ThotSpot

New website!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:30:00 +0000

I've done some redesigning and moved to Wordpress.

Here's the site:

www.kusine.com

Here's the new feed:

http://kusine.com/blog/?feed=rss2

Website redesign upcoming

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:13:00 +0000

Please note that I will be redesigning this website and it may get all weird. But hopefully better when I'm done!

July garden

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:42:00 +0000

In my preparations for Nerd Prom and surgery, I have been neglecting posting about the veggie garden, though I have not been neglecting the garden itself.

I'm mostly growing roma tomatoes this year, since last year I bought tons of them at the farmers market. And we ran out of the pasta sauce I made from them far too early. This variety seems to be quite susceptible to blossom end rot, but I think I've got it mostly managed now.

I've never grown cucumbers before. The one you can see there is about the size of my pinkie fingernail. It'll only get to be the size of quarter. Adorable!

I kept seeds from a mystery variety of winter squash that I got at the end of last year's farmers market. They're incredibly happy. If we can't find Kaylee one of these days, I'll be sure to check to make sure they haven't dragged her in.

Squash flowers at the end of the day.

Dill! I've made two quarts of refrigerator pickles with this dill and cucumbers from the farmers market. It reseeded itself from last year quite happily.

I had an issue with peppers this year. The ones I grew from seed all died. But I got some from Oakland that are doing very well. I like the two little baby ones still in their flowers at the top.

This is Ohio, so I grew soybeans. These are fancy-schmancy black soybeans, though. They're fuzzy-stemmed. I didn't know they'd be like that. Nifty.

Crossing my fingers that it will keep going so well!

Jessica's universal refrigerator pickle juice

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:43:00 +0000

This can be used to make refrigerator pickles of just about any sort: cucumbers, cauliflower (shown), green beans, peppers ... Just add a tablespoon of pickling spices of your choice to the bottom of the jar, pack in the veggies, and ...

Ingredients
(makes enough for one quart of pickles)

1.5 cups water
3/4 cups white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons kosher or pickling salt

Combine ingredients in small saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Uncover, stir to dissolve sugar and salt and boil for two minutes. Pour over vegetables and pickling spice in canning jar.

Let cool, then close jar and store in refrigerator for at least one week before eating. Eat within two months, if you can manage to keep them that long. This recipe can be doubled or tripled or quadrupled. If you make too much, just keep it in the fridge until you want to make more pickles.

You can vary the the type of vinegar, as long as it's at least 5% acidity. You can up the amount of sugar if you like sweeter pickles. Vary the pickling spices*, either by buying a commercial blend or making your own (both Penzey's and McCormick's are both good).

For dill pickles, put one tablespoon of pickling spice and one dill flowerhead (or one teaspoon dill seed) to a quart jar, then pack jar with either whole canning cucumbers or cucumber slices. Pour pickle juice in and then try to wait a week before eating!

* for a very simple version, try...

5 peppercorns
4 allspice berries
1 tsp whole yellow mustard seeds
1/4 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

for dill pickles, add a dill flowerhead or one teaspoon dill seed

Detente

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:48:00 +0000

The dogs and chickens have come to a bit of an understanding. Cordy still likes to take a run st them every once in a while, just to make them flutter around, but mostly, the dogs think this is the best TV show ever.

It's hard to see, but Noodle is pecking at an apple that's in a little cage attached to the door of the run. They're about four inches from each other. Cordy spent most of the afternoon like that, even without chickens providing entertainment.

Chickens love yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:05:00 +0000

(click on the video to play)

Urban chickens in Columbus, Ohio

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:29:00 +0000

We have finally gotten our chickens!

I mentioned back in September that we were looking into getting chickens, and seven months later, we've finally gotten them.

Here's how we got chickens within the city limits of Columbus, Ohio:

Read up on chickens, coops, and mention to the neighbors that you're thinking of getting chickens. Ours were fine with us getting them, which came in handy later. Also read the city health code, section 221.05.

Build a coop. Ours is better insulated than our house and painted a bright, bright green. It also has a run that is just about as predator-proof as we can make it (we have coyotes, raccoons, and hawks, as well as dogs). It took Jeff a long time to build and it's not perfect, but it's the Waldorf Astoria to chickens!

