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Old 10-05-2012, 06:52 PM
 
Location: Interior AK
4,731 posts, read 9,924,682 times
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Both milk and meat can also be preserved for several months at room temperature via lactic acid fermentation (the same as sauerkraut). Mmmmm cheese and salami Fermentation also gives us other yummy things like olives, coffee, chocolate, soy sauce, vinegar... and of course beer and wine. And, if you're Alaskan, Tepa ("stinkheads" - salmon) and Igunaq (walrus)... although I'd argue whether they were "yummy", most definitely an acquired taste.
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Old 10-05-2012, 06:55 PM
 
2,878 posts, read 4,622,127 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AK-Cathy View Post
..putting whole cabbages in barrels with water and salt to ferment..

My Germanic ancestors call their shredded version sauerkraut.
Yes Ma'am. We also bake the shredded version with pork ribs in the oven and then you eat it with sour cream. I think my mouth is watering now

OD
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Old 10-05-2012, 07:04 PM
 
Location: Interior AK
4,731 posts, read 9,924,682 times
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More pre-winter chores... fill water tank; order water filters, peroxide (rather than chlorine), and coffee filters (to prefilter melted snow if necessary); swap 5w30 for bar oil in the chainsaws; double-check we have replacement bars and sharpened chains for the chainsaws; sharpen and oil the bucksaw and axes; double-check we have replacement blades and handles for the bucksaw and axes; tape/dam up the heat venting ports on the generators; find/build and install the radiator air dam for the truck and ATV; inspection and routine maintenance on truck winch; inspect and routine maintenance on hi-lift jack and recovery straps...
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Old 10-05-2012, 08:48 PM
 
Location: Connecticut is my adopted home.
2,398 posts, read 3,826,388 times
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We also bake the shredded version with pork ribs in the oven and then you eat it with sour cream.

Yummy! In my Mom's hometown they eat kraut on pizza. It's a local favorite. That's a bit much, the eating it on pizza business, though it's really not bad.

I love my kraut with a kielbasa type of sausage baked in a crock together or cooked slowly in a covered skillet. An old family recipe takes either fresh cabbage seasoned (salt and pepper) and braised, or drained and rinsed kraut braised in oil, black pepper and then mixes the cabbage with cooked kluski or home made egg noodles and baked as a side dish to pork chops or loin. Or cabbage strudel sliced thin served warm with fresh cream and paprika.

I'm getting hungry too.
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Old 10-05-2012, 08:58 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,871,119 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MTSilvertip View Post
LOL!! I wish! I own a small bio-diesel refining company that is in the process of being built, and work full time at a seperate job as well as trying to run a self sufficent operation at home.

You just do what you have to do to keep the home fires burning and some grub on the table.

In Montana, you don't retire, you just change your focus. My father is retired and at 77 years of age, He has bunked probably 10 cords of wood he cuts out of our forest and skids down to the loading area with his horses in the past week for me to cut and load. He does this by himself to relax
He still has a part time job driving the senior bus transporting elderly people to lunch and Dr. appointments and field trips for the local retirement home.

He still breaks teams of horses and oxen, does all the haying for the place, the fencing, and cares for our cattle on a daily basis.
He runs a large snow blower on his tractor during the winter to custom plow for the neighbors, and has a small sawmill that he uses to cut lumber he sells to suppliment their retirement income.
He maintains all our equipment and fixes the cars and trucks as he is an excellent mechanic.

He and my mother still play music for the seniors, (both are accomplished musicians), and several other functions.
My mother has Parkinsons, but still is able to can most of the garden produce as well as making several varieties of pickles and jams and jellies.
She also takes care of my nephews, grows her own garden, takes care of her flock of chickens turkeys and of all things, Peacocks!
She retired several years ago, but still volunteers to help seniors with their bookkeeping and taxes and medical bills.

She is also the one that does most of the processing and freezing of the chickens and turkeys.

