Sunday, September 9, 2012

Bacon and Potatoes and other things

It is an absolutely beautiful day outside and is supposed to be this nice for several days! Lower humidity and temperatures make it nice to work outside-not that I have done a whole lot of outside work today but I have had to go out to keep putting chips in the smoker and I get to feel how lovely it is outside each time. We are, of course, smoking the bacon. One side anyway which consists of 8 chunks of meat.  This is a shot of when we put it in. It is almost ready to come out now. We have turned off the smoker and are letting it cool some before bringing it in.

While it has been smoking I have been busy canning the potatoes that I got on sale. Twenty pounds of potatoes fits into 14 quarts when canned. I had to use dried onions in these because I am out of fresh. I think they may have actually turned out better but no way of knowing until we open them.
While these were canning I was cutting Phil's hair. He won't let me take a picture to show you :) For 15 years he has not had to pay for a haircut. I have cut it since I met him.
I also go the incubator cleaned and sanitized and filled with eggs. It will be a mixed batch this time-duck, chicken and quail eggs.
Phil has not been idle. He did get the back yard raked. The back yard is smaller now since we put up the fence but it still had three piles of leaves and acorns in it and it had been raked not too long ago. He was going to get more manure put into the compost bin but it rained last night and made the pen a bit sloppy again so he decided to wait on that chore. Phil also helped peel some of these potatoes with me.
While all this was going on there was a pork roast cooking in the crock pot.
I put some dried onions in with it, a bit of garlic and just some salt and pepper. Later we added what was left of the potatoes. The juice looked so lovely that I made some homemade gravy with it which was good because the meat cooked a bit long and was somewhat dry.
There were other chores that needed doing but these are what we got done today. The gardening and chicken butchering will just have to wait until next time.

12 comments:

  1. I haven't canned any potatoes in a long time. I need to think about doing that because sometimes I just don't feel like peeling the darn things. I use store bought dried onions in several things because I just like the flavor. I buy a big jug of them at Sams because they are dirt cheap.

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    1. Since Michelle or Phil have to cook most of our meals after work it is just easier to have them canned already.

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  2. Hi Becky! I would love to smell the bacon while it's smoking! I love things cooked in the smoker! Hubs is cooking some chicken legs and thighs in ours today!
    Those jars of potatoes look so good! Thanks for letting us know that it takes 20 pounds to make 14 quarts! That way, when I run across a good deal on potatoes, I'll be prepared!
    Your pork roast looks delicious!
    Phil is a very hard worker! Your fortunate to be with him! Blessings from Bama!

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    1. The bacon smells wonderful! If I wasn't so full from the roast... (and we didn't even eat half of it so lots of roast lunches for next week).
      It is approximately 20 lbs, I guess it would depend on how well you pack the jars but since the potatoes are hot you can only pack them so well.
      Yeah, I think I'm going to keep Phil, lol.

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  3. I've never been a bacon fan. I love it as a seasoning, but not as a main meat. My husband would disagree with me. We got a quarter of a pig last year and we still haven't eaten all of the two pounds of bacon up.

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    1. Wow, we have eaten almost all of the bacon from the first pig. Once a week we seem to have bacon and eggs for supper.

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    2. Bacon oh my.... I am so jealous. You could wrap a cat turd in bacon and it would taste good.

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    3. LOL, maybe but I don't think we'll be trying that one!

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  4. How wonderful to have baconfrom an animal you rased! Really need to get out the pressure canner and get more comfortable with that - the hot water canning I have down pat. Sounds like you have a nice weekend!

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    1. The pressure canner is just as easy as the water-bath once you get used to useing it.

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  5. Becky - I've been using dehydrated minced onion daily on my tomatoes before I pop them in to roast. My onion harvest is pitiful this year and as I'm out of fresh, it's been a good solution that is very easy for sure. I have a lot of it (bought on sale a large container a while back).

    Great job on those potatoes! I've never thought to can them - isn't that weird? We store our harvest in the garage (just above freezing) but by February/March, they are looking pitiful, so we end up throwing the rest into the compost which is really wasteful. Which varieties can best?

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    1. I have no idea. I just can whatever ones are on sale.

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