Around the Homestead

Archive for the ‘homestead series’ Category

If you heat your home with oil, or perhaps have an oil hot water heater.  What happens if you run out of oil? If you run out in the middle of the night or in a storm and the truck can’t get in to service you right away, you can use diesel fuel as a replacement.  After adding fuel to your tank you will need to bleed out your fuel line.  This video shows you how we do this.

Note Disclaimer: We are sharing what works for us for informational purposes.  And please NEVER use gas in your furnace!

Over time we have switched almost completely to cast iron cook ware.  We really love it and well seasoned it is as good or better then “non” stick pans.

We were asked to do a video on how to season them, I hope it’s helpful.

Every year around this time I see questions popping up on forums all over the internet.  How do I cook a chicken or turkey?  There are many things we didn’t learn at our mothers knee.  But there is no need to be afraid to cook tasty meals for your family.

Another problem I see often is “Help, I forgot to that the turkey!”.  Really unless your wanting to stuff the bird, there is no need to thaw.  Except for one Thanksgiving year, I have always cooked my chickens/turkeys from frozen.  This saves a lot of space in the fridge, since you don’t have a big bird taking up space all week.

• Remove chicken from it’s bag and rinse well.  Place in a roasting pan.
• Add a little water to the roasting pan.  I use a cup or so.
• Sprinkle desired seasonings over the bird.  I like garlic powder, pepper, rosemary, marjoram
• Place your bird in the oven at 350F.  I usually cover my roaster as I find the breast meat is more tender that way.  But if the lid doesn’t fit it’s not a big deal.  Add a cover of tin foil in the last hour of cooking.  This will help keep the ends of the legs from burning.
• Check on your bird every few hours and baste with cooking juices.
• For a dark brown skin, brush with olive oil.
• Cook the bird for 20 minutes per pound.  If you have a thermometer the temperature in the thigh should be 180F. If you do not have a thermometer, your bird should be nicely browned the legs should be loose and movable away from the body.  Cut between the leg and the body and the juices should be clear.

I didn’t have a chance to take both photos and video. So here are the steps written out, I’ll update with photos as soon as I can.
Step 1. Put 1 to 2 inches of luke warm water in your crock pot and a “glug” of vinegar. Place your skein of yarn in the crock pot.
Step 2. Turn the crock on high and cover. Leave it until steam it starts steaming, try not to let it boil. That could cause it to felt.
Step 3. Place kool-aid into a heat proof container. I like measuring cups, they are easiest to pour from. Cover with about 1/2 a cup of boiling water. Stir to dissolve. Let the kool-aid cool until close in temperature to the yarn.
Step 4. Pour the coloring on top of the yarn in the pattern you like. They will mix a little were they touch. The more dye/liquid you have in the crock the more likely they are to mix together.
Step 5. Turn the crock down to low and cover. Leave it until the yarn has absorbed all the dye and the water is clear.
Step 6. Turn off the heat and let yarn cool completely.
Step 7. Remove yarn and rinse well, until the water rinses clear. Step 8. Drain and gently press out as much water in the sink as you can. Lay yarn on a towel, roll up and press out the rest of the water. Hang to dry.