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And it’s another glorious day in Upstate New York (but only for a moment; Accuweather sez that the last half of August and the first half of September is going to be nasty..just in time for the munchkins to go back to school in classrooms with no AC. Lovely). We are now in the part of the summer here where the gardens are in full ‘pick it right now before it grows legs and gallops away’ mode. So – to the news!
Want to bake this Christmas? Buy your flour NOW. Rayne beat everyone to the idea that something was going to happen to grain harvests in Europe because of the volcanic eruptions in Iceland by months, but this summer’s heatwave in Europe and Russia has damaged the wheat crops tremendously. Russia this week closed down grain exports as of August 15. Completely. While wheat was in railroad cars traveling to ports and while wheat was being loaded into ships. Nyet. Done. The price of wheat futures was already being gamed and has risen 70% since June but that’s speculators. “Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade sprinted up to the trading limit on Thursday, reaching a 23-month high of $7.85 -3/4 a bushel. This is still far from the $13.34 1/2 a bushel hit during the food shortage in 2007 and 2008.” wheat
On the other hand, the UN and other organizations estimate that there is actually plenty of wheat in stocks after two years of record harvests. “In the US, the federal government projects the largest stocks in more than two decades, about 30 million tons, more than double the estimated exports that will be lost from Russia, the world’s No. 3 exporter. US farmers, who have been increasing their acreage devoted to wheat, stand to gain from a price surge.” more wheat
FLOTUS gets her wish: “ The Senate passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act on Thursday, a bill that provides an additional $4.5 billion over 10 years to federal child nutrition programs including school lunch. If signed into law, it will be the first time that the federal government has increased funding for the programs in 30 years.”
Kids Lunch Bill
Low Carb is better for long term health: The latest test is one of the longest to compare the approaches. At the end of two years, average weight loss was the same for both — about 15 pounds or 7 percent. The key difference was in HDL, or good cholesterol: a 23 percent increase from low-carb dieting compared to a 12 percent improvement from low-fat, said Gary Foster, director of Temple University’s Center for Obesity Research and Education, who led the federally funded study.” Low Carb and Cholesterol
Research on Resveratrol Shows Promise in the Suppression of Inflammation in Humans: “Results showed that resveratrol suppressed the generation of free radicals, or reactive oxygen species, unstable molecules known to cause oxidative stress and release proinflammatory factors into the blood stream, resulting in damage to the blood vessel lining. Blood samples from persons taking resveratrol also showed suppression of the inflammatory protein tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and other similar compounds that increase inflammation in blood vessels and interfere with insulin action, causing insulin resistance and the risk of developing diabetes. “
Resveratrol Study
If you have ground beef in your freezer from a while ago, check it: “A one million pound recall of ground beef contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 associated with an outbreak in California may have come too late to do much good. Still, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is concerned that some of the meat might still be lurking in home or commercial freezers.
The ground beef from a California company was produced between Oct. 2, 2009 and Jan. 12, 2010.” Check ground beef
Pet Food Salmonella Recall: Pet Food Salmonella Outbreak
More on the Taco Bell Salmonella Outbreak in 21 States: Taco Bell
And, in excruciatingly local news – I’m up to my elbows in sliced cucumbers and onions this weekend as we try (a weak effort, but what the heck) to keep ahead of the garden this weekend by making Bread and Butter Pickles. Now, This recipe can be used with zucchinis as well, so if you’ve been ‘blessed’, go for it, even with the larger, seedier ones.
Bread and Butter Pickels (cucumber OR zucchini)
Stuff you will need: clean canning jars with lids and bands. A jar lifter and a set of tongs. Put rinsed jars into a 350 degree oven. Put the lids and bands into a pot of water and bring to a simmer and hold there.
Ingredients:
3 Onions, sliced thinly
5 lbs. Cucumber or cucumber-sized (no big honkin zuccs) zucchini, sliced thinly
½ c. coarse salt (NOT iodized)
3 c. vinegar (we like cider, but white will do)
1 ½ c. sugar
2 tsp. Turmeric
2 tsp. Celery seed
2 tsp. Mustard seed
(if you want to walk on the wild side, add 1 tsp of powdered ginger and ½ tsp of pepper)
Mix up all the sliced onions and cucumber (or zuccs) in a big bowl or pan – a big baking pan works really well for this. Sprinkle with salt and mix up thoroughly with your hands. Put in the fridge or cover in ice cubes. Let stand for 3 hours.
Drain and rinse with cold water (easiest way is to take handfuls and put into a colander and just keep rinsing and rinsing. Test a piece – if it tastes salty at all, keep rinsing until it doesn’t.
Combine remaining ingredients in the biggest pot you have – a dutch oven works really well – and bring to a boil. Add the onions and cucumbers or zucchini, simmer until they change color and are tender.
