Why CO-OP Gardening?

Ever consider eating organically? Ever try it? Organic foods, or even just whole foods, cost more money and for several reasons. For one thing, laws governing the production of organic foods make it difficult to comply. The mass marketing of whole foods also presents a problem since crop varieties that can handle storage and transportation often lack flavor and nutrients.

My alternative: gardening, CO-OP gardening!

Not everyone has a garden space. Apartment dwellers are sometimes lucky if they can have a pot of flowers. And yet it is my belief that, within us all, is this deep-rooted attachment to the land. It's positively unnatural to be away from it. My solution then is that people with a gardening area unite with others who love fresh produce. The added value of being with friends outside in the fresh air, of knowledge imparted to children who participate, and healthy physical activity are things you cannot buy in stores.

If this appeals to you, whether you have a garden now or not, I suggest advertising your willingness to form a gardening co-op by posting on Facebook, Twitter, and public bulletin boards that can be found at colleges, libraries and local stores. Consider sharing the love, labor and fun of your fresh garden produce, done as organically as suits you, in your very own co-op adventure.

Maple Syrup--100% Pure YUM!!!

Think about making your own sometime. Maple syrup is made from sap gathered from sugar maple trees. There are no other ingredients, not even water. The taste is incredibly delicious. Maple syrup that is large-scale marketed and not organic may contain a number of additives: high fructose corn syrup and gluten make production cheaper and faster, adding to profits. Added food coloring allows them to market a consistent color. Done naturally, organically, your maple syrup will darken on its own and differences in color will vary.

This year we're hoping to do another round of maple syrup before the daffodills are in bloom. If you'd like to try it, gather your supplies together, find a good sugar maple tree, and watch for the weather to cooperate. Use trees that are greater than 10 inches in diameter for best results. You'll tap into the cambrium layer and damage to the tree will be minimal, very minimal.

We use food safe plastic jugs, buckets, large 30-gallon cans and pcvc waterline for spouts. Ten to fourteen trees can yield 100 gallons of sap over a week. Figure at least a gallon a day on a productive tree. Your cookdown can be in the range of 40 to 80 gallons of sap for one gallon of pure maple syrup. It depends on weather conditions and the density of sugar content within the sap. Sap gathered early in the season, right at the end of the coldest of winter, seems to have a higher sugar content than the sap that is gathered on toward spring. For example, our first gathering this year gave us a 33:1 ratio but last year's March sap was 67:1, a huge difference and a lot more work!

Steaming off the sap can be hazardous to a kitchen, making it a sticky mess. We've even removed wallpaper with the steam! Not our intended outcome, of course, but we learned from our mistake. Now we cook our sap down outside over an open fire. Like I said, plan ahead. Firewood, a tripod and a cooking pot may be added to your list of needs. Or, you could try a method we did one year: a turkey fryer and propane gas! This is a very clean method for a small batch of syrup. Since you can add sap a little at a time in your process, choose the size cooking vessel to suit your needs. Proceed slowly and with caution. When the sap thickens, it can bubble up and over the edges of your pot, and it can boil at a temperature higher than boiling water when it thickens.

Tap in late winter when the days are above freezing but nights are still very cool. The sap should be running. We use a drill size that matches our pipe. The pictures will give you an idea of a method that works for us. When we finish tapping the trees, we plug the holes with short pieces of dow rod.

Making maple syrup is work but the end result is 100% pure YUM!!! Try Stephanie's Sticky Bun Tea Ring for a quick and delicious treat!

Stephanie's Sticky Buns, Gluten Free Version

Maple syrup is really good for you! Some scientists believe that, combined with foods that have baking soda, it is a natural cancer-fighter. Walnuts are also good for you so I encourage everyone to have a sticky bun now and then. Hint: If you buy your maple syrup at the market, however, and you are gluten intolerant, watch ingredients closely. Some marketed maple syrups contain wheat gluten that may be couched in other terms. For further info, see my blog on eating great food gluten free!

Just substitute the biscuit recipe from the GF Bisquick box for the two tubes of buttermilk biscuits. Use buttermilk or add a tablespoon of butter to the recipe. Then knead and roll into balls. Proceed with Stephanie's recipe that is within this blogsite.

Take It OFF! Take it ALL OFF!!!

That's right! Take it off, take it all off. Peel away stress and worry like the skin of an onion, right down though the juicy layers, all the way to the stinky little core. Then, remove the bad smell, that sadness deep inside, that feeling of having no control, of not being able to make a difference. You know what I'm talking about. The world is ever-changing, sometimes volatile, sometimes deadly and downright tough. Darwin claimed "survival of the fittest". Well, it's hard to survive: emotionally, financially, and health-wise. There is also a better side to life, one that we need to stretch to see sometimes.

If we want to arrive at the place where we live life abundantly, our frame of mind has to be in the right place. Peal away the anger, resentment, the sadness, the fears of the unknown. Imagine gentle music playing within you, deep within. Listen to your newly clean inner core. Really get in touch with your body. Think spiritually.

There are a number energy therapies available for however much money you're willing to pay and I believe there is validity in many of them. There is certainly no known risk. According to minddissorders.com, from the Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders (yes,really), our bodies can benefit with most of these therapies. Those benefits include "increased vitality...lowered blood pressure...a sense of calm or relaxation...improved sleep at night...a strengthened immune system".

