Stockpiling Food?

[CharlieD]

For the slaughter to be consider kosher animal has to be killed with absolutely perfectly sharp knife, without any nicks, the animal’s trachea and esophagus has to be cut in a single motion, cut. So the animal would die instantaneously. As you can imagine it would be really hard to do with an arrow. Besides hunting is prohibited in Jewish law as it may cause unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal.

 

[CharlieD]

Only animal with the split hoof is kosher. Deer do have split hoof.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Only animal with the split hoof is kosher. Deer do have split hoof.

I stand corrected.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[CWS4322]

FWIW, chicken scratch (which contains corn) has gone up $2 (I think the bags are 100 lb bags) since the end of June. It had been the same price since I got the hens a year ago June.

 

[CWS4322]

The canola harvest is predicted to be very good this year on the Canadian prairies. Another side effect of the drought in the US:

Drought Causes Shortage in Wis. Cow Chip Throw - ABC News

Who would have thought?

 

[Addie]

The canola harvest is predicted to be very good this year on the Canadian prairies. Another side effect of the drought in the US:

Drought Causes Shortage in Wis. Cow Chip Throw - ABC News

Who would have thought?

When dried, they also make good fuel for burning for heat and cooking. We also have watermelon seed spitting contests, and a few other ones.

 

[Dawgluver]

The canola harvest is predicted to be very good this year on the Canadian prairies. Another side effect of the drought in the US:

Drought Causes Shortage in Wis. Cow Chip Throw - ABC News

Who would have thought?

Got a good laugh from this! Who knew?

 

[CWS4322]

Got a good laugh from this! Who knew?

So did I (get a good laugh). I wonder which lucky volunteer gets to store the reserve barrels of cow patties.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Funny how we could develop a discussion about cow chips (AKA cow flops) in a forum about cooking and eating...

When I was a kid my parents took me camping in the High Sierras (eastern California mountains) and we used to catch the late afternoon early evening trout fishing on inlets to Crowley Lake. (Big trout like these inlets because their food comes floating down the stream.)

The land around the lake is also used for cattle ranching and there is a plentiful supply of cow flops. I liked trout fishing but maybe not such an enthusiast as my dad (I was a tweener, easily distracted like all tweeners) so it would get cold sometimes, and while waiting for my dad I used to make cow flop fires to stay warm.

I had heard this technique from a local resident and the advice proved out. The most important thing is to get only mature cow flops. You would think they would smell but that's not the case at all, provided you find very dry ones. (There were a lot to choose from there.) They made a very nice fire without a hint as to the source of the fuel (although they didn't have the nice aroma of mesquite or pine). We were surrounded by wetlands so there was never any chance of the fire spreading.

Anyway cow flop fires are great to keep you warm on a cold evening, and very plentiful in cattle lands.

 

[CWS4322]

Funny how we could develop a discussion about cow chips (AKA cow flops) in a forum about cooking and eating...

When I was a kid my parents took me camping in the High Sierras (eastern California mountains) and we used to catch the late afternoon early evening trout fishing on inlets to Crowley Lake. (Big trout like these inlets because their food comes floating down the stream.)

The land around the lake is also used for cattle ranching and there is a plentiful supply of cow flops. I liked trout fishing but maybe not such an enthusiast as my dad (I was a tweener, easily distracted like all tweeners) so it would get cold sometimes, and while waiting for my dad I used to make cow flop fires to stay warm.

I had heard this technique from a local resident and the advice proved out. The most important thing is to get only mature cow flops. You would think they would smell but that's not the case at all, provided you find very dry ones. (There were a lot to choose from there.) They made a very nice fire without a hint as to the source of the fuel (although they didn't have the nice aroma of mesquite or pine). We were surrounded by wetlands so there was never any chance of the fire spreading.

Anyway cow flop fires are great to keep you warm on a cold evening, and very plentiful in cattle lands.

Another reason to get a dairy cow--a source of fuel for the wood stove...

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Plus you can eat the meat when it's all done doing dairy, and you can make shoes out of the hide. Cows: multi-use animals.

 

[Dawgluver]

There are nomadic tribes as I recall, in India and other parts, who burn well seasoned cow dung exclusively for cooking and heating.

Definitely multi-use!

 

[CWS4322]

I don't know that I could eat the beef---I can't eat my chickens! But I could burn the cow patties!

 

[RPCookin]

How I wish any of you could live down here for a few months. Not only are groceries expensive, but things that are commonplace in the US and Canada seem to be unheard of here. I can't even find any dry mustard, believe it or not. Invention and substitution is a way of life here.

I've literally taken a hand basket to the register and paid more than $80 for a couple of bags of stuff. That's just normal, no drought, no shortages. Is it any wonder that I'm becoming quite good at baking bread (tomorrow is Julia Child's French bread from "The Way to Cook")? And rice (plain old white rice or pilaf, not basmati or arborio or whatever) is a regular part of our diet. Except for ground chuck, beef is terribly expensive. One grocer here has an in house butcher, so we do get some ok deals on chicken and pork. Surprisingly, seafood isn't that cheap unless I catch it or spear it myself. There is a bit of agriculture on the island, so we can often find good buys on whatever produce is in season. Limes, bananas, plantains, onions, papaya, hot peppers are usually easy to come by at the right time of the year.

