STILL JOBLESS AFTER ALL THESE YEARS……This past week., at the White House, President Obama faced the media to once again plug the American Jobs Act, his plan for more stimulus spending, paid for with even more taxes. In September, the U.S. unemployment rate held steady at dismal 9.1%, with 14 million Americans out of work. In September about 103,000 jobs were added, but 45,000 of those were Verizon strikers returning to work, and the number of long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more) increased by 208,000? According to the CBO the unemployment rate will remain above 8% until 2014.

If you demand more, want to see full employment, we will have to wait until 2018, and that will only happen if employers regain their confidence, and begin to add 176,000 per month… In the President’s press conference (October 6th) was asked to comment on the federal Reserves’ chairman’s warning that the economic recovery is “close to faltering”. The President’s answer? Laying the blame as far away from his doorstep as possible, pointing a finger at everything from the tsunami in Japan to the GOP in Congress. Ending his response, he attempted to dress up his plan in an imaginary cloak of bi-partisanship, claiming “every idea we have put forward are ones that traditionally been supported by Democrats and Republicans alike”….. Not so, as the Washington Post points out. A key component of the President’s plan is taxes, and there are lots of them. The Presidents’ proposal would impose $1,5 trillion in permanent tax hikes over 10 years, Senator Harry Reid knows the plan is indefensible, and proved it by going out of his way to “change the rules of the Senate” last night to avoid his caucus voting on it. The Democrats don’t want to be on record of supporting the President’s latest stimulus, so now the legislative body is at an unprecedented standstill. Yesterday, Tuesday, the Senator Reid could get the needed 60 votes…..they are now trying to reduce the bills that will never be acceptable, and reintroduce a new “JOBS BILL” that they hope will pass….

“A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man. Which debt he proposes to pay off with your money “….G Gordon Lilly

United States and Taiwan……diplomatic relations with mainland China in 1979, Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act, with veto proof majorities to ensure that future Presidents would sell the island the armaments it needs to defend itself. The is now in danger of becoming a dead piece of paper, as the Obama Administration “reportedly “is planning to reject Taiwan’s to buy badly needed new F-16 fighters. It’s time for Congress to act, in case Congress decides the self- imposes deadline of October 2011.

IS THE Postal SERVICE DOOMED….Neither rain, nor snow, nor heat is supposed to stop the United States Postal Service from delivering mail, but it can be saved from mounting debt , plummeting volume , and the not-so-slow-motion postal train wreck. Last week, the USPS barely avoided default when Congress extended the due date of $5.5 payment due to the Treasury for retiree health benefits… It lost $8.5 billion last year, and expects to lose $10 billion more in 2011… According to 2010 study by the Boston Consulting Group, mail volume will decline an additional 20 percent by 2020, with first class mail dropping a jaw breaking35 percent.

OBAMA and the SUPREME COURT ….. The Obama administration asked the Supreme expected after the Justice Department announced earlier this week it would not challenge a Lower Court’s ruling.

The key takeaway from this brief is that the White House wants the Supreme Court to hear the case for its merits and weigh in on whether the individual mandate is constitutional. It does not want the Court to dismiss the case on procedural grounds or get into issues of whether parties have a right to be bringing this case in the first place.

“A DEMOCRACY MUST BE SOMETHING MORE THAN TWO WOLVES AND A SHEEP VOTING ON WHAT TO HAVE FOR DINNER”…James Brovard

RISKY IRAQ DRAWDOWN………A flurry of newspaper articles reporting that the Obama Administration may decide to disregard the advice of its military commanders, and reduce the U.S. military presence in Iraq to less than 4,000 troops by the end of the year, which prompted 42 distinguished American foreign experts to write a letter to the President, on September 15, urging him to reconsider.

Although violence in Iraq is much diminished from its peak in 2004-2007, Iraq’s fragile coalition government needs U.S. military assistance to ward off threats posed by pro-Iranian militias, al Qaeda in Iraq terror groups, ant he simmering disputes in northern Iraq between Iraq’s Kurds, Turks and Christian groups……

Time FOR ACTION ON PAKISTAN……….Unless Pakistan agrees to take recourse against those ISI officials involved in the September 13 attack, and to work more closely with the U.S. in confronting the Haqqani network, the U.S. will have to review its policy toward Pakistan. For its part Nina Rabban KHAR, P:akistani Foreign Minister warned” that these continuing allegations could cause the United States to lose an ally”……..wider breach has developed between Pakistan and the United States, the killing of bin Laden, living in an area, a mere stone’s throw from Pakistan’s Military Academy. Pakistan’s “hiding bin Laden for many years is the most serious cause of the distrust of the Pakistan’s, seems that they are playing both sides of the street.

SHOVELING for LABOR……….The first stimulus bill of over $800 billion was sold in part, that our badly needed infrastructure was “shovel ready”……having proven that this bill resulted in creating anything, except an increasing deficit. Now the President wants another stimulus bill “called JOBS BILL”. Which fortunately did not pass in the Senate?

Did this stop cash strapped California’s Governor Jerry brown, no way Jose’….on this past Sunday he signed a bill that attempts to prevent California cities from banning Government-mandated project labor agreements, or PLAs…..PLAs are pre –hired agreements that contractors negotiate with labor unions. Contractors must generally agree to play by union work rules, pay workers union wages, and contribute to union health and retirement funds—whether or not the employees they hire belong to a union.

According to many studies, PLAs raise costs by 12% to 18%, which partially explain why cash strapped cities and states and tapped-taxpayers are against moving to abolish that rule, which unions hope the new law will discourage cities from leaving the doors open to non-union contractors.

The California law is the first of its kind and non-union contractors fear that this new law will deter cities from passing. Cities that ban government mandated PLAs could face legal challenges and harassment from the union. The other fear facing the non-union contractors is the state could refuse to fund their projects….

“IF YOU THINK HEALTH CARE IS EXPENSIVE NOW, WAIT UNTILL YOU SEE WHAT IT COST WHEN IT’S FREE”………….P.J.O’Rourke

WHAT IS NEXT IN LIBYA……….. The Obama Administration, which stumbled into a war in Libya with no clear military plan or exit strategy, now must fashion a suitable and acceptable way forward…The Administrations short-sighted effort to score a quick and easy military over Gadhafi’s regime failed to end the threat to civilians in “days not weeks “as the President promised. The Administration now has to scramble to develop and implement a long term strategy for a post Gadhafi Libya.

Dim headed me, I thought we were no longer going police the world and along the way create statehood.……The United State has committed itself to help the rebel TRANSITIONAL NATIONAL COUNCIL to stabilize Libya, restore law and order and prepare the way for an orderly transition to a new representative government. The USA should also assist in Libya’s reconstruction and the rapid repair of its damaged oil exports back to previous levels.

NOW would be the right time to discuss the Tran-Continental oil and gas pipe line starting in Canada with it ending in Texas. Permitting has nearly been complete, except for the environmentalist’s court actions and threat for not backing Obama in 2012, the agreement will require the President’s signature. Imagine receiving oil and gas from a neighbor without the need of our military. The combination of Canada and the United states will have the largest oil and gas reserves in the world.

Are there problems, of course there was, and still is, mainly in treating the water that is used in the process, has contaminated some of the drinking water……as Winston Churchill once quibbled about Obama’s America “you can count on it to do the right thing—after it’s tried everything else”.

Will go into more detail next issue, very important issue to our way of life.

“JUST BECAUSE YOU DO NOT TAKE AN INTEREST IN POLITICS, DOESN’T MEAN POLITICS WON’T TAKE AN INTEREST IN YOU”…Pericles..(400 B.C.)

SOLYNDRA CONFLICKS EXTEND A LONG WAY……….There is still more to the “Solyndra Senators”……In addition to the taxpayers losing $535 million under the Federal Department of Energy, other federal agencies also provided millions of dollars in grants to states, cities, counties and towns to purchase Solyndra solar panels. Many states provided other tax credits to those who purchased solar panels.

There is also a potential conflict of interest between owners of companies who were recipients of government grants and their employees who may belong to union who take campaign contributions from the owners and unions. The news article predicted that at the end of the day the loss to taxpayers could be closer to a billion dollars.

“TALK IS CHEAP… EXCEPT WHEN CONGRESS DOES IT”…Anonymous

THE BIGGEST TRADE BARRIER…….When President Obama was on his mid-western tour, when asked about the Korea, Columbia and Panama ‘free trade agreements’ WHICH HAVE BEEN SITTING ON HIS DESK FOR OVER 3 YEARS…….his response to the question, was “ these trade agreements all would be law if not for an obstructionist Congress. Passing the deals is something Congress could do right now”

Liar. Liar, your pants are on fire (not from Rep.Wilson)……Congress cannot pass agreements “right now”, because the bill is still sitting on his desk. Signed by Congress over three years ago, and before Obama became President, just needs the President’s signature, and a Page to bring the document over to Congress.

LABOR LEADERS TO OBAMA….STOP KILLING JOBS……..Many major unions are clashing with a Democratic administration, which usually, they walk lock step. They now are starting to call the EPA the “Employment Prevention Agency”

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, of Texas wrote to the EPA on be–half of its 23,000, warning the EPA that “red tape” would jeopardize 2,500 jobs working on 6 power plants across the state of Texas.” The 76,000 member United Mine Workers claim that the closing of fossil fueled plants would kill 54,300 jobs and indirectly destroy 197,140 others working in the coal utility and railroad industries.

