The freezer door

I had planned to help my mom all day on Saturday with work around her house.  About three o'clock I got a very urgent call from the hubby asking who was the last one in the freezer....I didn't know, but I assumed my daughter getting us ice cream last night.  Well, the door was left open all night and the door to the cold room (where the freezer is) was left open all night too.....and it was humid!

Houston. we have a problem!!!!!

1/6th of the cow was just put in there, plus multiple chickens and veggies and bread products and suffice it to say, the freezer was full to the gills!   So, I rush home and try to figure out what is still good (frozen), what needs to be cooked NOW, what needs to be thrown away, etc.

We talked to my brother in law (the butcher) and he said that as long as it was still ice cold, even if it is defrosted to just shut the freezer door and let everything refreeze.  We may get a little freezer burn and it may be a little crystallized, but since it is for our consumption only, it won't be a problem.  Unfortunately, everything that was on the freezer door was NOT ice cold, so all of that had to be cooked.  A whole chicken, two packages of chicken parts, two packages of liver, and about 10 hamburgs.  The rest of the stuff on the door, I either threw out (corn, some herbs that I had frozen from last year's garden), or will use.  The hamburg and hotdog rolls, we will use this weekend.  Two quarts of sauce, we will use this weekend also.

Fun, fun, fun.........

But, it could have been much worse!

And you know what the kick in the ass is....Both of my sons live in the basement (in their own little bedroom, living room, bathroom combination).  As soon as you go down the cellar stairs, you can see that the door was open to the cold room AND you can see that the freezer door is open.....Neither one of them noticed it.....I guess I needed that kick in the ass this weekend!

CSA #9

I am not able to pick up our CSA today, so a friend is picking it up for us and my sister is going to separate the box this week.  Here is what we will be getting and the only thing I know that I'm NOT getting is the corn.  My sister gaveall the corn to me last week and it really was divine (white and yellow kernels and so sweet!).  So she gets it this week.  I'm hoping that I get the cabbage and the eggplant, though! 
Full Share:

6 ears of sweet corn
4 lbs of yellow squash and zucchini
4 lbs of cucumbers (slicing and kirby)
2 lbs of red potatoes
1 lb onions
1 lb beans (green or yellow)
1 head of cabbage
1 large eggplant
1 bunch hakurei salad turnips
1 bunch kale (curly or toscano)


We are in the middle of 'squash' season!    I have some from my mom's garden, my own garden AND the CSA.  Needless to say, I am freezing it, too (I just grate and freeze)!  It's all good and there are so many great recipes out there.....Zucchini Chocolate Cake is up next! 

ETA: (I made the Zucchini Chocolate Cake Wednesday morning - it was really good and I got a lot of praise for it at Wednesday night dinner).  (I will try to post the recipe this weekend!)

One door closes....

...and another opens!

I have been teaching Zumba for well over a year now at a facility (one mile from home) at a condo complex, two times per week.  Because there is no handicapped entrance at this facility, I have been told I can no longer teach there and they kindly gave me three weeks to finish up.  I am still at my other facility twice a week. 

I never thought I would be effected by the ADA, and yet, there it is.  I was sad (upset), but now I realize that I have two evenings each week to start running again.  I have signed up for the New Haven Road Race (my Labor Day tradition for about nine years now) and maybe I can get a good time posted if I can run for the next month! 

So I have lost two classes of Zumba, but took on one more Zumba session at my regular facility and now I can start running too!  It is a win-win-win situation! 

(I'm still really sad, though)....I'll miss all the ladies (friends) that I have come to know!    :(

Time

Finally, I found some time this weekend to make jam and other things.

I have been picking berries...black raspberries, red raspberries and blackberries (these have just started).  I had 10 or 12 quarts in my freezer.  Plus I had given some to friends and family.

I was able to make 6-1/2 pints of mixed berry jam and 6 pints of black raspberry jam....I still have a lot though.  I made raspberry scones too.  My first attempt at scones and they came out very good!

I made a pumpkin applesauce cake using pumpkin from last year's CSA and the applesauce that I canned last September.  I got the basic recipe from Better Homes and Gardens magazine, but I doctored it up a bit! :)

Pumpkin Applesauce Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ginger
1-1/2 cups of pumpkin (I used frozen from last summer), but they used 1 cup of canned pumpkin
1 cup of chunky applesauce, they used 1/2 cup apple juice

1-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons of milk

Method:
Grease a fluted tube pan and set aside
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat butter with sugar until creamy.  It may take a couple of minutes.
Add eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and ginger.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with pumpkin and applesauce.  Mix until blended.

Turn batter into the prepared pan, bake for about 45 minutes.

After the cake was cool, I turned it out on to a platter and covered it overnight.

