Sorry to say, but a colder temp in the basement and some inattention on my part doomed the sauerkraut. It stopped fermenting and got a little dry. That led to a disgusting aroma emanating from the corner of the mud room. Too bad I didn’t think to grab the camera. It was some of the most colorful garbage I haver dumped outback. Making sure to avoid any area that wouldn’t benefit from all that salt. It was the most gorgeous pink and purple mess you ever saw. Oh well,clean everything and try again. Soon??
October 08, 2008
Sauerkraut
With all the jammin’ done I decided to add sauerkraut to the mix. Wait a minute!! I mean add to the widening range of foods that we can. We went to our favorite farm equipment store Big Acre to buy a crock. I picked up a 3 gallon Crown for this.
Momma ordered the lid, stomper and inner disc from Lehman’s to complete the equipment needed.
Then I started slicing 11# of green cabbage and 5# of red cabbage. (I shouldn’t shop for cabbage in low light) I become color blind. However, all isn’t lost, sauerkraut can be made with a mix of colors.
After adding 3T canning salt to each 5# of sliced cabbage, I started pounding it down. Each time I added it to the crock it would almost fill it. When it was all loaded and stomped down there was only a half filled crock. Then I put in the follower with a 1 gallon Baggie on it. At that point there was only about a 1/2 inch of brine over the cabbage. Tuesday morning there was about 3 inches.
The STOMPER. Without this I would have to use a potato masher, I don’t think so.
Now to wait about 6 weeks.
October 01, 2008
Way to start this new venture
Woke this morning to Momma saying"Someones at the door”.I said"I didn’t hear the driveway alarm” We hustled to the door, no one there. Then Momma noticed a large box beside the door. We brought it inside and opened it to discover the new pressure cooker/canner we had just ordered.
The reason for no alarm. The
trash cart fell off the truck on the way up last night and I didn’t notice it in the dark. It landed in the middle of the driveway right in line with the alarm sensor, which is the dark box and tie-wrap on the tree. The UPS driver carried that thing all the way up. these delivery men are saving me a lot of carrying and miles driven.
Momma has also ordered thje sauerkraut stomper and follower board for the crock.Now to get the salt and cabbage when they arrive.
September 27, 2008
Feeling the pressure
Out and about today, shopping. On the way to Bed,Bath and Beyond we remembered some needed shelving. Stopped at Home Depot, Sam’s Club and finally Lowe’s where we found it. Onward to BBB. Ordered a pressure canner/cooker, because that way you can use their 20% coupon on the sale.
All this to get to what I really wanted to post. We have a new Sonic drive-in under construction in Flint at Miller Rd and I-75. Finally I will get to sample these taste tempting treats they have been bombarding my TV with, knowing there were none located anywhere near me,. Now, if we could only get an IKEA.
We then continued our tour to Big Acre to get a pickle crock to make sauerkraut, as my present crock has a chipped interior. They were closed, try again Monday. In the mean time, does anyone have ideas on patching the chips?
Oh, yes, the pressure cooker is for a new venture, canning low acid foods, Meat, vegetables, soups. We’ll see.
September 22, 2008
Ground hog
While writing the previous post, we were interrupted by a ground hog coming out from under the shed to sun for a while. Then it went to the barrel planters to inspect the tomato and melon plants. It went back under the shed when I tried to get a better picture. Any one know how to photograph through a door screen?
September 22, 2008
More canning
Just when you think all the canning is done—Edna drops in with a 1/2 bushel of pears off of their yard tree. We turned those into 20 pints of Cinnamon Pears. Took some jars over to Edna & Bob’s in return.
That got the fun going again, so we went to the farm stand and got a 1/2 bushel of Roma tomatoes. We made 11 pints of Tomato Chutney and 18 pints and a 12oz jar of Low Salt Tomatoes.See more pics at Momma’s corner
September 11, 2008
Tomato Soup
It’s amazing how a 1 inch incision on the inside of an elbow can drag you down. Between naps today I helped Momma put up 10 pints of tomato basil soup for the freezer.Tasted pretty good, too. Tomatoes thanks to Phylis (next door) and the stupid deer thar couldn’t figure how to get them all off the bushes.