That's where I come in. I'm already pretty calm and I sleep well. I need to improve my immune system. When I taught in the classroom, I was unable to develop an immune system that kept me from picking up the children's germs, although I washed my hands like Lady Macbeth! You'd think I had a guilt complex!

Energy therapies generally require a practitioner who has been trained to work with your body's energy field. It's not just an accident or a lucky coincidence that this blogsite is called The Pauley Principle. The Pauli Exclusion Principle was developed in 1928, a theory about atoms and what happens when neutrons go the wrong direction. Well, sometimes the energy in our body gets tangled up or goes the wrong direction too, as I discovered from a technician with Healing Touch. With its emphasis on energy flow, using magnets and various other techniques, our energy flow or magnetic field can be improved.

First, some things have to occur and some of this you can do yourself. Our mind's state needs to be relaxed and then our body can relax. That's where pealing away the onion comes in. Take off all the layers that have you stressed. Peal away one layer at a time. This may take time but is an important first step. Soft music can help. Maybe candles and natural oils can help. When your mind and body are in this relaxed state, your energy field is better able to work properly.

Silva Healing Mind Exercise works on the same relaxation principle. First, you get your mind and body in a state that is "conducive to healing". Jose Silva claimed that this is the state in which "cells repair...the immune system is strengthened...physical symptoms are reduced". Then your mind has to be retrained to "eliminate unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking, and overeating". I would guess that excessive worry or tension could be added to their list. The next step is to "transform negative thought patterns into positive ones." Finally, re-set goals by "creative visualization". Maybe people need a trainer but I'm guessing that with some support system, a little encouragement, most people can do this by themselves. What do you think? Check into it. I don't know what they charge, but try the steps for yourself. If it works, you've saved some money and put yourself in a happier place.

In the March 2011 issue of Natural Health, Barbara Welcer, R.N., a certified nurse and Healing Touch practitioner, is quoted as saying, "The therapist's role is to act as a conduit to self-healing, similar to the way a midwife guides a mother in labor."

Peggy Massie, who is a Healing Touch practitioner with the Southern Ohio Center for Positive Energy, agrees and says Healing Touch "works with modern medicine so that your body can heal faster and utilize your medicines more effectively". Peggy can be reached at socfpe@gmail.com. She works with an array of techniques that can improve your body's energy flow and promote self-healing.

God Bless. Wishing you improved health and a life of abundance!

Maple Sap, Ready to Tap!!!

Alright, everybody! The firewood is gathered and stacked. The maple sap is ready to tap. Chris has some tips for first-time maple syrup makers. Then, once you try it a few times, you'll be hooked and you will develop a rhythm and method of your own.

First, get permission to tap sugar maples that a friend or neighbor has if you don't have your own trees. Then plan to share your syrup as a thank-you.

Each year you'll wait in happy anticipation for the weather to break, about the time you see the first robin. In southern Ohio, that's NOW!!! Warm days above freezing and cool nights hovering around or just below freezing make great sap gathering days. The sap isn't always running so fast. I counted drops coming out of our spouts this morning at 2 to 3 per second!

When you drill into a tree, match your drill bit to the size of your spout for tapping. We use clean cpvc plumbing pipe, cut about 5 inches long. Chris tapers the spouts down on the end to fit snugly in the tree. You can also, if you have access to them, use elderberry spouts which you make yourself, or purchase the maple syrup industry's standard spout. Chris says to drill the hole so that the spout will point downward. Otherwise, the sap can run back into the tree and freeze or, worse yet, attract ants.

Gallon water jugs make an excellent container to hang on the tree. Leave the lid on and just cut a small hole near the top big enough for the tap to poke into but not so large that debris will get into the jugs. Secure with a strap that can slip over a nail that is secure but not deep into the tree. (Chris plugs holes after sap season.) Plan to check jugs about three times a day.

The jugs of sap, looking as thin and clear as mountain stream water, are then emptied into clean food-safe plastic buckets. These are carried to a tank for safe keeping until they are added to the cast iron kettle. The sap will naturally turn darker as it thickens but can be as light as honey. With cast iron, expect it to reach a rich brown. With stainless steel, it will be more like dark honey. The sap can boil but we like to keep it at an even simmer, feeding the wood fire carefully, and then adding sap to the pot as it cooks down. We keep a tally of every gallon we add. As the sap gets close to the syrup stage, we check its thickness more often and clean off the foam that forms naturally and any debris from ash as it collects. When the kettle is almost full with a thickening sap and we're ready to shut down the sap cooking, we heat to boil. It's important to get to the right temperature, 219 degrees, (7 degrees about the boiling water temperature here in southern Ohio) and the right sugar content, 66 to 67 Brix on the hydrometer. Then it's ready to filter into cute little maple syrup containers or jars. We filter through a thick wool felt that I found at a fabric store and boiled.

About the hydrometer--useful to check the sugar content--66-67% solids in the syrup when it's just right. Above 67% can yield a syrup that turns crystalline in storage containers. A hydrometer is handy but unnecessary. The old-time method of taste and feel works pretty well.

Plan to gather 35 to 45 gallons of sap for every gallon of syrup you make. This means the process will take a few days. It's work, but so fun and the end product is absolutely 100% pure YUM!!!

GF means Great Food for the Gluten Free!

