"Getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter allows you to remember who you are. Simplicity doesn’t change who you are, it brings you back to who you are."

Monday, October 31, 2011

Smoke Signals

Yesterday we went out to tackle some of the yard work.  We'd been building up a brush pile that needed to be burned.  Besides that pile, we also had the wood from the Bradford Pear we took down last spring.  We'd tossed all that wood to dry in the back part of the yard and it was a mess back there with all the bermuda grass growing through it.

We'd had heavy rains Friday, so I wasn't sure everything would be dry enough to burn.



After some initial heavy smoke, we settled down to business.  SM's job was being bent over pulling all the bermuda that had grown insanely in the back section and there was a TON of it.  He said it was actually pretty easy as the rain from the other day helped loosen the dirt so he could get at the roots too.

I'd hoped to spend my afternoon attacking the garden but, with SM otherwise occupied, I went ahead and attacked the wood pile.  We'd cut some of the branches up but still had a pile of 10 to 20 foot lengths.  SM asked if I wanted him to cut them in half.  "Nah, let the fire do it." 

I was concerned about snakes and spiders in the wood pile.  Interestingly we didn't run across any (that we could see) but I did find a Black Widow in one of the spare plastic trash cans we keep around for hauling yard debris.  


I took the can out to the driveway, flipped it over and pounded on the can to get her out.  Splat with the shoe.  Black Widows are pretty common down here.  I've never seen one in the house, (Thank God) but I have seen them in the garage and out in the shed.  (shuddering)

So with that creepy, crawly thought, I'll wish ya'll a happy and safe Halloween.
   

Sunday, October 30, 2011

32

SM was watching the college football games in yesterday and would yell at me to take a look at the "white-out" conditions.  Has there been a snowstorm before Halloween in recent memory?  Wow!

SM also pointed out that we were due for our first frost this weekend.  Now I been very neglectful of the garden this fall.  (That is on today's list of to-do's)  So I figured I'd better take one more tour before the frost.

SM's been very curious about the carrots, so we pulled one.  Eureka!  The carrot we pulled was about 5" long and actually looked like a carrot.  (Not a baby carrot.)


I wanted to snap a photo, but we ate it first.  But you can see it had some size to it.  So the secret to growing a carrot in the South is to plant it in July, under a wet towel to germinate in a raised bed.  (*My other test carrots I planted a month later (in the ground) and they have no root formed at all.  Just tops.)  

I'd left some of the healthier bell pepper plants alone after the big "Summer Pull" in September.  I'd noticed they had blooms on them and wanted to see what would happen with the cooler Fall weather.


Shazam!  Now that's what I call a bell pepper harvest.  No bugs, no skin disease and some of them grew to a pretty good size.  There's about 10 pounds of peppers in the sink.  I must find a cooler, shadier spot for next years crop.  Just too freakin hot during the Summer months down here.



The Hungarians also grew to a good size.  Whats your favorite way to deal with these?  Can em? Freeze em?  SM asked me to stuff them with sausage and bake them in sauce.  Really?  Any ideas out there?

So that's it for this years garden, then.  SM and I tossed a sheet on top of the salad patch to keep the frost off.  We'll likely have salad for a few more weeks at least.  The carrots will stay in the ground.  I'll pull them as needed.



All in all, this years garden "rocked".  Still some improvements to make but considering it's only our second year, I feel that we've made some BIG strides in production.  Probably the biggest lesson I learned this year is that the raised beds are great for Spring and Fall production but completely suck during Summer.  It's just too hot around here and the roots responded poorly to the hotter soil temperature.  Summer produce MUST go in the ground where it's cooler.

I want to say "Thanks" to all of you out there with your garden and farm blogs.  I can't tell you how much I've learned reading all your tips and tricks.  Sharing what you know, the successes and the failures, have really helped me get to where we are today. 

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Preparation Station

I mostly listen to talk radio on my drive time home and sometimes I turn off the jeep without turning off the radio first. 

The other day I hopped back into the Jeep and I caught an ad in the middle saying that "the only thing there was to eat in the house was a granola bar."  I was confused for a moment until the ad said it was a message "brought to you by Homeland Security urging you to visit their site and become better prepared ".