There is more on this subject, and breaking news by the minute, but I have run out of time, and my fingers and brain, are getting weary……Hope all is well, see y’all in the funny paper, which are not so funny anymore, as some of the creators are resorting to the news of the day……..AP

Granddaddy made the best pork and rice I’ve ever tasted, and my mother still talks about it from time to time. No one ever learned just how he made it, and even Grannie used to tell us after Granddaddy’s passing, that he never let her in on it either.

So, it’s lost forever, and what a shame. Quickly, Grannie Margaret’s best dish…macaroni and cheese, and boy, was it good. She most always had black-eyed peas with this, and man, I’d just pile those peas over her mac and cheese, and it was always so good.

There’s something about that pot liquor off those peas that’s so good anyway, but that juice mixed in with the melted cheeses in the macaroni was absolutely delicious. Ah, I can taste it now!

My Dad always had a garden. Tomatoes were his favorite to grow and eat, and I gotta say that they’re high on our list of vegetables too. When it came to his peas, shoot, he didn’t plant em, he just scattered them all over at the end of his orange grove, and let them come up as “volunteers.” This worked well for them.

So Deb and I both grew up around gardening. Her Daddy was a farmer as well, and they raised most all they ate growing up…even their meat.
In a confession to you guys, for the longest time Deb and I didn’t raise a garden, except for a few occasions. We were busy with the kids, starting a business, and this kept us both tied up basically from daylight to cain’t!

But looking back, I’m not sure we’d change much of anything. It was tough, hard times, but in the end it was all a rewarding experience, and in hindsight, some of the happiest times we had.

As a youngster I always heard the phrase “the good old days.” Now at the tender, YOUNG age of 55, I too have come to embrace such ideology. Deb says my appreciation for the term “the good old days” is simply because…I’m an old fart!” I tell her, “It takes one to know one!” Her response, “You betcha!” At least she ain’t in denial, huh?

The main thing once again that “spurred our interest” in gardening was probably what got so many other people involved in it again as well…our politicians and their destruction of our economy. There’s no need to blame capitalism, this is a myth.

The real reason is the political ideology rampant in our Country today. They don’t want you to have anything. This is evident if you’d only open your eyes. Many , many understand this, but WAY too many haven’t a clue of the damage being done to our Country, and this being one reason our politicians pull so many of the things they pull. Another is that there are also WAY too many people living in our Country today that despise it…sad but very, very true. But this discussion is for another day…

With many of us gardening again today, we’ve rediscovered the many fruitful reasons as to why we garden. The first is the taste of your vegetables, or fruits. Store bought taste isn’t even close…there’s no comparison.

Second is that YOU control the things you put into or on to your garden. You use pesticides? You see to it they are used by the manufacturer’s recommendations. The same applies to your fertilize routine, or herbicide. I just can’t see anyone not following the directions for any of these then eating their home grown vegetables, can you? This is exactly the point, you grow it, you eat it, so you’re very careful in the way you apply these products.

Another reason is freshness. You know without a doubt the vegetables you produce in your home garden are always fresher than store bought. Once you factor in the area the produce are grown, the washing and packing time spent, and then factor in the time of trucking it to the stores, there’s just no way these vegetables can compete against your own home garden vegetables.

Something else you can factor in is the price. Deb and I are literally being hit with “sticker shock,” at the price of the fruits and vegetables these days if store bought. This trend won’t be stopping anytime soon.

Fuel prices, the increase in the cost to the growers of fertilize, manpower, regulations, water, power, and the EPA, all are increasing the cost of doing business here in the U.S. today. Plus look at the imports we have today resulting from NAFTA.

I can’t go any farther on the topic of gardening without just touching on the imports some. First off, you can’t tell me that the foods being imported today are anywhere near as safe as the product we produce here in the “good ole’ USA!”

Other countries I’m convinced aren’t anywhere near as stringent in their guidelines as these here in the States…period. We’re watched like hawks here by the USDA, and all the other groups advocated by our government. What may be banned here, may be common practice in other countries.

So, by importing these foods, in reality…how safe are they? What has been applied to them? What kind of handling procedures do they undergo prior to shipping? Plus, what type of diseases are we letting in? I’m sure there are many more negatives, and these above are only a few concerns we need to have prior to these imported products being put before our families at meal time?

Just look at some of the problems we’ve already seen from China. Can you say “sheetrock?” How about “leaded paints?” Right down to family pets being made sick or even killed, by tainted dog food? This from China too!

This Country is more than capable of feeding ourselves and much of the world as well. Why take away from our farmers, and ranchers, in order to import from other places? The same thing can be said of textile, manufacturing, right down to supplying much of our own fuel. BUT, for some reason our elected leaders don’t see it this way. Once again…WAY, WAY too much intervention on DC’s part, and this is destroying our ability of taking care of ourselves, and keeping US jobs, here in the US.

Another plus involving you and your home garden, is the enjoyment, and fulfillment of just…growing your own. Deb and I both love watching our garden grow. It’s a feeling of accomplishment seeing it bust out of the ground, grow and bloom, then start bearing. The best is yet to come of course, and that being…eating them!

Honestly, if you really start looking around some you see that gardening comes in a variety of different types any more. The results are the same…more self-sufficiency in your lives involving food, a staple by the way, and the pleasure of eating your home grown produce, plus good quality time spent with your family.

Today there is the old style garden with its long rows, square foot gardening, raised bed gardening, lasagna gardening, hydroponic gardening, greenhouse gardening, and there’s still the old type broadcasting and let the vegetables come up as volunteers…this for my DAD!

Look at the different types, and see which fits your lifestyle or the space you have allotted for your gardening. Many grow their vegetables in containers scattered about their yards. There are so many variations anymore, that the term “different strokes for different folks,” applies to gardens as well.

For you guys that live in subdivisions, this is not a problem. Many different gardening variations will work for you…you only have to see which type you’d like to become involved in.

An example of this is what I read yesterday from a book Deb picked up for me. I guess the more time she has me reading, the less time I have to aggravate her! This works two ways though. Yes, when I’m reading a book, I am outta’ her hair, BUT I love to read anyway.

So once I finish a particular book, I start “hovering around” her again, and shoot, a day or two later, guess what…she’s gone and bought me another book! Talk about a win-win situation!

The book she picked me up is called, “Mini Farming…Self Sufficiency on ¼ acre,” written by Brett L. Markham, and published by Skyhorse Publishing. She found it for me at Books-A-Million. Check it out, I think most will like it.

From just jumping around checking it out, I see that I’m really going to enjoy it, plus there’s a lot of good info. It cements the statement that you don’t have to have a lot of land, but simply to understand the best ways to UTILIZE what land you have.

This statement in the book, I found intriguing…32 square feet of garden space, that’s a 4’x8’ bed people, can yield 100 pounds of carrots. I ‘bout fell out of my chair. So, you see, with this type of production, even living in a subdivision, you can grow A LOT of produce to help offset today’s pricing, and once more, the freshness or taste of store bought doesn’t even compare!

So please, for all of you people who don’t garden, look into it. You may be surprised at how well you “take to it.” It is a very rewarding practice, and in Deb and my case, it “soothes the soul” as well.

Our peas should start coming in, in about a week or two at the most. This will enable us to show the people who haven’t canned before a few of the ins and outs. We love doing it number one, and number two, we so appreciate having the good fresh vegetables our garden produced for us during the winter months when there is no garden. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

One thing we will probably be doing sometime next week is canning about 20 pounds of hamburger, we use ground chuck mainly…bought on sale of course. I really meant to do this, this past week, but time just didn’t work out for us to do so. You’ll see it though, when we do.

I’d like to thank you all again for all your support for Deb in her fight, and that it is so greatly appreciated. Also thanks for just stopping in to see us!!
God Bless you and yours, and Deb says to tell you guys once more, “Be sure to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!”

Dub and Deb

We’ve had a number of requests as to what Deb is juicing. Here’s a picture of our routine, and one of our juicer…Jack Lalane model (hope I spelled it correctly). It varies slightly from time to time, depending on what’s available through the year. This is why we want to build a greenhouse. Year round fresh vegetables!

First off let me thank Judi and Brian both. Those two have supplied us with the positivity that yes, in fact Deb and I can do this. They believed in us despite the fact that Deb and my extent of writing was sending “love notes” back in forth in school while we were supposed to be doing school work, this taking place way back there in 9th grade.

Going back that far, again 9th grade, we really didn’t realize just how important our school work was to us. But, being young, and in love, school wasn’t too high on our list of priorities.

I mean, stop and look at it from a different perspective…we were in our early twenties for God’s sake. I believe that without a doubt, if I had stayed in school, I’d have graduated by the time I was 30! I’m not so sure about Deb though…school was a struggle for her! LOL!!

So thanks Judi and Brian once again. Your help has been plenty, and I’m sure above and beyond the “call of duty.” We appreciate it.

On today’s topic, when the economy went South, deep, deep South in 2008, we did see it coming in advance, and had started taking precautions even prior to this. By being in the paving business we saw firsthand the number of builders that were falling by the wayside, due to the housing bubble and its demise.

