Episode 17: The Dragon Smiles

People are people, no matter their age. Some will be kind, curious, rude, condescending, bitter, or funny, and so on. I’m an “old people chef,” and this is my journal.
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We ran out of water goblets for noon dining set-up again today, so I ventured over to Special Cares (aka The Dragon's Lair) to see about borrowing a few from them.

Dragon Lady was there, strangely calm. She greeted me by name, so I greeted her by name. I thought I'd better mention why I was there, so I explained and then braced for impact.

Instead of a roar and a pounce, she merely told me that I could certainly take several goblets, since they don't need that many in their community anyway. "In other words, help yourself," she concluded. And then she smiled. The smile was not followed with a mocking laugh or a derisive comment. A smile. On the corners of the mouth of the dragon.

Wonders never cease.

DIY Apple Press

 

My pa put together his own apple press. Here's the low-down on all the bits and pieces! Plus some fun prairie moments...

 



Here's the wooden supports for the grinder (left) and press (right).



Mama looking oh-so-joyous.



Dad assembling the hopper for grinding apples.



The hopper assembled. The cast-iron parts are the only part he
purchased instead of making himself.



The hopper wheel.



Adding water to the wheelbarrow of apples.



All set for grinding some apples!! The pieces will go into a
lined stainless steel bin underneath.



A bin full of crushed apples all ready to press. There's a hole
in the underside for the juice to run out into the bucket below.



There's bar drain pieces on the bottom and along the side above the drain hole to allow juices to
flow easily down and out of the bin.



He adds a hydraulic jack between the press board and the board above.



After the apples have been pressed as much as possible
with the original board, he adds blocks between.



Beautiful fresh pressed cider!



Running the hopper.

 

Pasteurizing and canning the cider.

 

 

 

It was a great time with the padres at home! Plus they sent several gallons of cider home with me. Now, to make some hard cider and some apple cider vinegar...

Fall Apples

A day at my parents' place, picking apples and pressing cider.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sample Garden: Companion Planting

My source: Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte

Bed #1: The Strawberry patch

Onions are compatible with almost all plants (except peas and beans) and work to repel pests. Strawberries are among the plants they especially like, so I planted a bunch of onions throughout my strawberry patch. I also planted some garlic in this bed, as it repels pests much like onion does. I put in a row of spinach here as well, since strawberries do well with them.

 

Next year: I would put some bush beans down the center of this bed, as they do well with strawberries, too. I would then omit the onions and garlic, since they inhibit the growth of beans. I'd add marigold to ward off pests.

 

 

 



Bed #2: Veggies

 In this bed, I put four tomato plants with radishes, carrots, arugula and marigolds planted between them.
The carrots are there because as the book title says, "Carrots LOVE Tomatoes."
The radishes and marigolds act as pest repellants.

The parsley planted in this bed is friendly to both tomatoes and carrots.
The dill and Brussels sprouts here are good companions. I should probably have put the dill farther from the carrots, however.
There's arugula here as well, and as far as I know, it doesn't have any unfriendliness to other plants.
On the end farthest from the tomatoes are bell peppers and hot peppers.

Next year: Members of the cabbage family should not be rotated with each other, so I'll need to avoid planting cabbage family members where the Brussels sprouts and radishes were grown this year. Also, tomatoes enjoy being in the same spot consecutive years, so I'll plan to put them exactly where they were this year.  

 



Bed #3: More Veggies

In this bed I have marigolds for general pest repellant. There are radishes throughout to protect the zucchini squash and cucumbers and pole beans planted here. There are nasturtiums protecting the squash as well. I put cilantro here as well, since I know of no dislikes between it and any other plants. 

 

Do you do any companion planting? What are you favorite plants to pair? 

 

 

Homemade Tabasco

 

This is a straightforward recipe for making any kind of tabasco. If you want to make Louisiana Style red tabasco, use cayenne peppers. If you want to make green tabasco, use jalapenos. In my case, I had a big tub of both green & red scorpion peppers my mom gave me, so I separated green from red and made separate batches: one Red Scorpion and one Green Scorpion.

In this 2016 list of the hottest peppers, two varieties of Scorpion pepper are listed as hotter than ghost pepper. I'm not even sure what variety we have, but it is HOT and makes for SUPER HOT tabasco. However, as I stated before, the following instructions can be used for making any sort of tabasco: jalapeno, cayenne, etc. You can make it as hot or as mild as you choose! 

 

Here's our sink full of red and green scorpion peppers, along with a few jumbo sized cayennes.

 

Instructions

Step 1. In a covered container, combine:
1 pound of peppers, washed and chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 cup white or apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup sugar

Step 2. Cover the container and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

Step 3. Transfer the ingredients to a saucepot over medium-high heat. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes to soften the peppers. Stir occasionally.

(If you plan to can the tabasco, this is when you'll sterilize your jars and bring a filled water bath canner to a boil.)

Step 4. Use a spoon or ladle to transfer ingredients to a blender or food processer and process until smooth. If you do an enormous batch like I did, you will need to do several rounds of this. Don't leave behind any liquids in the saucepan - the vinegar needs to be included, too.

(As I processed mine, I poured the tabasco directly into sterilized jars for canning.)

Step 5. Enjoy!



The original recipe is supposed to make 1 cup of tabasco, but I ended up with ten times that, as you can see here.

Do you make your own tabasco? Please share your tips and thoughts in the comments. =)