I've heard HS ads before and besides being slightly "dumbed down" (lowest common denominator?) and creepy, I'm always surprised to hear them.  They seem covert somehow.  Like they don't really want to tell you these things because "while we all know that the Government is in charge and keeping you safe, there's a teeny, tiny chance that you just might be on your own, so don't say we didn't warn you."  It's weird.

SM said he'd heard one that asked "Do you have 3 days of food and water?  Do you have a plan?"  This was about a year ago and he said it creeped him out a bit.

Now, I'm personally fascinated by the "prepper movement."  While it seems like it's an "underground movement" I find it to be an honest and common sense philosophy.  Living on the East coast in an urban area, I realize that while this concept is "news to me" it's not news to a lot of people.  Imagine my surprise that a department of the government is pushing this idea.  On the other hand, I think that they secretly hate having to promote it.  Very strange. 

So I thought I'd do a Google search for some of these ads. I'll hear one every now and then but I was curious to hear more.  (BTW, Homeland Security's website is a bit of a bore if you ask me.  They generally refer you elsewhere for more information.  I swear I learn more from your blogs than I would from them.) 

Anyhow, when I Googled HS radio ads, I couldn't find any to listen to. 

But I did find this.  Blog Talk Radio - Preparedness Radio Network
Have you ever heard of this?  I had no idea that there were radio pod casts/networks/programs that were out there to support their community.  Wonderful!

So I wanted to ask you.  What resources...blogs, radio, websites...do you follow that you find enjoyable and informative.  I'm not looking for TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) sites, although I admit that I'm fascinated by them too. 

I just feel that I'm a common sense person who wants to re-learn some common sense skills.  Therefore, I'd like to access that library book, or website, or radio station that can help me along. 

Do you have favorite information sources?  What do you think of sites like The American Preppers Network?

Friday, October 28, 2011

Darkness Falls

Fall Back. 

Next weekend is the weekend that our government declares that we should all push our clocks back by 1 hour in order to push more daylight into our work hours.  And to save energy.  Yeah right.

I thought I'd Wiki this concept.  Imagine my surprise that I find other countries have been sucked into this idea. 

World map. Europe, Russia, most of North America, parts of southern South America and southern Australia, and a few other places use DST. Most of equatorial Africa and a few other places near the equator have never used DST. The rest of the land mass is marked as formerly using DST.


DST observed
DST no longer observed
DST never observed
I personally feel this is a whole lot of blather and aggravation.  I'm still driving to and from work in the dark. My lights are still on in the am as well as the pm.  Energy savings?  I don't think so.

But if you want to stop by my house and see me falling asleep at 7:30 at night for the next few weeks, come on by.  But be sure not to spend the night.  The flip side is that I'll likely be sparky by 4 am.  And I'm sure you'll want to sleep in. 

Try telling the dogs that they're supposed to sleep in.  "But we want to go for a walk now..." as they nudge me as I lay in bed hoping to fake them out.  Can't fool them.  One little foot twitch and I hear the patter of feet coming down the hallway.  "She's up.  Did you hear that?  If we can get her up, then we can get outside for a walk and then we can eat breakfast.  Yeah us!"  How can you be mad at a dog that wakes you up by putting their face on the bed.  ("I can feel your tail wagging.")  And if I lay there much longer I'll get kisses and they jump on the bed...

Talk about Pavlov's Tami.

I swear the only ones with any common sense in all of this is Arizona. 

And the cat.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

I'm Doomed, I Tell Ya!

There's another reason I hate flying.  I get sick.

Every.

Single.

Time.

When the world ends in the great future pandemic (that the CDC says is only a matter of time), I take great comfort in knowing that I'll be dead in the first wave, if not the actual "patient zero."

Within 6 hours of stepping out of that toxic soup can that we call an airplane, I knew I was doomed.  The scratchy throat, the head congestion.  My boss looked at me with concern.

"This happens every time?"  She asked.  I nodded my head in affirmation.

"Yep.  Change my environment and I become of puddle of diseased misery."

