sarbar
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After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
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Post by sarbar on Jul 12, 2019 19:20:14 GMT -8
We found an old metal ice cube trays, the kind with the handle that pulled up and loosened the cubes. I had forgotten that frigs today have automatic ice makers, and probably the old ice cube trays are unheard of to youngsters today. We found what I think was an old cookie jar. (and I felt positively well informed b/c I knew what that and other old devices were!) I wonder if Ball canning jars will become antiques in the future; they're something that probably any woman who canned used. Weird things: I won't buy a frig with water hooked up to it now. We had a hose leak in our previous home. What a mess! Our new place I went old school. Also, we are on well water, so I don't like it in lines. I make all our ice by hand and honestly...it ain't that hard! Canning jars....I found out I had over 800 jars when we moved. I can so much. My Mom taught me how and so every summer I get to work It's caught on though with older Millenials who want fancy foods and control over what is in it! Ball is making modern versions of the old antique jars every year now!
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 12, 2019 20:03:04 GMT -8
That’s a lot of jars, sarbar! I don’t think even my mom ever had that many, though I’ll bet at the peak my grandma did. My collection is a much more modest 2 or 3 dozen. For years all I ever canned was applesauce (bought apples in bulk when cheap) and a batch of zucchini relish every 2 or 3 years (one batch was enough to last). Today I canned a kettle full of tomatoes, but I don’t know if there will be anything else in enough quantity to bother canning (oh, and I already did my relish). I’ve never had or wanted a fridge with a built-in ice-maker. Sadly, we have one now, which probably means problems somewhere along the line. Those things are the #1 things that breaks on a fridge, and as you note, it’s really not that hard to make ice cubes in a tray.
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sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 940
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Post by sarbar on Jul 12, 2019 20:08:40 GMT -8
probably means problems somewhere along the line Yep. It sucked finding water damage. Sucked so much. Thankfully it didn't mold nor rot out - we caught it in time. Oddly our current place is the same age as the last house, but this house was built by a contractor for himself. He was probably too cheap to run the water line to the frig. Lol!
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 12, 2019 20:13:41 GMT -8
Or maybe he didn’t want to run the risk of water damage and breakdowns!
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Post by autumnmist on Jul 13, 2019 6:29:03 GMT -8
I make all our ice by hand and honestly...it ain't that hard! sarbar, good for you for those decisions. This is one of the reasons I can't understand the need or desire for automatic ice cubes. It doesn't require rocket science to make them. And I'd rather have water directly from the tap than from yet a line from a water source. I've said this repeatedly and I stand by it. If the thinking minds for appliance and household design want to do homwowners a favor, they'll find a better way to clean, especially bathtubs, toilets and ovens (backbreaking job), and NOT with toxic scrubs. Leaning over to clean a tub or bending down to clean an over gets harder with age. Long handled scrubs are either not very effective, or turn at revolution speed that I think could splatter soap suds or cleaners all around the bathtub area. I've found lemon juice is a good cleaner, but it's still not as effective with a sponge scrubber than hand cleaning. Something I've wondered about is those water source lines are cleaned. My plumber explained years about build-up in water lines, and if there's one to a frig and the line isn't or can't be cleaned, how knows what's building up or growing in there? Yuck.
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Post by autumnmist on Jul 13, 2019 6:42:58 GMT -8
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 13, 2019 8:29:34 GMT -8
autumnmist, I haven’t made pickles yet, but I’m planning (in the next day or so) to make some quick refrigerator pickles. My mom used to do that, and while she couldn’t remember exactly how, I found a lot of recipes online. The only pickles I’ve ever done was pickling an excess of radishes a few years ago—an only semi-successful effort (they pickles okay, but weren’t all that good). Zucchini pickles? Hmm... I do love growing and preserving food. In part, it’s a pure nostalgia thing—we did so much of it when I was growing up, and while I often kicked about the work, I also kind of liked it. Much better than cleaning! Apropos of cleaning, I think you are spot-on. What we need are self-cleaning appliances, not ones with more gadgets. Of course, the self-cleaning systems would be gadgets to break. Sigh.
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sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
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Post by sarbar on Jul 13, 2019 8:40:26 GMT -8
Zuke pickles are tasty!!
Yeah, I hated it all as a kid. I had no patience. Hated kneading bread. Now I know why my Mom liked it. Some of my most positive memories of childhood were baking bread with her, dehydrating food. But the worst was grinding the pickle relish in an ancient metal food grinder. I hated that. Lol. Now, when I process tomatoes that is all I can think of, is her and I in that hot kitchen together.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 13, 2019 8:42:29 GMT -8
sarbar, one thing—I often thought it was hot in our kitchen on Vashon, but dang! It was nothing compared to here. Without AC I couldn’t live, let alone do any cooking/canning.
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sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 940
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Post by sarbar on Jul 13, 2019 9:13:37 GMT -8
Lol! Yeah, last house we had a heat pump put in and that first summer canning with AC was heaven. Our house here has AC but I rarely turn it on (thank you island winds!) but canning time....I seal up the house! :D
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 13, 2019 11:40:30 GMT -8
Lol! Yeah, last house we had a heat pump put in and that first summer canning with AC was heaven. Our house here has AC but I rarely turn it on (thank you island winds!) but canning time....I seal up the house! :D This is when I understand the concept of the summer kitchen—from back in the wood-stove days, when they had a stove on the back porch or even in a separate shelter in the yard. Can you imagine how hot it would get canning if you not only had a burner going all day, but a whole wood stove?
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Post by autumnmist on Jul 13, 2019 13:07:43 GMT -8
I've felt for years that houses need summer kitchens more than massive rooms. And rooms can be multipurpose, not single purpose. Summer kitchens on the North side of the house with multiple windows and fans appropriately placed could diminish the heating load from cooking.
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sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 940
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Post by sarbar on Jul 13, 2019 17:36:10 GMT -8
One cool thing is our place does have a propane line to the patio - for a grill, but it will mate with my propane burner. It's one of those turkey fryer ones, but can hold my pressure canner perfectly.
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