The Nose Knows

We've been pretty balmy here lately, as in down right "Florida" warm.  Yesterday late, we had a pretty strong storm front move through.  As I pulled into the driveway my headlights showed lots of birch branches decorating the big green truck for Christmas.

The wind has calmed down this morning and as I was out walking the dogs, I wondered how the apple tree leaves have fared.  You see all our leaves are down, all except the apple trees.  Believe it or not they're still green and hanging on.  When I got back to the house I went out back expecting them to be down or at least diminished.

Nope.  Still there.  I keep waiting on these to fall so I can prune the trees.  I have a general rule about new trees.  I pretty much pamper them the year I plant them.  The second year I leave them alone for the most part but I watch and intervene only if things are particularly dry.  This year I tossed a few buckets of water on them during a long stretch of no rain and high heat.  I want those roots to get established first.  I never prune a tree until the 3rd year.  By that time I feel the tree is pretty strong and I can start shaping the tree up.  I've never pruned a fruit tree before.  I expect I can find advice on "how to" on YouTube, but if there's any apple tree growing advice out there, toss it my way. 

So since the apples STILL have their leaves I'll be putting this task off a bit longer.

I went back into the house, still thinking of apples and thought I'd better check the boxes of fresh apples that are stored in the garage.  I'd been out there the other day and thought I was catching a whiff of apple.  Since we've been so warm lately, I knew there was a pretty good chance of rot.

I poked around a bit.  The Pink Lady's are firm and holding up very well.  So are the Granny Smiths.

The Honey Crisps are getting soft though and as I was making a mental note to make applesauce this weekend with them, I found it.

The one rotten apple in the box.  Several getting soft.  But overall I'm very happy with how these "fresh" apples are holding up.  They've been stored for 2 months now.  So I'll be curious to see how they last heading into next year.

I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend.   Mmm...Applesauce and apple pie.  Yum

Bring It On

November already.

Hard frosts and holidays.

Apple pies and antacids.  

While I'm no "prepper" I have been "preparing" and the house is positively STUFFED with good things.  SM was in Hendersonville NC last week and called me at work to ask if I wanted more apples as he was driving by plenty of orchards.  "Hell, Yeah!"  Straight from the farmer and packed into my storage boxes in our garage.  We added Granny Smiths and Pink Lady's to the Honey Crisps we'd already bought.

My upright freezer is stuffed with fruits and veggies from the summer.

We've been opening some of the canned salsas and tomatoes that I put up.  A pop of the lid, a quick sniff and we're in love.  This is the reward that I'd hoped for.  Homemade goodness in a jar.  I must admit that in my more fearful moments I was concerned that this canning thing wouldn't work and I'd kill both of us with my newbie efforts.  So far so good.

Very Good!
 

Storing Eating Apples

We don't have a basement or root cellar here.  The best I can do is store potatoes, onions and apples out in the garage.  That's assuming of course that the weather has turned cool enough that things won't rot.  If it's still warm, into the fridge they go.

Last year I was curious about how to store eating apples.  (You can only keep them in a fridge so long and the lack of humidity wrinkles the skins up.  Yuck.)  I'd read that you could wrap them individually in newspaper.  The trick was to not let the apples touch each other.  Has anyone tried this technique?  

Since I don't have newspapers laying around I used old bath towels instead.  It worked pretty well last year, so I thought I'd do it the same way this year.  I'd kept some of the sturdier boxes for this purpose.  I took an empty box and laid a towel inside it.  I went through my bushel of apples separating the pristine from the bruised and skin damaged ones.  I was basically "grading" the apples into "use first / use last".

The best apples were put on the bottom keeping enough room between them so they wouldn't touch.  Toss the towel on top of that row and layer them as you go.  Easy.

The towels also helped prevent the apples from freezing.  I keep them in the garage but beside the door that enters into the house.  Last year they kept this way well into December.  Nice and crisp.  Not sure how well they would have stored into January or later as we had simply eaten them up by that time.


Still, I thought I'd toss this out there.  This worked well for me.  Do any of you store fresh eating apples?  How do you do it?

A Jarring Reality

When I started canning this year, I'd bought a bunch of jars from Walmart when they were on sale.  Easy-Peasy.