Too many homes, and not anywhere near enough “qualified borrowers.” The end result, a fiasco. Every American deserves a home, our elected leaders cried. Loosen the requirements, make more loans available to more people, regardless of their ability to pay back these loans. Next thing we knew…can you say Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

So, one of the main reasons of our Country’s economic demise was caused by the simple fact of our elected leaders attempt to put every American in a home, regardless of the consequences! So here we are today, the strongest, and most economically productive Country in the world, brought to its knees by inept politicians, most of which today have no idea what it takes to run a company…much less a Country!

Anyway, this set the bells to ringing in our heads, and we knew, for the continued security of our entire family, we’d better start becoming less dependent on the luxury and convenience of “running down to the grocery store,” and instead, we started becoming much more dependent on ourselves.

Our reasoning was pretty elementary…NO WORK, NO EAT! It was very simple to understand that our Country was going down the wrong road from being the “breadbasket of the world,” to all of a sudden, were we as a Country going to survive economically?

Our biggest problem? Power and greed becoming the “order of the day” in D.C. Their power, and their greed, milking us dry as taxpayers. No oversight by anyone, no accountability, no morals, no concern towards “we the people,” and the tearing down of our Constitution.

If you even remotely think the US is business friendly today…you better think again. If we’re not business friendly, how can anyone expect our economy to “kick off again? It can’t, and if you believe it is, you’re living on another planet.

For the life of me I can’t figure out why the haters of our Country, oh yes there are many, many of them living right here among us, don’t just…LEAVE? Or better yet in my opinion…get shipped out. It wasn’t too awful long ago that this type of sentiment shown by the “America haters,” was considered, forget about political correctness, was TREASONOUS!

How bout us taking a break and listenin to a little music? The song is song by a great American…Johnny Cashless!

The first thing Deb and I did was to start buying extra of any type of foods our family ate. We only bought extra while it was on sale…good sales. The holidays we’ve found to be the best time for this.

This brings up another question. Our government has the power to come to your home, confiscate your vehicle, or vehicles, take over your home, and then, take whatever you have. The reasoning…the betterment of the masses.

My question is very simple, and one which to me is a no brainer. WHY, can the government confiscate from the citizens of the US, who have taken the time, the money, made the sacrifice to help insure their own families survival, and put forth the effort to see that their own families were self-sufficient in times like we’re going through today?

Once more, this, like so many other things our government does today is simply wrong! Wrong morally, wrong from the standpoint that it is indeed exactly this, wrong, and what gives anyone the right to take from someone else and give it to others?

The people that have and are trying to become more self-sufficient in their own rights, having their food or whatever taken from them, when they were intelligent enough to see the writing on the wall, to try and safeguard their own families? This my friends, is stealing.

The second thing Deb and I did was to start gardening once more. First the vegetables and fruit all taste so much better than store bought. Secondly, fruits and vegetables have become pretty costly. This was an attempt, through gardening, to cut our grocery cost, and have much fresher produce than we could get from town.

We do love peas, and they do supply the garden area with nitrogen. So peas work well for us and the garden too!
Deb and I had never composted before, even though we had many of the needs for a compost pile right here on the place. But since starting this site, through the input of our readers, we were convinced to start a compost pile. It worked really well, and the benefits it would provide became obvious. We became believers in this practice.

Deb and I then started getting on the Church of Latter Day Saints website, and lookin around. Those people are “on the ball” when it comes to preparedness, and food storage. We picked up a ton of good info from their site.

We found on their site something that amazed us. It was a food calculator. You put in the info regarding your family, how many and what ages, and it calculates a year’s worth of food supply needed to feed your family.

It is a very good tool or guideline to use. Check it out this morning. Put in the info in regards to your own family, and instantly it will tell you the amount of supplies needed! Again, give it a whirl. If one year is too much, then divide by either a month, or by the quarter year.

So, we learned how to store our food properly, with the least risk of loss.

Then it dawned on us that we needed a fresh water supply, and one that wouldn’t require the need for electricity…

What we did was to install two hand pitcher pumps. One we installed on a shallow well we put in, and the other on our main well. One for drinking, and one for other water needs.

The one on our deep well, I didn’t think would work as the well is 280 feet deep. I figured no way could we ever find a hand pitcher pump, at a reasonable price to bring water up from that deep in the ground. BUT, our well-man answered that for me…yes we could have fresh water from a pitcher pump.

The reasoning…although the well is 280 feet down, the water table itself here in Florida is normally 10-20, or up to 40 feet deep. With this being the case, then the pitcher pump would work, and work well. We went ahead and installed it on our main well, and the dern thing works like a champ!

If you live in an area with this type of water availability, then I think you need to take a look at one of these. We’re very proud of how well ours works, and our only wish is that we’d done it sooner. This too is a good lesson in itself.

Even though I didn’t think it would work, I still asked around, and by doing so, we now have a good supply of good, fresh, drinking water that requires no electricity! Never be too shy to ask a question!

Here’s a video of our pitcher pump in action…

We researched, read about, and talked to friends and family members on the “how to,” of home canning, and we started this practice. Since then, we’ve come to realize there aren’t a whole lot of things that can’t be canned.

The only point to remember about this is to be very careful, and make sure you are using the proper canning techniques.

We also began using our food saver extensively. You want a way to keep your meats and vegetables in your freezer and keep them fresh…with no freezer burn? This is it.

We also saw that by cooking our meals in larger portions, this allowed us to food saver full meals for use at a later time. Individual meals that you only need to defrost and warm. Working late, or just plain tired? This puts good nutritious meals on the table in a fraction of the time it takes to prep, cook, and clean up from making your meal.

This convenience we find very appealing!

Our next step was the building of a small food storage room in our backyard. It started out a 12’x12, that we’ve just expanded by another 10’x12’. These are kept cool by two 110 air conditioners…one is used, while the other is a backup.

This is so advantageous in our regard since the inside our home was becoming crowded… from the store bought food we’d purchased over an amount of time during sales, plus the gardens producing so well too, providing us with the fresh vegetables we love canning so well.

You can see a video of our food storage room at the bottom of this article supplied by this link…

We’ve also been putting up other supplies we find useful in becoming more self-sufficient. Things like TP, paper towels, hand tools, medicines, and bandages. We have stocked extra eyeglasses and their repair kits, dental products and oral-gel, even temporary filling kits in case of cavities.

We’ve stocked fence materials, PVC and fittings, cast iron cookware, firewood, flashlights and batteries, weather radios, and much more. We’ve put up gasoline and diesel. We have lanterns that run on oil, Coleman fuel, or even unleaded gas.

We consider this simply trying to prepare for the worst, but hoping for the best. IF nothing happens…we eat our food, and use our other stock here on the place. All at a pretty decent savings versus today’s pricing, I guarantee you.

If at all possible, and if you haven’t already, I strongly suggest you putting some thought into some of the things Deb and our family have done. It surely can’t hurt, and remember…you can’t buy tomorrow cheaper than what you can get it for today. Groceries for sure aren’t going down in the near future is my guess. Today, food…is an investment!

We hope this helps you in some way, and if you have any questions, please just ask. If we can’t supply you with an answer, many of our readers can!

Let’s close out today with a little Southern humor. This was supplied to us by one of our readers and friend, Edith, in Washington State! Thank you Edith, Deb and I both got a kick out of your e-mail! Well, here it is…

The owner of a golf course in Georgia was confused about paying an invoice, so he decided to ask his secretary for some mathematical help. 

He called her into his office and said, “Y’all graduated from the University of Georgia and I need some help.  If I wuz to give yew $20,000, minus 14%, how much would you take off?” 

The secretary thought a moment, and then replied, “Everthang but my earrings.”

One more…

A Tennessee State trooper pulled over a pickup on I-65.  The trooper asked, “Got any ID?
The driver replied, “Bout whut?”

You guys have a great day, and God Bless you and yours. Deb says to tell you to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

Man, I love college football, and I’m anxious to see how the Gators perform this year with a new coaching staff, and a new offensive scheme. This weekend their SEC schedule kicks in! Go Gators!

Mississippi State and LSU tonight on ESPN at 8:00…Deb can’t wait, I promise you!

Today let’s take a look at some of our reader, or friend’s feedback.

The first reader this morning is from Chris:

“Hi there, what kind of butter do you buy? Do you buy the blocks of Land O’Lakes type butter or the BIG kind sold at a Costco? Can you email a recipe? I am getting more into the canning. Mostly I am canning tomatoes and freezing beans and dehydrating tomatoes because I do not have a pressure cooker yet. I have made jerky in my dehydrator, but it never lasts long enough to store. LOL. I would like to try my hand at canning butter.”

“Thanks for any and all ideas or help.” Chris

Hey Chris. We appreciate you stopping in to visit. Yes, as a matter of fact we do use Land ‘O Lakes brand for our butter canning. I don’t want to sound “the expert” here this morning cause I ain’t, but butter canning turned out well for us. This was our first attempt but it did turn out well for us, remember it’s 6 months old at this point and it was our first time…just lucky I guess???

Seriously though, and this is to all the people out there that can quite frequently, and I’m sure they’ll agree, as well as those that don’t. You MUST follow the procedures of canning to the T. Like anything else, driving a car or riding a bike, you must pay attention and be aware of what’s going on.

Lids not sealing, not pressure cooking the product to be canned long enough, not wiping down the rims of your jars after filling them with your product, letting the pressure off your pressure cooker instead of letting the pressure drop by itself (this is also VERY dangerous too!), and also be sure to check to see if any of your jars have hairline cracks.

