Tag: Farm Life

Open Your Junk Mail: A Public Service Announcement

The post office is still delivering loads of mail each and every day. Fewer personal cards and letters after the proliferation of email, but still plenty of stuff. 

Ads for house washing. 

New carpets. 

A sale announcement for windows and / or siding. 

Then there are the smaller-ticket items. Each week we receive a set of coupons. Local stores, national chains, things I don’t want or need.

Random letters from credit unions.

Wait, what?

A  year ago, I saw a return address from an affiliated credit union*. The kind where you have to be in a certain group of people to join. Like the Plumbers Union or whatever. I wasn’t a member of this particular group, so I just pitched the letter.

A few weeks later, another one arrived. This time I opened it. The letter honestly looked fairly official. I think I’m onto how email scams work, but this was a hard copy letter, so I carefully read and reread.

It was asking me to set up direct deposit of my paycheck so I could take full advantage of the checking account I had opened. 

To be safe, I didn’t call any phone numbers in the letter. I Googled the credit union and called its main customer service number. 

It had happened again.

Two years earlier, I was the victim of identity theft. Someone stole my information, opened a credit union credit card and took off with around $10k. It took me a few months to figure out what happened and, gratefully, after a police report and a few phone calls, the account was closed without me having to pay.

Even though I did not lose any money out of pocket, my credit rating took a hit. Now I watch that religiously for any new lines of credit. 

But a checking account?

It was clear the crooks planned to trick me into having automatic funds deposited so they could go on a shopping spree. No way was I moving any money into an account I didn’t originate!

When I called, the credit union* advised the account had already been marked as fraudulent. I wish I knew how they figured that out without my input, but I’m thankful. 

Now I have everything locked down as much as possible. I unsubscribe and delete emails and texts that I am not 100% positive about. 

I open every bit of mail and look through it.

Open your junk mail, folks. 

*I purposely did not name the specific credit union because you know….fraud.

A Day In The Life Of The Farm

Curious about a typical day on a small acreage?

Retired life is supposed to be days filled with sunshine, books, and relaxation.

At least that’s the illusion I had when I planned to leave the 8:30 AM to 5:00PM day job as a social worker.

Who am I kidding? How many days did I go in early, stay late, work on-call, travel overnight, and sit in the office making call after call to find a placement for a child?

A difficult career in child welfare, but also rewarding. Thirty years was enough, though, and I headed into retirement.

Some days, I refer to my life now as a second career as a writer. While that’s true, I write both fiction and nonfiction, I also help run this small farm we call home.

Recently was one of those days when nothing quite seemed to fall into place. Actually, there have been several of those days over the past few months.

Making matters worse are the days of dangerously high heat and humidity. That, besides some extended family responsibilities, push outside work to the very early morning hours.

Since one of the riding mowers was in the repair shop for close to a month, we took turns on the one mower that ran. It’s not ideal, but we made it work.

Until one day.

Nearing the end of the mowing session, the belt broke on the deck.

Great. The yard wasn’t finished, our time was limited and now there was no working mower on the property.

“It’s only a belt.” I said to myself. “I can run into town, get the belt on, and the rest of the yard will get mowed before lunch.”

I should have known better.

It took 3 stops and 1 hour to find the right belt. The farm store and our usual repair shop didn’t have the right one in stock. So off to the next town to a John Deere dealer.

Belt in hand, I checked YouTube for instructions. Between that and the diagram on the belt label, it looked easy enough.

Nothing ever goes as smoothly as you hope, but after an hour of labor, interrupted by lunch and managing another commitment, the belt was on and the yard finished.

What started as a serious frustration ended with self-satisfaction at being able to repair the mower.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring. 

Whatever it is, will be a far cry from social work.

The Air Fryer Is A Revelation In Cooking

Why did I wait so long to get one?

When air fryers became a thing in the late 2010s, everyone wanted one. Not me. I was determined not to adopt this new technology. Now I’m all for new kitchen appliances and I have a vast array. A bread machine, counter top compressor style ice cream maker, three kinds of blenders, an electric griddle, and a myriad of hand tools.

But when the air fryer came out, I thought of it as only a countertop convection oven. Essentially, a convection oven includes a fan to circulate air, allowing for an even temperature and potentially crisper edges on everything.

I had no need for one of those. My kitchen is equipped with double convection wall ovens that meet all the same checkpoints offered by an air fryer.

So why would I use valuable counter space for a separate appliance to do what my convection oven already does?

Then came along an opportunity to trade a toaster for a brand new air fryer. This was a deal I couldn’t refuse.

The model I gained is a Gourmia brand with a bottom liner tray to catch crud, a solid pan with a rack, and a mesh basket. Plus, attractive French-style doors.

The first thing I tried were homemade fries. I love french fries. 

Who am I kidding? I love potatoes of any kind! 

But to make fresh fries at home is ideal.

Following the manufacturer’s directions, I hand-cut strips from large white potatoes. Lightly spritzed with avocado oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, spread in a single layer of the basket and popped in the air fryer the second the preheat bell signaled the machine was ready. 

