Another Marathon Cooking Day

Today was another challenge marathon cooking day.  It started with blanching and freezing sweet corn . . .

I had some over-ripe bananas and I found some bran from the last challenge.  So, I made three loaves of banana bran bread. . .

I roasted two large pans of tomatoes, carrots and celery for roasted vegetable soup . . .

When they vegies were roasted, I roasted two large pans of beets . . .

Then I made a simple leek and turnip soup. . .

I also made some sage/mint tea (not pictured).   I ended the day with 17 twelve ounce packages of beets, 4 containers of turnip/leek soup, 7 containers of roasted vegetable soup, 4 bags of sweet corn, three loves of banana bread and a large pitcher of sage/mint tea.

The Daily Grind

Today was gonna be a big day - I was going to clean the kitchen, mill all the wheat and corn, clean out the fridge and freezer, maybe get a few hours at the local hunting grounds in, and take stock of everything I have stored for the challenge.

My plans came to a grinding halt on step 2.  Lucky thing I cleaned the kitchen first! Milling the wheat and corn took the whole rest of the day.

I have a small Corona mill I picked up before the previous challenge.  I started with the corn first, grinding it twice.  I sifted out one bag of flour/fine cornmeal and then just coarse ground the rest. Then it was on to wheat. That all needed ground twice and sifted. I got a little over 2lbs of what I am calling 'bran' for every 4lbs of flour. Basically anything that couldn't fit through the strainer after 2 passes through the mill is in those bags. I plan to cook this up as cereal in the mornings. Sharon and I will be baking tomorrow in anticipation of the challenge, now just 2 days away!

I'll sort that picture mess

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Friendly Reminder

The rules state that you can preserve foods with salt, baking soda, or other minerals until 15 days before the start of the challenge - that leaves just 2 days left! Don't miss the deadline, or forever be labeled a cheater!

To the left is a corn cake I made - overcooked corn (about 4 hrs boiled), egg white, green onion, a bit of hot pepper and a sprinkle of basil. All things we should have for the challenge. It was hearty, no flavor explosion going on here but not bad. It has nothing to do with the subject of this post but I am too lazy to make 2 posts today.

Wednesday's Bounty

having finally gotten all the field equipment to properly hunt goose, I went to a new hunting area an hour and a half south on Wednesday. I took a walk around the small lake there to see if I could find a suitable area to set up shop. Although I didn't spot a site I liked I did have a productive day - our foodstores have been fattened by 10lbs of walnuts (split, still in shell), 7-1/2lbs of corn kernels, and a little over 1/2lb of squirrel meat.

To all the butchers and meat cutters in the world, you can rest assured I'll never take your job away. This is due to an acute lack of talent, not for lack of trying. If anyone has a meat grinder I have about 1/4lb of meat that needs to be processed.


Our coffers have 5lbs of soybeans from collection on previous expeditions as well. I'm curious if anyone has had success hunting or foraging. Where have you been, what have you gathered, or what are you waiting for!