Rice has now been safely transferred into my storage tub and I've got this nifty burlap bag. Hmm.... I wonder what I can use it for??
Like I said... I'm easily amused today.
Showing posts with label Local matters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Local matters. Show all posts
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Easily amused
I must be easily amused today. I was out running errands while V was at Kum Do this morning. I knew I needed rice but didn't want to go to the regular grocery store so I decided to stop by a little mediterranean grocery that is new to me but was near where I was driving. It has been there for a year or so but I have never stopped. I was really hoping that they may have squid ink but sadly, they didn't. But I did find this:
A 10 lb package of basmati rice at a reasonable price, in this really cool bag with handles.
And it has a zipper! How awesome is that!!
Spaz was intrigued by it. However, I spoiled his fun when I didn't let him use it as a claw sharpener. I'm so mean.
Rice has now been safely transferred into my storage tub and I've got this nifty burlap bag. Hmm.... I wonder what I can use it for??
Like I said... I'm easily amused today.
Rice has now been safely transferred into my storage tub and I've got this nifty burlap bag. Hmm.... I wonder what I can use it for??
Like I said... I'm easily amused today.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Photos from the end of September
It is an absolutely gorgeous day here. Sunshine, upper 70's, light winds... the perfect day to sit on bleachers and watch a marching band competition all afternoon... right??
Today was the Little Hawk Invitational band contest. This is the 4th performance in 3 days for these kids. And they did a fabulous job. Since they were the hosting school they did an exhibition performance only and weren't in line for any of the trophies. In addition to City High, there were 12 schools there in competition classes 2A, 3A and 4A. LOTS of teens amped up!
There is my oldest son: Looking sharp in that uniform. Band uniforms are certainly much more stylish now than they were when I was in high school! And I love the sparkly plumes!
Here they are, ready to begin the performance. They did a selection of Billy Joel songs.
In action!! I was going to upload a video but my file is too big for blogger to handle and I'm not inclined to upload to YouTube at the moment just so I can post it here. Maybe I'll update later if I'm so inclined.
Iowa City High School is lovely, rambling old WPA building set on a hill.
They just don't build schools like that anymore. Off to the left, with the columns is the auditorium.
Check out that lovely carved detail over the door.
And the boxelder bugs are gathering. It's time once again to start checking the coffee cup in the morning doe unwelcome visitors. I like my coffee without extra protein, thank you very much.
Now, I've got tomatoes to wrangle and a squash (one from Mom) that looks like it needs used very, very soon. I've got to get I15 through the shower since the homecoming dance is tonight... and he's voluntarily going!! No date since his 'girlfriend' broke up with him (although she still emails him nearly constantly, LOL!) but the fact that he wants to go indicates to me that my little boy is growing up. sigh.... they grow up so fast!
Today was the Little Hawk Invitational band contest. This is the 4th performance in 3 days for these kids. And they did a fabulous job. Since they were the hosting school they did an exhibition performance only and weren't in line for any of the trophies. In addition to City High, there were 12 schools there in competition classes 2A, 3A and 4A. LOTS of teens amped up!
Iowa City High School is lovely, rambling old WPA building set on a hill.
Autumn is definitely here. The trees are changing and the view from the deck is becoming colorful.
Now, I've got tomatoes to wrangle and a squash (one from Mom) that looks like it needs used very, very soon. I've got to get I15 through the shower since the homecoming dance is tonight... and he's voluntarily going!! No date since his 'girlfriend' broke up with him (although she still emails him nearly constantly, LOL!) but the fact that he wants to go indicates to me that my little boy is growing up. sigh.... they grow up so fast!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Thistle mitigation and transformations
I have been declaring war on thistles in the yard in the past few weeks. I have discovered a very effective yet easy and non-toxic way of getting rid of them. This is tomato season, and when I've taken the last jars out of the water bath, I remove the rack and then lug the entire pot of just-recently-boiling water outside and pour it splash by splash onto the thistles in the yard. We have such a lot of thistles growing about. I've tried digging them, I've tried poisoning them (eww, roundup- I was desperate!) but this is by far the most effective (and easiest!) way I've found. They start to turn brown immediately (they've been cooked!) and it seems to kill them by the root because none have tried to come back.
Today was a busy, busy day of transformations. I started the day off early, up shortly after 6 making five quiches to take to our 4th annual pie sale at church. I even made one with a gluten free crust. And they all sold- three of them as whole pies- the other two pieced out by the slice. With all the pies there, we brought in $539 that will go to the Common Fund at the Crisis Center. This is the fund that keeps people's power on and the water flowing. Sadly, all that money will cover less than a week of need. sigh...
After church and clean up, I headed home to pick tomatoes and peppers. Then I started the transformations.
This:
A sink full of heirloom tomatoes... became these:
Seven quarts of tomato sauce.
And this:
and another similarly full pail (love those ice cream buckets!- they are a harvest necessity here), became 3 quarts of diced frozen sweet peppers. I just LOVE the purple peppers. The flesh on the inside is almost white so it's a wonderful contrast in color. And look at the size of that sweet italian! They are huge this year! I've got my day off tomorrow so I think I'll be harvesting, dicing and freezing hot peppers.
I may also take a trip to Kalona tomorrow to check out the quilt shops there to see if they can be any help for needles for my treadle machine. Plus, there are always cheese curds to be procured....
I'm sure my day off will be a usual Manic Monday. So, I must sleep. V has had a stomach malady so my sleep was interrupted overnight Friday into Saturday and then last night Mandy was being a pest and woke me up shortly after 3 and I had a hard time falling back to sleep. And having worked this weekend and getting up early to make quiche today, I didn't get a chance to sleep in. I don't ever really sleep in (I'm usually up by around 7 or 7:30 at the latest) but I do love at least one day on the weekend where I can sleep until I wake up. And I won't get that until next weekend.
Today was a busy, busy day of transformations. I started the day off early, up shortly after 6 making five quiches to take to our 4th annual pie sale at church. I even made one with a gluten free crust. And they all sold- three of them as whole pies- the other two pieced out by the slice. With all the pies there, we brought in $539 that will go to the Common Fund at the Crisis Center. This is the fund that keeps people's power on and the water flowing. Sadly, all that money will cover less than a week of need. sigh...
After church and clean up, I headed home to pick tomatoes and peppers. Then I started the transformations.
This:
And this:
I may also take a trip to Kalona tomorrow to check out the quilt shops there to see if they can be any help for needles for my treadle machine. Plus, there are always cheese curds to be procured....
