Purple Palace '55

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Egg Preservation

For BexarPrepper, copied this from an old site, circa 1999:

EGGactly How To Preserve Eggs

Okay... After spending the entire day in research on this subject I have discovered the following excerpts in regard to egg storage:
From Rodale Press, Inc. 1973. Stocking Up. (pp 238-241)
"STORING EGGS
Because each egg is intended by nature to house an unborn chicken, nature packages each one in its own protective shell. The shell is porous enough to permit oxygen and other gases to flow in and out through its walls, but it's outer coating or membrane prevents bacteria and molds to enter which would otherwise contaminate the egg.
Alone, the shell will protect the eggs for a short time, providing it is kept cool. Bursh, don't wash, dirt off eggs before you store them. People who vigorously wash off the dirt are also washing off the egg's protective membrane. If possible, store your eggs in a covered container to keep out objectionable odors that travel with gases through the shell's pores.
Eggs will keep at refrigerator temperatures for a week or two, but after that time their freshness fades. Both the white and the yolk begin to lose their firmness and become watery and runny. The yolk of an old egg will usually break into the white when the shell is cracked open, making separating the yolk from the white of old eggs a difficult, if not impossible, task.

OLD FASHIONED METHODS
Before farmers had access to freezers, they devised some simple (but not always successful) means of preserving their excess eggs. Some farmers relied solely on the use of salt to keep their eggs from rotting. After gathering their eggs, they packed them in a large barrel or crock with plenty of salt and stored them in a cellar or spring house to keep them cool.

The majority, however, found some way to clog up the pores of the egg shells so that moisture would not escape and air could not enter. Eggs were rubbed with grease, zinc, or boric ointment, or submerged in a solution of lime, salt, cream of tartar, and water.

Probably the most popular way to seal egg shells was to water-glass them. By this method a chemical, sodium silicate, was mixed with water and poured in a crock which was filled with eggs that were about twelve hours old. The solium silicate (which is used today to seal concrete floors and as an adhesive in the paper industry) would clog the pores in the shells and make them airtight.

Some people, even today, use waterglassing as a means of preserving eggs, but this storage method has its drawbacks. Eggs preserved this way are not good for boiling because their shells become very soft in the waterglass solution. The whites will not become stiff and form peaks, no matter how long they are beaten. No souffles, egg nogs, or meringues with waterglassed eggs. There is also a very good possibility that by consuming eggs stored in waterglass you would be consuming some of the undesirable chemical, sodium silicate. If you keep roosters with your hens, (which you'll do if you want to maintain a natural, happy environment for your hens and produce wholesome eggs for your family), waterglassing may not be a successful means of preservation for you. The life factor in fertilized eggs makes these eggs deteriorate more quickly than sterile, unfertilized eggs, and waterglassing may not be enough of a preventative against spoilage.

FREEZING
Freezing is the only way to keep eggs safely at home for more than two weeks. Eggs, both fertile and unfertile, will keep as long as six months in the freezer, if you prepare and pack them properly. The rule for selecting the right food for freezing applies for eggs just as it does for fruits and vegetables: Choose only the very freshest. Eggs even a day or two old should be stored in the regrigerator and used within a relatively short time, as recipes call for them. Freeze only just-gathered eggs.
Eggs in their shell expand under freezing temperatures and split open. For this reason they must be shelled and stored in appropriate containers. If you are storing eggs in rigid containers, leave a little headspace for expansion. You can separate the white from the yolk and freeze each separately, or you can store the eggs whole.
If you are freezing egg whites alone, they can be frozen as is, in air-tight containers. For convenience, pack as many eggs together as you will need for your favorite recipes. You can then thaw and use a whole container of egg whites at one time.
If you are packing yolks separately or are packing whole eggs, you will need to stabilize the yolks so that they won't become hard and pasty after thawing. To do this, add one teaspoon of salt or one teaspoon of honey to each cup of yolks. Twelve yolks make up one cup. Break up the yolks and stir in the salt or honey. Of course, it is necessary to mark on the container whether salt or honey was used as the stabilizer so that you won't ruin recipes by adding more salt or honey than you had intended.
If you are packing your eggs whole, you will also need to stabilize them with salt or honey. Add one teaspoon of salt or honey to each cup of whole eggs. There are about five whole eggs in one cup. Scramble the eggs with the salt or honey before packing and freezing. Whole eggs can be packed together in one container or they can be packed individually by using a plastic ice cube tray. To pack eggs separately, measure three tablespoons of whole scrambled eggs (which equals one whole egg) into each separate compartment of the ice cube tray. Place the filled tray in the freezer, and when the eggs have frozen, pop them out and store all the egg cubes in a plastic bag. By so doing you will be able to take from the bag and thaw just as many eggs as you need at one time.
Eggs should be thawed completely before using. They thaw at refrigerator temperatures in about nine hours and at room thempeatures in about four hours. If frozen properly, thawed eggs have the taste, texture and nutritional value of fresh eggs and can be used successfully in all recipes calling for eggs. To make up one egg from separately frozen whites and yolks, measure out one tablespoon of yolk and two tablespoons of white. Eggs should be used soon after they thaw, as they deteriorate rapidly."

