The short of it is - I'm addicted. Let's start from the beginning...
As the MySpace craze began, I declined to indulge, sure that it was useless, pointless, and just another way for some jerkoff to get your email address and personal information so they could send even more SPAM. I hate MySpace and refused to ever get on board. Then Facebook came along and I learned it was similar to MySpace. I hated it, too, purely by association. However, when my best friend recently signed up for Facebook and then gave me her account info to check it out, I found many of my old high school friends and some people I had thought of but not spoken to in years. I signed up, added in my pictures and connected with a few friends.
Now, my SO has hated MySpace and Facebook right along with me, all this time. We stood firmly together chanting our "We don't need it - we won't have it!" anti-social-networking mantra. So when I broke down and got my Facebook account, it was my dirty little secret that I hid from him. Then the addiction started. My best friend, you remember her from the above paragraph, no? Well, she sent me some horses and a few trees to start my own efarm. I went to my plot of green land and setup my animals and fruit trees, much like the old days when I had plastic farm animals. Ohh, how I LOVED my plastic farm animals! Only now, they are e-animals. And I get to plant e-crops. Every day I send my friend e-animals and e-trees and she in turn sends them to me. We continue to grow e-crops and harvest them, making e-money which enables us to plow more land, plant more crops, and make more money. Then we wondered, 'which if the crops, available to plant, would make us the most money?" That's when the geeking really began. I setup a spreadsheet noting how much the e-seeds cost, how many days till harvest, what our return is and what is the net profit per day that we earned. Surprisingly, the 1 day crops give us the most bang for our bucks. Strawberries and tomatoes, it is!
But the key here is that you have to love your e-farm, and nurture it really. If you wait too long to harvest your crops, they rot in the field and you've lost all of the e-money you previously earned. So while my SO was recovering on the sofa from surgery this weekend, I was logging in and harvesting, plowing, and reseeding my e-crops. Of course, I tried to do this discretely, turning my laptop ever-so-slightly away from SO, as to not alert him to my weakness for creating a Facebook account. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I see him leaning ever-so-slightly to see what's on my computer screen. "Are you playing farm?" he asks. I look at him with annoyance and remark, "whatever!"
The next day my peripheral vision tells me he's watching again as I harvest, plow, plant... harvest, plow, plant.. harvest, plow - well, you get the picture. While I update my spreadsheet to reflect the prices for harvesting fruit trees, he leans in again, looks at my screen and then raises an eyebrow at me. Fine, just admit what you're doing and get it over with - and the verbal vomit began... "Ok, so HERE is how much seeds cost, THIS column shows how many days till harvest, THIS column shows how much they pay me for my crop, and this column shows me what my profits are. Of course, profits are only after you've paid the $20 to plow each crop but really, why can't they let me plow my own plot and save my $20? It's ridiculous - I should be able to save my own seeds too, instead of having to buy theirs which are probably patented, hybrid or some GMO shit, I mean really now!" His only words were, "that sounds like work." Ok, time for honey to hush up while I vicariously live out my homesteading dreams through my efarm because I'm too broke or too chickenshit to really do it on my own (plus I haven't quite convinced HIM that we should live in the country, but I'm working on it, really!)
Meanwhile I hear, "Honey, I had surgery two days ago, and I'm hungry, can you start dinner now?" Sure babe, as soon as I'm done harvesting, plowing and seeding best friends crops, because she's traveling right now and has no access to a computer... And so the addiction continues.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Comfort foods
I began making banana bread a few years ago. I simply followed the recipe in my cookbook and it came out beautiful and yummy! Nowadays, I typically bake off 2 loaves and take one of them into work to share with my office mates. I don't like bananas anywhere NEAR the green stage, so I usually leave them til they are truly ripe and if I eat one everyday, there is always 1 that turns too black for my taste. But 1 banana is not enough to make bread, hence my dilemma. I never knew how to handle the fact that I never had enough bananas to make the recipe all at once (besides buying bananas and letting them all over ripen) until I read that older bananas can go in the freezer until you are ready to make the bread. Now each time I get to the end of the bunch, if one is too far gone, I toss it on a shelf in the freezer and once I get enough, I make banana nut bread. Voila - problem solved!
