Apr192010
Failures are a part of prepping
Failure is success, if we learn from it.
-Malcolm S. Forbes
Since I began this blog nearly a year ago, I have certainly learned a lot, and some of that learning has come from my failures. Plenty of failures. It’s not easy to pick up long-forgotten skills and learn new ones.
My single foray into the world of artisan bread is the highlight on my list of failures. I read an article in Mother Earth News that promised a fresh loaf of bread daily without the long process of kneading, rising, and then kneading some more. As my husband left for work, I proudly told him, “Today I’m making artisan bread!”
Loser? I prefer to think of myself as a learner, thank you! Image by levaine
Well, whenever I make bread, I always get a little uptight. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because my expectations for each finished loaf are so high, unlike the times when I mix up a batch of brownies. I followed the directions for the artisan bread exactly, or so I thought. The butterflies in my stomach wouldn’t settle down, though, and in hindsight, they were probably trying to give me a warning that I’d overlooked something important. When the dough was finally finished, I set it on the counter next to the stove, covered it with a clean kitchen towel, and waited. I watched the timer, continued to wait, and then it dawned on me. That dough would never rise because I had forgotten to add yeast!
In a panic, I called a friend of mine, Rhonda, and explained my mistake. She makes dozens of loaves of bread every month and has been a rock to me as I’ve relearned this skill. Rhonda didn’t laugh, at least not so I could hear her, and just suggested I try adding the yeast anyway to the finished dough. I did and proceeded to make three loaves of bread, each rising to the height of less than two inches. I learned how to make artisan bread without yeast. I learned what happens when I forget the yeast, and I learned to expect pretty poor results when I don’t follow this recipe to the letter!
Another highlight on my long list of prepper failures is with my beloved Sun Oven. I have ruined many loaves of bread because I start baking it in the oven too late in the day. My morning routine is usually filled with homeschooling and some housework, and I usually don’t give dinner a thought until some time after lunch. Well, one would think that a single failed loaf of bread would be enough for me to step back, consider everything I know about solar cooking, and then figure out that I need to start my bread dough first thing in the morning. One would think that, but in my case, one would be mistaken because I continued until I ruined five loaves of bread! Not one, not two, but FIVE!!
Continuing on with the topic of bread making, there was another failed loaf that was left in the bread machine for two extra hours as I ran errands. Had to get those library books back before my fines topped ten bucks. Did you know that bread dough actually ferments and that you can taste the fermentation? I baked that bread dough anyway, just in case the fermented smell and flavor would bake away. It didn’t. I might not be batting a thousand, but you can’t say I’m not an optimist!
I’ve also learned that gnats love bread in any form after a group of renegade gnats from my composting bucket invaded our house. Placing that bucket too near our back door was not my most brilliant idea.
My lettuce plants are nearly dead after I thought I would help make them stronger by not watering them for a day, which happened to be the hottest day so far this year. They are now on life support, and I was so looking forward to prancing out there one day soon, with a Little Red Riding Hood basket over my arm to collect large, green leaves for our salad, which would be accompanied by a perfectly baked loaf of bread! Some of my vegetables are thriving, but others look up at me each morning and seem to say, “Please, just let me go and be at peace with my brothers and sisters in that big farm in the sky.” I think I know just how they feel.
Did I mention the four bags of browned, frozen peaches in my freezer? I was so excited to get all thirty pounds of them peeled and sliced that I completely forgot to consult any type of reference book or website to find out how to properly freeze them. As it turns out, peaches will turn brown if they aren’t mixed in with a sugar solution. It didn’t help when one of my kids left the freezer door open for half of a day. The peaches just turned darker. I’ve been wracking my brain for six months now, trying to figure out how I can slip them into a milkshake or smoothie for my kids without them noticing the “off” color.
The cat discovered the bag of dried milk I purchased and hadn’t poured into PETE containers yet. I knew something funny was going on when I saw little white, powdery footprints leading away from the pantry. I won’t even tell you the sad story of my first try at making beef jerky except to say that it resembled, almost identically, the jerky treats we buy for our dogs!
I do write TheSurvivalMom blog, and I actually teach classes on preparedness and food storage, but my journey has been filled with missteps and downright stupidity. I admit it. I also admit that I’ve learned far more over the past two years than I would have ever thought possible. I love the feeling of getting back to my roots, back to the skills and knowledge my great-grandmas took for granted. I’ve failed a lot, but I’ve learned far more. I figure that having a sense of humor is more important than pulling the perfect loaf of bread out of a solar oven!
