Canning Dried Beans

I love canning. I wish we were able to do a garden at our house but since we can't we still try to can local/regional produce. Pulling a jar of delicious food from the cabinet that you lovingly "put up" is a great feeling. Mainly we can tomatoes and  green beans, but this weekend we're trying our hand at dried beans. We canned black, navy, and kidney beans.

Napkin Folding for an Elegant Table

We love throwing a good dinner party. So much so, that we’ve turned it into what we do for a living! One of my favorite parts is setting the table, sometimes called tablescaping! It gives me a place to really use my creativity while giving my guest something visually appealing and inviting.

Today I’m going to share my favorite napkin fold! It’s so easy and versatile that’s its pretty much my go-to fold for all our dinner parties. Get the step by step instructions after the jump!

Reducing Food Waste Wednesday - Meal Planning

I know, I know. This is the one thing that most people absolutely hate to do. It seems like it takes so much time and no one is ever in the mood to do it

But it's important.

The Other Williams and I never go grocery shopping without our weekly dinner menu planned. Here's why:

• It saves us a LOT of time in the long run. No worrying about what's for dinner tonight or do I have everything for the recipe I want to make. Meal planning also saves us time in the grocery store. We know where everything is and we get in and get out.
• It saves us a LOT of money. While we do try to buy in bulk and when things are on sale, where we save the most money is not buying something that we don't need and letting it go to waste. By checking the pantry for what we need we don't end up buying things we already have on hand.
• It saves us a LOT of calories. Because we know what's for dinner that night we aren't tempted to eat out as much. We know everything is already in the pantry or fridge and just waiting to be put together. We also aren't tempted to throw in high-calorie foods because it's just not on the list.

There is a lot of waste to be had if we walk into the produce department with all the beautiful colors screaming at us and we don't have a list. If I don't plan, I know we'll be tossing expensive produce away because we simply bought too much. So here's how it goes for us:

Reducing Food Waste Wednesday - Composting

Three bin system Link

This is post 2 in our series on reducing food waste. If you can't reuse its time to recycle. Composting is a great way to make sure your food goes back to its original form. Putting scraps in a heavy duty plasstic trash bag and then tossing it into the landfill doesn't guarantee that it will biodigrate. The plastic bag has to biograte before the contents in side it can reach the soil. 

 

We've been composting for several years now. At first the thought of self-disposal was a little overwhelming. But after diving in head first we quickly found out its really not that hard at all. In fact just the opposite.

 

You of course need a few basic supplies to get started. A composting bin can be made out of anything that can breath a little and contain your food scraps. Here are some examples of DIY compost bins and some of our best tips!!

Reducing Food Waste Wednesday - Produce-saving Recipes

Every Wednesday for the month of April we'll be talking about food waste and how to reduce it!

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When you were little, did your mom make you clean your plate? Yea, mine neither. But The Other Williams is definitely apart of the clean your plate club. In all honesty, we both hate wasting food, especially produce.

We try to buy organic whenever possible because we feel like it's an investment in our health but it does come at a cost. When I see oranges, greens, or anything wilting away, it hurts my feelings and my pocketbook. We do our best to plan our meals and not over-buy but sometimes, like when we join a CSA, we still end up with extras leftover at the end of the week.

If you cringe every time you have to throw out those black banana's or wilted lettuce heads this post is for you! I have several ways to rescue your food & money!

What is a CSA?

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We love our house because it has beautiful tall trees all around it that provides much needed shade in the hot southern summers. However, because of that our yard isn't very conducive to photosynthesis. In the past we've relied on and belonged to a couple of CSA's. We love getting fresh, local produce weekly/monthly throughout the growing season and it's that time again to start thinking about joining one.

What is a CSA?

A CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. In a nut shell you're supporting the farm before it produces any produce. Local farms sell "shares" of their yield and every week you can pick up a share of vegetables, cheese, meat, fruit, and other goods that the farmer has produced.

Benefits

• It's as local as local can get! The main benefit of a CSA is getting locally grown goods. Not having your food travel 1000's of miles and using lots of oil, is awesome! You can't get much more local than right in you own town or county!
• Freshness- Most farmers pick the produce a day or two before delivery/pick-up. This means peak freshness from vegetables that aren't going to have to be pick early in order to ride on a truck across country.
• Quality - With grocery store produce, you just never know what you're going to get. In a CSA, providing you do the research, you're farmer is dependent on giving you the best product possible.
• No packaging - this is a biggie for me. I hate seeing produce in packaging. It hurt's my feelings...a lot. Most shares come in a reusable container or bag!
• Variety - You'll get to jump out of your comfort zone and try new veggies you may not have wanted to try due to price or comfort level. Once it's in your kitchen it's fair game! Some farms also grow heirloom varieties, which are super tasty!
• Local Economy - with a CSA you're supporting your local economy and local food sources. By supporting these types of businesses and farms, communities can ensure there will be food sources and goods in the future. You're money is going directly to the farmer.
• Eating Seasonally - since the produce is picked fresh before delivery, you'll ensure you're eating seasonally. It's awesome to see when the different vegetables come in.

Photo of our actual share in May 2011

What comes in a share?
It depends on the farm. We've been apart of a CSA that gave us meat and cheese along with a few vegetables and fruit. Most, however are just growing produce. Be sure to check out the details or ask the farmer.

How much is a share?
This also depends on the farm. Some organically certified farms are going to be pretty steep. However if you talk to the farmer and ask about their growing methods, many times they are growing organically or sustainably but just aren't certified. For a regular season expect to pay between $300-$600 per share. Some farms also do half shares and work-shares (where you can work on the farm to get a discount).

