Chapter 19
Another week, another trip to town. It was a nasty, rainy day but I had a plan and I was sticking to it, even if my umbrella leaked.
Not only had I liked the canning lesson that Winn gave me, I was determined to do it myself on my own. But I was starting with what he called “boiling water bath” or BWB canning and not the pressure canning like we did with the deer. I’m not scared of the pressure canner or anything, at least not the way Winn thought I was. I just want to start on something a little easier if I’m going to do it myself.
He also showed me this appliance called a dehydrator. I like banana chips but he says most of them are freeze dried which is different. He said he makes jerky with it. That’d be okay but I was looking at the instruction book during a lull in the lesson and you can make all sorts of stuff with a dehydrator including … get this … dried veggies and dried fruit that you can grind down to powder and later make it into baby food. Now that is cool beans.
Geez Louise, I was glad that Winn admitted to leaving the deer to be processed before bringing it home. There was enough blood as it was. All the guts and fur … skin? hide? … would have been extremely intimidating.
“You don’t have a weak stomach do you?”
“How many diapers have
you changed?”
He chuckled. “Point taken. Though you gotta admit this is a little different.”
I admitted it. “But I’ve cut up plenty of chickens. Aunt Nita thought buying chickens already cut up was for rich people … and she let me know in no uncertain terms that we weren’t rich people.”
“Well … I guess this isn’t too much different since I took it to the processor this time instead of hanging it myself.”
He proceeded to explain it all and by then we’d cut up most of the meat.
“First deer or two I usually turn into jerky and sausage. Next one I turn into ground meat for the freezer and cut the back strap and tenderloin into steaks and chops. This is my fourth deer of the season, so this is going to be cut up into stew meat and canned. I’ll probably make some chili with the ground meat in the freezer but you can do other things as well. That’s just what I do with it most of the time.”
“How many can you shoot a year?”
“A person can have twelve tags if you follow the rules. I’ve never used all twelve tags. Might this year as there are a surplus of deer and if you keep helping I’ll trade you some. I still can’t believe you found them jars that way.”
“Don’t ask, you don’t get. I heard through the grapevine that one of our old vendors was retiring so I called her up. When I told her what I was after she hooked me up good as her sister was wanting to clean out her mother in law’s shed. I’ve got more jars than I’ll probably ever need since you say I can use them over and over.”
“You have a fair few that’s for sure though I wouldn’t leave them on the back porch for much longer. We’re supposed to have a freeze coming pretty soon.”
“Okay.” Then I asked my next question. “How much meat do you get from deers?”
“Around here the average is about 50 to 55 lbs. if you know how to process it most efficiently.”
“Fifty pounds?! Oh my gosh!”
He laughed. “Take it easy. Fifty pounds may sound like a lot. And it would be for you … and is for me for that matter. I rarely buy meat at the grocery anymore unless I’m just wanting me some chicken real bad. Or a beef steak but that ain’t often ‘cause of the price. Usually if I get a cravin’ like that I just stop and get some KFC for lunch and that’ll do me.”
“But … I mean seriously … fifty pounds. And you say this is your fourth one?!”
“And now you know why I usually don’t use all my tags. But if I had a family of my own, fifty pounds wouldn’t go that far. You can use a pound of burger just for a box of Hamburger Helper. And those boxes don’t go as far as they say they should, especially if that is all you are eating.”
I thought about that and finally conceded that maybe fifty pounds sounded like a whole lot more than what it really came out to be. I decided to push on and asked, “You don’t think what I did around the freezer looks too white trash do you?”
He barked a laugh having already seen it. “You having people over?”
Thinking he was being strange I told him, “No. Just you.”
“Then don’t worry about it, do what you gotta. I’m just surprised you could move that freezer on your own into that old hot tub area.”
I shrugged. “I’m stronger than I look and know how to move things without hurting myself. I moved furniture at Vintiques all the time and no one squawked.”
He just snorted his opinion on that.
“I just don’t want anyone saying anything about those insulation boards. I was worried about the weather freezing the compressor and stuff.”