© 2010, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.
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Stephen Clay McGehee
There are few blog posts that I read anywhere on any blog that make me feel so "right at home" like this one has! As you point out so well, it is those mistakes that are made now – while things are "normal" – that will make life a lot easier when the margin for error has gotten a lot slimmer. Nowhere has this been more apparent than my experiments in gardening. I've been raising vegetable gardens for many years, yet I am amazed at how many blunders I still make and how much of a "get your hands dirty" learning process this really is. I have a nice little library of books on gardening and other preparedness topics, yet nothing – absolutely nothing – can take the place of actually doing it. Those who place too much confidence in their books, but have never actually practiced the skills will be in for a very rude awakening.
Thanks for a great blog!
TheSurvivalMom
Thanks, Stephen! When I started writing that, more and more of my mistakes came to mind. I probably could have written about a dozen more! Wait until we start raising chickens.
)
Stephen Clay McGehee
Oh yeah, we just got this Spring's batch of chicks. They arrived exactly one week ago today. So far, we've lost 3 of them, but that should be the end of the "first week die off". Three out of 39 isn't bad though – I've certainly had worse, especially when I hatched them myself in an incubator. It was a combined order with some friends and relatives, so I actually ended up with about 18 chicks. That will be plenty enough eggs for our needs plus enough left over to give away some and trade for whatever I mess up in the garden this year.
Angela
Love, love, love this post! Every one of us has made mistakes and had things not work out like the book says they will. You know I only put the better looking pictures on my blog, the ugly can of peaches does not get its picture taken, nor do the buckets of apples that froze in the shed before I did anything with them. At least the chickens and horse liked them. Those "failures" are actually where you learn the most. Sometimes when you mess up and try some wacky way of fixing it, it actually works! Keep up the good work Lisa!
TheSurvivalMom
Angela! You are one of my prepper idols! I can't believe that everything you do doesn't turn out perfectly! I guess there's no point in pretending all of this is easy, huh? It's a good feeling, though, when I finally master something.
Mike in Virginia
Whew! So I guess I'm not the only one still learning a lot about baking bread. Like, dry active yeast is not the same as instant dry yeast. Who knew?
At least my neighbors don't seem to mind eating my experiments in "short" bread making, though I do tend to give away the better of the two loaves. But I guess I'm the eternal bread optimist, because every now and then the stars align and the most beautiful perfect loaves of bread are pulled from the oven and summarily sacrificed (along with a stick of butter) by my entire family while standing in the kitchen. But I guess if they all turned out that great, I wouldn't get as many "learning opportunities."
TheSurvivalMom
Gotta have that stick of butter! Is there anything better on this earth than warm, homemade bread and butter? Maybe it's that vision that keeps us going in spite of the loaves that don't turn out the way we'd hoped.
Ruth
I've been reading this site fo you for this post .for about 6 months now and have decided its time to speak up. Thank you for this post. All the sites I read make do-it-youself things sound easy and but I'm always messing things up. I think my worst mistake was when I made strawberry jam last spring and in December dicovered 20 jars that had gone bad, apparently because I left too much head space in the jars. Expensive mistake but like my husband said ,"Now is the time to learn these lessons". Thank God I still have time to practice.
I also thought I would share with you what I realized this week is the best thing about prepping (so far). I have three teenaged daughters at home and within the last week they have come to me needing the following things: a new spiral notebook, deodorant, new toothbrush, razors, dandruff shampoo and a plain black t-shirt. I had all of the things that they needed stored somewhere in the house. Its lucky for them because I don't do last minute trips to the store. If they need something I better have at least 3, preferrably 5, days notice and they know that.but prepping just makes my and their lives more stress-free. Hope you don't mind me sharing this
LizLong
My mother in law has given up on brown rice and liked the jasmine rice we had at our house, so she wanted to buy some. She was VERY surprised when I just went to the basement and came up with a 25 lb bag! It was kind of funny. (The rice needs to go in 5 gallon food grade buckets, but I'm still working on that step – we're short lids. )
TheSurvivalMom
In the long run, preparedness does save you money. It enables me to run to my pantry for an ingredient, rather than the grocery store where I inevitably end up spending far, far more money.
donna
How are your bartering skills?
