Merry Christmas!🎄🎅

Merry Christmas from 

The New Century Homesteader

Hot Sauce in the Raw

I have been wanting to create a hot sauce for a while now, so I finally decided that this was a good time to start. I am using jalapeno peppers that I pickled in a simple vinegar and garlic brine as a base and building from there. 

Right now, I am letting everything that I chose for my ingredients, marinate for up to a week, while I work out the next step in this creation! 

Prepping Queen Palm Berries (Step1)

Getting a lot of berries on the queen palms again, and many are beginning to ripen and fall....meaning....its time to start prepping them to make queen palm berry juice. 

Step 1- Rinse then boil/ simmer the berries for at least an hour, skimming the foam off of the top as needed. 

Turn off heat and allow berries to sit in their water for at least a few hours.

Raining Giant Green Seeds!!!

In other words, the green coconuts are falling. So far, 8 have come down with winds that we've had a few days ago. I really have to get going on retrieving the water out of them, but I always seem to get sidetracked.

It is pretty easy to do. Just drill a few holes near the "eye" area and drain into a bowl. When all are drained, I then pour the water through a coffee filter in a strainer to get all the little particles out of it, mostly bits of husk from drilling.

If I'm not going to use it all right away, I'll pour into ice trays and freeze. I'll use it later for cooking (I've used it for rice and instead of tap water in some cakes), thaw for drinks or use as.....ice cubes!  It doesn't go to waste! 

Check Out My Saving the History Blog!

Hey All......Please take a gander at my new blog "Saving the History"

Sometimes things may cross between NCH and Saving the History, just as we sometimes cross with "Throwback Kitchen"  Even when we don't, I'm sure that you'll be finding interesting pieces for your reading pleasure, as well as links to the STH podcast!

Little Sprout

Earlier in the year, I potted a golden coconut, in hopes that at some point it would sprout. Sometime within the last 2 days, it did just that! If this one does well, it will be the second coconut palm that I started from "seed".

Coconuts can take a while to sprout, and this one took over 8 months. 

I will leave it in the pot until it gets to a decent size, then transplant it into the ground. Probably sometime next year. So, watch for updates on the little sprout!

Transplanting Today

We did some transplanting today. It's my Dad's little kumquat tree that we finally took from container to their yard. Its' loaded with little fruits and blossoms.

A Simple Pickled Pepper

We got a really good deal on jalapenos last week, so I did a really simple pickle for my dad. Simply slice peppers of your choice or leave whole and make a single slice into the side of each pepper, arrange in a clean jar, then fill with white vinegar with a little water. (Sometimes we just do straight vinegar.)

Other things may be added to the pickle, such as onion, garlic, chives, red pepper flakes.....you choose! And peppers may be mixed types.

Like a sweet hot flavor, as I do? Then pickle the peppers in your favorite sweet pickle brine, for a yummy sweet with heat!

Because I only make a couple containers of these pickles at a time, and they get eaten fast, I don't go through the sealing part of the canning process. But if I do a lot of them, I will go through the entire canning process for the shelf.

Check out my newest podcast for Saving The History 
"On Another Demolition"

My Latest Book

My latest book has been released. It is the 13th in the Backyard Farming series! Available at your local bookstore or at Amazon.