He nodded. “Smart girl. Don’t work me out of a job now. What will I have to trade with?”
Winn treats me like I’m a kid or gullible most of the time; or that he is humoring me. I let him get away with it until it irritates me then he usually gets the message and stops. But I swear if he pops me on the head with his cap one more time you just see what happens. I may not be eighteen yet, but I’m sure as heck not two-years-old either.
What a day that was. The only real break I got was when I had to stop and feed Teena. Winn tried not to comment on it, but the tops of his ears sure got red. I would have gone onto his back porch but it was too cold for Teena out there, so he pointed me at what he called the parlor.
When we were finished, he wanted to give me a few jars of meat to take back with me but I told him, “No. Next time when I have everything I need we can share. And be prepared, I’m probably going to have some more questions for you.”
“You mean you’re going to wear my ears out even more? I’m not sure my brain can take it.”
It took me a moment to realize he was fooling. “Hah! Laugh now while you can. I really can wear people out …” I guess it made me a little sad to think of the people I used to think were my friends.
“Hey now, none of that. What made you sad?”
“Stupid stuff that’s in the past. Just if I really bother you, let me know.”
“I was just jokin’ Edie.”
“Yeah. For now. But I know you are a busy guy so … I’m serious … don’t try and save me hurt feelings if you get busy or tired of my questions or anything else. It will only hurt my feelings if you lie about it.”
“Deal,” he said in a way that let me know that time he wasn’t fooling.
And he did get busy and I had to continue on with my life as well. We both had bills to pay and while I was keeping up that’s all I was doing because of all the money that was going out. I was spending a lot of money at the grocery and buying stuff to expand my online business. I had income coming in from that, but it wouldn’t be enough if I had to live on that alone. I was really sweating what would happen to things when I turned eighteen and the survivor’s checks stopped coming. I wasn’t going to count on the restitution money all getting paid either. I got another letter saying that two of the people were in arrears to explain why that month’s check was “short.” In the same letter it was explained that if they didn’t start making payments that an arrest warrant would be issued whether I like it or not and then the remaining victim restitution would be put off until they served their time.
I knew without a doubt I needed to think of ways to maximize what was coming in so that when it stopped, regardless of reason, I’d have enough cushion that it wouldn’t bring my house of cards down.
School was turning into a pain as well. The virtual school kept giving me pop quizzes, wasting my time, and not letting me advance as fast as I had been. It was irritating and even more so when I found out it was because they thought I might be cheating because I was finishing my work so fast. I finally convinced them that my plan was to complete my Junior year in March and start my Senior year right away so exam season between high school and dual enrollment wouldn’t overlap.
When my “guidance counselor” found out I was dual enrolled – and got over complaining about why she hadn’t known that – and what my grades were, she settled down and said that I could count my dual enrollment credits towards the high school credits I would need to graduate on a like-for-like basis. In other words, college math would replace high school math and Freshman English would replace language arts. It took some of the heat off me, but they said I would still need to complete the required reading over the summer between everyone else’s Junior and Senior years. I figured that was fair and I got with my dual enrollment counselor to make sure that I could sign up for the right classes come Spring so I’d be on track to do what my other guidance counselor said I could for my senior year.
Keeping all the pieces of my life separate was a challenge. I had to remember who knew what and what not to say to who. The one time I said something about my high school coursework to Winn he looked a little green, so I stopped talking to him about it. The one time Winn came up in a conversation with Celeste she got a speculative look on her face I found slightly nauseating. And I didn’t say anything about anything to Smith who while he didn’t mention Winn was still annoying as heck.
My normal routine when going to town was to get my packages out of the way at the post office first thing. I always got tracking numbers and a receipt even if I could have just dropped them off. Proof in hand was and is always best in case there is a problem. That day I also found out that shipping times were going to get longer, and shipping costs were going up again after the beginning of the year. If I wanted a package to arrive before Christmas, I would need to send it no later than the first of December. I put on my seller’s page that information as a reminder for anyone that was thinking of ordering from me.
