Mmmm...it's a chilly 44 degrees here this morning. They were saying last night that it would be the coolest temps we've had in 5 months. Pretty chilly, willy...even Miss Roxie didn't want to go out to weewee this morning. lol I just made a fresh pot of coffee, from a freshly opened bag of coffee, so it's particularly good. I've tried lots of ways to keep my bag of coffee fresher, but there's just nothing like that newly opened bag...oily beans and all.
Been a full week already. Sunday I attended the earth oven building workshop. It was awesome. There were about 10 people there, mostly women and the 2 guys who live there at the CSA...the farmer and the assistant farmer. One other guy in the group itself who kinda sat on the sidelines for most of it and barked "suggestions" at the rest of us. You can imagine how that went over with a crew of muddy women. LOL
To be fair, although he never got his hands dirty, he did mix up some wet mortar (clay and water and sand and straw) in a wheelbarrow with a shovel, towards the end. 3 of us took off our shoes and socks and danced in the mud, mixing the cob. All but one of us took turns setting stones, and building the sand castle mound that becomes the baking part of the oven, and then making mud bricks and patties to build up the walls and dome itself. Here is what it looked like towards the end:
I am SO grateful that I have met and gotten involved with this bunch from the La Vista Ecological Center--they are such a blessing in my life on so many levels.
Monday my ankles hurt so bad from the mud dancing that I hobbled around all day. But it was worth it.
I went to my cousin's and picked up the canning jars. WOW! There must be over a hundred and twenty five canning jars. A few of them might be mayonnaise jars, some headed for the recycling, but it's mostly all canning jars. And all FREE! I am one lucky duck. Unfortunately, it was raining when I got home and so I left them in my car. They are still in my car...but coming out this morning. (Into the garage, at least.)
Yesterday was filled up with cooking and canning pinto beans. I had a gallon of dry beans in the pantry that were dated 8/2011, so I used them all. I canned 21 pints of pintos and there was still enough to put a large yogurt container of beans into the freezer to make something with sometime AND beans for supper. And there's enough of those leftover to make a batch of baked beans for the picnic lunch we're taking to the powwow on Saturday. Perfect. I love it when things work out like that. :) I made beans and tortillas, Tex Mex Millet, Guacamole (avocados needed using) and chips (and homemade salsa of course) for supper last night. It was most excellent. The recipe for the millet was one I couldn't wait to try...I had bought millet (not a lot) as part of my grain stores for my pantry, but wasn't exactly sure what I would do with it. It was perfect for this meal and incredibly tasty...better than Spanish rice, maybe. So, except for the guacamole, it was a meal made from items in my pantry. WooHoo! The avocados were such a good price, I was thinking about buying a bunch and making guac and freezing it. I don't know...it's a nice treat once in a while, but it's certainly not a remotely local food...sigh...
So, yesterday I got a couple of loads of laundry done while beans were in the pressure canner--lord! The processing times for the beans was 75 minutes. IN THE PRESSURE CANNER!!!! But I didn't do any house cleaning and of course it needs doing all the time with all these critters in here. So, today maybe I can get some stuff done. I was supposed to go sit with my neighbor today, but there was a change of plans. I am still scheduled for Friday. So, I have today and tomorrow to get the house cleaned and the spare room straightened up for my brother and family to come. We're heading to a powwow on Saturday morning, about 2 hours northeast of here. It will be all day and fun fun fun. It's my little niece's first time to go to one, and she can barely breathe she's so excited. She emails me every day, making sure we're still going, lol. I really need to go get a pedicure...dancing in the clay and sand kinda messed up my toenails (it was about time anyway), but I don't know if it's going to happen or not. Might just have to do a rush job on 'em myself. If it's going to stay this cool, we'll all be wearing shoes and socks anyway, lol
Alright...guess I have stalled about as long as I can. I have some chicken maintenance to get done today too, and haul those jars out of my car. And start cleaning up the mudroom so I can have a place for those extra jars. And vacuum. And can some more jalapenos. Maybe. I'll just put some of this stuff on my never ending running list. It'll all get done eventually.
Won't it ??? Or will I be that old woman being dragged kicking and screaming into the hereafter, shouting..."I'M NOT READY!! I STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!!!!!!!!"
LOL
Happy Hump Day, y'all...
Namaste.
Lord, lord...where HAVE I been??
And maybe that is it...I have been being dragged about the Universe..being dragged through my emotions, being dragged through my past.
