Text 18214, 131 rader
Skriven 2014-10-18 21:44:45 av Stephen Haffly (1:396/45.27)
  Kommentar till text 18185 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
Ärende: heat (was peppers)
==========================
Hi Janis,

On (17 Oct 14) Janis Kracht wrote to Stephen Haffly...

 JK> Yes, I know what you mean - the heat is so much more even with
 JK> radiators. When we rented various places, we'd run into forced-air
 JK> systems.. They were warm when the heat was on, then poof.. it felt to
 JK> me like the warmth was gone
 JK> :(

Exactly!

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Mom would always do something similar for pie dough pastry.

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
      1   Crumb topping
      2 t Baking powder
    1/4 t Baking soda
    3/4 c Canned, mashed, pumpkin
      1   Large egg, slightly beaten
    1/4 c Vegetable oil
    1/2 c Raisins

  Sift together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and
  salt; set aside. Combint pumpkin, brown sugar, egg, milk, oil, oats
  and raisins in bowl; blend well.  Add dry ingredients all at once,
  stirring just enough to moisten.  Spoon batter into grease 3-inch
  muffin-pan cups, filling 2/3rds full.  Sprinkle with crumb topping.
  Bake in 400 degree F. oven 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
  Serve hot with homemade jelly or jam. CRUMB
   TOPPING: Combine 1/2 c brown sugar (packed), 1 T unbleached flour,
  1/4 t pumpkin pie spice and 2 T butter or regular margarine in bowl.
  Mix until crumbly.


MMMMM


Regards,

Stephen
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