Let's Save This Effing Planet

Effin Earth Day!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:19:00 +0000

Earth Day is this coming Thursday, April 22nd. It is an annual observance intended to increase public awareness for all things green and to portray an appreciation for the environment.

Western PA offers many opportunities for you to help make the day a success. One of the easiest ways to get involved is to volunteer for The Great American Cleanup of PA! Find a location near you and help your county by volunteering for one of the scheduled events.

The City of Pittsburgh will also be offering many activities and events:

The Pittsburgh Zoo is hosting Party for the Planet on 4/24 which is a celebration with games, crafts, and environmentalist tips. There will also be a Green Marketplace with local vendors sharing their green products.

Frick Park Environmental Center is hosting the Urban EcoSteward Woodland Wildflower Walk and Evening Campfire Event on actual Earth Day (4/22). There will be a walk enjoying and identifying the region's wildflowers, followed by marshmallows on the fire.

Schenley Park will be hosting the Panther Hollow Extravaganza to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Volunteers will help to ecologically restore an important part of the park. There will be food and music afterwards for all volunteers.

A little closer to home Evans City will be hosting its 15th Annual Earth Day Celebration on Saturday the 24th. There will be exhibits, children's activities, refreshments, and door prizes.

Also, Jennings Environmental Education Center in Prospect is hosting Take Back the Woods: Battling Invasive Species on Saturday the 24th. Volunteers will help restore native habitats in the state park by helping to manage invasive plants. Lunch with some "invasive samples" will be provided, and you get to take home your very own plant!

So there you go, lots to do to lend a hand and take part in the celebration of Earth Day. If you don't take part in any of the organized activities do something on your own. If anything at all, take this day to respect and reflect upon what an awesome place this planet is and thank God every day you get to enjoy it.

For even more information visit: http://www.earthday.org/

Keep it real green.

MSG: You Are Not my Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 19:19:00 +0000

Sparing you the gory details - I just returned from my third trip to the "commode" since arriving at work 6 hours ago. After silently but violently cursing the owner of the building for not replacing the two broken toilet seats, I wondered out-loud what in the hell caused me to make the return trip a second time.

Was it my cereal this morning? Not likely.

How about the coffee I just drank? Possibly, but not normal.

How about my roast beef sandwich and grapes for lunch? Don't think so.

I then realized - it was the steak I had for dinner last night.

Steak rarely if ever causes this sort of intestinal reaction within me, but this time it was different. A few dudes came over to watch the Pens game and one of the dudes brought steaks. He offered, and I will never turn down a steak, so I obliged.

After eating, cursing the Pens, eating some more, tending to New Edition, playing with Little Winger, eating, cursing the Senators, and then cursing the Pens some more - we discussed what indeed the steaks were marinated in. McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning, otherwise known as - MSG.

Don't get me wrong, the list of ingredients for MSS reads:

COARSE SALT, SPICES (INCLUDING BLACK PEPPER, AND RED PEPPER), GARLIC, SUNFLOWER OIL, NATURAL FLAVOR, AND EXTRACTIVES OF PAPRIKA.

No MSG listed anywhere. Until you look a little deeper.

What exactly is "natural flavor?" The definition of natural flavor under the Code of Federal Regulation is:

“the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional” (21CFR101.22).

Basically, it is a chemical derived from a natural product used for flavoring.

There are plenty of products to avoid that proudly display the fact that they contain MSG, but sadly there are many, many more where MSG is "hidden." Some terms that frequently indicate hidden MSG additives are:

Malt extract (super shitty for homebrewers and a big surprise to me)
Bouillon
Broth
Stock
Flavoring
Natural Flavoring
Natural Beef or Chicken Flavoring
Seasoning

Source: naturdoc.com.

These names are carefully chosen so as not to display the MSG moniker - but it's there.

MSG has been used widely as a food additive for many years. The FDA has received many reports referring to side effects caused by foods containing MSG. Symptoms of MSG symptom complex include; headache (check), flushing, sweating (after Chinese buffet - yes indeed), facial pressure or tightness, numbness, rapid heartbeats, chest pain, nausea, weakness, and although it's not mentioned - frequent trips to the restroom.

MSG is indeed derived from natual substances, but it's done so chemically, and it too is a chemical. Hell, even some poison is "natural," so don't always consider "natural" and "good for you" one in the same - because it's not true.

Your best bet? Stay away from anything processed, flavor your foods naturally, not "naturally," if the box has ingredients you can't pronounce or if there is no expiration date stay away from it, and for God's sake stop eating effing garbage.

For more information visit: http://msgtruth.org/

Take it easy.

Get the Eff Outdoors! Volume 1: The Butler/Freeport Trail

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:58:00 +0000

The Awesome family enjoys their time outdoors. Although we live in rural Butler County, Pennsylvania and the area is not known for it's active population we do out part to stay active and enjoy God's playground. No kidding about the "non active" population comment though, there was a study done when I was in high school that determined that Butler County was the second FATTEST county in the nation...THE NATION! I could not find anything to back that up but take a walk down Main St. and the study will be more than justified.

On to what we can control though. There are actually lots of things to do outdoors in Butler County, and I'll highlight a few of the places we particularly enjoy. The first volume of the summer series pertains to something very close and accessible to our home: The Butler/Freeport Trail.

The Butler/Freeport Trail (BFT) is a "Rails-to-Trails" link from the city of Butler, PA, to the city of Freeport, PA. The actual traintrack has not been in use since 1987 and portions of the trail have been available for use by the public since 1992. There have been many legal battles that have ensued since the trails inception but all of those have been withdrawn and they look forward to the completion of the trail this year (2010).