While cleaning the fridge the other day, I noticed 5 black bananas in my freezer. Two of them were starting to wrinkle as the freezer was sucking the moisture out of them, but they'd been in there at least 6 months so I wasn't surprised. But their flavor is perfect for making banana bread and it had been a LONG time since my last loaf, so I knew it was the right time for baking. I took the bananas out, removed the peels and then cut them so they thaw quickly. Even frozen through, they are easy to cut up with a regular butter knife. Once thawed, I make the recipe as usual. If it were up to me, I'd have plain bread, but the boys in my house like walnuts added, so I include the walnuts for them. I popped the bread in right as we sat down to eat my homemade minestrone soup (YUM!) and as we ate dinner, I reminded of how delicious banana bread smells when it's baking in the oven. After it finished baking, and cooling, I made some mint tea which is a perfect combo for this comforting banana nut bread. Enjoy!
Banana Nut Bread
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium) Note: I like banana-y bread so I use 4 each time
1/3 cup water
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
* Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of one large loaf pan or three small mini-loaf pans.
* Cream sugar and softened butter in mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat on low until blended. Stir in bananas and water.
* In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Stir in remaining ingredients just until blended. Do not over-beat. Fold in nuts.
* Pour batter into pan, and bake large loaf 55-70 minutes, smaller loaves 45 to 60 minutes. Bread is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
* Cool in pan for five minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before wrapping.
What is your favorite, easy to make, after dinner comfort dessert?
While cleaning the fridge the other day, I noticed 5 black bananas in my freezer. Two of them were starting to wrinkle as the freezer was sucking the moisture out of them, but they'd been in there at least 6 months so I wasn't surprised. But their flavor is perfect for making banana bread and it had been a LONG time since my last loaf, so I knew it was the right time for baking. I took the bananas out, removed the peels and then cut them so they thaw quickly. Even frozen through, they are easy to cut up with a regular butter knife. Once thawed, I make the recipe as usual. If it were up to me, I'd have plain bread, but the boys in my house like walnuts added, so I include the walnuts for them. I popped the bread in right as we sat down to eat my homemade minestrone soup (YUM!) and as we ate dinner, I reminded of how delicious banana bread smells when it's baking in the oven. After it finished baking, and cooling, I made some mint tea which is a perfect combo for this comforting banana nut bread. Enjoy!
Banana Nut Bread
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium) Note: I like banana-y bread so I use 4 each time
1/3 cup water
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
* Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of one large loaf pan or three small mini-loaf pans.
* Cream sugar and softened butter in mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat on low until blended. Stir in bananas and water.
* In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Stir in remaining ingredients just until blended. Do not over-beat. Fold in nuts.
* Pour batter into pan, and bake large loaf 55-70 minutes, smaller loaves 45 to 60 minutes. Bread is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
* Cool in pan for five minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before wrapping.
What is your favorite, easy to make, after dinner comfort dessert?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Yea, I'm pretty sure...
..I'm the only one who lives in California and is sick to death of sunny weather and blue skies. I'm sorry, but if you have the same thing every day, you tend to lose appreciation for it. I'm pretty sure this is how the dog feels when you plop down that boring bowl of pre-formed and overbaked kibble, day in and day out without so much as a table scrap to liven the day. So when the skies cloud up and the day turns dark and the rains pour down, I'm in pure Heaven. I imagine that I actually live somewhere other than California where it rains on a regular basis and I can stomp in the puddles with barefeet.