Next, call (614-645-6748) or email Dr. Messer at the City of Columbus Health Department. You will need to schedule an appointment to have your coop inspected and your house's environment evaluated. Be persistent if you don't get an answer right away. Dr. Messer only has one person to help him with all of the veterinary health-related issues for the entire city. It may take him a while, but he will answer you.

Our house is really close to our neighbors so that isn't necessarily a negative for you during the inspection. It did help that we have a fence. The inspector took pictures of the coop and our yard. I also had to answer questions to show that I knew about chickens and how to care for them.

Next, the letters went out to our neighbors: two to the south, one to the north, and one to the west across the alley. One neighbor we hadn't talked to had some concerns but was reassured when he heard we were only getting a few chickens and the coop would be much closer to our house than his.

Then we got our conditional permit. Yay!

That's when we got chickens. Rather than get chicks from a hatchery, which was an option, we decided to get young laying hens instead. We don't have space to raise chicks inside for the first month or two, so the hens were a better option for us.

I found our chickens through the BackYard Chickens Forum. We originally wanted Buckeyes, but no hens were available. Instead, we got an easter-egger, and three mixed breeds. Their names are Nugget, Noodle, Fricassee, and Dumpling.

Then I had to take them to the vet's for an inspection. It can be hard to find a vet that sees chickens, but our regular vet at Animal Care Unlimited sees them. I fashioned a carrier for them out of a Rubbermaid container, some chicken wire, and bungie cords.

They passed their inspection and I got their health certificates.

I also had to write up a care plan and a waste management plan. Be specific. I divided mine into daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.

The next step, which I still have yet to do, is to send the health certificates, the care plan, and the waste plan back to Dr. Messer.

What happens after that, I don't know. I'll update this post when I do!

UPDATE:

See more chicken info here (older) and here (most recent).

Garden planning time!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:48:00 +0000

It's late February, and that means it's time to get out the seed starting supplies and believe that one day, it will be warm again.

My garden planning started in December, but I didn't make my seed order until January. I order most of my seeds from Territorial Seed, and last year they had sold out of a few things before I ordered, and I didn't want that to happen again this year.

For this year, I decided to focus our planting on things that we eat a lot of and/or I canned a lot of last year. Yeah, that sounds obvious, but it's kind of fun to plant something new. Luckily, my brother Chris and his family got me some yacon to plant, so that will be my fun new thing this year. While I couldn't justify it, I'm glad they provided me with an excuse! :)

We'll be planting:

cilantro
sunflowers
radishes
nasturtium
cucumbers
kale
lettuce
Swiss chard
beets
peppers
black soybeans
paste-type tomatoes
basil
scarlet runner beans
onions
long pumpkin

(I didn't link everything because it's a long list... :)

I also saved some seeds from a winter squash that I got at the market last year. I really liked it, but by the time we ate it, I couldn't remember what it was. We'll see how it goes!

We also have walking onions and strawberries in the garden from last year. I'm not holding out too much hope for the strawberries, but we'll see. If they don't produce, I'll rip them out and plant something else there.

I'm also planning on doing a few experiments with the way I plant. I've been interested in those upside-down tomato planters, but I've heard bad things about the manufactured plastic ones (the roots and stem rot). However, I saw somewhere online where someone made one out of a coir-fiber lined hanging planter. I picked up a couple of those, and I'll plant a couple slicing tomatoes in those to see how it works (I'll be trading tomato seedlings with a co-worker to get those).

Since we cut down the tree in the backyard last fall, we'll actually be able to plant in the backyard, too! This will be totally new for us, so we're going to just have to see how that goes. We've got a long, empty planting bed that we're planning to use for sunflowers, with the mystery winter squash underneath.

All in all, I'm excited about what'll happen! Now I can't wait until it warms up so I can get to work!

"Let's pretend these are healthy" cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:15:00 +0000

(Before I forget how I made these very yummy cookies...)

1 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
3 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup additions, such as dried cherries, dried coconut, walnuts, hulled sunflower seeds, and/or chocolate chips. I like a bit of all of them.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, blend together flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom.