I recall as a kid, my neighbor The Goat and I would ride our bikes over to the newly "unrailed" trail and have to manuver around blockades, barbed wire, and guard dogs that were put there by the owners of the trail corridor in protest of the trail being in their back yards. Why they considered a few bicyclists and hikers worse than a locomotive still bewilders me, but luckily someone struck them with the "What the Eff" stick and they withrew their lawsuits.

The trail takes you through some wonderful farmland, a few historical towns, along Buffalo Creek, and then eventually to and along the storied Allegheny River in Freeport. The trail is not complete for the final 6 or 7 miles stretch into the city of Butler, but it was announced in the Spring of 2009 that they received a grant that was going to allow them to complete the trail. The proposed trailhead location has been moved because of them finding arsenic in the ground from a now non-existent glass factory, but the plans are still on schedule for completion in 2010.

It is a flat, easy trail, that has been groomed and maintained well enough that anyone from the experienced biker to the family pushing a stroller can enjoy. If you can handle it the distance from the Herman Trail Head to Freeport is only about 16 miles, and from there you can grab a beer and a bite to eat to recharge for the trip back.

If short trips are what you prefer you can stop at Serene Valley golf course (the trail goes right through it) and grab some grub and watch the golfers at the 1st tee and 18th green.

From Turkey and Cow farms, to old Monestaries, to century-old train stations and corner stores, there is a little of everything for everyone to enjoy. So get the eff outdoors and enjoy a local trail that is rich in beauty and history. Best of all...it's free!

For more information visit the Butler Freeport Trail website: http://www.butlerfreeporttrail.org/.

It's a Partly Sunny Day in the Neighborhood

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:57:00 +0000

It's another beautiful, warm, sunny, spring day in the 'Burgh. I stepped outside for a few minutes to soak in some UV rays as opposed to the flourescent rays that beam down on me while at my desk, and it got me to thinking - "Pittsburgh has more sunny days than we think."

When I lived in Boulder, CO the locals were always raving about the amount of sunshine they were blessed with. I agree, it was amazing. I would rather wake up to the orange glowing ball every morning instead of a big frumpy cloud. It was back then that I read some statistics on the amount of sunny days in certain US cities. From what I recall Boulder was near the top with over 150 sunny days per year. Pittsburgh on the other hand barely broke 60.

I did some research and found this site. It is based on research done by the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). They determined that Pittsburgh has (on average) only 59 sunny days per year. 59!!! That's not even two full months of sunshine! Holy shit that is depressing! Where is my terrible towel, I need something to wipe my tears. Just as I was planning to call super greeny and tell her we're moving back to Colorado, I noticed a disclaimer at the top of the page which reads: "This does not include Partly Sunny or Partly Cloudy days." That, my friends, would appear to put things into perspective. So I did a little more research to find out what in the hell "partly cloudy/sunny" actual means.

Basically, if there are anywhere between 1 and 6 clouds in the sky that are opaque, meaning unable to be seen through by an observer, then the day is labeled as partly sunny or cloudy. So therein lies the issue. There are many sunny days where we welcome that passing cloud that casts a shadow on us for a quick cool down - but it does not mean that Pittsburgh is next to only hell in its number of sunny days throughout the year.

Doing a little more research I found this article written by Brett Yasko who is (at least in 2007) a designer living in the Strip District of Pittsburgh. He was also perplexed by the insanely low number of calculated sunny days in the 'Burgh, so he decided to do his own research. He tracked sunny days for an entire year and actually calculated the number to be 145! Woo Hoo!

Either way you look at it we are blessed with some beautius weather here in Western PA, and we should not let some silly NOAA research tell us otherwise. Now take a break from work, step outside, and enjoy it! If your boss tries to stop you sadly remind them that we now only have 58 1/2 sunny days left until next year.

Goodbye Dad

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:34:00 +0000

Death is the only certainty in life. One can expect good times and bad. One can expect love and hate. One can expect a good steak and a good brew, but none of those are guaranteed. The only thing that is certain when we're born - is death. Unfortunately it's still very hard to accept when it happens. On March 14th, 2010, one of God's greatest creations passed away unexpectedly. He was my father, Timothy John Reges Sr.

I cannot portray in words the awesomeness of this man. Nordy put it best when he said, "you knew him for a second or a lifetime - he was your best friend." Pops accepted everyone (many times to the dismay of my mother). If pops would have met the president he would have carried the same conversation with him as he would with his best buddies. He was as real as real could possibly be. Never trying to be something he was not.

We rest assured knowing that he is in a much better place now, and is most likely talking to St. Peter about hunting and gardening - but it's still hard. There is so much negativity surrounding death, but it is the ultimate prize in the life of a believer. Especially when you are sure that person is now where we all want to be - heaven.

Pops did not flaunt his faith. Hell, he barely even spoke of it except when referring to God telling him that it was going to rain for his gardens or where the deer were bedding - but he lived it, and he lived it well.  He accepted each and every person as a brother/sister.  Believers often times overlook what Jesus asked of us. He treated the world with love, no matter the response.  This was the life Pops lived. He showed us what it was like to be a true human (or humanoid as he would put it). My only wish is that I can relay those teachings to my boys.

If I end up being half the man or living half the life of my father I will be damn proud, as proud as I am of him. We'll miss you Pops, and as hard as it is to deal with it now that you are not here with us - we know we will see you again someday. Thanks for the good show.