Exhausted
I can't tell you how tired I am. Every night I'm woken up by snoring. snoring. snoring... "Honey, you snoring - roll over!" He rolls and either proceeds to snore or rolls back to his back in 10 minutes, beginning the snoring/waiting game all over again. I try to sleep, he snores. I tell myself I'll sleep on the couch if he snores just once more, but all is silent. I finally start to fade off and SNORE - oh geez, can you puh-leeeze cut me some slack. Last week I threatened to sleep in the camper in the driveway, but the look on his face was pure hurt, so I decided to stick it out. Not tonight - I need sanity and I need sleep if I'm to take care of him over the next week, as he recovers from an outpatient surgery.
Tonight, it's just me and the camper.
Tonight, it's just me and the camper.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Inaugaration day
The day has come - my company is playing the inaugaration on the big screen in our cafeteria and I am here to watch it. The skies in DC are blue and the crowds are stretched 2 miles to the Lincoln Memorial. Personally, I voted 3rd party, but of the 2 major parties, Barack was the choice to make. As he walks down the hall towards the sun, he bares a slight smile, like an uncomfortableness at a funeral.
May I stop here to ask where did they find this announcer? He sounds like a cheesy game show host and I'm not impressed. "Dianne Feinstein, COMEONDOWN! You're the first speaker at the FORTY-FORTH INAUGARATION!!"
Meanwhile, I've never seen so many woollen coats all at once; the prayer by Dr Warren was well done and sounded sincere, and as Biden is sworn in as Vice-president my first thoughts are, "good-BYYYYE Dick Cheney!!" This is where you, as the reader, insert the image of me the author, in shortie plaid pants and a white dorky hat golfing Cheney's head off of a tee and into the wild blue yonder.
As Noon eastern time comes and goes without Obama being sworn in, I'm surprised to learn from a mysterious CNN voiceover that taking the oath does not begin Obama's presidency - it begins with or without the oath, at exactly 12 noon, sharp. We now have a new president and are still listen to the music being played by a special 5 piece instrumental.
While the music ends and Obama is introduced by Dianne Feinstein "as he takes the oaf of office," (her words, not mine) Obama is wearing his poker face but has GOT to be nervous. He speaks over the man who is swearing him in, he forgets the line he was just read, and he stumbles over his oath. So much for the beginning of his presidency!
I will admit that his first speech as president was well put together, though I must wonder of his sincerity of some of his words due to very poor choice he made in the Secretary for Agriculture... {cough, Monsanto lover, cough}
May I stop here to ask where did they find this announcer? He sounds like a cheesy game show host and I'm not impressed. "Dianne Feinstein, COMEONDOWN! You're the first speaker at the FORTY-FORTH INAUGARATION!!"
Meanwhile, I've never seen so many woollen coats all at once; the prayer by Dr Warren was well done and sounded sincere, and as Biden is sworn in as Vice-president my first thoughts are, "good-BYYYYE Dick Cheney!!" This is where you, as the reader, insert the image of me the author, in shortie plaid pants and a white dorky hat golfing Cheney's head off of a tee and into the wild blue yonder.
As Noon eastern time comes and goes without Obama being sworn in, I'm surprised to learn from a mysterious CNN voiceover that taking the oath does not begin Obama's presidency - it begins with or without the oath, at exactly 12 noon, sharp. We now have a new president and are still listen to the music being played by a special 5 piece instrumental.
While the music ends and Obama is introduced by Dianne Feinstein "as he takes the oaf of office," (her words, not mine) Obama is wearing his poker face but has GOT to be nervous. He speaks over the man who is swearing him in, he forgets the line he was just read, and he stumbles over his oath. So much for the beginning of his presidency!
I will admit that his first speech as president was well put together, though I must wonder of his sincerity of some of his words due to very poor choice he made in the Secretary for Agriculture... {cough, Monsanto lover, cough}
Friday, January 16, 2009
Homemade just tastes better
As I peruse the aisles at my local grocery stores, I tend to notice that every container of broth says, "sodium free," or "fat-free" but honestly, all I see are labels that say, "flavor free," and that isn't very appealing to me. I've been saving chicken skins and bones, bits and parts for a while and after we nearly cleaned the carcass of a roasted chicken I made at home last week, I figured I had enough to make my broth. I stuff the carcass in the fridge for a later date, when I would have more time to slow cook.