For people who have to stick with a gluten-free diet, finding the foods that are good for you can be a real challenge. In fact, just finding out that you need to eat GF can be challenging. Randy Armbruster said, "From the time I started exhibiting symptoms, it was probably 2 or 3 months that I was diagnosed and started this new adventure of GF eating...My plan is if I'm not sure,I don't eat it!" For both Jessica Pauley and her uncle Kevin, loss of weight and constant stomach aches led to multiple doctor's appointments and testings before finding the problem.

Complicating matters is that so many food producers are embedding elements that contain gluten. Jessi says to check with the manufacturer to be absolutely sure a food is gluten free or less than/equal to 200 parts per million. Terms such as natural flavors, malt (made from barley), caramel coloring, anti-caking agent (as in powdered sugar), and thickeners, maltodextrin (made with corn in U.S.). With oat and corn products, assume cross-contamination. Roquefort cheese a big NO! It is made by pressing bread against the cheese. Who would know??? Be careful with Dijon mustard, ketchup, cocktail sauce, shampoo/lotion, toothpaste and spice mixes. And of course, avoid sausages, deli coldcuts, and meats from fast foods that contain secret ingredients!

Two links: www.wholefoodsmarket.com/specialdiets and www.livingwithout.com are excellent for finding foods you want or need. Living Without is a magazine designed for people with dietary needs. Another magazine, the March issue of Natural Health, has a compilation of its annual Good Food Awards. The GF foods that make the list in the Pantry Staples category are: Mary's Gone Crackers Original; Lundber Rice Chips Sesame & Seaweed; Kind Bar Mango Macadamia; and Simply Organic Cocoa Cayenne Cupcake Mix. Winners in the Refrigerator Favorites category include Kraft Athenos Traditional Feta Cheese; O.N.E. Coconut Water; and Nancy's Organic Cream Cheese.

My thanks to Kevin, Randy, and especially to my daughter Jessica for their tips on living life gluten free. Our hope is that their knowledge and experiences help others to live their lives more abundantly through good GF foods!

Shepherd's Pie

The cold wintry days are not yet over. Here's a recipe to take off the chill and comfort your soul. You can make this with either beef or venison but note the use of chicken broth, not beef broth, for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground meat
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 T. butter
1 T. flour
1 pint chicken broth (or one 14 oz. can of chicken, not beef, broth)
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 cup frozen peas or broccoli
1/2 teaspoon savory, dried, and/or 1/2 teaspoon marjoram, dried
1 tsp. Kosher or coarse salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. red wine, not a salty cooking wine but a wine you might have with the meal
1 cup shredded cheese, cheddar or a mix of colby and Monterey Jack works well

mashed potatoes to serve 4 to 6 people
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Slowly brown the meat to just rare, letting the fat melt out. Add the chopped garlic. Drain off the fat. (You're going to trade the beef fat for butter for a better flavor and texture.) Add the butter and flour to the meat. Allow to brown slightly before stirring to give the nutty flavor to the flour that makes gravy so good. Stir and brown a little more.

Stir in chicken broth, shredded carrots, peas, savory, Worcestershire, red wine, salt and pepper.

Bring to simmer. Continue to stir frequently until gravy thickens.

If you're making this ahead, wait until serving day and then warm the dish in the oven prior to adding the mashed potatoes. Mound the mashed potatoes up on top of the meat/gravy mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, just until cheese melts.

Serve with hot bread and an assortment of pickles or chutney. Serves 4 to 6 people.

Heavy Leanings by Food Industry on FDA Will Lead to More, Not Fewer, Additives

Don't expect the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to protect us from the food industry's growing use of unnecessary and non-nutritional additives. Thanks to Mark Bittman of the New York Times, we learn that the FDA yielded to pressures from Big Food with weak guidelines for the food industry in the 2010 report. Sad news for consumers since those guidelines won't be updated again until 2015. In processed foods, as long as the food industry can show relatively low saturated fats and sugars, they pretty much have a free hand to cut their budgets, add fillers and provide lower-quality foods for the masses. But it's not just the fast food industry. See Mark Bittman's opinions in the New York Times. I suggest following him on Twitter @Bittman. He's prolific and points out many of the tricks Big Food uses to increase profits while cutting down on nutrition!

Frankly, the cost of eating whole foods is high but it's much, much healthier and can be much better tasting than eating most processed foods. That's why I highly recommend taking the time to supplement your grocery expenditures with foods you can grow or process yourself at a small fraction of the retail cost. Live your life well with fewer stops for fast food and fewer trips to the doctor. We can live longer and better in spite of the food industry and its powerfully heavy leanings on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Yours for abundant living,
Ronda

Winemaking--Funny Things Happen When You DIY

OK. Has the wine bug bitten yet? It's so, SO FUN! Just a word of caution. If you like your wine a little fizzy and go ahead and bottle it, the first time you hear a loud pop, you might look around to see if a bird flew into your windowpane and fell dying underneath. But the second time you hear it, you realize you have a mess to clean up.

Racking is necessary to remove the wine from the spent lees (sediment, used-up yeast, seeds, etc.). You simply siphon from one jar into another. It's part of filtering to make a good clear wine but it requires height to siphon properly. So, while the wine's airlock bubbles away and the wine is settling out, you decide to place the 5-gallon carboy in a handy spot on the basement floor, out of the way, in a nice clean dark spot, only to find later that you can't lift the 5 gallon carboy to rack the wine into another carboy.

