Category: Pictures

Easy Real Vanilla Extract

Posted by Steve On September 17, 2014

The older I get, the more I realize these two things:

Homemade is almost always better.
Doing something right is almost always worth it.

A couple of years ago I decided to make my own vanilla extract, and I haven’t regretted it. Not only has it been significantly less expensive, it tastes better too. A few weeks back Charity let me know that it was about time to make the next batch, so I began getting the ingredients together.

First, I ordered vanilla beans from Beanilla.com.

Madagascar Vanilla Beans

Resist the temptation to get premium beans and save some money while improving the quality of your extract by using grade B. Thankfully it is not the end of the world if you order grade A because I messed up and did that on this order. The reason to go with grade B is that there is less moisture in them, which makes for a better extract. In my case, I will just have to use more beans. Of course, grade B beans are less attractive, but who cares how they look for an extract?

You can spend all day searching for vanilla extract recipes, but you might still miss out on the real keys. To be considered real vanilla extract, the extract must have the following attributes (see CFR part 169.175 for more information on the regulation specifying these attributes):

Vanilla Extract must contain no less than 35% alcohol (70 proof).
Vanilla Extract must contain 13.35 oz of vanilla beans per gallon of alcohol, which means you need 0.835 oz. of vanilla beans per cup of alcohol.
If your beans contain more than 25% moisture, then you will need to use more beans. In my case, Beanilla’s premium vanilla beans contain approximately 33% moisture, which meant I had to use more beans. (I used the following formula: (13.35 oz * 0.75)/0.67 = 14.94. In other words, I need 14.94 oz of premium vanilla beans per gallon of alcohol (or 0.934 oz per cup, which I will round to 1 oz per cup). Because I am using 80 proof alcohol, I could further adjust this, but I am going to choose not to since a higher alcohol content is acceptable.)

With all that legal mumbo jumbo out of the way, let’s make some extract!

The ingredients I will use is as follows:

1 oz of vanilla beans (this is more than is required, but more is acceptable, less is not)
1 cup of alcohol that is at least 70 proof (35%)

Now, let’s begin the real work.

Cut the beans longways. Some folks say to scrape the pith out, but by cutting the beans longways you are allowing the pith to come in contact with the alcohol, which is what you are after.
Next, cut the beans in small pieces. The smaller the better here. The more surface that can touch the alcohol, the better.
Put the cut beans into an appropriate sized jar and add the alcohol.
Store in a cool dark place, and shake vigorously every day for at least the first week.
After the first week, store in a cool dark place and shake vigorously a few times a week for the next three weeks.
At this point, your extract is done; however, I prefer to let mine age as long as possible — at least six months. Longer is better.

First, we need to slice our beans longways:

Slicing Vanilla Beans Longways

Next, cut the bean pods into small segments. Remember, smaller is better, as the more surface area that touches the alcohol, the better.

Cutting Vanilla Beans

Cut Vanilla Beans

Place the pith and the cut pods into a glass jar and add the alcohol.

Cut Vanilla Beans in a Glass Jar

Day One of the Vanilla Extract Aging

Aged Bourbon Vanilla Extract

That’s it! Now I’ve place my jar in a cabinet to be taken out and shaken as described above. Though I will strain out the pith when I am ready to use the extract, I will leave the pods in the extract, as I suspect some vanilla will still extract out over time, and there is no danger of spoiling in the proportions used for this recipe.

You will notice, perhaps, the last picture is labeled “Aged Bourbon Vanilla Extract”. The first time we made this, we made one batch with bourbon, which gives the vanilla a different flavor that adds some uniqueness to the foods you make with the extract, and you’re not likely going to find that on a store shelf.

I owe significant credit to the Vanilla Extract Instructionable and the superceding VanillaReview.com instructions.

