Text 18229, 179 rader
Skriven 2014-10-19 11:03:38 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
  Kommentar till text 18214 av Stephen Haffly (1:396/45.27)
Ärende: heat (was peppers)
==========================
Hi Stephen,

>> radiators. When we rented various places, we'd run into forced-air
>> systems.. They were warm when the heat was on, then poof.. it felt to
>> me like the warmth was gone
>> :(

> Exactly!

Yes :)  I always dreaded when I'd hear those systems kick into action ..
especially if it was a rental which you really couldn't do much about
sometimes.

>> I bet!  The nice thing about purchasing your home is you can perhaps
>> do a bit more to help your situation heat-wise, like insulating the
>> basement if you have one.. but maybe that's more a North-East thing
>> <grin>. But anyway, in time you may notice places like that which you
>> can cover with plastic, stuff more insulation in, etc. etc. to help
>> keep things warm.

> No basement. It has a crawl space. The floor of the house is insulated,
> but in a couple of areas, the insulation needs to be put back up where
> it is dangling. There are wire braces made for that purpose and they are
> inexpensive.

Yes, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about as you know.

> The crawl space has plastic on the ground, but it has large
> gaps. It reduces the moisture under the house though. The inspector said
> the foundation vents should be open in the spring and fall and shut in
> the summer and winter. That is something I will have to keep up with.

I understand that one.  Over here Ron had to clean the gutters with all the
leaves potentially backing up water later.. A yearly job :)

> Also, the water pipes run under the house. They are currently
> uninsulated. That will be remedied very quickly. I hate wasting energy
> heating water that then cools off before it reaches the point where it
> is needed. Since the pipe insulation is closed-cell foam, all I need to
> do is use the seam to put it over the pipes in place and then tape the
> seam closed. It may take an hour or so to do all the hot and cold water
> pipes. I'll also be sure to put foam covers over the outside faucets
> before the weather gets too cold. All those should help save energy and
> prevent the pipes from freezing if it gets really cold.

That's great, and something we also did in Windsor and in our first house in
Warwick.  I don't remember now noticing the state of the water pipes in this
house in Ithaca, but I'd bet Ron checked.  We know how much $$ we've saved over
the years by preparing a house for winter.

>> Yes, we used a few of them in our house in Windsor in our bedroom
>> downstairs. That room was not heated, but when we bought the house the
>> owner kind of said the gas-fireplace was used to heat the room... kind
>> of.. What we didn't realize is what that fireplace was like to use as
>> a heat source :(  It was really meant to be just a decorative thing if
>> you know what I mean.  Anyway, what we did in winter was to cover the
>> walls with insulation, and we used 2 of those oil-filled heaters.
>> That mostly worked in that room.  :)

> Fireplaces are the most inefficient way to heat a house. Most of the
> heat goes up the chimney.

Yes... very true.  With these decorative gas-fireplaces it's worse.  They are
pretty when you want a mood in a room, but not good for much else :(

> One of the nicest wood-burning stoves though was the Kachelofen type I
> saw in Germany. Once the masonry tiles get heated up, they radiate a
> very pleasant heat. It is nice to sit on one and lean up against it. The
> warmth soaks right through, especially when one comes in cold and wet.

I never noticed the type of wood stove my daughter uses in her house, but it
does heat the whole house and is used of course along with the gas furnace.
Last year her major Christmas gift was a cord of seasoned wood that she stored
in her garage. :)


>> This sounds like a great recipe.  I may give it a try tomorrow.  I
>> have an abundance of yogurt I made recently so the timing is good.
>> I've never made kefir before - I should try it with your variation
>> using kefir :)

> Do you have a source for Kefir grains? I have some frozen that I could
> try to send you. If I can insulate them well enough, they should still
> be frozen and dormant when they arrive.

Thank you very much for the offer, Stephen, I appreciate it :)  I've checked
and yes, I can get them here in Ithaca at the GreenStar health-foods store.

> It is a process to get them
> going, but once going, they produce quite well. Ours are all frozen
> until after we move. I am going to use most of the remaining Kefir from
> the last batches. I did not get to make the Bazlama today. It will have
> to wait a day or two now.

I was asked to make pumpkin bread yesterday so I'm going to this recipe later
today  with the yogurt I have :)

>> I made some butter with my kitchenaid mixer the other day.  I was out
>> of butter and had about 2 cups of heavy cream in the 'fridge.  It
>> worked great which I was glad to see :)  Once I drained the liquid
>> from the butter mass I had Buttmilk - not a ton but enough to add to
>> the phoney-buttermilk I usually make up for this recipe:

> Ruth used to do this when we were able to get raw milk from a family
> that had a cow. We still have the butter paddle

I used the wire whisk with my kitchenaid - I've never seen the butter paddle.
Is this something else you used to make the butter, or another kitchenaid
attachment?  I just let the whipped cream continue to the butter phase (grin).
I was making a lot of ice cream this summer with one of my 'toys' (a Krupps 1
quart ice cream maker) so I'd been buying organic heavy cream recently.

>> For the buttermilk I usually just use two cups of whole milk with two
>> tablespoons of white vinegar stirred into it.  I let it sit for about
>> 5 minutes or so before I use it.

> Mom would always do something similar for pie dough pastry.

It works well for any recipes that call for buttermilk.

> I prepared a small sugar pumpkin and today, Ruth made me a pumpkin pie.
> There is enough left over that I am thinking of asking her to do this
> one, only substituting whole wheat pastry flour for the unbleached
> flour:

> MMMMM----- Meal-Master (tm) export from Gourmet Recipe Manager

> Title: Pumpkin Oat Muffins
> Categories: Breakfasts, Breads, Quickbreads
> Yield: 12

> 1 c Unbleached flour, sifted
> 1 t Pumpkin pie spice
> 1/2 t Salt
> 1/2 c Brown sugar, packed
> 1/4 c Milk
> 1 c Quick-cooking oats

Looks like a nice recipe.  I only buy groats from honeyville grains.. at least
with my grain mill, I then only get 'one' size flake with my grain mill.. I
wonder if those type oat flakes might work better than quick oats with a
heavier pastry flour like whole wheat pastry flour?  It is a very fine flour
though, I've used it before.

This is the pumpkin bread recipe I have used here for years and years.  It is
more a cake than a bread, but it's great... and it's large enough to actually
last a few days Lol

===Pumpkin Bread===
Preheat oven to 350F

1 cup vegetable oil (I use olive oil) 3 large eggs
2 7/8 cups sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin, or fresh cooked pumpkin, pureed 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup roughly chopped raisins

Beat the eggs and the oil until well mixed in a large bowl. Beat in the sugar. 
Stir in the pumpkin.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, cloves,
nutmeg and baking powder, and salt.  Mix well until combined. Add the flour
mixture to the pumpkin, sugar and oil mixture all at once, and beat slightly to
combine all ingredients.  Don't overbeat!

Stir in the walnuts and raisins.  Grease and flour a large 10" tube pan with
removable rim.  Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350F for 1 hour and
15-20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
===

Take care,
Janis

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