I took some rhubarb sauce in with me to S.E. Michigan Surgical Hospital for Dr. Webb. He had said “Why don’t you guys make some rhubarb sauce, I haven’t had any in years”. Turns out his grand mother had an unorthodox recipe for it. She would stew the rhubarb and then throw in a large amount of candy orange slices. Has anyone heard of this method? I’m off hunting for it. Please help. That was quick. http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/2000m.htm has 2 recipes just right (HAH) for us diabetics. We’ll try it soon.
August 09, 2008
What we can’t eat we can
Well, while I was lolling in front of THE POWER BLOCK shows, Momma put up 20 jars of Pluot (plum apricot X) jam. Then I got in there & cut up pickles and onions to start the bread and butter pickles.Five and a 1/4 hours later we had 17 jars ready to label
.
In process
Last 3 jars ready for a bath.
August 06, 2008
Tiny ‘maters
in the sun. Picked the first of many small pear shaped tomatoes to add to the medium sized ones from the “cheater” plant.
Looking good,no bug or animal damage. It really helps to grow them 2’ off the ground in my homemade containers
.
August 02, 2008
Dilly of a day
I should be in dialysis more often. Momma gets more done that way. Yesterday it was 3lb of green beans turned into 10 jars of Dilly Beans.
Meanwhile the search for apricots and peaches and raspberries continues.
July 27, 2008
Beets me
We got the final 1/2 bushel of beets Thursday and got them canned.
Washing station
Sorting sizes
18 more pints to store for 6 weeks to develop flavor.
Last Tuesday while I was in thrall to the dializer machine Momma headed out to Blueberry Lane and picked 9 1/3 lbs. By the time I got home she had put up 4 1/2 pints of pie filling and 17 1/2 8oz jars of jam.See Momma’s site for pics.
Next up,apricots, peaches and raspberries. Got our eyes open.
July 21, 2008
AND MORE PICKLED BEETS
We stopped at McDanials farm stand and picked up a 1/2 bushel of beets on our way home Sunday. That was after having dinner with Bob and Edna Hittel. Edna was our letter carrier for years.
This morning Brandy helped Momma clean the beets.
This year Momma sorted out the small ones to put into the new Ball Elite jars.
We ended the session with 20 pints of ruby goodness.
Labeled and ready for at least 3 weeks to “age”
July 19, 2008
Possible road trip coming
We started to search for the next fruit for canning, apricots. Unfortunately the crop froze in this part of the state. After searching the interweb I have found a possible source. If i don’t find another it looks like we will be making a day trip to Northern Lower Michigan. King Orchards are located North of Travers City, about 198 miles from here in Central Lake . Ah, what I won’t do to get Michigan fruit. Plus, we haven’t been North of Bay City since we retired to Otisville.
July 10, 2008
Tart Cherries here again.
We picked up 20 lbs of tart cherries yesterday.Didn’t do the U-Pick,we both tire easily. Got going today finished rounding up supplies and equipment. Started cooking at 11:43 and jarred up 14 jars of jam and 14 jars of chutney with apples, onions,brown sugar, vinegar and spices. We had to stop and re figure the pie filling recipe because we ran low on cherries. Should have made it first and then do just 1 batch of jam. Oh well, hindsight and all that.
June 28, 2008
Guilt trip
You know? Nothing would get posted here if Momma didn’t say anything to remind me to. So, 2 weeks ago we started jammin’ again. 36 jars of strawberry and 14 jars of rhubarb strawberry. Next up, apricots, cherries, and raspberries.
Next door neighbor Phylis asked if we could do a repeat of 2 years ago when we made tea sandwiches for a Master Gardeners garden party.That one was for about 50 to 75 people. This was a wedding shower with about 24 to 30. So, back to the Food Network and Epicurious for more recipes. We did Raisin Sandwiches,Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches, Herbed Vidalia Onion Tea Sandwiches, Cucumber Mint Tea Sandwiches snd Salmon Dill Eggs. We shared a selection for our lunch, saving the filled eggs for supper.
UPDATE: Just got pictures from Phyllis & had Les upload them.
May 28, 2008
First projects
I harvested our rhubarb Monday(5 stalks). Momma cooked up a batch of rhubarb sauce (12 jars!)while I was in dialysis. She is really enjoying canning, says it’s easy.