Also not canning with the right pressure weight will foul you up as well. The higher the altitude, the more weight you need. Why? Beats me! Anyone with a little help here in the reasoning behind this? Anything can happen though if you’re not aware or paying attention.

If you pay attention to what you’re doing, and understand this is a type of food storage that can provide your family with great vegetables, stews, meats, fruits and jellies for extended periods of time…and NO refrigeration.

It works for us, and literally we enjoy doing this…here’s a little “how-to” on how we canned the butter, and a link below that showing pictures of us in the canning process. 11 pounds of butter will can right at 12 pints, almost to the T.

In regards to canning butter though, one of the main reasons I consider going ahead and doing so, is freezer space. Which brings up yet another question? Will butter store in the freezer and still be fine to use after thawing, and then, how long can it stay frozen?

If it’s okay to store frozen, then we’re good to go as far as the butter we have frozen, if not, anybody want to buy some cheap butter? There’ll be a good sale going on here at Dub and Deb’s place!

So, let me get back to the point I was making about freezing it. If you can store it frozen, look at the freezer space it takes up. We have a considerable amount in the freezer, maybe 40 pounds or so. With that being the case, if we can it, look at the freezer room it frees up.

Plus, it then becomes a nonfactor if you were to lose power for any length of time. Simply store it on the shelves in your pantry, or, if cramped for space, simply slide it under your bed!

Yet another question for you? The process I’m aware of for canning butter, is not a hot water bath, nor a pressure cooking canning process. It’s along the lines of the same style of canning we use for sweetbreads or cakes.

I’ve never actually canned butter before, but we’re fixing to give it a shot. Our attempt at this will be as follows, but if you have any input, good or bad, please share with us, and your reasoning behind your thoughts, as well. We’d like to try this, at least by the weekend.

First off, we’d put our canning jars in the oven and let them be heating up. We’d be melting our butter down in a pot, and I’m assuming you’d need to stir this frequently to make sure it doesn’t stick.

After simmering for a few minutes, we’d then take the mason jars (pints), out of the oven and fill them with the butter, but be sure to leave your 1” headspace…don’t fill to the top.

I forgot to mention, but you need to have your jar rings and seals (lids), in a small pot of hot water, while your butter is melting and your jars heating.

After putting your butter into the heated jars, take your rings and seals out and “lid” your jars. Then you’ll start hearing the pings, of your jars sealing.

Once you start hearing the pings, you will then shake the jars, again this is after you’ve heard them seal, but cool enough to not burn you, holding the jars. This will remix the ingredients of the butter back together. Repeat this until the butter retains the same appearance in the jar.

After shaking, but while still warm, place the jars into the fridge. After the butter sits a while in the fridge, shake once again. At this point the butter should be beginning to look like butter again, and start beginning to set up. Every few minutes lightly shake the jars again until the butter looks as if has setup.
That’s it.

Once more, if we’re not doing something correctly, or you have differing opinions or methods, we’d love to hear back from you. In this way, by combining our heads together, we can insure the best product for everyone, and that’s exactly what we want, right?

I feel very strongly in regards that this can be truly beneficial for everyone. It gives us all one more way to become a little more self-sufficient, in case of no power, plus increasing our storage space in our refrigerators and freezers.

Link

Thank you again Chris, and keep on freezing and dehydratin, but we feel you’d enjoy incorporating some canning into your storage as well. Try it…you just might like it! Any questions, just give us a holler. If we can’t answer it for you, I guarantee one of the other readers can!

This next comment comes from Elleta, and is in regard to canning ground chuck…

“Question: So, you do not use a canner, just the oven? I am assuming that this is safe, since you are still alive. Are there other food items that can be canned this way?”

“Thanks for all of the good advice you share.” Elleta

Hello there Elleta. Thanks for droppin us a few lines, we appreciate you reading, and yes ma’am, I’m still kickin!

Actually we do some of each, but mostly we can it in the oven. I say we can it in the oven, but that’s actually not true. We are in reality re-warming the hamburger and jars prior to taking them out of the oven to lid and seal.

The hamburger is FRIED first. We fry it in the skillet well done, take it out, rinse under water, lay it on paper towels to dab as much grease as we can off it, re-fry it for just a few seconds, put it in our jars, slide them in the oven for 10-15 minutes, then take out and seal.

We also pressure can it. We only brown it just a little, then we jar it, add hot water (leaving a 1 inch headspace), and pressure cook it in our pressure cooker. You want to pressure cook hamburger meat for 75 minutes in pint jars, then 90 minutes for quart jars.

So you see, you have a couple choices in doing this.

Elleta, thank you again. God Bless.

A link…

Next we have Jill…

Wow!! I found this website through the Canadian Free Press website on your canning butter article. What a great website, I can’t wait to sit down and go through the contents of it. I had done mostly freezer jam for “canning” but my husband and I moved to Washington state in an area where we are an hour from a grocery store. So I began buying meat in bulk and pressure canning it. Also have done stew. I was interested in your method of canning the ground chuck by putting it in the oven instead of the pressure canner. Interesting and always looking for new methods(well, new to me!)
My question is this: for my liquid on the burger I used a beef broth reconstituted from a mix. It gives the beef a taste like Dinty Moore Stew(no slam against DM we have eaten a lot over our 50+years) but was trying more for a “fresh” beef taste. What do you use for the liquid on your hamburger? I can’t wait to try canning butter. Thanks for the great website.” Jill

What a great comment Jill, thank you! We sure appreciate it!

Thanks goes to Judi and Brian at the CFP for all their help. Those two are great people, running a great publication, and have been just a ton of help to Deb and I! This was Miss Judi’s brainchild! Thanks again to ya’ll at the CFP!!

As you saw earlier in response to Elleta, Deb and I can it two ways. One with liquid, this is done in the pressure cooker. You know, I believe you’re on to something with your broth for a different flavor. Huh, I’ve never considered it before. I bet even something like a Lipton soup mix would work well, wouldn’t you guys think so?

Prior to your suggestion Jill, we’ve only used water, but we will be putting some more hamburger up here shortly, and I’m tryin this out! As you said…it is new to me! Thanks!

Also look too at the oven method. This works well, but again, this is fried well done first off…then a couple other steps. You don’t start with raw hamburger in jars, in the oven, as I know you’re already aware.

Jill, thanks again so much, and have a great day!

This one is from Jerry…

“Hello, I heard you can, can butter this way! I my-self have canned corn-bread this way, works with cake recipes also. Enjoy….” Jerry

What’s up Jerry? You know, just like with Jill, I just learned something here. I guess that this just knocks the “you cain’t teach an old dog new tricks!” I say this cause this old dog is getting on up there age wise! Shoot, next July, why I’ll be…hmm…let’s see here…35! Keep believing that, okay?

Canned corn bread…it never crossed my mind. We’ve done plenty of cakes and sweet breads, but no cornbread.

Thank you Jerry for your input, it is appreciated. This is what’s great about Deb and my doing this column. We’ve met so many good, good people who share so much with us. You all have been outstanding in your input, and sharing of your own ways of doing things. Deb and I are blessed to be associated with people like you guys!

One more example of your government doesn’t need to, or have to, help people as they’d like you to believe.

Governments need to govern, not become entangled in our daily lives. People help people…right from the goodness of their own hearts.

This one from Mikki and Butch…

“We love your food storage building. Right now we are using a back room in our basement. We sold our house, to save money on taxes, insurance, and upkeep expenses. We rent now so we cannot build a building outside, but have been giving thought to one inside our 3-car garage in one corner. A window air unit could be added also. I’d like a way to save garden crop seeds also, any ideas? We have 5 adult kids with families so we are going to ask them to contribute to garden expenses so we can put up enough for all of us with their help of course. My canner pan is starting to rust so will be replacing it this fall. I have even put up some dry dog food in canning jars for our pups. I vacuum-sealed dog food in bags, put it in canning jars to use if we need to for our 3 pups. Got a 6 month supply so far, our dogs are toy breeds and only eat 1/4- 1/2 cup of dry kibble at a time. Made up 12 quarts of an easy low calorie gravy to mix in 1/2 tsp. in each dish to make it somewhat softer for them. They are part of our family. Some friends think we are off the deep end a bit, but we shall see.”

“Thanks for you insulation ideas.” Mikki & Butch

Thanks guys! We sure appreciate you reading our column, and then taking the time to drop us a line!

Our food storage room…yes, it works well for us. I think a “room within a room,” your garage as you were saying, is a great idea! The 110 unit would be just right. Our original room was 12’x12’, and that unit cost, I believe $108. Last month, it had been there for a year with no problems at all, but the key…insulation

After we insulated as heavily as we did, throughout the construction and finishing up, we kept cans of the aerosol insulation you get at Lowes, and sealed every crack. Again…insulation is the key.

Your seeds…We haven’t put up any seeds ourselves, believe that? But, we will (famous last words?), probably in the spring. We always overbuy and this carries us through their initial planting, plus it does a large part of our spring or fall planting, dependin on what we’re planting at the time. We then overbuy once more, but seed storage and the harvesting the seeds from your own vegetables is a great idea!

Our brother-in-law, JH, is a gardenin fool! The man can do it. What he does is leave them in their original bag, put them into ziplock freezer bags, and then put them in the freezer. JH says he’s used seeds before, that were 4-5 years old.

Hope that helps, plus if anyone else has some input as to how they keep their seed storage, or advice on how they prep their seeds prior to storage. I’m curious as well.