It's been fun. No, really, it's been FUN!

Wine Making Supplies

Thinking about making your own wine? If you enjoy a glass now and then, either with a meal or as an after dinner drink, making wine has been a really fun hobby for me and you may enjoy it too. The home winemaker can make a delicious wine as sweet or as dry as personal taste dictates since he/she controls the ingredients, and it can save considerable money over buying as tasty a wine at retail prices.

For your first attempt at winemaking, I recommend using grapes. Around our area, Concords are easy to find grown locally. If you have access to vintner grapes, they are grown specifically for making wine and have some qualities that differ from Concords. It is said that "grapes want to be wine". That seems true since, after the first week of diligent work, the wine seems to make itself.

Your essential but basic supplies:
--a primary fermenter. This can be a clean, 5-gallon food-safe plastic bucket, preferably with a lid.
--a secondary fermenter called a carboy. Pawn Stars featured one that was pre-1800 and hand-blown, worth exactly umpteen hundred dollars. What you actually need is a 3 or 5 gallon narrow-necked glass jug. Smaller jugs will also be useful. You can use plastic. I prefer glass because it's easier to clean and less likely to impart flavors from a previous use.
--air locks. Glass or plastic bubblers to fit the neck of the primary fermenter. You fill it with water or a sodium bisulfite solution to keep air away from the wine.
--siphon hose. About 6 feet will do the trick.
--strainer. You can use cheese cloth, muslin, a collander, or a pillowcase (really!). I use a combination to filter the wine. Sediment in your wine will make it cloudy and throw off the taste.
--wine yeast. Grapes naturally have yeast on them but it's not always the type of yeast that would make a good wine, so you buy a yeast designed to give a good, strong fermentation. Lalvin D47 or Bourgovin RC 212 are both good for a red grape wine.
--sodium bisulfite. You will need this chemical to sanitize your utensils and fruit.
--pectic enzyme. This breaks down the fruit's pulp and yields more juice. It has the added benefit of producing a clearer wine.
--grapes. About a bushel is needed for five gallons of wine.
--sugar, either cane or beet white granulated sugar works well. I've even tried brown sugar and may prefer it for grape wine.
--funnel.
--long-handled spoon. Some long plastic ones are on the market that work well in winemaking.
--a reliable wine-making book. I have several.
--dark wine bottles, corks, a corker such as a tabletop model and labels.
--hydrometer. Nice to have. Helps you read out the amount of sugar in the wine and calculate potential alcohol content.

You can buy winemaking kits that include juice or pulp. I haven't tried these yet but they come with step-by-step instructions. The drawback for me is the chemicals that you add in addition to the list above. The additional chemicals speed up the process so that the wine is ready in 30 days but these kits put things into the wine that I don't want. Time (up to several months) and simplicity often make the best wines. I like a good, clean wine, one that has filtered itself out and defizzed over a few months without added chemicals.

I use a supplier who is within a short drive of home but I also order supplies online.

Making wine is easier than it sounds. In recent years I have made several batches of wine but I am not an expert. You don't have to be. There's some chemistry involved but you don't really need to know exactly what actions and subsequent reactions are occuring, just trust that they do. Yes, it's work but it is such a fun hobby! Like a good cook, you develop your taste and get a natural feel for what works. Watch my upcoming blog "How to Make Concord Grape Wine" for a basic procedure.

Winemaking at home is legal in the U.S. for up to, I believe, 200 gallons for personal use and no, you can't sell the wine unless you become a wine vendor. But as your kindergarten teacher used to tell you, "Sharing is nice!" (In fact, I may have been your kindergarten teacher!)

As with any alcohol, do NOT drink too much and NEVER drink and drive. Taken with self-control and moderation, this will be a hobby you will treasure. Plan now for your own delicious wine next winter and live life abundantly!

From your little old winemaker, me (Quoting the old Swiss Colony ad.)

Tomato Seed Planting Day has Come!

I'm excited! My order of tomato seeds and seed-starting plugs finally arrived! :)

The Mayo Clinic claims that "a high intake of lycopene-containing foods [such as tomatoes, especially, and other red fruits] reduce the incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease and macular degeneration." Lycopene is a bright red carotene that acts as an anti-oxident. As a disclaimer, the Mayo Clinic also reports that "Since tomatoes are sources of other nutrients, including vitamin C, folate, and potassium, it is not clear that lycopene itself is beneficial." What has been proven in lab experiences is that tomatoes "reduce the incidence of cancer and cardiovascular disease". Apparently, they also help to keep our eyes healthy. Good to know, whether it's because of the lycopene, other nutrients or the combination!

This weekend I will be planting the tiny little seeds that will become the tomatoes for tomato sauce, salsa, juice and eventually make their way to my own table in Mediterranean and Mexican dishes. My grandchildren love the tomato soup made from the sauce. I also enjoy a glass of homegrown, homemade tomato juice when we have movie night with popcorn.

If you have never tried growing your own tomatoes, I highly recommend it. A couple of potted tomato plants can yield several pounds of tomatoes. Homegrown tomatoes, after using an Italian tomato press, produce such a sweet fresh flavor for your sauces! It's indescribable and nothing like any tomato or tomato sauce I've found in a store.

