We spent a wonderful week up in Vermont visiting family and participating in the Relay for Life. Too bad it rained 4 out of the 5 days we were there, but we still managed to have a great time. Hubs had to stay behind at home due to his not accruing enough vacation days at his new job, so it was just me, my sister and our two kids on this trip.
It took us about 7 hours to get there but luckily, the kids managed to behave nearly the entire way. It was a beautiful day for traveling--the sun was out, the sky was blue--and we had no traffic worries getting there. We arrived at Lake Bomoseen to find gorgeous 75 degree weather and had two beautiful sunny days before the rain set in.
We spent the next day going on a hike in the woods and relaxing by the lake. Only we "girls" went on the hike; the boy decided to stay behind and work on his tan. We hiked up an old logging trail behind the lake and it was nice to be in the cool, shady woods as the day got hotter. First nature encounter happened to be with a painted turtle who was strolling down the same path as us. I picked him up to get a picture and noticed a funny-shaped, dark blob of something on the side of his shell. At first, we thought it might be some poop (!) but then I noticed it was moving. My second thought was that maybe the turtle had a crack in his shell and it was his flesh bulging out the side. Then, we realized it was actually a leech stuck to the turtle's shell! I managed to pry the leech off with a stick and we sent the turtle on his way. I threw the leech in the bushes.
The next nature encounter almost gave me a heart attack. My niece was "on point" out in front of me and my sister was behind me. Suddenly, my niece started shrieking and jumping up and down. I looked over her shoulder to see what she was seeing and to my horror, saw a snake on the path in front of her. Everyone who knows me knows how much I am terrified of snakes. I started screaming and jumping up and down and my sister was standing behind me going, "What, what?" Luckily, it was only a little garter snake but it still freaked me out. The fact that I didn't pass out when I saw the snake I attribute to t.v.'s "The Crocodile Hunter"--the watching of which helped to desensitize me somewhat to snakes. RIP Steve Irwin
The rest of the hike was pretty uneventful and we returned to the camp ready to cool off in the lake. Now I have been visiting Lake Bomoseen for over 20 years now and am well familiar with how "warm" the lake gets during the summer. Typically, it feels as if the water temperature is barely a smidge above the temperature of the water during the Polar Bear Plunge. So, I decided I didn't want to actually swim but rather just stick my legs in the water off the dock. Surprise, surprise--the water was 80 degrees! My sis and niece and the boy got in and swam while I just hung out at the dock. My sis did freak out a little bit when a fish came a little too close to her but other than that, they had a good time swimming. Ironically, my niece managed to catch that same fish when she went fishing. She let it go after catching it but it still hung out in the same area. Turns out, we found out from Hub's niece that same fish is the one who likes to bite swimmers right there in that spot by the dock.
The boy made us a fire that evening and the kids enjoyed roasting marshmallows. The next day, the rain started and we decided to do other activities that didn't involve being outside. We went to visit one set of my in-laws who live in Ludlow, Vermont. They invited us to join them for the strawberry festival at Plymouth State Park for dinner, so we did. Even though it was pouring down rain, we really enjoyed ourselves. The people were friendly, the kids loved their strawberry shortcake, and even though I lost my hot dog when I slipped in the mud, we had a great time. The boy went back to spend the night with his grandparents while we returned to the lake.
The next day, my other set of in-laws joined us at the lake for a cookout. It was really nice visiting with them and it was really a joy to see my mother-in-law looking so well after her recent bout with cancer. We saw the folks again when we drove down to Rutland to participate in the Relay for Life cancer walk. There were so many positive people there that day that it really was a celebration in a way. We walked quite a few laps and spent time visiting with relatives who had also come up for the walk. Quite a few family pics were taken that day!
Probably the highlight of the trip was taking the kids to the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory up in Waterbury, VT. Took about an hour and a half to get there but it was a very scenic drive. I love how folks in New England decorate their yards and houses with beautiful flowers and plants. I definitely got some ideas for sprucing up the homestead! The kids enjoyed the tour and got to try a new flavor, "Stephen Colbert's 'Americone Dream.'" It's a vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered waffle cone pieces and a swirl of caramel. It was really tasty! We found that it was cheaper to buy two pints of B & J's ice cream at the supermarket (with a coupon!) than it was to buy the kids cones at the factory.
We spent quiet evenings up at the camp; the kids played games and cards, while my sis and I worked on a puzzle. Unfortunately, the one she chose turned out to be nearly impossible to finish so we gave up and started on another one at the last minute--we actually finished that one.
No surprise, the day we left, it was still pouring down rain. We managed to squeeze in a short visit at the Vermont Country Store in Rockingham (we'd already visited the one in Weston a few days before) before getting on the highway. We stopped for lunch at my sister's grandfather's house in Ware, MA. He is 92 years young and still as sharp as a tack. He made us spaghetti and meatballs for lunch and we had a nice visit with him and Rachel's aunt Millie. All too soon, we had to hop back in the truck for our trip home.
We decided to stop in the town where my mom grew up, Brimfield, MA, to see how much damage had been done by the recent tornadoes that hit Central MA at the beginning of June. I was glad to see my grandparents' former home still standing and looking not much different from when my grandparents lived there 10 years ago. It looks as if some organic farmers have taken over the place as there were vegetable gardens galore and the yard was sectioned off into different pastures. We saw that they had horses (as my grandparents did) but they also had a herd of sheep which were shaded in the pattern of holstein cows, and a chicken coop with a bunch of chickens running around. I was very glad to see that the place was still "farm-like" instead of being "yuppy-fied."
We then checked out the tornado damage a few miles away. Even though I have lived in Nebraska, which was known as "tornado alley," I never expected to see the kind of devastation in the area where I grew up that I witnessed that day. It looked as if someone had taken a giant weed whacker to the forest. Everywhere we looked, huge trees were snapped in half as if they'd been matchsticks. Houses were unrecognizable as dwellings and were instead humps of building material with the occasional recognizable door or window sticking out. Cars were flattened or crumpled up and there was so much metal--it was all bent and twisted around stuff on the ground. Even three weeks later, the air was still filled with the scent of pine resin. I felt as if there were two or three of those pine tree air-fresheners in the truck with us. Around us, people were still cleaning up with chainsaws and pitchforks and brooms. I felt almost like we were trespassing on their disaster so we didn't stick around too long.
We ended up spending an insane amount of time getting home due to traffic and the crazy driving habits of people in Connecticut and New Jersey. I have never seen so many reckless drivers in my life. First, they'd tailgate the person in front of them at excessively high speeds, and then they'd jam on the brakes in order to avoid the car in front of them when traffic stopped. All in all, it was a pretty hair-raising trip home and I actually had muscle cramps in my arms from gripping the steering wheel so tightly!
I was happy to see that our garden had been doing quite well during my absence. There are tons of unripe tomatoes on our vines and I now have some cucumbers growing--they were still flowers when I left. The ducks were insanely happy to hear my voice and almost ran me down in their eagerness to greet me! I have never seen them do that before so they must have missed me. :) And, as we suspected, we now have two boy ducks and two girl ducks. Thought we had four girls up until about two weeks ago, but two of them seemed to be turning into boys.
First, we noticed their voices sound different. I did a little research and found that only girl ducks truly quack--boy ducks don't. My friend who also keeps ducks told me the males had raspy voices. Hubs and I decided to test this theory out so we cornered the little darlings to see who was who. He, of course, went for his beloved yellow duck Daisy, while I grabbed one of the brown ducks. Daisy quacked so loudly, I thought she was going to break the sound barrier. Yep, definitely a girl. I had Chico (Jeremy's duck) in my arms and he sounded like a duck with laryngitis--a boy for sure. Then we found that Lily is also a girl, while Delta is a boy.
Turns out, the boys also grew blue wing tips on their feathers while I was gone, and they are both a lot bigger than the girls. Hubs is already talking about getting more ducks to increase the amount of eggs we will be getting but I'm not sure about that. We are already "flying under the radar" so to speak with the neighborhood association and I don't want to push it. Our neighbors haven't complained yet so I'm hoping to keep everything on the down-low, duck-wise. I think a large flock of ducks might attract more attention that the four we have now!
So, while it's good to be home, I'm not looking forward to all of the laundry that I have to catch up on, and I still have a lot of projects that I started before vacation that need to be finished. I sure wish I could have another week off just to catch up on everything!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
My Husband is a Genius! (or, The Benefits of Dirty Duck Water)
Yes, you read that right, I'm officially classifying my husband as a "genius." What else would you call someone who can come up with some of the craziest innovations you can think of?
For instance, last summer, after we picked apples, he started craving apple cider. Not the cider that you buy in a grocery store, mind you, but the cider that they sell at road side stands and produce markets in Vermont. Being the handy guy that he is, Hubs decided to make his own cider press. Using an old wooden box my dad had made, a car jack, and a pair of old mesh curtains, he managed to crank out about a gallon of cider. After having a glass of it, he decided that while it was really good, he was going to make it "better" by letting it turn hard. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that in order to get "hard cider," you have to add some form of yeast to it, which we didn't do. The result was some good-quality apple cider vinegar instead. We're going to get it right this year, I'm certain.
This time, he has really come up with something truly innovative! As you all know, we moved the ducks outside to their new outdoor pen. We also bought a kiddie pool from Walmart for them to swim in. I didn't realize, however, what dirty little girls we have and was dismayed to find out how dirty their "pond" got after a few days. I didn't like the idea of just dumping the pool out on the ground and wasting all that water. So, then I started bailing it out, a little bit at a time, with my watering can and with that, I would water the garden. I decided to do a little experiment in which I watered some of the plants with the "dirty duck water" and the others I watered with plain water. Not surprisingly, the plants I watered with the DDW ended up growing faster and are healthier looking than the plants watered with just plain water.
I showed Hubs the results of my experiment and I was not surprised to see the cogs & gears whirring around in his mind as he thought about how he could improve on my little discovery. I was not disappointed! A few days later, he showed me his newest invention and I was completely blown away.
He procured an old above ground swimming pool pump from a friend who was demo-ing his pool and secured the pump to the bottom of the kiddie pool. He put a bathtub plug in the top of the hole to keep the water inside the pool. Then, he attached our garden hose to the end of the outtake hose of the pump.
When I turned the pump on, voila! I had the double benefits of a) getting the duck pool drained without swamping their duck yard and making a muddy mess, and b) the ability to water the entire garden with DDW, allowing me to recycle the water without wasting it and giving our plants natural fertilizer! Such a simple thing I know, but for me, a person who hates wasting water and loves to recycle, this little contraption my Hubs invented is amazing. It just goes to show what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it.
