Category: Self sufficiency

Ukrainian Paska

Ukrainian Easter bread or paska (which means Easter) is a slightly sweet egg bread that can be decorated with religious symbols.

Ukrainian Easter bread or paska (which means Easter) is a slightly sweet egg bread that can be decorated with religious symbols.

It’s taken to church on Easter morning in a special basket with other foods to be blessed.

Ingredients

  • 1For the Sponge
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 cup water (lukewarm)
  • 3 (1/4-ounce) packages active dry yeast
  • For the Dough
  • 10 large egg yolks (room-temperature)
  • 2 large eggs (room-temperature)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 8 ounces butter (melted)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest (grated)
  • 6 cups all-purpose flour
  • Optional: 1 cup raisins (light or dark)
  • 1 large egg (room-temperature)
  • 2 tablespoons milk (or water, room-temperature)

Steps to Make It

Note: while there are multiple steps to this recipe, this Easter babka is broken down into workable categories to help you better plan for preparation and baking.

Make the Sponge

  1. Gather the ingredients.
  2. Scald the milk and cool it to 110 F.
  3. Place 1/3 cup flour in a medium bowl and pour the cooled scalded milk over, beating until smooth. Set aside.
  4. In a measuring cup or small bowl, dissolve 2 teaspoons sugar in lukewarm water and stir in the yeast.
  5. Transfer the yeast mixture to the milk-flour paste, mixing well.
  6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until light and bubbly.

Make the Dough

  1. Gather the ingredients.
  2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the egg yolks, whole eggs, and salt.
  3. Add 1 cup sugar and continue beating until light.
  4. Beat in the butter, vanilla, and lemon zest.
  5. Add the sponge to this mixture and mix well.
  6. Add 6 cups flour and knead 7 minutes by machine or 10 minutes by hand.
  7. Knead in the optional raisins.
  8. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.
  9. Punch down dough, knead a few times, and let it rise again.
  10. Grease 3 babka cylinders or food-grade coffee tins and fill each pan 1/3 full.
  11. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until tripled.
  12. Brush tops with 1 large egg beaten with 2 tablespoons of milk or water.

Bake the Babkas

  1. Heat oven to 375 F.
  2. Bake babkas 10 minutes.
  3. Then lower temperature to 325 F and bake 30 minutes.
  4. Then lower temperature to 275 F and bake 15 to 20 minutes longer. Cover tops with aluminum foil, if they are browning too quickly.
  5. Remove from the oven and let stand in the pan for 10 minutes.
  6. Turn loaves out of the pan, running a knife around them, if necessary, and cool completely on a wire rack.
  7. If desired, the cooled loaves can be iced with a simple confectioners’ sugar glaze, letting it drip down the sides for a decorative effect.
  8. Serve and enjoy!

Sugar Glaze

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons butter 
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons milk (or hot water, for desired consistency)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.
  2. Melt the butter in a saucepan, or in a bowl or cup in the microwave.
  3. Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar into a medium-size bowl.
  4. Add the melted butter, 2 tablespoons of milk or hot water, and the vanilla to the powdered sugar. Stir to blend.
  5. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, adding a little more milk or hot water if necessary.
  6. Drizzle the finished glaze over a cooled cake, quick bread, coffee cake, cupcakes, or other desserts.

At Easter one says “Khrystos Voskres” (“Christ is risen!”) and responds “Voistynu Voskres” (“He is truly risen”).

Crusty French Baguettes

The aroma of freshly-baked bread has more than just the power to make your mouth water. According to a new study, it can also make you a kinder person. With all of us cooped up self-quarantining bake up some of these loaves for a kinder home… after all, who can be angry when the house smells like a French bakery?

The aroma of freshly-baked bread has more than just the power to make your mouth water. According to a new study, it can also make you a kinder person. With all of us cooped up self-quarantining bake up some of these loaves for a kinder home… after all, who can be angry when the house smells like a French bakery?

INGREDIENTS

2 cups of bread flour (regular flour will work too)
1 cup fine corn meal
1 teaspoon salt
½ a package of yeast (1 package will work for about 5 cups of flour)
2-3 tbsp of olive oil and about a cup of warm bleach free water ,give or take,

METHOD

Mix all this together well till is actually cleaning the bowl, dough shouldn’t be too sticky form into a ball, and knead for about 2-3 minutes.

oil bowl and cover with a humid towel and let rest for about 2 hours in a warm area till double

After it has double do not knead again just shape into a ball or loafs

Brush with olive oil and sprinkle a little coarse salt on top

Let rest for about 30-40 minutes and baked in a very hot oven or your BBQ for about 20 minutes.

If you have a food processor/stand mixer then just add everything to the bowl a little water first then the oil then the water till starts to clean the bowl and then just let it knead for a few seconds.