A few months ago SM was given a TON of free jars from a fellow whose elderly Mother had passed away.  I've been slowly going through her jars.  Many of them are hazy.  Does that matter?  And I noticed with my last batch that I ran through the dishwasher for prep that they still weren't coming up clean.  Little flecks of crud inside and out.  (Understandable considering that none of us will see so good close up as we get older.) 

Anyway, logic always says that if you get a hand-me-down item, expect to need to spiff it up at bit before use.  

  

This appears to be rust.  (Looks like somebody left her rings on.)  A good hand washing wasn't even removing it so I pulled out the "big guns".  

I've reviewed these "magic erasers" before and I'll shout it from the highest roof top.  "These things ROCK!"  Any kind of stubborn stain, mark, grit or crud, pulls right up with a swipe or two of the magic eraser.


I can't even begin to imagine life with my messy stove top without them.  

Truly a miracle of the 21st century.

Saucy Girl

If someone had asked me last year what was the reason why I wanted to learn to can, I'd have told them "Applesauce."  I've frozen it, but I've never canned it and it's IMHO that canned applesauce rocks.

 

Since starting out this year as a novice to the canning world, I've canned peaches, jams, pickles, salsas and tomatoes.  Pretty basic stuff.  Cutting my teeth on all of that has been, not only fun, but also pretty demanding.  A new learning curve. Canning is to freezing, like cooking is to baking.  You can be a great cook but a lousy baker.  Since freezing is about protection, it's simple enough.  Canning...as you all have pointed out...has rules.  Do NOT break the rules.

But applesauce is why I'm here.  The gold star.  The crowning jewel.  

So imagine my surprise that the Ball Blue Book's recipe for applesauce is as simple as can be.  It's almost as though they're shrugging their shoulders.  "Do what you want."  All you need are apples, sweeten it to taste (or not) and add seasoning if you want it.  It seems that the only "rule" out there is to have the applesauce boiling when you ladle it into the hot jars.

Whoo Hoo!  (*You see I was nervous thinking that in order to get my applesauce the way I like it, I'd have to freeze it.  If I wanted it canned, I'd have to follow their recipe.)

So that's what I've spent this morning doing.  Two batches of chunky cinnamon applesauce under my belt.  13 jars total.  And I still have a case of apples left to do.


I started out mixing Cortland's with my beloved Mac's.  Mac's are so soft, I like to toss in a firmer, tarter apple so I can get a chunkier sauce.

I like to use lemon juice (with water), brown sugar and Saigon Cinnamon.  I buy this cinnamon at Sam's Club.  Boy, is this good stuff!  Taste testing as I went along, my morning zipped by quick!


So I've got a head start on the "saucing season" this weekend with 2 months to go.  Last year I ran out in January :( so I plan on putting up lots of jars of applesauce.  

I'd also like to put up some applesauce using Splenda brown sugar for SM (diabetic).  Has anyone canned applesauce with Splenda before?  I'm concerned about the taste.  I'd rather freeze the Splenda applesauce (like I did last year) than ruin it by canning.


The house smells SO good right now that SM asked for some pancakes (with fresh cinnamon applesauce on top!)

  


Better than IHOP, I can tell you that!

Why Mac's?

I love most apples.  My current favorite is Pink Lady.  This is a great tart-sweet CRISP eating apple.  But they don't come in until October.  And they don't sauce well at all.  Strictly an eating apple, IMHO.


And I LOVE applesauce.

So whats an apple lover to do?  Buy MacIntosh.  Why Mac's?  It's a childhood thing I guess.  I grew up in Ohio and my Dad and I would drive over to a local orchard and buy cider and apple butter and fresh apples of course.  My favorites were the Mac's.  Hands down.



It wasn't until I became an adult "cook" that I learned the best way to eat a Mac.  You sauce it.  There is something about the flavor of MacIntosh Applesauce.  I'll often add Granny Smith's to the mix as I like a chunky applesause and the Granny's hold up a bit better.

So the past few weeks I've been watching the websites of a few orchards up and around Hendersonville.  (*We went to the Hendersonville Apple festival last year.  What a dud.  Not what I was hoping for at all...but I digress.)  The websites have a listing of what they're picking now and what's coming up soon, so I knew that the Macs were in.  The question was did I want to drive 3 hours and use up all that gas just to pick apples?

"Lets try the Farmers Market first."  I suggested.  So when we went the other day, I had my eyes peeled for apples.  Only 4 vendor's had any.  Just a few varities available.  And the prices!?!  Early bird gets screwed!  Last year I paid $15 for a case of apples.  This year?  $22 dollars.

