For Those Who Pay for Their Own Groceries

I have not commented on the rash of food thefts this past weekend. Daughter C tells me it happened at the Kroger in Starkvegas-- although the Walmarts in Louisiana are getting all of the attention. The lack of shame in some corners of "society" is despicable. 

But as I try my darnedest to stay upbeat, I thought I'd pass along a few money saving tips to those of you who actually see your hard earned money slip through your fingers as you pass that check over to the nice lady at your local market.

From Most for Your Money Cookbook (Cora, Rose, and Bob Brown, Modern Age Books, Inc., New York, 1938) come these ways to stretch the food budget.

... few cooks know the advantage of snow as an ingredient, yet a cup of freshly fallen snow actually takes the place of two eggs in making a pudding light and toothsome. Likewise, snow saves on milk in making Snow Waffles and Pancakes which have a finer texture because of the chemicals released in melting-- some say it's the ammonia.

"Toothsome." Now there's a word. They include a recipe for Snowy Plum Pudding.

The Browns also remind us that jam and preserves can be cooked in a sunny window (though I don't see any instruction) and that in former days, "frugal housewives kept an iron 'stock pot' constantly stewing, into which they tossed all meat and poultry trimmings, ham bones and leftovers, to provide a continual supply of strong meat broth for soups and gravies."

From The Settlement Cook Book: Treasured Recipes of Seven Decades Third Edition / Newly Revised (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976; originally published in 1901) a tip at which Mr. Big Food is expert:

Weekly "special" sales of meats and vegetables at your food market can provide a variety of economical bases for meal planning, even including foods usually considered high priced, such as steaks, chops, and roasts. A roast that can be served hot, then cold, then in a casserole dish or in lunchbox sandwiches can obviously have its original cost spread over several meals.

And looky here! 

Fats that are not fit for food may be made into soap.

As we have discussed many times, menu planning is an excellent way to stretch the food dollar. New Delineator Recipes: Including Ten Exclusive Recipes by Ann Batchelder Delineator Home Institute (Butterick Publishing Company, 1930) has seven pages of "Simple Menus" including these for Luncheons or Suppers (not to be confused with Dinners):

Sounds yummy!

 
Finally, from The American Woman's Cook Book (Ruth Berolzheimer, ed., Consolidated Book Publishers, Chicago, 1946; first published in 1938) some advise on how the "modern woman" should divide her food dollar. 

ONE-FIFTH or more for whole milk, cream, cheese and cod-liver oil for growing children. Plan to give each child 1 quart and each adult at least 1 pint of milk in some form, per day.

ONE-FIFTH for vegetables and fruits, with emphasis on green leaf and yellow fruits and vegetables. Serve at least one cooked vegetable, besides potatoes, and 1 fresh vegetable each day. Serve fruit twice a day, with citrus fruit at least once.

ONE-FIFTH or less for meats, fish and eggs, serving liver in some form at least once a week.

ONE-FIFTH for breads and cereals, especially whole grain.

ONE-FIFTH for fats, sugar and other groceries. 

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By the way-- the giveaway at the Piglet is up to $750!

 

Slow Food

Chuck Roast and Vegetables in Slow Cooker

Just as we have coke/Coke, kleenex/Kleenex and bush hog/Bush Hog, so, too, we have crock pot/Crock-Pot. According to that infallible source, Wikipedia, the slow cooker was first introduced by Naxon Utilities Corporation of Chicago as the Naxon Beanery All-Purpose Cooker. "The Rival Company bought Naxon in 1970 and reintroduced it under the Crock-Pot name in 1971. 

Youngsters may not know this, but Crock Pots did not originally have removable crocks, and they certainly were not immersible. Talk about hard to clean! Rival introduced removable crocks in 1974.

Some crappy old homemaker stuff. Top-Bottom, Left-Right: potato masher (wooden thing), bread box (shiny thing), iron, Crock Pot with non-removable crock, oven thermometer. (There's also a new Sunbeam egg timer but it doesn't work.)

It doesn't take much to amuse me on rainy Thursday morning. Here's what I've uncovered about Mr. Naxon, inventor of the slow cooker. 

My Dad, Irving Naxon, invented the crock pot, the then-called Naxon Beanery. He retired in 1971 and sold his business to Rival Manufacturing. They streamlined the design, renamed it the crock pot, and the rest is American culinary history. But what was his inspiration for its creation in the first place, you might ask?


My grandmother Tamara Kaslovski Nachumsohn, grew up in a small “shtetl” in Lithuania. She told my dad, when he was a young child, that when she was growing up back in the old country, each Friday afternoon her mother would send her to the local bakery with their pot of prepared but yet uncooked “cholent.” There it would be put into the oven for a full day, while the family observed the Sabbath and the hot oven cooled to warm while not in use for that same period. At sundown she would go to the bakery and bring the family their delicious pot of steamy stew.

