It may sound sappy and it may well be sappy but today has been one of those days where the people in my life have made a world of difference in what would otherwise be a very stressful situation for me.
Rebecca's truck broke down, which we all knew was coming, but we didn't know to what extent the damages would run. The truck was towed to the mechanic and he gave it a thorough going over. His estimate was fair and so the work began. As is always the case when a motor is being replaced, other things are determined to be in need of replacement and so the estimate remains flexible until all the work is done.
Being a parent in TN with two kids in FL has its challenges as you can well imagine. Financial support is tricky at best but we seem to always manage. In this instance though, many hoops were jumped through, much valuable time was spent waiting on yet another call, a bazillion phone calls were made and most of this was not done by me.
The truck wouldn't have been towed, the mechanic wouldn't have given us such a good deal, the money would not have been withdrawn from the bank and the truck would not have been picked up by Rebecca had it not been for my wonderful sister, Neccy and her amazingly wonderful boyfriend, Jack.
They handled so many details for me that I'm probably not even remotely aware of most of them. I can only express my thanks to them for all that they did and for all that they have done to help me with my kids since I moved to Tennessee. Living here wouldn't be what it is if they weren't such a tremendous help to me in Florida.
All this means really is that I think sometimes we don't always appreciate or even recognize when other people do things for us. Do we take them for granted? Do we remember to say 'thank you.' What about really taking the time to think about it and appreciate their efforts? Even the smallest deed need not go unappreciated. Somebody cared enough to help - the least we can do is recognize it.
So to all those of you who have done me favors; Lizzard, Bev, Dizzy, Francis, Joyce, Marcia, Mom, and Neccy and Jack, I say THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I don't know what I would do without you. If I missed anyone on that list, it wasn't intentional...there are just so many of you!
As days go by life here on the farm has settled into a nice, comfortable routine. I'm a big one for routine so this is a good thing for me. Sure, I still have to go to work every day but even that isn't so bad. My drive in is beautiful, the job is pretty cool, I have everything I need and I look forward to making my way down that gravel drive and up to the cabin that finally feels like home to me.
I've said it so many times but it's so true - I still feel like I'm on vacation here. I haven't begun to explore all the sights, the parks and the gardens that are just around the corner. I will get to them. But for now, I'm relaxed and enjoying living this new life I made for myself. If ever anyone was grateful for their current situation, it's me.
Here's a question for you...
Can you make fried chicken? I mean the really good kind like your grandma or your Mom or your sister can make? If you are the fried chicken person in your family then you may not have a point of reference for what I'm about to write. If you are like me and you have never been successful frying chicken without the help of someone else, stick with me, for this is a story in itself.
When I was younger, my Mom made the very best fried chicken I ever ate. We had it at other people's houses but it was never the same. Mind you it was good. It just wasn't the same. Mom had this really big electric skillet that she filled about half way with Crisco. She would buy 4 whole chickens to feed all 6 of us and she cut them up herself. She coated them with flour, patting it in so that every inch of chicken was completely covered in a blanket of white, floury softness.
I remember her hands being dusted with the flour and I remember her wearing an apron to keep her clothes safe. I remember too how her forehead would sweat as she stood there in front of that skillet full of hot, bubbling oil as the chicken fried. There was no central air conditioning and the kitchen was somewhat blocked from the window unit that was set inside our living room window. I can still conjure up the memory of how the house smelled when that chicken hit the oil.
This fried chicken was indeed a labor of love for it wasn't something she could leave to itself to cook. She had to watch it, regularly checking the bottom of each piece. She had to remember to season it with her tupperware salt and pepper shakers (remember those?) and most important of all, she had to take care not to burn it. No simple feat this chicken frying endeavor. And with five hungry people waiting, it wasn't something she took lightly. At least it didn't seem so to me but really what did I know about any of it at that age?
Mom kept the temperature of the oil right where it needed to be and was ever watchful of the progress. I remember sitting on the couch in the living room, watching whatever Dave decided we would watch, and thinking that supper was going to be so good when it was finally ready. She put a lid on that electric skillet and every so often she lifted it to check and see if the skin was browning like she wanted it to do and boy oh boy would that smell ever make you stay home! I don't think any of us even considered leaving the house on nights when Mom made fried chicken.
Sure there are other methods what with cast iron skillets and deep fryers but the electric skillet was my Mom's favorite. Since she never burned a single piece, as far as I can remember, it makes sense she would keep using it. As Neccy and I grew up, we fought over who would get it. When Neccy started cooking, she too was able to make really good fried chicken.
I don't know what was wrong with me. My attempts were never successful unless I had my Mom standing right there with me the whole time. I had the oil too hot and burned the outside before the inside had even begun to cook. Or, more typical, the flour seemed to just float away from my chicken, leaving me with skin that was not crunchy or anywhere near flavorful and meat that still was not done. After years of trying, I figured it just wasn't my thing and moved on to other tried and true favorites instead.
When I moved here to TN, I started thinking about fried chicken again. It's served almost everywhere you go here and it's good stuff too. Not as good as Mom's but nothing ever will be. I've had plenty that ran a close second though. So in my thinking I thought, hmmm maybe I should give fried chicken another try.
I got out my apron and my cast iron skillet and filled it with Crisco (as Mom instructed) and started coating my chicken pieces with flour. I didn't have her skill at butchering so my pieces where kind of a mystery but their shape wasn't my concern. Their done-ness and flavor were more important. I sprinkled in some flour to check if the oil was ready and it quickly sizzled away - that's the test Mom told me to use. I put the pieces in the skillet using care not to burn myself.
I'm pretty sure I forgot to set the timer but I knew I would know what it was supposed to look like when it was time to flip it. Everyone knows what it's supposed to look like, right? It's supposed to look golden brown. So I waited for what I thought was just way too long and then I took a peek. Still white...I left it alone and waited some more. When I went to flip it the next time, I was already too late. It had burned. It was black as could be. I flipped it anyway and figured we could just peel that skin off and eat the rest.
As the second side cooked, I turned down the heat thinking maybe that was my problem. Again, I waited. I was more worried now having ruined the first side but I was determined to get the rest of it right. When the second side was perfectly golden brown like you see in the restaurants, I got my tongs and removed it from the oil and drained it on a paper bag. They say it will stay crunchy if you use a paper bag. It wasn't burned!