The Chicken Chronicles

Posted by Steve On September 9, 2014

My egg-laying ladies have just finished another record-breaking week. The new record is 38 eggs, or 3.8 eggs a week per bird. I am expecting an average next spring of about 5-6 eggs per bird, so we are still several eggs a week short of that, but we are getting there. If things go as they have in past weeks, they should lay a total of 42-44 eggs this week.

Speaking of records, today they once again tied the record for the most eggs in a day with seven! This was a special day for another reason though. We have our first green egg! All of our Easter Eggers have laid blue eggs so far, with the possible exception of a possible pink layer (time will tell if it is a Rhode Island Red with a light-colored egg or not), but we haven’t had a green egg yet. What that tells me is that we now have a new layer! Woot! Let me share a picture:

Seven eggs, including a new green one.

The color isn’t perfect in this picture, but the green egg is the second one from the top on the left.

Speaking of that, did you know that a chicken will, more or less, lay the same color egg daily? I think this is probably most pronounced in Aracanas, Americanas, or Easter Eggers since they lay eggs with more varying degrees of color, but it is true for all birds. In other words, the pink egg I have mentioned above is laid by one bird, which I have yet to identify. Since I am not around the house when they are laying, the only way I am going to know for sure, I think, is if I find five reddish brown/pink eggs in one day. If so, then one of them had to have been laid by one of the Easter Eggers since I only have four Rhode Island Reds. 🙂

I think the egg-laying ladies aren’t sure what to do with the change of the seasons. We are coming out to let them down to their run a little later than we had been due to the later sunrise, and the last few days they have had the coop in an absolute mess, as if they are chomping at the bit to get downstairs. I would love to just leave the door open, but I also like the added protection it gives in case a raccoon or an opossum gets into the run during the night somehow.”

One last comment on the eggs for now – last night we had breakfast for supper. There were enough eggs laid in the last few days to feed my entire family. Woot!

Oh, one last thing! Maybe you will enjoy this video as much as I did:

Quarterback Sack

Posted by Steve On September 7, 2014

It’s not often I will put a post up here bragging on my boys, but I am really proud of my son, Elijah, and I wanted to share it here. He plays for an eight-man football team, and his job is normally to knock a hole in the other team’s line. He is usually one of the biggest young men on the field, but that was not the case this last Friday night when they played the Pleasant View Christian Academy Warriors. This picture gives you an idea what he was facing (he is number 75):

At 6’2″, Elijah doesn’t normally young men larger than him, but you can see he had his hands full at this game.

At one point in the game I saw Elijah do something I had never seen before – he ripped through the other teams line and was near the group doing the tackling. I asked one of the coaches what happened, and Coach Acree said something like, “I am not sure if he got the tackle, but he tore a serious hole in the other team’s line. If he didn’t get the tackle, he was a big reason it happened.”

As you can imagine, I was beaming. I honestly didn’t see him play a role in the tackle itself, but that he was close was enough to make me smile. He often doesn’t get that chance. As I said earlier, his job is almost always to make a hole.

That evening and the next morning Elijah kept saying, “I think I pushed the guy with the ball over.” Finally, I started sorting through the pictures, and found Elijah was right. Check out this sequence:

Elijah’s teammates are already on the guy with the ball, but he isn’t going down. Elijah is coming in from the right.

Here you can see Elijah in the mix, and his body tells the story – he is pushing.

Here Elijah is regaining his balance after the young man with the ball and our #28 hit the ground.

Here Elijah is regaining his balance after the young man with the ball and our #26 hit the ground.

There is no doubt, this wasn’t a solo effort. Our boys, #26, #28, and at least one more on the ground all helped with the tackle, but to see that Elijah played a role in it has made my day.

I honestly don’t know a lot about football, but a part of me wishes this wasn’t his senior year. To me he seems to be really playing a bigger role as of late, especially the last two games. There aren’t many more games left in our season, so I am hoping that continues. Who knows, perhaps this proud dad will have another opportunity to share another picture or two.

