Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Food, Drink and Cooking Another "general" food thread

Almost Naomi,
It was a sweet relish and out of this world delicious. Elevated hotdogs to another level.
Joe

Someone- and I believe here at RR- recommended Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Thank you, thank you, thank you. What a great book! You really can't get real rye bread in the store.

It was me. You're welcome, you're welcome, you're welcome. It is amazing, innit? The bread is as easy to make as it sounds and it tastes good beyond what you expect.

Ah, one of the simple things in life, baking bread at home. Brew your own beer, Joe. Grow some vegetables and you're good to go. It ain't bad. Now if I can just figure out how to do it full time in the desert. I'd dress in white Mexican peasant clothes and wear Birkenstocks 24/4. People would call me weird because I'd look like an old freak. But, I'd have a perpetual grin on my face.

Mick, I've got the plan underway right now. There's a learning curve though so I hafta stay alive til it levels out. The chicken coop is built and I have ten chickens. Two will be laying soon and supplying my own needs, the others will be laying around the end of summer. Excess eggs will be sold to pay for the feed, then I'll sell artisan bread to the egg customers. Joe pointed me in that direction Then I just add more chickens and sell more eggs and bread. As the first batch of chickens get old or the rooster population goes up I make and freeze Coq au Vin or Chicken and Dumplings and sell that to the egg customers as well as the bread. The chicken manure will fertilize the garden and I hope to grow fancy heirloom tomatoes in numbers just large enough to supply a small customer base.
Tomatoes will grow almost year round here.
It's only just begun but it's a plan that will help me survive a retirement that came as a total surprise. I'm already grinning in anticipation.

Greger,

That sounds great! Hell, you may be us all to finding happiness in the way it once was and should be. Not bad at all.

No one has ever accused me of being a master gardener, but I recommend you plant a few other crops that will grow well also; beans, squash, cucumbers, okra maybe. Heirloom tomatoes are so damned good you won't have any trouble selling them. However tomatoes have many natural enemies. You could get wiped out of tomatoes with a bit of bad luck.

One of the small farms near us that sells to the coop we belong to also now sells organic veggies to high end restaurants over in Phoenix and Scottsdale. We are beginning to notice a movement now for people to buy local. We always have, but it seems now more and more people are getting into supporting their neighbors' businesses rather than chains.



Sounds to me like you have a plan!

Mick, I'm writing a business plan that should work. It contains enough flexibility to allow for early failures and will grow slowly to maximize profit and minimize labor. After all, I'm old and lazy and like to spend a lot of time here in this rocking chair.

Yes, it is! For some reason I had always been intimidated by the challenge, but they make it easy.

Those Golabkis are the right size. I've had some served to me that were dismally small- about one or two tbs of the meat/rice mixture rolled in the cabbage. Some people use beef broth instead of tomato sauce. They're also pretty good plain with a little salt and butter.Rye bread does go well with them.

I used about 2 cups of beef broth and 1 can of diced tomatoes.
Some recipes call for the Golabkis to be simmered on top of a bed of Kraut but I just used shredded cabbage. The gravy recommended in that recipe is awesome, I served it right on top of the cabbage rolls. This made a lot of food for just pennies! I used a single large hamburger and a bout a cup of rice. Lots of Hungarian Paprika too. (Pride of Szeged)

I also season it with garlic.