It was, however, quite raw inside. Well, I wasn't really surprised and I knew to put it back in the skillet would be a disaster so I picked off what could be eaten and tried to figure out where I went wrong. I gave up on fried chicken again and decided that the store makes pretty good stuff so we'll just go that route when we're in the mood for it.
A few weeks ago some friends invited us to dinner and she was making fried chicken. I thought great, the one thing I absolutely can't help with. As she started cutting up the chicken by just holding it over the sink, the memories of my Mom doing just that came rushing back in and I was once again inspired to watch and see what I could learn about this whole chicken frying thing.
My friend put her chicken pieces in a bowl and coated them with flour. Her hands were as dusty as the chicken. Sound familiar? She put the oil in her electric skillet (familiar again!) and waited for it to get hot. When it did, she put the pieces in and proceeded to fry that chicken just like Mom had done so many years and memories ago.
I watched as she seasoned it and put the lid on it and how she checked it every so often for doneness. I asked her a bunch of questions and she answered very politely but probably thought there was really something wrong with someone who couldn't fry chicken. My friend is from TN and makes it look like it's just the easiest thing to do in the world. I knew better.
When the chicken was served, it was really, really good. Mom's will always be number one but this was some good stuff I was eating. Once again I set my mind on frying chicken. I guess it's just something I can't let go of. I bought a whole chicken and did some reading on how to cut it up.
I did a pretty decent job of butchering that thing although one of the thighs looked like no part of a chicken that I had ever seen. It was so mangled I needed Wally to help identify it. LOL I filled my bowl with flour and began coating the chicken. I patted it all over just like Mom did. I shook off the excess and when it was ready, I plugged in the electric skillet and added the oil.
I set the temperature to medium and waited for it to get hot. It seemed like forever but finally the flour sizzled away just like it was supposed to. I put the pieces in the oil and squished it around until every piece was in there. My oil might have been a bit too much but everything looked like it was doing fine so I set the timer for 10 minutes and stood there watching it. I don't know what I thought it would do but it seemed like something was missing. Duh!! Salt and pepper!! I hurriedly sprinkled it on the frying chicken and then forgot whether or not the lid should go on. I called my friend and in a frantic voice asked her about the lid. She said for me to put the lid on it and leave it there. whew!!
I get stressed easily when it comes to fried chicken...lol My timer went off and I checked a couple pieces to see if they were brown. You know at this point I was very worried that it would be burnt and ruined again but it was actually very nicely browned this time around. I flipped the smaller pieces and left the breasts to keep frying on the first side a little longer. I set the timer for another 10 minutes and got out my paper bag.
When the timer went off again, I was a little calmer. The house was smelling good and the chicken was looking like it should. I turned the pieces again and this time the breasts got turned too. I let all the chicken cook for another 10 minutes and then figured it was now or never. Time for the taste test. Time to cut into it and see if there was any pink rawness going on. Time to see if I would once and for all give up on this silly goal of mine.
Guess what? It was perfect!!! woo hoo!!! I did it. I made fried chicken!! It wasn't burnt and it wasn't raw. It was crunchy, salty, juicy and the skin stayed on when I took a bite. It was so good I ate three pieces! hahahaha Finally I got it... I can now stand up on that imaginary pedestal that all southern woman gain access to via their fried chicken success. Wow that felt good.
By the way, Mom still has her old electric skillet. I guess neither one of us will ever get our hands on it...
"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found." ~Calvin Trillin
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Canning & Pickling on the Weekend!
Oh boy did I have myself a good little time on Saturday and Sunday! I pickled and canned until I couldn't stand on my feet any longer and I loved every minute of it. I guess I missed the canner more than I thought because once I got it out and running, that's all she wrote for me! I stayed with it through 14 jars of squash and another 14 jars of green beans. Nothing goes to waste when there's a canner around and someone who is willing to use it. That would be me!
While I washed and chopped vegetables the cucumbers were softening up in their brine. There was so much going on in the kitchen that I barely had time to cook! LOL I started with the cucumbers because they have to soak for 3 hours before you can stuff them into the jars to begin the pickling process. I had about 10 lbs of cucumbers total but I only had enough vinegar to make one batch. That was Saturday - I did go out and get more vinegar on Sunday so I could make another batch!
My refrigerator has 16 jars of pickles stacked up in it and they have to be rotated (flipped upside-down)every day for 14 days in order to be ready to eat. Once they are ready, they are tangy, crunchy and just a little bit sweet tasting. They start out soaking in 2 quarts of water with turmeric sprinkled over them. You're supposed to stir them well at first and then come back every so often to stir them again.
When three hours has elapsed, you drain and rinse them and then into the jars they go. Each jar gets some mustard seed, dill seed, dill weed, garlic, a little bit of sugar and crushed red pepper. The red pepper is up to you but I wouldn't leave it out unless you just don't like it because it does add that extra little kick to the pickle flavor. I ran out of dill weed and couldn't find it at any of the stores I went to. Guess it's that time of year! Anyway, I just used some extra garlic for the second batch - hopefully, they'll come out tasting good even without the dill.
Neccy was the recipient of a jar of pickles last year and I'm pretty sure she liked them. She already put her name in for another jar this year...goodness, I didn't even know they were up for grabs!! LOL If anyone else at her house got to try one, I'd be very surprised! :) I'll just take that as a compliment :) LOL
So the beans and squash went into the canner for 25 minutes each and at 11 pounds of pressure. It's a little bit tricky trying to get the canner set at 11 pounds but once you get a feel for it, it's a piece of cake. The beans were snapped and washed and cut into pieces about and inch to two inches long. I put just a bit of canning salt in the jars and then filled them with boiling water. This is called cold-pack canning because the beans aren't cooked before they go in the canner. You can do it either way but I find they retain a little bit of crunch if you cold-pack them.
I've done beans before and they are very easy to can. You can even add onions and/or sliced potatoes if you like. I just do mine plain and then add whatever else I want when I get ready to eat them. I wish I could say these were the beans I grew myself but alas you're aware of the rabbit situation. I ended up having to get them from Ms. Hilda. She's a friend of ours who is 60 years old and still hoes, plants, weeds, and picks her entire garden. To give you an idea of how big it is, she has 131 tomato plants alone. With them are beans, four different kinds of peppers, squash, cucumbers, turnips, corn and possibly eggplant.