When You're "Green," Instead of Green.

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:09:00 +0000

Green is the new Black. Or the new 40. It's the new fad in our American society, especially within celebrity circles and big business. They want us all to know that they are doing their part to be Eco-Friendly. Don't get me wrong, this is effing awesome. Everything helps. Even the evil empire Wal-Mart does their part. It may seem contradictive to see organic goods at Wally World, but by them selling those products they're helping those organic companies to grow their sales and spread their purpose. (thanks to Stonyfield Farms on the Food Inc. movie for enlightening us on this).

Wal-Fart is doing the small stuff by making an effort to offer sustainable goods at reasonable prices. They're also doing the larger stuff. Their website even mentions their efforts toward sustainability. It states:

"At Walmart, we know that being an efficient and profitable business and being a good steward of the environment are goals that can work together. Our broad environmental goals at Walmart are simple and straightforward:

To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy;
To create zero waste;
To sell products that sustain people and the environment."

That's pretty good stuff coming from one of the most hated, most recognizeable, wealthiest organizations in America.

Many of this countries big businesses have set similar goals. Whether the goals are set with actual care and concern for sustainability is yet to be determined. Enter exibit A, my place of employement.

They are a major player in this countries insurance market. They have been a fortune 500 top 50 business for something like 15 years and can be found in every state including Alaska and Hawaii. They preach their green efforts on a large scale, but I am a witness to the lack of efforts on the small level.

Many of their buildings are LEED certified. They have a fleet of Hybrid vehicles, and they make similar claims as the ones listed above pertaining to their eco goals. That's all well and good and it's a step in the right direction, but as with any large company the majority of the actual "work" being done is done on the small scale and in the zone, regional, and local offices - where the term "green" only applies to the ficus tree in my office.

The amount of paper wasted on a daily basis is enough to make a lumberjack cry. In an electronic world, everything still needs a paper signature. Each and every training session is done with a power point presentation that is also handed out in the form of a pamphlet resembling the Bible. Styrofoam cups and plastic bottles litter the garbage cans. Packaging is a joke. Boxes the size of small children arrive and you're expecting something totally awesome but much to your surprise it's a packet of papers, 1/30th the size of the packaging.

Many things fall on the shoulders of the employees like shutting off computers and lights at night (I'm looking at you LER and LB) and recycling within the office, but with more support from the enterprise individuals may be more willing to partake in such endeavors.

Granted they have tried. They have marketing materials available (more paper). They use a "green" slogan for certain things. And they have even created an internal interweb site available for employees with more information - but the site has not been updated since April...2009!!!

This falls into the "talk the talk, walk the walk" mentality. It's like the Preacher who sleeps around and does drugs in his free time. Don't act like you're holier than thou when deep down inside you're full of rubbish. It may look good on the surface, but we see through your lies, and unfortunately all that we can do is blog about it (although higher ups know my thoughts on it as well).

Be real...not "real." Later.

What's Up Little Dude??

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:30:00 +0000

Please welcome the newest edition into the Awesome household - Emmett Judd, or EJ for short.

Super Greeny and Baby are doing very well. Little Winger is confused but seemingly glad to have a little bro.

Plastic Killed the Radio Star

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:12:00 +0000

Plastic has revolutionized, well, everything. Every aspect of life has been further simplified because of the progression and availability of plastic. What used to be a heavy piece of metal, is now a much lighter piece of plastic. What used to cause contamination concerns because of nooks and crannies is now worry free because of molded plastic. The medical field is now leaps and bounds further than it was 50 years ago - because of plastic. Hell it even makes sex 99.9% safer.

I don't deny any of this - but it also makes us LAZY...especially Americans. Look at plastic silverware for example. In my last two places of employment plastic silverware was the ONLY means to eating your meals, unless you were like me and brought your own reusable utensils. My previous job had 300 employees crammed into a small building.

Not eveyone brought their own meanls to work. Many (the big ones) ordered food everyday (can't they see the trend here? Mr. and Mrs. I eat processed food full of preservatives every day and can't lose weight). Others brought food that did not require the use of utensils. I would say that out of 300 employees, roughly 25% used plastic utensils on a daily basis - that's 75 people per day, not even including the utensils used from the people who ordered their food.

For the sake of sake, let's say each of those 75 people used 1 piece of plastic ware per day. That equals 375 forks, spoons, knives per week, 11,250 per month, and 135,000 PER YEAR! And that does not even account for those who use 2 utensils for meals, or for weekend workers. So we can honestly round that number up to 140,000 plastic utensils being used by one establishment througout the course of a year!

Some places do use the biodegradeable ware, but that is a low percentage of the industries in this country so also a moot point.

I don't happen to have a scale at my desk so let's just assume that each piece of cutlery weighs 1 ounce. That's 140,000 ounces or 8,750 pounds of plastic being thrown into our garbage dumps per year - and that's only from 1 little cable company in western PA! You would vomit if we determined how much utensil waste we accumulated as a country. It's absurd.

Good God people! Bring a fork and a spoon from home, and simply rinse it after each use! Do you know what you're doing? This is where the lazy part of us shines through like a big shiny zit, it is too much work for us to clean a little piece of stainless steel after eating so we simply grab a plastic fork from the drawer and throw it away when we're finished. Never once thinking about the reprocussions.

Thanks for hating the planet, jerks.

My Beef is From WHERE?? WTF COUNTRY MARKET!?!

