I helped a friend of mine replace some circuit breakers in his electrical panel that needed replacement.
BE VERY CAREFUL
IF YOU’RE NOT SURE, STOP AND CALL AN ELECTRICIAN
TURN OFF THE MAIN BREAKER
Category: Video
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Eric’s Screwball Cake Recipe
Screwball cake is one of those formative things in the life of Eric. It was one of the first recipes I ever made as a kid. This screwball cake recipe is close to what I remember making, but i’m sure time has clouded that memory.
Anyway, watch our show and learn how to make screwball cake and enjoy the recipe.
)
Heres’ the recipe for screwball cake. do you have a recipe for this cake? would you post it here? thx.
I found this version posted in a bunch of places
3 cup Flour
2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Cocoa
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Soda
2/3 cup Oil
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups of boiling water
Sift the dry ingredients together and put in a greased 9 x
13 pan. Scoup out 3 holes, 1 for each liquid ingredient.
Pour boiling water over all and mix well. Bake at 375~ for
25-30 minutes.
A viewer, Paige, sent me this comment:
It was great! FYI to all, I divided the recipe in half and made a smaller cake and it turned out just fine. It’s moist and rich, but it’s not too overwhelming. The frosting worked out really well, too. Here’s the recipe if any are interested:
2 c. confectioners sugar
1/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)
1 tb. water
1 tb. corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt
Combine all with an electric mixer on low speed, then increase speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes.
This is a light, fluffy icing that goes well with a rich cake. But, I think vanilla ice cream on just a plain piece of screwball cake would be great too.
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Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe – GF Video
My Bread and butter pickles recipe that’s easy to make and i love them. These are great to can and store for the winter. I love it when i open a jar in the snowy winter and crunch on summer. neat. Check out this bread and butter pickle recipe and video on canning pickles.
Eric’s Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe
This recipe will fill 4-5 8 oz canning jars, it depends on how packed the jars are.
About 6-8 medium cucumbers, sliced thinly
1 large sweet onion, cut in half, sliced thinly
4 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 cup sugar
Pickling spice
Put a big pot of water on the stove to boil, the water should be high enough to cover the jars.
salt cukes and onions in a colander with kosher salt
place the colander in the sink or in a bowl
let sit for an hour, then rinse off salt, shake the cukes and onions to dry.
put the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan and heat to dissolve the sugar.
when pot of water reaches a boil, place jars in water to sterilize, and simmer the canning lids in a small saucepan, do not boil the lids.
put a tablespoon of pickling spice in each canning jar.
pack the jars with cukes and onions so they reach 1/2″ below the top of the jars
then pour the vinegar – sugar mix into each jar up to 1/2″ below the top of the jars. the liquid should cover the cukes and onions.
place lids on each jar, making sure the tops of the jars are clean. secure with the screw-on bands. the bands does not need to be super tight, just barely tight.
place the jars in the boiling water, the water should completely cover the jars.
boil the jars for 10 minutes,
set them to cool on a wire rack.
the next day, check the lids to make sure they sealed. push each lid down, if the lid pops up and down, the jar is not properly sealed. You can either refrigerate this jar and eat the pickles within a week or put on a new jar lid and boil again for 10 minutes.
©2008 Eric Rochow photo from MorgueFile
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Rhubarb Recipe : a simple rhubarb sauce
When people think of rhubarb, they think of rhubarb jam recipes, or rhubarb crisp recipes. Here I make a simple rhubarb sauce recipe for all sorts of uses. Watch and then leave a comment on how you use rhubarb or post a rhubarb recipe.
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How to make a compost bin – GF Video
Its easy to make a compost bin like this. I’m all about simple when building compost bins, these wire screen compost bins are easy to make and work well for leaves, garden waste and kitchen scraps.
If you want to make a compost bin like this, you can use any screen you have. Or maybe your neighbor has a roll of stuff they want to get rid of. This is one of those projects where checking out what your neighbor is throwing out can come in handy.What you don’t want is screen that has large holes, as your compost material will fall out of it. Avoid what looks like wire fencing for chickens or goats, it usually has rectangular openings and are too big.
Its better to make one large bin than two small ones. Because compost is all about mass. The more mass you have, the better the compost will break down. We talk about this in another one of our compost bin videos here. Mass allows more heat in the pile, which is good.
If you put screen across the top and bottom of this composter, you can turn it upside down. Its a cheater way of aerating the pile, and it works. Not sure if you want to devote the time and energy to cutting wire caps for the bin though.
