Freebies...

This past month I have received:

Crest Toothpaste
Dental floss
Mouth Rinse
Garnier Moisture Rescue Face Cream
Loreal Youth Code Face Cream
Garnier Shampoo
Two Samples of Splenda
One Kashi Bar
Coupons for free Mott's Apple Juice
Two Free tickets to the Mashantucket Pequot Museum

Canning

My brother in law has been wanting to learn how to can and he got it in his head to make hot pepper relish.  Since I neither eat hot peppers nor any kind of relish, I wasn't sure if I was up to the task.  But I got a few recipes on line and set up the date for this past week.  I got the jars ready and he brought the ingredients.  Joe was definitely prepared.  He even brought his own recipe!

Joe didn't realize how truly easy this whole water bath canning process actually is!!   The prep time takes the longest.  But he did all the chopping of the ingredients for the relish.  We ended up with (5) 1/2 quarts of hot pepper relish.  He said it is so good that he wants to enter it into the fair.  (I didn't taste it)

I had gone to my CSA farm and got a box of tomatoes because we were also going to make some salsa - two kinds.  One with cilantro and one without (for my sister).  He will take home 7 1/2 quarts of salsa and I kept one.  I already made a bunch for myself and I will probably make more this week too.  I still have about 45 tomatoes left (plus Joe took home about 40) from the box, so I plan on making some marinara sauce this weekend.  I think I canned sauce a very long time ago.  Most of the time, I just freeze it, so I'm going to look up a recipe to see what I need to do to can sauce.

Power

I got to work early this morning, not knowing what to expect.  The building has no power (and neither does this whole area of town where I work).  However, we have a generator for our little offices and we have full power including internet and phones.  I am here and will work as long as I can, but the building has no a/c and it is extremely humid right now.  No elevators, but I'm only on the second floor.

I have a lot to be grateful for. 

Thank you, Jesus. 

The evening after...

It is 6:30 pm....we never lost power.  We had a ton of stick clean up to do, but I don't think I can complain one bit.  There are towns near by without power and not expected to have power for a few days....

There is a slight breeze now.  It is cool and I think we can sleep with the windows open tonight.

I got a lot of cooking accomplished this weekend.  Kale Bean Soup, Eggplant Parm., Chicken and Potatoes, Stew, Chicken broth for the freezer, lots of other things.

I have to go back to work tomorrow, but I won't have to shop for groceries for two weeks (at least).   God is good.  But I feel sorry for my brother who is without power and those on the shoreline who were devastated.

Momentous Moment (for Mom)

My youngest heading off to Senior year in high school this past week.....

Where does the time go?  So sad, yet so happy.  Totally mixed emotions.......

There is so much I can say about her....sure she is a 17 year old girl who drives her mother nuts with mood swings monthly...she has a mouth that talks back when it shouldn't, she lets drama rule her life with friends (until I have to explain that it isn't worth it)...BUT, she is friendly and kind to the elderly and children, a very hard worker at all her jobs, if I leave a list of chores, she will do it all, she LOVES to cheer and she is just a good kid.  And to think, that I had no plans to have a third child!  Thank you God for speaking to me!

Morning of the storm

It is 8:15 am.  We still have power, but the winds are pretty strong.  340,000 are without power in the state, but we have it as of now.  We have had quite a bit of rain (around 4 inches per the news).

The small chicken coop was stored in the garage yesterday and the chickens are in there today.  They will have to tough it out, but they have food and water and plenty of hay....just not a lot of scratch area or light.  I extended the coop with boxes and more hay.

If the weathermen are correct, I should be able to put them back outside around 6:00 pm tonight.

The poor puppy did not want to go out into the storm to go to the bathroom.....he was frightened!

Two of the kids are sleeping.  My other son was called in and is working at least a double today.  They allowed him to sleep at work last night so that he could be at work first thing this morning as the roads were closed by the state.

Stay Safe!!

I think we are all set....

8:30 pm on Saturday 8/27/11.

