Page 32 of 92

How to Pressure Can Bacon Pieces

September 21, 2017 / David & Susan Sifford / 4 Comments

Back in June we took in our large pig boar, Ardy, to the meat processor. I still have a wrist strain injury from browning all of the ground meat, but that’s another story……

While we here are always looking to learn ways to preserve food without freezing or canning, in the mean time, I learned how to pressure can bacon several years ago and, since it is so easy, I thought I would share it with you in case it might be helpful to anyone. The price of bacon has seemed to skyrocket over the years (at least in actual prices). Wouldn’t you love to “pounce” on a good bacon sale and be able to preserve it in bulk without using up freezer space or risking freezer burn? AND, it would already be pre-cooked! Real bacon! Well, below is a simple tutorial as to how I process and pressure can bacon pieces. (Sorry, if you want to can entire pieces there are other tutorials on line). Investing in a canner and some jars/lids is really not very expensive at all compared to the savings over time when you find great sales. You can pressure can just about anything.

Okay, let’s go!

Here is how the bacon comes from the processor:

So, I just take it out of the package and lay it on a cutting board with my preferred knife ready to cut it into strips. REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure the bacon is still partially frozen for nice, clean cutting. As it thaws, the fat gets greasy and slippery and becomes increasingly difficult and more dangerous to cut. You may as well put it back in the freezer at that point:

I cut it into approximately 1/2″ strips. If you want smaller pieces, cut to your preferred width:

Then I cut the strips cross-wise into several small sections, again, approx. 1/2″ (cut to your preferred size). Don’t worry about trying to separate each layer; it will all separate in the cooking:

Yeah, Ardy was a big boy…..

Okay, then I just lightly cooked the bacon in frying pans, about half-way or more cooked, and the fat is released from the meat:

I then strained out the meat with a slotted spoon. If you want less bacon grease in your jar, use a colander or more thorough straining method:

Here is the big bowl of bacon grease I strained, which will be canned in separate jars along with the bacon. This way, the grease will be preserved indefinitely until I’m ready to use it, and it won’t become rancid:

The yield: 22 pints of delicious bacon pieces!!!

Jars of Bacon Ready for Pressure Canning

I strained the bacon grease to get out the little remnants of bacon for a clean, clear lard result:

Four and a half pints of bacon grease – not bad!

Jars of Bacon Grease Ready for Pressure Canning

I processed the bacon and grease in pint jars at 15 lbs. pressure for 75 minutes in my trusty pressure canner (don’t be intimidated, if I can do it, anyone “can” ), dutifully following the canning book instructions. We live about 1,100 feet above sea level so please can according to your own altitude and guidelines:

And the finished product! It may not look that appetizing, but here is delicious pre-cooked bacon, ready to be poured out of the jar and used in your recipe of choice. You can heat it up and get all of the grease out of it, or include the grease to fry with, etc. When bacon is called for in recipes, it usually takes time and planning. This way, it’s all ready right away!

Here is a closer look:

We are so very thankful to God for these provisions and a way at this time to preserve and be good stewards of them. Bon appetit!

Susan

David’s Digest: Sins of the Heart

September 14, 2017 / David & Susan Sifford / 0 Comments

Some time ago I had come across someone giving the example that as long as someone who desires homosexual relations doesn’t act on them, they are okay in God’s eyes, the idea being that if someone abstains from an outward manifestation of sin, they are keeping themselves from actual sin. This idea is what prompted this blog post.

The Bible speaks otherwise of this idea, and calls this concupiscence.

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines this as:

Lust; unlawful or irregular desire of sexual pleasure. In a more general sense, the coveting of carnal things, or an irregular appetite for worldly good; inclination for unlawful enjoyments.

This is not just in the sexual realm — it covers all carnal desires of the heart.

Here is where concupiscence is mentioned in the Bible:

Rom 7:8 – “But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.“

Puritan commentator John Gill says of the concupiscence here:

“The law forbidding every unclean thought, and covetous desire of unlawful objects, sin took an occasion through these prohibitions to work in him, stir up and excite concupiscence, evil desire after all manner of things forbidden by the law; hence it is clear that not the law, but sin, is exceeding sinful.”

Col 3:5 – “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:“

Here Dr. Gill says it

“includes every fleshly lust and inordinate desire, or every desire after that which is not lawful, or does not belong to a man; as what is another’s property, his wife, or goods, or anything that is his.”