Even for water we are mostly dependent on what falls from the sky. Tropical storm Isaac passed just close enough to top off our 12,000 gallon cistern, so we are good for a while now. Living here has been a learning experience for us, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[CWS4322]

I was watching an episode of Chefs A' Field on PBS. I learned something. It takes 3 years to raise a grass-fed steer vs. 18 months to raise one in a feed lot. Grass-fed steer will be smaller than a grain-fed one. And, the fat is "cleaner" in taste than grain-fed beef.

BTW, you can take mustard seeds and grind your own powdered mustard. If you only have one coffee mill, to clean it before using it for spices, put white rice in it and grind away. Do this again after you use it for spices. Easy way to clean it. I have two coffee mills for spices--one for "sweet" (cloves, cinnamon, etc.); the other for "hot" (chilis, mustard, etc.).

 

[CWS4322]

How I wish any of you could live down here for a few months. Not only are groceries expensive, but things that are commonplace in the US and Canada seem to be unheard of here. I can't even find any dry mustard, believe it or not. Invention and substitution is a way of life here.

I've literally taken a hand basket to the register and paid more than $80 for a couple of bags of stuff. That's just normal, no drought, no shortages. Is it any wonder that I'm becoming quite good at baking bread (tomorrow is Julia Child's French bread from "The Way to Cook")? And rice (plain old white rice or pilaf, not basmati or arborio or whatever) is a regular part of our diet. Except for ground chuck, beef is terribly expensive. One grocer here has an in house butcher, so we do get some ok deals on chicken and pork. Surprisingly, seafood isn't that cheap unless I catch it or spear it myself. There is a bit of agriculture on the island, so we can often find good buys on whatever produce is in season. Limes, bananas, plantains, onions, papaya, hot peppers are usually easy to come by at the right time of the year.

Even for water we are mostly dependent on what falls from the sky. Tropical storm Isaac passed just close enough to top off our 12,000 gallon cistern, so we are good for a while now. Living here has been a learning experience for us, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

I've been to the Bahamas several times and was shocked (the first time) by the food prices. Things I thought would be cheap (pineapple, coconuts) were not. Living on an island means most things others take for granted have to be shipped in. That is true also if one lives in the North.

It makes sense to adjust what one eats to be what is locally available rather than buying things that have to be shipped in (what the locals eat). When I moved to the Maritimes as a grad student, I was dismayed that I could not buy tortillas (my go-to foods while in undergraduate school were Mexican--inexpensive, easy to prepare). I mastered making my own and have been doing so for years. But, I sure did like it when it was lobster season and lobsters were 99 cents/lb. And, the mussels and scallops were amazing. Growing up in the Midwest, I didn't eat a lot of seafood--lobster and shrimp were special treats. I hope you keep a few hens for fresh eggs <g>.

 

[CWS4322]

Gee--no wonder I can't grow pineapple here. It takes 20 months to grow pineapple--longer than it takes to fatten a steer for market in a feed-lot...

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Gee--no wonder I can't grow pineapple here. It takes 20 months to grow pineapple--longer than it takes to fatten a steer for market in a feed-lot...

I don't think they would be crazy about winter, too...

 

[Addie]

How I wish any of you could live down here for a few months. Not only are groceries expensive, but things that are commonplace in the US and Canada seem to be unheard of here. I can't even find any dry mustard, believe it or not. Invention and substitution is a way of life here.

I've literally taken a hand basket to the register and paid more than $80 for a couple of bags of stuff. That's just normal, no drought, no shortages. Is it any wonder that I'm becoming quite good at baking bread (tomorrow is Julia Child's French bread from "The Way to Cook")? And rice (plain old white rice or pilaf, not basmati or arborio or whatever) is a regular part of our diet. Except for ground chuck, beef is terribly expensive. One grocer here has an in house butcher, so we do get some ok deals on chicken and pork. Surprisingly, seafood isn't that cheap unless I catch it or spear it myself. There is a bit of agriculture on the island, so we can often find good buys on whatever produce is in season. Limes, bananas, plantains, onions, papaya, hot peppers are usually easy to come by at the right time of the year.

Even for water we are mostly dependent on what falls from the sky. Tropical storm Isaac passed just close enough to top off our 12,000 gallon cistern, so we are good for a while now. Living here has been a learning experience for us, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Like our Hawaiian residents, everything has to be shipped in. Thus the cost of everything in Hawaii is twice what it costs on the mainland.

 

[Addie]

I was watching an episode of Chefs A' Field on PBS. I learned something. It takes 3 years to raise a grass-fed steer vs. 18 months to raise one in a feed lot. Grass-fed steer will be smaller than a grain-fed one. And, the fat is "cleaner" in taste than grain-fed beef.

BTW, you can take mustard seeds and grind your own powdered mustard. If you only have one coffee mill, to clean it before using it for spices, put white rice in it and grind away. Do this again after you use it for spices. Easy way to clean it. I have two coffee mills for spices--one for "sweet" (cloves, cinnamon, etc.); the other for "hot" (chilis, mustard, etc.).

Hereford steer will eat scrub and other grasses that Black Angus will not eat. You don't come to grassy plains until you get out of the southwest. But the Herford do not fatten up on scrub. They originally came from Scotland and are not native to this land. They also were field cross bred with the long horn cattle from Mexico. By nature, the Black Angus is smaller than the Herford and are hornless. Put a BA bull beside a Hereford that both have been raised on grass alone and you will see the difference. Ranchers that raise only Black Angus are willing to take the time to raise their herds on grass alone. The meat is more tender and tastier. And that way they get more $$$ per pound for their product. BA also come from Scotland.