It's hard for me to wrap my head around it so I can only imagine how difficult it might be for you living out there in blogville, but the fact of the matter is...we just lived through our winter of discontent and now is the time to get ready for the next one.
And next winter will be worse.
How do I know? Well, if we do sell our farm in November and pay off all our debt, we'll have about 2 nickels left to set up our new life. I will share exact amounts with you after the sale as I'll want to blog specifically about our survival on The Poor Farm, but for now I have no such specifics. We do know what our asking price for the farm is, and we know once debt is paid off there will be barely enough left to start a shell of a new house.
Don't cry for me Argentina (USA, Britain, France or Wales) as Keith and I have planned these changes. But, to survive next winter at the new place we have to get very busy HERE at the old place, growing and then preserving enough food to get us through the winter of 2015.
I'm starting with eggs.
Our own chickens have been laying many plus the two farmers I buy eggs from to stock in our farm store are overproducing as well. When the store eggs get close to their expiration date (which is the silliest state law thing of 30 days, farm eggs last way longer than that) we bring them into the farm house and start cracking.
I will do several dozen at a time. I crack each eggs into a small bowl just to make sure they are not little ones as I personally have never been a fan of scrambled chicks for breakfast , then throw them into my food processor. A quick spin of bright orange yolk and white's and I get a great collection of scrambled raw eggs. Then into a glad bag or clean cottage cheese container they go followed by an immediate trip to the freezer.
Eggs frozen this way will keep up to a year (or so I have read) and can be thawed in cold water for quick use in baking or cooking. I also do 6 eggs at a time for future omelets but most of my packages contain a full dozen. I plan to pull out a package of frozen scrambled eggs each Monday and then bake for the week.
If you have a different way of freezing raw eggs or preserving fresh eggs please let me know. This whole surviving on less than $15,000 a year (once we move) is a new goal and we have a steep learning curve in front of us.
Fortunately I don't mind heights.
I've read about people adding a little salt or sugar to their batches, depending upon their ultimate use (baking cakes and such get the sugar-sweetened ones, eggs for breakfast get salt). I'd probably mix them up, so i'd just leave them unsalted or unsugared.
ReplyDeleteI do have a dehydrator but haven't tried to dry eggs. That might be more trouble than it's worth, if you've got a large freezer. I read in a food drying book some time back that you can freeze the dried eggs so they keep longer. But, i heard enough people complain about powdered eggs (they who had lived through eating powdered eggs during the WWII food rationing years) that i never tried drying any eggs.
Thanks Megan.
DeletePICKLED EGGS. These are a great favourite in the UK. Hard boiled, shelled, and popped into a slightly sweetened pickle, they make an instant snack.
ReplyDeleteOr seeing as you have your own pork, how about Scotch eggs for the store?
How long do pickled eggs keep, Cro? My dad used to make red beet eggs, which were similar, i think.
DeleteThe silly answer is 'Not very long in this house'. Actually I don't know; but quite a long time I think.
DeleteOh that sounds good Cro. Keith loves hard boiled eggs and most anything pickled. Which might explain how we've made it past the 20 year mark.
DeleteI saw on one of those 'preppers' program where they dipped the eggs in mineral oil and stored them for over a year - fresh. I'm sure there are 'prep' sites online with info like that. Not just eggs, but storing other foods too.
ReplyDeleteKris, now THAT is very intriguing. I have just started scoping out the prepper sites, I'll look for that idea. Thanks
DeleteSister! Excellent ideas; we get eggs from my mother in laws every week and we hard boil them for snacks for the week. Brandon takes 2 every day, Nicholas takes 2 everyday, & I use one everyday for my salads. We will try freezing, excellent thought.
ReplyDelete~ Maggie
Thanks sister. Great idea. Any idea how long hard boiled eggs keep in the frig?
Deletea farmer's life to a non-farmer's life - a challenge no matter! good luck, dearie!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'll still be living on some farm some where the rest of my life as that is indeed the other dream we have of self sufficiency...but while sitting in the middle of the hay field I plan to always have a notebook with me. AND a better camera!
DeletePickled eggs don't keep very long... they turn all rubbery and inedible. Try googling "water glass preserving eggs". It's an old technique, but it works. My Great gparents used it.
ReplyDeleteHi Dot! Another reader just emailed me some info about that . Who knew? Apparently you and your grandmother did! How is your farm life going?
DeleteI freeze eggs in an ice tray, each cube is an egg which makes for easy rationing. It also works to freeze yolks in one side, whites in the other for special recipes. You can store dozens in a gallon freezer bag.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of freezing eggs before - learn something new every day. An exciting adventure ahead though :)
ReplyDelete