10-4 on the kids helping out with the gardening expenses, and getting a new cooker.

Your pups and their food storage? Even a low-cal gravy mix to make the Kibbles soft for them? Jill, those pups may not realize it…but those guys won the lotto!!! We love ours too! Thanks Jill.

Well, that’s it for today. You guys take care and God Bless.

Dub and Deb

Boy, we’ve missed the rain the last couple of days, and it has been pretty warm. BUT, it has been absolutely beautiful. It just feels good to be outside, working, sweatin, getting something done, and then looking back at the end of the day and going, “Yeah, man…it’s lookin pretty good.”

Honestly though, when you’re doing your job, working in the garden, or shelling and canning your vegetables, or just piddling around on a “do-it-yourself” project around the house, isn’t it rewarding to take a few minutes and appreciate your day’s labor. It does me.

Speaking of a “do-it-yourselfer,” our add-on to the food room is quickly winding down…and it’s turned out really, really well for our purpose. We like a couple days at the most, but the worst part was once we started laying shelving out, and then, starting to put all the goods in their new spots.

We could have been done, but for “Mr. Organizer.” I swear, I can be my own worst enemy at times, but I am a peculiar person in that I want things organized. With this being the case, I’ve spent most of the last couple of days, moving goods here, checking out how they look or if there’s enough room designated for them in each spot, then moving them somewhere else if need be.

BUT, for the last three years, we’ve been canning, using our food saver, and picking up a little extra each trip to the grocery store. This has worked out very well for us, but the problem was, say you had 5 rows of green beans, and you had three rows of sweet peas beside them, and something else beside them. Guess what?

Each time you go back to the store and pick up a few other items, come home, go to put your food up and…no shelf space.

Next thing you know, you’ve got green beans, 12 or so cans in about 5 or 6 different spots. PLUS the ones already on the shelf…but no room for more! Then you compound this very shortly, when you have the exact same problem with your corn, tomatoes, canned milk, fruits, stews, etc.

Well in our case now…NOT NO MORE! We is “uptown,” my friends. Every can of green beans or anything else in the room for that matter, are now right where they need to be. YES! Everything has its OWN spot!

Now, I know you’re thinking, “You know what? Ole Dub will have the same problem very shortly once again. As soon as he runs out of shelf space, it’ll all be scattered once more.”

But, you know what, it won’t. You know why? Cause I ain’t buying anymore! We’re done with store bought green beans and other veggies…we have plenty. Our gardens keep pumping the good stuff out anyway, and we have plenty of room for home-canned product.

I’ll share a few pictures of it today.

One thing I did that turned out nice was our medicine cabinet.

A buddy of mine built a hat rack for me cause I might have a hat or two. Dale and I unloaded it yesterday, and he was amazed at the number of caps that were in there. Once I got to bagging them I was amazed too! I collected them for 4-5 years. I got started because in our business, we’re construction oriented, people are always passing out caps. Most with their company logo, etc….

But anyway, we “tweaked it” just a little, and the dern thing made a great medicine chest. It’s a little better than 50 inches wide, and I believe about 39 inches tall, and it worked out well. The shelf dividers aren’t real pretty, but they do just what the name claims…they divide. Works for me! Carpenters we ain’t, but you cain’t tell us so! LOL!

Even Deb, once she saw it, goes,”Dern Dub, that was a good idea.” I liked to have fell down! I mean, c’mon guys, how often is it that your wives go, “That’s good honey?” You know what I mean? It’s breaks down simply, that if Mama is happy…everybody’s happy! Life is goooood…

The addition has turned out nice though, and honestly, I’m glad Deb suggested it, although I think the reasoning being two-fold. First we did need the space, and secondly, it got me out from under her! The womenfolk are sly, aren’t they? This is going to work out just fine for us!

When you take a gander at the pictures below, understand this was three years of picking up a little here, and a little there. BUT, most all was picked up on sale, and if it was a REALLY good sale, and we happened to be money ahead at the time, we loaded up.

The best time to shop sales for food are the major holidays…Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. You’ll do just about as good as you possibly can during these times, pricewise. You seem to get a much better “bang for your buck” during the holidays.

Another big plus, is simply the cost difference of what we paid then…versus what we would pay now! Things are without a doubt more expensive today than ever, and once more, I really believe that food today is an investment and everyone should put at least some up…even if only a two to three week supply. You just never know what tomorrow brings, and this was how Deb and I looked at it when we started trying to put some food up for a rainy day…

First, for those that don’t know, we’re in the construction business and we all know how much this type of business was affected during the initial housing market bust! We’ve been very fortunate and have stayed halfway busy workwise the last year and a half or so.

It ain’t nothing to write home about, BUT, we keep all the bills paid, and at the moment, we’re “weatherin the storm,” thank the good Lord! After the housing bubble burst we went TWO years without a job.

We saw the economic downturn just starting to happen, and we went back to gardening, canning, putting up all types of different stock just in case it gets really bad. We even installed two pitcher pumps to insure an adequate water supply…power or not.

You see, Deb and I both, like most Americans, don’t want our governments help, and we knew…no work, no eat! Our problems are not your problems, and if Deb and I decide, well, we just aren’t going to work any longer…how, or better yet, WHY, is that your problem? Let me make this very clear…IT AIN’T!

That’s another story though, and a road I don’t need to travel and get fired off on this morning. Let’s only say that I do not condone welfare, or social justice. Believe it or not, people will help each other through charitable acts. Family helps family, friend helps friend, neighbor helps neighbor…humans, most anyway, don’t mind extending a helping hand, and do so willingly. It is human nature.

I don’t mind one bit helping someone out, and do so, BUT, it is entirely wrong to take from one to give to another. It creates dependence and good Lord we have way, way too many on some type of social program, and they’ve become…entitled???

What’s yours my friend…is part theirs. Plus, they’ve gotten to the point they don’t appreciate it…but, DEMAND IT!

Social justice my rear-end! If you don’t appreciate or abide by the morals, standards, and freedoms laid out for us by our Founding Fathers…DELTA’s READY WHEN YOU ARE!! How simple is that??

Well, I had to have my say, didn’t I? Sorry, but that social justice BS really torques me up!

Our food stock…everything stays rotated fairly easily. We date the top of our canned goods, store bought or home canned, and just keep usin up the oldest first. Once we start running a little low in the pantry inside our home, we go out to our room, grab a case or two, and restock our home pantry.

In closing this morning, I’d like to say for about the hundredth time…pick up just a few extras. It may come in VERY handy one day, but in the same breath, you won’t buy it later for what you paid for it today.

You don’t have to put up as much stock as we have, and the main reason we did so was to keep our family, and our employees and their families with food on the table if our work stopped. At least until our business picked up, or they found another job. Deb and I both feel obligated in this sense.

This isn’t social justice by any means. It’s only that we appreciate all they do for us on a daily basis, by keeping our jobs going well, and looking out for us and our company. From that standpoint alone, we are obligated to them also, and we’d not let them do without if it came down to it, and at all possible for us to do!

Anyway, here’s some pics…

Part of the original storage room. Finally…enough space to get all products in their own spot!

Another photo of the original room. Still messy, as we’re still finishing up the new addition.

Looking through the walkway from the original into the addition. See the mess still scattered about?

My old hat rack…now it’s our new medicine storage. We’ll be building shelving around it.

A view with the “security doors” swung open…LOL!

Some shelving setup

More shelving and canned foods

Another view. I counted 499 jars. We’ve another 50 or so in the house pantry.

Our security guard, Cheyenne. She checks ID and frisks anyone coming or going. She’s putting in asking me about one of the airport security machines. You know, the “see-through” kind. I don’t know if it’s as much about “security,” as it is in maybe getting the little yellow male cur dog across the street, over to get a couple snap shots?? Get my drift? LOL!

Now…what’s my next project? Thinkin along the lines of a small greenhouse…20’x40’, maybe? Any ideas or suggestions I can run by “the boss-lady” would be appreciated!

You guys all have a great day, okay? Thanks for stopping back in to visit, and God Bless each and every one of you! Deb says, “Keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!”

Dub and Deb

It was President Obama with an announcement into the investigation of the earthquake that happened in DC. At first I wondered aloud about what type of investigation could be performed on account of an earthquake?

This was especially true since standing right beside the President was Eric Holder. Again, I was asking myself what in the world was Eric Holder involved in an investigation into a dern earthquake?? After the President turned the press conference over to Holder, the answer to my question came very quickly…

Holder just announced that the earthquake in DC was attributed to being but one of the many problems that were actually caused by our last President. From here on out, the current administration will refer to the cause of the DC earthquake as being simply…“Bush’s Fault!” Imagine that! LOL!

I got that the other day from a friend, and thought it typical of our current administration…
We have a new reader from Washington State, Jill, and Jill has been canning for while it seems, and had a question in regards to canning ground chuck, or regular hamburger. It was asking about using the oven method.

We just use the skillet and the oven method and no water as you’ll see below, but we also have browned it, and canned it in water in the mason jars as well. These both can then give you hamburger you can keep, basically on the pantry shelf for quite a long time. 2-3 years easily.

This is very convenient for freezer space, just like the canned butter, it gives a good long storage period, no electricity needed, just keep it in a cool dark spot, and is very easily converted into a good hot meal in a very short period of time, as the meat is already cooked.