Bathtub is full....check
Three tubs (large containers) of water in the bathroom full....check
Two very large pots of water on the stove full of water...check
Teapot full of water....check.
An old Percolater for coffee to be made on the stove or on the grill....check
Gas grill filled with propane....check
Bag of charcoal, just in case....check
cars filled with gas....check
Chickens in the house (and it's not even winter)....check
Food in the freezer.....check
All backyard furniture put away....check
Food made for next two days....check
Candles all set...check
Flashlights all set.....check
Batteries for radios (2 sets)....check
Generator......UMMMM...no
Cases of water for drinking....check
Attended church tonight instead of tomorrow....check
Nice glass of my brother's homemade wine sitting next to me...check
Raining outside...check

At this point, my town is getting a direct hit with a Category 1 Hurricane.  I'll let you know how it goes after all is said and done.  (Blogs have been pre-done for the next four days but hopefully I will be able to give you an update.  If you don't see an update, you know I don't have power still).

C'mon Irene!

Monday Night

On Monday night, after dinner outside on the patio (we could eat outside almost every night until Irene), I began weeding.

I know I have mentioned on this blog the weeds are prolific this year.  So, at 7:00 I started.  At about 7:40, I looked at my wrist, because I thought I got scratched and there was this little fellow (or one just like him!):

Photo credit

The sting hurt like hell!  I put some medication on it, and it did ease the pain. 

About an hour later, my arm felt so weird...almost like it was drunk....(my daughter got a kick out of that description).  It felt lethargic and weak and slow.  The rest of me was fine, though!

Tuesday afternoon, it still felt pretty odd and the bite area was red and sore, but otherwise fine.

This is only the third time I have ever been bit by a bee in my life.  I don't recommend it!

Preparedness

Hurricane Irene.

We haven't had to prepare for something like this in a while....sure we have had our share of blizzards, but hurricanes are few and far between, especially direct hits!

People who had parties scheduled for Sunday have cancelled.  I waited in gas lines three and four deep at 6:50 this morning for gas (usually at that time of the morning, it's me and the attendent!).  All five cars will be filled with gas by the end of the day today (yes, we have five cars for five drivers in this family...) Hubby is getting an extra propane tank today and more water.  Then we will fill up all vessels with water....just in case.  Irene is NOT Katrina.  But we are battening down the hatches just in case.

Saturday will be spent putting away lawn furniture and umbrellas and anything that isn't tied down.  We are about ten miles inland, I would guess, and live on top of a hill.   Extra batteries for the radio have been bought and I already had batteries for the flashlights and a ton of candles.  I have been told as long as the door stays shut, the food in the freezer will last three days!  We have a full cold cellar already, so food is not an issue.

Here's hoping that I don't need ANY of these things!

I'm mostly worried about wind damage and extended power outages.  

C'mon Irene.....

CSA #13 for 2011

Full Share:


6 ears of corn
3 lbs of cucumbers
3 large eggplants
1 lb small eggplant
2 fennel bulbs
2 lbs potatoes
1 lb beans
4 sweet peppers
4 hot peppers
2 bunches of kale
4 large tomatoes
1 lb squash and zucchini

This is a good week!  I will use everything up quickly.........
My sister is getting the corn and I think we will split the rest.
My mom gave me more eggplant, so I need to fry those up this weekend.  I should have enough for 2-1/2 trays of eggplant parm.  I think I'll give the kale to my niece this week - she's on a kale kick. 

I also bought an extra box of tomatoes from my CSA farm.  BIL and I are making Salsa and hot pepper relish.  Pictures will be forthcoming!

My dad used to make marinated eggplant - I loved it, but unfortunately, he passed and we don't have the recipe.  I looked for a recipe on line, but if anyone has a recipe that is made with capers, olives, onions and eggplant (that is cut into strips and pressed with salt) and maybe some roasted red peppers and gets put into canning jars, let me know, please!!!  I found one recipe, but all it has is the eggplant (no other veggies), so I will improvise.....

Blogging Vacation

I have been extremely busy this weekend and life can get a little hectic....A birthday party, a graduation party and a wedding this weekend....not to mention, more canned salsa, a chocolate zucchini cake (that my daughter took out of the oven too early and I couldn't serve), Zumba, work at the church, etc....

So since I don't think I've ever taken a blogging vacation, I'm taking one this week.

I'll be back on Friday with the CSA update and pictures and a canning night that I am having on Thursday....

Have a beautiful week and I hope your weather is as good as ours is supposed to be!