I don't fly often enough to remember this happens, UNTIL it happens.  My last trip was probably over 5 years ago.  My boss is a frequent flyer though.  I suppose you have to build up resistance to all the bacteria floating around inside those things.

"We need to pump some vitamins in you."  She said, recommending a product called Airborne 

"I think it's too late for that.  Plus we've got the return flight tomorrow."  I said.

Back in Charlotte, when we finished up our surgery day yesterday, the Doctor I work for said "Boy...you're sounding rough.  Your eyes are glassy too."

"Anyway I can get Workmans Comp?"  I inquired, envisioning leisurely living for my pain and suffering.

Yeah right.

Needless to say, I'll be spending my weekend Kleenex in hand, cup of cocoa beside me, with puppies on my lap. 

I suppose there's worse ways to die.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Earth Sign

Stars above me in a black sky. 

Stars below me too.  The man made kind though, glowing like some foreign amoeba under a microscope.



It's Thursday night and I'm in the air, somewhere between San Antonio Texas and Charlotte North Carolina.  Hanging like a cloud.  The sensation of emptiness beneath my feet.  I've never been much of a flier.  I can't think about all that space between me and the earth without getting a nice case of the "willies". 

So I do my best not to think about it.  I read a book.  I shift in my seat.  After about 2 hours my sciatic nerve starts to numb my right leg.  The fellow beside me in this flying tin can is nice enough not to comment about my constant stretching and shifting.  Everyone is pretty quiet though, absorbed in their Amazon Kindles and their IPads.  Someday they'll have a term for people bent over their electronic devices like that.  I can't blame them though.  If I was a chronic business traveler (like my seat mate), I'd be looking for some kind of entertainment too.  (This was his 5th flight this week.  Cross country too). 

We're all in suspended animation up here just trying to get from point A to point B with as little fuss as possible.  A few people try and nap.  Fortunately, it's a smooth flight.  As we start to descend, I look out on the twinkling earth and crave to be on it.  I want my feet on the ground, it's where I belong.  I'm an Earth Sign...You know astrology.  I'm a Taurus.  I wonder if that's why I like to garden and have such a strong desire for my home.  My nest.  My little bull pen.

We land and I glance back at my coworkers.  Everyone looks relieved.  Another safe landing.  We're on the ground.

Where we want to be. 

Monday, October 17, 2011

Salad Garden

I've been very neglectful of the garden these past few weeks.  I went out yesterday and took a tour.

 My lettuces are coming along and I'm still getting tomatoes from the Matt's WC.  I won't need to plant this ever again.  I'm sure to have TONS of volunteers from all the tiny tomatoes that have fallen.

My carrots actually look good.  Tall greens on top.  I brushed a bit of dirt away to see if anything was happening down below.  Maybe.



The green peppers are loving the cooler weather.  Tons of blossoms and another batch of fruit on it's way.


Even the Hungarian's are liking it.


I left a few Tropic VN tomatoes to see if I could get anything from them.  Mostly cracked fruit and worms.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with what's going on out there considering that I'm not putting any effort into it at all.
 

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Storing Eating Apples

We don't have a basement or root cellar here.  The best I can do is store potatoes, onions and apples out in the garage.  That's assuming of course that the weather has turned cool enough that things won't rot.  If it's still warm, into the fridge they go.

Last year I was curious about how to store eating apples.  (You can only keep them in a fridge so long and the lack of humidity wrinkles the skins up.  Yuck.)  I'd read that you could wrap them individually in newspaper.  The trick was to not let the apples touch each other.  Has anyone tried this technique?  

Since I don't have newspapers laying around I used old bath towels instead.  It worked pretty well last year, so I thought I'd do it the same way this year.  I'd kept some of the sturdier boxes for this purpose.  I took an empty box and laid a towel inside it.  I went through my bushel of apples separating the pristine from the bruised and skin damaged ones.  I was basically "grading" the apples into "use first / use last".


The best apples were put on the bottom keeping enough room between them so they wouldn't touch.  Toss the towel on top of that row and layer them as you go.  Easy.


The towels also helped prevent the apples from freezing.  I keep them in the garage but beside the door that enters into the house.  Last year they kept this way well into December.  Nice and crisp.  Not sure how well they would have stored into January or later as we had simply eaten them up by that time.