Happenings Around the Homestead

Posted by Steve On September 1, 2014

Wow, the growing season sure is coming to a close quickly. I noticed our tomatoes are starting to look very ragged, and the popcorn patch is now totally done. In fact, I cut down the stalks yesterday, and layed them on the ground to start decomposing. Even though the Cherokee White Flour Corn is not done yet, I also cut two rows of it down yesterday.

I do need to try to get some radishes and lettuce planted. It is Sunday as I write this, and I may not update this post before I put it on the blog, but by the time this is published I hope to have started some of both to keep through the winter in a make-shift greenhouse. I did that one year, and we actually ate fresh lettuce all day long, even though there were many days of very cold weather. As I am typing this, I am convincing myself that I should probably go out and do that today.

Speaking of chores, I need to repot some of my mint. I have made square foot garden beds out of cinder blocks, and I grow mint in those cinder blocks, but it is obvious some of the mint plants need to be repotted. I think they are beginnning to look leggy and straggly. I generally use potting soil to fill the new cinder block holes, and I don’t think I have any right now, so I may or may not get to this over this weekend.

One of the other chores I have this weekend is to measure my garden beds. I have done this before, but honestly, I have no idea where I documented that. I’m measuring because I want to make better use of my space next year, particularly for the corn. Corn is a crop that suffers badly from inbreeding depression, and to prevent that you need at least 200 plants. If I plant the popcorn at the proper spacing, I think I can do that in one of my garden beds. The Cherokee White Flour Corn and the Cherokee Gourdseed Corn are a different subject. It seems for those corns to fourish, they need more space per plant, which I will seek to give them this year. To do that though, it will mean I may have to expand my garden or I may have to keep ordering some seed every year to ensure I don’t allow inbreeding depression with these plants.

Oh, that reminds me! Let me show you one of the Cherokee Gourdseed Corn cobs:

Cherokee Gourdseed Corn

Look at those kernels! It looks nothing like any other corn I have seen, and it is supposed to make some a-maizing 🙂 cornmeal. It is also supposed to be very easy to shuck, though I might not know that for a few more months. Who knows though, if I get impatient enough, I might find out in a few weeks. 🙂

Speaking of corn, I am way behind and I am still testing popcorn from last year. As I type that, I am sure you are wondering what I mean, and I am probably needing to write a post on that sometime. For now, just know that I am testing my popcorn for poppability and other factors. I then only save the seed from the best of it, which makes for better popcorn year over year. At this rate, I will not be done testing 2013’s corn until sometime in October. I am going to be more concerted in my efforts with this year’s crops though, and I will try to be done testing it by the end of this year.

Wow, this post is already getting a little long and there is so much more to say. I’ll just have to save that for later.

Tribute to Bob Warren

Posted by Steve On August 26, 2014

Yesterday this world lost a great man, Bob Warren, but let there be no doubt, he left this life and walked into Paradise to spend eternity.

I was not fortunate enough to have known Bob Warren as well as others may have. I never attended a camp at The Hill. I was never fortunate enough to sit and study the Bible with him. I was blessed, however, with multiple opportunities to talk with him about many things as we stood on the sidelines of a football practice or a football game.

Bob, and his wife Kim, chose to homeschool their son, Ben, just as Charity and I have homeschooled our boys. Charity met Kim a number of times through the years at homeschool events, and always felt she had the sweetest spirit about her. We only met Bob sometime later when their son, Ben, wanted to play football. Football is a tough sport for homeschoolers. It is expensive, requires a lot of practice, and it requires a lot of boys. Even so, Bob didn’t let that discourage him. He helped Ben pursue that dream, and through a lot of hard work and coordination, The West Kentucky Warriors were formed.

Despite being a professional basketball player earlier in his life, Bob didn’t overexert his presence at the practices or the games, but he made sure that the team always had a spiritual focus, giving the glory to God for everything. I not only saw that though, I saw a terrific dad supporting his son in pursuit of a dream.