TheSurvivalMom
Pretty good, and I have a very handy husband who can do just about anything! He can even embroider! I figure we can use his handyman skills for barter, and I'll just kind of hover in the background. LOL
Heddie Mae
Love this post! Here are some ideas that might help:
1. First off, those peaches are just dark, they aren't bad. Thaw them out, reheat them in a sugar solution and serve them rolled up in crepes (made from your home-ground flour, of course!). A dollop of yogurt or sour cream on top gives an elegant presentation. Tell your kids they're blintzes.
2. Check out, 'Artisan Bread in 5-minutes A Day'. Just Google it. There's a you-tube video. This way, you don't have to spend a lot of time worrying about your bread. You can pull it out of the bucket in the fridge first thing in the morning, let it rise and pop it into your solar oven before lunch. Or the regular oven while the electricity is still cheap. I one time let the dough 'rise' for over a month while I was away. The changes in yeast provide a depth of flavor your kids may not care for, but is great for adult tastes.
BTW, I make bread all the time in a Bosch Mixer, but I like the Artisan Bread for dinner parties. And a pleasure to meet you at Honeyville last Saturday. Thanks for all the info!
TheSurvivalMom
I'll give that peach recipe a try! Maybe what was missing with my attempt at Artisan Bread was watching someone actually make it.. I'm such a visible learner but don't do so well with written instruction.
It was nice meeting you, too!! Your kids are cute!
Sgt Joe
My parents always told me you learn by making mistakes. When I was serving in the army I had an instructor who always made one comment. "You just screwed that up a dozen times! Now you know a dozen ways it will not work." How true that was, when push came to shove we always knew what did and didn't work. It reminded me of when we were little kids and mom told you the stove is hot. What did you do? You HAD to touch it, which was a mistake, but you learned!
TheSurvivalMom
You have a very healthy perspective. Kudos to your wise parents!
Elizabeth Graham
I have to tell you, I started with bread about 7 years ago. In my early years, I "blew up" a loaf once in the bread machine … like a volcano! It helps to have a good sense of humor!
Thanks for you posts, I read them regularly and really enjoy them!
TheSurvivalMom
What is it about bread??? It has like, what, six or seven ingredients? It's a basic, a "staff of life", and yet so challenging that I'm surprised universities don't offer Breadmaking 101! Still, when you do take the perfect loaf out of the oven, it's a wonderful accomplishment that you get to eat. With butter!
Jane
Thank you. I found your website a few months ago from a post on one of my Yahoo groups. I have found you to be inspiring and very informative. Though I am just starting my journey to preparedness I am confident I will get there. This letter to your viewers on your mistakes along the way have helped to relax me a bit. Mistakes will happen and we will learn from them. Thank you for giving me permission to make them. I know that sound wired to write or think about but until this post I was scared to make any. Now I will be happy to accept them because they will teach me something. SO Thank you.
TheSurvivalMom
Jane, some of the forums and websites that I visit are filled with people who have been homesteading for years, sometimes for generations, and it's intimidating to read all that they do. Not that I don't think I could do it, it's just that my life experiences are very different from theirs. I'm sure she would run into challenges if they moved into a large city, but cities offer advantages that rural living does not. It's all a matter of perspective and priorities. I'm so glad my post made you a little bit bolder in trying some of these new things!
mama4x
wow. I love, love the idea that other people have the same "red-riding hood collecting salad" fantasies that I do. I planted 3 rows of salads and just expected them to pop up. I guess that side of the yard is too cool. Or maybe my daughter shouldn't have "helped" by watering them on high blast! I too am scared of bread but I must cultivate the persistence you have written about. Gotta learn it now! I got chickens and it has been the BEST! They are like little composters, but instead of dirt I get eggs. And they reduce stress by just watching them. Get them now while it's warm!
TheSurvivalMom
OK, now I REALLY want chickens!! Surprisingly, my husband is totally on board with that, so it's just a matter of us spending several hundred dollars to build a state-of-the-art chicken coop. LOL What can I say? He's an overachiever! And my lettuce is looking pretty bad. A TV crew is coming over next week, and I'm almost tempted to just "plant" gorgeous heads of Romaine and leaf lettuce that morning!
Barbara
Have I told you lately that I love you? How can I not? You are, apparently, ME! LOL
TheSurvivalMom
Thanks! I guess my post hit a nerve with a lot of my readers. There's just no point in pretending to be perfect when there's plentiful evidence to the contrary!
inaminute
One of the posters at ldsglo.com has this motto from Thomas Edison, describing his invention of the light bulb:
"I have not failed 10,000 times. I have sucessfully found 10,000 ways that will not work."
Think of every failure as a success! My brilliant statistics professor always said that knowing what didn't work was as important as knowing what did.