WOW, that's a bit expensive!
Yes, it might seem that way because you're handing over a large amount of money at the beginning. However do the math. Around here in SC most CSA's are from May-Sept. That's five months or 20-25 weeks of produce. For a $400 share that comes to around $20-$25 per week for fresh, local, sustainable produce! You just can't beat that.

Resources:
Local Harvest - is a great resource for finding local food in your area
Eat Wild -  Directory of farms in your area
Google your state and "CSA"

Tips 'n' Tools: Removing Caffeine

Recently The Other Williams and I toured the only tea plantation in the US, Charleston Tea Plantation. We both drink tea. Sweet tea in the summer on occasion and I have to have a hot mug of tea in the morning during the winter. There is just something so nourishing about hot tea, no matter what kind or flavor you like.
Anyway, while at the plantation learning all kinds of great stuff about tea and how it's produced, we learned that you can remove some of the caffeine in tea naturally.

Did you know...
- That in order to make decaf tea chemicals have to be added?
- The Charleston Tea Plantation uses no pesticides, herbicides, or chemicals on their tea plants?

I didn't either. I try to stay away from caffeine when I can but we've been buying the Charleston American Classic Tea for a year or so. Local all the way at our house! I make sweet tea when we have cook outs and for The Other Williams but I've been drinking a decaf tea when I partake. I was so happy to hear I could remove some of the caffeine and switch back to LOCAL tea!!

Here's the process:

Iced Tea (Moon Tea)
Heat releases the caffeine so instead of boiling the water, pour cold water over the tea bags and let it sit over night. It will steep but the caffeine won't come out as much.

Hot Tea
Pour boiling water over the tea bags and let it steep for 60 seconds. Then pour that cup of tea out and pour more hot water over the tea bags. The first cup (that your pour out) will contain most of the caffeine!

Picnic Tip: Cup Holder

We picnic a lot down here in the south. The Other Williams and I picnic in the local parks, in the woods, in the mountains, heck even on the side of the road. We picnic in our car, at the local collage campus, just about anywhere it's pretty and there is a place for us, we lay our blanket down.

This little picnic tip is something I came up with out of necessity and while we were picnicking a few weekends ago I snapped a photo to use as a visual aid. I know I'm always thinking about you guy!

Most impromptu picnic locations don't always have the smoothest, most stable ground. So if you need somewhere to put your can, bottle, or cup that's holding your favorite beverage, take off your shoes. Tennis shoes make great cup holders and work well with cans, bottles, and cups. It stabilizes the beverage and it's easy to grab and drink.

Tah-Dah! Do you have any picnic tips?

Tips 'n' Tools - Grilled Corn

We LOVE fresh grilled corn. But we don't like fire hazards. We soak the corn first for a few minutes to a hour. That not only cuts down on your chance of a flaming ear of popcorn but the wet husk will act as an insulator, give it more flavor, helping to steam the corn, and locking in that goodness.

Problem is corn floats. So our tip today is to fill the sink with cold water. Remove the silk (the little strings inside the husk) by gently pulling back the outer layers. Place they layer back in place. Next put it in the sink and place a bowl, dish drainer (shown), small cutting board, or any other flat heavy object on it. Tah-dah

Tips 'n' Tools - Wine Vacuum Seal

A while back we picked up the Vacu Vin 3-Piece Wine Saver. If you like to drink wine but not always a whole bottle, this is for you. Whether you're the only one in the house drinking wine or you're just a one-glass-a-night person I recommend getting this or something like it. It's only a few bucks and most importantly it works.

When I first started drinking wine I found that I didn't like wine, especially white wine, the next day. I soon learned that once you pop that cork your on borrowed time. The chemical processes called oxidation starts to break the wine down and can eventually turn it into vinegar!

With my Vacu Vin I've been able to go back to bottle the next day and it be just as good. It claims to save wine for up to two weeks. I don't know about your house but I've never had a bottle of wine last in my fridge for two weeks! But I can safely say at it does hold it for a few days to a week.

This is a great video from the WineEnthusiast on how this product works.

Tips 'n' Tools - Cooking for Two - Buns

In our house about 99% of our meals are prepared for just two people. Sometimes this can pose some problems and a lot of food that is wasted due to spoilage. My tip today is about hot dog and hamburger buns.

We love buying the nice, yummy, expensive buns for our brats, dogs, buffalo burgers, etc. But there is normally 8 - 10 buns in a pack. So it's ridiculous for us to just take out two and throw away the rest.

TIP: When we buy new buns, hot dog or hamburger buns, we immediately wrap up them up two at a time in tin foil and throw the pairs of wrapped buns into a large freezer bag. So in a few weeks when we want hamburgers we just grab a pair of wrapped buns from the freeze and thaw overnight in the fridge. They taste just about as great as they do fresh and we've wasted less and saved money in the process. Nice, huh?

Tips 'n' Tools - Vanilla infusion kit

A few years ago while exploring the Yankee Candle Flagship store we ran across this vanilla extract product and had to have it. The Other Williams' mother ended up finding it again and giving it to me for christmas about 2-3 years ago.

The kit comes with a bottle and three very pump vanilla beans. You buy the best vodka you can find, we use Absolute. Then cut the beans in half and place in the bottle. Then fill the bottle up with vodka and let it sit for 3 months, turning it over every once in a while to mix it up.

After three months, you have pure vanilla extract. The best thing about this is this bottle will last seven years. Simply top off the bottle every so often with the good vodka. The beans will continue to flavor the vodka for seven years.

I love mine!! I grabbed a picture with my webcam here. Mine is from Rose and Ivy. There are others on the market and you could just make your own if you can find really good pump vanilla beans. You can purchase a kit like mine here. You want the "KIT" not the already made. (scroll to bottom)