You won’t have hamburger patties, but you will have hamburger readily available for spaghetti and lasagna sauces, it can be mixed with eggs for breakfast lunch and supper, and makes good hamburger and rice fried together as well…this is good when you throw a couple eggs in it too.

This storage method is perfect to use as tacos, shepherd’s pie, soups, and many other ways.

Now Jill, we also do it in soups and stews already mixed and cooked together and canned. There is liquid in these, but we do hamburger meatballs as well, and these we do use liquid in, and this is hot water. We just brown the meatballs, and then pressure cook in the hot water in the jars.

Now, I like your idea Jill, of a broth to use to for flavor. We’ll have to try that one ourselves. This is what we like about our column…so many people with different ideas and ways of doing things that comment on and share with us all their ways. Then all we have to do is find the way that works best for you.

We will put up a couple pictures of two ways we do it at the bottom of today’s column. One is of the meatballs we did, and the other is the skillet and oven method with liquid. Our canned hamburger without liquid we’re out of at the moment, but we’ll be canning some more very shortly and we’ll put a couple of pictures up of that procedure as well.

We were out of our canned hamburger, but our good friend in North Carolina, Bonnie, sent us down a jar of her canned ground chuck via her brother, Denny, this is in a liquid.

Let me say this too. IF you have any questions in regards to canning just ask us a question and I’m sure ole Bonnie wouldn’t mind in the least supplying you with an answer, or at worst where to look for the answer! I call Bonnie…the “master canner!”

Denny is a sheriff here in the county where we live, and he dropped this off and a couple other things off to us as well. Boy, you wanna talk a couple great people? Well, Denny and his wife both fall into this category! We haven’t spoken to them in a while so let Deb and I both holler out to them this morning! Hey guys!!

We want to thank you for bringing this up again Jill…it got Deb and I to thinking we probably need to can up about 20 pounds of ground chuck out of the freezer and free up some space number one. Number two is simply for having some stocked up, for later use…think once more of convenience.

You see, when Deb and I catch it on really, really good sale, we’ll buy 30-40 pounds of ground chuck, put it into 1-and 2 pound quantities, then food saver them. Keeps them very fresh, and NO freezer burns!

If you guys have any way possible to do the same, buying up extra meats, I feel strongly you do so. First hamburger is a meat that doesn’t take a long time to prepare, has no waste factor, is still reasonably priced, IF you catch it on sale, but make sure it’s a good sale, then stock up.

Hamburger is also a meat that is just so versatile. The number of different meals you can prepare with this as your meat of choice are basically without limit. I mean think about it, using hamburger in some type of recipe, really, the sky is the limit.

It is a priority in regards to our meat storage. It has too many plusses, and very few negatives…we feel it is just a good storage choice. Plus, mixed in soups, casseroles, and in so many other ways also…a little bit, goes a LONG way!

Now, I have a question for our readers, so help us out here on this one.

One other reason behind Deb and I fixing to can up some ground chuck is like I said earlier, freezer space. But there’s a reason for this. We have our peas planted, and before long we’ll be picking, shellin, and cannin peas.

You know that we juice quite about in Deb’s regard. When our fresh produce is coming in, we juice some of all of it. Peas, okra, beans, squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

My question is this. IF we took some un-shelled peas and okra, straight off the bush and we froze them…could we take them out at a later date, thaw them, and still use them to juice? Would nutritional value still be there? We’d appreciate your input!

Canned ground chuck:
The way we do it, is to fry our hamburger, ground chuck, etc., browning well. Then drain off the grease after it’s cooked, and rinse the meat off using hot water from the tap, keeping the meat in a colander while so doing. This on account of trying to get as much grease as possible off it. Then lay the meat out to dry on paper towels, but mainly we do this so we can dab at the meat with the towels, to try and get even more grease off.

Have your seals and rings (lids), in a pot of hot, but not boiling water.

After drying or dabbing, we then put meat back into the skillet, just long enough to reheat it, NOT recook it.

We then put the meat into pint, Mason Jars, filling them to within an inch or two from the top, but be sure to leave a gap. We use small-mouth or wide-mouth jars, basically whatever we have unused at the time.

We put these onto a baking pan, and place into the oven on 350, for 10-15 minutes or so. Take out jars one at a time and put on your seals and rings (lids).

Listen for lids to seal. After cooling, be sure to check each lid by pressing down on the top with a finger. If no movement, the jar is sealed. If you press down and then hear a pop, or there is “give” in the top, the jar didn’t seal. Set this aside and go ahead and use it.

We hope this helps you guys out this morning! If you haven’t started trying to put up a few extra food supplies, please look into possibly considering this move. Food prices are steadily going up, or have you noticed? Toilet paper was $1 a pack more than the last time we picked some up.

Much of the sugar is in 4 pound packs instead of 5, even cokes are going into 20 count cases now. Many, many things today have had package size reduction. Less product for the same money?? Putting some up now, may save you time and grief down the road.

Bonnie’s ground beef. I went to get a jar of our meatballs we had canned, and Deb told me they’ve been used. We’ll can you guys a few jars of those up for you to see as well. This turned out good though, huh?

Peas in the raised beds…

More peas and okra in raised beds…

On the left is 3 rows of okra. The rest are peas.

More peas…from the okra over to the last 7 rows on the right, these are crowders and purple hulls.

Look how well the black eyes are doing…almost a full third taller than the other peas.

You guys have a great day, and God Bless you and yours! Deb says to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!!

Dub and Deb

Well, it’s been almost six months now, and we decided today to take a pint out, and see how it’s doing. On a scale of one to ten, I’d have to give it a fourteen. Basically it scores so high because I made it…and I scored it! You see, it ain’t what you know…it’s WHO you know!

Actually though, I am very impressed. It seems to store very well, the color and texture are holding up fine (it is really pretty canned in the jars), and I and Deb both thought the taste was very good. I promise you all, we’ll be canning more of this.

One reason we decided to try canning butter was the ability to keep butter on hand that didn’t have the need for refrigeration. This plus the fact butter takes up freezer space that could be used for other things…mainly meat and vegetables.

We see now that without a doubt, you can put butter up in this way, and the taste is just fine. Hey Mississippi…got you a picture of spreading it on toast like you requested…except you requested on a biscuit, but we forgot and used toast! Sorry…

Power goes out…no problem, because your butter is sitting on a shelf…at room temperature. Deb and I both feel that the more ways you can utilize storage that can get by with no electricity, the better off we are.

Some people prefer freezing versus canning, and honestly I’m not sure there is such a thing as one really being better than the other. Although we feel canning is more our way of putting up our food supplies, at least as much as we can anyway.

Once again, we feel this way mainly from a “no power” standpoint, plus we enjoy the taste of canned food. In all actuality, if we were without power for any extended period of time, then we’d probably can most of the meat we’d have in our freezer anyway. It ends up being your own personal preference.

The butter as an example, is a product many people say you cannot can safely. BUT, if you don’t make sure that what you’re canning isn’t done properly, ANYTHING can spoil, or go bad.

Some reasons why, may be jars not sealing, not wiping lids free of film while filling jars, not canned at the proper pressure, or not cooked long enough. These are but a few examples. So, the most important thing in canning is simply doing it right, the first time.

Now corn, Deb and I don’t can this. We cream our corn from the garden and freeze it. This is probably the one vegetable we do freeze, plus it takes a long time to can, and cream corn is our preferred style of eating it, unless right off the cob.

Any corn storage to speak of that we have is regular store bought corn, but we have just about any vegetable under the sun that’s store bought and stored as well.

We’ve canned stews, soups, beef, pork and chicken, fruits, and vegetables. We just made a chicken salad the other night. We used a pint jar of chicken we’d canned…in 2008! Delicious!

Also a buddy of ours took home some stew and some canned chicken. He called a few days later and said his wife made up a pot of rice and some cornbread, heated up the canned stew and served it over the rice. The chicken they made chicken salad as well, and he said both the stew and the chicken were great. Their dates…2008 as well.

The home canned products last very, very well, and again, Deb and I both are firm believers in canning. We also enjoy the time together we spend doing these things. To us, it is simply a part of our lifestyle, and keeps us in good, fresh, homegrown food products. Life is good…

Now, one thing do in regards to freezing, besides the normal things such as meat, is to cook some meals using the, what I like to call, “the overkill method!” This being just cooking more at one time that we could ever possibly eat. The remaining leftover food, we simply food saver and freeze for a later time.

This, just like canning is really a time saver for quick, easy, nutritious meals. Meatloaf, ham, stuffed peppers, barbequed chicken, lasagna, macaroni and cheese, chili, beans, etc. Take these jewels out at a later date, thaw, heat, and…it’s suppertime!

For heavy prep meals such as lasagna and stuffed peppers, this method works really well with. This being because with one prep time, one baking time, and one CLEANUP, you may enjoy meals that you really like, and having them possibly 3-4 more times off one cook. Again, with only one prep, bake, and cleanup. How easy is that?

So, as I said earlier, we were very, very pleased with how the butter turned out. Phew…I was sweatin this one out, as honestly, I wasn’t sure of the end result. Now, after almost 6 months, I can see clearly that this method of food storage WILL work, and work well!

Here’s our column on how we canned the butter, with pictures to boot!

Here’s a couple pictures of our butter after 6 months on a shelf in the pantry.

Our butter in the right hand corner, and four jars of honey the bee lady just brought for us.

Showing the butter

Fixing to slap some on a piece of toast

Look how well it spreads!