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:10:00 +0000

Sad day in the Awesome household. Our local "butcher" now only gets their beef from a chop house. They had everything a health conscious, food connoisseur, taste driven, heavy eating family loved and enjoyed - and now, who knows where the beef is coming from, and most importantly, what is in it besides beef.

They used to sell organic beef. Well, they still do, but only by the 1/4, 1/2, or whole cow - which honestly we are now considering. They used to butcher most of their own cows, and those that were not from their farm they got from local farms. Now they're having beef shipped in from accross the country.

Maybe it's time we finally purchase that extra large, energy sucking, can fit a frozen fat dude, deep freezer so we can have our home grown organic beef. Maybe we will have to frequent our hour long trips to Whole Foods. Maybe we'll become grass loving vegetarians. Whatever the future holds for our carnivoric eating habits (oh my God Delmonicos.....[whipes drool off of face]) - it just became a little more difficult to avoid growth hormone injected, ozone destroying, chemically pumped beef which are housed in the most inhumane living conditions. A salad sounds really good right now.

Ok Schnur's, you're now on my shit list - also, i'll be calling about purchasing a 1/4 cow very soon.

Game Feast 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:15:00 +0000

Hunting is and was the very first form of "natural" living. The first humans didn't have farms. Or ranches. Or slaughter houses. They hunted for their food in the wild, and being a hunter myself, I feel it to be one of the most humane ways of harvesting meat.

Each and every year we have a gathering where we meet, drink, drink some more, and eat our game from the previous hunting season - and then we eat some more. The creative side of us deemed it the "Game Feast," original, I know.

The menu this year included lots of venision, some rabbit, a few pheasant, Pennsylvania trout, and even a wild boar. A quick recap:

Venison Meatballs in Apricot Barbeque sauce - excellent.  Very flavorful and saucey. Venision is a dry meat because of its low fat content, these meatballs stayed very moist.

Venison Cube Steaks w/Mushroom Gravy - ok, in a "Campbell's condensed soup" sort of way. The venison was good.  The mushrooms were canned, and the gravy had the taste that it was from a mix or a jar. I don't know if that is the truth, but it sure tasted that way.

Wild Boar Sausage Stuffed Shells - awesome. If you didn't know it was Wild Boar, you still wouldn't have after eating the stuffed shells. It was a hot sausage mix, so it mixed well with the Riccotta cheese and red sauce.

Garlic Butter Baked Rabbit - a very nice way to eat rabbit; right off of the bone. The meat was cooked to perfection and the butter and garlic added just enough flavor to hide (but not completely remove) the wild game taste.

Venison Noodles - homecooked goodness. Tasted like a meal you would eat on a weeknight with 24 inches of snow outside.

Roasted Pheasant, stuffed with sweet peppers and wrapped in Bacon - killer. Dave makes these every year and they're always effin awesome. The sweet of the pepper, mixed with the salty of the bacon and the tenderness of the pheasant makes for a great appetizer.

Curried Venison - I made this, and I think it tasted great. The venison was super tender, and the sauce had just enough spice to excite the palat.

BBQ Venison Backstraps - always a treat. Pops makes these every year. I for one save my backstraps for cooking to a medium rare on the grill, but these are very tasty, and tender as heck.

Cajun Trout - slathered in butter and cajun seasonings.  There are two things that take trout to the next level of taste - butter and smokey hot - and this had both.

The biggest thing missing was my 25 lb. turkey that was killed in the Spring of 09. Unfortunately a freezer malfunction in Pops' garage was the cause of that.

It was a great feast of excellent home-cooked, all natural meat products. Many beverages were consumed and it was a good night as usual.

Until next year fellas, good hunting.

BREAD...AND LIQUID BREAD

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:52:00 +0000

Now that we're settled down from the awesome holidays and a sad death in the family, Super Greeny and I are venturing into some uncharted - but long overdue - territory. Homemade staples to our lives. Bread and Beer.

She had been ~~making~~ attempting to make homemade bread for a few years now and has had her ups and downs. She makes some very good desert breads and a very good beer bread, but has not been able to master just a normal LOAF of bread. It's tough. The mixing, the kneading, do I have too little or too much yeast, how long should I let it rise, etc.

So we received a bread maker for Christmas. THE ANSWER TO ALL OF OUR PROBLEMS. Or so we thought. The first 8 batches turned out denser than a Tempur-Pedic mattress.

To this point - through trial and error and deductive reasoning we have baked 3 good loaves (just a normal white sandwich bread). It's very good tasting, soft, and light. Hopefully there are many more to come.

I on the other hand, am jumping face first into the world of homemade liquid bread, or Home Brewing. I have been wanting to do this for years now and it has finally happened.

Home brewing requires a lot more than you would seem to think to do it properly and with the most success, so I am currently turning a small room in my backroom in a "Brew room," with running water, temperature control, and plenty of storage for bottles. Awesome.

Although I have been studying the art for a few years now, and have read probably 5 books on it, Super Greeny felt that for my first batch I shoud use a kit - and I agreed. So I have a nice IPA kit that includes everything I need. I do plan on using a yeast starter as opposed to simply adding it into the wort like the kit instructs, but other than that I'm going to follow their lead.

This is something I have been looking forward to for a long, long time so I'll definitely be sharing my adventures.

Little Winger turned 2 on 12/31. Greeny made her delicious apple cake (i'll share the recipe sometime) that he got to dive into. He also had his first Lolli-pop. Santa brought him some small organic pops, and he had it destroyed in 3 minutes.