With an electric mixer, blend together butter and sugar in a large bowl.

Add egg, honey, and vanilla. Blend thoroughly with the hand mixer.

Using a spoon, stir in the flour mixture. When it's almost all mixed together, add the additions.

With clean hands, roll dough into balls the size of a golfball or a little smaller. Place one to two inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a rack to cool.

Try to let them cool a bit before you eat them.

How to make yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:48:00 +0000

I remember my mom making yogurt when I was little, and I remember making it when I was in college, but I had a special yogurt maker and yogurt cups and yogurt starter and ... in short, it was a big, complicated deal to make.

However, since we've been trying to save money, I've discovered that it's actually really easy to make yogurt. You don't need a special yogurt maker, and the most specialized piece of equipment you need is a candy thermometer. Since I already have a thermometer I use for canning and to make candy, I didn't need anything special.

The supplies list may look long, but you very likely already have everything you need.

Supplies:

large double boiler or two pans that fit inside one another (I use the two pan method)
candy thermometer (thermometer that can attach to the side of your pan to measure the temperature of your milk)
spoon for stirring milk
tablespoon
large bowl or measuring cup
ladle
containers to hold eight to nine cups of yogurt (I use four to five plastic one-cup containers, two one-pint glass canning jars, and one other container to hold the inevitable leftovers)
plastic or glass containers to hold really hot water
large cooler
thermometer (optional)
towel

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon milk (whole, 2%, skim, whatever)
1/4 - 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk (optional)
6 tablespoons plain yogurt with active yogurt cultures

Short version:

clean your containers
heat up milk
cool milk
add yogurt to milk
put in containers
leave in warm environment for 6-8 hours
yogurt!

Longer version:

First, clean all of your supplies really well. You don't have to sterilize stuff, but it does have to be really clean if it's going to come in contact with milk or the yogurt you're making.

Fill the bottom of the double boiler (or the bigger pot) up with some water. Put the top of the double boiler on or put the smaller pot in the bigger pot. Make sure the water won't slosh into the top part. Pour in the milk.

We love Snowville Creamery milk. Pastured cows, no antibiotics, non-homogenized. L-O-V-E. I usually use 2% milk, but skim was all they had this time. It really doesn't matter unless you care about the fat content. Use what you have and don't get too wound up about it.

Add in the nonfat dry milk if you're using it; it makes the yogurt thicker and higher in protein. Stir it well and put the thermometer on the pan that the milk's in. Make sure the thermometer doesn't touch the bottom of the pan. I suggest sticking your stirring spoon against the bottom of the pan and lowering the thermometer until it touches the spoon. That way, you know you aren't against the bottom.

Turn the heat to medium high and heat the milk to 180° F. This will take about five minutes. Stir a few times to keep the heat distribution even, but there's no need to obsess over it; the water in the other pot will keep it from scalding. You're heating up the milk to kill any nasty bacteria. Even if your milk is pasteurized, I don't suggest skipping this step. At minimum, your milk needs to get to a nice bacteria-friendly 120° F for the next step

While the milk is heating, fill your plastic or glass bottles with very hot tap water and put them in the cooler to warm it up. Make sure you close the cooler lid. Put the thermometer in there if you have one handy.

Once the milk hits 180° F, turn the heat off. It's OK if it gets hotter as long as it doesn't boil. If it gets lower than 180° F, turn the heat back on for a minute or two. You want to leave it at about 180° F for five to eight minutes.

After five to eight minutes, you'll want to cool the milk down to about 120° F. I fill the sink with an inch or two of cold water and leave it there for five minutes or so while the water slowly drains out of our leaky drainer. Keep the thermometer in.

While you wait, spoon six tablespoons of the plain yogurt into the measuring cup or bowl. You can use commercially-made yogurt as long as it has live bacteria in it, or after you've made your own, just use the last of the previous batch, if you remember to leave some.

When the milk hits 120° F, ladle out about a cup into the measuring cup with the yogurt in it. Stir it really well. There's no need to whisk it, but it should be really well-mixed. Then remove the rest of the milk from the water (if you do that), and stir the milk-yogurt mixture into the milk.