The beauty of this design is how easy it is. 3 pieces of scrap wood, a staple gun, and a hammer. done. I usually cut the wood stakes 18″ longer than the screen height so I have plenty to drive into the ground. If you cut the bottom of the stakes with an angle, or even a wedge-knife point, they will hammer in easier. This cut can be done by hand or with a chop saw. Use what you got!
We have more compost bin and compost 101 videos here. Let me know your thoughts below.
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How to unclog a drain or sink
The drain in our laundry area is clogged, and I made a video showing how i fix a clogged drain. Clogged drains can usually be unclogged by mechanical means, i’m not a big fan of chemical drain cleaners. Watch here and see how i do it.
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How to make yogurt in a cardboard box – GF Video
Want to learn how to make yogurt? Here you go, yogurt video on how we make it. Making yogurt is fun, and in a cardboard box its even easier. and kinda green as well.
What i like about this is the simplicity of this and i think kids would like to do this, with supervision, of course. watch our gardenfork.tv episode on making yogurt in a cardboard box and then tell us how you make yogurt below.
The Gardenfork.tv Yogurt Making Recipe
Our how to make yogurt recipe is based on 1 quart of milk, which will fill up two 8 oz mason jars, which is what i use to make yogurt. You can use skim, part fat, and whole milk, it just depends on your preference. Whole Milk will taste better, but you know that. You can add powdered milk to the mix, which will make the yogurt thicker. Add too much and it gets like custard.1 quart of millk
1 talbespoon of plain yogurt, the more natural the better.
optional: 1/4 cup of powedered milk
Put the milk in a pot with a thick bottom, or use what I call a waffle, or heat diffuser between your pot and the burner. Burned milk is no fun.
Heat the milk to 180 degrees F, bubbles will gather around the edges of the pot when the temperature is right.
Put the pot in the fridge, or put the pan into an ice bath to lower the temperature.
When the temperature is between 90-110 F, add the plain yogurt and if desired, the powdered milk.
Pour into clean glass containers, screw on the cap, and place in your cardboard box yogurt maker. You can also use a large stock pot with the heating pad placed in the bottom of the stock pot. Make sure the heating pad is a waterproof one.
After pouring the milk mix into the jars, you can add maple syrup, honey, or other sweeteners if you like.
Let the yogurt ferment at about 110F for 3 hours, check for doneness.
Temperature is important when making yogurt, too high or too low and it wont work. Do not move the yogurt jars while incubating them, it wont end up being good yogurt if you do.
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40 Garlic Chicken Recipe, the Eric version
There are a ton of 40 Garlic Chicken recipes, and of course we had to do one ourselves here. What is your recipe? how about sharing it in the comments here?
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how to make waffles, the Eric waffle recipe.
OK wake up. lets make waffles with the easy waffle recipe by eric. here we go:
Eric’s Waffle Recipe
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
[to substitute milk here, put 1 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar in 1 1/2 cups of milk, let stand for 5 minutes, then add to recipe ]
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
3 eggs, yolks separated from whites.
Preheat your waffle griddle.
Combine the egg yolks with the buttermilk. add dry ingredients and just mix till mixed, don’t over mix.
Then add oil.
Using a whisk or electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they form peaks,
Then turn the whites into the batter. Do this gently, you do not want to overmix this.
Spray the waffle griddle with vegetable oil or non-stick cooking spray. Pour about 3/4 cup of batter onto the griddle, spread it around a bit.
Close the griddle and sit tight. after 3-4 minutes, gently lift the lid and check the bottom for done-ness, if its nicely browned, flip the waffle griddle to cook the other side. Cook for a few minutes more until nicely browned.
Serve with Maple Syrup and butter, you can also dust with confectioners sugar.
©2008 eric rochow
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Gardenfork on CBS WFSB news
here’s the full news clip of our appearance on WFSB .
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How to remove Forsythia bushes, or other invasive plants.
This is the special Gardenfork way to remove unwanted shrubs. DO NOT do this at home. use your brain, ok?
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How to make Potato Latkes, the Eric Recipe
I really really love potato latkes. it can be a mess making them, but they are good. watch here and learn how we do it.
Eric’s Potato Latke Recipe:
6 Russet Potatoes, peeled and grated
1 smaller onion, grated
1 egg
6-8 saltine crackers or matzoh cracker, broken up.
salt and pepper
Mix the potatoes, onion, egg, and crackers in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper. Remember, potatoes can take a lot of salt.