Dad remembered the story and was inspired to find a way to create a heating element that surrounded the pot in the same way that an oven would have. He wanted to find a low cost, low electricity use solution. I remember our having a Beanery at home during the 1950′s and 1960′s. We used it to “boik” potatoes, roast corn, make delicious stews and soups. Mom used to put old fashioned oatmeal in it before we went to bed and we woke up to a steaming pot of hot cereal.

 What a nice story. 

The history of the Bean Pot at the Rival Company is interesting on a rainy Thursday, too. 

Miller [Rival President at the time] said the Bean Pot was almost an afterthought during the negotiations. "No one paid any attention to it," he told the Kansas City Times. "We almost forgot about it."

After the acquisition, Miller asked Rival's home economist to experiment with the product. She developed an entire recipe book of dishes, with and without beans, that could be used to produce gourmet meals. The cooker's casing was redesigned to give it a dressy look, and it was renamed the Crock Pot. The Crock Pot made its debut at the National Housewares Show in Chicago in 1971, and it retailed for about $25.00. 

Sales skyrocketed in the first few years. The Crock Pot posted sales of $2 million in its first year, leaping to $10 million in 1972, doubling to $23 million in the next year, totaling $57 million in 1974, and topping at $93 million in 1975. Like any buying craze that takes over the country, sellouts were common at retail stores. One retailer planned a major promotion of the Crock Pot, but canceled all advertising after its employees bought every Crock Pot prior to the store's opening.

The "Crock Pot" brand now belongs to Sunbeam Products, a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation."

Jarden Corporation, is a provider of a diverse range of consumer products with a portfolio of over 100 brands sold globally, operating in three primary business segments - Outdoor Solutions, Consumer Solutions and Branded Consumables. In 2012, Jarden was ranked #371 on the Fortune 500. On December 31, 2011, Jarden's market capitalization was approximately US $2.7 billion and the company had over 23,000 employees worldwide^{[citation needed]}.

 By the way, the Wikipedia entry on Jarden "appears to be written like an advertisement." 

Jarden doesn't actually produce anything. It acquires companies that produce things.

Recipes US: This Looks Interesting

They claim to have almost one million recipes!

Someone from RecipesUS left a comment on the Grilled Vegetables with Herb Marinade post inviting me to submit the blog to their site. And so I have! I believe it will take a day to process my "application" and I'm not sure how they are going to differentiate the recipe posts from, say, the dog posts, but I imagine all will become clear in due time.

Meanwhile, check out the site and its features. It's nice to see so many folks home-cooking, isn't it? Reminds me of this crappy old sentiment:

The Modern Family Cook Book. Meta Given. J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago. 1958

A Recipe of Sorts | Simply Delicious Part 2: I Cooked!

As I joked earlier this week-- this week, when Mr. Big Food has been off and about jetting from here to there-- we like to starve to death when he's not feeding us. 

Miss M and Michael occupied the kitchen Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday Miss M & I nibbled through supper. Thursday, I cooked! Friday I had leftovers from lunch at Thai Siam. Tonight I had Pioneer Mix pancakes. I'm not exactly sure what Miss M had for supper last night or tonight. I do note that the box of Junior Mints is empty. And not a one went on my bowl of ice cream. But I digress.

As the days have worn on , the novelty of cooking for ourselves has worn thin.

Nevertheless, Thursday I cooked! And if I do say so myself, it was danged good-- and a testament to what you can whip up when you have a garden, some imagination, a decent store of basics, and the idea of cooking for yourself is beginning to wear thin.

Pasta. Sauteed Veggies & Herbs in Sauce. Browned Seasoned Chicken Tenders.

$0.99 / pound

Mr. Big Food got this four pound pork roast about three months ago and stuck it in the deep freezer. Saturday, he defrosted it, marinaded it for several hours (or was it over night?), and prepared it for roasting.

That's caraway on the top.

Served with a veganized cabbage dish.

It was great! Very moist. Recipes to follow.

Today, Mr. Big Food weighed out a pound and a half of leftover pork roast-- what he needs for carnitas later in the week. And he froze the remainder-- another pound and a half.

So, by my calculations, we spent just under $4.00 and will wind up with at least eight servings of pork. That's $0.50 per serving. And yes, yes, yes, please do figure in the cost of the caraway seeds and the propane for the oven. And the onion (although we'll soon be using homegrown onions). Plus the cost of running the deep freezer!

What are we up to now? $0.53/serving?

It's fun to be frugal!

Keep Talking... | Dinner Party Conversations

❤

Is this true?