Very Credible and Edible Salsa Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:06:00 +0000

Home canning salsa is not an easy task. Out of 50 or so home canning salsa recipes that I have tried, only 3 or 4 actually tasted good enough for me to prefer it over either a fresh salsa, or a (God forbid) store bought salsa.

It's because of the need for acidity in the home canned salsa that they so often lack quality. Lemon juice or vinegar needs to be added in order to avoid botulism death, and that can seriously affect the flavor.

D-Wayne's wife Lori passed this recipe along and it is probably my favorite to date. It's simple and easy - but best of all it tastes effing awesome.

LORI'S SALSA

You need:
Approximately 50 normal sized tomatoes (obviously less if they're large, more if they're small).
3 Large Red Peppers
3 Large Green Peppers
2 Banana Peppers (or any sort of hot/sweet pepper)
3 Small Onions
4 Jalapenos (I add these, the original recipe does not call for them)

6 Cloves of Garlic (honestly...it's effing garlic - add as much as you want)
1/2 bunch of Cilantro

Blanch and de-seed your tomatoes first. Trust me, it may take a few extra minutes but it is well worth it.

Dice the tomatoes until you have approximately 2 quarts (save any leftover tomatoes, you'll need them later).

Chop all of the other veggies and place them in a large stock pot. Mix well.

Add 3 Tablespoons of Kosher or Canning salt to the top of the mixture - sprinkle it over the top but do not mix. Cover the pot with plastic wrap and a lid, and let it sit for at least 8 hours.

I leave mine sit on the counter, at room temperature for an entire day.

After allowing the mixture to rest, drain as much of the liquid off as possible, without removing the mixture from the pot. I simply poke a few holes in the plastic wrap and drain it into the sink.

Move the pot to a stove burner, and add:

3 Tablespoons Sugar

1/2 Cup White Vinegar

1/2 Cup Lemon Juice

1 Cup Water

and 1 Large Can Tomato Puree...WHAT??!! NO, NO, NO.

Why in the world would you spend the time to grow/purchase all of these fresh ingredients, chopping them by hand, with thoughts of popping a fresh jar in the middle of winter, only to use store bought effin tomato puree??!!

Make your own!

I use 1 quart jar of whole tomatoes that I canned earlier in the season, but any fresh tomatoes will do (see: left over from your chopping above). If you're using canned tomatoes you do not need to cook them, simply puree and add to your mixture. If you're using fresh tomatoes you're going to want to bring them to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes before adding to your salsa.

Once you have everything combined and mixed, bring the mixture to a rapid boil, then reduce heat to a slow boil and boil for at least 45 minutes - STIRRING VERY OFTEN. Allow mixture to boil until it reaches your desired consistency.

Adjust two piece caps, add to a hot water bath for 15 minutes, and effin enjoy.

Spicy Dilly Beans Yo

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:25:00 +0000

Here is a kick-ass recipe for what to do with an over abundance of beans. Yellow beans work the best.

Spicy Dilly Beans

Brine: 2 parts water to 1 part vinegar.
1 tsp red pepper flakes, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp salt, some fresh dill or dill seed per each jar.
pack beans, pour hot brine over them. let cool. Effiin enjoy.

Chestnuts Roasting and my Hands are on Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:56:00 +0000

On the opposite end of the fall nut spectrum from the Black Walnut, we find the Chestnut. Black walnuts are very hard and yield a small amount of meat for the work you put into it. Chestnuts on the other hand are very soft and moist, and much easier to handle.

Chestnuts do not preserve very well. If you only have a few and plan on eating them within a week, roast them in an oven or over an open fire. They are such a treat that for a roasted chestnut to last a week in my house is as rare as a good IPA lasting in my refrigerator for that same amount of time - it just doesn't happen.

If you do end up with an overabundance crop and do not want to waste your God given goodness, you do have some options. If you plan on keeping your chestnuts over the winter months, do not roast them. Blanch the chestnuts in a boiling water bath for no longer than 1 minute. Let them cool, and let them dry.

If you plan on keeping them in your fridge, place them in a zip top bag and poke some holes in the bag to allow air to flow through. You will get about a month keeping your chestnuts in the fridge.

Chestnuts are also able to be frozen. Follow the same directions as above, and then freeze each chestnut individually before putting them in an airtight container. I lay them out on a cookie sheet and put them in the deep freeze. Once they are frozen I simply store them in a freezer bag and they will last up to a year if you're lucky.

When you are ready to use the chestnuts, allow them to thaw in your fridge for a day, and then roast them using the directions listed above. Sing some holiday tunes, down some eggnog, and have a merry effing day.

Hardly Harvesting Black Walnuts

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:52:00 +0000

Effing awesome tree. Used for high quality wood working, nut meat, and, whether you want it to or not, walnut stain.

To harvest the Black Walnut is a labor of love. When you pick the nuts at peak ripeness, the outer green shell should be just soft enough to make an indent with your bare hand. Older methods of removing the nut from the shell included the use of a corn husker or pounding them through a hole in a board. Other methods involve running over them with a car or smashing them with your feet. I personally wait until the nuts fall from the tree so they are a little softer, then I just use a knife and work it in a circular motion around the nut, and then drop both the shell and the nut into a large container (I use a keg bucket).

Once your bucket is full of the shells and the nuts, use a hose and fill the bucket with water until everything inside is floating. The bad nuts and the shells with float, the good nuts actually sink to the bottom. Skim all of the shells and bad nuts off of the top, drain the water, and lay the good nuts out to dry.