I'm sure my day off will be a usual Manic Monday. So, I must sleep. V has had a stomach malady so my sleep was interrupted overnight Friday into Saturday and then last night Mandy was being a pest and woke me up shortly after 3 and I had a hard time falling back to sleep. And having worked this weekend and getting up early to make quiche today, I didn't get a chance to sleep in. I don't ever really sleep in (I'm usually up by around 7 or 7:30 at the latest) but I do love at least one day on the weekend where I can sleep until I wake up. And I won't get that until next weekend.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Thank you Mother Nature
You got my letter! Thanks for the 1.3 inches of peaceful rain today! And thanks for throwing in a little lightning and thunder early this morning. It made for great sleeping knowing that there wasn't wind. And the shower later this afternoon... BONUS! And neither time did the rain interfere with my getting to and from work. And that was important, especially today when everything was thrown into a tizzy by a visit from the President.
Yup, The POTUS and the VP and their ladies descended on our fair town this afternoon, snarling the entire day's traffic in the process. All the buses were re-routed all day which meant I got a lovely walk in both before and after work- and it had stopped raining each time.
And speaking of work, it has been hectic this week. Today was finally more manageable and I was able to get my required annual 'fire extinguisher training' in this afternoon. (oh the things we do)
I've been canning tomatoes again this evening. 7 quarts of sauce are in the canner at the moment. That brings the year's totals up to:
Sauce: 31 quarts, 1 pint and a half, 5 pints
Enchilada sauce: 20 pints!
Diced tomatoes: 18 pints
I may make some salsa next. I'm not sure. V has never been fond of my salsa and our local store produces such tasty salsa that it's hard to pass up. We'll see. I may make some yet.
It is Friday and time for a quick IDC update before my sauce is ready to come out.
Plant something- Not a thing!
Harvest something- tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, melons, cucumbers, basil, eggplant, eggs. There is a little broccoli out there that I'll harvest tomorrow.
Preserve something- Tomatoes! Sauce, enchilada sauce and diced. Froze peppers.
Waste not- Not much other than the usuals
Want not- Nope- very few purchases or acquisitions this week.
Eat the food- where to begin. I LOVE this time of year!
Build community food systems- took a goodie box to Jim. And while not officially this week, I'm going to be taking several quiches to our church's annual pie sale fundraiser. They have been such a hit in the past. Many people don't want sweet pie at 9 in the morning but quiche goes well. I'll be using ingredients from the garden and lots of our eggs.
Skill up- nope. I've been too busy!
I've also been musing on the question "Are we better off than we were 4 years ago?" while processing tomatoes this evening. I may or may not do a post. We'll see. I try to not get too political here (although I do have very strong opinions!) I turn on the TV to listen to the local news and weather in the mornings while I'm getting ready for work. Let's just say, living in a 'battleground state', I heard Mitt Romney assuring me that I was NOT better off- in fact I must be miserable- at least 4 times before breakfast. I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THIS ELECTION IS OVER!!!
Yup, The POTUS and the VP and their ladies descended on our fair town this afternoon, snarling the entire day's traffic in the process. All the buses were re-routed all day which meant I got a lovely walk in both before and after work- and it had stopped raining each time.
And speaking of work, it has been hectic this week. Today was finally more manageable and I was able to get my required annual 'fire extinguisher training' in this afternoon. (oh the things we do)
I've been canning tomatoes again this evening. 7 quarts of sauce are in the canner at the moment. That brings the year's totals up to:
Sauce: 31 quarts, 1 pint and a half, 5 pints
Enchilada sauce: 20 pints!
Diced tomatoes: 18 pints
I may make some salsa next. I'm not sure. V has never been fond of my salsa and our local store produces such tasty salsa that it's hard to pass up. We'll see. I may make some yet.
It is Friday and time for a quick IDC update before my sauce is ready to come out.
Plant something- Not a thing!
Harvest something- tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, melons, cucumbers, basil, eggplant, eggs. There is a little broccoli out there that I'll harvest tomorrow.
Preserve something- Tomatoes! Sauce, enchilada sauce and diced. Froze peppers.
Waste not- Not much other than the usuals
Want not- Nope- very few purchases or acquisitions this week.
Eat the food- where to begin. I LOVE this time of year!
Build community food systems- took a goodie box to Jim. And while not officially this week, I'm going to be taking several quiches to our church's annual pie sale fundraiser. They have been such a hit in the past. Many people don't want sweet pie at 9 in the morning but quiche goes well. I'll be using ingredients from the garden and lots of our eggs.
Skill up- nope. I've been too busy!
I've also been musing on the question "Are we better off than we were 4 years ago?" while processing tomatoes this evening. I may or may not do a post. We'll see. I try to not get too political here (although I do have very strong opinions!) I turn on the TV to listen to the local news and weather in the mornings while I'm getting ready for work. Let's just say, living in a 'battleground state', I heard Mitt Romney assuring me that I was NOT better off- in fact I must be miserable- at least 4 times before breakfast. I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THIS ELECTION IS OVER!!!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Rain, Blessed Rain!
Overnight last night, it started raining. A soft, gentle, soaking rain. Just what we needed. We topped out today at not quite 1.25 inches of rain. DEFINITELY a beneficial rain.
I'm hoping that the garden will really start to take off now. I've got a few overachieving tomatoes that already have blossoms on them, even though they are only about a foot high (Amish Paste and Black Sea Man). But the !$*# birds have pecked off every little tomato that Mom gave me. Grrr... And something has eaten all the lower leaves off about 5 tomato plants. Every leaf up to 8-10 inches is gone. Not just snipped off- gone. Who knows- I've never had that problem before. I can't imagine bunnies eating tomato leaves but we seem to have an inordinate amount of baby bunnies around this year after the mild winter and early spring.
Now for a bit of random babbling.
In randomness I've found amusing in the news recently- the "Zombie attack" in Miami and of course, the Homeland Security word list. I was amazed at that list. I must have been 'pinged' as a possible terrorist many times. I mean, really... with words like: storm, snow, blizzard, pork, Home Grown, cloud, disaster preparedness, power lines, flu, virus, tornado, hurricane and a host more, reading pinged content must be a tedious job at DHS.
In 'not so much fun' news, our local landfill is on fire and has been for 6 days. Officials are letting it 'burn out'. It appears that a fire started and spread to the 3 foot layer of shredded tires that they use to protect the liner. So, there has been a huge plume of gray/black smoke to the southwest of us. Makes me glad we live where we do and that the wind has been favorable to keep it away from us. We were in that part of town on Sunday afternoon and the stench was terrible.