The next morning, mixed the powdered sugar and the milk together to form a glaze and spooned it over the cake and let it all cool again.

Friday's temperature

I know the whole country has been experiencing extremes in temperatures.  This is our extreme in the Northeast -

101 degrees at 5:52 in the evening, on my way home from work.  Just crazy.......

CSA #8

Here is the Full Share for Friday the 22nd of July!  I see more Stuffed Cabbage in my weekend plans, but it's my nieces graduation party from college on Sunday and my sister wants me to make squash lasagna too!  I'll post that recipe this coming week. 

I had zucchini fritters (not sure if that is the actual name) last night at Catie's house....Once she gives me the recipe, I plan to make that too! 

P.S. Stay cool - it was 89 degrees this morning on my way into work at 8:15 - that is just crazy............
Full Share:


8 ears of sweet corn
1 head of cabbage
2 lbs of red potatoes
3 lbs of yellow squash and zucchini
1 lb beans (green or yellow)
1 greenhouse cucumber
2 lbs pickling cucumbers
1 bunch beets
1 bunch of swiss chard
1/2lb bag of leaf lettuce mix
1 bunch curly kale
1 bunch toscano kale
2 herbs

Freebies

I didn't receive much in the way of Freebies this past month, but I'm back on track now and hopefully will be getting more in the next month.....Here is what I have received from http://moneysavingmom.com/ and http://www.couponsandfreebiesmom.com/ and the ALL YOU website.



Nivea Orange Blossom Lotion sample
Wellness Cat Food Sample
Wellness Dog Food Sample
One can of Alpo Prime cuts in gravy
Aveeno Shampoo and Conditioner
Jif Peanut Butter To go.
Feminine Pads from Kotex U
Two Glad flex garbage bags
Nature's Bounty - Fish Oil Pills

Happy Birthday Daddy...

Miss you a lot.....

(Dad receiving his Medal of Honor from the Archbishop)

I never go out to the movies...

...it's just a fact..  But my daughter and I have been waiting ever so patiently for the last installment of Harry Potter.  We picked tonight (Monday) at 8:35, so that I could teach my class and then eat dinner and then actually go to the movie theatre and get home in time to at least get some sleep...

So Elizabeth buys the tickets early in the day (thinking that it is going to be busy) and we get there 1/2 hour early, (thinking it is going to be full).  Well, we were the first ones in the place and then people started to come in....at 8:35, we get a text from Emily (a good friend who just happens to be working the popcorn stand), that there is a problem!  There is no sound and there is only a continual commercial on the screen!  At 8:45, we get another text from her (from the lobby), the manager is up in the booth and is working on the problem!  People are getting restless....It's Harry Potter, the final episode, we have been WAITING!

At 8:55, a young girl worker comes into our room and says, we can either wait for the next show, or get passes for another night or just hang around to see if this one starts......Well we decide to get passes for another day.....so we have to wait in the lobby for the manager (who is still up in the sound booth trying to get the movie to work!)  At 9:05, the young girl worker says, I'll just give you your money back.....and then you can come whenever you want.....so, we get our money and go back home.....No Harry, no movie, not even a popcorn (I wasn't hungry).....and that is why I don't go to the movies!

Maybe Wednesday!???

World War I Poster

I was reading Rob's World blog the other day and he has on it the Food Poster Tour of Posters from WWI and WWII  - I had to look because WWII posters always fascinated me especially the Victory Garden Posters.   (I am going to post a blog about some of the Women and Food Posters in the next week or so.)  I thought I would see more canning posters (which I did), but what I found was even better!  And it's older - this is from WWI!

To all my family and friends out there who think I'm (a little) crazy to keep my beautiful girls (hens), read the third to last line, "Its both Patriotic and Profitable to keep the laying hen"   My new mantra!!!

Have an EGG-cellent  day!!!!!

(Now I just have to find the $150.00 to buy the antique poster and frame it!) (It would look great in my kitchen!) LOL

CSA Week #7

Here is the list for the full share for today:

Full Share: 2 lbs new red potatoes 1 bunch early onions 2 bunches of beets 1 lb broccoli or beans 4 lbs yellow squash and zucchini 2 greenhouse cucumbers 1/2 lb asian mix or leaf lettuce mix 3 kohlrabi 2 bunches of radishes 2 bunches of hakurei turnips 1 bunch of curly kale 1 bunch of toscano kale 1 cabbage 2 2 inch herbs parsley and chives

Weeding and gardens

To those of you with gardens, are the weeds totally out of control this year????  I have weeds everywhere and because I can't wear gardening gloves to weed, my hands and nails are just atrocious!  I have weeds coming up through my patio pavers for the first time this year!  I think it must be all the rain we received in the spring.