Today I have Gurney's Gurney Girl, Early Girl, and Cherry Tomato. I will also start a yellow tomato but have not decided which one. They're less acid, mellower in flavor, unless you go with an heirloom such as Heidi or a Mr. Stripey. Added to the red tomatoes, the yellow tomatoes give another layer of flavor, especially nice for juice, and I'm told the blend makes an absolutely delicious Bloody Mary!

Stephanie's Sticky Bun Tea Ring

6 T. butter, melted                   Temp. 375 degrees F    Time:  5 min. prep;  20-25 minutes baking.
6 T. maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts
2  12-oz. tubes of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

Brush 10-inch bundt/tube pan with 1 T of melted butter. In a small bow combine remaining butter and syrup. In another bowl combine brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon. Drizzle 2 to 3 T of buttery syrup in the pan. Sprinkle 1/3 cup sugar mixture over syrup. Place 1 tube of biscuits in the prepared pan. Then repeat with the syrup and sugar. Place the second tube of biscuits in the pan. Top with the remaining syrup and sugar mixtures.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Then cool for 1 to 2 minutes before inverting onto platter. Serve warm.  YUM!!!

Healthy Cooking and Eating=Healthier YOU!

My ancestors on one family branch often lived into their 80's and 90's at a time when this was uncommon so I set out to find out why. They were largely farmers and raised most of their own foods, even their pastured animals. It would have been a challenging life but active and much of the time was spent outdoors. Their foods, whole and organic, were home raised and home cooked. Most raised their own wheat and corn for flour and cornmeal. Their lives had a rhythm but not always to the same beat. The tempo would sometimes be dictated by seasons and weather conditions. They liked to have gatherings with friends and family and I  imagine what the scene would be like at one of those gatherings.

For years I have been trying to  reproduce this pastoral life on a very small scale to supplement our family's diet and, yes, to bring great food to the table that won't make us sick. I hope you are able to do this. Most aren't. It requires land and planning, time and work.  A community garden might work for you as a great way to start raising your vegetables and fruits. You can plan canning or freezing parties! Anything to lighten the load and make it fun! Also, find people who produce the rest of what you need without dangerous additives.

The self-acclaimed best source on the web for healthy eating may be "the world's healthiest foods", http://www.whfoods.org/. They conduct research and offer a special feature called Food Advisor that will make personal food recommendations based on your health needs. They're all about healthy cooking, healthy eating and a healthier YOU!

In the past week, "the world's healthiest foods" had articles on using pomegranate, dill, collard greens, and a tip that too much folate can cause nervous system disorders. OOPS! Too MUCH extra virgin olive oil? Watch out, Rachael Ray!

The Puzzle of the Pauley Principle, Part 3

Your Life's Puzzle Becomes Multi-Dimensional

Our lives overlap, our decisions impact others: friends, family, and people we'll never know. You are finding that whenever you collaborate and share your left-over pieces with others, whether it's your talent, time or personal produce, you enrich another person's life. These left-over pieces then form parts of others' puzzles, other lives, and you begin to see the interconnectedness. If it fills a need for the other person, it goes on the edge of their puzzle. If it's enrichment that you add to another's life, it goes in the center of their puzzle. Either way, that piece remains in the center of your puzzle. Your puzzle expands beyond its surface. Picture a pancake that is bubbling in the center. Your life is bubbling both over and under at its center. Know that there will be obstacles whenever you attempt to make the world a better place, but this all adds depth and height to your center. Never, ever EVER give up!

Your puzzle is now three-dimensional. Sharing and acts of kindness change your puzzle immediately and drastically. It can never go back to being flat. In fact, it hasn't been flat for a very long time. The pieces you have shared are still shared. They're still part of the enrichment, the core, of your own.  Maybe you can sense that you're adding to the puzzle of someone else's life. Imagine their puzzle forming an interconnection with yours. At the same time, theirs and yours are also interconnected with others. This would be very hard to draw. Much of it is invisible to you but you can sense the shape these puzzles are taking and your part in changing them. You are a necessary part of others' lives. Look beyond the surface of your puzzle, toward the center, way beyond your edge. You're supplying basic needs and/or enriching other people's lives. If all you do is smile, tell a stupid joke or plant flowers, that enriches others' lives, but you're doing way more than that. Remember your interconnectedness.

Bottom line: The more acts of kindness you do, the stronger your support system becomes, even though obstacles and misunderstandings will sometimes occur. If there are gaps in your support system, trust in God to fill them.  Be of good faith, not giving in to the whinings and complaints of others. Continue to work hard. Strive to be happy. In all you do, act out of love. Your life's puzzle, multi-dimensional and ever-changing, will eventually be complete.

The Puzzle of The Pauley Principle, Part 2

Life on the Edge

Let's assume you now have an outline of your life's needs, you see your life's puzzle as shaping into a meaningful order and you have developed a plan for filling in the gaps around the edge. You may have decided to replace some pieces to make life more fulfilling for you and your family. Remember, the whole reason for doing this puzzle exercise is to enrich the quality of your life. The rest of your life's picture will start to develop soon.

The time may have come to talk to others, possibly to collaborate on a shared garden or a spot for a fruit tree. Perhaps you just need to borrow a tool. In previous posts, I suggest beginning small, starting with supplementing your meals with tomatoes and herbs that you have grown. If you decide to do that, you may want to start seeds indoors now.  As you look at seed catalogs and brainstorm on possibilities, you may decide you can plant other crops as well.