Last year Ben graduated high school, and perhaps one of the last pictures I have that Bob was included in was the picture of Bob, Kim, and Ben being honored on the field during the last game.

Bob, Kim, and Ben Warren at Ben’s last football game.

I will never forget Bob Warren, and I know that I am only one of many, many others who believe the same. He has left behind a legacy that is powerful, a legacy that was centered on Christ, family, and loving others. I am truly better off for being privileged to know him.

My heart goes out to Kim and to Ben. Bob was taken all too early for any of us, but there is no doubt where he is right now. May the Lord comfort Kim and Ben during this time, and may they be comforted knowing that Bob was welcomed into eternity with the Master saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant!“

Happenings Around the Homestead

Posted by Steve On August 25, 2014

One of my favorite things to do, usually, is walk through the garden in the morning. I love the cool of the morning, the dew on the ground, and the quiet. It is a real source of enjoyment for me. However, I do NOT like walking through the garden at 7:00 AM when the humidity is high and the temperature is already warm. Unfortunately, that happens sometimes, and Saturday was no exception. I knew I had some work to do in the garden, and I was so hoping for a cool morning, but alas, that was not to be.

The tomatoes seem to be on their last leg now. The plants are looking quite haggard, and the tomatoes themselves are not even as appealing. In fact, the chickens were able to dine on several of them today.

The corn is getting most of my attention this year, and today I harvested several ears I hope pop well, as I would love to get their coloration worked prominently into the popcorn seed. Let me show you four of them:

Look at this beautiful white kernel licked with flame-like colors!

More of the flame-licked colors on this cob, and I love the variety of colors.

I am confident this one has some glass-gem corn mixed in with it, and I like it. I love the greens – they are a rare treat in my seed stock.

More flame-licked colors. This one looks a lot like some seed stock I saved last year, which I am sure is what has pollinated all of these. I sure hope this pops well.

Look at that last picture a little closer. See the red kernel just to the right of the middle? See the spots? I wonder what they are. If you look at the one below it, the purple one, it has the same spots. Even so, these kernels are things of beauty!

Believe it or not, we have a winter squash plant that is growing like gangbusters! I doubt anything will come from it, as it has yet to set fruit, but it was a late starter, and it happens to be the only winter squash I have that survived the squash bugs and squash vine borers. I sure would love to get some seed stock from it.

Sweet potatoes are a new crop for me, and even though I grew some last year, I cannot remember for the life of me when to harvest them. I think it may be after the first frost, but I need to look it up. I am so hopeful that I have a good crop of sweet potatoes. I grew purple and white sweet potatoes, which taste very similar, though the purple ones are generally more dry. Even so, I enjoy them.

Usually at this time of year I am not yet thinking about next year, but it sure is on my mind this year. I think it is because I didn’t do such a good job getting the garden out on time this year, and I am hoping to redeem myself a little next year. 🙂 It won’t be long until I start planning. Until then, I have a few other projects I am working on which I will be sharing here, including a homemade smoker and a homemade dehydrator.

Happenings Around the Homestead

Posted by Steve On August 18, 2014

It is Sunday morning as I write this, and there is the most terrific claps of thunder going on outside. Though I enjoy being able to go walk in the garden as soon as the sun is up, a great thunderstorm is very high on my list. Oh, I just checked, the rain is falling hard now too – wonderful! My garden will so appreciate it!

Speaking of the garden, I decided to harvest as much of my popcorn and flour corn as I could yesterday. I don’t have very large patches of each, so I need to do what I can to prevent spoilage, and though neither was totally ready to be picked, I was afraid this rain might cause some mold or mildew issues. Here is the harvest so far:

First Corn Harvest of 2014

I was not surprised, but yet a little disappointed to see the cross-pollination in the Cherokee White Flour Corn. Some of the kernels are purple and yellow, which is no doubt from my popcorn. I was frustrated to find them both maturing at the same time, which happened to be at a point I was unable to bag them to prevent the cross over. With the Cherokee White Flour Corn, this is almost irrelevant. I can easily see what is crossed, and I will eliminate that from my seed stock — wait, that is not true. I will save some of the purple kernels for a special project next year — to see if I can get a purple flour corn, but that will be very carefully monitored.