CSA Week #12

Full Share: 2 lbs of cucumbers (slicing and kirby) 8 large tomatoes 1 pint yellow grape tomatoes 3 large eggplant & 6 asian eggplant 4 sweet peppers & 4 hot peppers 1 lb purslane 1 small cabbage 1 lb beets without tops 1 bunch of swiss chard or kale I think we will end up splitting this box right down the middle.  The only thing I want is the beets, because it is time to make a cake!  I will probably can a little more salsa if I can find some time this weekend.   Updated to add:  I found some time....Hubby was supposed to have the day off with me, but he got called in, so I have the whole day to cook.,,,What's first???

It's Official....

...I am old! (or I am feeling very old)

I just ordered bi-focals!

 

photo credit

UGH!
(I was supposed to get them last year, but I couldn't mentally do it! Hah!)

The Weekend in Review/Raspberry Cobbler

I feel like I got a lot accomplished this weekend.

Friday night, I made some salsa.  My son, Dominic tasted it and loved it!  And I knew right then and there I was in trouble!  I had one jalapeno from the CSA and I threw it in and boy is it hot!  So hot, that I can't eat it.  I will be giving it away (here it comes, Uncle Loni and Uncle Joe)  and saving one or two for my son.  I couldn't feel my lip for about 20 minutes!

The next batch will be sans jalapenos.

Saturday, I taught Zumba, then worked at the church, then came home to clean the house (Eva - you would have been mortified)  and cook up some of the veggies from the CSA.  I cleaned and pre cooked the purslane.  There wasn't too much so I decided to add it to my large bag of veggies for the next stir fry sometime next week.  I had two large eggplant, so I egged and floured and fried those up.  Then I froze them so I'll be ready for eggplant parm.  whenever I get the craving!   My brother was foraging again and got me another chicken in the woods mushroom, so I fried that up with onion and froze it for another future steak!  Saturday was a dinner at the church and then to a friend's house to catch up on some girl talk!!

Sunday, I was lucky enough to have Cassidy (one of the trips) and Nonni for parts of the day.  I cooked a nice dinner....Chicken from my farm, roast potatoes, salad and corn on the cob from the CSA.  What is more priceless than having a 3 year old and a 99 year old at the Sunday dinner table.  Very funny table conversation!!  After grocery shopping in the late afternoon, I decided to do something with some of the 7 quarts of raspberries and blackberries that I still have in the freezer!  Last week, I made blackberry muffins which were just okay (actually not very good at all!).  I found this recipe that looked incredibly easy.  Raspberry cobbler!  It took about five minutes to put together and about 35 minutes to cook and it was amazing!  I added whipped cream and I honestly can't believe how delish it was!

Since I only used two cups of raspberries for this, please let me know if anyone needs some raspberries!!

Sundays with Nonni

It has been a year this month, that my hubby's 98 (at the time) year old grandmother fell down the cellar stairs.  I didn't have a lot of expectation that she would get out of Yale, and then get out of the nursing/rehab home and then back home.....but lo and behold, this woman is a fighter!

She was not able to move back into her own apartment, but she moved back home with my mother-in-law and we are all (there are a lot of us) still coming to help out on different days at different times.  We (hubby and I) have Tuesdays and Thursday evenings and Sundays.

She has gained 15 lbs. since she has come home and she doesn't even fit into her clothes anymore.  She is healthy, but she still has a little trouble getting around and she uses a walker and doesn't obviously go too far.  She has great long term memory, but the short term memory isn't as good as it was before the fall.

Sunday was always my day with her to take her to church and spend the day.....and we have been doing that again for a while (something I thought we would never do again!).  We attend 11:30 mass, go to the cemetery, come home, eat Sunday dinner around one and then she watches the Yankee game with my hubby or we go outside to enjoy the day for the while.  I love Sundays with Nonni and I am so grateful that we are able to do it again.  Here's hoping to a big 100th birthday celebration in December.

Flatts Fest

We attended Flatts Fest the other night.  Rascal Flatts....with Sara Evans, Easton Corbin and Justin Moore.

Great show!  I really liked Justin Moore!  Rascal Flatts didn't play as long as I thought they would or as many songs as I thought they would, but they did choose the best songs to sing:

Summer Nights
Bless the Broken Road
Stand
Unstoppable
My Wish
Easy - My new favorite song.
Life is a highway
What hurts the most
Fast cars and freedom
Take me there.... and many more.