1 Thess 4:3-5 – “3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; 5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:“

Again Dr. Gill, regarding fulfilling the lust of concupiscence:

“for a man so to possess his vessel, is to cherish the sin of concupiscence, the first motions of sin in the heart, by which a man is drawn away, and enticed.”

Acts of sin are only the outward workings of the evil—yes, sinful—desires of the heart. In fact, sin starts in the heart:

Prov 4:23 – “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.“

Luke 6:45 – “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

And here are scriptures talking about the sins of the heart, which is by nature sinful:

Gen 6:5 – “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.“

Psa 28:3 – “Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.“

Psa 58:2 – “Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.“

Psa 101:4 – “A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.“

Prov 6:18 – “An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,“

Prov 10:20 – “The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.“

Prov 21:4 – “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.”

Jer 4:14 – “O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?“

Matt 15:18-20 – “18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.“

Acts 8:22 – “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.“

1 John 3:15 – “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.“

Finally, Puritan Thomas Manton has some words in regards to heart sin:

This is from Manton, vol xviii, sermons upon Proverbs x 20, sermon II, the full text which can be read here:

(4.) That we must make conscience not only of our words, but thoughts. Men are cautious in their speeches and how they discover themselves; but they think thoughts are free. No; heart-sins are sins as well as the sins of the tongue and life : Prov. xxiv. 9, ‘The thought of foolishness is sin’; they are contrary to the law of God. Therefore David saith, Ps. cxix. 113, ‘I hate vain thoughts.’ Usually we take more liberty in our thoughts than in our words and actions. Men will not rob, steal, murder, or assault the chastity of a neighbour’s wife; but let their hearts run riot in coveting, and that is theft in the heart; or lusting, and that is adultery in the heart: Mat. v. 28, ‘Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart’; or malice and revenge, and that is killing in the heart.

And this is from Manton, vol xviii, sermons upon John i 29, sermons II, the full text which can be read here:

Others, if they would be freed from sin, they respect only the preventing the outward act, but you must abstain from the lust [desire] : 1 Peter ii. 11, ‘I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts [desires], which war against the soul.’ If they look after the heart and inward man, it is some branch of sin, not the root, or the change of the heart, and so die impenitent. Evil practices do not flow from a present temptation, but an evil nature. All these lose their labour; they neither get rid of trouble nor prevent the act, nor are free from the breach of God’s law, but Christ would make a thorough cure.

May God change our heart to ones desiring Christ, His righteousness and holiness; may He keep our hearts pure, removing sinful desires; and may He grant us the desire and strength to pray and fight against the sinful desires of the heart!

— David

Gigi the Goose Gets Gustav the Gander

September 7, 2017 / David & Susan Sifford / 0 Comments

With the loss of our gander Augie, I figured it’s just not right for Gigi our goose to be alone. Plus, they cost basically nothing to maintain, and can sometimes alert when some things are not status quo around the farm.

And so we kept an eye out for a mate for her on one of the internet lists.

And recently, the Lord granted we find one fairly close by! Yea!

Apparently a young Chinese-breed gander, we went and picked him up and introduced the two, and they quickly became “an item”! Yea again, and thanks to God for both!

And we decided to name him Gustav (Goose-tav ). He reminds me somewhat of Gary, in the way he looks and sounds. Fond memories of Gary.

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of Gustav and Gigi, with him on the right:

More of Gustav Our Gander & Gigi Our Goose

And then a video of their introduction and them getting to know each other:

They continue to do very well, hang out all day together, and we’ve even seen Gustav act in a way that looks like he’s protecting her.

Again, we are thankful to the Lord for granting Gigi a mate so she won’t be alone, and that they were very quickly like old friends! We pray they might benefit the Church and perhaps the farm in some way.

— David

Providence’s Perpetuation Provisions: Tasha’s Turkey Chick of 2017

August 31, 2017 / David & Susan Sifford / 4 Comments

One thing we’ve discovered with our turkey hens is that they like to make nests out in the woods, and so when one doesn’t come back at night, we go looking for it where we have seen them about during the day, or try to find them the next day, and thanks to the Lord we have often been able to find them, usually with broken eggs around them, as the critters get to them if they’re left, most likely over night.