Now that's a lot of work. She grows the vegetables to sell to make extra money. She has tried to find a job but no one will hire her because of her age. Shoot!! She could easily out work me on my best day. She's very strong and quite fit and able to do most anything. She even chops wood for her wood stove. I wouldn't have a clue.
Back to the canning...I had enough beans to process one batch in quarts and then we stopped by Pee Wee's for a few minutes on Saturday and Darryl happened to have another "mess" of them in the back room. He said I was welcome to them if I wanted them so we loaded them up! This mess was just enough to fill 7 pints and that's how I ended up with a total of 14 jars of beans.
The squash jars are a combination of patty pan squash, yellow crookneck squash and zucchini squash. I chopped them up and stuffed them into jars and like the beans, I covered them with boiling water. I added a little bit of salt, adjusted the seals and lids and into the canner they went. They process for the same time as the beans do, which is 25 minutes, but you must still wait on the canner to get pressurized and then you must wait for the pressure to dissipate at the end.
Sometimes those two elements take longer than the canning process itself. I'm always anxiously awaiting the drop of the pressure pipe indicating it is safe to open the canner. Beware though - there's lot of hot steam coming out from under that lid so always tip it so that the bottom leans away from you and try to set it down quickly so the steam doesn't come up and around it and potentially burn your hands. You'll only do it wrong once - trust me...lol!!! hahahahaha
While all that canning and pickling was going on, I still had beets to work with. I was going to roast them in the oven but with time running out on me I just boiled them as I always have and then slipped the skins from them and sliced them up. I put the prepared beets in the refrigerator to use in my salads this week for lunch. They are a deeply nutritious vegetable and I wish I had enough to ferment them. I've seen recipes for a fermented beet and apple relish that looks and sounds delicious! Well, to me anyway....maybe not you so much. Beets are very good for you though so if you haven't ever tried them, I suggest you do - but please try fresh for your first time. mmm mmm good - especially on a salad!!
I didn't get much housework done with all that food to take care of but I did get a couple loads of laundry out on the line. They dried so quickly it seemed they were done even faster than if they were in the dryer. The heat of the day mixed with a very slight breeze must have helped them on their way. They still smell of fresh mountain air and every time I wear a shirt that's been on the line, it reminds me of my sunny weekend on the farm.
I watched a gardening show on Sunday and was amazed to see a bush like the one we have outside our front door. I was torn between thinking it was a butterfly bush or a hydrangea. The show confirmed it to be a hydrangea as the plant they showed, was like ours with just a couple of exceptions. The flower on their plant is a double whereas ours is a single. The leaves on theirs are oak leaf shaped whereas ours look more like a typical hydrangea. They explained this difference in leaf shape is because when seeded in the wild, many varieties will cross-breed. This cross-breeding causes all sorts of new varieties that the garden community just can't keep up with.
While my plant's flowers look like the flowers of the oak leaf hydrangea the leaves look like that of another variety. Regardless, at least I now know it is a hydrangea after all!! That's the important part to me because knowing that, I also know how to propagate it. We'll see if I'm successful :) fingers crossed y'all!! lol
We had some Florida company this weekend when Connie & Bobby stopped by to spend a little time with us. They had been to Pigeon Forge, TN and over to Kentucky to visit with some of Connie's family. They stopped to see us Friday night before heading back to FL on Saturday.
We took them down to see the swimming hole and we stuck our feet in the creek to cool off...well, Bobby went in quite a bit deeper but he cooled off even still. They seemed to enjoy the ride in my big red bronco and we're hoping they'll be able to stay longer next time. We're also hoping the swimming hole will be filled with water by then - for now, it's still empty. The creek is there and it does a fine job of cooling us off! It's so cold it's hard to get in much deeper than your knees. Come see for yourself! LOL
Tonight is basket night for me! My farmer emailed to say she hoped we would see basil, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and lettuce along with "rattlesnake" green beans. They are called this because they have lines or markings on them that resemble the markings on a snake. You would think I'd be tired of all the green beans but we didn't eat any of the ones I canned - they're for winter when you can't get them. The ones from the basket we'll have for dinner tomorrow!
I know it's hot in FL right now but the weatherman here says it's going to be hotter in TN this week than it is there. Now that's just darn-right wrong!! LOL It's supposed to be 97, 98 and 99 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Whew that's hot! I was hoping we could go see the Nationwide race at the Nashville Speedway on Saturday but it sounds like it's going to be too hot even for that. Bummer! Tickets are only $25-$30 each and that's a pretty good deal for a race. Oh well, I'll keep you posted on whether or not we make the event.
As for me and cooking over the weekend, well I didn't do much of it at all. We had steaks for dinner Friday night, the roast beef sandwiches Saturday night and nothing at all last night. I was too pooped to pop, as they say, and couldn't stand on my feet for another minute. Neither of us seemed to mind and when bedtime rolled around, we were both ready to hit the sack. I slept like a baby and woke up automatically at 3:40 am. Just in time to get up and get ready for work :) :)
My jars are all still on the bar and my pickles will need to be flipped when I get home. We still haven't seen Ruger but we look for him whenever we leave the house. With temperatures in the upper nineties we aren't likely to be out and about much this week. That's okay. We're both perfectly content to stay right there at the cabin. Obviously, I know how to keep busy :)
"The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion; and so let all young persons take their choice."
- William Makepeace Thackeray, 1811 - 1863
While I washed and chopped vegetables the cucumbers were softening up in their brine. There was so much going on in the kitchen that I barely had time to cook! LOL I started with the cucumbers because they have to soak for 3 hours before you can stuff them into the jars to begin the pickling process. I had about 10 lbs of cucumbers total but I only had enough vinegar to make one batch. That was Saturday - I did go out and get more vinegar on Sunday so I could make another batch!
My refrigerator has 16 jars of pickles stacked up in it and they have to be rotated (flipped upside-down)every day for 14 days in order to be ready to eat. Once they are ready, they are tangy, crunchy and just a little bit sweet tasting. They start out soaking in 2 quarts of water with turmeric sprinkled over them. You're supposed to stir them well at first and then come back every so often to stir them again.