Fill your containers. I usually use five or six 1-cup containers that I fill about 7/8 full. That leaves enough room for dried fruit and such later. I also usually fill a few bigger containers so I can make yogurt cheese or frozen yogurt.

Put the filled containers in the cooler with the hot water bottles. Try not to let the dog help too much. If you have a thermometer, put it on top of the containers, then cover it with a towel. Then, close the lid and LEAVE IT ALONE.

OK, you can check it after three hours and make sure the temperature is between 120° F and 110° F. That should feel very warm when you stick your hand in if you don't have a thermometer. If it's a little cool, you can either leave it in for an extra hour or two or you can do what I do and refill the bottles with hot water.

After six to eight hours, take out your yogurt. The longer you leave it it sourer and thicker it will be. I usually leave it for seven hours. I've left it as long as ten hours when I was unexpectedly invaded by family members and the yogurt didn't kill me. But you probably shouldn't leave it much more than that or nasty things could happen.

Stick your yogurt in the fridge. Add flavorings to it when you're ready to eat it. I like honey and dried cranberries. Jeff likes to add vanilla and honey. Sometimes I add ground flax seed if I'm feeling really healthy.

Enjoy your yogurt. Try to remember to save some for the next batch. :)

I find I need to make yogurt every two weeks. This makes plenty for us for breakfast and for yogurt cheese in lieu of cream cheese. YMMV.

Enjoy.

So tired...

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:50:00 +0000

This weekend, I have:

made birdie bread
made Kaylee treats
made rice
made mini lentil burgers
made gingerbread and whipped cream
went grocery shopping
read a book
made steelcut oats for the week for breakfast
made chocolate chip cookies filled with whipped cream and frozen
made pizza dough
watched two episodes of Primeval
made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and froze (most) of the dough for later cooking
made African tomato & peanut butter soup
made chipotle mac & cheese for tomorrow's dinner
walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes (finally finished watching BG Razor)
cleaned out the pantry
cleaned out the fridge
cleaned out the freezer
made new kitchen curtains
made lunch for tomorrow
cut veggies for snacks for the week
hardboiled eggs
did several loads of laundry
helped fix a plumbing problem
cleaned the house to help with the appraisal

And I still have yet to bathe Kaylee and make dinner tonight. I need another three-day weekend to recover!

Today I have made...

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:48:00 +0000

steel cut oatmeal for the week
yogurt
yogurt cheese
2 loaves of bread
1 pound of butter
24 soft pretzels
roasted veggie chowder (tonight's dinner)
beans & rice (Monday's dinner)
roasted veggie hand pies (Tuesday's dinner)

How we're saving money

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:18:00 +0000

Like I said yesterday, we're saving up for a farm. We've already cut a bunch of things from our budgets over the years, so we don't have a lot of excess bloat we're willing to cut. I'm sure there are still some places we can cut, and we'll do that, but so far, here are some things we're doing to reduce our spending:

Making our own yogurt
Making our own butter
Making steel cut oats for breakfast (and subsequently not buying expensive breakfast cereals)
Making our own bread (mix and rise in the bread machine and bake in oven)
Making beans instead of buying canned
Making my shampoo and using cider vinegar for conditioner
Planning meals for the week and shopping accordingly (I spent $25 for this week's menu, though that is low even for me)
Planning the tiki drink menu in advance (Jeff's idea)
Joining the 2silos meat CSA (Jeff now has now bought all of his dead animal flesh for the rest of the year with a half share)

And some things we plan to start doing to save us more money*:

Making our own cheese, especially mozzarella
Making our own soap
Making snacks and desserts instead of buying expensive processed stuff from the grocery store
Using up my craft supplies before buying more
Use up what we have in the pantry before buying more
Planning the garden around what I canned most last year and what I most bought at the farmers' market
Further insulating the house
Refinance our mortgage

And to make some money:

Restarting my Etsy store
Cleaning out the basement and putting stuff on eBay or Cragislist

Anyone have any other ideas for us?

*Jeff's unwilling to dump cable, I'm unwilling to dump high-speed internet, we already don't have a landline phone, and we're on the cheapest cellphone plan we can be.

Happy new year! (several days late...)

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:45:00 +0000

Hi! A belated welcome to 2009! It's been an OK year thus far; I hope it stays that way. How's it been for you?