In other homesteading news, we had the state beehive inspector pay us a visit on Monday. Yes, there is such a person and boy, do I want her job! All she does is visit everyone's beehives and inspects them for health, sanitation, and disease and writes reports about them. Our hive passed inspection and she said that Toddy was doing an excellent job with them. This was good news to hear, as we had found out only a few weeks ago that our queen bee did die, and so we had to get a replacement queen. Our hive now has a shiny MD State Agriculture sticker on it, showing we passed. It honestly looks like those stickers the state puts on the gas pumps to show that they are legit.
The ducks are doing quite well and are the delight of the neighborhood kids who love to come down and help "feed the duckies." They are fully feathered with no "down" and have finally mastered going up the ramp to get into their pool. It took me three weeks and a lot of treats to coax them up the ramp so I'm pretty proud of them.
We have had a lot of fun experimenting on "what the ducks like to eat." Not only do they enjoy their duck corn, but they also enjoy: peas, green beans, lima beans, black beans, lettuce, arugula, apples, grass, and onions. I bought a bag of mixed vegetables (corn, limas, green beans & carrots) and thought they'd eat it all up. Surprisingly, they ate everything but the carrots! I was sure that they'd eat them as they love the carrot peels that I give them, but I guess not. Maybe it was the size or texture of the carrots--who knows?
Like I said previously, the garden is doing very well. Our cabbages have started to "head up" and we have tiny tomatoes the size of peas. Speaking of peas, mine are ready to pop at any second. I will probably have to pick them today or tomorrow. Last night, while the neighborhood kids were over, I let them each have a pea pod so they could taste the peas inside. Not surprisingly, none of them had ever seen a pea in a pod, never mind tasted a fresh pea. They were completely won over and ran around tasting other things in the garden like my herbs.
I still have a hard time believing that in one generation, for the most part, we've lost the art of providing for ourselves from our own yards and our own hard work. All of my grandparents kept gardens and some livestock and that is where I've learned most of what I know. Toddy's grandfather was a big gardener as well and was a wealth of information. My parents grew flowers and herbs, and sometimes tomatoes, but nothing like what my grandparents did.
Most of the people I talk to or show our garden to, can't believe that you can grow enough food to feed a family of five. The trick is, and this is something we've learned from experience, is that you have to eat seasonally. We didn't do so well on that last summer, but I chalk that up to not planting enough, early enough, and a lack of experience on our part. If all the lettuce came up at once, then you eat salads every day. When we got sick of salad, I started mixing the lettuce and arugula in with the ducks' food and they ate less "bought" food. If you end up with a bumper crop of tomatoes, you make spaghetti sauce, salsa, diced tomates, tomato soup, and you can it all to use for later. I'm determined not to repeat the same mistakes as last year! With that being said, it looks like we're going to be eating peas all week...
For instance, last summer, after we picked apples, he started craving apple cider. Not the cider that you buy in a grocery store, mind you, but the cider that they sell at road side stands and produce markets in Vermont. Being the handy guy that he is, Hubs decided to make his own cider press. Using an old wooden box my dad had made, a car jack, and a pair of old mesh curtains, he managed to crank out about a gallon of cider. After having a glass of it, he decided that while it was really good, he was going to make it "better" by letting it turn hard. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that in order to get "hard cider," you have to add some form of yeast to it, which we didn't do. The result was some good-quality apple cider vinegar instead. We're going to get it right this year, I'm certain.
This time, he has really come up with something truly innovative! As you all know, we moved the ducks outside to their new outdoor pen. We also bought a kiddie pool from Walmart for them to swim in. I didn't realize, however, what dirty little girls we have and was dismayed to find out how dirty their "pond" got after a few days. I didn't like the idea of just dumping the pool out on the ground and wasting all that water. So, then I started bailing it out, a little bit at a time, with my watering can and with that, I would water the garden. I decided to do a little experiment in which I watered some of the plants with the "dirty duck water" and the others I watered with plain water. Not surprisingly, the plants I watered with the DDW ended up growing faster and are healthier looking than the plants watered with just plain water.
I showed Hubs the results of my experiment and I was not surprised to see the cogs & gears whirring around in his mind as he thought about how he could improve on my little discovery. I was not disappointed! A few days later, he showed me his newest invention and I was completely blown away.
He procured an old above ground swimming pool pump from a friend who was demo-ing his pool and secured the pump to the bottom of the kiddie pool. He put a bathtub plug in the top of the hole to keep the water inside the pool. Then, he attached our garden hose to the end of the outtake hose of the pump.
When I turned the pump on, voila! I had the double benefits of a) getting the duck pool drained without swamping their duck yard and making a muddy mess, and b) the ability to water the entire garden with DDW, allowing me to recycle the water without wasting it and giving our plants natural fertilizer! Such a simple thing I know, but for me, a person who hates wasting water and loves to recycle, this little contraption my Hubs invented is amazing. It just goes to show what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it.
In other homesteading news, we had the state beehive inspector pay us a visit on Monday. Yes, there is such a person and boy, do I want her job! All she does is visit everyone's beehives and inspects them for health, sanitation, and disease and writes reports about them. Our hive passed inspection and she said that Toddy was doing an excellent job with them. This was good news to hear, as we had found out only a few weeks ago that our queen bee did die, and so we had to get a replacement queen. Our hive now has a shiny MD State Agriculture sticker on it, showing we passed. It honestly looks like those stickers the state puts on the gas pumps to show that they are legit.
The ducks are doing quite well and are the delight of the neighborhood kids who love to come down and help "feed the duckies." They are fully feathered with no "down" and have finally mastered going up the ramp to get into their pool. It took me three weeks and a lot of treats to coax them up the ramp so I'm pretty proud of them.
We have had a lot of fun experimenting on "what the ducks like to eat." Not only do they enjoy their duck corn, but they also enjoy: peas, green beans, lima beans, black beans, lettuce, arugula, apples, grass, and onions. I bought a bag of mixed vegetables (corn, limas, green beans & carrots) and thought they'd eat it all up. Surprisingly, they ate everything but the carrots! I was sure that they'd eat them as they love the carrot peels that I give them, but I guess not. Maybe it was the size or texture of the carrots--who knows?
Like I said previously, the garden is doing very well. Our cabbages have started to "head up" and we have tiny tomatoes the size of peas. Speaking of peas, mine are ready to pop at any second. I will probably have to pick them today or tomorrow. Last night, while the neighborhood kids were over, I let them each have a pea pod so they could taste the peas inside. Not surprisingly, none of them had ever seen a pea in a pod, never mind tasted a fresh pea. They were completely won over and ran around tasting other things in the garden like my herbs.
I still have a hard time believing that in one generation, for the most part, we've lost the art of providing for ourselves from our own yards and our own hard work. All of my grandparents kept gardens and some livestock and that is where I've learned most of what I know. Toddy's grandfather was a big gardener as well and was a wealth of information. My parents grew flowers and herbs, and sometimes tomatoes, but nothing like what my grandparents did.
Most of the people I talk to or show our garden to, can't believe that you can grow enough food to feed a family of five. The trick is, and this is something we've learned from experience, is that you have to eat seasonally. We didn't do so well on that last summer, but I chalk that up to not planting enough, early enough, and a lack of experience on our part. If all the lettuce came up at once, then you eat salads every day. When we got sick of salad, I started mixing the lettuce and arugula in with the ducks' food and they ate less "bought" food. If you end up with a bumper crop of tomatoes, you make spaghetti sauce, salsa, diced tomates, tomato soup, and you can it all to use for later. I'm determined not to repeat the same mistakes as last year! With that being said, it looks like we're going to be eating peas all week...
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Pickle Juice Pork Chops
I know, this sounds insane, but it really is a delicious way to cook otherwise boring pork chops. They come out so tender, they practically melt in your mouth. Here's how to make these babies:
Pork chops--either bone-in or boneless, up to you (I usually make about 8 or so for leftovers the next day)
2 eggs
1/4-1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 pkg. Progresso Italian style Panko breadcrumbs
1 jar of leftover Claussen garlic dill pickle juice (about a cup or so of pickle juice if you don't want to use Claussen--I use it because they are my favorite pickles and there are huge chunks of garlic and peppercorns in the juice).
Oil, for frying.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Drizzle oil in a large skillet and bring up to medium high heat. Pour pickle juice into a pan and bring to a boil. Set up three pie plates or bowls. In the first one, mix the flour with the salt and pepper. In the second, beat the eggs and the milk together. In the third plate, pour out 1/3 of the package of Panko.
Dip a pork chops into the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, and finally into the Panko, coating both sides of each chop. As you use up the Panko, pour just a little more out at a time. If you pour out the entire package at once, the Panko tends to get soggy and won't stick to the new chops. I tend to pour out 1/3 of the package at a time with good results.
Brown the pork chops on each side for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Add more oil if breading starts to look dry. Place chops into a baking pan or casserole. Carefully pour boiling pickle juice all over pork chops. Cover pan with foil and put it in the oven. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes for regular sized pork chops. If you're using thinly sliced chops, bake for 20-25 minutes. I serve mine with Stovetop Cornbread stuffing. Enjoy!
Pork chops--either bone-in or boneless, up to you (I usually make about 8 or so for leftovers the next day)
2 eggs
1/4-1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 pkg. Progresso Italian style Panko breadcrumbs
1 jar of leftover Claussen garlic dill pickle juice (about a cup or so of pickle juice if you don't want to use Claussen--I use it because they are my favorite pickles and there are huge chunks of garlic and peppercorns in the juice).
Oil, for frying.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Drizzle oil in a large skillet and bring up to medium high heat. Pour pickle juice into a pan and bring to a boil. Set up three pie plates or bowls. In the first one, mix the flour with the salt and pepper. In the second, beat the eggs and the milk together. In the third plate, pour out 1/3 of the package of Panko.
Dip a pork chops into the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, and finally into the Panko, coating both sides of each chop. As you use up the Panko, pour just a little more out at a time. If you pour out the entire package at once, the Panko tends to get soggy and won't stick to the new chops. I tend to pour out 1/3 of the package at a time with good results.
Brown the pork chops on each side for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Add more oil if breading starts to look dry. Place chops into a baking pan or casserole. Carefully pour boiling pickle juice all over pork chops. Cover pan with foil and put it in the oven. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes for regular sized pork chops. If you're using thinly sliced chops, bake for 20-25 minutes. I serve mine with Stovetop Cornbread stuffing. Enjoy!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Our duckies are really growing!