When three hours has elapsed, you drain and rinse them and then into the jars they go. Each jar gets some mustard seed, dill seed, dill weed, garlic, a little bit of sugar and crushed red pepper. The red pepper is up to you but I wouldn't leave it out unless you just don't like it because it does add that extra little kick to the pickle flavor. I ran out of dill weed and couldn't find it at any of the stores I went to. Guess it's that time of year! Anyway, I just used some extra garlic for the second batch - hopefully, they'll come out tasting good even without the dill.
Neccy was the recipient of a jar of pickles last year and I'm pretty sure she liked them. She already put her name in for another jar this year...goodness, I didn't even know they were up for grabs!! LOL If anyone else at her house got to try one, I'd be very surprised! :) I'll just take that as a compliment :) LOL
So the beans and squash went into the canner for 25 minutes each and at 11 pounds of pressure. It's a little bit tricky trying to get the canner set at 11 pounds but once you get a feel for it, it's a piece of cake. The beans were snapped and washed and cut into pieces about and inch to two inches long. I put just a bit of canning salt in the jars and then filled them with boiling water. This is called cold-pack canning because the beans aren't cooked before they go in the canner. You can do it either way but I find they retain a little bit of crunch if you cold-pack them.
I've done beans before and they are very easy to can. You can even add onions and/or sliced potatoes if you like. I just do mine plain and then add whatever else I want when I get ready to eat them. I wish I could say these were the beans I grew myself but alas you're aware of the rabbit situation. I ended up having to get them from Ms. Hilda. She's a friend of ours who is 60 years old and still hoes, plants, weeds, and picks her entire garden. To give you an idea of how big it is, she has 131 tomato plants alone. With them are beans, four different kinds of peppers, squash, cucumbers, turnips, corn and possibly eggplant.
Now that's a lot of work. She grows the vegetables to sell to make extra money. She has tried to find a job but no one will hire her because of her age. Shoot!! She could easily out work me on my best day. She's very strong and quite fit and able to do most anything. She even chops wood for her wood stove. I wouldn't have a clue.
Back to the canning...I had enough beans to process one batch in quarts and then we stopped by Pee Wee's for a few minutes on Saturday and Darryl happened to have another "mess" of them in the back room. He said I was welcome to them if I wanted them so we loaded them up! This mess was just enough to fill 7 pints and that's how I ended up with a total of 14 jars of beans.
The squash jars are a combination of patty pan squash, yellow crookneck squash and zucchini squash. I chopped them up and stuffed them into jars and like the beans, I covered them with boiling water. I added a little bit of salt, adjusted the seals and lids and into the canner they went. They process for the same time as the beans do, which is 25 minutes, but you must still wait on the canner to get pressurized and then you must wait for the pressure to dissipate at the end.
Sometimes those two elements take longer than the canning process itself. I'm always anxiously awaiting the drop of the pressure pipe indicating it is safe to open the canner. Beware though - there's lot of hot steam coming out from under that lid so always tip it so that the bottom leans away from you and try to set it down quickly so the steam doesn't come up and around it and potentially burn your hands. You'll only do it wrong once - trust me...lol!!! hahahahaha
While all that canning and pickling was going on, I still had beets to work with. I was going to roast them in the oven but with time running out on me I just boiled them as I always have and then slipped the skins from them and sliced them up. I put the prepared beets in the refrigerator to use in my salads this week for lunch. They are a deeply nutritious vegetable and I wish I had enough to ferment them. I've seen recipes for a fermented beet and apple relish that looks and sounds delicious! Well, to me anyway....maybe not you so much. Beets are very good for you though so if you haven't ever tried them, I suggest you do - but please try fresh for your first time. mmm mmm good - especially on a salad!!
I didn't get much housework done with all that food to take care of but I did get a couple loads of laundry out on the line. They dried so quickly it seemed they were done even faster than if they were in the dryer. The heat of the day mixed with a very slight breeze must have helped them on their way. They still smell of fresh mountain air and every time I wear a shirt that's been on the line, it reminds me of my sunny weekend on the farm.
I watched a gardening show on Sunday and was amazed to see a bush like the one we have outside our front door. I was torn between thinking it was a butterfly bush or a hydrangea. The show confirmed it to be a hydrangea as the plant they showed, was like ours with just a couple of exceptions. The flower on their plant is a double whereas ours is a single. The leaves on theirs are oak leaf shaped whereas ours look more like a typical hydrangea. They explained this difference in leaf shape is because when seeded in the wild, many varieties will cross-breed. This cross-breeding causes all sorts of new varieties that the garden community just can't keep up with.
While my plant's flowers look like the flowers of the oak leaf hydrangea the leaves look like that of another variety. Regardless, at least I now know it is a hydrangea after all!! That's the important part to me because knowing that, I also know how to propagate it. We'll see if I'm successful :) fingers crossed y'all!! lol
We had some Florida company this weekend when Connie & Bobby stopped by to spend a little time with us. They had been to Pigeon Forge, TN and over to Kentucky to visit with some of Connie's family. They stopped to see us Friday night before heading back to FL on Saturday.
We took them down to see the swimming hole and we stuck our feet in the creek to cool off...well, Bobby went in quite a bit deeper but he cooled off even still. They seemed to enjoy the ride in my big red bronco and we're hoping they'll be able to stay longer next time. We're also hoping the swimming hole will be filled with water by then - for now, it's still empty. The creek is there and it does a fine job of cooling us off! It's so cold it's hard to get in much deeper than your knees. Come see for yourself! LOL
Tonight is basket night for me! My farmer emailed to say she hoped we would see basil, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and lettuce along with "rattlesnake" green beans. They are called this because they have lines or markings on them that resemble the markings on a snake. You would think I'd be tired of all the green beans but we didn't eat any of the ones I canned - they're for winter when you can't get them. The ones from the basket we'll have for dinner tomorrow!
I know it's hot in FL right now but the weatherman here says it's going to be hotter in TN this week than it is there. Now that's just darn-right wrong!! LOL It's supposed to be 97, 98 and 99 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Whew that's hot! I was hoping we could go see the Nationwide race at the Nashville Speedway on Saturday but it sounds like it's going to be too hot even for that. Bummer! Tickets are only $25-$30 each and that's a pretty good deal for a race. Oh well, I'll keep you posted on whether or not we make the event.
