Barbara Manning

Look to YouTube and Instagram for canning, and drying tips and instructions. I like Becoming a Farm Girl and Rose Red Homesreading for emergency preparedness.

Both women are excellent teachers in there own way. I recently added Nicole kills plants to learn how to make laundry soap, dw soap, and other Hh goods.

I understand that this is not quite permies approved   method of learning, but it provides me with the baseline information I need in order to learn how to water bath can and  pressure can. Good luck

I have recently come across a stainless steel dish cloth made of chainmail. They're fantastic! I used one for about a month when I was staying with my girlfriend's family. They scrub the delicate dishes clean they scrub the pots and pans clean they even scrub the non-stick pans without damaging the coating.

The only draw back is they are expensive, but once you have one you'll have it for life. Shop around to find a size, guage and peuce you can live with.

Very easy to clean. You can even put it in  boiling water if you'd like. It rarely gets dirty and thus it doesn't ever smell of rotten food. More here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+that+stainless+steel+chain+mail+dish+cloth%3F&oq=what+is+that+stainless+steel+chain+mail

Jeff Marchand wrote:I'd take them in a heart beat but  I'm a little far.

Is there something the Permies Community can do to help get them transported?

I'm friend is the owner of a high-end sushi restaurant in NY. In the past year or so, they've had to transition away from those beautifully made hangiri or sushi oke bowls (see images here: https://www.google.com/search?q=wooden+sushi+making+bowls&rlz=

Why? you ask.

Because the NY Dept of Health thinks that after the restaurant has been in business for at least 30 years, that wooden bowl presents a hazard and could potentially harbor ah, . . . well, I don't know what they think but they do have a RULE against it.

I think it's a crying shame and a horrific overreach in terms of what's real and what's unreal. The NY Health department is forcing them to buy plastic hangiri. The purpose of the pine or cedar bowl is to absorb the water from the rice. Cedar or pine is also used extensively in Japanese homes because of its insect repellant properties.

Yeah, I get that it's a soft wood, but it's also not a cutting surface. Short grain rice is cooked with kombu then transferred to the hangiri and seasoned in the bowl with rice vinegar, sugar (mirin most times) and salt.  https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-sushi-rice/#recipe  It's classically mixed with a wooden pallet made of  a similar soft wood. What is wrong with this process??? Cedar or pine is also used extensively in Japanese homes because of its insect repellant properties.

A plastic bowl doesn't do any of that.  And, a plastic bowl that sits around in a hot kitchen is more likely to house bacteria than a clean, dry, pine or cedar bowl. Worse, the plastic bowl goes through the dishwasher that uses at least 210F water and a 10 minute hot air dry. Just imagine the amount of microplastics that are released during that process.  

Worse, these health departments are working on state edicts, not national guidelines or (as far as I can see) even state edicts -- some of these "requirements" are local.  This is something new they've come up with that was not an issue 10 years ago, when I worked there. And, let's not even talk about the 147 billion sushi restaurants in Japan that STILL use classic or traditional hangiri without poisoning a soul to date.

I am incensed, but I'm off the soapbox now.  Thanks for letting me rant.

Spun iron vs cast iron

https://farmfetch.co/blogs/news/spun-iron-vs-cast-iron-cookware-buying-guide#:~:text=

Jennie Little wrote:I found the Lodge Skillet currently for sale in my booth at Salvation Army.

I think a lot of people try to use cast iron and either they don't have all the information they need to become successful with using cast iron or they find that the pan or pot itself is just too heavy and weird for them to use successfully. So a lot of cast iron ends up at the second hand stores like the Salvation Army. And many other cases they're just the remnants of grandmother's kitchen that ends up being not suitable for whoever the grandkids are. In any case they almost always end up at the second hand stores. I like the Salvation Army I want to support them and that's actually where I go and look and I found quite a bit of cast iron cookware there.

