A Day in the Life ---- Rendering Lard and other Day to Day Doings

We are still enjoying very nice weather.  The temperatures are running about 10° higher than the norm.

This past week, we picked up the processed hog our son had ordered.  He never wants the liver or the ground up fat.  I take these gladly.  I made lard.  I placed the thawed, ground fat in  my maslin pan.  Added a cup or more of water so it would scorch on the bottom and placed the pan on low.  I was careful this time to not let the cracklings get to the brown crunchy stage.  That doesn't ruin the lard but gives it a tan  color and a little pig taste that makes it not good for pie crusts.

I have over done that before.  I never use the cracklings (the chickens get that).  It doesn't take long.  I then strain the fat through two layers of cheese cloth and pour into containers to store.  This time, I got smart and put it in shorter glass jars. Easier to dip into.

I just wish I had greater access to the fat.  I have asked the processor but he doesn't save it.  I am betting he has a source he sells it  to if the people don't want it.

The lard from the stores is partially hydrogenated which is what I am trying to avoid.

I finally cleaned the pumpkin patch.  It filled  the garden cart heaping full. Found three more pumpkins bringing the total harvest to a self seeded vine to 13.  All from one seed.  Long Island Squash would always be my go-to pumpkin/squash.  It is a moschata type which are more resistant  to squash bugs.

I am almost finished cleaning the overgrowth of weeds from the  light pole bed around the propane  tank.  Still have some string trimmer work to complete it.

It doesn't look like much but suffice it to say before you could barely see the propane tank.


We have a new varmint laying about the yard.....thankfully he  doesn't eat anything!

This is part of the tree stump that I left laying....every time I mow he gives me a start! I love these kinds of varmints!  BTW, we caught another real one in the live trap  night before last, a possum.

We seem to have an endless supply.

I leave with an interesting view of the sky:

Happy Valentine's Day

What a dreary day it is.  Yesterday was nice  and sunny; today is it drizzling rain.  It is warmer and I am not complaining about the moisture. I always think of Ian Tyson's  song  Moisture.  How true this is for farmers!

Most of the snow is gone!  We are much warmer these  days.




This was taken from the west side of the house.  looking northwest.

The wood pile is going down,



Yesterday was a very busy day for us.  My computer was not staying hooked up to the internet.  I determined  it was the router since when I plugged the rooftop connection into the tower  without going through the router, I got connection.  We drove to a small nearby town where I was told to go by the company we use (Total Highspeed).  He tested and said the router was good.  He finally came up with the idea the tower connection cable me be  going bad....new one for free (they are connected with Highspeed).

I am now connected.....but why did I get connected using the old  cable?  I am still a little nervous about that.

Before we left the town, Republic, Mo., I told DH if he needed anything from Walmart he better stop and we always need cat food!  He came out with the food and a box of chocolates for me! First time in many, many years....bless his heart.  I forgot to mention that while at the computer store, I spied a used laptop for $199.  I have been wanting one for kitchen used (recipes online and my recipes) and I went back to the truck and asked DH what he thought and he said get it; Happy Valentine's Day!.  What has happened to my husband of 53 years and who is the strange man in my house.



The day before we had picked up the two hogs we had ordered and I had thawed two package of ground fat.  I decided to set up the computer; make bread and buns and let the fat be rendering while doing all of the  above.......and I did.

Bread was white this time.  I made two loaves and a pan of 8  buns.  It turned out great (thank you KA flour).  Periodically I just stirred the rendering lard.  I used my trusty maslin pan on top of the gas range.

By the hunt and peck method (no manuals) I added  my WiFi info to the laptop and copied my recipes to it.
I am now connected but I don't like the touch thing and will pick up a mouse for it, assuming it will  accept it.
It is a 4-year old Lenovo Thinkpad, office type (he said  it means it is more heavy duty).  It is certainly heavy in weight.

I did have quite a mess in the kitchen!  I got a full coffee can, part of a  pint  jar and about a quart I just poured into my remaining lard container.  This morning I am doing a secondary rendering of the cracklings since I knew there was more left.  It made me thing of virgin olive oil and whatever they call that second squeezing of the mash.

I wish I knew  what to do with the cracklings.  We weren't impressed with them in cornbread but I may try it again. If you have any ideas please share.

The second rendering is being done in  my new Lodge chicken fryer.




Wow!  This is enough  for one day.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

A Few Days Ago

Daylight savings time has ended . I  am not loving it! I hate feeling by 5 PM that it is bedtime  and that is how I feel.  You would think by now my body would adjust readily to these annoying time changes....

It has rained for the last two days;  not heavily but too wet to be outside.  I think another 1/2 inch.  I am glad I got my garlic and onions planted before this round hit.  I found enough turnips to cook for me today.  Several didn't make bulbs....I don't know what causes that.  I thinned them heavily.  I will leave all of them in the ground and see if they every make anything.

The maintenance for the all-farm generator got canceled because of the rain....they will try again Friday when it is supposed to be dry.  We have already had an hour outage since the battery went down on it.  What are the odds of that!!  It was no big thing, but I am nervous now.  I got very complacent about power outages since we have had it.

Today's plans are errands.  I need to return a library book and we need  to pick up coffee (this is our most critical commodity!).  I also need to go to my King Arthur flour source (a Kroger store, Dillon's) for bread flour and regular flour.  I am also low on sugar; I should have picked that up at Sam's.  I wish I could find a good local source for real lard, not the Armour product with additives and partially hydrogenated lard in it.  Walmart used to carry one but then switched to Armour! 

Note:  I missed posting this one so will just to keep my journal in order.

Random dog Picture

Sugar has been a bad girl lately; she has discovered the neighbors have dogs and she runs off to visit after going to the field with DH.  I am checking into buying the wireless fencing for around the house.

We Got Snow

We finally got some snow here; only 2-3 inches but it was beautiful!

I am standing looking out the front door:



This is my River Birch, they are so limber that they bend to the ground like willows.

Don't know why the kitty decided to venture out, but she did,


Here some of them were enjoying the morning sun during our previous ice storm.



Once again, I didn't get out.  I did take advantage and rendered the lard.

I almost filled a coffee can.  I am using Ilene's suggestion of using coffee containers for storage.  I don't know why I never though of that before.



and I made some of these,



Half are filled with my mincemeat and half with some of the peach preserves I made yesterday.

What do you call these little things?  They aren't tarts......they need a name.

Errand Day and Jam Making

I a slept until almost 4:30 AM, a very good night for me. 

We knew a storm front was moving in this afternoon so we did our errands early.  We went to the processors and picked up the cured meat  from the hog.  We pass a place that has a few buffalo and every time I take the camera they are out of sight.  Today, I didn't take it and 8 were in nice range.......We won't be going in that direction for a long time now since  the only reason is the meat plant.

We picked up a few supplies at the small local market and got gas for the truck.

The front came in around 3 pm.  Blew like crazy; rained some; snowed some but now the sun is shining.  It is still very windy.  Nothing will stick  at the temperatures we are  having.

I had thawed two packages of peaches several days ago and knew they had to be worked up.  I thawed them to make jam and jam  I did.  I made a regular 4 cup batch with pectin and then just cooked the remaining 3 cups with 3 cups of sugar until I thought the were the right consistency.

The quart jar is the old-fashioned kind of preserves.



I have the second package of ground hog fat thawing and will render it tomorrow.