I have a new year's resolution this year. Those of you who know me well may know that years ago I made a resolution to not make resolutions and it's been the only resolution I've ever kept. Until now. This year, Jeff and I made a resolution to save money to pay off debts and buy a farm.

A what?

A farm.

In my defense, the farm is Jeff's idea, but I'm more than happy to go along with it. It would be a small, sustainable farm, raising chickens and meat goats to start with, along with food for us and the animals. Next would come a few pigs and perhaps dairy goats. Then the prawns.

So keep posted as we save money and look for 10-25 acres within 25-30 miles of Columbus. It should be interesting!

Happy holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:25:00 +0000

They're up!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:49:00 +0000

Flowers and an eel

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:58:00 +0000

Some weedy looking flowers.

I kind of like them. Simple.

And then an eel:

I don't want to cuddle up with it or anything, but I think it's kind of cute. For an eel, anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:55:00 +0000

Here, have a drawing of a turkey:

Owl and squid

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:45:00 +0000

Owl:

Hm. Not a happy owl. Jealous, I think, that he's black and white, and not in color like...

Squiddy!

Squiddy is my very favorite Drawmo drawing of mine yet. If you'd told me at the beginning of November that I could draw that, I would never have believed you. (Drawn in pencil, inked, then colored in Photoshop, if you're curious).

Sharing

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:37:00 +0000

For the record, Kaylee was in front of the fire first. Jeff muscled his way in later.

Stocking up

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:30:00 +0000

The last Clintonville Farmers' Market of the year was on Saturday, and I stocked up on winter squash.

I would have liked to get more, but Jeff wasn't with me, so this was all I could carry; about 15-20 pounds of squash. I also picked up Jeff's December meat share, so the larder is full and my arms are tired.

Sweaters make Kaylee sad...

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:26:00 +0000

...but awfully cute!

(Looks a little like a senior year photo, doesn't it?)

Since she has such short fur, she gets cold. I finally found a sweater that fits her (as long as I don't button it up at the neck), and even though she hates it, she really must need it because she didn't argue about having it on. I got her a t-shirt, too, for when it's just chilly. She'll love it, I'm sure!

Southwestern squash soup

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:13:00 +0000

Recipe to use up squash and some ancho chilies.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup tequila (optional)
2 cups cooked mashed orange-fleshed winter squash*
2 reconstituted, drained, seeded, and diced dried ancho chilies
4 cups vegetable broth
2 diced garlic cloves
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp parsley
1 tsp salt
1 cup corn (optional)
1 cup milk

In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and cook onions until translucent.
Add tequila and raise heat, stirring constantly, until tequila cooks off.
Add squash, chilies, broth, garlic, oregano, cumin, parsley, and salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least 20 minutes.
Puree soup with an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. Add corn and milk and cook over low heat for ten minutes.
Serve.

*Any kind will work, even canned pumpkin, but fresh roasted is best.

Four more drawings

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 11:35:00 +0000

It's just too much of a pain to scan in the drawings every day. So for the remaining portion of Drawmo, you'll likely continue getting them in batches, like this.

First, an Igorina, for any Terry Pratchett fans out there:

She's just in pencil, no ink on this one.

And here's a peacock, again, just in pencil:

And another peacock, but in ink:

And, finally, a mushroom:

Whoops

noreply@blogger.com (Jessica) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:37:00 +0000

Got a little behind posting my drawings. I've been working on holiday presents (yes, already!), and got distracted.

So here's a very simple doggie:

And here's a robot with a cupcake:

And a "robo-bat-zeppelin", as wormie described it perfectly:

I was playing with some watercolor pencils that I'd just gotten. I started at the nose, where it's all smeary, but I got the hang of it after a little practice. The pencil included in the kit is not as water-soluble as advertised, but that's OK. I think it looks pretty good for my first try.

I wanted to do the robo-bat-zeppelin without watercolors, so I drew it again last night, making it a little fatter and shorter:

I like him. He's cute.

So, I'm caught up with posting my pictures. I've got to say, I'm really enjoying learning to draw. I have never thought I could do it, but, then again, I've never tried before, either. :)