Welcome August! Once again, we are joining Sherry for In my Kitchen, while I tell you a true story about what was new, what was improved, the tropical storm that visited (and stayed too long!) on to the end the month with just as much excitement as the storm, a trip to the ER...
.jpg "In my Kitchen August, looking back on July!")
I quietly ask myself each day, "did you get enough done"? Or sometimes when the day is over, I might tell myself and my husband that I didn't get much done today. The standard I have set for myself for these retirement years, might be a bit high, but since the age of 15 I have been supporting myself and making sure that I cover every base of need. It seems that will not change, even in retirement...but to be fair, I like keeping busy, and accomplishing my goals as I enjoy life. For me it is all about the new, the different, and the adventure.
In the kitchen, I shared the following new recipes:
Theo's Submarine Sandwich Pizza, a family favorite recreated after Theo retired, and closed his little café. This was my "I am too tired to cook" option on a Friday night, at least a couple times a year...
Cinnamon Flats, a small batch cookie recipe that has you make Cinnamon Extract to flavor the cookie dough. The Cinnamon Extract is a must to keep around, for whipped cream, cooked custards, homemade ice cream, and of course these cookies!
Creamy Cucumber Salad with Pickled Onions, because we have cucumbers coming off the vine faster than we can eat them...after already making pickles both sweet and naturally fermented!
Easy Peach Compote, spoon this delicious bowl of fruit everywhere! Geared for the home canner, this calls for a quart of peaches, but until I can get back to canning fruit, I do sub two 16 oz. cans of organic juice packed peaches.
Plus I updated 11 additional recipes with new photos (because my photo skills are improving!) and better instructions (and my writing skills are improving!) This blog, like me will always be a work in progress...work from the heart, if you will.
And of course we had the standard cooking of our daily meals and making as many pantry items as possible such as:
Corn Meal. Organic corn meal is hard to find, especially in this tiny community. I had purchased a bag of organic popcorn, but for this popcorn loving woman it was a disappointment. It popped, but only about half way. It tasted like popcorn, but it was not satisfying for texture and crunch. With a quick reference look up, I found I could make corn meal from popcorn with my Wonder Mill, my husband can't wait for a pan of cornbread!
Chicken stock.
Mayonnaise. And my go to Stick Blender Mayonnaise recipe was upgraded for a third option to ferment the mayonnaise with a bit of yogurt and time on the counter before going into the fridge. This fermentation acts like a preservative, but of course is chemical free. So far at 2 weeks old, it is as thick and fresh as the day it was made. Exactly what I was looking for, because thick mayonnaise was exactly what I wanted when I started making my own mayo.
Sweet Pickle Relish. Because cucumbers! This is a standard relish recipe calling for cukes, onions, along with one red and one green bell pepper. Salt, drain, simmer and seal in a jar. Not my recipe, but one I have used in the past, and will use again. The cucumbers and the green pepper came from our garden.
Early in July Tropical Storm Beryl called our little town to the party...and I need to say up front, we were not in the direct path of the storm. In our corner of Texas we are fairly secluded from direct storm movements, and for that we are blessed and we know it. We do get lots of wind with big wind gusts, and lots of rain. Trees were falling over due to so much rain, the roots were no longer planted in solid soil. But any and all infrastructure damage is shared by us. and boy of boy did Beryl cause some damage! We were out of power for 5 days. I wrote about it (you may have to scroll down) because not only did I wanted to remember the areas in which we were not prepared, and remedy that, but I also wanted to share what a kind and caring community we are lucky enough to live in!
One full day was spent in cleaning up of broken branches that were everywhere from all the wind. There was only minor damage to the garden, with the cucumber trellis broken apart and a young raspberry bush that was too broken to survive. And while I appreciated the rain that came along with the storm, (watering the garden was a chore I did not have to worry about!) it was too much rain for many of the seeds just started in pots. They were literally flooded out.
One of the chores I was able to work on inside was a bit of reorganizing in the Caravan kitchen. With cupboard space being a premium, each piece of equipment must be in high demand to take up shelf space! My guess is this will be a work in progress for some time to come...or as our eating habits change.
And then we ended the month with a trip to the ER. Once home, and with a plan in place to get back on track, I told my husband, that he had just had a bout with ungraceful aging...so bring on August, we are looking forward to the new, the different, and the adventure of living in Texas!
You may also enjoy: 
AND
#wholefoodingredients
#scratchmadefoodforyourfamily
Thanks
for stopping by!
We
offer new and delicious recipes as well as DIY ideas for your home, regularly.
Feel free to drop us an email request for any question or recipe you may be
looking for. In addition, like all our guests, we invite you to come for a visit
again and again for new recipes, and my down-home take on frugal ways to keep
your home in tip top shape.
Hey
you, don’t miss a post! Please consider following Scratch Made Food! & DIY
Homemade Household. To follow by email, and/or by RSS feed, complete the
application located on the right-hand side of the blog. Please Note,
some posts may contain affiliate links, thank you for supporting Scratch
Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household.
PS,
friends, and family who love good food and household ideas might love us too!
Tell them about us, and thanks for the referral!
Scratch
Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household proudly shares with these generous link
parties featured here.