Today was the last day of school for the boys. I now officially no longer have a child in elementary school. Oh, I feel old. I was hung up at work but V went to K12's 6th grade graduation. Of course, he didn't take the camera (sigh). But, now, all children are home for the summer and will probably eat us out of house and home.
I'm hoping that the garden will really start to take off now. I've got a few overachieving tomatoes that already have blossoms on them, even though they are only about a foot high (Amish Paste and Black Sea Man). But the !$*# birds have pecked off every little tomato that Mom gave me. Grrr... And something has eaten all the lower leaves off about 5 tomato plants. Every leaf up to 8-10 inches is gone. Not just snipped off- gone. Who knows- I've never had that problem before. I can't imagine bunnies eating tomato leaves but we seem to have an inordinate amount of baby bunnies around this year after the mild winter and early spring.
Now for a bit of random babbling.
In randomness I've found amusing in the news recently- the "Zombie attack" in Miami and of course, the Homeland Security word list. I was amazed at that list. I must have been 'pinged' as a possible terrorist many times. I mean, really... with words like: storm, snow, blizzard, pork, Home Grown, cloud, disaster preparedness, power lines, flu, virus, tornado, hurricane and a host more, reading pinged content must be a tedious job at DHS.
In 'not so much fun' news, our local landfill is on fire and has been for 6 days. Officials are letting it 'burn out'. It appears that a fire started and spread to the 3 foot layer of shredded tires that they use to protect the liner. So, there has been a huge plume of gray/black smoke to the southwest of us. Makes me glad we live where we do and that the wind has been favorable to keep it away from us. We were in that part of town on Sunday afternoon and the stench was terrible.
Today was the last day of school for the boys. I now officially no longer have a child in elementary school. Oh, I feel old. I was hung up at work but V went to K12's 6th grade graduation. Of course, he didn't take the camera (sigh). But, now, all children are home for the summer and will probably eat us out of house and home.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
A great article
I know- two posts in quick succession. Unheard of. But there is a great article in Radish Magazine that you should check out about WWOOF experiences. Not only are TWO fabulous bloggers and farmers featured but my darling daughter is in the top photo in the article- weeding chamomile. Now WHY can't I get her to weed that enthusiastically at home?
Feature in the article are Nan of Wapsi-no-noc Gardens and Penny of Wishful Acres Farm.
Check it out!!
Feature in the article are Nan of Wapsi-no-noc Gardens and Penny of Wishful Acres Farm.
Check it out!!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Is it only Tuesday??
It really seems like it should be much later in the week than that. Ugh. And I've still got 4 more work days to go. sigh. Things have just been so hectic and with unexpected crises throwing wrenches into my plans.
Saturday's furnace fiasco messed up my weekend plans. Sunday was a day of catching up. Yesterday work was brutally busy and then my evening plans got thrown off by a car accident right outside the house.
I was sitting on the couch while the soup was simmering- watching a bit of news on PBS when I heard squealing of brakes, crashing and thumping sounds outside. Definitely NOT the sounds that one normally hears on the highway. I looked out the door to see headlights nearly in the yard. NOT good! I grabbed my coat and ran outside to see if everyone was OK. Fortunately, everyone was able to walk away from this one but it could have been BAD, BAD, BAD.
A teenage driver wasn't paying attention when pulling out onto the highway from across the road and pulled into oncoming traffic (moving at highway speeds or faster). The other vehicle (an SUV) swerved to try to avoid the teen in the pickup. They clipped bumpers and the SUV lost control, leaving the highway and going briefly airborne before hitting a tree just outside our fence. We could tell he was airborne because the impact mark on the tree was several feet above where his vehicle was resting on the bank of the ditch. Luckily, the driver of the SUV was wearing his seatbelt and the airbags deployed. He was dazed and shaken up but eventually decided he was OK. I even got to call 911. Oooh, the excitement. We had two county sheriff patrol cars, an ambulance and a fire truck show up.
The SUV, in my non-expert opinion, is totaled. The front of the vehicle is rather V shaped (probably almost foot deep!) where it hit the tree, the passenger door barely opened, the frame looks bent and the front airbags both deployed. Still, that the driver could walk away is a testament to the safety technology in place. Truly amazing. When I first saw that SUV, I imagined the worst!
The whole ordeal ended up taking about 90 minutes of the evening that I really didn't have to spare. But both V and I felt it was important for us to be out there, helping where we could. So, I didn't really get anything accomplished.
PLUS!! I ended up leaving work a little early yesterday because I was having an allergic reaction to something (still not sure what!) and was feeling itchy and wanted some antihistamines. I've got a line on my left shoulder that looks like a scratch of some sort but is blistered and itchy. Later, I started breaking out in other places and itching all over. It's much better today but I didn't sleep well last night, even with drugs on board. I've still got absolutely no clue what I got into.
Add all of that to another really rough day at work today, and I'm exhausted. I really, really want to go sew something tonight (I never made it down there last night!) but I'm not sure I've got the energy or concentration. I hate to sew when I'm really tired- I tend to make stupid mistakes that end up taking more time than if I just left it. especially when working with brocade and velvet I don't want to mess up. So, maybe I'll turn in early tonight and see if tomorrow will be a better day.
Saturday's furnace fiasco messed up my weekend plans. Sunday was a day of catching up. Yesterday work was brutally busy and then my evening plans got thrown off by a car accident right outside the house.
I was sitting on the couch while the soup was simmering- watching a bit of news on PBS when I heard squealing of brakes, crashing and thumping sounds outside. Definitely NOT the sounds that one normally hears on the highway. I looked out the door to see headlights nearly in the yard. NOT good! I grabbed my coat and ran outside to see if everyone was OK. Fortunately, everyone was able to walk away from this one but it could have been BAD, BAD, BAD.
A teenage driver wasn't paying attention when pulling out onto the highway from across the road and pulled into oncoming traffic (moving at highway speeds or faster). The other vehicle (an SUV) swerved to try to avoid the teen in the pickup. They clipped bumpers and the SUV lost control, leaving the highway and going briefly airborne before hitting a tree just outside our fence. We could tell he was airborne because the impact mark on the tree was several feet above where his vehicle was resting on the bank of the ditch. Luckily, the driver of the SUV was wearing his seatbelt and the airbags deployed. He was dazed and shaken up but eventually decided he was OK. I even got to call 911. Oooh, the excitement. We had two county sheriff patrol cars, an ambulance and a fire truck show up.