Since it's been a bit since I talked about our little feathered friends, I thought I'd give everyone an update. To put it mildly, they have had a growth explosion in the past week! When we first got them, we were able to hold each one in the palms of our hands. We were also able to pick up all four at once when we needed to move them during cage cleaning. Now, it takes two hands to pick one duckling up and picking up all four at once, fuggedabout it! I will post some photos later of the duckies.
They are about 8-10" tall and about the same length. They have all of their feathers and two of them have tail feathers that are trying to turn up. It may turn out that Daisy & Delta are actually boy ducks. :) They are so soft and I love petting them but they still go nuts when you try to pick them up. They quiet down once I have one in my arms, but then the others freak out because their brother/sister is missing!
They eat like crazy and love swimming in their cake pan pond. I have to change their water a lot more now since they splash it out more with their bigger bodies and crazy antics. I bought a 5 lb. bag of chicken feed (Purina Flock Raiser) and one bag of chick grit and both are almost gone. They need the grit to help them digest their food. Good thing I only paid $2 for the duck feeder as they soon will not be able to get their bills through the holes. In my opinion, that's actually a good thing, because that thing is a pain in the rear to fill up--I always end up spilling feed all over the floor.
We ended up having to move to a bigger pen last night. They were getting too big for the Rubbermaid tub we had them in. We improvised a kind of pen using one of those "under the bed" plastic tubs and some leftover fencing from last year's garden. They did not enjoy the moving process AT ALL. At one point, Chico escaped and Toddy and I looked like idiots trying to wrangle this one little duckling around the basement. We finally caught him/her and it was back into the pen for our little escapee. They seem to enjoy the new set up, especially since their bedding is a lot drier now that it's farther from the swimming pool than it was in the old tub.
I got some tips from one of my friends (another duck mama) and I think what we're going to do when they get bigger is to put down plastic sheeting and corral them with an old play yard. We're trying to score a free chicken coop on Craigslist but the people haven't responded back yet. If they don't, the plan is to put an extension on the wooden dog house that we got for $10. If we weren't white trash enough already, now we are putting in pop-outs on a dog house...
The garden is doing very well. My lettuce is just about ready and the mustard greens are ready. We never had them before and so decided to try them, but neither of us like them so I think Toddy is going to take them to work to see if anyone there likes them. Trial & error, I guess. It turns out, we are going to have a butt-load of tomatoes on our hands but I am not going to complain in the least. I can always can them and make tons of my favorite salsa. Not to mention, diced tomatoes and spaghetti sauce will also be on the list!
The bees are doing well. We figured out that we made a rookie mistake by putting the hive in the shade to keep them cool. Wrong! Turns out, they LIKE the heat and are more productive when the hive is warmer. Duh. So, Toddy got all of his bee clothing on and moved the hive to a sunny spot this past weekend. Now, they are reallllly buzzing around and ramped up their honeycomb production. We still won't get honey until next year but at least we figured out our mistake before it was too late.
The pizza oven is still being worked on. Hubs and his step-father laid the foundation for it and the fire bricks are laid out. He decided to go with a hob-style oven (picture of what one looks like below) as it's cheaper and you don't have to use as much bricks and cement.
I wish ours would turn out to be as pretty of a green color as this one, but it will most likely be a reddish- brown as that is the color of Maryland clay soil. Should be a neat thing to have though as we both love homemade pizzas and homemade bread.
I will FINALLY be making Toddy's Rhubarb Pudding Cake this weekend. It kinda got put on the back burner with everything else going on, but I am determined to follow through on it. Not only did I promise Hubs, but I need to let the Vermonters know how it turned out. I'll let y'all know, too...
They are about 8-10" tall and about the same length. They have all of their feathers and two of them have tail feathers that are trying to turn up. It may turn out that Daisy & Delta are actually boy ducks. :) They are so soft and I love petting them but they still go nuts when you try to pick them up. They quiet down once I have one in my arms, but then the others freak out because their brother/sister is missing!
They eat like crazy and love swimming in their cake pan pond. I have to change their water a lot more now since they splash it out more with their bigger bodies and crazy antics. I bought a 5 lb. bag of chicken feed (Purina Flock Raiser) and one bag of chick grit and both are almost gone. They need the grit to help them digest their food. Good thing I only paid $2 for the duck feeder as they soon will not be able to get their bills through the holes. In my opinion, that's actually a good thing, because that thing is a pain in the rear to fill up--I always end up spilling feed all over the floor.
We ended up having to move to a bigger pen last night. They were getting too big for the Rubbermaid tub we had them in. We improvised a kind of pen using one of those "under the bed" plastic tubs and some leftover fencing from last year's garden. They did not enjoy the moving process AT ALL. At one point, Chico escaped and Toddy and I looked like idiots trying to wrangle this one little duckling around the basement. We finally caught him/her and it was back into the pen for our little escapee. They seem to enjoy the new set up, especially since their bedding is a lot drier now that it's farther from the swimming pool than it was in the old tub.
I got some tips from one of my friends (another duck mama) and I think what we're going to do when they get bigger is to put down plastic sheeting and corral them with an old play yard. We're trying to score a free chicken coop on Craigslist but the people haven't responded back yet. If they don't, the plan is to put an extension on the wooden dog house that we got for $10. If we weren't white trash enough already, now we are putting in pop-outs on a dog house...
The garden is doing very well. My lettuce is just about ready and the mustard greens are ready. We never had them before and so decided to try them, but neither of us like them so I think Toddy is going to take them to work to see if anyone there likes them. Trial & error, I guess. It turns out, we are going to have a butt-load of tomatoes on our hands but I am not going to complain in the least. I can always can them and make tons of my favorite salsa. Not to mention, diced tomatoes and spaghetti sauce will also be on the list!
The bees are doing well. We figured out that we made a rookie mistake by putting the hive in the shade to keep them cool. Wrong! Turns out, they LIKE the heat and are more productive when the hive is warmer. Duh. So, Toddy got all of his bee clothing on and moved the hive to a sunny spot this past weekend. Now, they are reallllly buzzing around and ramped up their honeycomb production. We still won't get honey until next year but at least we figured out our mistake before it was too late.
The pizza oven is still being worked on. Hubs and his step-father laid the foundation for it and the fire bricks are laid out. He decided to go with a hob-style oven (picture of what one looks like below) as it's cheaper and you don't have to use as much bricks and cement.
I will FINALLY be making Toddy's Rhubarb Pudding Cake this weekend. It kinda got put on the back burner with everything else going on, but I am determined to follow through on it. Not only did I promise Hubs, but I need to let the Vermonters know how it turned out. I'll let y'all know, too...
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Wasabi-Rosemary Crusted Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes and Glazed Carrots
Note: to make this recipe, you'll need two vital ingredients from Penzey's spices--my favorite spice company. They are really inexpensive but their spices are of high quality. They have an online catalog and their shipping is reasonable. The closest retail store to us is in Rockville, MD (about an hour away) but it is totally worth it to visit the store as you get to smell samples of each spice mixture and they usually have recipe cards for different meals. I made this recipe up on my own but theirs are just as good! www.penzeys.com
Wasabi-Rosemary Crusted Pot Roast
1 pot roast 5-7 lbs.
10 cloves of garlic
Penzey's dried wasabi powder (about 1 TBSP, divided)
Penzey's cracked rosemary (about 1 TBSP, divided)
salt, to taste
coarsely ground pepper, to taste
1/4 C. soy sauce
1 package McCormick's brown gravy
1 C. water
Use either a large stock pot or a dutch oven. Place the whole garlic cloves on the bottom of the pan and drizzle them with some olive oil. Lay the roast on top of the garlic cloves. Sprinkle the roast with the wasabi powder, cracked rosemary, and salt and pepper. Pour the soy sauce around the sides of the roast. Mix the gravy mix with the cup of water and pour around the sides of the roast. Put a lid on the pan and bring the roast to a boil, then simmer it for about 45 min. to an hour. Turn roast over and sprinkle the rest of the wasabi powder, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook until roast is tender. Let the roast rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes before carving. Strain the sauce and serve as a gravy.
Mashed Potatoes
5 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and washed, and cut into 1" cubes
1 stick butter
1/4-1/2 C. milk, to taste
1-2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. coarsely ground pepper
I use a pressure cooker to cook my potatoes but not everyone has a pressure cooker. It definitely cuts down on your cooking time! If using a conventional pan, cover the potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Boil the potatoes for about 15-20 min. or until potatoes are fork tender. When potatoes are done cooking, pour them into a strainer and let them sit for 5 min. to dry out. Using the same pan you cooked the potatoes in, melt the stick of butter with the milk, salt and pepper. When all ingredients are "liquidy," add potatoes back to the pan and mash them. I use an electric hand mixer. Mash until smooth and check seasonings to see if you need to add more salt. That's it!
Glazed Carrots
10-12 medium-sized carrots, scraped and sliced into 1/4" pieces
1/2 C. sugar
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 stick of butter
Put carrots in a pot and cover them with the sugar. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25-30 minutes or until they are fork tender. Drain, then add butter and salt and pepper to taste.
Wasabi-Rosemary Crusted Pot Roast
1 pot roast 5-7 lbs.
10 cloves of garlic
Penzey's dried wasabi powder (about 1 TBSP, divided)
Penzey's cracked rosemary (about 1 TBSP, divided)
salt, to taste
coarsely ground pepper, to taste
1/4 C. soy sauce
1 package McCormick's brown gravy
1 C. water
Use either a large stock pot or a dutch oven. Place the whole garlic cloves on the bottom of the pan and drizzle them with some olive oil. Lay the roast on top of the garlic cloves. Sprinkle the roast with the wasabi powder, cracked rosemary, and salt and pepper. Pour the soy sauce around the sides of the roast. Mix the gravy mix with the cup of water and pour around the sides of the roast. Put a lid on the pan and bring the roast to a boil, then simmer it for about 45 min. to an hour. Turn roast over and sprinkle the rest of the wasabi powder, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook until roast is tender. Let the roast rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes before carving. Strain the sauce and serve as a gravy.
