Barbara Manning

Anne Miller wrote:There are 100s of different types of sausage.  What is your favorite?  How do you like to cook it or eat sausage?

I like almost all sausages that I have tried.  There was a store that that
I have a recipe that I like that has pork chops and sausage with potatoes in a tomato sauce that I like though for that recipe I just buy smoked sausage.  

I am always looking for kielbasa or Polish Sausage sausage!  I can't find it in Tokyo (well, I actually can, if I want to pay about 5 times the ah, normal price) and long to make it as I do Italina sausage.

I apologize if this post is unhelpful but https://www.almanac.com/vegetable-gardening-for-beginners may be another source for your beginners

Look to Commercial food service suppliers.  Only accept Food-grade products.  All the comments in here are correct.  The last thing you want to do is poison yourself and family by using long term food storage inappropriately.

If the resources in this link: https://www.google.com/search?q=wholesale+food+service+outlets if that's too large an area to search, ask your local restaurants, delis, hospitals, clinics -- any commercial venue that serves food -- if they will share their suppliers with you.  

Consider also making a relationship with local food service companies. Food handling and management is always managed on a state level, and I don't know about Maine at all, but you could ask them about food containers that they are ah, "retiring."  They may still be good enough for your use. Please understand that most of what you'll be offered will be plastic, but you may be able to repurpose it in other ways than in food storage.  Don't dismiss university level resources, especially if they offer any kind of chef/cooking/kitchen services offering.  Call the admissions office.  If they can't help you, thank them and call later.  It's been my experience that the person answering the phone tells you what they know.  Fair enough, but when you call back you'll probably speak with someone else -- who might know more.

I haven't done any research on it, but certainly the chemical or drug companies also use large food-safe containers.  If there are some in your area, consider calling them for advice.  

Other resources: Wineries, breweries, bakeries, creameries.

Good luck.  I hope you find something that is the size and material you want!

I think what you're doing is great! And, I am assuming that all or nearly all the seeds your sending out are heirloom varieties.  I have no suggestions to what you could add to the list of seeds, but here's my thoughts on your project otherwise.

* Since these folks are beginners (like me), is it appropriate to tell them what's significant about heirloom varieties?  They may not understand that concept.
* Consider adding some information on companion planting.  I had a flower garden, and a vegetable patch.  It never occurred to me that some of them should be planted together.
* Can you direct them to some adequate sources for composting?

I wish I could take advantage of your offer. Regrettably, all I'll get from your generosity is a letter from Japan Customs telling me that "unlicensed food products of any kind" are not allowed in the country.

Gina Capri wrote: But if anyone has tips about making a warm enough place to raise the dough, I’d maybe try at least baking cinnamon rolls- my daughter loves them. Or French bread/baguettes- we do eat those about weekly.

I have a heck of a time getting a sour dough starter to  bloom, or bubble or whatever the heck they call it.

But I have found a way to provide a warm environment for bread to rise.  I got an old styrofoam container (mine was a discard from the grocery store)  that's about 18"x22". I dug a hole large enough to get a 5 watt incandescent bulb in there. The foam container retains the heat and the 5 watt bulb provides enough heat for bread dough to proof and the finished product to rise. It's a cheap and easy answer to a proofing box.  

Hmmmm.. those flavored vinegars sound very good, but they all start with vinegar.  Do you have a recipe for making vinegar that you'd like to share?  I'd like to know how to make at least one of them.  Thanks!

Thanks so much for sharing all these ideas for storing sweet potatoes and making starch from them!  What a surprise!  I want to try it.  While I don't have to deal with 400 pounds of the veg, I do need to up my game on getting more food stored in an economical way.  Here's why:

Earlier this year, I lost the contents of all my freezers and refrigerator during a long-term electrical outage. It was a disaster of epic proportions. I probably lost $2,000 of food storage in the freezer.  But my takeaway from it was to learn to make more fermented veg. I'm also adding canning to my cookery acumen -- for me scary but necessary.  Here's an interesting link to fermenting sweet potatoes that you may like.  I like it because it's a shelf stable way to store the veg. So far I've made shelf stable mayonnaise and butter (how to make ghee, essentially).  Canning is more challenging, but I am determined to learn.

Fermented Sweet potatoes: https://ferment.works/blog/2013/3/1/fermenting-sweet-potatoes

Making shelf stable butter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MnR-1mRyc8 This is from the  RoseRed Homestead YT channel, which I love. The author is focussed on "three simple themes: Emergency Preparedness, Food Security, and Self Reliance. She is a retired food scientist so her record keeping is intricate and immaculate.  I trust what she tells me.