I leave the nuts outside in the sun if it's still nice (the temperature has not been above 62 degrees the last few weeks in Western PA so my nuts are now sitting on the dining room table). Once they are completely dry they store very well in a mesh bag, in a well ventilated and humid room. If you're lucky enough to have a fruit cellar that works very well. If not, your basement or backroom should work just fine.

The humidity level of the room is critical for prolonged preservation because if the nuts become too dry, the outer protective shell can crack and allow the nut meat to rot.

Sadly, the most difficult part is cracking that protective shell to retrieve the nut meat. After all of the hard work all you want to do is enjoy the walnut goodness. Any sort of cement surface and a hammer works best, but be creative. Once inside you will want to pick the nut meat from the walnut chambers, and then do whatever the eff you want with it. Eat it raw, bake with it, candy it.

The nut meat is similar in taste and texture to a "normal" walnut. I'm not a huge fan of normal walnuts, but I do enjoy the Black Walnuts - but, like I said - it's a labor of love.

Scary Huge Zucchinis: Part 4: Frozen Shredded

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:20:00 +0000

The fourth and final thing we did with our plentiful bounty of alien like Zukes was to simply shred and freeze them. This allows us to pull them out of the freezer at any point during the winter when we want to make bread, zucchini cakes, stir fry, what-effing-ever we want. With the effing huge zukes, you definitely want to peel them and de-seed them (saving the seeds) because the skin is basically impenetrable and the seeds will destroy your shredder. Next, quarter them and use a cheese grater to shred them. If you have a food processor with a shredding attachment like we do -

- it's way easier and takes half the time, but it's up to you.

Before freezing the shredded Zukes you are going to want to blanch them. I throw the shreds in boiling water for approximately 3-4 minutes, and then lay them on a paper towel to dry.

Once the shreds are completely dry, portion them into pint sized zip top bags. SG normally potions them in 1 1/2 cup servings. Place all of the smaller sealed bags into one, large freezer bag, and you're good to go for the rest of the winter.

There are few breakfasts that I look forward to making more than Zucchini cakes. So effing easy too.

Zuke Cakes Recipe:

1 1/2 Cups shredded zucchini

1 egg, beaten

approximately 1 tablespoon of flour (i never measure for this)

pepper and salt to taste

fresh (or dried) chives to top

Mix everything but the chives in a bowl.

Heat butter and a little oil in a skillet.

Drop batter mix onto the skillet, flatten slightly, and cook until golden brown.

Top with chives and destroy them.

Now THAT tastes effing awesome. I'm hungry.

UPDATE:
...so hungry that I woke up the next morning and made them for breakfast. Ahhhh. Satisfied.

Scary Huge Zukes: Part 3 - Zucchini Bread/Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:50:00 +0000

The third batch of effing huge Zuke recipes involved a classic Zucchini bread recipe, that has been passed down within Super Greenie's family for years and years. Also, because we had 300 pounds of Zucchini, Super Greenie (SG) also made up some Zuke Muffins for her fellow teachers.

Personally I prefer the gold ole' bread, but this turned out pretty well. This recipe has been passed down by SG's Aunt Tam, who is a wonderful baker/cook herself. I'm not much of a baker, so sharing the recipe is pretty much the extent to which I was involved in the endeavor.

Here's the Recipe for the bread:

AUNT TAM'S ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 Cups Flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 Cup oil

1/4 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 Tbs. vanilla extract

3 Cups grated Zucchini

Mix flour and dry ingredients together.

Beat eggs well, add sugar and oil to eggs.

Add vanilla to the wet ingredients, and then mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.

Stir in the Zucchini.

Pour into two greased loaf pans (or muffin pans).

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Here's the recipe for the Muffins:

Zucchini Muffins
3 Cups Grated Zucchini
2/3 Cup melted butter
1 1/3 Cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
3 Cups Flour
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 Cup walnuts
1 Cup raisins or craisens

Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Combine sugar, eggs, vanilla. Stir in grated zucchini and then the melted butter.
Sprinkle in baking soda and salt and mix again.
In a separate bowl mix flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir into wet mixture, then add the nuts and raisins.
Bake 25-30 minutes, makes approximately 12-14 muffins.

SG did state that with the effing huge Zukes you may want to add a little honey or extra sugar to the mixture because of the large zukes being less sweet than the normal sized ones.

I like my zuke bread sliced and warmed with a little melted butter on top. Tastes effing awesome.

Scary Huge Zukes: Part 2 - Roasted Zuke Seeds

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:10:00 +0000

When you're dealing with gargantuan zucchinis, you're going to have large seeds to contend with. If you saved all of the seeds from making your Zuke Soup, you're one step closer to a simple, tasty treat.

You are going to lose some seeds if you quarter the zukes like in the picture below. It's almost impossible to cut your zucchini without slicing some of the seeds in half. The good thing is, even the halved seeds are yummy when roasted.

After separating the seeds from the zuke gunk, boil them in salty water for approximately 10 minutes. This will aid in completely removing all of the gunk, as well as softening them for a nice toasty roast.

Lay the seeds out on a paper towel and allow them to completely dry overnight.

Once the zuke seeds are completely dry, mix them with some melted butter, olive oil, and coarse sea salt. I had approximately 1 1/2 cups of seeds, and used 2 Tbls of butter, 1 tsp olive oil, and 1 Tbl of salt.

Once again lay them on a paper towel to dry the excess moisture. You still want them to have a nice "sheen" on them from the butter and oil, but you do not want them soaking in the mixutre.

