbly.

Then add water, mix

Form ball, cut in half

Wrap with saran

Refrigerate for 2 hours

Easy as pie....Maine Man took over from here.

There is something sexy about a man in a kitchen. Isn't there?

Making Butter

What's a girl to do when someone gives her a few pints of heavy cream? My initial thought was to recreate a vanilla bean ice cream I made a few weeks back. Well at 236 calories per 1/2 cup I opted to give butter making a try since I won't eat that by the bowl.

It was quick and easy! Here are the steps I followed:

1) Pour the cream in the mixer, start on low.


2) As it starts to thicken (a few minutes), increase speed to medium.
3) Mix for a few minutes then increase speed to high.

After a while the cream eventually turns into whipped cream.

4) At this point you want to watch it closely as it turns to a crumbly butter-type texture.


5) As soon as you start to noticing liquid accumulation, drain off into a bowl. After that I mix a bit then drain liquid, repeating this cycle a couple times. Then form the butter and rinse the remaining buttermilk off.

The buttermilk can be used for cooking.

I made a batch of plain butter adding approximately 1 teaspoon of salt per pint.

Then I made cinnamon honey butter using 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 cup of local honey.

My all time favorite was garlic/dill. A couple crushed cloves and 2 Tablespoons of dill.

Stocking Up

We chuckled as our friend backed in our yard to return our chicken plucker and this is what filled his pick-up. 50 cases of canning jars. Hannaford was selling 1 quart cases for $2.50 and 1 pint cases for $2.00. The best part is he sold me some! I bought $28 worth (12 cases). BARGAIN!!!!

Speaking of the chicken plucker that was the 4 or 5th time we have lent it out and MM has used it several times. We have made our money back+++ . The kids and MM just did up 70 Cornish rocks.

For anyone new to reading this blog MM built a chicken plucker a while back, the post is here.
According to my traffic feed that I occasionally peak at this is the #1 post visited. The second most is another of MM's post is how to skin a pig. Funny how the only 2 posts he has ever done are the most popular. Well he has been talking about building a wind turbine so if and when that ever happens I am sure he'll post about. So lucky to have such a handy man!

How to Build a Chicken Plucker

Back in the game! I apologize for the break but I just could not keep up with everything. The pig roast went well and I will share pictures soon. I never did catch up on reading other blogs but hope to in the near future. The following post is written by Maine Man.

I'll start by saying thank you to Angie & Eric over at Children in the Corn for giving us plans to build this project! I had been looking at the whiz-bang chicken plucker on the Internet for a couple of years but I probably would not have carried through without the plans.

The plucker fingers came from Kent Company which is based out of Florida. They were very helpful and friendly folks. These silly little pieces of rubber were one of the most expensive items in the project costing approximately $120 with shipping. Most of the other parts I had with exception to the lumber, screws, and coupling.

Prior to installing 120 plucker fingers you should first drop a brick on your toe while listening to some very loud aggressive music. Anger will make these buggers go in a bit easier. Beveling the outside of the 3/4 inch hole and standing inside the barrel while pulling inward is also a big help. Some liquid encouragement may be needed for this portion of the project. Take note of the redness and veins in my forehead.

I lag screwed the frame together and sealed all the wood with some leftover stain I had kicking around the shed. When I first saw this contraption I thought the tub spun like a washing machine but that is not the case, it is just there to contain the birds.


This is the feather plate, the part that performs the actual plucking process. The plan called for a 1/4 inch plate of aluminum which was rather costly to purchase. Instead I opted to build it from the bottom portion of the barrel and 3/4 inch plywood. I attached them together with #14 self taping screws. It made a rock solid inexpensive plate.


Rather than use a belt and pulley system as the plan calls for I used the auger blade gearbox from an old snow blower that was in the barn. It was a 10:1 ratio which worked perfect with an electric motor that turns 1725 rpm and giving me a speed of around 175 rpm on my feather plate. The bearing block you see on the picture above is an idler wheel off a snowmobile suspension. I installed a jack shaft bearing, the type with a locking ring. That part was from a snowmobile as well. You know you live in Maine when half of your Yankee ingenuity involves some sort of snow related items. Despite this confabulation of parts its construction is far stronger that it needs to be and I am certain it will last for years, perhaps a lifetime.




This is a love joy coupling. It worked great for attaching the electric motor to the transmission. On the first try I weld up a rigid coupling. I had alignment issues which caused quite a bit of vibration. The love joy has a rubber connector in the middle which is tolerant of misalignment and only cost $22.
I had a 1/3 hp motor in the shed off an old bench grinder. Once again I deviated from the plans which called for a 3/4 hp. I knew as soon as I spent $200 on a new one a free-be would appear. As luck would have it my father-in-law was given one by his neighbor. I've yet to install it but must say the 1/3 hp did an excellent job on the average size birds and also worked on the 10lb birds but would bind up on occasions.


The one thing I need to add is a splash guard around the feather plate outlet to keep the chicken soup off your legs and out of your boots. Spraying the bird with the garden hose as it is being plucked keeps the fingers free of feathers and speeds up the process. The process is so amazing, you never realize your boots are filling with chicken juice until you turn off the plucker.

On the left side there is a plastic tote that I modified to keep the electric motor clean and dry.

Looks like fun, who's next?




The finished product 30 seconds later. Bald is beautiful, especially when it comes to chickens. This one dislocated a wing shortly after it became separated from its head. This has been an ongoing problem for me. I have found completely restraining the bird helps keep the muscle spasms from breaking wings but it's not always 100% effective in treating separation anxiety. I've yet to try the killing cone method. Perhaps on the next batch of birds I will.



You must have a thermometer or the whiz bang plucker will make a mess of your birds very quickly. The picture below clearly shows what guess work will get you, boneless chicken every time.
Scald your birds for approximately 30 seconds @ 13o degrees. You'll notice the color of the shin which is normally a yellowish white color will develop a tanish appearance at which point is prime for plucking.

Oops, too hot! Better get out the knife and start boning.

I caught, killed, and plucked seventeen 8-10lb birds in just 40 minutes by myself, not too shabby. It cost about $200 to build. Without my extreme frugalness it would have cost closer to $400. That still is not bad considering similar factory built models start around $1200. I figure we will save a bundle in the long run. Our local butcher charges $3/chicken, $5/turkey and $7 or more for ducks and geese. Plus you have to make an appointment 3 weeks in advance. (don't I hate those long term commitments) Heaven forbid life goes astray and you have to reschedule. That will put you have 3 more weeks.....200 lbs of grain later.

By summers end we will have raised approximately 24 ducks, 80 chickens, and 5 turkeys for the freezer. This means it has more than paid for itself in the first year of use. More importantly than the money it has given us easy access to high quality food and a greater feeling on Independence which is priceless!

It's the simple things.....

This is our first year of growing and tasting kale. I made a potato/kale casserole with our first harvest and second time around we cooked it up and ate it like spinach. John and I loved it and so did Leah. Gotta love her, she'll eat almost anything. Love to hear from anyone that has any favorite kale recipes to share!

Our first fruit to grow on farm that we planted. YEAH! I swore this year would be the year of the fruit and it is. We planted 30 raspberry bushes, 12 blackberry, and 4 rhubarb that were all given to us by friends. We bought and planted 24 strawberry plants and 2 kiwi bushes. Then the kids were gifted by their cousins a pear tree and some grapes. THANKS to everyone!

I finally put up a pea trellis. It would have taken Maine Man 15 minutes to build. It took me 3 hours. I am not handy by nature, it takes much effort and multiple injuries for me to complete simple tasks.