Blueberry preserves our good friend Wendy brought down for Deb and I. These aren’t shabby with toast and butter either! Actually Wendy’s preserves are excellent! Hey Wendy…we’re runnin’ low here, okay?

Thank you all so much for droppin’ back in to visit with us a while again today. God Bless each and every one of you guys! Deb says once more to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

First off, we try to keep some motor oils, and some tube grease put up. We started off keeping this in our original room, but the produce from our gardens quickly prevented us continuing to keep our oil in there too…not enough room.

So, these products had to go back out to our tool shed, which is fine but for one thing…the heat. Our tube grease literally melts down from time to time during the summer months as it’s a metal shed with only a fan to stir the air. Tire repair kits, such as patches, plugs, etc., can’t take the heat either, so her idea for an addition actually sounded good to me as well, so, we’ve gotten it started.

Her reasoning for the additional room is for more space freed up in our food storage for us to continue to can, and put up more of our vegetables, number one, plus she’d like a place to put her extra cast iron cookware. Along with this, she can put up her extra cleaning supplies, paper towels, TP, aluminum foil, medicines, our lanterns and their rebuild kits, etc.

It’s kinda’ like the old sayin’…it doesn’t matter how large you build a barn…you always wished you’d have built it a little bigger. You turn around good, and the dern thing is full! This sure describes our situation here at our place.

MY main two reasons for going ahead and building it are both very simple, BUT both are very good reasons as you’ll soon see…

First, it’ll make Deb happy, which makes my life SO much easier! The second reason is that it’ll make Deb happy, AND this makes my life so much easier! How simple is that guys?? Mama’s happy…EVERYONE is happy!

We are extending the room by an additional 12’x10’. This added on to the original, and it being a 12’x12’. This makes it a 22’x12’, and honestly I don’t know why I didn’t make it that size to begin with? Actually I do, and it’s called…a shortage of Benjamin Franklin’s!

To that statement Deb only stated that our President claims you can SPEND your way out of debt, and I explained to her that no, in reality that doesn’t happen, you cannot spend your way out of debt, but only spend your way into complete bankruptcy. She said that, “YOU CAN, if you print your own money,” but I had to tell her that no, this doesn’t even work, but only prolongs the pain.

Her remark? “Are YOU the President of the United States? So the addition is being built…any of you guys mind redistributing some of YOUR wealth down towards Central Florida way? If so, please just send cash.

One thing we are doing with the addition is build it exactly as we built the first room. 2×6 studs as are our floor and ceiling joists. This enables us to double insulate the floors, walls and ceiling. We use 2” fiberboard insulation, then come behind that with an R-19 rated rollout insulation. Plywood walls, pressure treated on the outside and interior grade on the inside.

By doing this in our original room, it worked absolutely great. Even during the very hottest days, the little 110 air conditioner holds 68 degrees and runs very, very little. It works great!

The additional cost to us during the hottest times…about 25 bucks a month. Money well spent.
That’s what Gus told Jake about Laurie in Lonesome Dove wasn’t it? “Money well spent…both times!

This same 110 unit will keep the additional room cooled as well, but we will install another small 110 unit as a backup…you never know.

We should have it built in another 2-3 days, lights and all. We cut in for a door, but decided after we cut and framed the door space out, that no, we’ll not add another door, but simply use the door on the original room, and cut out a walkway to pass through into the new room. Then we have only one door, period.

By having the door hole cut though, it sure helped out by allowing us some light where we could see well while working inside the room. Once we run the power we’ll frame out the door space, close it back in, then plywood and insulate it and that’ll finish us up…all but moving around what ole’ Deb wants moved around. That’ll be an experience by itself.

Hmmm…I might be gone somewhere that day, and let Dale and Bob handle it. I can see it now, Deb pointing that finger and saying, “Just put it right here…no, no, I think it’ll be better if we move it here…no, I like it where it WAS at to begin with.”

I’ve been around her too long, and know her like a book! I have complete faith that Dale and Bob can handle it though. If I had any doubts at all that they couldn’t, I’d be right there with them. Hahaha! You believe that, right?

Basically Deb and I do believe our economy will continue to get tougher. Food storage is one way that we feel may be a help to us down the road.

As grocery prices continue to rise, gas prices…who knows where they may get to, the inability evidently by our government to come to grips with excessive, to put it very mildly, spending, and our un-employment rate as high as it is, all point to tougher times down the road.

We’ve seen flooding in some areas, drought in others, and who knows how much effect these things will have on food production in the near future? It may behoove us all to think along these same lines…a little extra can’t hurt, huh?

We find canning our preference in the storage of vegetables, fruits, stews, soups, and meats, although we also freeze all these as well. With these two rooms to help us out with storage space, it also allows us to keep a pretty good stock of food in a spot that if power is lost, then we can still keep it safe even with a small generator.

In 2004, we were hit by three hurricanes in about a month’s time. All three eyes of these storms were very close to us, and when power was lost for over a week after the first storm, we lost all the food in our freezers…no generator.

By canning so much of our food, this helps to insure this not taking place again. Not only this, but canning makes meals so very simple, if you’ve had a long day. Put on a pot of rice, heat up a jar or two of stew, throw some cornbread in the oven, and very quickly, you’re eating a good hot meal…and no refrigeration needed. It works well for us anyway…

Also, if you haven’t invested in a food saver system, then why don’t you at least check them out, and see what benefits they offer that might just be, “the ticket,” in regards to your own family needs?

This is the 2” fiberboard insulation we’re using in the room

The new room addition you see built on to the original. It will be a 22x10 when finished

This is the R-19 insulation we use behind the fiberboard insulation. Double insulated throughout. You can see the ceiling has been completed.

Some of the peas in the raised beds.

More peas and the cownhorn okra. We’ll be transplanting these okra this next week and give them more room to grow.

Cheyenne “on patrol.” She was barking to beat the band the other night and Deb and I got outside just in time to see a coyote outside the fence taking off. They’re really becoming established here now. This is bad news for the turkey and baby deer.

You guys have a great day, and God Bless you all. Deb says to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

First off this morning, I’d like to tell you a story I heard over the weekend. This is about a man and his wife.

It seems the husband couldn’t sleep and he’d gotten up, went into the dining room and was sitting at the table. His wife had awakened and saw he wasn’t in his bed asleep. Concerned she got up and went to check on him.

She found him at the dining room table, and saw immediately he had been crying. She became upset that something must be bothering him so terribly bad that he was in bad shape…just a squallin’.

She asked if she could help with anything, and he looked up startled to see her standing there. He replied that he couldn’t sleep and had come down to keep from interfering with her sleep.

He suddenly wiped a tear from his eye and told her, “You know, I’ve been thinking, and 25 years ago today, we first met. Did you realize that?” She said that yes, indeed she did.

He then told her that he remembered where they met, under what circumstances, where they were at the time, and even what she was wearing at the time. He asked her if she could still remember those things as well, and by now he was crying a little harder.

She put her arms around him and told him that yes, she too remembered all those things, and pulled up a chair beside him, by now crying too.

He then asked her if she remembered her Daddy coming out to his car and catching them messing around. She said yes, she remembered, and wiped a tear from her eye, so proud that this man thought enough of their relationship, that all these things that had taken place so long ago, he remembered, just as if they’d taken place yesterday.

Tearfully, he asked if she remembered her Daddy’s words upon catching them in the car, and she said she thought so, but for him to refresh her memory. He said, “You’re Daddy had his shotgun, and told me if I didn’t marry you, he’d have me arrested and thrown in jail. Do you remember?”

She laughed out loud at the memory he’d rekindled and that yes, she did know that this was exactly what her Daddy had said, 25 years earlier.

The husband replied, now crying harder than ever, that if he had indeed gone to jail 25 years ago…he’d have gotten out today…sentence served, and a free man all the way around!

To all you husbands out there, this makes you stop and think, doesn’t it? I sure did!

We’ve talked on this before, but for the ones who aren’t aware, Deb and I built a storage room outback, and this was to store our vegetables we canned from our garden. We also store beef, chicken, pork, stews, soups, and even cakes and butter we’ve canned in the past.

The reason for this is simple…we ran out of room in our home. We started using our pantry, and out produced what it could hold. So, I told Deb, we’ll take a spare bedroom and store them in there. Well, we produced more than it held, and on top of that…I ticked ole’ Deb off…royally! I’d taken over a guest bedroom, and although she condones all of our food storage, and believes it a good, good move for our family in these tough economic times, she eventually told me…”I want my D… guestroom back, NOW!” I told her no problem, General…give us a week or two!

Dale, Creek Dog, and I went to building us this room. We made it a 12’x12’, and it actually turned out very nicely.

We used 2’x6’ pressure treated lumber, and ¾ inch pressure treated plywood. We built it off the ground, in case of high water, and insulated the room really, really well, and this was the key…heavy insulation. We insulated the floors, the sides, and the roof with first 2 inch fiberboard insulation, then came back with R-19 on top. We caulked and sealed every joint. It was built very tight, and actually could be used as a freezer if we needed.

We shelved it, slapped in a 110 air-conditioner with a thermostat built in, and we were set. We were ready for the test run. We turned the air on, and shut it up for a couple days. When we checked it out, the temperature was holding 68 degrees and the unit was hardly running at all.