(They didn't play I Melt - which is my favorite - maybe they played it in the encore - if anyone knows, please let me know).

We bought seats (real seats) as opposed to the lawn seats where you just bring a blanket and sit on the lawn (mostly kids up there!)  It was actually a beautiful day/night for sitting on the lawn watching a concert.

We were lucky enough to leave the concert just as Rascal Flatts ended their last song and before the encore.  We got to the car and maneuvered through a swarm of people and got on the highway.  Other friends of ours were still stuck in the parking lots over an hour later.  Comcast Theatre really needs to re-work their logistics.  It was hell.  My daughter was with my sister in her car and we (in my car - 50 minute drive) were home already and she was still in the parking lot.

Many friends of mine were there and we also knew a ton of other people there. I actually went with the hubby and my brother and his wife and their two kids.

The pre show in the parking lot was a freak show.  Suffice it to say, we spent almost three hours tailgating and people watching in a parking lot.   Some of it was hysterical, some not so hysterical, some sad and some of it made me mad.  Who brings a stripper pole to a concert??  Tell me!  (There are some crazy stories in those parking lots.)

I used to go to concerts all the time...sometimes once a month.  Needless to say, I haven't been in years and now you know why! :)

I won't be going again any time soon, but I'm glad my daughter got to see what goes on and what NOT to do at  a concert.  A priceless experience.

 My brother and his family

 Me, hubby and his sister

 Hubby and I

 The girls and their moms - Six moms and their daughters (one mom was missing - my sister!)

 My daughter and my son's girlfriend.

 My daughter and my sister in law

 All the coaches for this years Pee Wee squad cheer.

 My sister in law and her daughters.

 Hubby, me, my brother and nieces.

 Sitting in our seats (finally), you can see the lawn in the background.

 We were in the back, but we didn't care - we had end seats and lots of space in front of us. 

These are our views below. 

CSA Week #11

Halfway through with the CSA for this year....wow, time flies.

Full Share:


6 ears of sweet corn
3 lbs of yellow squash and zucchini
2 lbs of cucumbers (slicing and kirby)
8 large tomatoes
1 pint yellow grape tomatoes
3 large eggplant & 6 asian eggplant
2 lbs of red potatoes
4 sweet peppers & 4 hot peppers
1 lb purslane

I see salsa on the horizon!!!  Last year's batch came out so good and I have run out of it!  So, that will be my next canning project!

Bronx Zoo

My husband and I took a vacation day off together yesterday (not something we usually do), but he had been wanting to see the Bronx Zoo and my sister wanted to bring the triplets (trips) so we all went together for the day.

First of all, let me say that the Bronx Zoo is huge.  We could not do it all in one day and we did try!  There is a  lot of walking involved and a lot is uphill!  We missed some stuff at the top of the hill (Madagascar and the Bird Aviary).  But we (and the trips) had a great day!  It was about 88 degrees, but since we were mostly in the shade, it was all good.   The ride there wasn't bad at all.  But on the ride home, we hit a ton of traffic and it took over two hours.

They really have a lot of animals and for the most part it seems they are all well kept and well fed.  But if animals could be sad, most of these were extremely sad.  They did not want to be in a zoo and I felt sorry for some of them.....

 Long Haired gorillas bathing and drinking.

 The giraffes.  Always my favorite, since the last time I went with my son and sister and niece 15 years ago.   They are so graceful and we never made it to the Giraffe house either :(

 Wolf monkey - I wish this was clearer - the colors on him were just beautiful!

 This picture was taken in the congo.  My niece was standing by the glass and one gorilla came over to her and stood right in front of her to sort of give her a hug-it was pretty remarkable.  Everyone was in awe!

 This must have been the daddy gorilla - very stern, very intent on the people watching him.  He was one of the saddest.

 The trips on the bug carousel.  I rode it and felt myself getting sick (how pathetic am I).

 These were in the butterfly garden/house.  

 The tigers were surprisingly very active.  Pacing and roaring and watching.  Another animal that did not want to be in captivity.  

 My sister and brother in law and the trips in the nest in the children's zoo.  They seemed to have a lot of fun here.  Below, they were in the prairie dog pen and had a ball!

 These are Mongolian Horses, taken from the Monorail ride (which was a great ride if you ever get there!)  They are rare and beautiful.  (sorry the picture isn't great, I was taking it from above on a moving monorail.