Once the excess fat is removed, place them on a cookie sheet and then into a preheated 300 degree oven.

Zuke seeds roast a little faster than pumpkin seeds, so keep an eye on them and remove them when they turn a nice golden brown (usually about 30 minutes).

Allow to cool and store in an airtight container. If they last more than a few days you will want to then move the container into the refridgerator, but they are nomally gone before you have to worry about that.

It's a nice way to use those giant seeds, and they taste effing awesome.

Scary Huge Zucchinis - Part 1: Zucchini Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 03:01:00 +0000

We have all seen it before. That one Zucchini (or 3) that grows tucked under those giant leaves, and by the time you find it it's 23 times the size of a normal zucchini. It scares you when you see it. "Woah!! Oh my God, what is tha...oh, it's a Zucchini. I thought for sure I just dug up a petrified dinosaur turd from a Brontosaurus that discovered a field of Broccoli. "

The good thing is that there is a TON of zucchini meat once you can break through the turd's skin. The bad thing - or things, are that 1) the skin is rapidly turning to steel, 2) the seeds are no longer the size of cucumber seeds, but more like pepitas, and 3) the fruit is losing it's natural sweet flavor.

Because of those differences with the overgrown Zukes, the same old recipes are not going to taste the same or as good. We need to make some adjustments. Tonight Super Greenie and I came home and tackled 3 effing huge Zukes. We finished the night with 4 varieties of Zucchini. Here is part 1.

Zucchini Soup (canned):

Recipe (makes 4 pints):

1 1/2 Large Zukes or 4 Normal Zukes - peeled, de-seeded (save the seeds), and cut into 2 inch cubes.

4 Cups of Water.

1 Tbl. canning/kosher salt.

2 Tbl. Lemon Juice

Pinch of ground ginger.

Cook Zukes and water in a stock pot until zukes are soft.

Blend until smooth with a hand-held blender stick or in a food processor or blender.
Add back into stock pot.

Add Salt and Lemon juice, bring back to a simmer and simmer for at least 5 minutes.

Place into pint jars, adjust two piece lids, and put into a pressure canner.

Cook for 60 minutes at 10 lbs. pressure.

This soup is awesome by itself (I prefer it with a little more Ginger, fresh if you got it). It can also be "doctored" up with your favorite herbs and spices, or because it is so simple it can be added to other recipes. Simple, good, and a nice way to preserve and conserve those effing huge Zucchinis. Stay tuned for part 2.

Home Preservation: Will This Save me Effing Money?!

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:22:00 +0000

Let's break it down and take a look.

Now of course prices are going to vary in different parts of the country and the world, so if someone finds a price cheaper than the example I use - keep it to yourself.

Since we spoke about Tomato soup we'll just use that as an example. Here is a price for Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup at Walgreens. Three 10.75 ounce cans for $4.00.

37 cents/ounce for Condensed Tomato soup. Seems pretty cheap when you look at it that way. But if you factor in how many ounces of food your body needs to ingest each day to stay healthy that amount could increase exponentially.

Now let's see what it would cost if you made the soup at home.

We'll assume that this is your first adventure into home canning, so we'll factor in the cost of a new case of Mason Jars. For the this example we'll also assume you grew all of your own veggies.

1 case of 12 mason jars = $8.00. 12 jars x 16 oz each = 192 ounces total.

All of your veggies whether grown from seed or if you purchased a plant would not cost more than .50 cents if you're using my Tomato Soup Recipe, but we'll increase that to $3.00 just for shits and giggles.

1 package of Brown Sugar = $2.85 for 32 oz - or $.09/oz. 1 Cup dry measure sugar = approx. 6.8 oz., so your sugar would cost you approx. $.61.

Canning Salt costs about the same so 1/4 Cup dry measure salt = approx. 1.7 oz., so salt would cost $.15.

1 tsp ground cloves and 5 Bay leaves cost less than .25 cents, but we'll go with .25 because it's easier.

So we're looking at $8.00 + $3.00 + $.61 + $.15 + $.25 = $12.01 total.

$12.01 = 1,201 cents. 1,201 divided by 192 oz = an astounding 6.26 cents/ounce.

ALMOST 31 EFFING CENTS/OUNCE LESS!

Awesome isn't it? And that was with high-balling most of the figures. Most times if you start your garden from seed it's going to cost you under 50 cents for the veggies in that recipe.

Also, what about the next time you do it? You already have the jars and rings, so instead of paying $8.00 you're paying $1.89 for a pack of seals. Factor that in and it's only 2.45 cents/ounce. NOT - EVEN - EFFING - CLOSE to what it costs you buying it at the store. I even got 15 pints out of that recipe so it's going to be cheaper still. Nice huh?

So obviously home canning saves you cold, hard cash.

Later.

Hot Pepper Freaking Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Well, instead of canning pepper rings this weekend, we canned Hot Pepper Salad. Good, good, shit. You can make it the way listed below, or you can shred all of the veggies a little smaller and create sort of a spread that you can spoon onto sandwiches, burgers, pizza, your hand, whatever.

Here's the Recipe:

1/2 Peck Hot Peppers

1/2 Peck Mild Peppers

1 Stalk Celery

1/3 C. Oregeno

3 Cups Oil

2/3 Cups Canning/Pickling Salt

4 Cups Water

1 Quart White Vinegar

1 Head Cauliflower

1/2 Bag Carrots

2 Cups Black Olives

1 Whole Head Garlic

Cut everything into small bite size pieces and place into something large that will still fit into your refridgerator. Mix oregeno, salt, oil, water, and vinegar.