Still, I thought I'd toss this out there.  This worked well for me.  Do any of you store fresh eating apples?  How do you do it?

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Post Paint Recovery

It pretty much rained all last week.  I haven't had time for any other projects since putting my head inside of a paint can.  Boy, am I glad that's done.   Now I can pay attention to other things.  Like myself.

SM and I went to the Farmers Market this morning hoping to find some eating apples.  I'd already put up about 30 quarts of applesauce last month so I'm done with that.  But I was hoping to score some nice, crisp Pink Lady's to store out in the garage for the next couple of months.  I'm a big believer in An apple a day keeps the doctor away

The market was winding down.  Lots of open vendor space available.  I noticed a new vendor selling ostrich and goat meat.  Interesting combination.  Prices on veggies were a bit higher than I thought but then again, the season is over, so most of what is being offered isn't locally raised.  

Lots of apples though, most priced at 99 cents a pound.  The Pink Lady's were tiny this year.  I was disappointed at the offerings until this nice lady offered me a slice of Honey Crisp (her "favorite apple").  Wow!  Now that is a great sweet/tart apple!  Funny how even apples have good years and bad years (taste wise).  I asked her if she sold by the case.  Yep!  $18 and I got the last case they had.


I asked who I should pay and she pointed out an old man at the front of the table.  I went up to him and said to him "She sold me a case for $18."  His head was down and I couldn't see his face very well under the brim of his hat.  His right arm was tucked into his shirt. (My light bulb went on.  Stroke?)  

He didn't say a word but stuck his left had into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills.  I kid you not, with the fingers of his left hand alone he took my $20 bill and gave me $2 back wrapping everything up nice and neat!  

We opened the sun roof and rolled the windows down on the drive home.  Brrr.  The leaves are starting to change.  The air is as sweet and crisp as the apple I munched on.  Yum.  I just love Fall. 

We got home and I considered what my chores were for the day.  I decided instead to take the day off.  I am on vacation after all @;)  I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon.  Bliss!

Taking a day off around here still means cleaning the house and doing laundry.  For some reason SM is pestering me for an apple pie but gld  had a nice apple tart on her blog that looked easy enough for a girl on vacation. 

I'm off to the kitchen now.  Enjoy your weekend!
 

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Pandora's Box

I like warm colors in my house.  Makes me feel all happy and snuggley.  It seems that the gold colors I'd selected are pretty popular.  My friend Deb stopped by and told me that mine was the 3rd kitchen that she's seen that went "yellow" this year.  (I wonder if we're all wanting to surround ourselves with happiness and warmth.)


That must be the reason why the "Have a Nice Day" smiley is yellow.

Tuesday morning I was singing Here Comes The Sun as the kitchen started to transform.  By Wednesday morning I was singing Yellow  It's amazing that this same color in my north facing rooms looks completely different than in my southern exposure kitchen.  Lemon yellow to a rich gold.

I started my massive painting project on Monday morning.  It was cloudy and I was in the mood so I dug in.  I got the front entry way and my (and the dogs) lounge/TV room completed in one day.  It took about 8 hours and it wasn't too bad as I was only going a shade lighter than the existing color.  Pretty easy.




I decided to attack the kitchen Tuesday morning.  It rained all day.  It took me 3 hours just to tape everything and another hour to cut in.  All those freakin windows!  All that wood trim!  Argh!  I worked until 6 and called it a day.  A long day.  (It's amazing how good a glass of wine tastes at the end of a day like that.)


Wednesday, I started up at 6am and could really see how different the kitchen looked.  I had to apply a second coat as the green still showed through.  Touching up, stripping off the tape, putting everything back in place.  Another full day.


Now I know why some people just up and move into a new home every few years.  When you have an older home, (and mine is only middle aged) and you decide to update one little bitty thing, (like paint), it suddenly shows off how bad the rest of the house is.  



