I am becoming a food snob!

[MeggsyGardenGirl]

BTW, anybody know where to get buttermilk powder?

I get buttermilk powder in the baking section of my grocery store. It's called Cultured Buttermilk made by Saco Foods - in a short yellow, red and white round cardboard container with a red plastic top. I sometimes use it when making our breads - we never have store bought bread...or granola, yogurt, sour cream, pickles, relish, jams, tomato sauce, or eggs. Wish the list was longer. Home grown and homemade is the best.

 

[so lucky]

Thanks, Meggsy, I'll look for it.

 

[Jared77]

The one thing I don't miss eating? Ground beef. I don't order hamburgers anytime I go out anymore. Even grass fed beef just doesn't do it for me. I can tell the difference sometimes but even then its not as good as venison.

I still steak but that's because I like a thick well marbled NY strip occasionally. Mostly because of the seasonings and its been dry aged for a bit. Otherwise give me venison. We dry age our venison a week to 10 days depending on outside temps so I think that's part of it. (Once gutted and skinned the whole carcass is hung for that long then we process it for those of you wondering) but beef for the most part lacks any real flavor.

I still like salami from the deli, pastrami and corned beef. Now that I've got the space I'd like to start taking some of the roasts (like the neck and even a rump) and making my own cured meats. I still need a smoker and a sausage press but they are on the list of equipment I'm keeping my eyes peeled for. I've already got the books and some ingredients.

I prefer fresh eggs from our neighbor who free ranges her chickens. The egg quality is SOO much better. Plus the occasional turkey egg she throws in is a real treat!

Haven't bought jam or syrup in years and don't see that happening either.

Plan is to eventually give the yogurt a try not like we have a shortage of crock pots here. Along with making wine (another project I'm excited to try).

Its getting there.

And yes homemade ice cream is the BEST!!! NOTHING compares to it!

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Thanks Petey for the ranch recipe! I will give that a try. Sounds delish!

Jarred, home made yogurt is soooo easy a way better then store bought. It's funny, we eat what we raise or what we hunt and we have been out of beef for quite some time. (like a year) We eat mostly venison for red meat. But I am not a fan of ground venison. Not that it doesn't taste good, I have just eaten more than my fair share in the past 13 years and I am just tired of it. We have a steer that will be going into the freezer in the fall and I am more than ready for a good farm raised hamburger.

dewdrops, home made bread. Oh yeah!!

 

[dewdropsinwv]

I'm going to try honing my kitchen skills a little more this winter.... My biggest down fall is making bread.... it's not my best quality. I might invest in a bread maker

 

[peteyfoozer]

dewdrops, if you are new at bread making, try getting the "Artisan Bread in 5 min" a day book. It's a no rise yeast bread that is very easy to make and is amazing. It's chewy on the outside, with a nice, moist crumb on the inside. Makes great bread bowls, amazing for dipping in chili or dips, wonderful sliced up thick for french toast. It's all tossed in a small bucket and mixed up, let sit for about 3 hours then toss the whole thing in the fridge. Take out what you need, as you need it for the next 2 weeks. It's a great way to get started...oh yeah, I use it all the time for pizza crust, its our favorite.

Also, no yeast sourdoughs are very easy and nice breads to make. The thing about good sourdough, it needs lots of time to rise and mature the flavor, so no yeast sourdough I mix it up in the morning, let it sit all day for its first rise, knead it and shape it, put it in the fridge overnight then let it warm up and bake it the next day. It works better for me and my RA this way, as I only have to attend to it for a few minutes. DH loves it for sandwich bread. We haven't bought a loaf of bread in 7 years.

 

[so lucky]

I'm going to try honing my kitchen skills a little more this winter.... My biggest down fall is making bread.... it's not my best quality. I might invest in a bread maker

dewdrops, I am going to send you a "can't fail" recipe for whole wheat bread....no, wait; I'll just post it on the recipes section here. There is no need to buy a bread maker.

 

[peteyfoozer]

I'm going to try honing my kitchen skills a little more this winter.... My biggest down fall is making bread.... it's not my best quality. I might invest in a bread maker

dewdrops, I am going to send you a "can't fail" recipe for whole wheat bread....no, wait; I'll just post it on the recipes section here. There is no need to buy a bread maker.

I agree, I had a bread maker once and gave it away. It seemed just as easy to knead my own...and now that I have a stand mixer I don't even have to do that LOL

 

[MeggsyGardenGirl]

I'm going to try honing my kitchen skills a little more this winter.... My biggest down fall is making bread.... it's not my best quality. I might invest in a bread maker

I agree with SoLucky and Petey...don't waste your money on a bread machine. I used one until it died and then continued making it by hand. There is no comparison. Now I'm fortunate enough to have a stand mixer with a bread hook, and that makes it a whole lot easier.

I do have to say that it took me many not-so-great loaves of bread before I got the hang of it. Now we never buy bread or rolls. Hang in there and keep at it - you will be happy you did. And those not-so-great loaves? They became bread crumbs, toast or bird food. It was a learning experience.

 

[dewdropsinwv]

I'm going to try honing my kitchen skills a little more this winter.... My biggest down fall is making bread.... it's not my best quality. I might invest in a bread maker

I agree with SoLucky and Petey...don't waste your money on a bread machine. I used one until it died and then continued making it by hand. There is no comparison. Now I'm fortunate enough to have a stand mixer with a bread hook, and that makes it a whole lot easier.

I do have to say that it took me many not-so-great loaves of bread before I got the hang of it. Now we never buy bread or rolls. Hang in there and keep at it - you will be happy you did. And those not-so-great loaves? They became bread crumbs, toast or bird food. It was a learning experience.

The not -so-great breads will end up being chicken feed.... if they will even eat it.