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:We don't have much choice if we want cast iron pans around here. It is Lodge... or the town dump
I go dumpster diving faithfully every week and I found 2 Lodge cast iron pans at the dump. That's the best price of all, isn't it?

I had a lot of success in secondhand stores  like the Salvation Army stores.

NYT Cooking Just sent me four new recipes featuring eggplant. They have over 400 recipes in their recipe Library that use eggplant as an ingredient. It's a $50.00 annual to subscribe but I think you can get a few for free. Give it a roll, And if you see something you like Let me know here And I'll get the recipe for you

https://cooking.nytimes.com/

From a Perplexity search for international  eggplant recipes:

Eggplant Curry
Cube eggplant and sauté with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and curry spices.
Add coconut milk or tomato sauce.
Simmer until eggplant is tender.
Serve with rice or flatbread.

1. Imam Bayildi (Turkey)
Whole eggplants are slit, partially hollowed, and stuffed with a mixture of sautéed onions, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs.
Drizzle with plenty of olive oil.
Bake until soft and jammy.
Traditionally served at room temperature with bread.

2. Baingan Bharta (India)
Roast eggplant over an open flame or in the oven until charred and soft.
Peel and mash the flesh.
Sauté onions, tomatoes, garlic, green chili, and spices (coriander, cumin, turmeric), then add mashed eggplant.
Cook until aromatic. Serve with naan or rice.

3. Caponata (Italy/Sicily)
Diced eggplant is fried until golden.
Sauté celery, onion, and tomatoes.
Add capers, olives, pine nuts, and a splash of vinegar and sugar for a sweet-sour flavor.
Simmer to meld flavors. Serve warm or at room temperature.

4. Melitzanosalata (Greece)
Roast or grill whole eggplants, peel off skin, and mash the interior.
Mix with olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, and chopped parsley.
Sometimes includes feta cheese or chopped onions.
Serve as a dip with pita bread.

5. Mapo Eggplant (China, Sichuan-style)
Cut eggplant into batons.
Stir-fry with garlic, ginger, doubanjiang (spicy bean paste), soy sauce, Sichuan peppercorn, and a touch of sugar.
Add ground pork or beef for a heartier version.
Sauce thickens and coats the eggplant. Serve with steamed rice.

6. Eggplant Miso Dengaku (Japan)
Slice eggplant in half lengthwise and score the surface.
Brush with oil and grill or broil until cooked.
Top with sweet-savory miso glaze (miso paste, sugar, sake, mirin).
Broil or grill again until the glaze bubbles.

7. Eggplant Tagine (Morocco)
Cube eggplant and combine with tomatoes, onions, garlic, chickpeas, Moroccan spices (cumin, cinnamon, coriander), and preserved lemon.
Slow-cook until all vegetables are soft and flavors meld.
Serve with couscous.

Japan, weighing in here.

Look to Middle East and Eastern countries for recipes using eggplant in addition to what you already have from European, South American and other sources. In the US I know a lot of people that grow eggplant but I frankly don't know a lot of people that eat it. Many of my friends grow it and then cut it up and throw it out for the birds or for animal fodder.

That being being said, if you go to JustOneCookbook.com, Nami Chen will have a number of recipes using eggplant. I imagine that New York Times cooking will also have  eggplant recipes. Google or Perplexity for eggplant recipes. You'll find quite a lot. And some, you may even like.

Here's the thing that I noticed. When I cook using a Middle Eastern source or a Asian source, the recipe seem to be less complicated, with fewer techniques and equipment.  So forJustOneCookbook.com's  eggplant dengaku, the most difficult thing you're going to do is make the sauce. Baba ganoush couldn't be easier  -- boil the eggplant add it to a food processor with other ingredients - done!

I'm happy to provide something more specific if you want me to give you the recipes that I've used But I would encourage you to do your own research as well. Eggplant is a really versatile vegetable and it's grossly underused in America, in my humble opinion.

Happy cooking!