Brian laughed and shook his head. Emma grinned and laughed.
“Keep the coffee, come by any time. I don’t mind. It will be nice to have company.” Emma said, shaking her head, her eyes crinkled in humor.
“Deal, and next visit, I’ll bring my applesauce cake. I’ll also bring some cheese. We have goats and I make cheese.” Barb grinned. Brian could feel the tightness in his shoulders relax. He liked these people. They now had friends and someone to trade with.
“We have powdered milk and canned milk for the kids, but perhaps at some point next year, do you think it will be possible to trade for a milking goat and a lesson on cheese making?” Paadi asked, grinning.
“Absolutely. We’ve got several and honestly, we can bring one of them by on the next visit. You’ll need to build her an enclosure and keep her on a sturdy chain, you don’t want her getting into your garden, she’ll eat it all.” Barb laughed.
“Thank you, thank you so much. That will be nice for the kids to have fresh milk.” Emma grinned. Brian got up and handed Cooper over to Emma.
“I want to show them around.” Brian said and the men stood. Emma grinned up at him and he winked. He and Jeff as well as BJ walked around the camp, Bradley followed, after pouring more coffee. Bradley was impressed with the structures and how well they were built.
“You guys do precision work. This is nice. The interior is really cool.” Bradley said, looking inside the canning shed. Brian could feel the coolness coming out of the shed. It was holding the chill very well. Being in the shade of the trees helped a great deal.
“I like the way you used the tree stumps as the supports for the floor. It keeps it well off the ground and I’d say that will go a long way in keeping the rotting down.” Jeff said, bent over at the waist, looking under the structure’s bottom.
“We wanted the structure built into the trees, this way, it keeps it well in shade and the sun off it. There are so many trees, we had to cut them down and figured they could be structural support for the structure.” BJ said, smiling.
An hour later, the girls got up and came outside. Their guests were getting ready to leave. The girls were enchanted with the horses who snuffled their outstretched hands. Handshakes and hugs went around.
“Wow, that was so nice.” Emma breathed, walking back to the firepit.
“It will be nice to have a goat and milk. That will be better for baking, instead of the powdered milk.” Paadi chirped.
“I’m glad they’re nice people. You never know anymore and I’m sorry to say that I’m very paranoid about meeting new people.” BJ said. All agreed. Emma began to make breakfast all around. The children were fed first and then were off playing. Brian would make sure Cooper and the other kids brushed their teeth after he ate. He was slightly disappointed about not going hunting, but he was looking forward to two hundred pounds of pork. He was going to use that smoker. Sweet!
A week later Jeff had been good to his word and had brought half a hog, early in the morning. He brought his truck, and there was an angry goat in the bed, trussed up. Barb had come and had even brought a long chain and metal stake, so the goat would not go anywhere near the garden.
“Until you’re about to can and smoke it, I’d keep the carcass in the lake, to keep it cool.” Jeff had advised.
Brian had set up cold smoking for the bacon. It took longer but would preserve the meat longer. He used hickory chips to flavor the bacon. Both he and BJ tended to hover by the smoker. They had used BJ refrigerator for the soaking part of the process. They’d also spent the week freezing water in baggies to put into the freezer once the meat was done. This ensured that the temperature was low in the freezer. The smell was tantalizing and Brian grinned when he saw Emma and Paadi standing near the smoker.
Brian wanted to go hunting, he’d heard turkeys earlier that morning and thought maybe roasting a turkey would be a wonderful treat. BJ offered to keep an eye on the smoker. The women were canning much of the pork. They’d set up the gas camp stove and had a propane bottle hooked up. They could only do one pressure canner at a time. The kids were swimming and playing at the shore.
“I’m heading out, hopefully I’ll get a turkey.” He grinned.
“That would be nice. Early Thanksgiving.” Emma laughed.
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Emma watched Brian disappear into the woods. She and Paadi had set up a processing station by the firepit. The work table was there and there was a good breeze blowing off the lake. They had a tub with a lid that sat in the lake, keeping the meat cool until they could cut it up and process it.
“The next batch we make, I think we should spice it with cumin, along with the salt and pepper.” Paadi suggested.
“That sounds really good. We can then fix it with canned tomatoes or fresh if we have it, along with the jalapeno peppers, onions and regular peppers. Maybe we can make four tortillas and have a burrito or fajita night.” Emma said, wiping sweat from her face. They had found several cases of Tattler canning lids. The Tattler lids were reusable, and because all they had would be all they had, it meant that they could keep canning indefinitely.
“The cilantro has been growing like crazy, along with the basil and thyme. I think we can make