The A/C has a fan that kicks on every so often, just to circulate the air, and this works great. We stocked the room, and this has been one of our better ideas. Deb got her guestroom back, we had a nice place for our food storage, and best of all…I was out of the doghouse!! Thank you Lord!

We built it between a few small oak trees that in a short time will be a big benefit for us, by simply casting shade over the roof, and helping to keep it cooler, thus keeping the A/C running even less during the hot and humid summer months here in sunny Florida. They also help to “hide” the building, and keeping it from being so obvious. Behind the building, is nothing but thick woods.

I know the first time we took our four year old granddaughter Shelby Lynn inside it, she cracked me up. She went inside, we shut the door and she was just looking around bug-eyed. I asked her what did she think, and she said, “Papa…I didn’t know you and Nana had a store!”

In case of power outages, the A/C unit is plenty small enough to keep it running with our little 6500 watt generator. The main house we have a 45KW mobile generator that will run the whole house if needed, and we keep it full of diesel, plus we have a 425 gallon tank of diesel that has that generator’s name on it.

Actually we’ll be pulling that “mutha” out tomorrow to run it some and basically just check it out. We do this several times a year. This keeps the batteries charged, and gives us a heads up if it’s not running right.

We’re checking it tomorrow because of the hurricane headed our way, but it’s beginning to look as if it may miss us and head more towards North, and South Carolina…if this is the case, Bonnie, Barbra L., George (I am one), Roger W., and any other of our readers who live in that neck of the woods, keep your eyes and ears open, okay? My sister and her family live in Concord, N.C. as well.

Let’s all hope if this storm continues to intensify that it stays well offshore period! We’d like some rain off of it, but not if it brings high winds with it.
Here’s a few photos of our storage room and how it turned out…

The Storage room itself.

As you can see this has worked out nicely for us. It made a nice little storage area. Once more, if you have the opportunity, or ability to try and buy some extra food supply, I really would do it if at all possible.

Having food available in the stores, or the ability to purchase it if inflation hits, are all concerns in the type of depressed economy we’re living in today.
We’re only trying to err on the side of caution. Once again, if everything turns out well, our worst case scenario will be for us to simply…eat it.

The backyard garden is another way to offset some food prices, and the taste doesn’t even compare to store bought.

An extra flashlight or two, a few extra medicines, etc. all could be useful one day, plus you’ll have bought them at a cheaper price than if you continue to wait. This is our thinking anyway.

Here’s three video’s you might like to see. Basically they’re just showing our garden, new compost pile, and some of the place.

Turkey’s and a new compost pile…

Fall peas and where we shoot…


Stirring the compost pile…

We appreciate you guys stopping back in to visit, and wish you all the best! Take care and God Bless.

Deb says to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart.

Dub and Deb

Anyway, we hope everyone is fine and dandy today, and all your family as well.

Well, Deb didn’t get her first chemo treatment Wed. as planned. She will go next Thursday. She told me that mentally she was a little uneasy with starting it Wed., so I told her do what her heart says to do, and I’m sure that’s what she’s done.

Looking at her, she looks better than she has in years, and I mean that as a compliment, she does. It’s not just me though, it’s everyone that knows her. She still tells me that besides the diagnosis, and the lump, she’d never know anything was wrong.

She assures me she feels no different at all, isn’t any more tired than she normally is, and I’m here to tell you she goes at a trot all day long. She wears my rear end out.

I tell her though, that with the amount and different varieties of juice and vegetables we’re juicing now, along with the walks on top of her normal routine, she has to be doing good things in regards to her body. I’m sure these things have to help her, and our biggest goal of this, is building up her immune system as much as we possibly can.

Anyway, if she felt uneasy about this first time, I say, so be it. It’s her decision and I feel comfortable with her doing whatever she feels best with. She’ll be there next week, and we’ll go from there.

I’ve learned since we found out about her problem, to be less vocal in my own opinion, and listen much more than I normally do. It’s her body and I trust her doing the very best possible in regards to her judgment.

She’s a trooper, and once more her positivity is unquestioned.

We made shishkabob a couple or three nights ago, and I have to tell you, ahhh…it was sooo good! Not just the shishkabob, but what “my woman,” had with it! This meal was good enough that I took a few pictures to share with you guys today.

First off, Deb loves it. So we cooked considerably more than we need for the two of us. The reasoning was two-fold. First, we both like it, so we fixed enough that we could food saver a few bags, We’ll just let these thaw, warm them up, and there’s a good meal.

Secondly, with Deb fixing to start chemo, I figured this may be something hopefully, she’ll eat if her appetite goes back some. Again she really likes it, and it’d be convenient for me to fix quickly for her.

Cream corn is another food she really likes, so we’ve done some this way for her as well. She may not want either, but we’ve put some up just in case. Who knows, we may be glad we have done so.

Back to the shishkabob,I know you guys probably know how to do this, but Deb says I need to tell you how we do it. So, that’s what I’m fixing to do. I do know that done this way, it turns out really flavorful, very tender, and awfully moist.

• 1 London Broil
• 1 medium pork roast
• 1 bag of boneless chicken breasts (about 6)
• 2 lbs. large link pork sausage
• 4 vidalia onions
• 3 bell peppers
• 4 good size tomatoes
• Salt and black pepper (heavy on the pepper)
• 2 large bottles of Italian dressing
• meat tenderizer

Cut up your meat into small pieces, and put into a large plastic container with a bottle of the dressing. Shake on the pepper, salt, and some meat tenderizer. Mix really well by hand.

Cut up your onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers, put them into the container over the meat. Pour in your other bottle of dressing. Shake on more salt, and pepper, then mix all ingredients again by hand. Really mix it all up good. Now refrigerate and let marinate at least 12 hours, and 24 is even better.

The next day, when we’re getting ready to cook, I light the grill, then we skewer all the meat and vegetables. As an example we used 23 skewers the other day. We don’t have 23 skewers, plus our grill wouldn’t hold that many, so we do it in two cooks. No sweat in doing this. By the time we get the first skewers finished, the grill is getting close to being ready for the skewers.

Now, I cook the shishkabob on the grill for 15 minutes or so. Once I see the meat and vegetables trying to just barely blacken in some spots (from the dressing over the coals), I snatch up that batch, take them in, and take them off the skewers, and put this in a large throw away baking pan (one like you’d use for a turkey). As soon as I get them off the skewers, I take a little of the leftover dressing and lightly pour over this, then I cover the pan good with aluminum foil to hold as much heat as I can, plus this creates moisture.

We immediately skewer the remaining meat and vegetables, and head to the grill once more. Use the same process. Once to your liking, we un-skewer these and add to the pan. Lightly pour over a little more dressing…just lightly though.

We seal the pan back up good with the foil, then put in the oven and bake on 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. We then take out and serve. The vegetables and meat have laid all mixed up together and finished cooking, and man, this is so good.

The oven has insured all being done, but they’re not overcooked in the least. The foil has kept in the moisture and I’m telling you guys, everything is really, really moist! My Mom and Dad, shoot everyone that’s had this fixed in this way, literally rave over the flavor and moisture. It’s the ONLY way we’d do this anymore.

Remember, we keep these on the grill until again, we see a blackening trying to start, then take them off the grill. This amount of time is plenty adequate to insure your grilled or smoky taste that you want out of this dish. Just try it one time. We really think you’ll see a distinct difference in the taste and the finished product.

Plus the variety of the different meats is a really nice way to go as well. You have the beef, pork and chicken flavor, and the link sausage really supplies another good taste, and goes well with the vegetables we use too.

This sausage is A-1, and we get it from Waycross, Ga. We have a friend in Alma, Ga., who grew up with my brother, and he goes to the ranch from time to time. When he does, he drops Deb and I off 100 pounds of it or more.

We use a lot ourselves, but all our neighbors love it too. So once they hear we just had a load dropped off, here they come, checkbooks and coolers in hand! Honestly, this may just be the best sausage we’ve ever put in our mouths!

Actually, I do my barbequed chicken and ribs, this way too. The oven and the foil, really make a big difference of your moisture content in your finished product!

Once I got the shishkabob ready, Deb was through on her end as well. My oh my, what a meal we sat down to. We had shishkabob, fresh out of the garden tomatoes, peas from last fall’s garden, and creamed corn we’d creamed in the last week or so…out of the garden too.

She “iced the cake” in regards to this, with a hot pan of skillet cornbread, and iced tea!

Did you say dessert?

That was covered also. She had a jar of pound cake cooked with fresh blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries we added to the mix before baking. I had a jar of banana nut bread and blueberry muffin mix combined together with fresh fruit baked into mine as well. These we’d canned 3-4 weeks back, and just as fresh and moist as if we’d just made them! Good stuff!

Well, I hope I’ve made you guy’s mouths water, as this was my true intention!

Seriously though, you ought to try your next shishkabob this way. AND you might want to can you up a few cakes or sweetbreads too. These little fellers sure hit the spot from time to time!

May God Bless you and yours, and as Deb likes to say, “Keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!”

Dub and Deb

Ready for Skewering

First Cooking on the Grill

Second, and Last Cooking on the Grill

Ready for the Oven (be sure to cover)

Finished Product

The End Result…and it sure was good! “It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.” Lewis Grizzard

Dessert…Canned Cakes…Banana Nut Bread Blueberry Muffin on the left…Pound Cake on the right, both with fresh fruit

Always remember…two can live as cheap as one, if one don’t eat!

Also…We’ve had sushi down here in the South forever…we just always called it bait.