The elephants.  The only place they are is on the monorail ride.  They were huge, yet they were still young.  

Running Again....

I made a promise to myself that I would start running again when my Zumba class was finished (I'm still so sad it is finished!).  I started running yesterday and ran today also.  I ran the whole time (a 5K) (no walking), but my time is not good.  I have almost four weeks to get my act together and get a better time posted.  I'm going to shoot for between 27 and 28 minutes in the race on Labor Day. 

Now that I actually wrote down this goal and POSTED it here, I have to achieve it!  (sort of)

Wish me luck!

Zucchini Fritters

I have been meaning to make these zucchini fritters for weeks now and I just couldn't find the time, but this weekend, I was able to make two batches!  And I found out how easy they are to make!

The recipe is from Food and Wine, August 2011 by Mario Batali given to me by my friend Catie (who loves to cook!).

We ate the first batch, which was delicious.  One batch went into the freezer to take as a app to a party that I am going to.

The fritters are different then what you might expect....they are actually creamy in the middle from the ricotta, but delicious and so very easy to make!  Make sure you squeeze some lemon on them!!

 This is the batter.

 The first batch being fried.

Almost done!

Italian Potato Salad

This recipe is very easy.  I like it so much better than the Americanized version with mayo.  I have eaten it warm, but it is better cold.  Serve it as a side dish at a barbeque.

Italian Potato Salad

Ingredients

5 lbs potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-1-/2 inch pieces
Garlic, Four tablespoons of minced garlic - I use more (but then, I'm Italian and love garlic!)
Parsley - Fresh if you have it - Two tablespoons
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil
White vinegar

Method:

Boil the potatoes until firm but easily forked (not like a mashed potato boiled potato)
Drain and cool.  I usually put mine in a covered container in the fridge for an hour or two.

Add garlic, Parsley, salt and pepper  and oil and vinegar and mix up gently.  Refrigerate again and you are ready to use it.

Please note that the oil and vinegar like to be mixed up into the potato salad frequently as the flavors really meld better.  Feel free to mix up once an hour before serving. I would use as much oil and vinegar as you would if you were making a tossed salad.  The potatoes tend to be like pasta and absorb the oil and vinegar into the potatoes.  I have used homemade red wine vinegar also and it adds a really nice flavor.  I have never tried red wine vinegar from a store, though.

An adventure in dog ownership (that I hope never gets repeated)

Last night I got home from watching Nonni about 10:00.  I was exhausted by that time, but I took a shower and we (hubby, daughter and myself) sat down and watched the rest of the Yankee Game.   My son came in at 11:45 and we talked for a few minutes and by then I couldn't keep my eyes open.  About 15 minutes later, I hear my hubby screaming (literally screaming) for the dog outside.  There was a skunk....and Cyrus being the puppy that he is, thought it was his toy!!

So....we all piled out of bed and tried to figure out what to do next (except my daughter - she slept through the whole thing).  I got on line because I knew there was something other than tomato juice that you are supposed to use.  (We had used tomato juice on my mom's dog once and it worked to some degree, but it was messy).  All websites said the combination of Hydrogen Peroxide, baking soda and Dawn Detergent did the trick, so as hubby took off to the CVS a few miles away, I started a large stock pot full of hot water on the stove and brought up our big bins that we store in the cold room.  You need old towels, and garbage bags (large) for this disaster.  I could smell it in the house, even though the dog never got in the house, but he got as close as the back slider, so I started cooking white vinegar in one pan and cinnamon sticks in another pan on the stove (another internet site said that would work to keep the smell at bay).  Cyrus stayed outside and you could tell he was upset.  When hubby got home, I mixed up the quart of hydrogen peroxide, 1/2 box of baking soda and dawn - about 1/4 cup in a large bowl and got it all sudsy.  Then we put on the garbage bags as ponchos, face masks (that hubby had gotten at the store), hats and gloves.  Tom held down the dog and I had to do all the sudsing (is that a word?).  He had only got it in his face and front chest and paws, so we basically only did the front of him.  Once he got all the mixture on him, we let it sit for about 10 minutes and then rinsed him off with the big bins of water.  He would have been much too cold if we just hosed him off.  We had to do this procedure twice.  It took about an hour and 1/2.  For the second procedure, I could take off the mask as the smell really had dissipated a lot.   I think we were lucky that he didn't get a fully direct hit (or two hits).  He is a long haired double coated German Shepherd so trying to get him washed was not easy.  We made it to bed about 2:00.