The SUV, in my non-expert opinion, is totaled. The front of the vehicle is rather V shaped (probably almost foot deep!) where it hit the tree, the passenger door barely opened, the frame looks bent and the front airbags both deployed. Still, that the driver could walk away is a testament to the safety technology in place. Truly amazing. When I first saw that SUV, I imagined the worst!
The whole ordeal ended up taking about 90 minutes of the evening that I really didn't have to spare. But both V and I felt it was important for us to be out there, helping where we could. So, I didn't really get anything accomplished.
PLUS!! I ended up leaving work a little early yesterday because I was having an allergic reaction to something (still not sure what!) and was feeling itchy and wanted some antihistamines. I've got a line on my left shoulder that looks like a scratch of some sort but is blistered and itchy. Later, I started breaking out in other places and itching all over. It's much better today but I didn't sleep well last night, even with drugs on board. I've still got absolutely no clue what I got into.
Add all of that to another really rough day at work today, and I'm exhausted. I really, really want to go sew something tonight (I never made it down there last night!) but I'm not sure I've got the energy or concentration. I hate to sew when I'm really tired- I tend to make stupid mistakes that end up taking more time than if I just left it. especially when working with brocade and velvet I don't want to mess up. So, maybe I'll turn in early tonight and see if tomorrow will be a better day.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Some things...
Some things you don't think about when you live your dream. I heard some news today that made me sad.
Acoustic Farms, local makers of fabulous cheeses- and arguably the best cheese curds in the world- has gone out of business- a victim of their own success. (you can listen to the interview on Iowa Public Radio HERE). The dream of being micro cheese producers was so successful that they didn't have time for life anymore so they stopped. How sad. No more creamy, Jersey cheese curds with fresh tomatoes and basil in the summer... sigh......
Acoustic Farms, local makers of fabulous cheeses- and arguably the best cheese curds in the world- has gone out of business- a victim of their own success. (you can listen to the interview on Iowa Public Radio HERE). The dream of being micro cheese producers was so successful that they didn't have time for life anymore so they stopped. How sad. No more creamy, Jersey cheese curds with fresh tomatoes and basil in the summer... sigh......
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Finally done!
What a day! First, I had to work at the hospital today. Getting to work on football Saturdays is always an adventure, especially since today was an 11am game and the tailgaters start early. For those of you unfamiliar to the IC area, the football stadium is across the street from the hospital. Definitely someone was NOT planning ahead on that one, although the original hospital was probably a block or more away but has grown to be huge over the years. So, with traffic and pedestrians on football days it always seems to take extra time to get there. And that's even with V dropping me off a block or so away and me walking in the rest of the way. The hospital is also on security lockdown to keep rowdy fans out (mainly to keep them from using the restrooms!) Even leaving can be tricky, depending on the time.
Anyway, I made it home mid afternoon and helped the boys a bit with their outside task that V had set for them. We had some landscaping block delivered this week and the boys were digging the soil back for setting a new retaining wall beside the back door as well as the hole for the concrete footer for the deck extension.
That job done (well, mostly), we all rushed off to the mall for V's book signing. He didn't have a line of people there but had people at the table pretty steadily. My brother stopped by to get his book signed and the pastor of our church was there as well. The children and I picked out books and used the gift cards we had collected. We over-shot a bit on our estimate and I ended up having to pay $14 out of pocket. It's easy to spend $100 on books! I14 got three new novels (two in a series he's been reading- he got most books since most of the cards were his), K11 got 2 books and J17 and I each picked out one. I had a hard time picking a book- there were too many choices. I was looking at some farmstead reference books but didn't see any that thrilled me that I didn't already have. I don't need another cookbook. They didn't have any of the herbal references that are on my wish list. So, I ended up with a novel- a sci-fi/fantasy, end of the world romp with lots of magic and good vs evil stuff: Darkwar by Glen Cook. I'm needing some light winter reading so I hope this one is good. I'm still working on the book I got at the Atlanta airport (Cleopatra) on our way home from Annapolis after I finished the one I had with me (The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents).
After all the book store excitement, V, the boys and I went out to dinner- nothing fancy, just the Chili's out by the mall. Now I remember why we don't do anything like that often- not that the food wasn't good- it just wasn't GREAT. J17 drove separately since she has a birthday party for one of her friends this evening so didn't come with us.
At least I had K11 help me chase the chickens into the coop before we left so we didn't have to go out in the dark to close them in. But, I did forget to leave any lights on at home and we came home to a dark house. Oh well, no harm done.
Now, I'm tired. I've got a load of laundry going but it may stay in the washer until morning. We'll see how long I can stay awake. This working 6 days straight is draining. Good thing I've still got 2 days off- tomorrow and Monday and I only have to work three days this week. Sweet!
Anyway, I made it home mid afternoon and helped the boys a bit with their outside task that V had set for them. We had some landscaping block delivered this week and the boys were digging the soil back for setting a new retaining wall beside the back door as well as the hole for the concrete footer for the deck extension.
That job done (well, mostly), we all rushed off to the mall for V's book signing. He didn't have a line of people there but had people at the table pretty steadily. My brother stopped by to get his book signed and the pastor of our church was there as well. The children and I picked out books and used the gift cards we had collected. We over-shot a bit on our estimate and I ended up having to pay $14 out of pocket. It's easy to spend $100 on books! I14 got three new novels (two in a series he's been reading- he got most books since most of the cards were his), K11 got 2 books and J17 and I each picked out one. I had a hard time picking a book- there were too many choices. I was looking at some farmstead reference books but didn't see any that thrilled me that I didn't already have. I don't need another cookbook. They didn't have any of the herbal references that are on my wish list. So, I ended up with a novel- a sci-fi/fantasy, end of the world romp with lots of magic and good vs evil stuff: Darkwar by Glen Cook. I'm needing some light winter reading so I hope this one is good. I'm still working on the book I got at the Atlanta airport (Cleopatra) on our way home from Annapolis after I finished the one I had with me (The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents).
After all the book store excitement, V, the boys and I went out to dinner- nothing fancy, just the Chili's out by the mall. Now I remember why we don't do anything like that often- not that the food wasn't good- it just wasn't GREAT. J17 drove separately since she has a birthday party for one of her friends this evening so didn't come with us.
At least I had K11 help me chase the chickens into the coop before we left so we didn't have to go out in the dark to close them in. But, I did forget to leave any lights on at home and we came home to a dark house. Oh well, no harm done.