Wednesday was that day. While working at home, I took a break and went hunting for a snack in the fridge. I found said bag-o-carcass and thought, "there's no time like the present!" I got out my big, red enameled cast iron pot, put in a gallon of clean water, stuffed in my carcass and other parts-n-stuff I'd been saving, cut up an onion, couple of carrots, a few stalks of celery, some leftover cabbage, salt, pepper - and let it come to a boil. I was afraid I'd put in too much stuff as my pot was filled within 1/2 inch to the top, so I turned it low and went back to work.
An hour later I checked it, everything looked lovely and my broth was starting to take color. Another hour and another peek; I turned up the heat just a tad and added some more salt. Back to work. Another hour went by and I did a taste test. Needed more salt... then more salt (I'm cautious about the salt so it takes a few tastes) and then I looked in my herb pantry. Hey! There's some dried oregano from my herb garden - toss that in, can't do any harm. Toss in my homemade garlic powder - another taste... brilliant! I let the flavors meld for another 30 minutes and turned the pot off. I allowed it an hour to cool, then got out my fine strainer and strained it clean. It was delicious! I considered canning it, then figured I'd want to use it soon so I popped it in the fridge. Sometime this weekend we'll have homemade chicken soup and with this broth full of salt, some fat, and tons of flavor, it'll be fabulous!
Wednesday was that day. While working at home, I took a break and went hunting for a snack in the fridge. I found said bag-o-carcass and thought, "there's no time like the present!" I got out my big, red enameled cast iron pot, put in a gallon of clean water, stuffed in my carcass and other parts-n-stuff I'd been saving, cut up an onion, couple of carrots, a few stalks of celery, some leftover cabbage, salt, pepper - and let it come to a boil. I was afraid I'd put in too much stuff as my pot was filled within 1/2 inch to the top, so I turned it low and went back to work.
An hour later I checked it, everything looked lovely and my broth was starting to take color. Another hour and another peek; I turned up the heat just a tad and added some more salt. Back to work. Another hour went by and I did a taste test. Needed more salt... then more salt (I'm cautious about the salt so it takes a few tastes) and then I looked in my herb pantry. Hey! There's some dried oregano from my herb garden - toss that in, can't do any harm. Toss in my homemade garlic powder - another taste... brilliant! I let the flavors meld for another 30 minutes and turned the pot off. I allowed it an hour to cool, then got out my fine strainer and strained it clean. It was delicious! I considered canning it, then figured I'd want to use it soon so I popped it in the fridge. Sometime this weekend we'll have homemade chicken soup and with this broth full of salt, some fat, and tons of flavor, it'll be fabulous!
Monday, January 12, 2009
WTH is up with this weather?
Granted, it was surprisingly gorgeous out for our January WWD tromp around the bay area but today, it's due to hit anywhere between 70-76 degrees. The outlook is sunny for the next 9 days, up in the mid-to-high 60's and low's of mid-40's before it rains again on Wednesday the 21st. Is this really JANUARY? Cuz I'm not liking this at all - it's supposed to be cold and rainy and I think after waiting an entire year for rain, I deserve to see some rain, doggone it!
I went out to see the backyard yesterday and found that my 3 lantana plants we planted for WWD in October-ish didn't make it. That section of the yard gets no sun during this season but I thought the coyote bush would protect them from frost. Apparently not. I'm hoping all is not lost and praying that they come back when the weather warms up. Hey, maybe they'll send out a couple of shoots during this freaky warm spell we're having now!