Mashed Potatoes
5 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and washed, and cut into 1" cubes
1 stick butter
1/4-1/2 C. milk, to taste
1-2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. coarsely ground pepper
I use a pressure cooker to cook my potatoes but not everyone has a pressure cooker. It definitely cuts down on your cooking time! If using a conventional pan, cover the potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Boil the potatoes for about 15-20 min. or until potatoes are fork tender. When potatoes are done cooking, pour them into a strainer and let them sit for 5 min. to dry out. Using the same pan you cooked the potatoes in, melt the stick of butter with the milk, salt and pepper. When all ingredients are "liquidy," add potatoes back to the pan and mash them. I use an electric hand mixer. Mash until smooth and check seasonings to see if you need to add more salt. That's it!
Glazed Carrots
10-12 medium-sized carrots, scraped and sliced into 1/4" pieces
1/2 C. sugar
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 stick of butter
Put carrots in a pot and cover them with the sugar. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25-30 minutes or until they are fork tender. Drain, then add butter and salt and pepper to taste.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Ducklings
Well, we finally purchased our ducklings! We went up to Delta, PA to buy them from a guy who sells chickens, ducks, guinea hens and rabbits. He also sells the eggs of the different birds he keeps. He and his wife have a nice little farm right outside of town. They also have a beautiful 150+ year old Japanese maple tree that serves as a natural umbrella for their various chicken coops. Todd was so impressed by the tree that the guy dug up two saplings near the big tree so we could plant them in our yard. Free trees are the bees knees around here.
They were keeping their chicken and egg brooders in their basement and we all squeezed down there to pick out our ducklings. The original plan was to get two ducks, but my niece was with us and she wanted one, too. So, we got three Khaki Campbell ducklings. Then, Toddy noticed that they had bigger yellow ducklings and declared he wanted one of those, too. So, we ended up getting four ducks total. The yellow duckling is called a Saxony duck. Here are some pictures of what our ducks will look like when they are fully grown:
Right now, our Khaki Campbell ducklings are a light brown with light brown bills and our Saxony duckling is sunny yellow with a light brown bill. I just changed their brooder out a little bit; I took out the pie plate as they were splashing water all over the place and getting their bedding wet. Instead, they are now using my Wilton's deep cake pan as a pool instead. It looks like they have their own above-ground pool. I had to put rocks in the bottom on one side so they can get in and out--sort of like steps.
We got them a fancier heat lamp bulb that should keep them warmer than a regular incandescent bulb. We went to the same place we went to learn about raising poultry. They have a branch nearby so it was really convenient. We picked up an actual poultry chick feeder as all the splashing caused the egg carton I was using for their feed to disintegrate. We also bought bonafide chicken feed for them and a bag of grit. Since we are feeding them chicken feed, their eggs will taste like chicken eggs, except they will be twice the size. Can you imagine having a deviled egg that fits in the palm of your hand?!
The ducklings will stay indoors with us for the next few weeks. During that time, we will be scouring Craigslist and other places like Freecycle to find the materials we need to make a very safe & secure outdoor duck habitat. We visited some friends from Toddy's beekeeping class who are raising a flock of Barred Rock chickens and they made a chicken house out of a garden shed and just put chicken wire on all of the windows and doors. It really looks good and the chickens even have a side yard to run around in. We have to keep things on the down-low to keep from running "a-fowl" with the homeowner's association so some creative ideas are going to need to have to come into play. Any suggestions would be very welcome!
They were keeping their chicken and egg brooders in their basement and we all squeezed down there to pick out our ducklings. The original plan was to get two ducks, but my niece was with us and she wanted one, too. So, we got three Khaki Campbell ducklings. Then, Toddy noticed that they had bigger yellow ducklings and declared he wanted one of those, too. So, we ended up getting four ducks total. The yellow duckling is called a Saxony duck. Here are some pictures of what our ducks will look like when they are fully grown:
Khaki Campbell Ducks
The male or, drake, duck has the dark-colored head
Saxony Ducks (Toddy's Duck, Daisy)
This is what a male, or drake, Saxony duck looks like fully grown
We got them a fancier heat lamp bulb that should keep them warmer than a regular incandescent bulb. We went to the same place we went to learn about raising poultry. They have a branch nearby so it was really convenient. We picked up an actual poultry chick feeder as all the splashing caused the egg carton I was using for their feed to disintegrate. We also bought bonafide chicken feed for them and a bag of grit. Since we are feeding them chicken feed, their eggs will taste like chicken eggs, except they will be twice the size. Can you imagine having a deviled egg that fits in the palm of your hand?!
The ducklings will stay indoors with us for the next few weeks. During that time, we will be scouring Craigslist and other places like Freecycle to find the materials we need to make a very safe & secure outdoor duck habitat. We visited some friends from Toddy's beekeeping class who are raising a flock of Barred Rock chickens and they made a chicken house out of a garden shed and just put chicken wire on all of the windows and doors. It really looks good and the chickens even have a side yard to run around in. We have to keep things on the down-low to keep from running "a-fowl" with the homeowner's association so some creative ideas are going to need to have to come into play. Any suggestions would be very welcome!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Julie & Julia and Rebecca & Ruth
I loved the book/movie "Julie & Julia." If you haven't seen the movie, it's about a blogger who decided to make one of chef Julia Child's recipes each day for a whole year. Basically, she cooked her way through the entire cookbook and then blogged about it. I thought that was a really neat premise, and I do own Julia Child's first cookbook, but I don't like a lot of the recipes in the cookbook. We don't eat fish and some of the stuff was realllllly weird. Plus, obviously, it's already been done. But, it still lurks there in the back of my mind sometimes and today, it just decided to pop out. You see, I come from a great family of cooks--my Grandma Sammon, both of my grandparents McGann, and my dad. But, when I married Hubs, I "inherited" some more great cooks--both of my mother-in-laws and Todd's grandmother, Ruth.
When we first got married, I wanted to make sure that I could cook Toddy some of his favorites. So, I pumped all three ladies for information and got some great recipes, most of which we still use today. I loved how Todd's Grandma loved collecting, exchanging and trying new recipes. She always had something different and unique to try. I really admired that about her. Like I've said before, everyone in the family knows how much I love to cook, so it was a real honor for me to receive Ruth's recipe boxes and some of her cookbooks when she passed away. One of the three boxes (the biggest) belonged to Ruth, one was from Ruth's mother, and the third was from Ruth's grandmother.
I admit that I kind of neglected the recipe boxes in favor of the cookbooks (I admit it, I am a recipe snob--I usually only like recipes with a photo!) for awhile, but I rediscovered during the kitchen renovation and really started thumbing through them. It was an eye-opening revelation for sure. Half of the recipes I had never heard of and the other half seemed to be given to her by other people. I realized that the entire set of boxes was like a time capsule of recipes spanning from the late 1800s to the late 1980s-early '90s. Some of them are really simple, some are slightly complicated, and some sound reallly calorific.
Once again, I started thinking about "Julie & Julia," and thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be fun to cook all of the recipes in these boxes?" So, that's what I'm going to do! Of course, I would not even dare to try to cook a recipe a day like the blogger did in the movie (procrastinator alert!) but I do think it would be neat to do a couple a week/month and then share the results of these forgotten family favorites. (Note to self: good title, don't forget it!)
So, look for some unique recipes to come on here soon. It will be an interesting journey. By, the way, check out the size of this recipe box (Ruth's):
When we first got married, I wanted to make sure that I could cook Toddy some of his favorites. So, I pumped all three ladies for information and got some great recipes, most of which we still use today. I loved how Todd's Grandma loved collecting, exchanging and trying new recipes. She always had something different and unique to try. I really admired that about her. Like I've said before, everyone in the family knows how much I love to cook, so it was a real honor for me to receive Ruth's recipe boxes and some of her cookbooks when she passed away. One of the three boxes (the biggest) belonged to Ruth, one was from Ruth's mother, and the third was from Ruth's grandmother.
I admit that I kind of neglected the recipe boxes in favor of the cookbooks (I admit it, I am a recipe snob--I usually only like recipes with a photo!) for awhile, but I rediscovered during the kitchen renovation and really started thumbing through them. It was an eye-opening revelation for sure. Half of the recipes I had never heard of and the other half seemed to be given to her by other people. I realized that the entire set of boxes was like a time capsule of recipes spanning from the late 1800s to the late 1980s-early '90s. Some of them are really simple, some are slightly complicated, and some sound reallly calorific.
Once again, I started thinking about "Julie & Julia," and thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be fun to cook all of the recipes in these boxes?" So, that's what I'm going to do! Of course, I would not even dare to try to cook a recipe a day like the blogger did in the movie (procrastinator alert!) but I do think it would be neat to do a couple a week/month and then share the results of these forgotten family favorites. (Note to self: good title, don't forget it!)
So, look for some unique recipes to come on here soon. It will be an interesting journey. By, the way, check out the size of this recipe box (Ruth's):
Each recipe card is either typed on a typewriter, or written out long-hand. A lot of work!
As you can see, this might take me awhile!!! Plus, there are still two other "normal" sized recipe boxes from Ruth's mother and grandmother.
Here's the first recipe we are going to try tonight:
Rhubarb Pudding Cake
4 C. diced rhubarb
1 C. sugar
3/4 C. water
1/4 C. shortening
1/2 C. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 C. sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C. milk
Cook rhubarb, sugar & water until tender. Keep hot! Cream shortening & sugar; beat in egg and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together, add alternatively with milk into creamed mixture. Pour batter into greased 9" square baking pan. Spoon hot rhubarb sauce over batter. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream. A hand-written note says, "Great cold also!" 9 servings.
Now, here's a little anecdote about me & rhubarb. If you're from New England like me, you are most likely familiar with rhubarb. It grows well there and people can't get enough of the stuff. People covet their rhubarb plants and very reluctantly share the plants' location. When I lived in Nebraska, they referred to it as "Pie Plant." Whatever. I can't stand the stuff, and along with strawberries, I'm also allergic to it. (Rash kind, not deathly, can't breathe, where's the EPI pen kind).
So, what do you think is my Hubs favorite dessert? Of course--strawberry rhubarb pie. Me, being the kind Homesteader's Wife that I am, gallantly donned rubber gloves (2 sets) and bravely picked 20 lbs. of strawberries last May and made 20 pint jars of strawberry-rhubarb jam. Funny thing is, that was the first time I've ever made something but never tasted it. Hubs & son must like it as they've been eating it all year. (I only have a few jars left!) I also occasionally make Toddy a strawberry-rhubarb pie, using his grandmother Ruth's recipe.