Today, together, we worked on rhubarb chutney(7 jars(. You should have smelled that! Chopped rhubarb,apple,lemon& orange zest, diced lemon & orange sections and brown sugar. And ground cinnamon.allspice,cloves and nutmeg.Orange marmalade because there was no candied citron to be found.Yowzza!!Stick tour nose into those vapors.Did I hear there were strawberries coming along?
April 29, 2008
First blossoms
The new fruit trees are in bloom !
A whole 14 of them on the plum tree.
And about 6 on the peach tree.
That will help me through the procedure of Roto Rooting the blood clot out of my fistula tomorrow,
April 05, 2008
Spring Swing Moving
Brandy’s favorite outdoor lounge got its spring move today.
And here she is, warming the cushion for us .
April 03, 2008
Buds
Now to chronicle this years new growth on the fruit trees.
Still looks like a twig stuck in the ground.
Click to embiggen, can you see’em?
I can see the peach buds a little better.
Photo credit to Momma.
April 03, 2008
Play’n in the dirt
Last use of the season for the snow plow. I can’t have the plow and the mower on at the same time, and the change over takes too long to do it casually.
I decided to reshape the driveways while I was at it.
Then moved the dirt pile.
Lots of maneuvering because it’s a lawn tractor and can’t really push a lot of dirt at a time.
Most work I’ve accomplished all winter.
Photo credit to Momma.
March 23, 2008
Gathering
The family all gathered for the end of winter feast. Ah, Momma’s lasagna, Debora’s wilted spinach salad, Cindy’s deviled eggs, Anne’s vegetables and my contriibution, mini cheesecakes topped with homemade jams.
And after all that, good old tryptophan kicked in & I collapsed for about an hour. And then one by one they melted into the tiny flakes of snow that started falling about an hour ago.
March 19, 2008
New growth
is starting on the fruit trees.
Peach last year.
Peach today
Plum today
Good to see buds on the trees, especially as the view of the snow was beginning to wear thin.
March 18, 2008
New growth
Well,so much for that last group of pictures I’ll try to get them thru Momma’omputer later. In the meantime, we have new growth to show you.
Enough of that. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of watching herbs grow. The weather is changing slowly, getting ready for spring. Maybe I can get out side for some projects, or open the garage and work down there.
February 15, 2008
Trimming
Well, I did load a photo of clippings from the Aero-Garden. Really. But my computer ate it. I will try again after dialysis.
February 06, 2008
Bass ackward
So I did everything backwards today. First I made tomato soup utilizing my hame canned tomatoes and homegrown basil.
Zapped it with a stick blender & added sour cream. Then made some toasted cheese sandwiches.
Then, all filled up and warm, went out and played in 6 inches of fresh Michigan snow to clear the driveways so our transports(Cindy to take Momma to the orthopedic doctor and Your Ride to get me to Dr Hukill)
February 02, 2008
Cut herbs
I had to harvest some herbs from the Aero-Garden because they were gaining on the lamp raising and some were falling over.
Now I have to find someone to take the cilantro away, it smells strongly of soap.
January 26, 2008
Which way?
I had to raise the light hood on the Aero-Grow right after plowing 2 inches of snow off the driveways.
I didn’t put a picture of the snow in because I’ve seen enough snow. How about you?
January 22, 2008
Rise and Shine
Busy day, Plowed snow on both drive ways and the parking area. got ready for hospital visit, and raised the grow light hood on the Aero-Grow 1 inch.
Coming along!
January 17, 2008
Progress
The Aero-Garden is doing alright.
Three weeks, and looking good.
January 08, 2008
EGADS !!
It really works. Eight days and we have GROWTH!!
January 05, 2008
TIMELY?
Yeah, two items this week. First
,
6-8 inches of snow during New Years Eve and Day.Now that’s my idea of a Winter Wonderland!
And inside the dome, we have Sprouts! At least Momma says she can see them. My vision is still not that great.
January 01, 2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Well, so much for posting on time. I did finish setting up the Aero Garden on Sunday.
Adding puchased pure drinking water. It turns out you can’t use well water or softened water, too much unknown minerals in them.
Plugging in the seed pods and installing dome covers.
All set. Lights (CFL) and water pump are working, and the timer is set to turn every thing off at 11PM. I also added the first organic based fertilizer tablets are in.
Watch this space. We should be harvesting in 28 days, or is that cramps and headaches?