Artisan bread requires no kneading, just mixed everything and let it rest till double

Dumped the dough into a mold or well oil cast iron Dutch oven with a piece of foil/parchment paper on the bottom

Let rest like before and baked in a very hot oven.

Also unglazed quarry tiles or oven tiles will give you a beautiful crusty loaf once they get hot enough just like the old wood ovens, a charcoal BBQ works great for this.

PS.the internal temperature of the bread should be about 180* when fully baked. And the house should smell like Heaven.

Dinner rolls

Lambert’s Cafe, in Sikeston, Missouri, which calls itself the “Home of Throwed Rolls,” has made a name for itself by throwing hot dinner rolls to customers. They are light, yeasty and delicious. What follows is my interpretation of those yeasty gems.

Lambert’s Cafe, in Sikeston, Missouri, which calls itself the “Home of Throwed Rolls,” has made a name for itself by throwing hot dinner rolls to customers. They are light, yeasty and delicious. What follows is my interpretation of those yeasty gems.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon sugar. 1 (1/4 ounce) package dry active yeast. 1/4 cup tepid water (105-110 degrees).
1 cup warm milk. 1/4 cup melted butter. 1/4 cup sugar. 1 egg, beaten (at room temp). 1 teaspoon salt. 4 cups all-purpose flour.

Directions

Combine sugar and yeast in tepid water. Let stand 5-10 minutes until yeast begins to foam.
Thoroughly mix milk, butter, sugar, egg and salt in large bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture and 3 1/2 cups of flour, adding a bit more if necessary to make a soft, pliable dough.
Turn dough out on floured board and let rest while you clean and butter bowl.
Knead dough gently 4-5 minutes, adding flour if necessary, until dough is smooth and silky. Return to bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in warm place until doubled in size (1 1/2 hours approximately).
Butter a 12-cup muffin tin. Punch down dough.
Pinch off pieces that are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, (enough to fill one-half of muffin cup), and roll into smooth spheres. Place two such pieces in each prepared muffin cup- it will be a tight fit.
Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap for 45 minutes.
Bake rolls in preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, or until light brown.
Serve as soon as they are cool enough to throw.

Some words to the wise

Imagine breakfast without toast, a grilled cheese sandwich without the bread or a burger without the bun, even simple soups taste better with a slice of bread or dinner roll.

Some of us were lucky enough to be taught “old-time” skills from parents and grand parents who lived through the Depression. “Use it up, wear it out, make it over or do without” was their mantra and it served them, (and us), well.

I believe that our society has lost its’ way.

We have become dependent upon handouts from the government; junk food full of chemicals and “entertainment” that should make decent folks want to vomit.

It wasn’t always this way. Not too long ago, our grandparents and their fore-bearers knew how to grow things; how to make things; how to preserve the harvest. They knew how to not only survive, but to thrive, through good times and lean times.

There was a time when all folks knew these skills and tricks, but over the past 70 years or so, many skills and much of the knowledge that was commonplace became rare and in some cases was lost.

This next series of posts will be an attempt to provide a resource where those who are interested in becoming more self-reliant and self-sufficient can find some answers, (and, perhaps, share some of their own knowledge).

The next few days will be devoted to feeding your family.

WELCOME TO GRANDPAS’ OLD-TIME RECIPES.

Some of them come from my parents and grandparents; some from friends and family and some from some of my favorite chefs and restaurants.

I have tested all of them and they are delicious!

BASIC WHITE BREAD


If you can’t bake bread you will not survive! You can’t stock-up on bread because it is perishable, so you must bake it yourself. For a well balanced self-sufficient meal plan you must bake it every week.

Imagine breakfast without toast, a grilled cheese sandwich without the bread or a burger without the bun, even simple soups taste better with a slice of bread or dinner roll.

(Total time 3 hours)   Makes one loaf

INGREDIENTS
3 cups All-Purpose Flour, (grind you own from wheat berries or use a good quality like King Arthur)
1/4 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Oil (or Melted Crisco Shortening)
1 tsp Salt
1 cup 110-120 degree water
1 pkg (1 tsp) “Active Dry Yeast” or “Rapid Rise Yeast”

Proofing, (blooming), the Yeast:
For guaranteed rising results when using “Active Dry Yeast” or “Rapid Rise Dry Yeast”
I proof the yeast in warmed water 100-110 degrees checked with a thermometer and combine the sugar and yeast into a small bowl or measuring cup and stir until dissolved, let froth for about 5-10 minutes.

Combining:
In another bowl combine and whisk together all the dry ingredients.
Then add the bloomed yeast, oil and blend for 2-5 minutes with a stiff handle rubber spatula. Now just blend the ingredients into a ball but do not knead. Should take 1-2 minutes.