Adding yogurt to the mayo looks interesting! I stopped making my own mayonnaise when the warnings about raw eggs became too scary, but it did used to taste fabulous. I’m glad you are recovered from hurricanes and ER visits.
ReplyDeletebest, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Mae, it is the best mayo to date! We have been adding fermented foods to our meals for some time how, nothing too fancy, but I like the preservation factors of fermented foods. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.
DeleteMelynda,
ReplyDeleteYou had quite a month...You are like me, I like to keep busy and I stay focused with my To DO Lists just help me accomplish what I want to do in a day...I have a hard time doing nothing even in retirement....Thanks so much for your visit!! I hope you have a great weekend!!
Hugs,
Deb
Debbie-Dabble Blog
Debbie, we did! It will be OK if we don't have another one quite this busy for awhile! thanks for stopping, I appreciate it!
DeleteI am both intrigued and impressed with your lifestyle. You do so much and make things work in your challenging space. Your recipes always look really good and healthy. I have been buying organic popcorn for years at Trader Joe and it always only half popped. I thought that was normal until I bought a different brand and almost all the kernels popped. So much better. Glad you survived the storm ok and hope you are ok after the ER !
ReplyDeleteJudee, one of my decisions for retirement was to not only stay busy, but get healthier if possible and of course it was! As a retired Administrator in Assisted Living, I knew exactly how to slow down aging and remain healthy, and that was to get busy, stay busy and always be learning something new. I like the challenge of how we live, and love being around family. The storm was interesting, I learned how prepared we are, and what we need to do for the next one. And thanks for your kindness in stopping by, I appreciate it!
DeleteKeeping busy is good for life. My mother is 83 and still tends a huge garden of fruit and vegetables each year, plus she cooks weekly for a country market stall. Thanks for all you recipe ideas and news. Glad that you survived the storm.
ReplyDeleteRosie Amber, your mother sounds delightful and has definitely found the right path in aging, which is exactly my plan! Thanks so much for stopping by, I sure appreciate it!
DeleteI'm fascinated by the adding yoghurt to the mayo option but the fermentation allowing for longer storage seems to make a lot of sense. will have to try it next time! have a great month
ReplyDeleteHello D of S! I have been making mayo for a few months now and was about ready to go back to store bought when I came across a little bit of information on a FB page about fermented mayonnaise. I gave it a try, and it really is the way to go! If you give it a try, let me know if you like the results. Thanks so much for stopping by, I appreciate it!
DeleteHope you are both well now and recovered from the storm too! Lots of lovely cooking and preserving going on in your kitchen Melynda. Thanks for joining in with us at IMK this month. Oh yes i love the sound of the cinnamon extract too. Must add so much flavour!
ReplyDeletecheers
sherry
Sherry, thank you! We are all fine, and we will be better prepared for the ones to come out way! It was a challenging experience, but one I did not let get me down. Life is all about overcoming the hard days. Thanks so much for stopping by, I appreciate it!
DeleteThat is quite a month! That peach compote sounds amazing. I am really missing stone fruit during these dark cold winter months. Your work in making staples from scratch is admirable. And glad you didn't get the worst of the storms but it still sounded challenging. And I love how you made the submarine tomato pizza from your fave restaurant.
ReplyDeleteHello, that pizza never left my mind, and one day after missing being able to go to Theo's I put it all together and was quite happy with the outcome! Thank you so much for stopping by, I appreciate it!
DeleteGosh you have been busy - it sounds like you've had a real rollercoaster of a month! I think updating pictures and posts on my blog could be my life's work - like you say, it's evolving! I think I need cinnammon essence in my life and I love that look of the submarine sandwich pizza. Wishing you a happy August!
ReplyDeleteSammie, I appreciate having this blog to keep busy with, it provides so much connection to myself and the foods we eat, and to be able to meet great new friends, like you! Thanks so much for stopping by, I sure appreciate it!
DeleteYou have been busy Melynda! Always love popping over here for a catch up. Glad you are getting back to some kind of normal after the storm and hope all was OK after the trip to the ER. :)
ReplyDeleteJayne, thank you! It has been busy, and I hope August is storm free, but I know it will still be busy! Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.
DeleteI've been in a slump for cooking recently... I need some summer inspiration: I am craving more fresh salads! I did add different fruit to my grocery list. We shall see what this week brings!
ReplyDeletewww.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
Mireille, I have had a slump take over more times than I care to confess. And I am always so happy when it passes! Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it!
DeleteI can't even imagine living without power for 5 days. We've had several bad storms move through our area this summer and twice had the electricity knocked out for about 16 hours each and I was so bored and miserable. I couldn't believe how dependent I was on electricity to do anything!
ReplyDeleteAmy, that was an interesting experience for us as well! We will be better prepared next time, and with the storms we have here, there will be a next time...thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.
DeleteMelinda, such wonderful recipes. So sorry to read about that awful storm. We have power outages in the past. Not fun. Thank goodness we now have a generator. Thanks for sharing at Love Your Creativity.
ReplyDeleteLinda, thank so much for stopping by, I sure appreciate it.
DeleteI always enjoy your in the kitchen monthly recaps.
ReplyDeleteThanks' bunches for sharing your kitchen with Sweet Tea & Friend's this month dear friend.
Paula, thank you, and thanks for hosting Sweet Tea and Friends!
Delete