As for me and cooking over the weekend, well I didn't do much of it at all. We had steaks for dinner Friday night, the roast beef sandwiches Saturday night and nothing at all last night. I was too pooped to pop, as they say, and couldn't stand on my feet for another minute. Neither of us seemed to mind and when bedtime rolled around, we were both ready to hit the sack. I slept like a baby and woke up automatically at 3:40 am. Just in time to get up and get ready for work :) :)
My jars are all still on the bar and my pickles will need to be flipped when I get home. We still haven't seen Ruger but we look for him whenever we leave the house. With temperatures in the upper nineties we aren't likely to be out and about much this week. That's okay. We're both perfectly content to stay right there at the cabin. Obviously, I know how to keep busy :)
"The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion; and so let all young persons take their choice."
- William Makepeace Thackeray, 1811 - 1863
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Where Does The Time Go???
IT seems the days just fly right on by lately, don't they? Friday came and I couldn't wait to get home after being out of the office Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I was at work Thursday but that was really just a catch up day of sorts. Friday, I really wanted to be back home :)
So now where did I leave off??? Wow, it was still June last time I wrote a posting. Shame, shame, shame!! LOL Well, if that tells you anything, it tells you how busy things have been. So here is what the Farmer's Almanac had to say for July:
"The mower walks with scythe in hand, to yonder field away;
The grass he prostrates over the land;
How sweet the new made hay."
This rings true for me here in TN because everywhere we go there are farmers cutting and baling the new hay in their fields. It smells divine!! The fields show tracks where the farmer has been and the machinery sits idly by awaiting the next day's work. In some fields there are huge rolls of hay ready to be picked up and stored in the hay barns or sold to provide feed to another farmer's animals throughout the winter months. The hay barn itself is quite another thing to see altogether. I'll save that for winter writing :)
Meanwhile, deer are running to and from across the driveway and into the woods. Rabbits aplenty hop quickly through the newly mowed grass on the farm and even the occasional box turtle needs help getting to the other side of the road. Please mention to Rebecca that they don't scuttle here, they must be more relaxed because they just sort of trudge along until they get where they're going. hahahahaha!! There are turkeys eating quietly just far enough away from the dogs so as to not be heard and the darn black crows crowd the yard, making a piercing cawing noise that echos across the hills.
Such is life for us here on the farm in the hot, sweltering days of summer. July has indeed showed us just how hot it can be with the temperature at 99 degrees and a heat index making it feel like 106 degrees. I could be in FL if I wanted that! LOL These temperatures are by no means typical, so they say, rather it is a freakish heat wave that appears to be staying until sometime Thursday evening. Just as the winter was abnormally cold and snowy so too will the summer be abnormally hot and steamy. As always, we simply make our environment as comfortable as possible and take care not to get dehydrated.
Our 4th of July was pretty calm but the 5th of July was a blast - literally!! LOL We went to this guy's house where he and his brother set off all kinds of awesome fireworks and it's completely free. We filled the cooler, loaded it and our chairs into my big red truck and Wally drove us out to the property. We saw deer all along the way and watched for Ruger as we went. We still haven't found him - I wonder if we'll ever stop looking as we travel these little country back roads?
We set up our chairs on the edge of the lawn just as everyone else was doing. We had a great view and the fireworks were astounding as always. Too bad the people next to us talked and carried on the whole time the show was on. They were actually talking louder and louder so they could hear themselves over the banging and rumbling of the fireworks. It was kind of rude of them but what can you do? We made the best of it and enjoyed a breezy summer evening together. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen and as it ended we clapped and cheered and hoped he would do it again next year.
We loaded up the truck and headed back home without ever touching a paved road. I'm learning my way around these parts and could have driven us home without taking a wrong turn but Wally drove instead and that was just as well. I get to watch and take in all the scenery when he's driving :) :) :)
As I said before I had Tuesday and Wednesday off work and they were beautiful days. The weather was a bit cooler and the breeze continued to blow across the top of the hill so sitting on the porch was actually quite comfortable - especially when a summer shower kicked up and really cooled things off! We watched the birds drink every drop from my front porch feeder and have seen two of them go to fighting like you wouldn't believe! Indeed the little birds attack each other with a fierceness equal to lions. At this point we don't know which one prevails but always the fight goes on...if you're on the porch you're going to see them in action!
The whole time I was off work, I wanted to go to the Diner and get a cheeseburger. Well that was not to be as they were closed until Friday (after my return to work) due to the owner having her baby. While it wasn't very fair to me I suppose she did have the right to stay home and take care of the little one...lololol! Come Saturday - you better believe I was there for my cheeseburger!
I picked up a hair coloring kit from the Rite Aid store and finally got around to coloring my hair last Sunday. I've never done it myself so it was a little bit nerve-wracking to say the least. First, the instructions say to add bottle one to bottle two - no problem. Then the instructions say to shake until combined. Well, I did that but when I shook it, all I had was bubbles!! I'm not sure that was right????? I waited a few minutes thinking the bubbles would subside like they do in a glass or can of coke. So about five minutes later, bubbles still in tact, I decided to proceed - with caution :)
I donned the gloves that were included in the kit and pumped some of the color from the bottle into my hand. It was supposed to come out foamy. That didn't happen. It just sort of oozed from the pump instead. But since it was in my hand I went ahead and started rubbing it into my hair like I would if I were shampooing it. That's what the instructions said to do. I put a bunch of it on the grayer places and then asked Wally to tell me when 15 minutes had elapsed.
After 15 minutes, I pumped the rest of the bottle of color into my hands and washed it into my hair until there was nothing left in the bottle. It took quite some time to finish with it. When I was about 1/2 way through the bottle, the thing started pumping foam like it was supposed to do from the start and this made life much easier. However, when it says to use in a well-ventilated area, it certainly means it!! Oh the odor was terrible! But my hair is colored and it looks pretty decent if I do say so myself. Thanks to the advice of my friend Beverly, my gray hair is covered up for another few months :) :)
Let me say one thing before I finish this section...when you have long hair (and mine has grown like the weeds in my garden), you are mostly bent over forward with your hair tumbling towards the floor during the entire coloring process. There is no way to let it fall backwards without also coloring the back of your t-shirt or in my case...my back. I wore only a sport's bra with my stretchy pants for this attempt. It was a little bit smelly having the hair color so close to my face and it was a little bit uncomfortable having to bend over like that for the coloring process and then the rinsing process...for a good 1/2 hour to 45 minutes I was stuck like that!! This kit didn't come with a cap or a bag so I had to just twist my hair and loop it on top of my head until the coloring part was complete.