The challenge I have is the popcorn though. With it being much shorter than the Cherokee White Flour Corn, I am confident there is much cross pollination there, which may mean I lose most of my popcorn for seed from this year. That sure is frustrating, but I will chalk it up to learning.

I did harvest one ear of Cherokee Gourdseed Corn as well, but it was definitely not ready. The ear had evidently been hit by something and was broken off though, so I felt it was better to go ahead and harvest it. It’s now drying with the rest of them.

Regarding the Gourdseed Corn – these are the oddest cobs and kernels! The husks are so tightly wrapped on the cobs that it is a real chore to pull them off, though I suspect that will change some with time. The kernels look like old man teeth though! Even so, it is supposed to be a great flour corn as well. I don’t have a good picture of one yet, but I will be sure to share one later.

I harvested the largest crop of the year of tomatoes yesterday, which happened to be about half a bushel. Most all of them were Chocolate Stripe Tomatoes, which have become one of my favorite for taste — right up there with Cherokee Purple Tomatoes. They also make a beautiful tomato juice. Look at this beautiful basketful!

Chocolate Stripe Tomatoes

One other interesting tomato I have this year is from seeds saved from a tomato purchased at Whole Foods. The tomato was advertised as a Cocoa Tomato, a variety I cannot find anywhere, so I presume it is a marketing name only. Anyhow, it was a great tasting tomato with great color. Those I am growing are very similar in size and color, but they are much less juicy than the one I purchased, which suits me fine. These tomatoes will make excellent tomato sauce tomatoes or drying tomatoes, which is a nice addition to the garden.

Speaking of all this seed, I am an avid collecter of seeds with history. Even though I landrace some vegetables, I also do what I can to preserve heritage crops too, and I would really appreciate leads to any rare or known Native American plant seeds, especially those with ties to the Chickasaw or Choctaw Indian tribes. Most lists, such as this list of Seed Varieties for Native American Gardens have limited selection, though I know that is due to limited information.

I so enjoy the fall weather, but as the days start to shorten, a part of me gets a little sad knowing the gardening for the year is slowing down. There is still plenty of time left, but in another two months it will be time for the ground to rest for a while and for me to start planning for next year.

Playing the Blues

Posted by Steve On August 12, 2014

This may come to a surprise to those who know me: I have a real appreciation for blues music. The truth is, I like all kinds of music, from classical to country, pop to rap, blues to jazz, and everything inbetween. However, blues is a music style that I really enjoy, and I have long had a fascination with blues harmonica. In fact, about ten years ago I began teaching myself blues harmonica, and though I was never very good, I sure did enjoy it. I have recently decided to pick this hobby back up, and am in the midst of teaching myself once again.

Lee Oskar Harmonica

When I first started playing harmonica, I did considerable research into the instrument, and I finally decided Lee Oskar was the best brand for what I wanted. The thing I liked most is that their instruments are easily repairable. I still laugh a little at this decision, because I have yet to have a need to repair one, but it is nice to know they can be repaired if necessary.

You may be wondering what blues harmonica sounds like. I thought you might ask this, so I have rounded up a few links for you to check out:

http://photomuserh.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/10-blues-harp-masters-1-learning-the-secrets-of-the-blues-harmonica/
http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/blues_harp_gods.html
http://jazzharmonica.org/learn-how-to-play-improvise-jazz-harmonica/essential-listening-guide-jazz/

On of the links above comes from www.modernbluesharmonica.com, which happens to be the site I am using for my lessons. So far I am liking his style better than the books and CDs I listened to years ago when I first picked up a harmonica with the intent to learn it. Now to simply follow through with this and learn to play something more than simple tunes. 🙂

Happenings Around the Homestead

Posted by Steve On August 6, 2014

This has been a slow garden year for us. First of all, spring arrived late this year, and, second of all, with my work travel schedule, I was hardly home to work on the garden. I also started a new garden spot this year which didn’t account properly for the position of the sun in the spring, and the new chicken coup is partially shading a garden. In short, we have struggled with our garden.