Well, our brown hen, Haddie, from last year’s hatching from Trina disappeared. We could not find her, and she didn’t show up at all again around the homestead, as they often do at least in the morning before going back to sit.

One day when going back into the woods to cut fire wood, I saw a bunch of what appeared to be turkey feathers, and tracked them along a path. Sadly, it appeared she was taken out by some critter, although she moved quite a bit before the feather trail stopped, so she gave it a go. And so, we lost Haddie, and we miss her.

However, we were able to find our other new hen from last year, Tasha, with maybe 8-10 eggs under her, so we grabbed her and them and put them in the summer kitchen.

And by God’s graciousness, she hatched out three new little live turklets! (That’s what I call them, like I might call a chicken chick a chicklet ). Sadly here though, two of them died when fairly young, but we do have the one left, who at the time of this writing is about 2/3 the size of her mommy now! We believe she is a hen as well, she looks a lot like Tasha, and we’ve decided to call her Halia, in honor of Haddie — the “Ha” from the start of her name, and that “Halia” apparently means “Remembrance of a loved one” in Hawaiian.

Here the pair are back in June:

And here is a video of them in the summer kitchen, and then when we released them to be free:

Finally, turkeys do silly things, and here’s a video example, with Lil Hank from last year’s hatching tapping on the screen and saying hello through the house window…while perched on a sawhorse!

As always, we are very thankful to the Lord for granting these provisions, and the health and safety He did grant to any of them! It’s only of His will, graces and mercies we are supplied with anything, where we deserve nothing, and even to have them taken away for sin. And so, we are very grateful!

— David

Providence’s Perpetuation Provisions: 2017 Goat Kids

August 24, 2017 / David & Susan Sifford / 6 Comments

The results of breeding time 2016 are in and gone now, and so we thought we’d introduce you to 2017’s goat kids!

First, this is our buck Rocky. Even with a leg injury, he’s still able to get the job done!

And our new buck Shakespeare…first round with our does for him. He’s shown dragging a stick so he doesn’t jump the fences. Also, we had him dehorned because they appeared to be growing over themselves and causing him grief, although the dehorning operation was quite some experience, where after numbing the area, the vet used a cord saw to saw through, Shakespeare screaming the whole time…arg…and just wow. Because the sinus cavity extents into the horn, he then sutchered head skin over one hole, but didn’t have much for the other one; and so, we’ve been keeping it wrapped or covered with antiseptic and triple antibiotic gel when necessary. Thankfully, it’s slowly healing:

Here are some pictures from some of them earlier in the year:

And then let’s go around the horn, introducing each doe & her kids…

This is Pammy, with her kids Toro and Pablo. We thought Toro looked like a tiny Longhorn bull, and then kept the Spanish naming idea for his brother:

And here is Adeline, with her kids Leah, because she looks like her mommy, and we took the “L” from her name; and Arielle, because her coloring was black/grey/black and reminded me of an Oreo cookie, and so we used the “A” from her mom’s name as well:

And then this is Annie with her kids Paula and Linus. Paula, because she looks like Pablo, and Linus because he looks like Adeline and we just used the “L” from her name:

This is Gracie with her doeling Dottie, because she has a dot on her nose. Gracie had a buckling too, but he sadly died in less than a day. Gracie started having rumen problems at the time she gave birth, so Sue faithfully bottle-fed Dottie in a partial manner to help supplement:

This is Hannah with her kids Cicely and Bison. Where the black comes from, we have no idea, since Shakespeare was the daddy. The buckling looked like a Bison to us, so we started there, and then went with Cicely to kind of match. Bison was interestingly born three hours after Cicely, and Hannah ended up basically rejecting him, not letting him suckle, so Sue picked up this job too:

Next is Lucy with DeForest, William and Leonard. Lucy was first to go this year:

Lucy & New Kids DeForest, William & Leonard

And this is Nellie with her kids Ricky and Nelson. We started with Nelson because he looked like his mama, and then added the Ricky. Sadly, Nellie had a still-born, but these two were just fine:

Here is Marie with her kids Maxine, Laverne and Patty. Little Laverne next to her was quite spunky. Sue started to supplement bottle-feed her too the last few weeks, just because she was so small. If you look, where did Patty, the white one in front, come from since Marie’s mate each year is Rocky? We weren’t sure Rocky was getting the job done, so for a very short period of time, we put Shakespeare in with her. Well, it appears both bucks got to her! :

Marie & New Kids Maxine, Laverne & Patty

And finally, her highness Winnie with her kids Shelly, Shelton, and Della. The two “Sh” names because they look like Shakespeare, and Della for the “D” in Adeline, whom she looks like:

Winnie & New Kids Shelly, Shelton & Della

And here is their video for the year, including the goodbye as they went to their new owner, and a few snippets after that — look for Annie at the end showing off fine goat behavior!