The beauty of this air fryer and probably all air fryers for all I know is the series of preset buttons. One of which is fries.

These fries were delicious.

Crispy on the outside, tender and fluffy on the inside, all from the air fryer without the mess of hot oil on the stovetop.

I was hooked.

Then a friend stopped by and I was singing the praises of my new air fryer. She recommended trying mini tater tots and crispy crowns. These pre-formed nuggets of shredded potatoes are designed to become crispy, but in my experience, for whatever reason, never quite did in the convection oven. 

Oh my goodness! Crunchy deliciousness, just like out of a deep fryer, but without all the greasy residue.

I’ve been using it for all sorts of things, from boneless chicken wings to bacon, to warming up scones and chocolate chip cookies.

One word of caution, however. I tried some frying cheese in the basket. Even though the packaging said it was possible, mine dripped through the basket and was a horrible mess to clean up. 

I am also not a fan of using the toast function to make toast. My standard toaster does a much better job of evenly toasting bread, bagels and English muffins than the air fryer. Plus, I can store it in the cabinet.

The air fryer has earned its counter space in my kitchen.

Now, what other kitchen appliance can I add to my collection?

Processing Sweet Corn Efficiently

Ah, sweet corn season in Illinois.

Delicious ears of corn, bred to be tender and sugar sweet. This is one of my favorite summer vegetables.

Since it takes a lot of space to grow enough sweet corn to make it worthwhile, we purchase from local farmers at markets or roadside stands. One such stand near us, pile stacks of corn, still in the husk, high on a flatbed wagon. The method is to bring your own bag, load it up with ears and leave cash in the box on the stand. It’s an honor system that works.

Sometimes in the season’s height, a summer meal may consist of three or four ears of corn, a plate of fresh tomato slices and a mound of cottage cheese. Naturally, I want sweet corn year round, so to make that happen, I buy extra to preserve.

Putting up, sometimes called putting by sweet corn, is a time-honored ritual in my family. By putting up, we mean processing the corn and preparing it for storage. Then, in the dark days of winter, we will have a taste of summer in our pantry or freezer.

My Grandma used to pressure can most of the sweet corn she stored. It was shelf stable and not dependent on electricity to keep the food safe. While that is a great method, and I pressure can many foods, I freeze sweet corn. I like the flavor better and it is much faster to process.

Here’s my step-by-step method, developed through many hours of experience with an eye to efficiency.

First remove leaves or husks, or as we call it shucks and silk. This is best done outside and with helpers if you are going to process a lot of corn.

When shucking corn, have a line of buckets to work with and get a comfortable chair. I am right-handed, so I tend to work this chore from left to right. The corn to be shucked is in a basket on my left, a bucket to catch the shucks positioned in front of me, and a large pan or dish on my right for the bare ears. I pull down the top of the shuck from two sides at once, somewhat like peeling a banana. I try to get all the silks off, but this is not always easy. My trick is to keep my hands as dry as possible and use a twisting motion to loosen the silks, picking off as many as I can.

Next into the kitchen. For corn to stay fresh in the freezer, it must be blanched to stop the enzymatic actions that lead to spoilage. Blanching is a process of heating, then rapidly cooling. This year, I used my corn scientist friend’s method. Drop the ears into boiling water for three minutes, transfer to an ice bath, then cut the kernels from the cob.

Again seeking efficiency, I put the raw corn next to the pan of boiling water with the ice bath bowl next to the boiling water. I can do ten ears at a time in the boiling pot and also in the ice bath.

After the ice bath, I moved that bowl to a place on my left, my work bowl, more about this later, in front of me and a cob bucket on the floor on my left.

My work bowl is a bundt cake pan set on a rimmed baking sheet. A bundt pan may seem like an odd work bowl for this task, but it is actually perfect. Each ear of corn is placed on its narrow end in the middle of the cake pan and, using an electric carving knife, I cut rows from the cob. The kernels fall into the well of the pan. After all kernels are removed, I can drop the cob into the bucket on the floor in the same motion as I am reaching for the next cob from the ice bath. After cutting the kernels from each ear, I start the next batch of ten in the boiling water bath. I leave the water boiling the entire time I am working and refresh the ice in the ice bath as necessary.

While the next batch is boiling, I have just enough time to label four freezer bags and load each with 2 cups of corn. I use this amount as most of my recipes or serving needs can adapt to this amount of corn. To fill the bags, first label while the bag is flat, then open it up in a tall plastic cup and fold the edge down around the rim of the cup. This allows me to easily fill the bag with minimal mess. Press out as much air as possible, seal and toss on a cookie sheet for transport to the freezer when all is done.

Even with this efficient method and trying to keep the mess contained, processing corn is a messy job. But in only one morning of work, I have all I need for the winter ahead. Meals of soups and chowders, fried corn and simply buttered corn as a side dish will be welcomed throughout the cold weather. And on Super Bowl Sunday we will have sweet tamale corn cakes like the appetizer at Cheesecake Factory.

Delicious.