WHEW!! How do people do this all the time??? Neccy has different color hair every other month or so...don't worry, you won't catch me doing that! LOL
I got my tomatoes staked up while the heat of the day tried to bake the moisture from the ground. The tomatoes are doing very well despite the sweltering July heat. The one "Red Raspberry" tomato plant that Teri gave me is huge. It is only about 3 inches shorter than I am and has bloomed and dropped its blooms. I expect to see fruit just any day now! I'm hoping the yield is as great as the plant looks because it is a beautiful specimen to see. It is a slender plant but strong and vibrant. You wouldn't know it was 100 degrees out there when you look at that plant.
The German Queen is not faring quite so well. I don't know if it's the heat or the location or if this variety just plain isn't happy here but the plant isn't much bigger than it was when I planted it. It doesn't seem to want to grow taller and the bottom leaves all turned yellow. I clipped them off and I'm still hoping it makes it but it appears to suffer no matter what I do...Claudia advised me to sprinkle bone meal on the ground around it. I guess I'll give it a try in a last ditch effort to save it.
The 8 tomatoes I bought and planted from the co-op are proving to be winners in every respect! They have sturdy stalks, they are loaded with yellow blooms, they branched out before getting too tall and they are the darkest green I've ever seen. I had to use two stakes on each of them in order to support their weight. They aren't but about 2 1/2 feet tall and they have grown to be quite heavy for their size. The heat is of no concern to them and when I look at them I can tell they are going to provide a bounty of big, fat, red tomatoes. I may even have some green ones to fry up before this is all over and done with.
The beans did what they could to make a come-back but I think it was too late for them. I did pick a bean that was about 5 inches long but one bean does not a meal make LOL I guess it was one the rabbits somehow missed and it gave me a good idea of what I WOULD have had if the rabbits had left well enough alone. Not to worry, Darryl has hooked me up with a couple gallons of beans from his farmer lady (Mrs. Hilda) so I'll still have enough to can and put up for the winter. Meanwhile, my CSA basket provides us with enough beans to eat during the week. It's all good!
The turkeys had their babies and now we see the little ones (which I call turklets) wandering around the farm close behind their mommas. One afternoon as I was coming down the driveway I guess they felt a little threatened and they all flew up into the trees! I never saw such a thing before! There were two adults and about 10 turklets and every one of them flew at the same time. It was awesome to see. I hope the turklets survive the hawks and owls - they're just so darn cute!!
As I wrote in a previous posting, it seems much of the deer population had their babies later in the season this year. In May there were still pregnant does in the yard and that was way past time for them. We're seeing the fawns all over the place now and it's July for heaven's sake. They should have been born quite some time ago. While we were out driving around looking for Ruger, Wally saw a momma with two little babies up on the side of the road. Those babies still had their spots! They were simply adorable! To see twins is rare, or so I've heard, but this is the second set I've seen so I guess I've been pretty lucky :) :)
Well now here's story for you...I went grocery shopping Tuesday after work. I got home, got all the stuff unloaded from my car and started putting it all away. I bought pork chops, ham steaks and shrimp and was planning to cook the chops for dinner. I had a handful of stuff that needed to go in the big freezer outside so I grabbed the key from the drawer and out I went.
I unlocked it and opened the door and to my surprise, everything in it was defrosted! Oh boy. Yee Haw. How exciting. This is like the third time that I have had a freezer full of food defrost on me. Once Jarrett left the freezer door open and once Wally did. Now here I was with an entire upright freezer full of food that needed to be cooked or otherwise refrigerated and cooked within a couple of days. It was Tuesday - how nice.
I started cooking. I put frozen biscuits in the oven (they were beginning to thaw), I seasoned and set two big, huge roasts in the roaster at 350 degrees. I got out the flour and seasoned it then started dredging the tenderized pork tenderloin slices in it. I poured oil into two cast iron skillets and heated them up to start frying. These slices were cut pretty thin so it wasn't long before I could see them browning on the bottom and within minutes I was able to flip them over. Each skillet had 3 or 4 pieces in it and I think I refilled them both about 4 times to get all that pork cooked.
I set a cardboard box on the counter next to the stove and then tore a paper bag in half and put half in the box on which to drain the pork. I pulled out a good size piece of foil so I could cover what was already cooked while the rest fried up to crispy, golden goodness. When I was done and the meat had cooled down, I filled two gallon size freezer bags with fried pork tenderloin. Wow - that was a lot of work!
Meanwhile, the roasts were simmering away and I was busy rearranging the refrigerator. I had some leftover chicken that I set aside to take to Darryl and I had some squash (of course) that I needed to make into squash casserole - my third one so far this season. Claudia had given me two huge cucumbers so made cucumber salad with one and sliced up the other one for my lunch salad. That made a little more room! lol
We moved the rest of the meat from the freezer into a couple of coolers and covered it all with ice. Wally put most everything on the smoker this morning and I'll cook up the sausage when I get home. I figure I can cook it and then put it back in the freezer for use later on. We're eating the steaks tonight when Connie & Bobby come for dinner (they're up visiting from FL) and we'll probably have steaks again tomorrow night and Saturday so they don't go bad on us... I know it's way too much red meat to be eating in one week but what are our choices???? Thank goodness I put the hamburger meat in the freezer inside :) whew!!
To make room in the inside freezer, I took out all my little bags of vegetable scraps. I have enough to make two batches of chicken broth so come Saturday, guess what will be simmering on my stove top? I've got plenty to do besides that though because Darryl brought me a box of cucumbers and last night we picked up the 2 gallons of beans. I'll be making refrigerator pickles and canning beans while the chicken broth cooks.
Also on my list for the weekend is painting. Wally put a step on the ground in front of the porch so it's not such a high climb for me. It's not that I'm so short, it's just that he built it to accommodate his size and the porch is nothing for him to reach. It's not so easy for me. Anyway, with this new step I have no problem getting on the porch :) It needs a coat of barn red paint on it though so it will match the front doors.