The kitchen walls are fresh and bright.  The sink is stained, the floors nicked up and discolored.  The wood trim needs cleaned and restained.  Some of the trim is scratched up by the dogs.  If I replaced one piece it would stand out and look out of place, so I leave it alone and say it adds "character"

SM and I agree that we need new curtains and a new rug.  I'm thinking I'd like to do a tile back splash too.  Along with replacing the sink and floor and..."Oh no"...What have I done?  I've opened Pandora's Box.

All in all though, we like it a lot.  The kitchen looks and feels much bigger and  the color brightens things up so we really don't need much light on at night.


Tomorrow I hope to start on the living room and hallway.  That will also likely be a 2 day project.  Then hopefully some outside yard work this weekend.


Man, the time is just flying by!



Monday, October 10, 2011

A Week Off

I always try to take a week off in the Spring and another in the Fall.  They're both my favorite times of the year.  We try to fit in vacation time too but this year we're either too uninspired to decide on a destination or (more likely) too cheap to want to spend the money to go anywhere.  

So it's another "staycation" week for me.

I really don't mind this as I'm sort of a homebody to begin with.  There's always SO MUCH to do around here.  


SM pointed out several weeks ago that the interior paint needs to be spruced up a bit.  It's probably been 6 years or so since the walls have been painted.  


I've often heard parents say that you can't keep anything nice when you have kids.  (I know my parents said it.)  Well, you can't keep anything nice when you have dogs either.


You might recall that Casey cut her ear last winter and sprayed the walls and carpeting with splattered blood.  I did the best I could with the carpeting (we're pretty sure we changing that soon too) but the walls were a disaster.  I got the blood cleaned up but I had painted the walls with a flat or satin paint and both finishes showed the scrub marks. 


So I decided that interior painting would be my project for the week.  I also need to stain the wood trim while I'm at it.  We have TONS of wood trim in this house.


I'm a big fan of Sherwin Williams paint.  Yes, it's freakin expensive stuff, but it's a one coat application and you're done.  Beautiful finish.  I can't tell you how many gallons of Lowe's or Home Depot paint I've had to waste applying a second coat.


I actually discovered SWilliams paint when we first moved in here and had to paint the exterior.  I'm the painting person around here.  We don't hire out.  I kinda like painting.  So I did my research as I really didn't want to have to be painting the house every couple of years.  I found that the Duration brand from SWilliams had excellent reviews.  I painted the exterior of our house 12 years ago and the paint is still holding up beautifully.  I spray the exterior in the fall with a dilute bleach water to remove the years dirt and mold from the siding and "That's it!"  Done!


SWilliams had a 30% off sale this weekend so SM and I grabbed the paint chips and compared things and narrowed it down.  We're sticking with the gold color we have...just a bit lighter.  I'm also going semi gloss.  I need to be able to wipe the paint down.  The kitchen is green right now but I decided I wanted to brighten it up and make a "great room" feel, so I'll be repainting the kitchen the gold color too.


So it's off to the races.  Busy, busy, busy!  (*I haven't spent anytime blogging or reading your blogs lately, (bad Tami) so hopefully I'll play catch up this week with everybody.)



Sunday, October 9, 2011

Curb Appeal

It's that time of the year again.  Turf Wars.  Grass growing season. 

Here in the South, you reseed and grow your lawn in the fall.  Some try it in the Spring only to watch our Summer heat turn their baby grass into cornflakes within a month. 


So the men around here (I swear I've never seen a women do it) engage in the yearly ritual of lawn improvement.  This equates to de-thatching the lawn, spreading new seed, fertilizer, and straw and then assuming the twice daily waterings necessary to get the lawn to grow. 

SM and I gave up this practice years ago.  To each his own.  I have noted that all of the guys out there working in their yards gave up their chemical lawn service this year.  "Why?"  I asked.  

They ALL said that they still had weeds after being with their service.  Plus the expense.


It begs the question though, "Why bother at all?"  I mean, it's an endless cycle.  You really can't alter what Mother Nature commands.  "You will have weeds!  Your grass will die!  Your grass will turn brown!"

All this week, I've driven to work waving at "J" as he stands there with a hose in his hand watering his front yard.  Then, as I'm coming home, there he is... standing there watering again.

I roll down my window to tease him.  "You're in the same position I left you in this morning...standing there with a hose in your hand!"  


