The Best & Worst Cutting Boards

 

Are you using the right cutting board? You might be surprised. Check out my new site to find out.

 https://easylivingthehardway.wordpress.com/

Cutting Celery or Lovage For Me

https://easylivingthehardway.wordpress.com/

   Since stalk celery and celeriac are a no grow in my garden, I'm looking to cutting celery and lovage to fill in. To read more go to my new blog site at word press.

Udderly Empty

 

Something that is rarely talked about in the online goat world is an empty udder. All the chatter is about how full it is but in actuality how empty it is before filling helps determine how much milk a doe produces. Want to learn more? Join me at my new blog site--

https://easylivingthehardway.wordpress.com/2018/03/15/udderly-empty-is-what-you-are-looking-for/

To Milk Out Partially or Fully?

To milk or not to milk when a goat is nursing babies seems to be the question on Facebook goat sites of late. The answers I saw given were simplistic but one can not say definitively one way or another until several factors are first considered. Read more at my new site:
  https://easylivingthehardway.wordpress.com/

Making Vinegar

I've moved but that does not mean you have to miss out. Join me in all my experiments at https://easylivingthehardway.wordpress.com/ I'm making vinegar now. Come see what I've learned so far.

Changing to Word Press

No time like the present I guess so though the site is not fully up and running, I wrote my first post in Word Press. Livestock's Temperament Determines Economic Success and here is the link. https://easylivingthehardway.wordpress.com/2018/02/26/livestocks-temperament-determines-economic-success/
I knew temperament makes a huge difference whether or not a ranch or Hobby Farm was an economic success but it wasn't until I did the research and listed the reasons that it fully hit home. It might surprise you too. A post later in the week on my Word Press site will go into how temperament affects the quality of the meat. So check out the new site.

It is not all up and running yet but the most important part is -- the post section. 
I hope you like the changes to my writing. Let me know what you would like to see and learn about. I'll see what I can do.

Now the first post is about Swiss Chard. Someday I'll get this Word Press figured out. 

Knife Storage

 

Ignore the nails in the picture. My husband hung the boards before removing them.

 

My lovely set of Christmas knives sat on the counter for a week and a half in there boxes as I pondered about the best way to store them. I have several different gadgets to do so but none seemed right for this expensive set. I definitely did not want to do it wrong as I'll never get another set like these in my lifetime. "As my dad says, do it right or don't do it at all." He was not talking about perfection just correct. So I pondered and researched.

My concerns were:

• The best way to store a knife and not dull it in the process.
• A way to store knives that does not scratch them up.
• How to keep them sanitary. 
• How to keep them dry.
• Safety for me.

THE ABSOLUTE WORST WAY TO STORE KNIVES IS IN A PILE IN THE DRAWER. Not only is it not safe because you reach in and can get cut by the other knives but the klink against each other dulls their edges and nicking the handles. 

 I have this drawer model of knife storage that I've loved. The only problem is if I shut the drawer too hard. The knives shift out of their slots and jam the drawer shut. It's a real joy to get out of that mess. I'm being sarcastic of course. But this has been my favorite storage method except.

• The knives can shift and lock the drawer shut.
• The knives are stored with the blade edge down which dulls the edge slightly each time as you slide the knife in and out.  
• It scratches up the knives a little.

This was not going to work for the new knives.

Kirk gave me a brand new knife block but it has some of the same problems. This open design is better as there is less friction against the knives and is not enclosed so a thorough cleaning can be done which is good but I just don't like the way the knives flop a bit in place so this option is out.

 

My mind began to wonder if a magnetic strip might be the best option but my old one scratches knives. That is when I began wondering if they did not have one with the wood on the outside and magnets on the inside. They do!!!

What I found was a well crafted knife magnetic board by Kurouto.

 The magnets are strong as you can see by how many knives the 12 inch boards holds. The only draw back is there is not a variety of sizes of boards. The boards are well crafted and the wood is beautiful so it makes up for it.

• They hold the knives conveniently and safely.
• The wood boards can be easily cleaned and are fastened with the key hole method so can be remove quickly from the wall if need be. 
• They don't dull the knifes edge in storage.
• They are pleasing to the eye.
• They keep the knives dry. If I don't dry them well enough, they will air dry. 

Now I need to order food grade oil suited for knife handles and for the knife boards.

Is It Safe to Reuse Egg Cartons?

Should you reuse egg cartons from the store? Are they safe? I'll admit, I've accepted cartons from well-meaning friends and neighbors and stored my own farm fresh eggs in them. But there is this nagging feeling that makes me question - "Is it safe?" Especially as I sort through the containers to try and find ones that are not stained from dripping eggs whites passing across them to the fry pan. Or from broken eggs shells once stored inside. Most times this pickiness leaves me with a bag full of fire starter instead of storage containers.

So when our daughter found hard plastic egg cartons, and on sale too, I jumped at the opportunity to leave used egg cartons behind.

Then comfortable with my decision, I did some research on just what a risk I had been taking. What I found scared me.  

·       Salmonella is one such bacterium and it can remain alive for weeks lurking in a used egg carton.  

·       You can be a salmonella carrier without symptoms and pass the disease on to others.  

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that 79,000 cases of foodborne illness and 30 deaths each year are caused by eating eggs contaminated with Salmonella.

•  For this reason Israel Health Ministry issued a ban on used cardboard egg cartons for arts and crafts in their schools and day cares.

Thinking twice yet?

So what about Styrofoam egg cartons? I saw that some on the internet felt they were safe to reuse because they were sterilizing them. But is that enough? Styrofoam is porous and lightweight foam. This porosity helps maintain heat and cold but it also is perfect for harboring bacteria.

Apparently if Salmonella is given time to form a biofilm in the Styrofoam then sterilization is not enough. If not, then yes, you can reuse the cartons but there is no way for those of us without training and the equipment to know if sterilization is enough. The simple answer to those who would bless you with the offer of used egg cartons is, "No, thank you." or use them as a fire starter. They work great!
(Did not type this post in capital letters. And it does not show up as such in my draft. Do what is up with that. I will be switching one of these days to the new site and this should not happen.)