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

I've Gone Video!

Just click the Pic at Left to go to my YouTube Channel :)

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Awesome Finds!

LAST weekend, I came across a poor old, beat up, rusty, dilapidated Metal Cabinet with it's original chrome hardware handles. It looks ugly NOW.. but wait til I put some Love on it! ;) I'll post the 'after' pics in a couple of months; I'm sure it'll look as different as my house did, before/after!!! :) There's something to be said for giving 'new life' to vintage things.

Standing in front are two vintage magazine racks. The gold one on the left went on Ebay and already has a new home in Southern CA! The other I'm painting and keeping for a while ;)

This last Saturday, rain, cold and all, found only 5 sales in a 20 mile area; two were really early, but I went anyway - and I'm sooo glad I did. The first moving sale provide the rotary cutting mat I wanted for my Daughter to go with her machine. I was actually considering buying her a new one (price.. $42! eek) The one at the sale? $5!! And.. I'm so jealous.. it's PINK on one side :)

This sale was definitely the highlight of the day and also yielded a HUGE box of fabric, a bag of fabric from Paris, and about ten plastic storage boxes. Fun Fun FUN!!!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Wow... Talk About Awesome!

I was watching a showing of "Immitation of Life" with Lana Turner and Sandra Dee yesterday; and while I KNEW it was a good flick, and one of my mom's favorites.... I just kept gasping at the outfits! I mean.. every time there was a scene change and Lana waltzed back into the room.. OMG.. another Awesome outfit. I just kept drooling. It was very undignified. lol.

So.. below is my attempt to TV screenshot, and transfer to my puter, then to blog of some of those, and the first one... Oh yeah.. I'm gonna be sewing THAT one!!

This one was sooooo sparkely! And look at the close up of those pretty little loops on the bodice.

Although she never menitoned it, I'm pretty certain that 'mommy's" similar outfit must have been inspired by this one!

Another one I have to have for ME!! I think I already have a similar pattern lurking around somewhere:

The great thing about Jean Louis' fashion in this movie, seem to be his care for a strong visual statement whether his 'model' was coming or going!

I love how the turban flows right on into the front collar, over the brooch attached shoulder, and on down the back.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Camel Hair Nightmare

Snarrrf!! Snarrrff!! I'm very Saaaad. :(:(
After finding this totally Awesome pattern of a retro coat like my mom used to have and looking for THREE days over the world (and my hometown) for suitable fabric to make it; I Now see WHY my mom was so 'conversational' about her beloved 'camel hair' coat. It was FABULOUS!! And to make it over again in THIS day and time would run an easy $500. SO.. I guess I'll just post the picture and admire it from afar for now. (Read below pic for more)

The reproduction of this coat in my mind HAS to be perfect. The feel and lay of it have to be just so-so and That requires making it out of Camel Hair. (Yes.. it even said so on the back of the package!) After a quick search on the internet, i found the price ranges from 'on sale' at $39.99 per yard to $129.99, and I'm afraid the former is only a medium weight for slacks, etc. and just wouldn't do.
   I'm familiar with what I want in this coat, because back in 1970 I had a shorter version in Red! I Lo-o-o-oved that coat. I'm sure I thrifted it somewhere, and had I known the future, I sure would have taken better care of it and kept it! It was doomed to have the back ruined by an oil leak on a motorcycle who's 'sissy bar' left a clean stripe right down the middle! So much for my 'biker chick' days. (All 20 of them! :)
   So.. for now, I won't be happily slaving over my Slant-O-Matic with visions of myself twirling around in my new, warm, retro coat. BUT... ??? hmmm... maaaaybe.. just maaaybe that awful old blanket fleece could work if I add some drapery weights to the hem? *grin* Well... it's worth a TRYyyyyy!
   Whee.. guess I'll be heading to the fabric store tomorrow after all! (Vogue patterns are $3.99 tomorrow! lol)