"Yeah, but it's evening now and I can do this with a beer."  As he raises his other hand in a beer-salute.

"J's" grass is super green, artificially so.  Mine?  Pale green with brown patches.


I hopped on the mower yesterday afternoon determined to "skelp" it.  You see, we leave it high during the Summer months because it handles the heat better that way.  Not that long ago, we had 2 weeks of nothing but rain and when the lawn finally dried out enough, it was like mowing hay.  On top of that, we got fleas.  (I haven't had fleas in 3 years.  CRAP!)  I blame the tall grass for that!


So I hopped on the mower and lowered the blades 2 clicks.  I took it slow, sneezing as the grass/dirt cloud enveloped me.  Then I went to buzz the front yard and the boys were all out tending their lawns.  You can't help but compare mine to theirs. 


"I'd like nothing better than to kill all of it."  I muttered to myself, eyeballing the existing front landscaped beds, wondering if there was anyway to tactfully enlarge the beds with more trees and shrubs in order to get rid of the grass.


We don't have an HOA (Thank God!) but social pressure exists none the less.  I live in a subdivision.  I can't change that fact.  The status quo must be maintained.  So for now, while I can let the grass and weeds do their natural thing (brown out and die), I still don't want to turn my front yard into something that would impact the resale value.


"How many times do I have to tell you, we're NOT moving!"  SM 


"Oh, we're moving alright.  Maybe not in the near future, but someday."  I reply


"Where to?" He asks, exasperated.


"Out in the country...Into an RV...Maybe a nursing home if you're not careful."  (Grin)

Saturday, October 8, 2011

And A Good Morning To You Too!

5am.

It's pitch black outside.

Me.  Stumbling after pups who are a mission to sniff.

You see, it's trash day in the hood.  We have these little recycling bins for paper, tin and glass.

Puppy Nirvana.


So as I stumble along after them, hearing the clink and tinkle of glass and tins being shifted around by inquiring noses, I see a great big heap of something in the driveway.  I squint my sleepy eyes and blink.  (Bink!  My eyes pop open wide.)


Well, Hello Kitty!  Someone must've just moved into the house cause there is a "mother load" of perfectly stacked clean cardboard moving boxes.


We continue on our walk with me muttering "Don't forget, don't forget" because guess what?  I forget stupid stuff like this now that I'm "hormonal".


So when I get back to the house, I toss the pups back in, grab the keys and hop in the Jeep.  You gotta be fast around here as the recycling truck starts purring around the hood early.


So there I am, pilfering my neighbors cardboard on a crisp, dark October morning.  Why?  For the garden, Silly!  I really love how the cardboard works to keep the weeds and grass down.

So I stuffed it all in, then had to yank it all back out and toss it over my backyard fence.  I wouldn't want the recycling gal to take MY cardboard.


Back inside the the house, SM is just getting up.  

"Next time, leave a note."  He says. (Mr Cranky hasn't had his coffee yet.)

"I was only gone 10 minutes." I said after I explained what I'd been up too.

"What am I supposed to think?  The dogs are staring at the front door whining like you'd been kidnapped."  SM.

"Nah...they're just hungry and I walked out on them.  They probably thought they'd never eat again."  I kissed his forehead.  "Drink your coffee...I'll go feed the dogs."

So how did you start your day?



Monday, October 3, 2011

Kohls Cash

I don't shop at Kohls Department Store very often.  Mostly for clothes.  When I went shopping a few weeks ago for new fall and winter clothes, they gave me a voucher for "Kohls Cash".  You can use the voucher just like cash on anything in the store.  Sale prices still apply.  The only catch is that you need to use it during a specific time period.  Smart business approach.

Saturday, SM and I were heading out and I noticed that the voucher was going to expire the next day.  "Yikes!  We need to swing by Kohls!"

"I don't want to mess around with that today." SM protests.

"Hey...It's $30 bucks worth of something, ANYTHING.  I've already got my clothes.  Why don't you look for some sweat pants or jeans?"  

"Sure go on.  We're are driving right by it anyway."  SM, less than enthused.


"You can sit in the car if you want." I offered.