1st Rise:
Now remove from the bowl and knead aggressively for 1-2 minutes. Place the dough back into the bowl. (This can be as long as overnight)

2nd Rise:
Punch the dough down, knead for 1-2 minutes and then shape to fit in a greased bread baking pan. Let it rise again in the pan, in a warm place, until about double is size, about 60 minutes.

Bake:
Now after the dough has risen the second time put it in the oven, middle rack and bakes at 325 degrees F for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for 30 minutes and enjoy.

Tips:
• Oven temperature is critical for success. Use an oven thermometer on the shelf you’re baking on for accurate temperature.
• To prevent the bread sides and bottom from burning or becoming overdone place a pizza stone on the shelf you’re baking on (to deflect the heat rising from below) then place the bread pan on the pizza stone.
• Avoid dead bread: The yeast must be kept warm through out the preparation to give the results you want.

Most cases of bread rising failure goes right back to the time you add your ingredients. The flour, sugar and oil must be warm also (room temp) If these items are stored in a refrigerator or a cold pantry they will draw the heat out of the yeast and water. The result is stalled yeast and little on no rising will occur = Dead Bread. The ideal temperature for letting bread dough rise is 80 degrees f. This holds true for all yeast recipes.

Durable power of attorney for financial

A financial power of attorney is a good document to make for yourself, but it can also be a great blessing for your family. If you become unable to decide for yourself and you haven’t prepared a durable power of attorney, a court proceeding is probably inescapable. Your spouse, closest relatives, or companion will have to ask a court for authority over at least some of your financial affairs.

A durable power of attorney for finances — or financial power of attorney — is a simple, inexpensive, and reliable way to arrange for someone to manage your finances if you become incapacitated (unable to make decisions for yourself).

A financial power of attorney is a good document to make for yourself, but it can also be a great blessing for your family. If you become unable to decide for yourself and you haven’t prepared a durable power of attorney, a court proceeding is probably inescapable. Your spouse, closest relatives, or companion will have to ask a court for authority over at least some of your financial affairs.

A financial power of attorney can be drafted so that it goes into effect as soon as you sign it. (Many spouses have active financial powers of attorney for each other in case something happens to one of them — or for when one spouse is out of town.) You should specify that you want your power of attorney to be “durable.” If you don’t, in most states, it will automatically end if you later become incapacitated.

Or, you can specify that the power of attorney does not go into effect unless a doctor certifies that you have become incapacitated. This is called a “springing” durable power of attorney. It allows you to keep control over your affairs unless and until you become incapacitated, when it springs into effect.

When you create and sign a durable power of attorney, you give another person legal authority to act on your behalf. This person is called your agent or, in some states, your attorney-in-fact.

Commonly, people give their agent broad power to handle all of their finances. But you can give your agent as much or as little power as you wish. You may want to give your agent authority to do some or all of the following:

  • use your assets to pay your everyday expenses and those of your family
  • buy, sell, maintain, pay taxes on, and mortgage real estate and other property
  • collect Social Security, Medicare, or other government benefits
  • invest your money in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds
  • handle transactions with banks and other financial institutions
  • buy and sell insurance policies and annuities for you
  • file and pay your taxes
  • operate your small business
  • claim property you inherit or are otherwise entitled to
  • transfer property to a trust you’ve already created
  • hire someone to represent you in court, and
  • manage your retirement accounts.

The agent is required to act in your best interests, maintain accurate records, keep your property separate from his or hers, and avoid conflicts of interest.

What follows is a form legal in Missouri:

missouri-financial-durable-power-of-attorney-form

Forms for other states can be found here

Durable power of attorney for healthcare and financial

You have a right to decide what kind of medical treatment you do and do not want. If you have specific wishes about your health care, a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care will ensure that those wishes are honored even if you are physically or mentally unable to tell your doctors what you want.

Nobody looks forward to contemplating being disabled and being incapable of making decisions about their life. Nobody looks forward to contemplating their own demise. With what has happened in the world over the past quarter, the consideration of these events are, unfortunately, something that prudent people must consider. Specifically, what are called “advanced directives” or durable powers of attorney for health care and financial. This post will cover the Durable power of attorney for health care.

A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care is a document that lets you name someone else to make decisions about your health care in case you are not able to make those decisions yourself. It gives that person (called your agent) instructions about the kinds of medical treatment you want.

You have a right to decide what kind of medical treatment you do and do not want. If you have specific wishes about your health care, a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care will ensure that those wishes are honored even if you are physically or mentally unable to tell your doctors what you want.

Even if you do not have specific wishes about your health care, a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care will ensure that someone you trust will make your medical decisions if you cannot do so.