"Why so much?"  I asked.  

"It's early in the season and there's just not a lot out right now." was the reply.


So I took what I could get and paid $12 for the only Mac's in town.  (Mine.  Go away, you can't have my Mac's.)  When I got home I weighed them on the scale.  $18 pounds for $12 dollars equals $0.66 cents a pound.  Again, buying in bulk saves.  (All the apples we saw were priced at 0.99 cents a pound.)  So I saved $6 dollars.  (It's the little things that make me happy..&;)

Do you have a favorite saucing apple?  Eating apple?  Last year was my introduction to Pink Ladies, so I just know there has to be more tasty apples out there that I've not discovered.

A Plethora of Peppers

A few days ago I bought a case of Green Peppers at the Farmers Market.  "What's up with that?" you might ask.  Well, just about everything I cook that has the "Holy Trinity" of carrots, onions and celery always gets a bit of green pepper tossed in too.  

Some people love garlic, I love Green Peppers.  Not raw though...only in a cooked dish.


Now, I planted 20 some-odd bell pepper plants this year.  I did harvest some, but not nearly enough that I'd hoped for.  If there's secret to growing bell peppers, I'm bound and determined to figure it out.  Next year we'll find a shadier spot, in the ground (not a raised bed), plant them tight and deep and keep some shade cloth handy to combat our extreme heat.

Last winter, bell peppers were selling for up to $2 each and I remember saying to SM that I planned on going into THIS winter with a good supply of frozen peppers.

The price has come down with availability during the summer but I hadn't seen the price of peppers below a dollar, (either at the FM or at the grocery) until the other day.

On Saturday, SM and I saw signs for 50 cents each at the FM and these peppers were HUGE.  And they smelled wonderful.  "You're going to get some right?"  SM asked.  "You bet I am!"

As SM wandered off in search of other good things, his wife was working the deal.  "How much for a case?"  I asked the vendor.  A thoughtful look on her face she said "$22 dollars".  So I went ahead and jumped.

I hauled my booty out to the main aisleway and patiently waited for SM to return.  He comes wandering up and his eyes pop open.  "A whole case?"  

"Yep!  I'm freezing them."  I replied.


"Well, that's a year worth of peppers for sure..."

So that's what I did.  And guess what?  There were 63 HUGE peppers in that case.  Do the math and that's .35 cents a pepper.


When was the last time your bought a fresh green pepper for .35 cents?

I cut 2 gallon bags of strips.  

2 gallon bags of "rough chop" and I also used the food processor to "fine chop" 6 - 1 cup bags for soups.  (When I make soups I make a HUGE pot.)

 I also roasted some and stuck those in the freezer too.

SM wants some stuffed green peppers BIG TIME so I kept back about 6 peppers for that and for fresh roasting and eating over the next few weeks.

This is one of those times that buying in bulk really pays off!  As long as you can store it safely (and use it) than it's a great deal.
 

Reduced For Quick Sale

I like to go shopping first thing in the morning.  Not only to avoid the crowds but also because that's when the stores mark down any meat that's about to hit it's expiration date.  It's a nice way to save a few extra bucks.

SM eats more meat than I do but we've both noticed that (as we've gotten older) our tummies seem to like a lower fat meat like chicken and turkey.  We do still eat pork, ham and beef...just not as much.

I'm always on the look out for "reduced" meats but haven't had much luck over the past few months.  Either the stores haven't had them up or (most likely) someone's beat me to the punch.  Last week and today, I've managed to hit some good deals.  Last week I got some pork chops and sausages for a few bucks off.  This week, at Sam's, I found 2 packages of hamburger discounted by about $2.50 each.

Believe it or not, this much hamburger (about 10 lbs) will probably last us 6 months.  I see Meatloaf, Chili and Spaghetti with meatballs in these packages.

I never used freezer paper before this year.  If I bought meat, we'd usually just cook it and eat it the day it was purchased.  If I did freeze meat I usually just wrapped it up in a Ziploc freezer bag.  Since we've purchased the upright freezer, I can now buy meat in bulk and so I need to store it properly.


*Slight side note here...As I was driving to and from the store I saw many homes that are up for sale that have a "Reduced" or "New Lower Price" on the signage.  