When we visit Vermont, we usually have strawberry-rhubarb pie when we are at Todd's dad's house. Shirley always makes one for Todd because she knows it's his favorite. Last summer, she even taught him how to make one himself and he even learned how to weave a pie crust for the top. Inevitably, while eating strawberry rhubarb pie, the Vermonters usually turn to a discussion of rhubarb and their favorite rhubarb recipes. My brother-in-law Doug recalled eating a rhubarb cake that Todd's Grandma had made but nobody could seem to find the recipe. I'm wondering if this is the recipe that is the Holy Grail of Rhubarb so that's why I'm going to try it out. I'll let you know what Toddy says about it...I sure won't be eating any of it!
Til next time,
Becky
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Accidental Delight
Everyone who knows me knows how much I love to cook. I love trying out new recipes or putting a twist on old ones. Well, last night, I accidentally created a delicious soup. I've got a ton of canned beans at my house due to an awesome sale at the Commissary last month. Basically, with the coupons they were giving out, I ended up getting each can of beans for only 30 cents a piece. I, of course, bought 20 cans one day, then 20 the next, then...well, you can see where this is going. So, being as it's close to pay day, I was running out of fresh veggies and decided to make a soup instead.
I had some stew beef on hand and thought I'd try making a cassoullet/pasta e fagioli type of soup. I started with my typical base for my soups: onion, carrots, celery and garlic. After I diced them all up, I sauteed them in olive oil. Then, I added the beef and browned it. I added a can of red kidney beans (undrained) and white cannellini beans (also undrained) and a can of diced tomates (undrained). I decided to use a packet of Lipton onion soup to serve as a type of "soup starter" and so I poured that into the pan. To my surprise, it wasn't onion soup at all but rather a packet of Lipton VEGETABLE soup mix instead. I totally forgot that my niece reorganized my pantry for me (she likes to do that!) and had taken the packets out of their boxes and put them in my plastic organizer I use for sauces and gravy. In my haste, I just saw "Lipton" and grabbed it without reading the label.
I was really disappointed as I'd been eager to try the onion soup but me being me, I moved on. I added some cracked rosemary, some salt and pepper and let the pot simmer for about 2 hours. The result: delicious accidental delight! Everyone in the family loved it and it was so good, I took again for lunch today and it tasted even better. I think this would be just as good if you used ground chuck, pork, kielbasa or italian sausages. Probably more of a fall/winter dish, but it worked out great for using up the last of my veggies before they went bad. Here's the recipe:
1 lb. stew beef (or sausages, pork, ground chuck, etc.)
3 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced (only because I have a picky husband who doesn't like celery)
1 medium onion, finely diced (only because I have a picky son who hates onions)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can dark red kidney beans (don't drain)
1 can white cannellini beans (don't drain)
1 can diced tomatoes (don't drain)
1 packet Lipton vegetable soup mix
1 tsp. cracked rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
I had some stew beef on hand and thought I'd try making a cassoullet/pasta e fagioli type of soup. I started with my typical base for my soups: onion, carrots, celery and garlic. After I diced them all up, I sauteed them in olive oil. Then, I added the beef and browned it. I added a can of red kidney beans (undrained) and white cannellini beans (also undrained) and a can of diced tomates (undrained). I decided to use a packet of Lipton onion soup to serve as a type of "soup starter" and so I poured that into the pan. To my surprise, it wasn't onion soup at all but rather a packet of Lipton VEGETABLE soup mix instead. I totally forgot that my niece reorganized my pantry for me (she likes to do that!) and had taken the packets out of their boxes and put them in my plastic organizer I use for sauces and gravy. In my haste, I just saw "Lipton" and grabbed it without reading the label.
I was really disappointed as I'd been eager to try the onion soup but me being me, I moved on. I added some cracked rosemary, some salt and pepper and let the pot simmer for about 2 hours. The result: delicious accidental delight! Everyone in the family loved it and it was so good, I took again for lunch today and it tasted even better. I think this would be just as good if you used ground chuck, pork, kielbasa or italian sausages. Probably more of a fall/winter dish, but it worked out great for using up the last of my veggies before they went bad. Here's the recipe:
1 lb. stew beef (or sausages, pork, ground chuck, etc.)
3 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced (only because I have a picky husband who doesn't like celery)
1 medium onion, finely diced (only because I have a picky son who hates onions)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can dark red kidney beans (don't drain)
1 can white cannellini beans (don't drain)
1 can diced tomatoes (don't drain)
1 packet Lipton vegetable soup mix
1 tsp. cracked rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
It's All About the Bees...
A few folks have asked some questions about our bees so I thought I'd take a moment to pass on some "edu-macation" as my grandfather used to say. Our bees are quintesential beekeeper's bee--basically the bee species that most beekeepers, er, keep. Italian bees are generally yellow with brown or black stripes. Drones and queens have large, golden abdomens. The picture below shows an example of what our bees look like. Cute, huh? :)
I copied this from an online beekeeping page:
I copied this from an online beekeeping page:
Monday, April 25, 2011
Current State of the Homestead
Well, time for an update on the state of the ol' homestead. The bees arrived last Saturday (a week ago) and Toddy successfully installed them in their new home. The kids were on hand to help and luckily, the only one who got stung was Todd. The whole process took about 20 minutes and due to the frigid, rainy weather, the bees were so cold that they simply didn't have the energy to be agressive about someone manhandling them!
We took advantage of another rainy day, this past Saturday to open the hive and check on the bees and the queen. Todd had been putting sugar water (1 part sugar to 1 part water) in the feeder of the hive all week and so he wanted to make sure they had enough food. The feeder is essentially a wooden tray with one end screened off to keep the bees from crawling into the sugar water and drowning. They can suck the sugar water through the screen.
Due to the cold weather, the bees were all in the hive and were pretty placid about our disturbing them. Todd was able to gently scrape them off of the plastic frames to see what their progress was on building up the hive. Basically, a frame is a flat plastic rectangle that the bees use as a foundation to build their honeycomb on. To our delighted surprise, we found that yes, the bees are actually building honeycomb and you can see a little bit of honey in some of the honeycomb cells! Todd wasn't able to locate the queen but we didn't want to rile up the bees too much by pulling out each frame to check. He's pretty confident that the queen is alive in there as the bees are working to build their home and not trying to make a new queen. We will probably check again on the weekend.
I love watching the hive on a sunny day. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous at 80 degrees. I walked down and sat on a log that is about 2 feet from the hive. It is fascinating to watch the bees fly in and out of the hive--it reminds me of watching takeoffs & landings at a busy airport! What's interesting is that they don't simply fly in and out of the hive, but rather they land on the platform where the "door" is and walk around for a few moments before walking into the hive. It's almost like there's an occupancy limit in there or something as usually the same amount bees come out as the same amount of bees going into the hive. On top of that, I love listening to all the buzzing going on in there. It really does "hum" on a hot day.
On a side note, a bee happened to fly into our son's room. His friend who was visiting suggested using a flyswatter to get rid of the bee. Our son cried out, "No, stop! That could be one of my Dad's bees so I don't want to hurt it." He then proceeded to gently coax the bee out the window with a piece of paper. Gotta start 'em young!
Our froggies are going to be parents soon! We have two species of frogs in our little pond--peepers and leopard frogs. We're not sure which ones laid the ropes of tadpole eggs but I guess we'll find out eventually. It is very nice listening to them through our bedroom window at night. My sister, however, disagrees with me on this point. To me, it reminds me of listening to the frogs who resided in the stone walls of my grandparents' swimming pool in New England.
Our garden is finally starting to come together. I planted all my lettuces and onions in two raised beds and I'm now in the process of hunting down the type of staples that go in my Japanese staple gun so I can tack down the netting I put over my two raised beds to keep it from becoming a kitty potty spot. The netting has so far discouraged them from getting into the boxes but I want to make it a permanent solution. I believe in organic gardening but not THAT organic, if you know what I mean...
Todd was able to double our rows over the past week so we now have double the planting space. So far, we've planted potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peas, carrots, spinach, three types of lettuce, arugala, collards, cabbages, okra, peppers, watercress, and of course, rice. Toddy has visions of turning the swampy part of our yard into a rice paddy. We'll see...
Hubs also got proactive about trying to screen our backyard further from the neighbors who live across the brook behind the house. They are not close enough to hear them but their house/deck is visible from our house/deck. He dug up some bamboo from the Christmas tree farm where he deer hunts and transplanted it down by the brook. His hope is that it grows/spreads enough to eventually screen their house from us.
I finally finished putting the final touches on my front yard herb garden and should have seedlings popping up any day. I've always wanted to have a "cutting" garden right outside my door and now I have one. If everything goes well, I'll be able to go out there with a pair of scissors and harvest the herbs I need for a recipe.
Inside the house, the kitchen cabinets are in and level and have almost all of their handles put on. We had another case of sticker shock last week when we got a call from Lowe's (they are doing the countertops) saying that they had miscalculated some measurements and it would be an additional $94 to complete the job. I paid it of course, but I was really irritated about having to do so as the same thing happened with the floors. The flooring job was originally estimated to be $1,040 but when the installers came out, they found that the sub flooring wasn't level so they had to level it before installing the new floor. That made it go up to $1,340. Since our pay came in weird due to the whole government shutdown mess, I didn't have the entire amount on hand so we've had to put it off for a little bit. Gotta love Uncle Sam~
I'm in the process of trying to put the dining room and the office back together after the Great Kitchen Cabinet Installation. It's amazing how much crap I had in that tiny little kitchen. I'm being very careful about what I'm allowing to go back in there, so there's a lot of stuff that I need to find a home for elsewhere. But, at least we don't look like an episode of "Hoarders" anymore. The countertops and new sink should be finished and installed sometime in the next two weeks. Because it's a Corian-type of material, the sink is molded directly to the countertop so it takes a while to make it. I can't wait until it's in and I can make a sandwich without having to balance a cutting board on top of the contents of my silverware drawer...
And finally, we had a wonderful time attending the wedding of Todd's bro Shand and his new wife, Lexi. The ceremony was held at the historic Vandiver Inn in Havre de Grace and the setting was absolutely gorgeous. Both the bride and groom looked dazzling in their wedding attire and the whole family seemed to be wearing various shades of purple and green to match the beautiful bridal flowers. Toddy somehow didn't get the memo and was wearing a burgundy tie, but it was all good. Todd's folks, Mom & Bill, were there, as well as Todd's sis Krista and her boyfriend John, who came all the way from Seattle. It was an intimate affair, enjoyed by all and will provide lovely memories for years to come.
