Develop Your Skills! 

Toni, a short story from my youth. I asked my Grandma to teach me how to cook. I was a college student and could not stand the meals we were forced to eat in college. The day I asked my Grandma, she boarded a bus from Pittsburgh, PA that day and she began to teach me how to cook. The first dish she taught me was lasagna. When we pulled it out of the oven I was very proud at how it was looking. My Grandma looked at it, then looked at me, walked over to the trash can and threw it out pan and all! This from a women who grew up in the Great Depression and NEVER threw anything away. Go Forward 40 years and I can say I've learned Cooking, Canning , Smoking, Raising Chickens, Gardening and the list keeps growing. Just never stop learning even if the pasta was dry that first time. Sending Love from SouthEastern PA in the States.

A tip for anyone that makes their own yogurt that I learned many years ago is to save back a 1/2-cup of the finished product and freeze so you always have a starter .. it worked great for me since I live 40-mins away from a store. Hth..

Excellent video! You absolutely correct, no matter how much information you collect or how many times you help somebody else, nothing takes the place of hands on experience. All of us "seniors" that measure by eye, can do that only by experience. When we were younger we went through the same trails and failures as the young do now. The first time I made biscuits, I took a bite...spit it out and made toast! my boyfriend ate them anyway. Bless him, he was a keeper. (and I've had him for over 50 years) after he left that night, the leftover biscuits turned so hard even the dog didn't want them. 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

My first batch of beef jerky came out surprising good.. My three sons and husband had several lbs gone in a couple days.. so I stopped making it for a couple years because they could never just eat a few pieces.. its not a quick process by any means! I sliced by hand which is time consuming .. I had purchased a meat slicer years after I stopped making it that would have made it so much easier and enjoyable ..always partially freeze the meat and marinade overnight -easier to slice unless you have like I said a meat slicer or help and a flavorful meat. Now that my 3-sons have left the nest I think I will make hubby some beef jerky or get some venison from my son or even make chicken jerky that would be the cheapest option if buying meat.

I was so nervous when I first learned to pressure can as well! Lol

Chicken Stew and Dumplings, Yummy. I have made yogurt many times. I have incubated in the oven with light on or use a crock pot. Both ways work well. I have an instanta pot I may try it in there next time. I have sewn since I was 13 and cook simple things around 10 years old. I crochet and the last few years I have taught myself how to knit and I have never really stopped learning. Last summer I learned how to use the pressure canner ( I am 68) and yes it was scary for me at first but, I think I will do much better with the fear of using it this summer. I have been a gardener my whole life and having to move into a tiny apartment nearly drove me crazy not being able to get my hands in the dirt. A couple of years after being here I brought up the suggestion of starting a community garden and low and behold the managers gave me permission to get it going. I had many people that were interested in it at first (some just don't like the labor) and so we now have one today with mostly me working at it and one other that also enjoyed gardening. There is a few handicapped people that are part of it and put in money for equipment that we may need tools, seeds, etc but, they cannot actually do the work and I don't expect them too. I enjoy helping them when I can. 🌻🫑I am out there nearly everyday from now until the fall frost and don't know what I would do with myself in the nicer weather if it wasn't for the garden. I used to dislike it when I was kid having to go and weed a row or two everyday but, as I grew older it has made me love and appreciate nature for the miracle of watching that tiny little seed grow and develop into something that we can all appreciate.

What an amazing video Toni after such a rotten day for the US. But … it’s not so rotten if you know that “Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord.” Give them all enough rope … they think they’re winning. No, they’ll never win. God wins which means we win in the end! ~Amen~ God bless Canada & the USA! 💕

Loved your stories about building skills. Very interesting and encouraging .❤

I bought myself a basic cook book back in my early 20’s. I didn’t have a clue on how to boil spaghetti or eggs. I felt stupid! After cooking recipes for a while, making a few mistakes, it became easier to cook just about anything. There are so many RU-vid videos on how to cook certain foods, recipes from all over the world! Tonight I’m cooking Chinese, Teriyaki beef with broccoli and pork fried rice. To tell the truth, I’m sick of cheese burgers, hot dogs, and mac & cheese. Luckily, my family is, too. We all take turns cooking, which is nice.

I love trying new things, food-wise. Yesterday, I found a recipe for something quite popular in Australia that I had never heard of, and the chef used doubled spring roll wrappers, and his filling was shredded beef and vegetables, barley and cornstarch thickener. Made it into logs and then deep fried them. Apparently, they freeze well, so that is a bonus for me. If the recipe turns out well, I share it on facebook so that others can get inspired as well.

I've gone to carnivore diet, learning a lot of recipes for it. I'm going as low/no carbs as possible, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a few months ago. I'm in the process of reversing it.

I had to laugh when you spoke about watching the pressure canner because I did the exact same thing Toni. 😆

I'm very thankful my mother got us kids into baking at a very early age. She would make bread dough and let us kids make our own loaves. I would always make cinnamon raisin bread lol. As far as the verdict about Trump, I'm seeing in the feed and it is saying guilty. We'll see what will happen. Possibly appeal. But I'm sure this just gained him more popularity than ever. US is not the same with the current dictator we have right now. Under Trump we had no wars, more money, lower gas prices. SMH. Everyone be vigilant.

Toni. When you make your pasta, do you do it by hand or do you use a machine to roll out and put in a machine to roll and cut. Thinking of buying a machine to put on kitchaid. Ahh at end you talked about the machine. I agree. The more you cook, the easier it gets.

Funny story. Got an electric pressure canner without checking to see what I could can. Well 1st choice was ham, not, then corned beef, not.

Can you ask them about the chicken carcuses.