Now, I'm tired. I've got a load of laundry going but it may stay in the washer until morning. We'll see how long I can stay awake. This working 6 days straight is draining. Good thing I've still got 2 days off- tomorrow and Monday and I only have to work three days this week. Sweet!
Friday, September 30, 2011
You just never know....
Hug your loved ones tight and let them know you love them. You just never know.
Two disturbing deaths in our area in the past few days. One we knew, one I've never met.
The one we've never met was a young man, 41, with three young children. He was the brother of the best friend of one of my coworkers. He was killed in a farm accident on Wednesday evening. Many people out there don't consider farming a dangerous occupation. How wrong they are.
Also on Wednesday, the husband of one of my friends from church died suddenly. I'm not sure of the circumstances, I'm guessing his heart but I'm not going to call her up and ask the details. He was only 50, the same age as V, and leaves behind his lovely wife Brenda and 4 children ages 7-12 ( if I remember right). This was one of the guys V really liked talking to at church, we had borrowed power tools from them (they have a power post hole auger we used for the deck) and they have come over sledding on several occasions.
Just makes you think.... Life is so precious. Make the most of every moment.
I didn't get as much accomplished today as I had wished. I was a bit distracted. I've got to go throw sheets over the tomatoes, we've got a frost advisory tonight and I've finally got a bunch of big green tomatoes on.
Two disturbing deaths in our area in the past few days. One we knew, one I've never met.
The one we've never met was a young man, 41, with three young children. He was the brother of the best friend of one of my coworkers. He was killed in a farm accident on Wednesday evening. Many people out there don't consider farming a dangerous occupation. How wrong they are.
Also on Wednesday, the husband of one of my friends from church died suddenly. I'm not sure of the circumstances, I'm guessing his heart but I'm not going to call her up and ask the details. He was only 50, the same age as V, and leaves behind his lovely wife Brenda and 4 children ages 7-12 ( if I remember right). This was one of the guys V really liked talking to at church, we had borrowed power tools from them (they have a power post hole auger we used for the deck) and they have come over sledding on several occasions.
Just makes you think.... Life is so precious. Make the most of every moment.
I didn't get as much accomplished today as I had wished. I was a bit distracted. I've got to go throw sheets over the tomatoes, we've got a frost advisory tonight and I've finally got a bunch of big green tomatoes on.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
CHS Homecoming parade 2011
Whew! What a crazy day! But we're finally home. School and work were completed, parade marched or watched and dinner eaten. Now I'm tired! But I thought I'd share a few images of the evening.
First, while we waited for the parade to start, V and K11 were wrestling in the grass.
After dropping of I14 at the start, we sat near the end of the parade route for ease of gathering up participants so we had a while to wait before the parade reached us. Not the best photo below but K11 was finally able to perfect making a whistle out of a blade of grass.
Ah, the joy of being easily amused!
Finally, the parade approached. Here comes the band:
I14 is the second one in the row.
No one we know but a really cool old car!
For a few string instruments on a hay rack, these guys sounded great! Let's definitely support the performing arts!!
And almost at the end of the parade. J17 was a purple crayon in the art club group.
All in all, it was a good time. At least the weather was nice, cool but clear.
And the latest update! V is going to be interviewed on one of the local news stations in October for his book. Woo Hoo! Things are picking up!
First, while we waited for the parade to start, V and K11 were wrestling in the grass.
Finally, the parade approached. Here comes the band:
And the latest update! V is going to be interviewed on one of the local news stations in October for his book. Woo Hoo! Things are picking up!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Basil dreams
V and I had some errands to run this morning so I made him stop at the farmer's market before we went home. It has been years since he has been there and he was surprised at how much it has grown. We stopped in to see J17 at work and chatted with her boss, Nan. To my delight, Nan gifted us with a HUGE bag of basil. It seems that for some reason, the basil wasn't selling today and she still had two other bags with only an hour of market to go.
Look at this!!
That is a LOT of basil!!
So I made pesto...
Lots of pesto for the freezer... About 4 batches of pesto. I filled all my ice cube trays...
Used an old freebie "jell-o bean" pan... saved some in the fridge to use soon, froze a larger container for the party... and still had half the bag left. If you've never made pesto for the freezer- you're missing out! It is so easy. I just toss the garlic, basil and pine nuts in the food processor and add just enough olive oil to make a paste. Into ice cube trays to freeze. Then pop them out into a freezer bag. When I need pesto, I just pick out how ever many cubes I want, thaw, add more olive oil and parmesan. And it's just like fresh!! Fabulous.
But what to do with still MORE basil.
I hung two huge bunches to dry for in soups and sauces this winter and still I had a third of a bag left. So, I made some basil butter. Mmm... I hadn't tried it yet but saw the recipe and gave it a go. It is fabulous. 2 sticks of butter, softened, 3 cups packed basil, 2-3 cloves of garlic (I just used one giant clove!), some fresh ground pepper and whirl it all in the food processor. I've got some in the fridge for use and then I made little balls (about a heaping tablespoon) and put them in the freezer for use later.
And yes... I've still got some basil left! But there is light at the end of the tunnel.
At least we'll have pesto this winter, even if we don't have much else from the garden! Thanks Nan!!
For another fun thing, this afternoon, J17 and I stopped in at Fae Ridge Farm. We've seen the sign on our way home for a long time and finally decided to stop. Unfortunately, the owner wasn't home but there was a wonderful group of women sitting around the tiny little farm shop, knitting and spinning wool. They were quite welcoming and said that they are there almost every Saturday afternoon and would love to teach us whatever they can. Talk about fabulous! And it is only about 3 miles from home. We will definitely be back. Especially since we found out that several people there had also been at Miss Effie's last weekend, so there is already a connection. It should be fun. Of course, J17's first question was "Can we get a goat?" Um, maybe some other time.
One downer this weekend, I put in a call to a guy who was advertising wheat straw on Craigslist because I want some for mulch and chicken nests, etc, but he has never called me back. Bummer. Of course, it is a crazy weekend here in town with RAGBRAI having a stop over here last night. I'm still hopeful that I'll hear from him.
Now, I've gotta go and make some caprese salad. Yup, we've got a few tomatoes and picked up some fresh mozzarella this morning. Hmm.... I just wonder where I will ever find some basil.....
And if you hadn't noticed, the word of the day is FABULOUS! Could be I'm in a good mood.
Look at this!!
So I made pesto...
But what to do with still MORE basil.
