I have just been so busy at work that I haven't had time to enter new postings. Well, today I'll try to get caught up as tomorrow I'm working only a half day in order to be home getting things ready for the party. Naturally, you're all invited to join us!
I put some new pictures up for your viewing pleasure. The picture of my canned squash and canned Bloody Mary mix is kind of dark. If you really want to see it better, I can email it to you. The frying pan is cast iron and boy is it ever heavy! Wally does have to lift it for me even when there is no food in it :) It's great for pan frying company size portions of pork chops, steaks and, obviously, bacon. Pretty much anything you need to fry in large quantities, this would be the go-to skillet.
I guess you already figured out that Dizzy Debbie is up there on the blog. I just thought that this was such a great picture of her and with the picture on the blog, I get to see her every day even though she is hundreds of miles away from me in Arizona. :( :( sniff, sniff :( :(
Since I had such an abundance of tomatoes (thanks again to Daryl), I tried my hand at homemade tomato sauce. The ingredients were pretty simple when you think about it and don't worry - it didn't even come close to being as good as Hoops' sauce but it wasn't bad for a first try. I used onions, green peppers (my own preference) Italian Seasoning, a few cloves of fresh garlic (pressed through my Pampered Chef garlic press that I absolutely love), fresh basil (from the CSA basket) and a little bit of oregano (again, my own preference). The tomatoes were fresh so I had to core, boil and peel them before they went into the pot.
Speaking of "the pot," this one is very special to me. It was handed down to me from my Mom's cousin, Penny, and it really comes in handy when you need to make a big batch of soup or sauce and your heavy duty pot is in use making bone broth. Which mine was. This pot is non-stick so the tomato sauce just slid right out of it and into the freezer bag when all was said and done. The bag has been labeled and put into the freezer for spaghetti when the time comes that fresh tomatoes are no longer available. It was really pretty to see in person - the picture doesn't do it much justice.
When I first started talking to Wally about moving here, one of my biggest concerns was trying to figure out what furniture to keep and what to give away. It was obvious from the start that I would have to have my kitchen table with me. At the house in FL it was literally right beside the kitchen (you remember) and we spent almost all our time at it. Here, the kitchen is designed differently. I think it's called a galley style kitchen but I don't really know for sure. It's long, with all the appliances on one side and a bar on the other. At the end of the kitchen, it turns immediately to the right and you are in the hallway.
Deciding where the table would go was pretty important to me. I like to see outside if at all possible so what used to be called "the bar" is now my dining room and my kitchen table fits perfectly. I'm so happy about that. We still have the bar stools in there and there's plenty of room to sit at them, we just haven't had enough people inside to need them yet. I suppose as the weather cools off, we'll be inside much more than out and those bar stools will really come in handy! LOL
I picked up my basket on Monday and it was generously overflowing this week. I got some really cool little peppers, there are green ones which aren't really "hot" and there are red ones which are really "hot!" I'll use them for my salsa this weekend. I got another cantaloupe which never lasts long in my house. We eat the fruit and the horses (usually only Rebel) get the rinds. I got two different kinds of basil and maybe you can help me out here. One bunch is regular green basil which I'll be turning into pesto tonight. The other is red basil. I've never seen it before so I tried a little bite of it. It's very strong but not in a bad way. What I'm wondering is if I can use it just like I would regular basil or if it should be used in a different way. Anyone have any suggestions? Kat, I'm sure you're just brimming with suggestions ha ha ha!
I also got a bunch of big, fat, juicy, ripe tomatoes and some smaller, green, striped, heirloom tomatoes. They are all gone too since I used them in my weekday salads. I got a bag of the specialty lettuces - also used in my lunches and another big bunch of purple hull peas. They can just keep those peas a comin because I LOVE them! They taste is mildly reminiscent of a boiled peanut if that helps. As big as the bunch looks when I get it, by the time I've shelled the peas, there's really only enough for maybe two meals. It's all dependent upon how big of a P.I.G. hog I make of myself! ha ha ha
All in all I was very happy with everything in the basket and, as is typical of my memory, I totally forgot to take a picture of it for you. Maybe this next Monday my memory will serve me better :) Don't be getting your hopes up though...
We have finally been getting some very much needed rain here in west Tennessee. The garden was having to be watered by the sprinkler but that's over for now. It rained pretty consistently from Tuesday through to this morning. What a relief for our grass and all manner of vegetation. Coming home from Pee Wee's everything was a bright, shiny, green again and looked just like a postcard. The mama cows were laying in their soft, damp, pastures while the calf's wandered aimlessly around them. Mind you, none of this is going on at our house - we still have no cows but they haven't been forgotten. We've just had so much else to do lately.
Remember the green, glass, hummingbird feeder that the birds left virtually alone? Well, I moved it to the back porch and after a day or so they converged on it! There's no way to tell if I have two birds, three birds, or four or more birds. I can't look at all three feeders at the same time so I'm really just guessing that there are at least two. That's how many I typically see trying to get at the feeder at the same time. One usually relents while the other eats and then they swap out. As for coloring - they just look dark to me. They're so fast that I catch only a glimpse before they fly off again.
A GREAT, BIG, FAT, CONGRATULATIONS Goes out to NECCY on her new job!!!! She's still within Transportation Services but she has moved to the new and exciting position of Routing Secretary. Woo Hoo!! Way to go Neccy, way to go!
So the party plans continue as we have taken the beef shoulders from the freezer and put them in the refrigerator to thaw. I don't know what they weigh except to say that they are very heavy whether frozen or thawed so we shouldn't have a shortage of meet. The plan is to leave it in the smoker for hours until it is tender and loaded with cedar smoke flavor - the red ring along the inside of the meat is the best indication of perfection. You can bet I'll be looking for it. Daryl was able to come up with a meat slicer so we'll slice it really thin and serve it up with rolls, horseradish, mustard and the pan juices for dipping. Gosh, for once I'm making myself hungry! LOL
We'll have some leg quarters in the smoker too for those who don't care for beef - it amazes me there are actually people who don't but whatever - more for me :) and I'm sure Rebecca and Jarrett would agree! LOL
Kurt and his wife, Beverly, plan to pitch their tent down where Wally made those new trails with the bull-dozer. They love being outside and with the nighttime temps getting in the lower 70's, it will probably be a pretty nice evening for them.
Claudia, her husband and her son, Daniel, will all be in attendance along with a new lady I met not too long ago, named Melanie. She's pretty cool. She moved here from Michigan and doesn't know too many people other than those of us who hang out at Pee Wee's. Since most of the Pee Wee's crowd will be there, we insisted that she come too. As for who else will show, who knows? I do know that I'll have to dig out the coffee pot again - it seems everyone requires that vile liquid just to get themselves going in the mornings. I know my Colombian friends in the Orlando office can even drink it at night without it bothering their sleep. Now that's pretty tough. I love the smell but have never acquired a taste for it. At least I've tried it, unlike Neccy who has never tried beets... ha ha!
I hope your plans for the weekend include some relaxation time - we all need that every now and then :) I suppose mine will come sometime Sunday afternoon when the party has come to a close and the guests have bid their farewells. I think I'm actually looking forward to that time - lol!
"Go often to the house of a friend, for weeds choke the unused path." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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