Anywooo, my personal rapsberry bush is doing well (nothing like my mother-in-law PYO, but it is okay! ) The blueberry bush has been decimated by birds.  I had hundreds of green unripe blueberries out there one day and two days later, they were all gone.....

The flowers are just beautiful this year, roses, hydrangeas, peonies were beautiful, even the hostas and the star gazer lillies were spectacular!

So far, I have picked one cucumber and will be picking yellow squash within a week.  The tomato plants look great and there are a lot of green tomatoes, but nothing is ripe yet.  Usually by now, I have picked peas, but not this year, they are way behind.  Eggplant, peppers and broccoli are slow too!  I picked onions and garlic for the first time this year and got a good crop.  My herbs are spectacular.  I added chives this year to the rosemary, parsley, thyme and oregano. 

So, I guess it is a so-so year to date.  Some things are good and some aren't....

How does YOUR garden grow?

2nd Cow

This weekend, my brother and I both picked up a 1/6th share of a grass-fed, locally farmed cow (from our CSA farm).  We each got over 108 lbs of meat, plus he took all the liver packages (4) and I got the heart.  (which was huge!)

This is the 2nd time I have purchased this and the meat is really so good.  It was $4.00 per lb. for the whole thing and you get every cut imaginable.  T-Bones, Porterhouse, Rib eyes, hamburg, London broil, small roasts, minute steaks, etc, etc.  Soup bones and shanks will be saved for the winter.  We had hamburgs on the grill last night.  They were delicious.

If you decide to do this, make sure you have freezer room.  We have a small stand up freezer and it takes up about 1/2.

Wildwood 2011

We went to Wildwood for the long holiday weekend with my husband's family.  All his brothers and sisters went and his mom and grandmother and some of the nieces and nephews.  I don't have a lot of pictures after the first two days, because we some how lost our car keys and my focus was on the search for those.  We never ended up finding them, but my husband (thankfully) had decided to take our extra set just in case.  For those of you who don't know Nonni, she is 99 1/2 years old and is a joy!

CSA Week 6

Here is the list for this Friday!

Full Share:   1 head of cabbage 1 bunch of baby beets and greens 2 bunches of collards 2 bunches of kale tosacno and curly 1/2lb bag of leaf lettuce mix 1 head of escarole 1 head of romaine lettuce 1 head of red leaf lettuce 1 head of red deer tongue lettuce 3 lbs  yellow squash and zucchini 1 greenhouse cucumber 4 kohlrabi, purple and green 2 bunches of radishes 1 bunch of hakurei turnips 1 head of bok choy 1 2 inch herb (sage, oregano, or thyme)    This is the end of the bok choy and in the next week or two will be sweet corn and tomatoes!  I have a lot of kale and collards, so I need to get working on using them this weekend.  The lettuce for salad gets used as fast as I get it!  I think I see stuffed cabbage (pigs in a blanket) for this weekend!

Black Raspberry PYO

I am lucky that I have a PYO black raspberry area available right in my mother in laws back yard.  To date, (in the last 10 days), I have picked seven quarts that are in my freezer, my sister has picked two quarts and Catie has 1-1/2 quarts.  Black raspberry jam and black raspberry sauce and black raspberry vinegar are on the list for the near future (as soon as time becomes my friend again!).

This upcoming week, the wild red raspberries should be ready in the same area.

I AM READY!

Picture Credit

Happy Independence Day!

I hope you all have a beautiful 4th of July - Here is hoping for some beautiful weather and some great food!

Happy Anniversary!

To my wonderful husband...

Love you!

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

And a very Happy Birthday to Marty and Uncle Joe which is today also (I told you we had a lot going on this month!)

Happy Birthday Mom!

May, June and July are the busy months in my family....we just have so much going on!  Between Birthdays, Anniversarys, graduations, holidays, etc.

Today is my mom's 70th Birthday! 

We are celebrating on Monday! 

Have a beautiful day, Mom!

Wildwood NJ

AH.....GLORIOUS!

Wish I could upload some pictures, but I will have to do after the holiday!  

Enjoy all!

CSA Week 5

Here is what we are getting today!

Full Share:

2 greenhouse cucumbers
1 large zucchini or 2 medium
2 bunches of radishes
1 bunch hakurei salad turnips
1 bunch of baby beets and greens
4 kohlrabi
1 head of green cabbage
2 bok choy
2 bunches of kale, curly and toscano
2 bunches of collard greens
1 head of escarole
1 head of red leaf lettuce
1 head of buttercrunch lettuce
1 head of romaine lettuce
1/2 lb bag of asian greens mix

My sister and I will probably split it right down the middle.  I am looking forward to the veggies and a new stir fry next week!  I love that it comes out different each time we make it!