We are always very thankful to the Lord for granting these provisions of the goat kids, and our buyer friend to come get them each year. And we are thankful for the milk from them, which we are able now to use, along with eggs, exclusively to feed our pig. And thanks to Sue for your faithful milk collecting!

— David

David’s Digest: My Heart Is Good

August 17, 2017 / David & Susan Sifford / 2 Comments

“My heart is good!”

Have you said that, or heard that said? I believe we all think it to some degree, and certainly want to believe it.

But what does the Bible say?

Gen. 6:5 – “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Gen. 8:21 – “And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.”

Jer. 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Rom. 3:10-12 – “10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

Rom. 8:7 – “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

Mark 10:18 – “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”

Ezek. 36:26 – “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

The heart of fallen man by nature is a heart of stone, a dead heart, a desperately wicked heart, is enmity against God, not subject or able to be subject to the law of God, with no desire to seek for God and no good in it. Only some One good can bring goodness to it, and that is the good God, removing the dead heart and giving a lively heart. It is His act of putting His goodness there.

And even if you are truly a Christian, you recognize and lament the evil that is still within you.

Prov. 20:9 – “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?“

From Puritan John Gill’s commentary:

Who can say, I have made my heart clean

The heart of man is naturally unclean, the mind, conscience, understanding, will, and affections; there is no part clean, all are defiled with sin; and though there is such a thing as a pure or clean heart, yet not as made so by men; it is God that has made the heart, that can only make it clean, or create a clean heart in men; it is not to be done by themselves, or by anything that they can do; it is done only by the grace of God, and blood of Christ: God has promised to do it, and he does it; and to him, and to him only, is it to be ascribed;

I am pure from my sin?

the sin of nature or of action: such indeed who are washed from their sins in the blood of Christ; whose sins are all pardoned for his sake, and who are justified from all things by his righteousness; they are pure from sin, none is to be seen in them, or found upon them in a legal sense: they are all fair and comely, and without fault in the sight of God; their iniquities are caused to pass from them; and they are clothed with fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the saints: but then none are pure from indwelling sin, nor from the commission of sin; no man can say this, any more than the former; if he does, he is an ignorant man, and does not know the plague of his heart; and he is a vain pharisaical man; yea, a man that does not speak the truth, nor is the truth in him, (1 John 1:8)

And Prov. 28:26 – “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.“

Dr. Gill again:

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool

Since the thoughts and imaginations of the thoughts of the heart are only evil, and that continually; they are vain and vague, sinful and corrupt; the affections are inordinate, the conscience defiled, the understanding darkened, and the will perverse; there is no good thing in it, nor any that comes out of it, but all the reverse; it is deceitful and desperately wicked: he must be a fool, and not know the plague of his heart, that trusts in it; and even for a good man to be self-confident, and trust to the sincerity of his heart, as Peter did, or to the good frame of the heart, as many do, is acting a foolish part; and especially such are fools as the Scribes and Pharisees, who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others, when a man’s best righteousness is impure and imperfect, and cannot justify him in the sight of God; it is moreover a weak and foolish part in men to trust to the wisdom and counsel of their heart, to lean to their own understanding, even it, things natural and civil, and not to ask wisdom of God, or take the advice of men, and especially it, things religious and sacred; see (Proverbs 3:5 Proverbs 3:6)

but whoso walketh wisely

as he does who walks according to the rule of the divine word; who makes the testimonies of the Lord his counsellors; who consults with his sacred writings, and follows the directions of them; who walks as he has Christ for his pattern and example, and makes the Spirit of God his guide, and walks after him, and not after the flesh; who walks with wise men, and takes their advice in all matters of moment, not trusting to his own wisdom and knowledge; who walks as becomes the Gospel of Christ, and in all the ordinances of it; who walks inoffensively to all men, and so in wisdom towards them that are without, and in love to them who are within; who walks circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time

he shall be delivered

he shall be delivered from the snares of his own deceitful heart, which he will not trust; and from the temptations of Satan; and from all afflictions and troubles he meets with in the way; and from a final and total falling away; and from eternal death and destruction: “he shall be saved”, as some versions render it, even with an everlasting salvation. The Targum is, “he shall be protected from evil.”