We have yet to harvest peppers worth speaking of, and while we have harvested some great tomatoes, the crop has been small. I have only harvested my first cucumber in the last week or so, and the summer squash, while being one of the plants which was out as early as possible, has already stopped producing. Speaking of squash, my winter squash was hit by vine borers while on the mission trip, and there is nothing left. My okra landrace project is coming along, however, it isn’t producing quite like I had hoped. Oh, and let’s not forget the sweet potatoes! The deer are having a hay day with the leaves. 🙂 I still expect a good harvest from them though. The corn has done well, I think, other than the possible cross pollination issue. Even so, the corn looks healthy and I am expecting a good harvest.

It may sound like I am whining about the gardening year, but I am not. I consider every year a learning opportunity. I have several good take-aways from this year that I will be sure to implement next year, and if the Lord so blesses me, next year this will happen on a proper homestead property.

Speaking of vegetables, last Friday we stopped off at The Farmer’s Market in Nashville, Tennessee. If you haven’ t been there, you have really missed out. This is a true joy for me. Let me share just a few pictures:

Heirloom Tomatoes

Huge Onions!

Colorful Bell Peppers

My family is really blessed though, despite the lackluster garden year. My father-in-law also gardens, and he has blessed us with an abundance of melons, peppers, tomatoes, and more.

Speaking of peppers, we have already smoked a good amount of peppers, some of which are already dried and ground. Others are in various stages of processing, but I should be able to share a picture soon.

The chickens didn’t work as hard for us yesterday, and only produced two eggs: one blue and one brown. I did eat the first of the eggs last night, and wow, were they tasty! Hopefully there will be three more today. I had to smile at my first egg issue yesterday. One of the ladies laid her egg in the run below the cage, which is not fun to get into during the day while they are playing. I could have just waited to get it, I suppose, but I was impatient.

I have to wonder, am I the only person out there who is already thinking about next year’s garden? The growing season is not even over yet, and I am sitting here dreaming this morning of what I will do different next time. Don’t worry, I am sure I will share the plans here as the days roll on.

A Few More Eggs

Posted by Steve On August 5, 2014

WOW! I can’t tell you how excited I was yesterday to find out that we had not just one more egg (see: My Surprise for the Day), but THREE MORE EGGS! Not only that, but one of the Easter Eggers, we believe it was Blondie, laid an egg!

Three New Eggs

Henry Ford, referring to the Model T, reportedly once said, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” That is much like eggs, isn’t it? Almost all of them are white, though the stores have found ways to upsell anything brown in color. The one thing that I haven’t seen in the stores yet, however, is a blue/green shade of egg. Even so, there are breeds of chickens which lay this color naturally.

You will notice four eggs in the picture, the largest of which is a store-bought, large, white egg that I placed in one of the laying boxes to encourage the chickens to lay there. The other three, however, were all from yesterday. The one at the 7:00 position in the picture looks identical to the one yesterday in color and size. The next one going clockwise, at about the 10:00 position, is the first Easter Egger egg. The next one going clockwise is perhaps a little smaller than the other ones, and it is a little more elongated. I would say all three are similar in size to a small store-bought egg.

If I understand it right, there are probably three hens laying right now, one of which has layed two days in a row. I expect all three will now start giving 5-7 eggs a week, or a total of 15-21 eggs a week. The other seven hens should start laying soon, perhaps more will even lay today.

My family thinks I am a complete dork, but I am so excited about this.

365 Days of Me