Fermented mayo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwEFN5abrmU  
Becoming a Farm Girl is one of my favorite channels because Casssandra is without a doubt the most informative women I have found. Strap on your chatter helmet because this woman talks a mile a minute and all of it is valuable. Avoid the bla, bla. bal and start at 7:33 for the instructions on fermented mayo. Pay special attention at 7:50 where she gives you an impressive list of YTers who also talk about fermentation.

I hope that some of this is helpful.  And, Happy New Year to all!  

Richi Boyamian wrote:I didn't see it mentioned but to double check, I inherited a large amount of -copper- cookware, no visible damage or anything - any dangers here?. . .I've read that there can be an issue with acid leeching, wondering if I can still make good use of them for other purposes?

Richie, I think that most modern copper pots are what they call laminates -- I think that's what they call them. They'll have a layer of some conductive material and then a layer of something that's good at retaining heat, and then perhaps somethkng else, and the final layer that you see on the outside, copper.

Acidic fruits and vegetables will react with a copper pot, IF you leave, say a pan full of stewed tomatoes overnight or even for 4 to 6 hours in the pot, and the food is touching the copper layer. The copper may or may not permanently discolor and it may or may not pit. Just remember that you want to cook in it, not store in it.

Generally speaking there will  be a mark on the bottom of the pot that will tell you the manufacturer. Even if you can't read the mark take a picture of it, convert the picture to something that you can put online and do a search on the photo if you cant read the mark. Finding the manufacturer online will give you heaps of information about what materials used in the pot the approximate age and also a lot of advice and care for the pot. Like the maximum temperature of the pot before it delaminates or whatever.

Look up copper cookware construction to find out the laminate layers that you might or might not have, and copper cookware care and cleaning so that you know what you're up against if you want to keep this cookware. Good luck!

Christopher Weeks wrote:I don't know how heavy they have to be, but this might interest people: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/2423/bun-sheet-pans.html?filter=type:sheet-pans&filter=material:carbon-steel:stainless-steel:steel&multi=true&filter=coating:uncoated

Yeah. You got the idea. Do a web search on restaurant supply stores to get an idea of what's available in your area.  Most restaurant supply stores will ship nationwide, but you should be able to find what you want at a store closer to your home, to save on shipping.  

An outfit called Local Liquidators has tons of restaurant equipment for sale at less than wholesale prices.  https://localliquidators.com/restaurant-liquidators they distinguish between stainless steel and aluminium pots and pans.

Also check local newspapers (and call local news outlets -- radio, TV, newsprint, and ah, other -- and ask them how you can get information on micro local restaurant equipment sales. There may be local business associations and maybe the local Chamber of Commerce that can help you identify sales for failed restaurants.  Be mindful that these sales usually represent the demise of a family's hopes and dreams for a better life. Many times the profits from these sales go towards paying off the debt incurred in the restaurant startup and leave the family worse off than what they were prior to opening. Moderate your glee at a super good price, please.

Most restaurant liquidators are interested in selling the major equipment -- fryers, ranges, flat-top grills, broilers, braisers, prep tables, refrigerators, freezers, 30 to 50 gallon sealed storage containers, etc; so stuff like sheet pans, other pans, whisks, spoons, knives, cutting boards, front of house dishes, flatware,  glassware, napkins etc, they'll want to sell in bulk.  Don't be afraid to buy a dozen full sheet pans. You'll be surprised how quickly you find uses for them. The knives are not the best (most chefs purchase and carry their own knives with them from job to job), but the kitchen knifes are still good and with a whetstone, (and learning how to use it properly) you can keep those knives sharp (like Japanese katana sharp) for a long, time.  

If the napkins are any kind of natural fabric -- quality cotton or (gasp!) linen you can buy them and stitch them together for a lot of things.  Who wouldn't want a cotton blanket filled with some comfy warm filling? I know a lot of you raise chickens. Here's what Springer Nature says about using poultry feathers as materials for bedding -- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-55645-6_10#:

And there are also cast steel and cast iron sheet pans, but you're best looking in 2nd hand stores, antique stores and garage sales for these items.  They're pretty expensive and coveted.

Good Luck!

if anyone has a link to stainless steel sheet pans which are high enough gauge to keep from warping in a rocket oven, maybe like the ones at Wheaton Labs, I'd be indebted if you
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Clay McGowan, look for stainless steel sheet pans at restaurant supply stores. They sell to individuals as well. Many of them sell products online.  

Buy them cheaper at restaurant bankruptcy sales. You'll need to do some research on how to find the sales in your area, but it's not impossible. Restaurants go out of business for a variety of reasons all the time. In New York City for example, about 8,000 restaurants open every year and at least 6,000 go under every year. Often times restaurant supplies are bought by resellers who will have the equipment of several restaurants up for sale at the same time. Good luck!