But since we still wouldn't let the dog in, we took his crate outside and put him in it and left the slider screen open.  Cyrus has never stayed out all night and he likes to bark, so I  made a bed for the hubby right next to the slider screen on the kitchen floor and hubby slept there all night.   This was definitely not a side of dog ownership that I like (there aren't many sides I like :)

So that is my new recipe for today.  I hope none of you ever have to try it!!

 I hope you were doing something much more fun at 1:00 this morning!!!


(Hey Elynor - this was worse than pouring the hydrogen peroxide down the old Sirius' throat)  

CSA Week #10

Here is the list for this week:

Full Share: 6 ears of sweet corn 2 lbs of red potatoes 2 sweet peppers 3 lbs of yellow squash and zucchini 3 lbs of cucumbers (slicing and kirby) 1 bunch beets 1 pint yellow grape tomatoes 2 large tomatoes 1 large eggplant; 2 asian eggplant 1 small cabbage I made a divine eggplant/squash parm this past week.  It was a huge tray and it was gone in literally 24 hours.  I also made a zucchini quiche and I grated two huge zucchinis (it took me a very long time) for the freezer for future use.  And I still have 1-1/2 zucchini and a delicata squash (from my garden) to use. I still have kale from last week which I need to use and since there is no kale this week (YEAH!), I'll enjoy it!  I get the corn this week and I'm looking forward to it! I finally used all the potatoes and made an Italian potato salad.  Recipe to come this week. ETA: No corn this week....we got an e-mail from the farm telling us that Friday's shares would not have enough - there was a problem with it...so instead we are getting more tomatoes and eggplant.

Garden update

The hail really ruined the squash and pumpkin plants - the leaves are full of holes and the plants themselves were just pulverized.  The herbs never really took off this year.  I'm not sure why, because last year they did so well.  The tomatoes are coming in good and surprise, surprise so are the cucumbers.  (I haven't been able to grow a cucumber in years!)  The pea plants were beautiful, but they really never produced.  I won't know about the potatoes for another month, but I'm hoping!   I am relying a lot on the CSA this year.  CSA for this week will be posted tomorrow!

At least I still get my four eggs a day from my beautiful ladies!

School Days....

I know it is CRAZY to think about it, but my daughter starts school in 22 days!!! (yes, 1-1/2 weeks BEFORE Labor Day!)

I have already got her new uniforms and all her books (except one).  She gets her own notebooks/pens, etc (I never seem to get the ones that she wants!)  We got her new shoes this weekend!

She had her senior class portraits taken already too!  She is heading to high school cheer camp this month at the local college and she has started to coach the Pop Warner cheer squad. 

Summer is just flying by and I wish I could stop it!  But I can't, so I'm going to make the most of enjoying her senior year of high school.....it's so sad, though!!!

(next year at this time, I'll be buying all her college supplies) Oh dear!!!

Hail (Mary)

In 31 years of driving, I have never driven through a hail storm until last night - it was the most crazy, scary thing that I have done in a long time.  (I said a few Hail Mary's in the car)  I had to get home and since I had stayed at Zumba for an extra 15 minutes (because I couldn't get out the door), until the hail subsided somewhat, I had to drive in it!  On the way home, in the car, the hail started again.  I felt like the windows were going to break.  And I'm sure there are a few dings in the car!

I made it into the driveway and got out and I was soaked (but the hail had stopped for a minute).  By the time, I unloaded my gear, the hail started again - faster and more furious than on the drive home.

Here are some pictures of the back yard and a short video which gives a better perspective!

 Doesn't it look like snow!

 Lots of pellets on the deck

 Pellets (dime sized) on the outside table.

 The patio floor

 Looks just like snow!

A short video

Edited to add:  I went out to the garden this morning at 6:15 - it doesn't look good at all.  broken tomato shoots, the squash leaves are full of holes and everything is just laying down.  Maybe after some sun today it will perk up, but I'm not totally optimistic.  We will see.  I wonder how my CSA will be?  I'm not sure if they had the hail in that part of Shelton.