Using the jar lifter, take out a jar from the oven and put on a plate. Put in the veggies up to the shoulders of the jar and fill to within a half inch of the top with the liquid. Wipe off the top of the jar with a paper towel. Using the tongs, put on a lid and screw down the band tightly.
You can process for fifteen minutes in a boiling water bath; we don’t and have never had an issue. Check the jars lids. They should be all sucked down when the jars cool down.
9 Comments
Hi Toby,
What can I do with the 9 cucumbers my yard guy gave me from his garden. I like them, but can’t eat that many in a year of Sundays. Don’t want to make pickles, as I eat those just one or two slices at a time and store bought ones work well for slow consumption, with none of the work. Made some cucumber soup last summer, but cold soups can’t be frozen, as the thawed consistency is pretty disgusting.
Can’t even regift them, as the neighbors I know best seem to be away.
I too have been beating the cucumber bushes for ideas.
I heart tell you can give them to your girlfriends ;)
Gazpacho; it’s still summertime *G*
“On the other hand, the UN and other organizations estimate that there is actually plenty of wheat in stocks after two years of record harvests. “; what we’re seeing is the same dynamic that happened in the oil commodity market; speculation not associated with liquidity but simply greed. The GSCI is a major player in this garbage price ‘determination’.
I could eat cucumber sandwiches every day. Yuum.
Add slices of tomato and onion and it’s the best.
Actually, eCAHN – considering this recipe is for cucumbers or zucchinis, I’m thinking that anything you can use zuccs for, you can use cucs for – one of our favorite summer ‘out of the garden’ things is to combine fresh tomatoes, little zucchinis, onions, garlic and cook them down a little bit in a saucepan and serve over pasta with some ground cheese on top. Very nummy. I’m thinking that you can do the same with cucumbers, especially if they are young, not seedy and don’t have a tough skin. If the skin looks tough, I’d just peel them first. Actually, we have canned this combination up very successfully, though if I add mushrooms to it, I always pressure can it.
Cucumber bread? Zucchini bread freezes. I’ll give it a try. Gotta pick a day that’s not so hot to turn the oven on. Looks like we’re in for some hot afternoons in the next couple of days, but perhaps if I got my act together & baked in the morning, it might not be so bad.
You pics make my mouth water, Aunt Toby. And I just finished a bowl of cold blueberry-and-peach crisp for breakfast!
But I am confused about the buy-flour-now advice…. if US output is doubling, will there be scarcity or simply speculatively-driven higher prices? And are we feeding the false price rise now by actually buying our winter flour now? What’s the best way to store Xmas flour bought mid-summer?
Thanks!
Ah Teddy – perhaps this is a ‘which came first’ issue. Two years ago, we had scarcity due to crop failures in the MidWest – AND – price rises due to speculators bidding things up. So, though I feel pretty confident that grain and flour will be available, I think we are looking at price rises due to speculators. However, what about all the grain contracts that the trading companies in Russia had with other companies in other countries for delivery after August 15? What will happen to them? They will go out onto the market looking for whatever wheat they can get at whatever price they can get, for delivery when they need it. Those contracts had been settled for probably a year and NOW they have to go out. This has actually had an effect in the stock market – I read that the price of stock for Carlsberg Brewery (Denmark) and Nestle (Switzerland) have dropped a lot due to analysts’ belief that they will not be able to get the wheat they need. I am no expert in this – I am sure there are others here at our little pond who are more knowledgeable – but if I were an American grain farmer with silos full of wheat..and a good harvest on my horizon..I’d hold up my hand for these contract holders and say, “Yo! Over here! Wheat! All you want! At market price! For delivery as soon as we can get rail car service and shipping containers.”
Now, that’s an issue too, by the way. But you can bet there are American farmers (I’d say Canadian too but I have heard that the Canadian grain harvest has been harmed by flooding so perhaps they are feeling the pinch as well).
As for storage:
Whole wheat and other whole grain flours. If you have access to a freezer larger than the little one in the top of your fridge, do this: A 5# bag of flour will fit into a gallon ziplock(tm) bag. Put the flour bag into the plastic bag and close almost all the way. Put your mouth over the hole in the top that is left and suck out the air, zipping the opening closed as you do. Wa-la. Then put the bags into the freezer. Whole grains have fats and oils in them that will go rancid, so freezing is good; if you have extra room in your freezer, you can bag up the flour and put it in there also, but you might have moisture issues.
Other flours – if you have a cool spot available to you (cellars work really well for this), get a big galvanized garbage can and put a big heavy lawn and leaf bag into it, pulling the open top over the edge of the can and taping it down with something like duct tape. Put your bags of flour, oatmeal, etc. in there and put the top on.