We took advantage of another rainy day, this past Saturday to open the hive and check on the bees and the queen. Todd had been putting sugar water (1 part sugar to 1 part water) in the feeder of the hive all week and so he wanted to make sure they had enough food. The feeder is essentially a wooden tray with one end screened off to keep the bees from crawling into the sugar water and drowning. They can suck the sugar water through the screen.
Due to the cold weather, the bees were all in the hive and were pretty placid about our disturbing them. Todd was able to gently scrape them off of the plastic frames to see what their progress was on building up the hive. Basically, a frame is a flat plastic rectangle that the bees use as a foundation to build their honeycomb on. To our delighted surprise, we found that yes, the bees are actually building honeycomb and you can see a little bit of honey in some of the honeycomb cells! Todd wasn't able to locate the queen but we didn't want to rile up the bees too much by pulling out each frame to check. He's pretty confident that the queen is alive in there as the bees are working to build their home and not trying to make a new queen. We will probably check again on the weekend.
I love watching the hive on a sunny day. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous at 80 degrees. I walked down and sat on a log that is about 2 feet from the hive. It is fascinating to watch the bees fly in and out of the hive--it reminds me of watching takeoffs & landings at a busy airport! What's interesting is that they don't simply fly in and out of the hive, but rather they land on the platform where the "door" is and walk around for a few moments before walking into the hive. It's almost like there's an occupancy limit in there or something as usually the same amount bees come out as the same amount of bees going into the hive. On top of that, I love listening to all the buzzing going on in there. It really does "hum" on a hot day.
On a side note, a bee happened to fly into our son's room. His friend who was visiting suggested using a flyswatter to get rid of the bee. Our son cried out, "No, stop! That could be one of my Dad's bees so I don't want to hurt it." He then proceeded to gently coax the bee out the window with a piece of paper. Gotta start 'em young!
Our froggies are going to be parents soon! We have two species of frogs in our little pond--peepers and leopard frogs. We're not sure which ones laid the ropes of tadpole eggs but I guess we'll find out eventually. It is very nice listening to them through our bedroom window at night. My sister, however, disagrees with me on this point. To me, it reminds me of listening to the frogs who resided in the stone walls of my grandparents' swimming pool in New England.
Our garden is finally starting to come together. I planted all my lettuces and onions in two raised beds and I'm now in the process of hunting down the type of staples that go in my Japanese staple gun so I can tack down the netting I put over my two raised beds to keep it from becoming a kitty potty spot. The netting has so far discouraged them from getting into the boxes but I want to make it a permanent solution. I believe in organic gardening but not THAT organic, if you know what I mean...
Todd was able to double our rows over the past week so we now have double the planting space. So far, we've planted potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peas, carrots, spinach, three types of lettuce, arugala, collards, cabbages, okra, peppers, watercress, and of course, rice. Toddy has visions of turning the swampy part of our yard into a rice paddy. We'll see...
Hubs also got proactive about trying to screen our backyard further from the neighbors who live across the brook behind the house. They are not close enough to hear them but their house/deck is visible from our house/deck. He dug up some bamboo from the Christmas tree farm where he deer hunts and transplanted it down by the brook. His hope is that it grows/spreads enough to eventually screen their house from us.
I finally finished putting the final touches on my front yard herb garden and should have seedlings popping up any day. I've always wanted to have a "cutting" garden right outside my door and now I have one. If everything goes well, I'll be able to go out there with a pair of scissors and harvest the herbs I need for a recipe.
Inside the house, the kitchen cabinets are in and level and have almost all of their handles put on. We had another case of sticker shock last week when we got a call from Lowe's (they are doing the countertops) saying that they had miscalculated some measurements and it would be an additional $94 to complete the job. I paid it of course, but I was really irritated about having to do so as the same thing happened with the floors. The flooring job was originally estimated to be $1,040 but when the installers came out, they found that the sub flooring wasn't level so they had to level it before installing the new floor. That made it go up to $1,340. Since our pay came in weird due to the whole government shutdown mess, I didn't have the entire amount on hand so we've had to put it off for a little bit. Gotta love Uncle Sam~
I'm in the process of trying to put the dining room and the office back together after the Great Kitchen Cabinet Installation. It's amazing how much crap I had in that tiny little kitchen. I'm being very careful about what I'm allowing to go back in there, so there's a lot of stuff that I need to find a home for elsewhere. But, at least we don't look like an episode of "Hoarders" anymore. The countertops and new sink should be finished and installed sometime in the next two weeks. Because it's a Corian-type of material, the sink is molded directly to the countertop so it takes a while to make it. I can't wait until it's in and I can make a sandwich without having to balance a cutting board on top of the contents of my silverware drawer...
And finally, we had a wonderful time attending the wedding of Todd's bro Shand and his new wife, Lexi. The ceremony was held at the historic Vandiver Inn in Havre de Grace and the setting was absolutely gorgeous. Both the bride and groom looked dazzling in their wedding attire and the whole family seemed to be wearing various shades of purple and green to match the beautiful bridal flowers. Toddy somehow didn't get the memo and was wearing a burgundy tie, but it was all good. Todd's folks, Mom & Bill, were there, as well as Todd's sis Krista and her boyfriend John, who came all the way from Seattle. It was an intimate affair, enjoyed by all and will provide lovely memories for years to come.
Friday, April 15, 2011
WWII Recipes & Tips
While I was looking through my recipes for my favorite bread recipes, I stumbled upon these while looking through Todd's grandmother Ruth's recipe box. Since I'm on a tight budget myself, I thought some of these "Wartime Recipes" could be useful. They are all from Woman's Day magazine articles from 1944.
Wartime French Dressing
Costs 16 cents, makes 1 pint
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. mustard
1/4 tsp. pepper
dash of cayenne (guess you could substitute with a dash of tabasco sauce)
1 C. vinegar
1 C. vegetable oil
Put in a quart jar, pour in seasonings first, then vinegar, then oil. Put lid on jar and shake vigorously before putting on salad.
Cooked Salad Dressing (eggless)
Costs 5 cents, about 1 C.
1 TBSP. margarine (I would use butter)
2 TBSP. flour
2 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
dash of cayenne
2 TBSP. vinegar
1/2 C. water
1/2 C. milk
Melt margarine in a double boiler. Stir in flour, seasonings and vinegar. Add water slowly, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture thickens; add milk and cook only long enough to heat mixture through, chill before serving.
Creamy dressing
Costs 12 cents, makes 1 1/4 cups
3/4 C. mayonnaise
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. grated onion
dash of cayenne
1/2 C. milk
Combine all ingredients except milk. Add milk slowly, mixing well. Add to shredded vegetables (I'm assuming cabbage or something like that).
Hot Eggless Bacon Dressing
costs 4 cents, makes 1 1/3 cups
3 TBSP. bacon fat
2 TBSP. flour
1 TBSP. minced onion
1 C. water
2 TBSP. vinegar
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 pepper
Melt fat in skillet. Stir in flour. Add onion and cook slowly 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Pour immediately over fresh spinach, toss and serve.
Vinegar Dressing
costs 5 cents, makes 1 cup
1 C. vinegar
1 TBSP. sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Put ingredients in a jar and store in ice box. Make at least 2 hours before using for first time. Add to lettuce salad just before serving.
Economy Mayonnaise
Costs 16 cents, makes 1 3/4 cups
1/4 C. cornstarch
1 C. water
1 unbeaten egg
1 1/2 tsp. mustard
2 tsp. salt
dash of cayenne
1/4 C. vinegar
3/4 C. vegetable oil
Combine cornstarch and water and cook until very thick, stirring frequently. Put remaining ingredients in deep mixing bowl, add the hot paste and beat hard with mixer until the dressing is very smooth.
Wartime French Dressing
Costs 16 cents, makes 1 pint
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. mustard
1/4 tsp. pepper
dash of cayenne (guess you could substitute with a dash of tabasco sauce)
1 C. vinegar
1 C. vegetable oil
Put in a quart jar, pour in seasonings first, then vinegar, then oil. Put lid on jar and shake vigorously before putting on salad.
Cooked Salad Dressing (eggless)
Costs 5 cents, about 1 C.
1 TBSP. margarine (I would use butter)
2 TBSP. flour
2 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
dash of cayenne
2 TBSP. vinegar
1/2 C. water
1/2 C. milk
Melt margarine in a double boiler. Stir in flour, seasonings and vinegar. Add water slowly, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture thickens; add milk and cook only long enough to heat mixture through, chill before serving.
Creamy dressing
Costs 12 cents, makes 1 1/4 cups
3/4 C. mayonnaise
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. grated onion
dash of cayenne
1/2 C. milk
Combine all ingredients except milk. Add milk slowly, mixing well. Add to shredded vegetables (I'm assuming cabbage or something like that).
Hot Eggless Bacon Dressing
costs 4 cents, makes 1 1/3 cups
3 TBSP. bacon fat
2 TBSP. flour
1 TBSP. minced onion
1 C. water
2 TBSP. vinegar
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 pepper
Melt fat in skillet. Stir in flour. Add onion and cook slowly 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Pour immediately over fresh spinach, toss and serve.
Vinegar Dressing
costs 5 cents, makes 1 cup
1 C. vinegar
1 TBSP. sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Put ingredients in a jar and store in ice box. Make at least 2 hours before using for first time. Add to lettuce salad just before serving.
Economy Mayonnaise
Costs 16 cents, makes 1 3/4 cups
1/4 C. cornstarch
1 C. water
1 unbeaten egg
1 1/2 tsp. mustard
2 tsp. salt
dash of cayenne
1/4 C. vinegar
3/4 C. vegetable oil
Combine cornstarch and water and cook until very thick, stirring frequently. Put remaining ingredients in deep mixing bowl, add the hot paste and beat hard with mixer until the dressing is very smooth.
Bread Recipes that I Love Baking
One of my friends recently asked me for one of my bread recipes. I promised to email it to her but things being as busy as they are, I forgot all about getting back to her. So, I'm posting it now along with a few other recipes that I love. Some are from family, some from friends and others from cookbooks that turned out really well. Enjoy!
Garlic & Rosemary Country Bread
Makes 1 large loaf
6 C. unbleached flour
2 TBSP. butter, softened
2 tsp. salt
1/4 of a yeast package
1 3/4 cups (450 ml) lukewarm water
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. cracked rosemary
olive oil for greasing the pan in the bread machine
Put the ingredients into your bread machine in the following order: water, butter, garlic, flour, salt, rosemary then yeast on top. Set your machine for white bread, medium crust. Great with Italian meals!