I hung two huge bunches to dry for in soups and sauces this winter and still I had a third of a bag left. So, I made some basil butter. Mmm... I hadn't tried it yet but saw the recipe and gave it a go. It is fabulous. 2 sticks of butter, softened, 3 cups packed basil, 2-3 cloves of garlic (I just used one giant clove!), some fresh ground pepper and whirl it all in the food processor. I've got some in the fridge for use and then I made little balls (about a heaping tablespoon) and put them in the freezer for use later.
And yes... I've still got some basil left! But there is light at the end of the tunnel.
At least we'll have pesto this winter, even if we don't have much else from the garden! Thanks Nan!!
For another fun thing, this afternoon, J17 and I stopped in at Fae Ridge Farm. We've seen the sign on our way home for a long time and finally decided to stop. Unfortunately, the owner wasn't home but there was a wonderful group of women sitting around the tiny little farm shop, knitting and spinning wool. They were quite welcoming and said that they are there almost every Saturday afternoon and would love to teach us whatever they can. Talk about fabulous! And it is only about 3 miles from home. We will definitely be back. Especially since we found out that several people there had also been at Miss Effie's last weekend, so there is already a connection. It should be fun. Of course, J17's first question was "Can we get a goat?" Um, maybe some other time.
One downer this weekend, I put in a call to a guy who was advertising wheat straw on Craigslist because I want some for mulch and chicken nests, etc, but he has never called me back. Bummer. Of course, it is a crazy weekend here in town with RAGBRAI having a stop over here last night. I'm still hopeful that I'll hear from him.
Now, I've gotta go and make some caprese salad. Yup, we've got a few tomatoes and picked up some fresh mozzarella this morning. Hmm.... I just wonder where I will ever find some basil.....
And if you hadn't noticed, the word of the day is FABULOUS! Could be I'm in a good mood.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
A Field Trip!
Oh me, oh my, J17 and I had an adventure today!
It involved a drive down the interstate under some rather ominous clouds.
Then off the beaten path past some corn flattened by a recent storm.
Where were we heading?
To a very special place:
Yup, we went to the ice cream social at Miss Effie's Flowers! We even got to see the famous tea cup tree:
I'll tell you, the homemade chocolate french silk ice cream was heavenly! And I had a piece of chocolate lavender cake. Mmmm.....
There were local artisans selling their wares.
We picked up some lovely chevre and feta cheeses from Triple Creek Dairy, some goat milk lotion and J17 got some fabulous, funky yarn from Farm Genevieve!
And we took each others pictures in front of the famous barn.
J17 even took my photo, a rare occurance that I get my photo here.
A few errands later, we were home and J17 wasted no time on getting started on a scarf.
Isn't that the most fabulous yarn?!! Hand dyed and hand spun.
Of course, I realized that we left today with out getting a photo of Cathy, the whirling dervish behind Miss Effie's. But I'm sure we will meet again...
I don't feel that I got much accomplished today, but then, we have had almost 3 inches of rain in the past few days and it was still raining off and on all morning. I still have TONS to accomplish but it was nice to have a day off for some fun.
It involved a drive down the interstate under some rather ominous clouds.
To a very special place:
There were local artisans selling their wares.
And we took each others pictures in front of the famous barn.
Of course, I realized that we left today with out getting a photo of Cathy, the whirling dervish behind Miss Effie's. But I'm sure we will meet again...
I don't feel that I got much accomplished today, but then, we have had almost 3 inches of rain in the past few days and it was still raining off and on all morning. I still have TONS to accomplish but it was nice to have a day off for some fun.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Say it ain't so!
Our local dairy plant, just two miles or so down the road is closing... After 77 years in business. We have made it a point to purchase their products to help support them. While the brand will still be available, the current location will now be simply a distribution for milk and products coming in from other areas in Iowa. What's worse, there are many people out of jobs. And now we will no longer have milk trucks rumbling past the house every day.
I wonder what our dairy neighbor will do....
I wonder what our dairy neighbor will do....
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Whew, what a whirlwind
A bit of a panic this afternoon when my laptop suddenly tried to tell me that I didn't have an airport card installed and it wasn't going to let me connect wirelessly with anything. EEEK. Fortunately, V is such a genius and was able to troubleshoot and get me back in operation.
It was drizzly this morning. V stayed home to work on his manuscript but children and I went to church and J17 and I worked the plant sale. Everything went well. I'm not sure how much we brought in but probably close to $300. There were only a few plants left (reminder to self- next year- more bell peppers!) and the veggie plants left over were taken to the crisis center to be given away to people stopping in at the food bank. Anything to encourage more people to grow their own!
After lunch, the sun came out. It was quite breezy so things dried out fairly quickly. Behold:
People door on the end and the clean out door toward the back. The chicken space will be the back 8x8 section. The front 4x8 part will be storage. The interior wall isn't framed yet. It will actually be a half wall with chicken wire over the top part. There will be two windows in the storage section that we plan to use for ventilation and we need let the air flow through.
The last wall was framed:
And we hoisted it into position only to discover that one of the 2x4s attached to the shop as part of the east wall has warped in all the rain we've had and we'll need to do some adjusting to get the wall to fit into place. sigh... so the final wall isn't up yet. But, the weather is supposed to be dry all week so maybe working afternoons/evenings we can get this thing more finished before it starts to rain again just in time for next weekend.
I didn't get any gardening done today. It is just too wet out there. And we've got scattered frost forecast for the next two nights.
And last but not least:
Happy Birthday to my darling daughter. Now 17! Where has the time gone. We went out to dinner for sushi and had cake later at home. Yum.
It was drizzly this morning. V stayed home to work on his manuscript but children and I went to church and J17 and I worked the plant sale. Everything went well. I'm not sure how much we brought in but probably close to $300. There were only a few plants left (reminder to self- next year- more bell peppers!) and the veggie plants left over were taken to the crisis center to be given away to people stopping in at the food bank. Anything to encourage more people to grow their own!
After lunch, the sun came out. It was quite breezy so things dried out fairly quickly. Behold:
The last wall was framed:
I didn't get any gardening done today. It is just too wet out there. And we've got scattered frost forecast for the next two nights.
And last but not least:
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
I'm gonna be stiff tomorrow!
I spent the morning doing some errandy things around town. This afternoon, I started in on the trenches for the coop foundation. Even though I know it is a good location for the coop, somebody please tell me why I decided I had to put the coop in the spot where the soil is compacted clay and gravel?