Because I can't freaking let go of anything. Oh, I can attempt to, and pretend to..but honestly, every little thing is still here, stealthily hidden away, tucked inside my soul for safe keeping.
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It has not been an unpleasant week, for the most part. And I have been truly busy with things here, as the canning season slows down (I started to write "winds down" and then remembered that we have replanted green beans that are getting ready to flower...) and the weather starts to change. And autumnal things are starting to happen, like fall festivals and harvest fairs. And sausage suppers and fish frys... and already today I have had to turn the fans off in the early evening because it was getting a bit cool in here.
I had a couple of live-and-learn episodes this week. I decided to dry broccoli and cauliflower and carrots, because I bought a bunch of them at a very good price. The carrots were no big deal. The broccoli was a bit more tedious, but still...I dehydrated 10 pounds of it. But the cauliflower....O, the cauliflower....I had 8 heads of cauliflower. All my dehydrator shelves were too shallow to be able to put florets on, so I had to slice them to make them fit. It has to be blanched before loading. There were crumbs of cauliflower everywhere. It was such a labor-intensive tedious work that I will never do it again. I froze the last bit of it after filling 2 dehydrators. I will eat cauliflower in season, or I will freeze some, or I will just not eat it. lol Lesson learned.
I have 2 dehydrators of tomatoes going. I have more to pick. I am going to can more diced tomatoes I think. And maybe a few more jars of tomatoes and okra, since the okra is also making a comeback. A slow comeback, but a comeback nevertheless. I have canned jars of pickled jalapenos. I have dried jalapenos. I made 2 jars of kimchi. I have dried more lemon grass and anise hyssop. I have dried chives. I have baked carrot cake and apple crisps and bread.
I have been quite the domestic goddess, as I vacuumed my way through dog hair and dust bunnies and dried leaves. I have tended the chickens and hard boiled eggs (getting a minimum of 35 eggs a week now) and looked for every possible egg recipe I can find to use them up. I have been giving them away as well. I am egg-wealthy. lol I have slowly worked on organizing some of the things in my pantry a little better--although it doesn't help much since I keep adding to it with the dehydrated items. Still it is a little better in there, and will get even better as I get more things done.
SO....looking at all that...will someone please tell me why ...WHY HAVE I AGREED TO DO A FLEA MARKET BOOTH THE FIRST WEEKEND OF OCTOBER ??????? Surely I have lost my mind. Or maybe I am afraid of not having enough to do? lol Now I have to assemble and price any and all items that are going to the sale...sweet Mother of God. What was I thinking ?
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My cousin has contacted me (we grew up together as children--next door neighbors) and asked if I could use some canning jars. She is about 5 years older than me (I think) and said she doesn't can any more and has no desire to ever do so again. lol Naturally I said YES!! and she said she has a lot, so I should bring some boxes--she has boxed up 3 or 4 boxes already, but is out of boxes. I will pick them up on Monday. How blessed am I ???
My thinking is that since I will have an abundance of jars and won't have to purchase anymore of those, I can start buying Tattler lids a few boxes at a time, until I have all I need. Those are the reusable lids and are BPA free. They are a little expensive at first, but are guaranteed for life and all you have to buy are the rubber rings, which are 19.99 for a hundred of them. I can't wait to try them. They've been around since the mid-70's, but I had never heard of them until about 3 years ago.
Who knew? lol
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Today we attended the Mississippi EarthTones Festival...a sort of green festival, all eco-groovey and fun. It was at the amphitheater at the riverfront park, which was a nice venue. Everyone of note was there--The Sierra Club, The Prairie Rivers Friends, The CSA's, The local wildlife rescue folks, The spay and neuter clinic folks, The Clean Water people, The solar oven people. There are bands playing all day and half the night--it runs until about 10 PM. We wandered around and saw everything, and some things twice. The it was off to get a pound of coffee beans and stop by Green Earth Grocers for some garlic granules and baking yeast, and a few other odds and ends. It was really nice to finally get back home and settle in...
Tomorrow, I am going to a demonstration out at La Vista on how to use cob and build an earth oven. That should be fun. The Irishman has a District Committee Meeting, but the boy may (or may not) go with me. In any case, I'm going. I would love to have one of those in my backyard. They bake a mean loaf of bread. That starts at 1 o'clock and afterwards I'll probably just come home and chill...or can something. lol
Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend....
Namaste.