Boy, do I feel their pain.  I hope never to be in their shoes, but I have to acknowledge that the possibility exists.  

I saw that for a 15 year fixed rate loan... fixed!!!!... is now being offered at 3.50%.  Wow!  SM and I re-fi'd over a year ago at 4.25% and we thought it couldn't go much lower then. 


Amazing times we're living in isn't it?

Sunday Buffet

*Sunday Buffet is my smorgasbord of random thoughts and observations.

 Today started out with canning my last big batch of tomatoes.

The Brandywines and German Red Strawberry's were (and still are) the heavy hitters this year.  The Abe Lincolns, Old Virginia and Tropic VFN did well enough that I'll plant them again.  The Mortgage Lifters were a shocking disappointment.  Maybe 2-3 tomatoes per plant.  

We're only picking 4-5 tomatoes now, not the huge baskets that I was picking daily for a few weeks there.  The garden isn't putting out all that much right now except for the Matt's WC.  The green and Lima beans are still developing.  I still get a random cucumber and summer squash from time to time.

I'm watching the winter squash closely too.  About once a week I harvest a squash or two.  I still haven't processed them yet and they seem fine sitting on my counter taking up space.  If they hang in there until the weather breaks, I'll store them out in the garage.  We'll see what happens.  The pumpkins are putting out male flowers right now.  Not a lot of vining.  I might get "skunked" this year on pumpkins.  (Thanks SVB's!)


With the garden on the down slide my thoughts are turning to fall.  What to plant?  What to buy?

The broccoli seeds germinated and I pulled out the grow light for them.

I've never had much luck with broccoli started from seed.  I direct sowed last year and got zip.  They take FOREVER, so these are seeds left over from last year.  (If they don't make it, who cares.)  Last year I bought broccoli and cauliflower from the nursery and planted them way too late in the year to get any harvest.  I didn't have a hoop house built, so they got zapped early on.  (BTW...The carrot seed mats are STILL in the house.  102 degrees tomorrow.  It just seems pointless.  So I'll wait a little longer.)


One of my goals this year is to work on extending the season.  We thought we'd create hoop houses over the raised beds.  Now I'm starting to think if I'm going to go through the bother making those, that I might just want to "suck it up" and get a greenhouse built.  

My preference would be one that I could leave the frame permanently around the beds and just disassemble the rest of the panels when the nice weather hits.  Keep in mind that there's really only 4-5 months that I'd need protection.  November through March.  I haven't done ANY research on this at all, so if anyone has a suggestion, toss it my way.

SM and I tackled the Annual Reorganization of the Garage later this morning.  By noon it was 93 with 101 heat index.  (Why'd we decide today was the day to work on this I'll never know.)  SM remarked that Kiki had found a nook to take his kills.  Fur and feathers all over the place but he must have eaten everything cause there was no smell or carcass remains.  Bleach to the rescue there.  (He still gets around for a 13 year old cat.)

SM also worked on cleaning out the gutters...(nice view!)


With thoughts of fall dancing in my head, I figured I'd better take a few minutes to consider my food pantry.  I had canning jars full of goodies shoved everywhere, so I tried to cluster them together a bit more.  

I also went through the dry goods and tossed a few crackers and cereals that SM didn't Ziploc so they got stale.  

"How'd ya know it was me that didn't seal em up?"  

"Ummm, Gluten Free here!  You know I don't eat that stuff!"


With the pantry and cupboards a bit more organized my thoughts are now turning to stocking up a bit more.  (Inflation coming you know....) 

I've been so busy with the preservation of fresh foods that I haven't been keeping my eye on the prices at the stores.  We spent $300 Saturday and I swear there wasn't enough items to clutter my counter tops.  Granted, there was a lot of items like bulk T-paper (should last 4-5 months) but it was $20 for the pack!  The multivitamins and fish oil capsules we take were around $18 each.  We probably spent half our money on non-food items alone!  Dog food went up $5 since last month (Was $28, now $33 and we buy the Sam's Club brand).


I really need to take advantage of this garden lull and tackle stocking up.  (Ouch!  The checking account is about to take a hit.)

The "Pits"

Last week SM had a gout flare.  He manages avoiding gout through exercise and diet but usually will have a flare or two a year when the seasons change.  SM drinks a cocktail of apple cider vinegar, honey and water.  He also finds that eating cherries helps.  I noticed Bing cherries last week at the store and picked some up "on sale" for 3.99 a pound.