When I got to the grocery store, I was blown away at how busy it was. Until I remembered that Thanksgiving was that Thursday. Ugh. I had completely forgotten about it. I bravely carried on and tried to ignore all the Christmas stuff that was out on top of the Thanksgiving stuff. Aunt Nita had always refused to do Black Friday shopping, choosing instead to have a sale at Vintiques to try and catch some of the money flying around on that day. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be caught dead out and about on that day either.
Getting my head back in gear where it needed to be to keep from getting run over by all of the crazy holiday shoppers, I picked up two large bottles of vinegar – one gallon of white, one gallon of apple cider, and just because it made me feel grown up, I bought a couple of specialty vinegars that I could use to make salad dressing with. I know that was a stupid reason … technically I was a grown up … but I already admitted that I was rattled by the holiday season. That’s also the explanation I gave myself when I bought a “baby’s first Christmas” ornament with the year on it. Teena didn’t even react when I put it in front of her face. She was more interested in chewing on her teething ring. Better that ring than me and I continue to feel that way and I shouldn’t have to explain why to anyone with an ounce of biological imagination.
Next on the list were two large bottles of vegetable oil (safflower and canola) and since olive oil was bogo I got a couple of jugs of that as well. Then I saw that the same brand as the olive oil had grapeseed oil on bogo so you guess what hopped into my buggy. I swear I’m a sucker for a bogo sale. They’re like crack candy … you can’t just do one.
Then came nearly a whole case of applesauce. I know that sounds bizarre, but I found some more recipes that I can use the applesauce in place of butter and eggs and a good thing, eggs and butter were getting expensive. I learned that trick originally from the lady that worked in the vegan bakery next to Vintiques. One of my favorites of her recipes was Olive Oil Carrot Muffins[1]. I looked it up online to make sure I remembered things correctly and yes, there are a bunch of recipes out there like that and I have the hand-written index cards to prove it.
The butter was on sale ‘cause of holiday baking and I bought the limit allowed. It stores in the freezer. While looking up canning after getting the idea from Winn there were other recipes out there than what he did. I ran into a couple of websites that talked about canning butter and making your own ghee. Some people say canning butter isn’t safe and some people say they and their families have been doing it for decades with no problem. I was willing to give ghee a try but I was still thinking about butter back then.
[2]
For some reason the plan I was using to stock up said it was time to buy more pasta. Three pounds of pasta per person which for me was three boxes of spaghetti and two boxes of macaroni noodles and one box of ziti noodles. Instead of the two gallons of water per person, I picked up more cartridges for my water filter and bought several cases of drinking water – the flavored bubbly kind – that was on bogo. (Drat those temptations.) I also fell prey to a temptation in the form of a soda can organizer. I figured it would work in the frig and if I liked it, and it really saved room (it didn’t, it just kept things from rolling all over the place) I could buy another one for the pantry.
I also started buying my own canning equipment that day. I didn’t have to buy the BWB canner or the pressure canner because I got them at the same time I got all the jars. What I didn’t have were rings and lids. I’d looked online for how much they’d cost and decided to wait and see how much they were in the store. Yikes. When I got back that night I for sure ordered some online. I won’t admit to how many lids I bought but will say that Winn gave me a really strange look before shrugging it off. When I asked him if he thought it was enough all he said was, “Definitely. That’s definitely enough.”
I’m not sure I agree with him after helping him to can an entire deer. Especially if I want to do all the other stuff I found recipes for online but if there are too many all I can say is better to have too many than not enough given how much those things cost in the store.
I also started buying boxes of Sure-jell, Certo, citric acid, pickling spices, canning salt, and a few other things that the recipes I’d found called for. There was a book on that same aisle called the
Ball Blue Book … though I have no clue why since the book wasn’t blue in the slightest … and I bought it and got another ton of ideas that I was raring to try.
[1] Recipe: Olive Oil Carrot Muffins
[2] How To Safely Can Butter -making Homemade Ghee The Homesteading Hippy