Dad and I can process a 1000 lb steer in about an hour, and then cut up and wrap the meat in about another 3 hours of work as we have the tools and experience. I worked as a meat cutter for about 4 years in my youth and we have the grinders and saws etc.
A pig from squeal to freezer only takes about 2 hours, (plus cooling time depending on the weather). The Bacon and Hams take longer to cure, but well worth the wait

Yeah, it is a lot of work, and I make enough money I could afford to buy food and heat, but it is what we do to keep ourselves going and have the quality and kind of life we love. My parent's don't know any other way to live, and they have kept going a long time and will keep going a long time into the future doing what they do
You and your parents are obviously intelligent and talented, with a wonderfully wide range of skills and experiences. I have believed for a long time that staying active and engaged, both mentally and physically, is the key to continued vitality as we age; it would be difficult for me to imagine a better example than your parents. Retiring to a rocking chair, or a sofa in front of the TV, can actually be deadly. Sorry if off-topic for this forum.
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Old 10-05-2012, 10:46 PM
 
Location: Interior AK
4,731 posts, read 9,924,682 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AK-Cathy View Post
I love my kraut with a kielbasa type of sausage baked in a crock together or cooked slowly in a covered skillet.
mmmmmm kraut & bratwurst (or knackwurst) with a pinch of caraway seed mmmmmm

or corned beef.... now I'm really hungry
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Old 10-09-2012, 01:15 PM
 
Location: Where the mountains touch the sky
6,753 posts, read 8,541,972 times
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Well, the Pronghorn Antelope hunt was fantastic

The numbers are way down and there were only 8 head in my area. I could have taken a wet doe that was well within my range, but I don't shoot wet does, only dry ones. (Wet does have fawns, Dry does don't).

I didn't fire my rifle all day, but it was a supurb experience as I was around 40 miles from the nearest town of over 100 residents, about 5 miles from the nearest ranch.

The day was bright and sunny, about 45 degrees so the air was cool but the sun was warm as I hiked 3 miles in from my truck to see if one of my favorite honey holes had some "speed Goats" hiding out there.

I carry a daypack that weighs about 15 lbs, a good rifle, and a light jacket made the hike easy across the dry warm almost magical high praries.
It had snowed the night before so the mountains in the distance were brilliant white and blue contrasting nicely with the golden tans of the praries and the slashes of reds/yellows and oranges from the leaves of the trees and bushes along the creeks cutting across the open space.

I found a nice outcrop of rock with a place hollowed out by wind and rain over eons that made a perfect chair I could sit and look over miles and miles of empty prarie almost completely unchanged from when the glaciers retreated 10,000 years ago.

As always, I look for places I could make a camp or survive if needed, what kind of resources are available, what kind of food I can find and while the shelter, firewood and water were easy to find, the plants were all frosted and dead.
I had my rifle so I could take a deer or antelope for eating, there are a lot of small animals like rabbits and raccoons, but aside from some old rose-hips and prickly pear, nutrition from plants would be hard to find.

I didn't take my antelope, and I am not worried about it. The population is down from bad weather the past couple of years, and from Blue-tounge, a disease that kills lots of deer and antelope every year, So if the doe I let go raises her fawn, and has another next year, perhaps the herds will come back quicker.

It was still a great day as I sat and dozed in the sun on that rock, the only sounds I could hear were the wind in the grass and bare branches of the chokecherries. I may have been several miles from my truck and town, but I was still in the best place on earth just a few feet from Paradise.
I had a real spring in my step on those long 3 miles back to the truck.

The weather in Montana is brutal, the jobs don't pay well and are few and far between. We don't get big name celebraties performing in person very often, cell phone coverage is spotty at best, and it is anything but easy to live here, normally requireing endless hours of hard work just to stay even.

When people ask why I stay, all I have to do is remember a day like opening of Antelope season, and it is well worth it to me
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Old 10-09-2012, 01:27 PM
 
2,878 posts, read 4,622,127 times
Reputation: 3113
Quote:
Originally Posted by MTSilvertip View Post
Well, the Pronghorn Antelope hunt was fantastic

The numbers are way down and there were only 8 head in my area. I could have taken a wet doe that was well within my range, but I don't shoot wet does, only dry ones. (Wet does have fawns, Dry does don't).