Now, plan ahead for longevity. If you're over fifty, don't assume life is over for you. Invest now, before prices climb too high. In a downturned economy, small investments can pay off in huge ways.  Your need for food is supplemented by your own hard work, helping to complete or strengthen your puzzle's edge. A berry patch or a couple of fruit trees can eventually bear more than enough fruit for you even if you work out a co-op with someone who has land for the planting. Sharing isn't only nice, it's the smart thing to do! Excess produce or tillable land that you share become pieces that go in the center of your puzzle.  Think of ways that you can help others. In order to get to the center, perform every act and decision out of love, never in greed.

While you're working on the edge of your life's puzzle, there's one final thing you need to know: This puzzle's edge changes shape over time. Plan now so that you're not continually living on the edge, patching up the gaps. The richness of life is centered beyond yourself. The exciting part comes next, as you begin to see overlap in the puzzle and the full picture reveals itself.

The Puzzle of The Pauley Principle, Part 1

Dump Out the Pieces and Start Sorting

This can work for you. Imagine that all life's pieces that have to do directly with you and your family are laid out on the table along with pieces from other people's lives. How can you put the puzzle together in a way that creates a meaningful whole? Thoughtfully, carefully, intentionally--usually one piece at a time--but you may have some pieces missing.

First, consider your basic needs. In today's world you must add medical care and transportation to the food, clothing, and shelter list. Those are the edge pieces of your puzzle. They give your life shape and boundaries. And, yes, we need boundaries as a starting reference. Put your basic needs in order before you begin sorting out the rest of the puzzle. Other people are working on their own puzzles and may neither have the time nor the inclination to work on yours right now, but they will.

To put your edge pieces in place, ask yourself what you can do to supplement your basic needs, live life more abundantly, and cut costs. Any little thing you can do will add to your quality of life, but there's a trade-off. It's work. In another article I suggested growing tomatoes because my family loves Mediterranean cooking (pizza, pasta, salads, etc.) and Mexican-style cooking (salsa, the spiciness of chili, and tacos). I use tomato products at least three times a week. I also recommended herbs, not necessarily a need but they do improve the quality of life, and the cost of herbs is on the increase. Consider the difference between pasta with plain tomato sauce and sauce with herbs added. Choose several herbs if you can because variety is the spice of life. Use fresh when possible. Then dry, grind, and save the rest. You may have more than you need and that leads to Part 2.



Maple-Glazed Grilled Quail

1 tsp. crushed red peppers
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. crushed thyme
6 quail, prepared for cooking
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil

Prepare a rub of the dry ingredients. Rub into the quail. Place rubbed quail into shallow baking pan. Whisk together the oil and maple syrup and pour over the quail. Turn to coat evenly.

Place the quail breast-side down on an oiled rack over medium heat. Watch for flare-ups. Cover and grill for about 8 minutes. Turn. Brush with the syrup/oil mixture. Finish grilling about 8 more minutes or until breast meat is at 180 degrees.

Serving side dish suggestions:  Green salad with fresh peaches and blue cheese, potato wedges.

Sticky Maple Buns

Around the Pauley Plantation (tongue in cheek, but we do have maple trees), it's about time to begin harvesting sap. It's a process that is labor intensive for at least a week but SO FUN!  You have to bulk up to have the energy for it (LOL, any excuse works!), so this week I had warm sticky maple buns fresh from the oven, a great reward for the hard work of gathering, reducing and canning last year's sap. A friend of mine asked me to post my recipe. Get yourself some syrup, locally made if available, and give this recipe a try!

Begin with a basic sweet roll recipe. Here's the one I use, modified from Better Homes and Gardens:
4 to 4 1/2 cups flour
1 pkt active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
Combine half the flour with the yeast. Heat the milk, sugar, butter, and salt to 115-120 degrees F. Add to the flour mixture. Use a mixer on low speed for one minute. Then add the eggs. Mix on high until silky smooth. Then stir in more flour and continue stirring in flour until you have a gooey ball. Begin kneading more flour into the dough until it's smooth and firm. Place into a greased bowl. Turn the ball over. Cover for about an hour or until double in size. After that, the fun part. Punch it down. Divide in half and allow it to rest for a few minutes.
Sticky maple buns:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Roll out dough into two 8"X12" rectangles. Spread each rectangle with butter. Mix cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle half on each rectangle. Roll up from the long side and cut into 1" rounds. Turn oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare two round baking pans with butter. Pour half the maple syrup into each pan. Sprinkle with walnuts.  Place the rounds over the maple/walnut mixture. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Serve warm. YUM!!!

Wine Making Kits | Home Winemaking

Wine-making Kits

Have you tried any of the winemaking kits on the market? I'm curious. Some companies claim you can actually have good wine in 30 days. Maybe I'll try it sometime. Watch the YouTUBE video. Andy Watkins makes it look so easy! But...With my slower process, I don't have the added chemicals. Instead, the wine filters and de-fizzes itself in a succession of rackings over time, months! And well worth the wait.

Tonight, it's time for me to bottle, cap, and label a delightful little grape/blueberry combination from my own Concord grapes and some locally grown blueberries. The season was rough. Too hot and dry, so this is a very select little batch! The taste is delectable. If I had the money, I'd be willing to pay well for a wine as great as this. But HA!!! I don't have to, and if you try winemaking, you will enjoy yours too.