It took me a bit to get the stakes in place so the corners are actually square and then I started digging. OUCH. I got three sides done nice and straight but not deep enough yet. I started using the pick end of the mattock before I had to quit to get a shower before heading off to pick up J16 from an after school play practice. I'll have to be out working again tomorrow so maybe I can get it finished in the morning. V has volunteered to come help me but I hate to have him have to do it. Partly because this is my project but mostly because he strained his back using the tiller this weekend to break up compacted soil that they were trying to move to level out the yard. It's pretty heavy going out there in the trenches and I don't want him to totally incapacitate himself- I need him for construction!!
I do hope the weather holds, the forecast is for possible showers and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. Think positive thoughts for no rain!
In fun news, J16 got to work the first farmer's market of the season this evening and had a grand time. The local market is on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. I picked her up from school, dropped her off at the market (did a little shopping once they opened ;) ) and headed to a meeting at church about the plant sale we will be having in another week and a half (the 15th).
This is our second year doing the sale. The committee I am on (the Social Ministries/Concerns) is heavily into fund raising for the local crisis center. This means I need to sort my seedlings into three categories: those for me, those for Jim and those to donate to the plant sale. I really love having the sale- it gives me an outlet for all of those extra seedlings I always seem to have and just can't stand killing.
Back to J16 and the market- she had enough fun that she is actually going to work Saturday morning- before prom! She figures she can take a nap in the afternoon before all the excitement starts. What a whirlwind life she leads.
The new chicks are doing well. It's so fun to watch them run around- they look kind of like fuzzy ping pong balls sometimes bouncing off each other and the walls. Too cute. But I just need to look at the girls in the big bird side to get my inspiration for the coop. Ahhh... I think I'm going to sleep well tonight.
It took me a bit to get the stakes in place so the corners are actually square and then I started digging. OUCH. I got three sides done nice and straight but not deep enough yet. I started using the pick end of the mattock before I had to quit to get a shower before heading off to pick up J16 from an after school play practice. I'll have to be out working again tomorrow so maybe I can get it finished in the morning. V has volunteered to come help me but I hate to have him have to do it. Partly because this is my project but mostly because he strained his back using the tiller this weekend to break up compacted soil that they were trying to move to level out the yard. It's pretty heavy going out there in the trenches and I don't want him to totally incapacitate himself- I need him for construction!!
I do hope the weather holds, the forecast is for possible showers and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. Think positive thoughts for no rain!
In fun news, J16 got to work the first farmer's market of the season this evening and had a grand time. The local market is on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. I picked her up from school, dropped her off at the market (did a little shopping once they opened ;) ) and headed to a meeting at church about the plant sale we will be having in another week and a half (the 15th).
This is our second year doing the sale. The committee I am on (the Social Ministries/Concerns) is heavily into fund raising for the local crisis center. This means I need to sort my seedlings into three categories: those for me, those for Jim and those to donate to the plant sale. I really love having the sale- it gives me an outlet for all of those extra seedlings I always seem to have and just can't stand killing.
Back to J16 and the market- she had enough fun that she is actually going to work Saturday morning- before prom! She figures she can take a nap in the afternoon before all the excitement starts. What a whirlwind life she leads.
The new chicks are doing well. It's so fun to watch them run around- they look kind of like fuzzy ping pong balls sometimes bouncing off each other and the walls. Too cute. But I just need to look at the girls in the big bird side to get my inspiration for the coop. Ahhh... I think I'm going to sleep well tonight.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
We interrupt the regularly scheduled broadcast
For a field trip.
The sun finally peeked out for a little bit this afternoon and I got the opportunity to join V on a photo shoot. He is gathering images for his book and I went along with my camera. We stopped at several places for photos but most intriguing was the Black Angel.
She is a rather maligned statue in Oakland Cemetery here in Iowa City. She was originally commissioned by a distraught mother after the death of her son. After installation, the statue turned black and has been the source of many legends and rumors here in town ever since.
She is rather lovely, I think.
So sad, looking down, with sheltering wings.
Amazingly enough, as much as a legend as she is (she has been mentioned in numerous books and in film) this was my first visit to see her. I never went, even during my college years here. J16 even beat me to it. This the figure that J16 drew for the art show.
Of course, before we went for photos, I took V to the farmer's market ;) Mmmm, fresh goat cheese.....
The sun finally peeked out for a little bit this afternoon and I got the opportunity to join V on a photo shoot. He is gathering images for his book and I went along with my camera. We stopped at several places for photos but most intriguing was the Black Angel.
Amazingly enough, as much as a legend as she is (she has been mentioned in numerous books and in film) this was my first visit to see her. I never went, even during my college years here. J16 even beat me to it. This the figure that J16 drew for the art show.
Of course, before we went for photos, I took V to the farmer's market ;) Mmmm, fresh goat cheese.....
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Random babbling
Whew! What a couple of days. Yesterday I left home at 635 am (my usual) and didn't get home until after 8 pm. Blah. I had to serve at a soup supper. It was fun but tiring. Today, work was just brutal and I'm not looking forward to tomorrow since we had lots of discharges- leaving many empty beds which usually means a whole bunch of new referrals.
But, J16 finished her trial run dress last night and wore it to school today. In order to meet school dress codes she had to wear something under it but you can get the idea:
And, thank goodness for southerly winds today:
And it is finally beginning to feel like spring. Oh, we have another month or so before the last frost but the temps have been warmer. I'm planning to set my little cabbages, kale, broccoli and cauliflower plants out on the porch soon to begin hardening of before planting them out. Also on my list for the next few days is transplanting all my little tomatoes. The peppers are growing more slowly and I should be able to wait a bit more for them but the tomato and eggplant seedlings are getting desperate.
Tomorrow night, J16, V and I will be going to the opening reception at the Chait Galleries for the Next Generation Juried Art Show. J16 is one of 65 young artists from the area featured. If you're in the area, stop in sometime to see the show. It runs at the gallery until May 6th. There should be some excellent art there. J16 is one of 14 students from City High. The art will all be judged by a panel of gallery owners and the top artist gets a $350 prize. There are also several other $100 winners. All of the art will then be offered for sale with the students getting half of the proceeds. It's a great way for young artists to get started and we're quite proud of her.
The chicks continue to grow. Soon we will need to put the hardware cloth on the outside of the dog kennel so we can take them out of the cardboard box they're in. They seem to think they need to try out their new wing feathers and I'm afraid one of them will make it out of the box and not be able to get back in. Not only would they be without food and water but they would be an easy mark for Spaz who continues to be fascinated by them and seems to think they are tasty morsels meant just for him.