* Kat tried to pull a 2-fer, arguing that her two submitted quotes went hand-in-hand. They did. But she had to choose one. And she did. But because the Rules of the Game are sympathetic to larger issues, here's what Patrick Stewart didn't get  to say:

WE INTERRUPT ... THIS ... FILIBUSTER

TO ... BRING YOU ... SOME ... CONVERSATIONS

from "an interview" 

[Note. I see the missing "." Not A. Leland's fault. I take full responsibility. It was a copy-paste mistake I didn't see until it was way too late to re-do.]

Is it? Sounds like an X-Phi question to me!

Testify.

Yes. We are missing Robert Johnson's (Miss M) reply to H.D. Thoreau (Miss M's Friend). Miss M has been busy making a cake in the shape of a Tardis-- and getting the color quite right, by the way. A jury of her peers voted to cut her some slack. 'Cause, you know, as an American, she has an individual right-- it's hers, you can't take it away-- to be judged by a jury of her peers before the game-rule drones can swoop down and splatter her with Tardis-blue paint balls just 'cause she didn't come up with a Robert Johnson quote. 

This is just how things work in a Democratic Republic.

 AND NOW ... BACK ... TO OUR ... REGULARLY SCHEDULED ... FILIBUSTERING ... ... ...

Tell me this isn't cool. Go ahead. Try!

Three (3) crockpots in one!

Unfortunately, it's not ours. (But it's cool!) It belongs to Rhonda who blogs at Make, Do, and Mend. She's got the scoop on where you can find this 3' long crockpot contraption. And she's got a question:

Why do people think homemakers must be bored?
There always seems to be plenty of things to keep me busy
and to keep me on my toes.

Homemakers' work is drudgery!

How to Cook... : Part 4? No Rest for the Weary

Updated as I'm able. Scroll down for parts 1-3.
~~
I am so mother...  tired of this. I hope I hear someone complain about the seasonings. So I can go off. There is no end in sight. It's 8:30 and there is no end in sight. Holy Crap.


~~
Post supper update. Mr. Big Food is so smart. When it dawned on me that we were having steak for supper, I declared I'd have a martini. And now Mr. Big Food has me right where he needs me. 

We should be done with all of the cooking before midnight. 


~~
5pm update. Today has been a production line. It will continue into the wee hours. Only one brisket fits in the oven at a given time... . Obviously, we need a Viking Range.

How funny is it that I was thinking about volume last evening? This funny. Mr. Big Food got up sometime after midnight and discovered that the volume of dry beans had expanded well beyond the volume of water  in which they were soaking. Or more precisely, he discovered that the entire volume of water had moved into the beans. He made some after midnight adjustments--  moved some beans to other pots, added water. And so on.

You should see what 40 cups of soaked red beans looks like! I'd show you but the kitchen is a mess. I hope to remember to put the turkey fryer full of red beans on the bathroom scale tomorrow morning. I'm curious how much 40 pounds of beans plus all that onion, etc. weigh. 

~~

4pm update. One thing has become obvious. We do not have enough refrigerators. The first batch of red beans is done. Mr. Big Food decided that the turkey fryer pot would be more appropriate for carting and serving those than a tinfoil roasting pan. But now the question is, where are we going to put it tonight? Humm... . We'll think of something. We always do.

~~

10 C red beans (soaked over night) + onion, peppers, parsley, celery tomato sauce, thyme & bay leaves

There will be three more batches like this! The food processor is a wonderful invention! 

How to Cook For / Feed 150 People: Part Three, Smokin'

Updated throughout the day with newest on top.

The take away message is that Mr. Big Food is very organized! 
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FINAL UPDATE.  Done. 

Did I mention that we have company coming?

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9:06 PM UPDATE. (Working on over 15 hours of this.)

In about an hour,  I'm to put the 9-pound pig shoulder, a.k.a. "Boston Butt," into the fridge.

And that's it for today.

So, 36" * 2.54cm/in = roughly 72 + 18 = 90cm * pi = 270+ centimeters cubed or 
270+ ml. Beans are dense b/c 10 pounds of beans weigh way more than 270+ grams.
~~

10 pounds of small red beans in Mr. Big Food's Gumbo Pot. It's about 9" tall and filled at least 2/3 full of beans.

MATH UPDATE. We are trying to find the volume of a cylinder. (Nothing to do until 8:52.) I don't remember but I bet I can look it up. And I bet if the lights go out, I could still look it up in some crappy old geometry book.

V =3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510 58209 74944 59230 78164 06286 20899 86280 34825 34211 70679 ...[*] * r-squared * h

*Also known as π

where "*" (unless used as in a footnote sense) denotes the function, "times" as in multiply. 

So we have

pi = 3.14;  

h = 2/3 of 9" = 6";

and r = 1/2 diameter = ~6".

Our answer will be in cubic inches. (π is unit-less, right? That's irrational!) 

Wow. This is deep.

Moreover, π is a transcendental number – a number that is not the root of any nonzero polynomial having rational coefficients.

