Easter weekend 2022

As the daylight hours continue to lengthen, my days of gainful employment shorten. It's Easter weekend. Today is Maundy Thursday, and I won't check in with my protégé until Tuesday. I'm not worried about her, though. She's definitely up to the task. I kid you not, this young woman is me if I were twenty-five again and knew what I know now. I'm very impressed with her. 

The fallout from the Covid pandemic shut down in 2020 and 2021 continues. I wanted to purchase a ham for Easter dinner but quickly abandoned the plan. I don't need a ham badly enough to pay $52 for a five-pound ham. I'll be at the grocery on Monday to see if they go on sale. They should because I didn't see anyone lingering at the ham case to choose one to take home. Heck, if the sale price is good, I'll get two for in the freezer. We're going to have a $7 ham steak and be happy about it! 

And speaking of freezers, I'm re-thinking getting a small one for beef. I think I should get one of equal size to what I have now. I can put meat in one and everything else in the other. That may work better. 

What has me leaning in that direction? Right now I have a lot of items in the freezer but I need to get some meals pre-made and frozen, and space is really tight. I need to up my freeze-drying game and get some of the frozen veggies into Mylar. Sometimes it's good to practice what I preach about preparedness. Being prepared to get a quick meal on the table is part of that for me. I like to cook once and eat four or five times! Just because I'm going to be "retired" doesn't mean I plan to cook every day for the remainder of my life. 

But cooking is my plan for this weekend. I'm going to put the Crockpot to work with some of our favorite dishes, bake a few of our favorite breakfasts, and get the freeze-dryer working to clear some space. Being a multi-tasker, it can all happen at the same time! And unless I have something in the oven, I can work on getting the buckets and growbags ready for the garden, too. 

I don't mind being busy "feathering my nest." It's what makes me truly happy. Only 20 workdays to go!

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway)

Potato soup base

Having embraced the idea of being intentional about building a prepper pantry, it's become obvious how much money it's going to save us in the long run. It's not that we're destitute - far from it. We live debt-free. Being intentional is a freeing way to live. 

I am determined to make good use of the recently purchased pressure canner. I discovered that a bag of potatoes in the cellar were beginning to sprout, and my first thought when that happens is always potato soup. I consulted the Ball canning book for the instructions on how to can potatoes, and then took to YouTube to see how all the canners do it. 

The information was consistent for canning potatoes and soup. I'd be able to process the potatoes with a splash of chicken broth, onion, celery, and salt. The milk, or half and half, plus a dollop of butter will need to be added when the jars are opened and the soup made. I had enough potatoes for four quarts with a cup of de-fatted homemade broth in each. I topped off the liquid with boiling water, added the lids and rings, and processed the jars according to my canner's instructions. 

One of the jars siphoned on me. That is to say some of the liquid siphoned out before the lid sealed. There is still a lot of liquid in the jar, and the seal is good, but I put that jar in the refrigerator and we'll have potato soup in the next day or so. All we need is for Himself to bake up some nice, soft dinner rolls and we'll have a meal. 

In time's past, we may have used some of the potatoes before they sprouted too far to be used. With the canner, none got tossed into the woods for the wild ones. Plus, I have four dinners, or lunches, ready to go with minimal effort. I call that a win. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

**5/9/21 update: We decided we prefer to process only the potatoes in jars and add everything else for soup when it's time to make soup.