December 29, 2007
You can never have too many tools-Take 2
Mary gave me an Aerogarden for Christmas. Step #1, assemble the parts.
I had a slight dizzy spell, so I took a siesta. Step #2 comes tomorrow.
October 09, 2007
Finally!!
Sure thing. You betcha. Uh huh.
Couldn’t leave well enough alone, could we? Just had to try that new food mill, didn’t we? So Momma decided we should do the two recipes I had printed out,meaning to make NEXT year. We now have 8 4oz jars of Cranberry-Maple Chutney and 16 jars of .Marinara sauce ‘COURSE WE ONLY HAD TO BUY THE TOMATOES,CRANBERRIES,CARROTS, CELERY, MAPLE SYRUP , ONIONS AND 1 LAST CASE OF JARS.
October 03, 2007
You can never have too many tools
so we went to Bed, Bath, and beyond with a pocket full of discount coupons that never expire and got more than we wanted. The best item was a food mill. I threw away my old one after the tinning corroded and pitted the bowl and plate. This is stainless steel and has 3 different grate sizes.
We decided we needed a new one by OXO after finding about 10 per cent of the recipes I look up need this tool to mash , crush, or strain something.. Here are some pics of what we canned this year. Only about 10 jars were from last year.You can see how many where we had to crush by hand or use the Sqeezo. Sure am glad I bought it 35 years ago when it was $42.00 !!
And the great experiment will continue with the planter barrels next year. They were a little neglected because all the dialysis access surgeries have kept me too tired to do much but sit here and read others blogs. I’ll start by commenting now.
I feel better but still run out of energy quickly. One more surgery to go that will tie off all the old fistulas and grafts tht failed. I am told the will reduce the load on my heart. Fingers crossed!!
September 26, 2007
What’s this?
Pickles? I’m a jam maker. Somehow I got pickles on my mind. So I bought more jars, sugar, and dug the celery seed, mustard seed and turmeric out of storage. Ran all over finding pickles, dill and jars. Then Phyllis brings over more tomatoes,green beans and grapes. Will it never end?
The last time I tried pickling anything all I got was limp and bad tasting. So far these are tasting pretty good. We’ll see after they age a bit.
Momma made some more tomato chutney and started prepping the grapes. Maybe then we can call this episode closed, it’s starting to become a lot of work!
August 28, 2007
TOMATO JAM
Today we finished making tomato jam. Six jars and we still had more Romas left. So tomorrows is tomato sandwiches. Momma tried to get me to go with her to buy more pectin, but we decided enough was enough
.
Here’s the last batch in the canner kettle"volcano”.
Now we rest until grape time in mid September They know us so well at McDanials Farm Stand they will call us when the grapes arrive.
August 19, 2007
PLUM CRAZY
That’s what MOMMA said when she found the berries were ripe enough to pick after we bought the plums on Thursday. She got up early Friday and started in. By the time I got back from dialysis the table was covered in 20 jars of topping, 9 jars of jam, 6 jars Chinese plum sauce, and 4 jars of Tangy plum sauce.
These were purchased at Ashton’s Orchards in Ortonville,MI.(No website)
Then we staggered out early Saturday to go to Pennel’s Farm in Vassar,MI,Stopping on the way at Rosati’s Marketplace to clear their shelves of jelly jars. We managed to pick 4 pints of blackberries(me 1/10) before deciding to buy ready picked reds.
We drove to a nearby roadside park and had a leisurely lunch before heading home. Then on to home and canning. By 10:25 we had 9 jars of blackberry and 29 jars of red raspberry jam cooling on the counter.
So despite what MOMMA said, it all got done!
August 11, 2007
Peaches
OMG! didn’t know peaches could be so hard! Momma had to peel them with a potato peeler. The first bathes we did Thursday night were OK for the Peach Melba, but Friday they got small and hard. I had to leave for dialysis and leave Momma to all that work. While I was gone she did 5 batches of jam,1 of pie filling,and 2 of canned peaches.
Which totaled; 18 8oz Peach Melba, 4 pints pie filling, 11 pints canned peaches,17 8oz & 15 12oz jam, from 1 bushel of peaches, and 2 pints of red raspberries!