V got news this afternoon that his Aunt Yvonne has died. She has been battling cancer for 10 years and we thought she was doing well but it evidently spread to her bones and moved quickly. He isn't sure yet if he will be going out to PA for the funeral and to see his mom and sisters. He would like to but he is feeling so stressed with deadlines for work. And he has to have all the images for his book ready by the end of the month. EEK!
Now, I've gotta go. I've got 50 things on my list and only time for 20 tonight.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
A Seedy Saturday
I got to plant more seeds today! Yeah!!! Spring is around the corner- even if it was snowing again (sigh).
This afternoon I planted Red Acre cabbage, a few kale seeds (These are really for the fall but I couldn't resist), broccoli and cauliflower. They are in with my little parsley seedlings and my little leeks.
I can hardly wait until I can plant the 'main season' seeds- but we are still a couple of weeks away. And I will be starting extras again this year. My friend Jim, who recently bought a house, wants to start a garden on his new property. I told him I would help him pick the best location and that he could borrow our tiller to dig his new garden. He was really excited when I told him I would give him some seedlings for his garden. And I will also be starting seeds for the second annual plant sale at our church. Last year we raised several hundred dollars for the crisis center (our local food pantry). Last year, I took in extra plants that I had started but I just took what I had since I didn't learn about the plant sale until I had already started seeds. This year, I will be starting more seeds to sell. Last year, the garden plants were our best sellers. All my plants sold last year, but I had lots of hot peppers and unusual varieties of tomatoes and a few people were unsure about them. This year, I will make sure I plant plenty of extra bell peppers and some more 'traditional' tomatoes that will sell more readily. Last year, people bought black tomato seedlings but weren't really sure about it. But I guess it was a great introduction to heirloom tomatoes. This year, there will definitely be more beefsteak tomatoes (Amana Orange and regular red beefsteak tomatoes) and varieties that people will recognize. I'm also planning to plant some extra herbs because those sold well last year as well. Maybe I'll even plant some extra parsley this week so I've got some nice extra seedlings to sell.
Today, I also packed up a few more boxes of kitchen stuff. I did the coming week's menu plan and figured out what I needed to leave in the cabinets for this week and next.
Tomorrow will be a crazy-busy day. First, J16 and I will be working at the pancake breakfast at our church. It is another fundraiser for the crisis center. And, the more exciting thing about tomorrow is that it is K10's birthday! So, I've got to frost the cake that I baked today. True to our birthday tradition, we've got a fun, theme cake planned. I'll be sure to post pictures tomorrow.
Now, I think I'm going to go have a little drink and watch a movie with the children...
This afternoon I planted Red Acre cabbage, a few kale seeds (These are really for the fall but I couldn't resist), broccoli and cauliflower. They are in with my little parsley seedlings and my little leeks.
I can hardly wait until I can plant the 'main season' seeds- but we are still a couple of weeks away. And I will be starting extras again this year. My friend Jim, who recently bought a house, wants to start a garden on his new property. I told him I would help him pick the best location and that he could borrow our tiller to dig his new garden. He was really excited when I told him I would give him some seedlings for his garden. And I will also be starting seeds for the second annual plant sale at our church. Last year we raised several hundred dollars for the crisis center (our local food pantry). Last year, I took in extra plants that I had started but I just took what I had since I didn't learn about the plant sale until I had already started seeds. This year, I will be starting more seeds to sell. Last year, the garden plants were our best sellers. All my plants sold last year, but I had lots of hot peppers and unusual varieties of tomatoes and a few people were unsure about them. This year, I will make sure I plant plenty of extra bell peppers and some more 'traditional' tomatoes that will sell more readily. Last year, people bought black tomato seedlings but weren't really sure about it. But I guess it was a great introduction to heirloom tomatoes. This year, there will definitely be more beefsteak tomatoes (Amana Orange and regular red beefsteak tomatoes) and varieties that people will recognize. I'm also planning to plant some extra herbs because those sold well last year as well. Maybe I'll even plant some extra parsley this week so I've got some nice extra seedlings to sell.
Today, I also packed up a few more boxes of kitchen stuff. I did the coming week's menu plan and figured out what I needed to leave in the cabinets for this week and next.
Tomorrow will be a crazy-busy day. First, J16 and I will be working at the pancake breakfast at our church. It is another fundraiser for the crisis center. And, the more exciting thing about tomorrow is that it is K10's birthday! So, I've got to frost the cake that I baked today. True to our birthday tradition, we've got a fun, theme cake planned. I'll be sure to post pictures tomorrow.
Now, I think I'm going to go have a little drink and watch a movie with the children...
Monday, January 17, 2011
I have to submit a recipe??!!
I'm participating in a chili cook-off on the 30th. It's a fundraiser sponsored by our church. I've taken chili to church functions before- although my chili has been deemed by some "not suitable to be served to Lutherans". I make my chili spicy!
I picked up the rules yesterday. And they say that I have to submit a recipe!! I don't use a recipe. It is never the same twice. But, I can give them an approximation. So, today I'm making a batch of chili and measuring what I put into it. Of course, I'll have to specify that these are home grown, home canned tomatoes: one quart of sauce, one quart of diced tomatoes; frozen diced hot peppers, a home-smoked dried chipotle, locally raised grass fed beef, red and black beans, onion, garlic and spices.
I have to submit at least 4 quarts of "competition chili" that will be judged on flavor, texture, consistency, spice/taste and aroma. There will be prizes for Best Overall, Most Original, Hottest, , Best Tasting, and Best Vegetarian. I was thinking about submitting a vegetarian chili but V wants me to add beef. The scoring is 50% from the judges, 50% popular vote. There will be up to 20 competitors. As of yesterday, we were up to 16.
Wish me luck.
I picked up the rules yesterday. And they say that I have to submit a recipe!! I don't use a recipe. It is never the same twice. But, I can give them an approximation. So, today I'm making a batch of chili and measuring what I put into it. Of course, I'll have to specify that these are home grown, home canned tomatoes: one quart of sauce, one quart of diced tomatoes; frozen diced hot peppers, a home-smoked dried chipotle, locally raised grass fed beef, red and black beans, onion, garlic and spices.
I have to submit at least 4 quarts of "competition chili" that will be judged on flavor, texture, consistency, spice/taste and aroma. There will be prizes for Best Overall, Most Original, Hottest, , Best Tasting, and Best Vegetarian. I was thinking about submitting a vegetarian chili but V wants me to add beef. The scoring is 50% from the judges, 50% popular vote. There will be up to 20 competitors. As of yesterday, we were up to 16.
Wish me luck.
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