Here is a photo of the Phlomis Lanata I picked up over the weekend:
I went out to see the backyard yesterday and found that my 3 lantana plants we planted for WWD in October-ish didn't make it. That section of the yard gets no sun during this season but I thought the coyote bush would protect them from frost. Apparently not. I'm hoping all is not lost and praying that they come back when the weather warms up. Hey, maybe they'll send out a couple of shoots during this freaky warm spell we're having now!
Here is a photo of the Phlomis Lanata I picked up over the weekend:
Sunday, January 11, 2009
January LWD
January's Womens Work Day is always more about enjoying time together and less about working. We typically plan to visit interesting nurseries within an hours drive, or perhaps visiting an arboretum or greenhouse that is on display and open to the public. Though we always begin with a slew of maps and an itinerary, if we see something like a thrift store or shop along the way, we don't hesitate to add it into our day.
This year we visit a few nurseries that specialize in California native plants, had lunch in a "haunted" restaurant and stopped by a recently opened alternative thrift shop that we found along the way. My total purchases included Phlomis lanata, Ceanothus 'Joyce Coulter,' and a Royal Red butterfly bush. I know they can each grow fairly good size so I hope to find some nice large pots to put them in, considering we live in a rental house and I want to take these with me when we go.
Oh, and I bought a muffin tin for $1.50 at the thrift shop. I LOVE these places....
This year we visit a few nurseries that specialize in California native plants, had lunch in a "haunted" restaurant and stopped by a recently opened alternative thrift shop that we found along the way. My total purchases included Phlomis lanata, Ceanothus 'Joyce Coulter,' and a Royal Red butterfly bush. I know they can each grow fairly good size so I hope to find some nice large pots to put them in, considering we live in a rental house and I want to take these with me when we go.
Oh, and I bought a muffin tin for $1.50 at the thrift shop. I LOVE these places....
Thursday, January 8, 2009
My work schedule
Two days in the office, one day at home, 2 days in the office - hello weekend!!
This is my typical work schedule. Due to the fact that I work my butt off all week and still manage 3 full classes in my "spare time," mangement has granted me 1 day a week to work at home, thereby saving me the extra time to shower and commute before my day starts. This comes in handy around finals when I can use that extra time early in the morning to study while the house is still quiet. However, because of the holidays, I was off work for 2 entire weeks. I didn't think about, dream about, nor have any desire to go to work. I learned to stay up late and sleep even later. My sleeping pattern morphed from 10pm-6:30am to midnight-9am or even 10:30am one day. I'm not a good sleeper, so that was a biggie for me!
With 2 weeks off, and my sleeping schedule out of whack, I knew this first week back at work was going to be rough. By Wednesday, I was seriously dragging, wondering if I would make it to the end of the week alive. I've been at work every day for 4 days in a row - I think tomorrow I'll work from home. I truly miss my pajamas...
This morning I realized I haven't been in the backyard for 4 days - that means, potentially, my cabbage and brussel sprout seedlings may have died without water and I wouldn't even know it. I filled a pitcher, headed out, and saw that they are, happily, just fine. Dodged another bullet - the life of an 'outside the home' worker bee.
This is my typical work schedule. Due to the fact that I work my butt off all week and still manage 3 full classes in my "spare time," mangement has granted me 1 day a week to work at home, thereby saving me the extra time to shower and commute before my day starts. This comes in handy around finals when I can use that extra time early in the morning to study while the house is still quiet. However, because of the holidays, I was off work for 2 entire weeks. I didn't think about, dream about, nor have any desire to go to work. I learned to stay up late and sleep even later. My sleeping pattern morphed from 10pm-6:30am to midnight-9am or even 10:30am one day. I'm not a good sleeper, so that was a biggie for me!
With 2 weeks off, and my sleeping schedule out of whack, I knew this first week back at work was going to be rough. By Wednesday, I was seriously dragging, wondering if I would make it to the end of the week alive. I've been at work every day for 4 days in a row - I think tomorrow I'll work from home. I truly miss my pajamas...