If I don't wear myself out, I would also like to go down to the creek and see if I can find some flat rocks to use as stepping stones from my new step to the hitching posts. Won't that be pretty? I'll plant flowers along side of the stones and hope to heck they grow... lol!!
So it appears my weekend will be busy and if all goes well I'll get some good exercise and have a nice pretty walkway when I'm finished. I'll post some pictures but it would be better if you could just come see it for yourself???? LOL
"For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work." ~Doug Larson
So now where did I leave off??? Wow, it was still June last time I wrote a posting. Shame, shame, shame!! LOL Well, if that tells you anything, it tells you how busy things have been. So here is what the Farmer's Almanac had to say for July:
"The mower walks with scythe in hand, to yonder field away;
The grass he prostrates over the land;
How sweet the new made hay."
This rings true for me here in TN because everywhere we go there are farmers cutting and baling the new hay in their fields. It smells divine!! The fields show tracks where the farmer has been and the machinery sits idly by awaiting the next day's work. In some fields there are huge rolls of hay ready to be picked up and stored in the hay barns or sold to provide feed to another farmer's animals throughout the winter months. The hay barn itself is quite another thing to see altogether. I'll save that for winter writing :)
Meanwhile, deer are running to and from across the driveway and into the woods. Rabbits aplenty hop quickly through the newly mowed grass on the farm and even the occasional box turtle needs help getting to the other side of the road. Please mention to Rebecca that they don't scuttle here, they must be more relaxed because they just sort of trudge along until they get where they're going. hahahahaha!! There are turkeys eating quietly just far enough away from the dogs so as to not be heard and the darn black crows crowd the yard, making a piercing cawing noise that echos across the hills.
Such is life for us here on the farm in the hot, sweltering days of summer. July has indeed showed us just how hot it can be with the temperature at 99 degrees and a heat index making it feel like 106 degrees. I could be in FL if I wanted that! LOL These temperatures are by no means typical, so they say, rather it is a freakish heat wave that appears to be staying until sometime Thursday evening. Just as the winter was abnormally cold and snowy so too will the summer be abnormally hot and steamy. As always, we simply make our environment as comfortable as possible and take care not to get dehydrated.
Our 4th of July was pretty calm but the 5th of July was a blast - literally!! LOL We went to this guy's house where he and his brother set off all kinds of awesome fireworks and it's completely free. We filled the cooler, loaded it and our chairs into my big red truck and Wally drove us out to the property. We saw deer all along the way and watched for Ruger as we went. We still haven't found him - I wonder if we'll ever stop looking as we travel these little country back roads?
We set up our chairs on the edge of the lawn just as everyone else was doing. We had a great view and the fireworks were astounding as always. Too bad the people next to us talked and carried on the whole time the show was on. They were actually talking louder and louder so they could hear themselves over the banging and rumbling of the fireworks. It was kind of rude of them but what can you do? We made the best of it and enjoyed a breezy summer evening together. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen and as it ended we clapped and cheered and hoped he would do it again next year.
We loaded up the truck and headed back home without ever touching a paved road. I'm learning my way around these parts and could have driven us home without taking a wrong turn but Wally drove instead and that was just as well. I get to watch and take in all the scenery when he's driving :) :) :)
As I said before I had Tuesday and Wednesday off work and they were beautiful days. The weather was a bit cooler and the breeze continued to blow across the top of the hill so sitting on the porch was actually quite comfortable - especially when a summer shower kicked up and really cooled things off! We watched the birds drink every drop from my front porch feeder and have seen two of them go to fighting like you wouldn't believe! Indeed the little birds attack each other with a fierceness equal to lions. At this point we don't know which one prevails but always the fight goes on...if you're on the porch you're going to see them in action!
The whole time I was off work, I wanted to go to the Diner and get a cheeseburger. Well that was not to be as they were closed until Friday (after my return to work) due to the owner having her baby. While it wasn't very fair to me I suppose she did have the right to stay home and take care of the little one...lololol! Come Saturday - you better believe I was there for my cheeseburger!
I picked up a hair coloring kit from the Rite Aid store and finally got around to coloring my hair last Sunday. I've never done it myself so it was a little bit nerve-wracking to say the least. First, the instructions say to add bottle one to bottle two - no problem. Then the instructions say to shake until combined. Well, I did that but when I shook it, all I had was bubbles!! I'm not sure that was right????? I waited a few minutes thinking the bubbles would subside like they do in a glass or can of coke. So about five minutes later, bubbles still in tact, I decided to proceed - with caution :)
I donned the gloves that were included in the kit and pumped some of the color from the bottle into my hand. It was supposed to come out foamy. That didn't happen. It just sort of oozed from the pump instead. But since it was in my hand I went ahead and started rubbing it into my hair like I would if I were shampooing it. That's what the instructions said to do. I put a bunch of it on the grayer places and then asked Wally to tell me when 15 minutes had elapsed.
After 15 minutes, I pumped the rest of the bottle of color into my hands and washed it into my hair until there was nothing left in the bottle. It took quite some time to finish with it. When I was about 1/2 way through the bottle, the thing started pumping foam like it was supposed to do from the start and this made life much easier. However, when it says to use in a well-ventilated area, it certainly means it!! Oh the odor was terrible! But my hair is colored and it looks pretty decent if I do say so myself. Thanks to the advice of my friend Beverly, my gray hair is covered up for another few months :) :)
Let me say one thing before I finish this section...when you have long hair (and mine has grown like the weeds in my garden), you are mostly bent over forward with your hair tumbling towards the floor during the entire coloring process. There is no way to let it fall backwards without also coloring the back of your t-shirt or in my case...my back. I wore only a sport's bra with my stretchy pants for this attempt. It was a little bit smelly having the hair color so close to my face and it was a little bit uncomfortable having to bend over like that for the coloring process and then the rinsing process...for a good 1/2 hour to 45 minutes I was stuck like that!! This kit didn't come with a cap or a bag so I had to just twist my hair and loop it on top of my head until the coloring part was complete.