Here's the hardest part of making wine. I'm such a health nut that I won't allow myself more than a small glass of wine, about 3 ounces, a day. But, as my father used to say, "Moderation in all things, including moderation!"  Hence, the bottomless glass theory.  (Ask Shaun.)

Pizza Bake-Off!

On New Year's Day this year we broke tradition by having a family Pizza Bake-Off! Family members gathered in the large log cabin kitchen, where we had separate work stations and kept two ovens going. Anyone under the age of twelve became a judge. Kids are so honest!

We laid out some community ingredients. Fresh mozzarella, aged parmesan, olive oil, pepperoni and my homegrown oregano, garlic and crushed red peppers were joined by my son's contributions of fresh mushrooms and shredded mozzarella and my daughter's olives. Each chef had at least one specialty. One used Alfredo sauce with broccoli. One used spinach. One used a gluten free crust. And one used, get this, storebought crust and sauce, which the youngest judge preferred. My ace in the hole was homemade tomato sauce. I mistakenly thought it gave me an edge until I looked over and saw that my daughter had brought hers. The chefs used an assortment of homemade crust, boxed mixes, and prepared crust.

The laughter was contagious as each of the "chefs" simultaneously worked to prepare the best entry! When the young judges, ages 5 to 11, were finally presented with wedges from each of the six entries, they carefully tasted each pizza and weighed their reasons for liking this one or that one. The kids were perplexed when they could not come to agreement on a winner. We explained that the real fun was in the process, not in who won.  It turned out to be a great learning experience as well as a thoroughly enjoyable and delicious way to spend our time!

Now we're taking nominations for our next food challenge. One of the judges suggested omelets. Omelets?  :-/  She says, "But I really, really like omelets!" What would you suggest?

If you do a pizza bake-off let me know how it goes. For pennies on the dollar, you can make your own crust. It's simple. Here's my recipe:

Pizza Crust

1 1/2 C. flour
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1.2 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup water at 90-110 degrees F.
1 T. olive oil

Put half of the flour into a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients. Pour in the water and olive oil and stir until smooth and silky. Then begin mixing in the rest of the flour. Form into a ball and knead until smooth and consistent. In another bowll that has been coated with oil, place the ball of pizza and then turn it over. Cover and place in a warm spot for about 30 minutes. This will be enough crust for a 14" thin crust pizza or a 10" pan pizza. For a crispy crust, brown the pizza crust in a pan in a 350 degree F. oven for ten minutes before adding toppings. I prefer just browning the bottom in a 12" cast iron skillet on the range before adding toppings. That only takes a couple of minutes and gives the crust a firmer, crunchy texture and nutty taste. Add toppings and bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Enjoy!

Potted Herbs for the Kitchen

Cooking for others is an extension of ourselves,  primeval in terms of saying you care. Cooking with herbs goes beyond caring. It's saying, "I love you and I want your to enjoy your food!"

My husband is not fond of green peppers or onions, so I've learned to avoid them when I cook for him. To top it off, my daughter has developed a strong aversion to onions, not just a dislike. That has forced my hand. I've substituted with herbs and found that I love, love, LOVE adding oregano to things like chili, homemade pizza and pasta sauce. Surprising to me, since I didn't think I liked oregano before I had to adjust my cooking.

Fresh potted herbs can add not only a fragrance and look to your kitchen but also add layers of flavors to your cooking that are deliciously incomparable. Since I've begun using fresh herbs, my husband often says things like, "Wow! I don't know what you did, but this (fill in the blank) is incredible!" That's what you want to hear, no matter who you're cooking for. After all, it's an extension of YOU but, with fresh herbs, remember that a little goes a long way. You don't want to scream your love. That would soon get annoying! YOWZA!

My favorite purveyor of herb seeds and plants is Jung, online at www.jungseed.com, since they have such a broad broad selection. There are many, of course. Harris Seed Company at www.harrisseeds.com, and of course Burpee at www.Burpee.com. Gurney's at Gurneys.com is where I usually get my tomato seeds, by the way. I like all these companies for fruits, vegetables and herbs and there are many more that I use. Start potting soon for your own enjoyment.

I should be showing you a picture of either potted herbs or my herb garden but the herbs are now gone for the season. Meanwhile, last year's herbs are dried, ground with my mortar and pestle, and ready to use! It's time to start more seeds! Let's see, dill is great for fish, savory adds a delicious oomph to roast beef, cilantro (love that fragrance), thyme and sage with chicken (YUM!). TTYL! I've got to send out my order! In the meantime, I welcome your comments! I want to know your thoughts and experiences!

Tomatoes, fresh from the vine--Homegrown and Surprisingly Delicious!

YUM! I'm thinking tomatoes! I start tomato seeds in plugs, not pellets, and they do pretty well. For about six weeks you just need to check on them so that they don't dry out. Today I'm ordering them so they'll be ready to plant as soon as I can get them outside. I plant in three stages: seed starter plugs inside near a window (but a growlight is actually better) in late January/early February, then transfer to a coldframe outside about six to eight weeks later, and then transplant into the garden when their stems have become strong. OR, you can put your starter plug directly into pots for potted tomatoes to set outside later. Even if you have a garden, a potted tomato is so handy to have, especially when the garden is muddy.