Finally, here is a warning I believe we should consider from Puritan Thomas Manton from his 2nd sermon on Mark 3:5, which you can read in full here:

4. None are so confident of the goodness of their hearts, as those that have an hard heart: for the more any spiritual disease increaseth upon us, the less it is felt. There is hope whilst there is some complaining of sin, that there is some tenderness left.

The hardest heart must needs be the most confident, because they use no recollection and reflection upon themselves; Jer. 8:6, ‘No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done?’ What am I, what have I done? Yea they slight their danger, take up every vain pretence and allegation to maintain their carnal peace and quiet: Deut. 29:19-20, ‘And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. The Lord will yet spare him, &c.’

Broken-hearted christians are sensible of the holiness of God, and what an hard matter it is to hold communion with him, and observe their own weakness and unworthiness; and therefore they complain of the badness of their hearts, that there is no greater bent towards God, and are always suspicious of their spiritual condition.

May God grant us an understanding of our carnal hearts and His holiness, may we humbly recognize from Whom any goodness in our hearts we might have comes, and may we diligently seek it from Him!

— David

Garden – Summer 2017

August 7, 2017 / David & Susan Sifford / 0 Comments

This is our first garden update for 2017, although we actually did plant a Spring garden…

In times past, I’ve tried to plant regardless of how well set up the environment was — “Oh, it doesn’t really matter how the soil is…just put the seed in the ground!” Well, as I’ve found out, and I’m sure anyone reading this who has successfully done gardening realizes, that doesn’t work, and is of course not biblical (the soil must be good to bring forth fruit — see (Matt 13:1-23).

Anyway, I thought this year, I’m going to dig out any of our clay soil and put in compost, and then plant…even though our seeds are really old. Well, as I found out once again, and those reading this who have done gardening know, old seeds don’t work either.

Sigh.

Out of the maybe 150 or more (at a guess) seeds I planted, here is the one plant that grew, a broccoli I believe:

I believe now! And we are thankful for this one plant. May God prepare the soil of our hearts by His Spirit and plant His gospel and law in it so it will bring forth much fruit, and we will be obedient to Him!

Following that, and waiting until the ground warmed up, the plan was to plant okra, which works well out here. I dug out holes, filled with compost as needed, and used seeds given to us by a gracious person…from this year!

Well, not that we’re entitled to anything, or that God is under obligation to grow anything, or that these things happen without Him gifting them, in His graces, He has caused them to grow, and start to bring forth the edibles!

Here’s a hopeful okra. Beautiful, not only visually, but in the potential of fruit coming from it (like even the lowest of Christians, because they have the image of Christ stamped on them)…

Also, in our other garden area, Mr. Bunker graciously gave us some sweet potato cuttings. After, I put the root ends under the mulch against the ground and then covering them with the mulch that was there, I found I really needed to water them well, but once doing that, the vines really started to take off, and here is how they are now:

Finally, Mr. Stonger also graciously gave us a goji berry bush and a couple of blackberry cuttings, which have been doing well…

The goji berry bush put out quite a few berries earlier in the year, but once heat hit it, it lost a lot of its leaves, so I started watering it a lot, and it has come back nicely, thanks to God.

There’s even a berry there now, and some purple flowers growing:

And here are the blackberry plants. I had to put them in tomato plant cones to give them some support. Also earlier in the year we got a couple of blackberries, which were yummy!

As always, we are very grateful to the Lord for His provisions, and the understanding about Him we can gain through being involved in His creation and studying His word!

— David

The Sifford Sojournal

Page 32 of 92

How to Pressure Can Bacon Pieces

David’s Digest: Sins of the Heart

Gigi the Goose Gets Gustav the Gander

Providence’s Perpetuation Provisions: Tasha’s Turkey Chick of 2017

Providence’s Perpetuation Provisions: 2017 Goat Kids

David’s Digest: My Heart Is Good

Garden – Summer 2017

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