WHEW!! How do people do this all the time??? Neccy has different color hair every other month or so...don't worry, you won't catch me doing that! LOL
I got my tomatoes staked up while the heat of the day tried to bake the moisture from the ground. The tomatoes are doing very well despite the sweltering July heat. The one "Red Raspberry" tomato plant that Teri gave me is huge. It is only about 3 inches shorter than I am and has bloomed and dropped its blooms. I expect to see fruit just any day now! I'm hoping the yield is as great as the plant looks because it is a beautiful specimen to see. It is a slender plant but strong and vibrant. You wouldn't know it was 100 degrees out there when you look at that plant.
The German Queen is not faring quite so well. I don't know if it's the heat or the location or if this variety just plain isn't happy here but the plant isn't much bigger than it was when I planted it. It doesn't seem to want to grow taller and the bottom leaves all turned yellow. I clipped them off and I'm still hoping it makes it but it appears to suffer no matter what I do...Claudia advised me to sprinkle bone meal on the ground around it. I guess I'll give it a try in a last ditch effort to save it.
The 8 tomatoes I bought and planted from the co-op are proving to be winners in every respect! They have sturdy stalks, they are loaded with yellow blooms, they branched out before getting too tall and they are the darkest green I've ever seen. I had to use two stakes on each of them in order to support their weight. They aren't but about 2 1/2 feet tall and they have grown to be quite heavy for their size. The heat is of no concern to them and when I look at them I can tell they are going to provide a bounty of big, fat, red tomatoes. I may even have some green ones to fry up before this is all over and done with.
The beans did what they could to make a come-back but I think it was too late for them. I did pick a bean that was about 5 inches long but one bean does not a meal make LOL I guess it was one the rabbits somehow missed and it gave me a good idea of what I WOULD have had if the rabbits had left well enough alone. Not to worry, Darryl has hooked me up with a couple gallons of beans from his farmer lady (Mrs. Hilda) so I'll still have enough to can and put up for the winter. Meanwhile, my CSA basket provides us with enough beans to eat during the week. It's all good!
The turkeys had their babies and now we see the little ones (which I call turklets) wandering around the farm close behind their mommas. One afternoon as I was coming down the driveway I guess they felt a little threatened and they all flew up into the trees! I never saw such a thing before! There were two adults and about 10 turklets and every one of them flew at the same time. It was awesome to see. I hope the turklets survive the hawks and owls - they're just so darn cute!!
As I wrote in a previous posting, it seems much of the deer population had their babies later in the season this year. In May there were still pregnant does in the yard and that was way past time for them. We're seeing the fawns all over the place now and it's July for heaven's sake. They should have been born quite some time ago. While we were out driving around looking for Ruger, Wally saw a momma with two little babies up on the side of the road. Those babies still had their spots! They were simply adorable! To see twins is rare, or so I've heard, but this is the second set I've seen so I guess I've been pretty lucky :) :)
Well now here's story for you...I went grocery shopping Tuesday after work. I got home, got all the stuff unloaded from my car and started putting it all away. I bought pork chops, ham steaks and shrimp and was planning to cook the chops for dinner. I had a handful of stuff that needed to go in the big freezer outside so I grabbed the key from the drawer and out I went.
I unlocked it and opened the door and to my surprise, everything in it was defrosted! Oh boy. Yee Haw. How exciting. This is like the third time that I have had a freezer full of food defrost on me. Once Jarrett left the freezer door open and once Wally did. Now here I was with an entire upright freezer full of food that needed to be cooked or otherwise refrigerated and cooked within a couple of days. It was Tuesday - how nice.
I started cooking. I put frozen biscuits in the oven (they were beginning to thaw), I seasoned and set two big, huge roasts in the roaster at 350 degrees. I got out the flour and seasoned it then started dredging the tenderized pork tenderloin slices in it. I poured oil into two cast iron skillets and heated them up to start frying. These slices were cut pretty thin so it wasn't long before I could see them browning on the bottom and within minutes I was able to flip them over. Each skillet had 3 or 4 pieces in it and I think I refilled them both about 4 times to get all that pork cooked.
I set a cardboard box on the counter next to the stove and then tore a paper bag in half and put half in the box on which to drain the pork. I pulled out a good size piece of foil so I could cover what was already cooked while the rest fried up to crispy, golden goodness. When I was done and the meat had cooled down, I filled two gallon size freezer bags with fried pork tenderloin. Wow - that was a lot of work!
Meanwhile, the roasts were simmering away and I was busy rearranging the refrigerator. I had some leftover chicken that I set aside to take to Darryl and I had some squash (of course) that I needed to make into squash casserole - my third one so far this season. Claudia had given me two huge cucumbers so made cucumber salad with one and sliced up the other one for my lunch salad. That made a little more room! lol
We moved the rest of the meat from the freezer into a couple of coolers and covered it all with ice. Wally put most everything on the smoker this morning and I'll cook up the sausage when I get home. I figure I can cook it and then put it back in the freezer for use later on. We're eating the steaks tonight when Connie & Bobby come for dinner (they're up visiting from FL) and we'll probably have steaks again tomorrow night and Saturday so they don't go bad on us... I know it's way too much red meat to be eating in one week but what are our choices???? Thank goodness I put the hamburger meat in the freezer inside :) whew!!
To make room in the inside freezer, I took out all my little bags of vegetable scraps. I have enough to make two batches of chicken broth so come Saturday, guess what will be simmering on my stove top? I've got plenty to do besides that though because Darryl brought me a box of cucumbers and last night we picked up the 2 gallons of beans. I'll be making refrigerator pickles and canning beans while the chicken broth cooks.
Also on my list for the weekend is painting. Wally put a step on the ground in front of the porch so it's not such a high climb for me. It's not that I'm so short, it's just that he built it to accommodate his size and the porch is nothing for him to reach. It's not so easy for me. Anyway, with this new step I have no problem getting on the porch :) It needs a coat of barn red paint on it though so it will match the front doors.
If I don't wear myself out, I would also like to go down to the creek and see if I can find some flat rocks to use as stepping stones from my new step to the hitching posts. Won't that be pretty? I'll plant flowers along side of the stones and hope to heck they grow... lol!!
So it appears my weekend will be busy and if all goes well I'll get some good exercise and have a nice pretty walkway when I'm finished. I'll post some pictures but it would be better if you could just come see it for yourself???? LOL
"For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work." ~Doug Larson
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