The circulars this week were advertising Bing cherries and I noticed one store (that I never shop) had them for $2.77 a pound.  I told SM today that I wanted to buy some up for fresh eating and also to freeze.

We stopped by the store and walked in to find those advertised cherries offered at $1.99 a pound.

SCORE!

So I bought 12 pounds.  Now that's a lot of cherries.

I sat down and started pitting by hand with a knife.  After 3 pounds, my hands were purple and cramping up.  I mentioned to SM that today just might be the day to buy a cherry pitter.

SM looked them up on the Internet...none made me happy.  And then SM found this video on You Tube on how to make a homemade cherry pitter

So I grabbed an old fork and SM bent it down for me.

Here he is trying it out.  

The video suggests to go in from the bottom, but SM found (after a learning curve) that it's way easier to pull the stem off and go in from the top.  He's SO enthused by his new creation that he's been standing there pitting cherries the whole time I've been typing up this post.  (And I'm not a fast typer.)

Ssh.  I might sneak off and go take a nap now.  All this food preservation is hard work.   (BIG grin  @:)

Perhaps I Should Be Canning

I mentioned a few posts ago that SM went out and bought us a much needed upright, frost-free freezer.  I was very excited to start filling it up with what food items I could buy or grow and watch my food storage pantry start to take shape.

Say "Hello" to my new freezer!

Say "Goodbye" to my new freezer!  It's a lemon!  We took delivery on it Tuesday the 8th.  We plugged it in, leveled it and let it be for a day or two.  I went out and transferred frozen goodies to it. 

Three days later I went out to get some strawberries (gotta eat em up) and opened the door.  No lights on.  Food was still frozen (thankfully) but the sucker up and died on us.  Didn't even last a week!  We checked the fuses, the outlet.  All good.  We got a lemon.

Do we swap it out for another of the same model?  Heck no. 

SM went a bought a freezer that is as simple as possible.  Meaning this little guy will need to be defrosted. 

It's either on or it's off. 

It has a dial instead of a digital readout.  It has a light at it's base that tells me it's getting juice.

This whole episode had us reconsidering if we really even wanted to go the freezer route.  Perhaps our money would be better invested in canning supplies?

Trouble is, I like frozen meats and vegetables.  Canned meats and veggies just don't do it for me.  Fruits on the other hand, I like canned.  Pears and peaches and jams are best out of a jar.  Applesauce is good either way, frozen or canned.  So is soup.

Funny...it's all about taste and texture when it comes to food storage.  To each his own I guess.  I've read posts on canned meat...I just can't see it for us.

So.  I plan on letting this puppy sit for a day or two and then I'll transfer my frozen goods over. 

Hopefully, we're done with lemons for awhile.

A Little Light Reading

With SM gone this weekend, my time is best spent doing the little things.  In other words...I'm the brains, he's the brawn.

I am mostly a wimp, physically speaking I mean.  Not much upper body strength.  Never had it, never will.  Oh...I can muscle around a lot of stuff but it's like asking a Shetland pony to plow the field.  Why bother when you've got the big ol' draft horse hanging out looking at you with his big ole brown eyes.  It's a "snap" for him.

So when it comes to making raised beds and hauling around dirt, I like to have me a big strong handsome man around to help with the heavy lifting.  If he can't be around...Well, that just means I get to do more of a "cerebral heavy lifting".

"Whenever I give you to much time to think about things, it always means more work for me!"  SM has noted this countless times.  (Sorry Honey!)

I just picked up 2 new books yesterday. These have been on my "hit list" for awhile now and I thought I'd best get moving in the "Education of Tami" department.

John Jeavons How to Grow More Vegetables* (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine

I found out about this book from Mr H and his video link to Marjorie Wildcraft at his blog Subsistence Pattern 

The video didn't really offer up all that much new information for me...(I'm already sold on the idea of the "Homesteading" idea).  When Marjorie suggested this book as the "Bible" for beginning gardeners, I took note.  Hey, I need all the help I can get.  Why do you think I'm pestering all of YOUR blogs.  (grin)

And if I'm going to do more than "fresh eating" than I'd better learn how to preserve all this goodness.  So I went ahead and also bought Putting Food By (5th Edition)

Last week I also got my catalog from Gardens Alive  They have a really good catalog.  I don't have a "pest and disease" reference guide yet but this has a nice section on it.  It's a keeper until I have this stuff down pat.