Cover all veggies with mixture and let sit over night in fridge.

Next Day place into jars, with liquid, leaving 1/2 inch head space.

Place in a water canner. Start in cold water (so the jars don't break). Bring only to a boil then remove from heat. Leave jars sit for a few minutes and then remove and cool.

We actually mix up a variety of peppers. Jalapenos, Bananas, Cubanelles, Green, Red, etc. Whatever you grew or purchased will work and taste effing awesome. Of course the Red and Green Bell peppers will not stay as crispy as the others once they are processed, so definitely use more of the hotter varietys.

Buttermilk Biscuits Duder!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:13:00 +0000

We made some homemade Buttermilk Biscuits this weekend for breakfast:

Buttermilk is badass. It does not taste all that great by itself, but it enhances so many things. We normally have some in the fridge, not because we love it so much, but because of it's long shelf life. Buttermilk is very acidic (that's why you can replicate it in recipes by adding vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk) so it lasts much longer in the refrigerator than "regular" milk. With this last quart of buttermilk we have made southern fried chicken, buttermilk pancakes (of course, THE EFFIN BEST!), and buttermilk biscuits. A little goes a long way.

Here is the Recipe:

2 loosely packed Cups of Flour (sifted)

2 1/2 Tbl. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbl. Chilled Butter (I chop it up really fine).
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
3 Tbl. Honey

Combine the dry ingredients and cut the butter peices into the mixture with a fork. Chill 10 minutes.

Combine milk and honey, then add to the dry mixture. Stir only until moist.

Turn dough onto a flour covered surface and knead 4 times. Roll out the dough into about a 10 by 5 inch rectangle that is 1/2 inch think. Powder the top of the dough with flour.

Fold the rectangle into thirds (folding both ends to the middle) and repeat previous step, once again dusting the top with flour.

Repeat step a third time, rolling the dough to approximately 3/4 inch think. Use any rouch utensil, cup, jar, etc. to cut into circles, and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden effing brown.

I got this recipe off of the internet about 3 years ago while I was still living in the Mountains (actually the foothills) of Colorado. I have no idea who this person was that originally listed the recipe, and if you end up being one of the 4 people to read this, I'm sorry I could not give proper credit where it is due - but your Buttermilk Biscuits are effing AWESOME!

Keep it real green dudes.

You Say Tomato, I say Effing Awesome.

noreply@blogger.com (Tastes Like Awesome) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:45:00 +0000

This is the latest batch of garden goodness:

Almost 100% homegrown Tomato Soup. Heat up the cast iron, slather some butter on the pan, shove some cheese between two pieces of bread, toast, and dunk. Little Winger LOVES grilled cheese, and he gets pissed when we try to sneak something besides cheese into them. Tomato soup is good anyway you eat it (especially homemade), but it's the best with a grilled cheese sandwich.

This was to use up the last of Pop's tomatoes for the 2009 season. We made out sauces, our salsas, and canned the tomatoes whole - but since I started canning on my own the last batch of tomatoes for the season always brings tomato soup. The air is getting crispy and the nights are cold. Sundays are once again spent watching football. You know that Fall is right around the corner, what better way to celebrate cold weather than with tomato soup.

My Recipe this year (from mine or Pop's garden marked with an *):

3/4 Bushel of Tomatoes*

8 Cups Diced Onion*

2 Cups Diced Green Pepper*

2 Cups Diced Red Pepper*

2 Jalapeno (of course)*

4 Cups Diced Celery (Giant Eagle)

4 Cups Sliced Carrots (Farmer's Market)

2 Cloves Garlic*

5 Bay Leaves

tsp. Ground Cloves

Combine all of the above ingredients in a roaster or large stock pot and simmer until vegetables are fork tender. Once veggies are soft, place in a blender/food processor until it reaches desired consistency (I like mine blended for approx. 30 seconds on medium speed).

Place back into cooking device and add 1 cup of Brown sugar and 1/4 Cup canning/kosher salt. Bring to a boil stirring constantly, then reduce to a slow simmer.

Process in hot two-piece canning jars in a pressure canner. If you have a pressure cooker like mine with the weighted pressure valve on the top, process for 20 minutes once you reach the "slow rock." If you have a gauged pressure cooker refer to your instruction manual.

Easy as sex, and now you have soup for those blustery days during the winter months. If you do not feel comfortable canning the soup, Mason/Ball jars can be frozen as well. So pack them with the soup once it has cooled, leave about 1 inch of head space and stick them in the freezer.

We love this shit as you can see:

There is nothing more satisfying than when someone eats something you preserved and they compliment on its awesomeness. "Whose Jalapeno Jelly is this you say? Haha (nervous/boastful laugh). Well yes it's mine. (blushing, sticking chest out) Yes I made it with my bounty of Jalapenos from my garden." Effing AWESOME feeling. Of course if you're new to canning be sure to follow proven recipes from credible sources because although it's simple once you have the hang of it, botulism is just effing terrible.

So, is all of the time and effort it takes to preserve your homegrown goodness worth the time? Does it save you money? Carbon Footprint? OF COURSE.

But that's for another post.

We could go into far more detail about the monetary savings, the earth friendliness, and the great taste of home preserved food but this post is already too long so we'll save that for later.

The annual "pepper ring canning" is this weekend before the Steeler's game. A good time as usual, and who doesn't love a pile of hot peppers on their hoagie or with their eggs. Effin Eh.