Turns out that SM wandered in too.  He poked around the men's clothing area but, as he said, he just wasn't in the mood.  So I headed over to the kitchen area thinking there's got to be something I could use for $30.


SM found their Dutch Ovens on sale for $99.  (He paid $40 at Sams Club.  SM  is the kind of guy that shops even after he's purchased.  Do you have a guy like that?  No matter what he buys, he's always shopping for it after the fact.  He did this on the minivan too.  Online, pointing out to me the great deal he got.  A phone call from a dealer who wants to see if he's interested in a van they have.  He had a 5 minute conversation with the kid and reports back to me how he got the better deal.  Must be a guy thing.)


So I'm poking around and decided I could really use another nonstick insulated cookie sheet to replace the one I'd ruined last year.  (I sprayed it with cooking spray when I stuck some fries in the oven.  Turns out that you shouldn't do that.  My new pan says so.)  So I got that, a slotted spoon and a ladle for soups.  My out of pocket cost? $6.24  Woo Hoo!


So now I can use my big ass cookie sheet to bake me some big ass cookies for my big ass.  Well, not MY big ass.  Since I've gone gluten free and I don't eat bread, pasta, cakes and cookies anymore, you'd think my ass would be tiny and trim.  HA!  I make up for all that by eating my way through a wheel of cheese and gallons of ice cream.  Not to mention the taco chips and wine.  


My fat cells will not be denied!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

A Potted Roast

I woke up this morning, took my walk and worn jeans for the first time since April!  It was freakin COLD!  42 degrees and a wind chill!

I'm a WIMP, I tell ya.  To go from 80 degrees to 42 in a matter of days is a wake up call for sure!  It's windy too, so I'm leaning towards indoor pursuits rather than the outside weeding, yanking (and cursing).  Or at least that's what I tell myself since I'm totally not motivated to anything.

The Dutch Oven was still sitting on my counter top untouched.  I just knew that today was the day. 


So with the sun barely above the horizon line, I hopped into the car and ran to the closest market (ie: $expensive$) and bought a chuck roast.  

Carrots, onions, potatoes and beef seared in butter one by one.  A bit of red wine splashed to de-glaze the pot and stuff it all back in with some beef broth.  Spin your oven dial to 300 and go find other things to do for 4 hours.

"Gosh, that smells great!"  SM says hovering.  "Is it done yet?" 



"Sure.  Why don't you pull it out for me since its so heavy."


We let it sit for about a 1/2 hour with the lid on, then loaded up a plate.  


Even the pups want in on the action.  "Hey...get your nose outta there!"

"I'm so stuffed".  SM says picking at the pot for one more bite.


Too bad being fat is bad for you.  It's a skill that I could learn to master.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Going Dutch

I don't own any cast iron pots or pans.  Somehow I've made it through (almost) fifty years on this planet without ever experiencing the bliss of cooking with cast iron.

Seriously.  What's the big deal?  

I'd mentioned to SM a few months ago that, besides an apron and a good cast iron skillet, I really wanted to invest in a good dutch oven.  I see them from time to time being used on some of the food shows that I watch.  I kinda like the idea of a "one pot" dinner and the fact that I can take it from stove top straight into the oven appeals to me.

I came home this week and look what SM got me.



"I had the choice between red and blue.  I thought you'd like the red better."  SM said.

"You're right.  Somehow food coming out of a red dish seems more appealing."  I told him.  I lifted up the lid.  ""Wow.  That's heavy!!"  For some reason I wasn't expecting it to be THAT heavy.

So it's been sitting there on my counter looking pretty all week.  I have visions of soups and stews, roasted chicken and pot roasts dancing in my head.  I might even fry something!  All I've been waiting for is cooler weather.

Welcome to October!  We've had an extended summer so far this year, but today the north wind is blowing and the house is buttoned up tight.  We're forecast for brilliant blue skies, winds gusting to 25 mph and a high of only 64 today.  Brr.


We're hoping to spend some quality time on the back yard this weekend... weeding and trimming our way through the massive growth that this summer has given us.  It a mess back there.  


So we will need hearty sustenance to help us get through.  Any good ideas for breaking in my new dutch oven?  Favorite recipes?