Have any of you used their products? Lots of preventative products and fertilizer options.  They even offer a soil sampling service called Perfect Balance where they custom make fertilizer based on your soils deficiencies.  Intriguing.  But very expensive.  Holy Cow!

(*Well, maybe if I had a "holy cow" I'd have me some "holy manure" and this might not be a topic of conversation.)

Last but not least I thought I'd annoy ya'll a bit more.  It's supposed to be 81 degress here today and tomorrow.  I ants are marching across my floor (always a sure sign of Spring) and the dogs are doing the "puppy run" thing. 

Yep, it's Spring!

Thoughts on food...

I married Mr Variety.

Or should I say Mr Buffet?

SM is a foodie.  He's not alone...they're everywhere.

(Wikipedia defines "foodie.")

** Although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news.**

Foodies think about food all the time.  In my experience, they demand a variety of taste sensations, different textures, smells and visual appeal. 

In a perfect world, SM would eat at a buffet line every day.

SM does not cook.  (He doesn't have the "cooking gene".)

I have the "cooking gene".  I enjoy cooking, but alas...I am not a foodie.  I can eat the same food day in and day out.  "Boring".  Oh, I get the random craving from time to time but I usually ask SM to make the call on what he wants to eat when it's time for dinner.

Fortunately, SM likes my cooking.  Actually, he says I'm a pretty good cook (as evidenced by our expanding waist lines.) 

Like alot of you, we carefully consider our food purchases.  A few years ago, I created a purchasing list of all the common foodstuffs that I buy and spent several hours comparison shopping 4 different grocery stores that I frequent.

No big shocker here.  Walmart and Sams Club have the best prices.  I still eyeball the "loss-leaders" at the other stores and sometimes buy from them, but the majority of our purchases come from WM & SC and Trader Joes.

For those of you who don't know Trader Joe's, they are a very reasonably priced, (mostly organic) alternative to the traditional grocery store. We had a Trader Joes open in our area a few years ago and feel very fortunate to have them as an option.

(I'm also interested in Whole Foods but they're not in our area yet.)

The idea of stockpiling is not new to me.  Everyone recalls Y2K, and yes, I stockpiled more than a little bit of food in preparation of potential insanity on the streets. 

(I endured a bit of teasing from SM during that time.  He's actually coming around to my way of thinking.)

We've lived in NC for 12 yrs and know how the locals can create a "run" at the stores for "bread and milk".  That's the big joke around here in the winter.  "Snow is forecast!!!  Run, get your bread and milk!" 

We laughed the first time we experienced this phenomenon.  But really...there's a pretty good reason behind it.  Hugo.  Ask anyone who lived here during that time and they'll tell you how Hugo decimated the area and impacted daily life.  No electricity, food rotted.  Trees were down so travel was limited.  People relied on each other.  Meat stored in freezers became huge neighborhood barbecues. 

When we moved into this house, the previous owner left his fridge.  We moved it into the garage and used it mostly for cold drinks (yes, beer).  I then started using the freezer as a back-up storage unit for my main refrigerator.  Buying in bulk or when items are on sale is great for the budget but storage is a pain.

This past winter I noticed that the freezer section wasn't keeping things as cold as it should.  I ended up tossing some things as I was concerned about food safety.

I've spent some time considering food storage as I do feel inflation (even hyperinflation) is around the corner.  I plan on more aggressive bulk purchases.  Dollar cost averaging.

We're considering buying bulk beef and chicken from a local farmer (organic...  SM doing his research again.)  I'd also like to think I might have excess vegetables from the garden this year, but I really have no idea of my potential yield.  I feel this years garden is more for fresh eating and we discussed expanding it based on what we achieve this year.

We've discussed canning vs freezing.  Both our families canned food but eventually moved to chest freezers with ziplock bags or vacuum packed storage bags.  For now, we'll be freezing.  (I may get back into canning next year.)

So we will be buying another refrigerator. 

Since SM is a "foodie" alot of his taste variety comes from condiments.  4 different salsas, 3 different barbecue sauces, 5 different salad dressings...the list goes on and on.  I need the extra storage space.  So another expense, but a necessary one if we plan on saving money in the long run.

Spend money to save money.  Ain't it the truth.