Whole Grain Wheat Bread
1/3 C. plus 1 TBSP brown sugar, divided
2 C. warm water
2 pkgs. yeast
5 to 6 whole wheat flour
3/4 C. powdered milk
2 tsp. salt
1/3 C. vegetable oil
I use my KitchenAid mixer for this one. Dissolve 1 TBSP. brown sugar and yeast in warm water in a small bowl and let it stand. Put 4 C. flour, powdered milk, 1/3 C. brown sugar, and salt in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to speed 2 and mix about 15 seconds. Continuing on speed 2, gradually add yeast/sugar/water mixture and oil to flour mixture and mix about 1 1/2 minutes longer. Stop and scrape bowl.
Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 C. at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Knead on speed 2 about 2 minutes longer.
Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (I use my oven) about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Punch dough down and divide it in half, shape each loaf into a loaf pan or onto a cookie sheet. I put cornmeal down before putting the dough down on a cookie sheet but it's not necessary. Cover and let rise about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes longer. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.
This one came from my grandmother-in-law Ruth's recipe box which I received after she passed away. It's a little lighter than pumpernickel and a little darker than rye. Great for making a pastrami sandwich!
Black Bread
1 C. rye flour
2 TBSP. vinegar
2 TBSP. dark molasses
1/2 square unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 TBSP. butter
3/4 C. water
1 pkg. yeast
2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 C. bran cereal
2 tsp. caraway seeds
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. instant coffee
1/2 tsp. onion powder
I do this one in the bread machine, too. You just put all the liquids in first, then add the dry ingredients, then the yeast last. I like to mix it on the dough cycle, then I take it out, shape into loaves and let rise in my oven for about an hour. Then bake it at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. You could also make this conventionally but you'd have to dissolve the yeast in the warm water and then melt the chocolate in the molasses. Mix the dry ingredients together then mix in the 2 liquids slowly, using a KitchenAid mixer or hand mixer. Then you'd have to let it rise for an hour, then shape into loaves and let rise again.
Boston Brown Bread
Being from Massachusetts, we often had cans of B&M brown bread with our beanie weenies. I loved how moist and sweet the bread was. When we moved overseas to Puerto Rico, I wasn't able to buy my bread in a can at the commissary so I had to improvise. After a few "oopsies," I managed to perfect a recipe that tastes almost like B&M bread. It's also a fun recipe for kids to help out with--Jeremy loved the idea of "cooking" bread on the stove.
2 C. butter milk (If you can't find buttermilk, you can sour the milk by adding 2 TBSP. plain vinegar to it and letting it curdle for a few minutes).
3/4 C. dark molasses
1 C. whole wheat flour
1 C. rye flour
1 C. cornmeal
1 TBSP. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix buttermilk and molasses in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine whole wheat flour, rye flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Blend into liquid mixture, a little at a time until well blended (I do mine in the KitchenAid). Pour batter into two well-greased coffee cans (the smaller ones, about 5"x 3") and cover the cans tightly with tinfoil. Place on a rack or trivet and place in a large pan or dutch oven. Pour boiling water to a depth of 1" in the bottom of the pan or dutch oven. Place lid on pan or dutch oven and simmer on low heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, adding more boiling water if needed. Let cool in cans for about 15 minutes, then run a butter knife around the edge of each can and turn over to get bread out. You may need to tap the bottom of the can to get the loaves out. We serve it in round slices about 1/2 inch thick with hot dogs & beans (aka beanie weenies). We use B&M brand baked beans. I get two cans (about 14 oz) and put them in a baking dish. I add 1 tsp. ketchup, 1 tsp. dijon mustard, and 2 TBSP. molasses. Stir together in the beans and then level the beans to make a flat surface. Gently place 1 package of hot dogs (we prefer the Ball Park beef hot dogs :) on top of the beans. Then I take the ketchup bottle and squiggle lines of ketchup on each hot dog. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Garlic & Rosemary Country Bread
Makes 1 large loaf
6 C. unbleached flour
2 TBSP. butter, softened
2 tsp. salt
1/4 of a yeast package
1 3/4 cups (450 ml) lukewarm water
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. cracked rosemary
olive oil for greasing the pan in the bread machine
Put the ingredients into your bread machine in the following order: water, butter, garlic, flour, salt, rosemary then yeast on top. Set your machine for white bread, medium crust. Great with Italian meals!
Whole Grain Wheat Bread
1/3 C. plus 1 TBSP brown sugar, divided
2 C. warm water
2 pkgs. yeast
5 to 6 whole wheat flour
3/4 C. powdered milk
2 tsp. salt
1/3 C. vegetable oil
I use my KitchenAid mixer for this one. Dissolve 1 TBSP. brown sugar and yeast in warm water in a small bowl and let it stand. Put 4 C. flour, powdered milk, 1/3 C. brown sugar, and salt in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to speed 2 and mix about 15 seconds. Continuing on speed 2, gradually add yeast/sugar/water mixture and oil to flour mixture and mix about 1 1/2 minutes longer. Stop and scrape bowl.
Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 C. at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Knead on speed 2 about 2 minutes longer.
Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (I use my oven) about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Punch dough down and divide it in half, shape each loaf into a loaf pan or onto a cookie sheet. I put cornmeal down before putting the dough down on a cookie sheet but it's not necessary. Cover and let rise about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes longer. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.
This one came from my grandmother-in-law Ruth's recipe box which I received after she passed away. It's a little lighter than pumpernickel and a little darker than rye. Great for making a pastrami sandwich!
Black Bread
1 C. rye flour
2 TBSP. vinegar
2 TBSP. dark molasses
1/2 square unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 TBSP. butter
3/4 C. water
1 pkg. yeast
2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 C. bran cereal
2 tsp. caraway seeds
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. instant coffee
1/2 tsp. onion powder
I do this one in the bread machine, too. You just put all the liquids in first, then add the dry ingredients, then the yeast last. I like to mix it on the dough cycle, then I take it out, shape into loaves and let rise in my oven for about an hour. Then bake it at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. You could also make this conventionally but you'd have to dissolve the yeast in the warm water and then melt the chocolate in the molasses. Mix the dry ingredients together then mix in the 2 liquids slowly, using a KitchenAid mixer or hand mixer. Then you'd have to let it rise for an hour, then shape into loaves and let rise again.
Boston Brown Bread
Being from Massachusetts, we often had cans of B&M brown bread with our beanie weenies. I loved how moist and sweet the bread was. When we moved overseas to Puerto Rico, I wasn't able to buy my bread in a can at the commissary so I had to improvise. After a few "oopsies," I managed to perfect a recipe that tastes almost like B&M bread. It's also a fun recipe for kids to help out with--Jeremy loved the idea of "cooking" bread on the stove.
2 C. butter milk (If you can't find buttermilk, you can sour the milk by adding 2 TBSP. plain vinegar to it and letting it curdle for a few minutes).
3/4 C. dark molasses
1 C. whole wheat flour
1 C. rye flour
1 C. cornmeal
1 TBSP. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix buttermilk and molasses in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine whole wheat flour, rye flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Blend into liquid mixture, a little at a time until well blended (I do mine in the KitchenAid). Pour batter into two well-greased coffee cans (the smaller ones, about 5"x 3") and cover the cans tightly with tinfoil. Place on a rack or trivet and place in a large pan or dutch oven. Pour boiling water to a depth of 1" in the bottom of the pan or dutch oven. Place lid on pan or dutch oven and simmer on low heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, adding more boiling water if needed. Let cool in cans for about 15 minutes, then run a butter knife around the edge of each can and turn over to get bread out. You may need to tap the bottom of the can to get the loaves out. We serve it in round slices about 1/2 inch thick with hot dogs & beans (aka beanie weenies). We use B&M brand baked beans. I get two cans (about 14 oz) and put them in a baking dish. I add 1 tsp. ketchup, 1 tsp. dijon mustard, and 2 TBSP. molasses. Stir together in the beans and then level the beans to make a flat surface. Gently place 1 package of hot dogs (we prefer the Ball Park beef hot dogs :) on top of the beans. Then I take the ketchup bottle and squiggle lines of ketchup on each hot dog. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Monster That is My Kitchen is Slowly Being Defeated!
Things are starting to come together for the kitchen. We finally got our design taken care of for the cabinets and we have pretty much decided the color for our counter tops. DIY is hard work but in the end, I'm sure it will be worth it. So, to recap... This is what our design is going to be: cream-colored bead board (wainscoting) on the walls above the galley portion of the kitchen, open nutmeg-stained wooden shelving on those walls, nutmeg-colored Shaker cabinets down below, and moss-colored Corian-style countertops. The floor and backsplash are going to be slate colored.
I think Toddy is planning to make one of the counters butcher's block for me. I LOVE that idea as cutting boards drive me nuts. He is also planning to move our fridge to the end wall of the eat-in part of the kitchen and is putting a cabinet on either side of it so we will have 2 more counters--3, actually because there will be a counter where the fridge was. A blessing in a galley-style kitchen, to be sure! I can't believe how hard he is working to make this happen. He told me that he wanted to get me a new kitchen for his retirement gift to me but I was a bit skeptical. But, I shouldn't have been surprised--he's always been a man of his word.
The garden...We had hoped to start setting out some of our cold-weather seedlings such as cabbage, broccoli, kale and collard greens but it has been too cold and too wet. We are going to use our little rototiller that attaches to the weed-whacker to try and "fluff" up the soiled we rototilled a few weeks ago. It rained so much that the soil got packed down. We're going to look into renting a piece of equipment that when you pull it behind the 4-wheeler, it creates rows. I know there is some proper farm name for it but it slips my mind at the moment!
Todd attended his first beekeeping class on Friday night and found that most of his fellow classmates were right around the same age as him. He found the class very interesting and also found that he has a lot of reading material for the class. We now have to plant some more "bee friendly" flowers in the yard to keep our little friends happy. I already have a huge butterfly bush which always attracts a lot of bees but apparently, we need more. So, we picked up a few seeds last night for some zinnias and cosmos and a few others. If anyone knows where I can find seeds for "Bee Balm" please let me know. Toddy's teacher told him that lavender is one of the best bee attracters out there but since my niece is allergic to it, probably not a good idea. Send any bee flower ideas our way!