July 29, 2007
MORE PICKLED BEETS
17 jars in the first batch was not enough!! The food room called out for more pickled beets. We ordered another 1/2 bushel from McDaniel’s Farm Stand. They called yesterday to say the beets were pulled. Knowing the rest of the week is filled with medical appointments, we set off about 3PM to pick them up. Eight hours later, 29 more pints were ready for the storeroom.
+
July 25, 2007
Pie filling
We finished 6 batches of blueberry products the other day, when I remembered, Clear-Jel! I had bought it for making pie fillings for the mini cheesecake. Oh, no, we have to pick more berries! So off to Blueberry Lane for another 3.5 pounds of berries.45 minutes of picking & back home for lunch.
Then to work. Blanch the berries,drain & keep warm. Mix Clear-Jel and sugar. Boil water with food coloring , add Clear-Jel sugar to water, bring to boil & simmer 1 minute. Did i do that? Nooooooo,I dumped it all together and when it came to a boil it started to thicken.
So we quickly canned it before we were unable to pour it.I’ll know better next time, but it still tastes pretty good. Of course you know when I say we , that means Momma doing most of the picking and getting jars ready.
Only 4 pints! Good thing.
July 18, 2007
BLUEBERRIES ON BOARD!
Today went well, considering that we ran out of berries. So Momma went down and picked 4 more pounds.
tOTALS
9 Blueberry Chutney
8 Blueberry Sauce
8 Blueberry Jam
1 8 Bluebarb Jam
Yesterday was perfect for picking, hazy and cool, in the low 70’s. It would have been nice for canning also, but our old bone don’t take well standing in 1 place and bending over so much, So we got home & napped a little, then went out shopping for chutney & sauce ingredients. Then Momma treated me to walleye at McPherson’s in Millington.
So we canned today in 82 degree heat & high humidity.
Next up, raspberries and peaches. We can make Momma’s favorite"PEACH MELBA”
June 24, 2007
A Post about posts
It was going to be a wonderful weekend, then Momma came in with the mailbox & post in the back of the truck. So, off o the lumberyard With new post aboard we set out to replace the broken one.
.
There then ensued a comedy of errors you would not believe two adults could commit. I cut the new post 8 inches too short. Then filled the hole 6 inches too full with gravel that Momma scraped from the driveway. So then we got out the Genie shop-vac and 150 feet of cord to remove excess gravel because I couldn’t reach to the bottom without knocking more dirt into the hole. Finally, on the fourth try, it measured 43 inches to the bottom of the box. A call to the post office had found we needed 41-45 inches. Eureka!!
After a good nights sleep, we pitted the cherries. Having two pitters and the hands to run them meant the job was done in less than an hour. I even watched my car shows on TV at the same time.
So far we have canned 16 jars of cherry jam. Next up two batches of Danish Cherry Sauce for topping future mini cheesecakes.
Here you have—an additional 11 pints of Danish Cherry Sauce to add to our jam.
Another Michigan Fruit canned this weekend!
June 23, 2007
Tart Cherries here already!
16.18 lbs picked this morning at Spicer’s Orchard . The weather was perfect, clear with a light breeze. About 75 degrees.
The trees we chose had cherries so low I could sit on the ground and pick while Momma stood and picked them in bunches. All the time she was saying “I can taste that Danish Cherry Sauce already!“
Not too shabby for two oldsters with no help from kids, grandkids. or anyone else under the age of 66.
June 20, 2007
My blog rating
Mingle2 - Online Dating
I’ll have to work on that!
June 19, 2007
IT’S JAMMIN TIME AGAIN !!!
STRAWBERRY JAM AND STRAWBERRIES & RHUBARB JAM, IN THE BOTTLES. Eight quarts strawberries, four and a half lbs. rhubarb & you don’t want to know how much sugar makes 42 jars of jam. The start of another season of jammin.
That was the output and a small amount of the hardware involved. There were also several bowls, 2 wooden spoons, a sauce pan, a small stockpot and several measuring cups. Not to mention 4 hands and 2 tired backs and a sticky floor.
Now for the catch-up.
She also keeps my elbows warm.
Me drilling plant holes for petunias using new auger, plants dug up that night by a mean ol’ coon.
The new Green Gage plum and Rochester peach. Sold my old Troy Horse & got an Electric Mantis Tiller, first use, dig holes for new trees and about 12 Lilacs. It’s a hoggin fool!
Now to make some insecticidal soap to deter the bugs on the fruit trees.