If you do not have a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and are physically or mentally unable to tell your doctors what you want, the following people, in order of priority, are legally authorized to make your health care decisions for you:

  • Your court-appointed guardian or conservator;
  • Your spouse or domestic partner;
  • Your adult child;
  • Your adult sibling;
  • A close friend; or
  • Your nearest living relative.

To make a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, you sign a paper saying that you want a certain person or persons (called your agent(s)) to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to make those decisions yourself.

Your agent can make a wide range of health care decisions, including:

  • Whether to admit or discharge you from a hospital or nursing home;
  • Which treatments or medicines you do or do not want to receive; and
  • Who has access to your medical records.

Your agent can only make these decisions if you cannot do so yourself, and your agent must follow your wishes when making these decisions.

You must say so in writing. When you make a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, you can:

  • State when you do or do not want your doctors to use machines to keep you alive;
  • State when you do or do not want to be hooked up to feeding tubes that provide you with food and water;
  • Tell your agent how you want your body disposed of when you die;
  • State whether you want to donate any organs; and
  • Name a person you want to be your legal guardian, if necessary.

If you live in Missouri, you may use the form below:

missouri-medical-power-of-attorney-form

If you live in any of the other 49 states you can find a downloadable form at https://powerofattorney.com/medical-power-attorney/

The choice is yours to make, choose wisely.

Plandemic

One of the many side effects of the COVID-19 virus pandemic has little, if anything to do with medical issues or sickness. Crops rotting in fields. Dairy farmers incentivized to quit for good. Beef/pork processors shutting down.

We have often said that not all conspiracies are theories. Some forward-looking warnings are very real and worth consideration.

It is in your interest to check this out, digest the information and then make up your own mind.

One of the many side effects of the COVID-19 virus pandemic has little, if anything to do with medical issues or sickness. Crops rotting in fields. Dairy farmers incentivized to quit for good. Beef/pork processors shutting down.

The position here is that this is not by accident, but all by design.

Spread the word and make sure everyone starts growing food, no matter how small scale — every bit helps.

Black Beans & Rice


Ingredients

  • 1 cup uncooked white rice
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (for added flavor you can substitute roasted red bell peppers or some chopped pimentos)
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 16-ounce cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • A few dashes of Tabasco or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano OR 1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional Lime wedges and cilantro for garnish

Method

1 Cook the rice: Cook rice according to package instructions. White rice usually takes 15 minutes to cook once the water is simmering, and 10 minutes to sit.

2 Sauté onions, bell peppers, garlic: Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high. Sauté onions and bell peppers for 3-4 minutes, until just beginning to soften, then add garlic and sauté a minute more.

3 Add beans, vinegar, Tabasco, then simmer: Add the black beans, vinegar and Tabasco or cayenne. Bring vinegar to a simmer, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

4 Stir in rice and oregano. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mixing some chopped up canned green olives, the ones with pimentos in them, for giving an additional boost to basic black beans and rice makes for an interesting addition.

This is a great side dish with grilled chicken.



Black Beans and Rice

Mixing some chopped up canned green olives, the ones with pimentos in them, for giving an additional boost to basic black beans and rice makes for an interesting addition.

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1 cup uncooked white rice
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (for added flavor you can substitute roasted red bell peppers or some chopped pimentos)
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 16-ounce cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • A few dashes of Tabasco or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano OR 1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional Lime wedges and cilantro for garnish

Method

1 Cook the rice: Cook rice according to package instructions. White rice usually takes 15 minutes to cook once the water is simmering, and 10 minutes to sit.

2 Sauté onions, bell peppers, garlic: Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high. Sauté onions and bell peppers for 3-4 minutes, until just beginning to soften, then add garlic and sauté a minute more.

3 Add beans, vinegar, Tabasco, then simmer: Add the black beans, vinegar and Tabasco or cayenne. Bring vinegar to a simmer, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

4 Stir in rice and oregano. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mixing some chopped up canned green olives, the ones with pimentos in them, for giving an additional boost to basic black beans and rice makes for an interesting addition.

This is a great side dish with grilled chicken.

Basil Pesto and Roasted Corn Rice

Dressing up rice so we don’t get bored during the long haul-Part II

Ingredients

3 ears of corn, (or two cans)
1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed, (or the equivalent, dried)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup walnuts
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp salt and pepper each
3 Tbsp olive oil divided
(you can substitute a jar of pesto for the previous 6 ingredients)
2 cups cooked white rice

Method
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Trim the husks on the ears of corn and place directly on the oven rack. Roast for 30 minutes. Cool and then remove from the cob. (If using canned corn, sautee’ until browned a bit).
Meanwhile, make the pesto. Combine the basil, parmesan, walnuts, garlic, salt, pepper, and 2 Tbsp olive oil in a food processor.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add the corn, rice and pesto. Stir to combine.