Heat canola oil in a heavy fry pan, and over medium to low heat, spoon a heaping serving spoon portion of the mixture into the pan for each latke. If you want to be authentic, you can fry them in chicken fat.
Allow room between the latkes so you can flip them. Be careful not to burn them, if they are done on the outside before being done in the inside, turn down the heat.
When they are nicely browned on the outside, remove to a plate piled with several paper towels to cool for a minute, then its best to eat them right away. You can keep them warm for a while covered with a towel in a warm oven.
Serve with applesauce and sour cream.
©2008 Eric Rochow
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Outdoor Dripping Water Faucet Repair
is your outdoor spigot leaking? watch here as we fix one, with excellent camera work by my neighbor.
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Baked Eggs with Irene O’Connor of CBS WFSB News
we had a great visit with the crew from WFSB in Hartford, though they were suprised at how long it took to get to our house. Watch the show and see how they made me look kinda smart…
Thanks Irene and the excellent crew.
Baked Eggs Recipe ( based on Mark Bittman’s NY Times Article )
Preheat your oven to 300F
grease or butter small ramekins. if you use bacon grease the eggs will be yummy.
place small chunks of cooked ham, cheese, bacon, (whatever you like really) in the bottom of the ramekins.
crack one egg into each ramekin
place in oven, i cook them for about 10 minutes, but you should do some tests with your own oven, they are all different.
and it depends on how runny you like your eggs.
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Butternut Squash Soup Recipe GF Video
Simple and good, this Butternut Squash Soup Recipe is a perfect fit for Gardenfork and its real easy to make, so I can’t screw it up, right?
We also have a how to video on making squash soup using heirloom squash here.
And if you are growing winter squash here are two videos for dealing with the squash vine borer:
An organic method to prevent the Squash Vine Borer Video
How to deal with a Squash Vine Borer infestation Video
Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Ingredients
• 1 large or 2 medium Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1-2 tart apples
• 2 cups milk or cream
Cooking Directions
1. Saute the onion until it starts to get golden and sweet.
2. Add the cubed squash, 3 cups of water and cover.
3. Allow the squash to cook, a knife should pierce the cubes.
4. Liquify with a hand blender, or spoon the mixture into a food processor.
5. How smooth you want the soup is a person preference.
6. Add the milk or creme to taste, it adds a richness to the soup.
7. Variations: you can add some cumin or coriander to this, and a bit of bacon when sauteing the onions. -
How to strip paint the green way, green paint stripping.
While working on our apartment, I learned this neat way to remove paint from doorknobs and other small stuff that doesn’t use toxic chemicals. Its green paint stripping.
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How to control Japanese Beetles
Do you have Japanese Beetles in your garden? Want to know how to get rid of Japanese Beetles? Watch Gardenfork and learn what Eric has done to deal with Japanese Beetles eating up the garden.
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How to make a Cardboard Box Smoker – GF Video
Frequent Gardenfork Contributor Mike told me about Alton Brown and his Cardboard Box Smoker, so we HAD to make one. It took a while, so the show is in 2 parts. Tell me what you do to smoke food.
part 1:
part 2:
The Smoked Salmon Brine Recipe:
Eric’s Salmon Brine Recipe:
2 quarts water
1 tablespoon Cinnamon
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt – must be non-iodized
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon black pepper
Place the fish skin side down in this brine in a flat pan, cover in refrigerator for at least an hour.
Take out the salmon and place on a wire rack skin side down,
Drain the brine pan carefully, reserving the brine solids an. Take the brine solids at the bottom of the pan and use a brush to coat the salmon with the brine solids.
Point a small fan at the brined fish until the brine has pretty much dried on the fish.
How to smoke salmon:
Add a large handful of wet hickory woodchips ( or whatever kind you like ) to the cast iron pan on the electric hot plate.
Place the grate in the smoker and spray with non-stick cooking oil, or brush with vegetable oil. Lay the salmon skin side down on the smoker grate.
Place a digital thermometer probe in the fattest part of one of the pieces of fish, place another digital thermometer across the grate to read the ambient temperature in the smoker.
Turn the hot plate on, ( i set mine to HIGH ) close the lid, and let it cook. Check the ambient temperature, you want it to be 160-180 degrees. Adjust the hot plate accordingly.
Hot plates sometimes turn off by themselves, so one needs to pay attention if you notice smoke not coming out of the smoker. Also, use a heavy duty extension cord, the shortest possible, to plug in the hot plate. Its possible to trip a circuit breaker.
When the salmon reaches about 140F, it is smoked.