Almost forgot to post a pic of my new sdreen saver!
April 25, 2007
Some fun
The other day we cooked out doors on the new deck. I fired up the grill and put on the hot dog roller.Then I sautees some onions and sweet pepper in butter
added some beer and brats and simmered for 15 minutes.
Letting the rollers do all the work.
While I relaxed.
April 19, 2007
Tree planting
Start by staring into ComposT-Twin tumbler, to see if compost is ready to use after 1 year. Normal is 2 weeks.
First we planted the Rochester peach. Not shown is the new Mantis electric tiller tearing new a**holes in our clay & rocky soil. Worked great and saved a lot of time and effort. However, this what I looked like after working on only 2 holes.
Last to go in was the Green Gage plum. I have been looking for this for 2 years. Even had trouble finding it on the web, until I spelled as 2 words. It tuns out “Green Gages” were imported into England from France in 1724 by Sir William Gage. Finally it is in my yard.
April 11, 2007
Mantis
# Today: Windy…cloudy with rain and snow. High around 40F. Winds E at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of precip 90%. A slushy accumulation of around one inch.
# Tonight: Cloudy and windy at times with periods of rain. Low 37F. ESE winds at 20 to 30 mph, diminishing to 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
# Tomorrow: Light rain…mixing with snow in the afternoon. High near 40F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 80%.
# Tomorrow night: Snow showers early becoming more scattered later. Low 32F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 40%.
So of course this had to arrive. I assembled it on the kitchen table. Now it will tantalize me until better weather.lI decided on the electric model because I have trouble pull starting gas engines now after all the chest and arm surgeries.
March 27, 2007
Surgery again
Up at 7am to travel to SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN SURGICAL HOSPITAL to have yet another graft in my left forearm for dialysis access. Just fished breakfast and am going back to bed. Hope this one works.
March 26, 2007
I CAN COOK NO WRONG HAH !!!
So pretty. Too bad it tasted so bad. I figured a Pillsbury Bakeoff Millionaire winning recipe HAD to be good. WRONG O. First it called for branded waffles, I had homemade Belgian waffles. Then I couldn’t find any poultry seasoning, so I pulled a recipe off the Web & made my own. Too bad I didn’t have time to grind it. The final straw was not having any fresh sage(I killed the plant) so I added MORE rubbed sage. We didn’t finish the stuffing. The chicken was good but the next time I will use skinless, boneless breast portions and a regular waffle, (still homemade). I will also work on that seasoning.
March 25, 2007
New Dutch Oven
See that? I guess Momma wants bigger meals. She just added to my collection of cast iron, or maybe just wants something easier to wash. The new dutch oven by Calphalon has a ceramic coating and also dimples on the underside of the lid to promote condensation draining down into the pot.
Let’s see now, the largest brisket I can find? Or 8 Lbs of Sauerbraten?
March 24, 2007
L.E.D.s
And now for something completely different. Today I finally did something I’ve always wanted to do. I ravaged my savings and bought all new LED bulbs for the rear lights on our truck. Alas,even the technology of the interweb can’t show you much difference in lumens. Top photo is with lights off, and bottom with brakes on. The brake lights, by the way, blink 10 times a second for 2 seconds when braking, then go solid. Neeto!!
March 17, 2007
St Patricks Day
Momma took some cheesecakes over to brother Tiny’s yesterday. Gene & Jean liked them so much that when Jean called to invite us for dinner today she said I had to make dessert. Riiigghht!. A diabetic makes dessert for himself and another diabetic and both of our women. So I made peach cobbler , GRANNY’S PEACHES & CREAM COBBLER
And this was what it looked like when we got started. The remainder is being frozen,my glucometer skyrockets just looking at the picture!(But it sure was good!!)
March 15, 2007
Naked Cheesecakes
Trying my hand st mini cheesecakes today. Made the crust from vanilla wafers, butter and vanilla. Turns out maybe too much butter as it saoked into the liner papers and is now sticking to the plates!
Now to find a recipe for the cherry topping to put on in the morning.
March 11, 2007
Another fine day
Pictures taken this morning by Momma with Brandy’s assistance while I was sleeping. Top is towards deck & back yard, bottom is down the front driveway. Can you tell Springtime is near?
Now to find something that uses buttermilk and dried cherries that I have in excess.