If your experience with tomatoes is limited to store-bought, even the hydroponic tomatoes, you are in for a treat if you'll try raising your own! Saying you don't like homegrown tomatoes is like having day-old coffee and thinking you don't like the flavor of a fresh brew! You really owe it to yourself, if you have any space at all, to give it a try. In the summertime a pot of fresh tomatoes on the doorstep can greet you with a delicious treat after your day's work. Plan now.

Seed selection is important. As a homegrower, you'll have a wider selection than a mass producing truck farmer has. You won't need the tough skins or long shelf life. I suggest a small round tomato such as the Early Girl by Gurney. The sweet flavor is incredible and makes incomparably fresh-tasting sauce for pasta and pizza! I'm aware that Roma seems to be the tomato of choice by packers of tomato sauce but its flavor is bitter compared to the Early Girl. A sweet potted cherry tomato plant is perfect for a quick bite or a salad. For either fresh or canned tomatoes, I'll choose Gurney Girl but I'll also plant Mr. Stripey because it is so pretty in salads and also very tasty with a firm texture that just feels good to eat. The experience of eating a tomato, fresh from the garden, is so fun!

Heirloom tomatoes can be flavorful but mushy. I've tried a couple. At first bite, I thought, "This is it!" But the mushy flesh and lack the disease resistance quickly turned me off. They tended to rot easily before they ripen. UGH! At least, that's been my experience.

Please let me know your tomato-growing experiences and preferences. I'm willing to try something new! And if you haven't tried growing your own yet, it's time to start!

The Downturned Economy and a New Age of Self-Reliance

The trickle-down economics of the Reagan Era proved to be a joke for most Americans. Sorry if that insults your political sense but bear with me. The money certainly did not trickle down to the working poor and I suspect it also did not reach a number of my middle class readers. That economic principle had a major flaw. Here's an analogy. My husband has done residential site development since the late seventies and he recognizes that in a plumbing system, excrement flows downhill, not money. In our country's economy, money and cashflow, like the sanitary inserts used by women and then flushed, has had a trend of getting caught up near the top of the system, way up at the top!

The Pauley Principle, briefly stated, is that productively working people (those earning less than $200K/yr) and the new poor, whether recently out of a job, or because of poor health, medical costs, or inflation can live life more abundantly. I invite you to follow my lead and begin with making great food and drink for your table. Then, as your food supply increases (and I borrow this idea from Audrey Hepburn), work with your right hand to bring food in and then share  with your left hand. My wish for you, your friends and family is that you will benefit in both health and wealth.

Here's the way it works. As our manufactured productivity continues to slide, personal productivity must increase. A body at rest tends to stay at rest (think economy, think couch potato) while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. We're talking about inertia. Work it, baby, work it! Your body and soul will love you for it!

My blogs cover a number of topics that include ideas for gardening, community gardening, canning parties, recipes, how-to tips such as starting a small vineyard, wine making, links, resources and having cheap thrills.

I invite you not only to follow but to interact with me. Share your experiences on growing, harvesting and gathering, food preservation, recipes and your ideas. Now, get going! I do this and you can too! Start by looking at some seeds you'd like to plant or figure out a way to pull friends and family together for a shared garden spot, labor and tools. You're not limited to veggies. Consider different foods you can produce individually or on the shares, or hunt and gather. I encourage you to set into motion your own sense of self-reliance, descended from centuries of hunters and gatherers, and allow inertia to sweep you into a wonderfully satisfying experience of productivity, great food, drink, and wonderful fun!

Once you start, keep me posted with your progress, successes and even your false starts. It happens. Just don't give up. Eventually you'll come out ahead.

What? Me, Make Wine? Why NOT!?

According to the King James Bible, winemaking was the first miracle that Jesus performed. It's easy and doesn't require a miracle at all unless, of course, you're at the wedding when the wine runs out. What's more, home winemaking is a legal adult pastime here in the USA. Not only that, it is the most fun I've ever had with a hobby! You can produce and store a rather significant quantity for your own use. You can give it to friends for gifts. But, if you're a home winemaker, you are prohibited from selling the wines you make, a fact that friends don't really mind at all when they receive gifts of wine!
For a reasonable cost, wine-making suppliers can see that you have everything you need to make a great-tasting wine for your own table.
Plan ahead before you begin. Talk to people who make wine--the numbers are growing--or find a good resource to guide you through the process. This blogsite will help you. When I make wine, I take copious notes so that, if I do it right I can help others. If I mess up, I'll try to pass that along too so that others will benefit by my successes as well as my mistakes. After you decide you're going to make wine, gather your supplies to one convenient spot. This could be a basement corner, a spare bathroom, or even right in your own kitchen! The process smells wonderful! Then, just wait for the ripening of the fruits you want to use in making your wine. If you just can't wait or don't have a suitable fresh source, try one of the kits made especially for winemaking, available from winemaking suppliers such a E. C. Kraus.
I hope this has planted the little grape seed that has you thinking about making some wine. And although I enjoy grapes for wine, there are many other fruits that seem to want to be wine. Tonight, I'll work with one and enjoy another!  In some following blogs I'll will share some of the resources that I've learned from and a little overview of my experiences with winemaking. In the meantime, let that seed of thought grow and someday you, too, may live life more abundantly with your own delicious table or dessert wine!