This morning I realized I haven't been in the backyard for 4 days - that means, potentially, my cabbage and brussel sprout seedlings may have died without water and I wouldn't even know it. I filled a pitcher, headed out, and saw that they are, happily, just fine. Dodged another bullet - the life of an 'outside the home' worker bee.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
New Year's Resolution
This year I resolved NOT to have any resolutions. I don't remember them so they can't be important, and most people set unreasonable goals, setting themselves up for failure. Of course, you can always feel disappointed at your failures and go run up some debt by charging ridiculous things to your credit card! And be sure it's something you don't need and can't afford, cuz that's the American way.
One last gripe for the day - yesterday I went to a bed and bath place to buy kitchen items. I received a gift card for this place so was obligated to use it there. While standing in line, the young mother of a toddler girl was gathering her daughters dolls from the cart when I heard her say, "Oh no, what happened to Hannah Montana's boot? Did you leave one in the car?" She searched frantically for her toddlers dolls thigh-high boot (truly, what toddler should have a doll with thigh highs?) and I happened to see it in the back corner of the cart. As I saw it and told her I'd found it, she reached in and grabbed it then turned her back without so much as a thank you. I should have left it there, and in fact perhaps I should have thrown Hannah Montana in the trash as well.
Now to my recent learning experience...
Yesterday I spent more time preserving my apples from the tree. After checking online for recommendations, I decided to create apple pie filling. My idea was to peel, core, slice and season the apples so the pie filling is ready to bake. I'll put the filling in old pie tins that we save so I know I have the right amount for a pie, and place the full tins in the freezer. Once they are frozen, I'll pop them out of the tin and vacuum seal them individually with my foodsaver. When I'm feeling like apple pie, just pop the filling out of the freezer (already shaped properly) prepare a quick crust and pop it all in the oven. Theoretically, this should work. I blanched the apples before seasoning and they are, at this moment, still in my freezer. I'll vacuum seal them tonight and try one out next week just to see how it goes.
One last gripe for the day - yesterday I went to a bed and bath place to buy kitchen items. I received a gift card for this place so was obligated to use it there. While standing in line, the young mother of a toddler girl was gathering her daughters dolls from the cart when I heard her say, "Oh no, what happened to Hannah Montana's boot? Did you leave one in the car?" She searched frantically for her toddlers dolls thigh-high boot (truly, what toddler should have a doll with thigh highs?) and I happened to see it in the back corner of the cart. As I saw it and told her I'd found it, she reached in and grabbed it then turned her back without so much as a thank you. I should have left it there, and in fact perhaps I should have thrown Hannah Montana in the trash as well.
Now to my recent learning experience...
Yesterday I spent more time preserving my apples from the tree. After checking online for recommendations, I decided to create apple pie filling. My idea was to peel, core, slice and season the apples so the pie filling is ready to bake. I'll put the filling in old pie tins that we save so I know I have the right amount for a pie, and place the full tins in the freezer. Once they are frozen, I'll pop them out of the tin and vacuum seal them individually with my foodsaver. When I'm feeling like apple pie, just pop the filling out of the freezer (already shaped properly) prepare a quick crust and pop it all in the oven. Theoretically, this should work. I blanched the apples before seasoning and they are, at this moment, still in my freezer. I'll vacuum seal them tonight and try one out next week just to see how it goes.
Stupid TV ads
The downside to being off of school AND work for 2 weeks is the extreme amount of time I now have to watch TV. I can honestly say that TV advertising has hit an all-time low. And it's not just the gadgets that they are selling, but the marketing for them. They make comsumers look like absolute morons incapable of handling every day projects or tasks!
Example 1: Ad for ProCaulk shows a man with caulk covering his hands and fingers as he tries to smooth it over bathtub tiles. Seriously, has anyone ever completely covered themselves trying to smooth out caulk? Granted, this is a cool little tool, but the ads are so stupid, I'd never buy them.