March 10, 2007
March doings
Today was for making salmon soup and more playing with the Foodsaver. Got the idea for the soup from MrsDOF, but I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I had to research the recipe to correct Chicken of the Seas version. Found at http://www.cooksrecipes.com/soup/asian-style-salmon-noodle-soup-recipe.html and was it good, Thanks Diane!!
We had to replace our old worn out Foodsaver, it couldn’t suck or seal any more. The new one amazingly enough , cost the same as the old one did about 9 years ago. This one has more features including non-vacuum bag sealing and better operation.
My dialysis has been cut to twice a week because my clearance numbers are better, so I only need to go in on Monday and Friday.
January 24, 2007
Winter Sports
So with no fresh fruit handy and too much snow outside,what can I do? Well, I still want the stove working,so I find something different to cook. Momma says delicacies, but I’m just playing with my food!
So far, Chicken enchiladas
and French toast with peaches and cinnamon sauce.
Brother[in-law Gene came over(40 miles!) and changed over mower to snow blade on tractor for me. I managed to plow out the drive yesterday ,good thing,we’ve had 2 deliveries and a meter reader come in today.
That little bit of work helped keep my glucometer reading below 150 for 2 days now. Is that the secret?Get off my butt? That’s too easy! Well, I’ll try.
November 13, 2006
I’m Back!
I’m back and feeling better! So after one angioplasty balloon procedure to correct the narrowing of the artery in my arm and rescheduling of my prescription usage I can now dialize without dropping my blood pressure into the basement. First scheduled treatment back was on Halloween and I went in thinking that I would go in as Van Helsing but I didn’t want to freak them out. It turns out there was one vampire, one innocent maiden and Rudy who was cleverly disguised as a medical technician.
Since then my eyesight has cleared a little and I can see some of details of the facilities such as chairs and floor patterns. I was pleasantly surprised to see TVs at each station and no blood stains on the walls or other surfaces. There will not be a steady stream of comments on this situation as it has no bearing on this blog.
So far I have been able to cook breakfast on the non cereal days three time in a row much to Momma’s delight. I’m still working up the nerve to cook a souffle omelet.
October 26, 2006
One Moment Please!
We have run into a slight complication with the Dialysis so we will be posting at a later date. Thanks for dropping by!
September 24, 2006
Trading Places!
I’ve got to watch it. My temporary blindness is becoming not so temporary, so Mary is doing more and more of the canning and finding ideas for the use of fruits and vegetables. So far we have added Amoretto Peaches, Orange Flavored Plums, Tangy Plum Sauce. Herb tomatoes with Italian or Mexican spice, Bruschetta In A Jar and Tomato Jelly. How is that for taking up the slack. Now all we have to wait for are the grapes to come in. Yeah Sure!!
Projects for today:
Meatballs from an Alton Brown recipe on Food Network.Com. In Alton’s words, This is a multi-tasker”. Finding the recipe that fits the ingredients I want to use, mixing them, forming the size I want, cooking, and then freezing them in portions for two people. (If we have company take out two packages) I’m trying to find the perfect meatball for freezing to use in different types recipes such as in cream sauce, tomato sauce, brown gravy, or sweet and sour sauce.
Second project is portioning out and repackaging the sausage we bought on sale.
Sure appreciate your comments!
September 12, 2006
Another Fine Pickle!
Actually the first one wasn’t so fine. We are in the process of redoing the relish to correct the girl ingredients ( you know sugar and spices). It turned out strong on the vinegar and weak on the sugar and spices.
The pickled beets we did yesterday did turn out fine. 26 pints of garnet morsels.
I welcome comments on my posts even though I can’t read them because Momma read for me every day.
September 09, 2006
Going Plum Crazy And In A Pickle!
Well we needed some plum sauce so Momma and Cindy went up on Wednesday to Tompkins in Vassar and picked up some plums. They sat and pitted them that evening making obscene little comments as they worked.
Momma and I canned them Thursday and Friday because it turned out that we had more than enough to make 19 half pints of sauce, 19 half pints of jam, 6 pints of orange favored plums in light syrup, and a double batch of stewed cinnamon plums.
As we neared the end of the plum crazyiness we decided what the hell let’s make some relish. What you see is three large heads of cabbage, onions, and peppers all ground up and ready to pickle!