I think Toddy is planning to make one of the counters butcher's block for me. I LOVE that idea as cutting boards drive me nuts. He is also planning to move our fridge to the end wall of the eat-in part of the kitchen and is putting a cabinet on either side of it so we will have 2 more counters--3, actually because there will be a counter where the fridge was. A blessing in a galley-style kitchen, to be sure! I can't believe how hard he is working to make this happen. He told me that he wanted to get me a new kitchen for his retirement gift to me but I was a bit skeptical. But, I shouldn't have been surprised--he's always been a man of his word.
The garden...We had hoped to start setting out some of our cold-weather seedlings such as cabbage, broccoli, kale and collard greens but it has been too cold and too wet. We are going to use our little rototiller that attaches to the weed-whacker to try and "fluff" up the soiled we rototilled a few weeks ago. It rained so much that the soil got packed down. We're going to look into renting a piece of equipment that when you pull it behind the 4-wheeler, it creates rows. I know there is some proper farm name for it but it slips my mind at the moment!
Todd attended his first beekeeping class on Friday night and found that most of his fellow classmates were right around the same age as him. He found the class very interesting and also found that he has a lot of reading material for the class. We now have to plant some more "bee friendly" flowers in the yard to keep our little friends happy. I already have a huge butterfly bush which always attracts a lot of bees but apparently, we need more. So, we picked up a few seeds last night for some zinnias and cosmos and a few others. If anyone knows where I can find seeds for "Bee Balm" please let me know. Toddy's teacher told him that lavender is one of the best bee attracters out there but since my niece is allergic to it, probably not a good idea. Send any bee flower ideas our way!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Kitchen Demo continues...
Kitchen demo continues! We finally got all of the upper cabinets down from the right side of the kitchen and now we are working on rebuilding and improving that space. We went to Lowe's tonight to buy wainscoting to cover up the chainsaw--er, marks--on the wall and the paint to make it pretty. Our walls are currently a taupe-ish color so we chose a light cream for the wainscoting. The plan is to get new lower cabinets (Shaker style, in a nutmeg finish), new counter tops, wainscoting, and open wooden shelving like you'd see in old British kitchens.
The benefit of open shelving means we can keep things better organized AND we'll have 3 shelves instead of the 2-shelved cabinets we had before so we'll increase our storage as well. It's been awhile since I saw a pic of my "dream" kitchen in a coffee table book about the author Rosamunde Pilcher. She's one of my favorites--she wrote "The Shell Seekers"--and I loved all the pics of Cornwall, England.
The next step is for Hubs to sand the wall and for me to paint the wainscoting before we put it up on the wall. Then, we are waiting for our design/estimate from CloseoutCabinets.com for our lower cabinets. We basically sketched out and measured our kitchen and emailed them the info. Within a day or so, the guy will send us a diagram of the new kitchen and an estimate. These are real wood cabinets and they are the kind that have a "stopper" to keep the drawers/doors from slamming shut. It takes about 2 weeks for you to get your cabinets and a 10' x 10' kitchen with everything from doors to handles runs about $1800-$2400--depending on the style of cabinetry you choose. Once we get our new cabinets delivered, we are going to rent a machine that will strip all of the nasty old floor tile up for us (about $65 for a 1/2 day) and then we are going to lay the new floor tiles before putting in the cabinets. The new tiles are called Vermont slate (fitting, to be sure!) and they will match the slate backsplash we chose from Lowe's to go below the wainscoting.
Toddy really wants to switch the sink and stove (they are across from each other in the galley part of our kitchen) and move the refrigerator over to the cabinet-less wall so we have more room for cabinetry. We'll probably have to call in some reinforcements/professionals to assist. We'll see we have enough time to complete all of this before the family arrives for Toddy's retirement party!
The benefit of open shelving means we can keep things better organized AND we'll have 3 shelves instead of the 2-shelved cabinets we had before so we'll increase our storage as well. It's been awhile since I saw a pic of my "dream" kitchen in a coffee table book about the author Rosamunde Pilcher. She's one of my favorites--she wrote "The Shell Seekers"--and I loved all the pics of Cornwall, England.
The next step is for Hubs to sand the wall and for me to paint the wainscoting before we put it up on the wall. Then, we are waiting for our design/estimate from CloseoutCabinets.com for our lower cabinets. We basically sketched out and measured our kitchen and emailed them the info. Within a day or so, the guy will send us a diagram of the new kitchen and an estimate. These are real wood cabinets and they are the kind that have a "stopper" to keep the drawers/doors from slamming shut. It takes about 2 weeks for you to get your cabinets and a 10' x 10' kitchen with everything from doors to handles runs about $1800-$2400--depending on the style of cabinetry you choose. Once we get our new cabinets delivered, we are going to rent a machine that will strip all of the nasty old floor tile up for us (about $65 for a 1/2 day) and then we are going to lay the new floor tiles before putting in the cabinets. The new tiles are called Vermont slate (fitting, to be sure!) and they will match the slate backsplash we chose from Lowe's to go below the wainscoting.
Toddy really wants to switch the sink and stove (they are across from each other in the galley part of our kitchen) and move the refrigerator over to the cabinet-less wall so we have more room for cabinetry. We'll probably have to call in some reinforcements/professionals to assist. We'll see we have enough time to complete all of this before the family arrives for Toddy's retirement party!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Dinner in a Can
We love spending time with our friends Mark & Wendy. They, like us, love discovering the latest gadgets and gizmos. This weekend, they introduced us to the concept of "milk can cooking." Apparently, back in the day, farm hands used to use the old-fashioned milk cans (used to store milk during the trip to market) to cook a nice, hot dinner for themselves while they were working. The new-fangled cans look almost exactly like the old milk cans except for the fact the new cans have latches instead of screw-tops like the old ones. You put all of your food items in the can, latch down the lid, and then put it on your stove burner. Mark & Wendy used potatoes, corn on the cob, cabbage, cauliflower, onion, carrots, mushrooms, chicken drumsticks, venison marinated in garlic, beer, and half a bottle of Italian dressing. It took about 50 minutes for the meal to cook in the can. In retrospect, I feel the Italian dressing may have been a bit too much--the result was that the carrots & cauliflower were too tangy for my taste. If I attempt this recipe on my own, I'll substitute beef or chicken bouillon in place of the dressing. I'd also leave out the cabbage and cut up the potatoes so they can truly absorb the flavors of the cooking liquids. I'd also add some fresh rosemary sprigs to "kick it up a notch." I'm thinking I can duplicate this meal in my turkey fryer--it too has a rack to hold the food off the bottom of the pot and it has a steam hole like the milk can cooker. I will probably just have to weight the top down with something heavy to keep up the pressure.
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| What the can looks like... |
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| Adding the beer 'n' butter! |
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| The finished product! |
Day in D.C.
Recently, Hubs and I had the opportunity to spend a few hours in our favorite city, Washington, D.C. We had to bring Hubs' flag down to the Capitol building to have his VT state representative, Rep. Peter Welch's office fly Hubs' retirement flag over the Capitol. We were lucky enough to have Rep. Welch's congressional staff give us a tour of his office and give us a brief history on the setup of the congressional offices.
Afterward, we decided to stroll around the Capitol building and take some photos. We were surprised to find that there is a U.S. National Botanic garden located right behind the Capitol building.
Turns out, we were very lucky to find the garden as it suddenly began pouring down rain and neither of us had an umbrella. We couldn't believe such a small place could be so pretty. I've attached some photos of our time there that day.
Afterward, we decided to stroll around the Capitol building and take some photos. We were surprised to find that there is a U.S. National Botanic garden located right behind the Capitol building.
Turns out, we were very lucky to find the garden as it suddenly began pouring down rain and neither of us had an umbrella. We couldn't believe such a small place could be so pretty. I've attached some photos of our time there that day.
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| The seal of the great state of Vermont |
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| Rear of the Capitol building |
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| A cacao tree--the kind that produces beans which become chocolate! |
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| Mushrooms & moss |
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| This giant tin garden in the botanical garden showcases the aromas of the different spices around the world. |
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| View of the mall from the steps of the Capitol building. |
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| I haven't seen bananas growing on a tree like this since we lived in Puerto Rico. |
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| Overview of the main garden of the botanic garden. |
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| This was a photo that was part of an exhibition on Scottish gardens. I just loved the lighting. Must come from being married to a photographer for almost 20 years. |
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| Main atrium of the botanic garden. |
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
It's Amazing!
It's amazing how much the Hubs and I have learned over the past 20 years! Twenty years ago, if something broke in the house, we would have called my dad to come over and help us to fix it or we would have been calling his dad or his step-dad Bill for advice. These days, we are able to figure it out ourselves--can I say, that is a real feeling of accomplishment! This would not have been possible, however; if our 3 "dads" hadn't coached/coaxed us along the way. The first problem: the disposal locked up tighter than Fort Knox. We tried using the disposal-sized Allen wrench to unlock it and had no luck.
Turns out, a metal piece from Toddy's jerky gun was stuck between the two layers of the disposal and there was no way to work it out. So, we bought a new disposal from Lowe's (thank you, 10% military discount!) and while we were there, we saw that the prices for new kitchen faucets weren't as high as we thought, so we went ahead and bought a new kitchen faucet (ours was leaking--thanks crappy gasket). An hour, and a little bit of salty language later, we found ourselves smiling like idiots as we realized we had knocked out more than a few problems in our crappy kitchen. Maybe our night wasn't wasn't as tranquil as we thought it would be, but we ended up with a non-leaky sink and a workable disposal. AND...we were able to score a sweet, only 2-year old dishwasher for the low-low price of $80 on Craigslist. The kitchen may be the last room in the house to get the "deluxe" treatment, but it's all coming together fairly quickly. Stand-by for photos of our new kitchen!
Turns out, a metal piece from Toddy's jerky gun was stuck between the two layers of the disposal and there was no way to work it out. So, we bought a new disposal from Lowe's (thank you, 10% military discount!) and while we were there, we saw that the prices for new kitchen faucets weren't as high as we thought, so we went ahead and bought a new kitchen faucet (ours was leaking--thanks crappy gasket). An hour, and a little bit of salty language later, we found ourselves smiling like idiots as we realized we had knocked out more than a few problems in our crappy kitchen. Maybe our night wasn't wasn't as tranquil as we thought it would be, but we ended up with a non-leaky sink and a workable disposal. AND...we were able to score a sweet, only 2-year old dishwasher for the low-low price of $80 on Craigslist. The kitchen may be the last room in the house to get the "deluxe" treatment, but it's all coming together fairly quickly. Stand-by for photos of our new kitchen!
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