3.14 times 6-squared equals 113.4 cubic inches of small red beans.

Here's where it gets tough. Cubic inches is not a common unit of measure.

8:52. Gotta go.
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Post-supper update. We pulled the last brisket off the smoker about 30 minutes ago.  There're  still things to do. The last of the hunks of meat to come off the smoker-grills are cooling in the Bunkhouse where I turned the A/C way down today. (We're so green.) They need to be transferred to a refrigerator as soon as they are sufficiently cool.

Mr. Big Food tells me that at 8pm we'll get the small red beans soaking. I exaggerated earlier. It's not 20 pounds of beans-- only 10. Silly me.  

It's been a challenging day, made all the more so by yesterday's unfortunate incident. I was inadvertently leg slammed in the pasture by either a 48 pound dynamo or an 85 pound lumbering happy go-lucky doggie running at full speed-- or both. I fell. Suffice it to say I was not running at full speed today. (See the lunchtime update for thinking ahead if I'm still not up to speed Saturday.)

Fifteen more minutes and then we do 8pm stuff. Then stuff at 8:52 & maybe later. 

Did I mention that Mr. Big Food is getting paid for this?? Hahahahaha. ROFLMAO.

~~
3:45. The first brisket has come out of the oven. This one will go in next.

Smoked over mesquite for three hours.

Fifteen minutes until we get the last pork shoulder off the grill, and the third turkey breast. 

Mr. Big Food announced a little while ago that he will not be making supper tonight. I'll run to The Grill in town and pick us up a catfish po' boy and a burger. 

~~
2 o'clock update.  Whew. Mr. Big Food has everything timed to a tee. Another pig shoulder and turkey breast have just gone on the smoker-grills and I've lost track of what all else is going on. 

I will comment that there's been a fair amount of cussin' this last go-'round. And he's no where near done.

Did I mention that there are 20 pounds of small red beans & a similar quantity of Basmati rice involved? Vegans have to eat, too!
~~

Lunchtime update. All three grills are smoking-- one pork, one turkey, one brisket. And there's a brisket with marinade in a turkey cooking bag in the oven.  

I've contact Daughter C-- who in turn contacted Matt-- and both have agreed to help in any way necessary. At issue is the fact that the game's a morning game and so the tailgate will be after the game. And although the powers that be are working hard on this, there's no sure way to know for certain if I'll be able to drive the truck to the tailgate site to unload the food after the game has started. If not, Bruno, Joe and Joseph will help. But that still leaves the truck with no place to park. Enter Daughter C & Matt. It will be an exercise in generating order from chaos, à la Stewart Kaufman. 

Oh! Something's about to happen. Later!
~~

Turkey breast coming off the grill at 10:00

 Note the bulge under the skin. It's lemon, garlic, rosemary and bay leave. 

Coming off the grill

I keep saying grill, but Mr. Big Food is actually using these grills as smokers. Note the water pans sitting in the coals.

Earlier in the morning below.

How to Cook For / Feed 150 People: Part Two, The Big Thaw

A raw glimpse of the Bunkhouse

Two beef briskets, 13 & 15 pounds,

three pig shoulders, 10, 9 & 9 pounds

four turkey breasts, 10, 9, 9, & 7 pounds

thawing overnight on the bar in the Bunkhouse.

And yes. That is earless Fivel siting there next the sewing machine next to to my complete collection of  crappy old Zane Grey Western novels.

You got a problem with that? Sure you do if you believe you belong to the Government.

~~

I ask you-- those of you who read this blog to keep up with Rocky & Missy, or who stumble upon the site on account of a Pintrest recipe post-- do you want to belong-- do you want to be owned-- by someone other than your self?

How to Cook For / Feed 150 People: Part 1

Mr. Big Food & Co. are hosting a tailgate after the MSU / Auburn game which kicks off at 11am central next Saturday.

We expect about 150 people. Here's what we've done so far.

We have procured 28 pounds of beef brisket.

We have procured 28 pounds of pig sholder.

We have procured 35 pounds of turkey breast.

We stored it in the Deep Freezer.

That was Day One. We visited all three of the Big Grocery stores in S'vegas.

On Day Two-- this morning-- we went to Walmart to procure the rest of the list.

30 Vadalia onions & such.

Stay tuned. There's some smokin' comin' up.

Cooler Corn & Cardboard Cookin' / Let's Play Redneck

Two great ideas for when the lights go out, or when you just want to play like a Redneck. 

The first, Cooler Corn, comes via an email from Mr. Big Food's Dad who I think gets more emails each day than Mr. Big Food (who gets a lot). The second, Cardboard Box Solar Oven, comes from Anita Evangelista's Backwoods Home Magazine article, "How do you live without electricity?" (issue 73: Jan/Feb 2002).

Just add boiling water!