Momma ground up the cabbage in the food processer on Friday so we could brine it over night.
We spent today grinding the peppers and onions, cooking the mixture, and ended up with 28 pints.
Here is the results of doubling a five pint recipe. Either we found the secret of fishes and loaves or the recipe was wrong.
A check of the canning pantry shows that pickled and possibly Harvard beets are on deck for next week!
August 31, 2006
And It Was Going So Well ##@@**&
The finished project. Then the rains came!
This is the result of four inches of rain washing out my neighbors ditch resulting in plugging our culvert with straw and netting.
The runoff went over the driveway, washing out the edge of it, and exposing the culvert.
The erosion continued down the slope towards my other neighbor. A call to the road commission brought an inspector out who started the job of correcting the damage.
August 28, 2006
Catching Up!
Since having my vision go South this is what happened in our front yard. First they cut down the oldest trees on the property which happen to be in the right of way.
This is what it looked like after.
They were taking out the stumps.
They used my yard to stockpile all the cut trees from the next store lots.
After reshaping the ditches, seeding. and setting straw they started repaving.
This is two of our contractors hard at work.
This is some of the material to rebuild the driveway. All seemed to be going well.. More to come!
July 20, 2006
Apricot What?
Being temporarily blinded my cooking and typing is being handled by Momma. So this time the apricots called and we were off to Hartland to Spicer’s orchards again. We picked up two pecks of the little beauties, buying Sure Jell, Big Chief sugar, and jars on the way home. I was able to pit the first two batches as Momma canned. Again they came out tasting like the inside of a ‘Paczke’ (a Polish pre-Lenten treats). That made 40 jars of jam leaving enough to experiment with an Apricot Butter recipe which was pretty darn good even forgetting to add the lemon juice.
Next up Raspberries, Plums, Grapes, Blueberries, Elderberries ( from my brother-in-law) and Peaches. ( And Lions, and tigers, and bears Oh My ! Got carried away!)
July 12, 2006
Free At Last!
DON’T PAY THE RANSOM I ESCAPED! ! !
Well, what an interesting week that was. We finished canning the cherries then I tried drowning myself in my own fluids. Five days later and about 12 lbs. lighter due to the hospital food and medications they allowed me to come home.
The picture was of me looking almost as small as Brandy when I got home. She was glad to see me because she was left alone when Momma came to visit me.
So now it back to making jam again but at a slower pace!
I left the hospital with orders on no stair climbing, watch my fluid intake, to exercise and watch my diet. They asked me what I was going to do when I got home and I said I was going to check my sugar, have a snack, and walk the dog.
July 09, 2006
Cherry time!
Very methodicly I called every orchard within 250 miles to detemine where we could get picked and pitted tart cherries for our jam project this weekend. The one that met the requirements was only 50 miles away! So we loaded up Mike & Darlene’s (guests from NY) van and took off. Only to discover that only u-pick was being allowed. So Momma, Darlene & Mike got busy. Because the staples in my arm precluded reaching out I assumed my supine supervisory position in the van & closed my eyes to their shenanigans. It worked, they picked 14 lbs in 1/2 hour!!
The Ghost is back Jay went into the hospital for observation, breathing problems, last night and his post has sat in limbo for a few day. His eye sight went haywire again so bear with me while I finish this for him.
The above picture is Mike rinsing and separating pitted from none pitted cherries.
Here Dar is at the new cherry pitter and Momma (me) is at the stove with the wooden spoon. Everyone works on a project like this.
Tart cherry jam with just a touch of almond flavor was the results. Forgive me but in all the confusion I forgot to note how many jars we put up.
The second half of his project was Tart Cherry sauce and they certainly look good too.
The apricots are due in the next couple of weeks so he has to get better real quick. Thanks for allowing me to haunt the site again. MOMMA
June 20, 2006
Reconstruction
The credit union called today. The financing was approved, so we close on Thursday. Called the roofer and the deck contractors and arrange meetings on Wednesday and Fridat. Still waiting for the plumber to call back.
Found a bee keeper to come out to trap the hive that set up housekeeping in our wall. Clark is a hobbyist now taking over his father’s trade after retiring early from an auto plant. We met at our family doctor’s office and got to talking and he mentioned he was a beekeeper, so we got together today. He started the set-up you see here. The process will take about a month