Example 2: Ad for Get a Grip Safety Bar shows a woman who can't get from sitting position to standing in the shower, but shows it's OK for the other woman in a bathtub to overreach to the Safety Bar in order to get out of the tub. One would think she'd slip reaching for that bar before she'd actually reach safety.
In my home, we like to call these, "I'm too stupid for" ads, because that is how their marketing portrays us. "I'm too stupid to stand up in the shower" ... "I'm too stupid to caulk tile" ... "I'm too stupid to chop vegetables or cook pasta."
And if I have to watch one more commercial with the ridiculous screaming Oxyclean guy or that Shamwow bloke who wears a mic headset like he's selling to us at the flea market, I may trade in my television for a nice picture to hang on the wall.
Example 1: Ad for ProCaulk shows a man with caulk covering his hands and fingers as he tries to smooth it over bathtub tiles. Seriously, has anyone ever completely covered themselves trying to smooth out caulk? Granted, this is a cool little tool, but the ads are so stupid, I'd never buy them.
Example 2: Ad for Get a Grip Safety Bar shows a woman who can't get from sitting position to standing in the shower, but shows it's OK for the other woman in a bathtub to overreach to the Safety Bar in order to get out of the tub. One would think she'd slip reaching for that bar before she'd actually reach safety.
In my home, we like to call these, "I'm too stupid for" ads, because that is how their marketing portrays us. "I'm too stupid to stand up in the shower" ... "I'm too stupid to caulk tile" ... "I'm too stupid to chop vegetables or cook pasta."
And if I have to watch one more commercial with the ridiculous screaming Oxyclean guy or that Shamwow bloke who wears a mic headset like he's selling to us at the flea market, I may trade in my television for a nice picture to hang on the wall.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Welcome to 2009!
I wanted to start the new year properly. First I slept til 10:30, which is horribly late for me. Typically, 9am is late for me, so 10:30 was just absurd! After breakfast, I decided to spend the day preserving the apples from the tree out back. It hasn't failed, the past 2 years I have neglected to preserve as many as possible. I dry them, then forget to take them out and they get soggy again with the humidity in the kitchen. Or I make applesauce and then eat it all.
This year I'm making applesauce and putting it in the freezer is meal size portions. The day before we want applesauce, I can pop it into the fridge to thaw and voila! Another idea that I had, or possibly stumbled across in some homesteading/gardening forum, is preserving apples for apple pie. I made my first apple pie 2 years ago and it was delicious. Out of last years harvest I only made 1 apple pie and as my bf's son said, "I was sad we only had one pie." So right now, as I type, he's out back, high in the apple tree picking me bunches of apples for tomorrow's task.
I'll peel, core and slice the apples, season them with sugar and cinnamon, and place them in some old flimsy pie tins. I'll freeze them til just hard, then pop them out and put them in my foodsaver to vaccum pack it. Then back in the freezer and whenever we want applie pies, I'll just need to make a crust and pop the frozen filling into the crust and bake. I'll have to adjust the cooking time and temperature to allow for the frozenness, but it would be a great experiment.
This year I'm making applesauce and putting it in the freezer is meal size portions. The day before we want applesauce, I can pop it into the fridge to thaw and voila! Another idea that I had, or possibly stumbled across in some homesteading/gardening forum, is preserving apples for apple pie. I made my first apple pie 2 years ago and it was delicious. Out of last years harvest I only made 1 apple pie and as my bf's son said, "I was sad we only had one pie." So right now, as I type, he's out back, high in the apple tree picking me bunches of apples for tomorrow's task.
I'll peel, core and slice the apples, season them with sugar and cinnamon, and place them in some old flimsy pie tins. I'll freeze them til just hard, then pop them out and put them in my foodsaver to vaccum pack it. Then back in the freezer and whenever we want applie pies, I'll just need to make a crust and pop the frozen filling into the crust and bake. I'll have to adjust the cooking time and temperature to allow for the frozenness, but it would be a great experiment.
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