I didn't fire my rifle all day, but it was a supurb experience as I was around 40 miles from the nearest town of over 100 residents, about 5 miles from the nearest ranch.

The day was bright and sunny, about 45 degrees so the air was cool but the sun was warm as I hiked 3 miles in from my truck to see if one of my favorite honey holes had some "speed Goats" hiding out there.

I carry a daypack that weighs about 15 lbs, a good rifle, and a light jacket made the hike easy across the dry warm almost magical high praries.
It had snowed the night before so the mountains in the distance were brilliant white and blue contrasting nicely with the golden tans of the praries and the slashes of reds/yellows and oranges from the leaves of the trees and bushes along the creeks cutting across the open space.

I found a nice outcrop of rock with a place hollowed out by wind and rain over eons that made a perfect chair I could sit and look over miles and miles of empty prarie almost completely unchanged from when the glaciers retreated 10,000 years ago.

As always, I look for places I could make a camp or survive if needed, what kind of resources are available, what kind of food I can find and while the shelter, firewood and water were easy to find, the plants were all frosted and dead.
I had my rifle so I could take a deer or antelope for eating, there are a lot of small animals like rabbits and raccoons, but aside from some old rose-hips and prickly pear, nutrition from plants would be hard to find.

I didn't take my antelope, and I am not worried about it. The population is down from bad weather the past couple of years, and from Blue-tounge, a disease that kills lots of deer and antelope every year, So if the doe I let go raises her fawn, and has another next year, perhaps the herds will come back quicker.

It was still a great day as I sat and dozed in the sun on that rock, the only sounds I could hear were the wind in the grass and bare branches of the chokecherries. I may have been several miles from my truck and town, but I was still in the best place on earth just a few feet from Paradise.
I had a real spring in my step on those long 3 miles back to the truck.

The weather in Montana is brutal, the jobs don't pay well and are few and far between. We don't get big name celebraties performing in person very often, cell phone coverage is spotty at best, and it is anything but easy to live here, normally requireing endless hours of hard work just to stay even.

When people ask why I stay, all I have to do is remember a day like opening of Antelope season, and it is well worth it to me
Sounds like a spiritual experience to me. Wish more people had them with Nature.
OD
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Old 10-10-2012, 07:56 AM
 
Location: Where the mountains touch the sky
6,753 posts, read 8,541,972 times
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I wouldn't say spiritual, because to me spiritual covers everything everyday, how you deal with family and friends, and even strangers, how you treat your animals, (domestic or wild), living as well as you can, doing what you can to make your community a better place. Spirituality is being connected to the world around you at all times.

In Montana we are very much in touch with nature and very aware of it, because it is usually trying to kill us
I drove through two whiteout blizzards on Friday evening to get to where I went hunting, so to have a fantastic day of cool, crisp, clear weather after the blistering summer and drought, and now the flash snowstorms bringing mud and ice to the roads, so a nice day is noteworthy

I spend most of my time in a pressure cooker of deadlines, meetings, bankers, customers, dealing with partners and shareholders, bosses, and then working my gardens and livestock, trying to help my parents get wood or fix fence or do their home repairs or mechanical work, whatever.
I work long hours and it isn't always fun.

So the chance to take a minute on a warm hillside during a clear Indian Summer day in the high plains of Montana to relax is a rare opportunity, to be charished and treasured.

But on the way back home I bought a bunch of stuff from the Hutterites, onions, cabbage, squash etc. to build up my stores for winter since I didn't take an antelope.

I watched a tv show on Discovery last night, "Alaska the Last Frontier", that is in my opinion one of the best representations of how life really is on a small subsistance farm/ranch no matter if you live in Alaska or Montana.
I could step right in there because it is very similar to how I grew up.

Well, except we didn't have an ocean nearby or use kiyaks to get across the rivers or lakes, and we had to buy hunting and fishing licenses for what we harvested out of the wild. That detail never seems to be mentioned in the show.

Back to work
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