Self-Quarantining

Stocking up

There is a pandemic. Covid-19 is spreading around the globe and we each need to do what we can to contain it. A vaccine might contain it someday, but that is not here now and won't be for some time to come. What do we do? We stay home. We wear masks in public, and we limit our access to others.

The Kansas legislature where I work has sent us on break early. We don't know if we will return at the first of May as we usually do, or if it will be later.

People are panicking. Toilet paper is nearly impossible to get.(Why? It's a flu. A cold. Tissue paper, maybe, but toilet paper?? I don't get it.) Anyroad... Things cannot be had. Paper towels. Antiseptic wipes. Rubbing alcohol. Some foods. We are encouraged to wear masks, but they cannot be had. I went looking for flour the other day and the only thing on the shelf was ONE 25 lb. bag. What do folks think is going to happen? It isn't a hurricane. The supply line isn't broken... Oh, well.

Working on that 25 lbs. of flour

Staying home isn't really hard for me. I stay home most of the year. The shortage of stuff has triggered my self-sufficient instincts. Mom was a farmer's daughter who lived through the Great Depression. She taught me to garden and can and put enough by to survive a year. I find myself falling into that mode. I don't believe that we have shortages, but if I cannot get things because others are panicking, I'll make do with what I have. (And yes, I bought that 25 pounds of flour. I'm a baker. It won't go bad.)

Now yeast cannot be had! I buy yeast by the pound and store it in the deep freeze. I have yeast. I have mailed some to my daughter in Texas and to a friend in Mumbai. I will be trying sour-dough starter, too, but I have never had much luck growing sourdough yeast.

Mini-greenhouse starting our garden

The kids -- my grandson and his lady -- are all for self-sufficiency. We've been planning this year's garden. They have seeds growing in the living room and they are plotting what we can do for ourselves. (Why do I get the feeling that that will translate into what Grandma can do?) The dog Jane digs too much and she has torn up a lot of the old orchard. Reyes tilled it the other day and we'll be planting corn and potatoes there. The potatoes are a gift. The ones I had in the south room sprouted, so we cut them up and will plant them. Thank you, Lord.

Corn and potato patches

I've been a bit more practical. I pulled out my make-ahead cookbooks and stirred up meals-in-a-jar, home-made biscuit mix, and other do-it-yourself things. The kids like my make-ahead pizza crusts. Pull one out of the freeze, add spaghetti sauce and toppings. Pizza Hut was never this good.

Made ahead pizza crust

Homemade spaghetti and pizza sauce

I do worry about my weigh-in at the Bariatric doctor in a couple of weeks. The way I've been making homemade bread, cookies and other snacks, I am afraid I will be bigger than I was last year.

Evolution

When I started this blog, it was to document the remodeling we were doing as we made our mark on the home I inherited from my parents. That started in 2006. It is now 2013 and a lot of the work has been done. Not all. I still have three or four rooms that need to have cosmetic work (mostly tape, bed, texture and paint.) After all that has been done, that seems pretty minor. 

I will be documenting those changes as they occur. I hope to have most of them finished by this time next year as long as money and child labor holds out. (Hm... is it still child labor when the baby is 34 years old? She's my child...)

In the mean time, the content of this blog has changed to be more of a record of small town living. I tell you about my gardening and canning. I mention the critters or things the family has done. 

So -- I'm changing the name from Bungalow Blues to Bungalow Blues and Country Delights. That should cover just about everything I talk about here. 

Canning Budget

   Mom kept a copy of a flyer pinned in the back of her favorite cookbook. It was called Your Canning Budget. We used it to anticipate how much to can each year. My biggest problem is figuring out how much to plant to get 110 quarts of food per person. :) 

FYI: The photo is a section of the pantry shelves my son built me.

Your Canning Budget

From Modern Guide to Home Canning, National Pressure Cooker Company, n.d. (1940s)

Planning your work… and then working your plan is essential to carrying out your canning program. While it is difficult to devise a canning budget that can be followed exactly, it is important to have at least a rough estimate of your requirements before you start in on your program.

          Working out a canning budget need not become a bookkeeping task, nor is it necessary to plan in minute detail the meals you are going to serve for months to come.

          What is important is to make a list of the various foods you want to can during the season. Decide, insofar as possible, whether you are going to put them up in pints or quarts… basing your decision on the size of your family, the types of foods and the containers available.

          Then calculate the approximate number of times you think you will serve each type of food in planning nourishing meals for a week. Multiply this figure by the number of weeks you expect the canned supply to last, and place the result opposite each food on your list.

          As an example, presume that you figure that you use about ½ cup of tomatoes per serving, and there are four in your family. If you usually serve tomatoes at, say, three meals a week – then your family consumption will total 2 cups, or 1 pint, per meal amounting to 3 pints or 1 ½ quarts a week. Figuring 34 weeks out of the year, then you would need approximately 51 quarts to take care of your requirements. Add an additional 14 quarts for other cooking purposes, and you can put down 65 quarts of tomatoes in your canning budget. Follow the same method deciding other needs.

          If you have your own garden, working out your canning budget before you plant is a good idea for it aids in deciding how much to plant and when to plant certain foods. Of course, you must keep in mind that you want a supply for use fresh, in addition to your canning needs.

          Just as a suggestion, the following canning budget has been worked out for a family of five.

         

                                                                                                             Quarts

Spinach and other greens………   30

Tomatoes…………………………    65

Other vegetables……   …… …… 100

Fruits……………   ……   ……… 220

Meats………………   … .……      100

Soups......................…  …             25                                                                                               
 Total....... ..  ................. ......... 540 

         

However, while arriving at a figure may be easy, it is sometimes difficult to budget the amount of each type of food needed to fill a pint or quart jar and what the approximate yield will be when you convert fresh foods into canned foods.

NOTE :

          Mom and I estimate that following this budget, one would need roughly 110 quarts of food per person canned for the season. We discounted the canned meats and soups because we do not go in for that kind of canning. These items are frozen, made fresh or purchased at the grocery store