snack time

Today in the grocery store I saw this:







I never knew bugles came in flavors. When I was a child, bugles were simply strange shaped corn chips that came in a box...a red box to be exact. And we (my sisters and I) loved them because they fit perfectly on our fingers and we would pretend we had very long fingernails.  Then my brother came along, and he'd make comments about eating his fingers and chomp down very loudly, so they became just something to eat after that. I mean, eating fingernails is a gross thing. So he killed the fun in eating them off our fingers.

But I was very surprised when I went online to get the picture to discover that there is actually FOUR flavors now - corn, nacho cheese, caramel, and chocolate peanut butter. For some reason, those last two don't sound appealing to me. I like both of those flavors, but simply cannot imagine them on corn chips. Perhaps that is why Food Lion only carries the original corn and nacho cheese - its clientele has a simple palate.

Sometimes it's nice to have a childhood throwback.

the Saturday surprise

Geese eggs take 27-30 days to hatch.

When our first hen went broody, I counted out 27 days on the calendar. I was fully expecting an egg or two of the four to hatch this coming weekend.

But I forgot one minor but important detail. Chicken eggs hatch in 21 days.

Saturday was busy with yardwork and a few errands. When I went out to gather eggs and check the feed, I suddenly stopped near the door and exclaimed to Bobby "I hear a lot of chirping!!" Imagine my surprise when I open the door and see a little fuzzball very close to the door, and another near the nesting box. I quickly closed the door so it wouldn't fall out, waited for Bobby to get closer, and we opened the door again. We saw not two, but three!  Then we realized a fourth one was hiding behind the curtain.

This the 4th time we've had a hen hatch our eggs, but the first time we've ever had a 100% hatch rate!  I know the next two months they will be prone to getting smooshed, pecked, or snatched by a hawk, but we are so pleased with how well this Momma hen is doing.  She's kept them warm, protected them from the other chickens, already had them outside the house and pen today, managed to get them back inside the pen and the house, and is breaking up corn for them in addition to the starter feed we put out for them. (We had to make an emergency run to Hudson's in Clayton Sunday - the only ag supply store open on Sunday - to get the starter feed as we were not ready for them!)  We were not expecting more chicks this year, but they're here. There's another hen who has been trying to set, but so far we've not let her have any eggs. If I can get the pen to the other coop repaired I might move her and some eggs there and let her see what she can do...maybe.

tomato pie

A month ago, a friend of mine posted a recipe on Facebook for tomato pie. I had never heard of it before. I read through the ingredient list, and was surprised to see that everything in it I either already had or could easily get. I've now made three, and might make another one tonight.

Ingredients:
4 tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 c basil
1/2 c chopped green onion
1 9" deep dish pie shell
2 c grated cheese (such as mozzarella and cheddar)
3/4 c mayonnaise
1 tsp salt
1 T minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Bake pie shell for 10 minutes. reduce heat to 350.

While crust is baking, lay tomato slices in layer on bottom of plate or collander. Sprinkle with salt. Let drain for 10-15 minutes. (I put paper towels between each layer to help absorb the moisture from tomatoes and this helped quite a bit with the runniness in the 2nd pie.)

Put tomatoes in the bottom of pie shell. In a small bowl,  mix all the remaining ingredients. Spread on top of tomatoes. (Carla's recipe called for layering tomatoes with spices and putting cheese and mayo on top, but the 2nd time I mixed it all together and it tasted just as good).

Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly brown. Cut into slices and serve warm.

trying something new

After 5 days of no phone or internet, I can finally post to my blog again!

Our chicks are all laying, and we have acquired a rooster - which means our eggs are now fertilized and hatchable. But we were quite shocked when one we hatched (Leghorn Ameracauna mix) started brooding the first of the month. (For non-chicken owners, that means a hen is gathering eggs to set/sit on for hatching.) That's quite young to be doing that. And since chickens all tend to use the same nesting area or two, not matter how many are available, that means ALL the eggs wind up under the setting hen. Unless you mark them, lift up Momma hen's bottom and pull out the unmarked ones every day WITHOUT getting your hand pecked to a blood pulp. I used a shovel once as a guard between the hen and myself, and still got at least one nasty peck.  So brooding hens are never a great thing unless you can find a way to isolate them and their eggs from the rest of the flock. And right now, that's not an option.

But years ago, I read that you could put a curtain up over the nesting box - and no other chicken would go inside to lay. I decided to give it a try.

We took an old piece of fabric (and every time I see it I wished I had trimmed it up), two push pins, and up went the curtain! And it has worked, with one exception. When the hen comes out to eat or drink, she won't go back in the box unless we notice she is out and lift the curtain up for her. So there's been twice she's started sitting/setting on fresh eggs, and we had to prod her out. Today we lifted the curtain, thinking she would go back to her eggs (she's done that before), but nope. Even after I gathered all the fresh eggs out from under her, she moved all but two from her box and stayed in the middle. So I simply moved the curtain over one and put her last two eggs at the edge of the box for her. By the time I made the next picture, she had already claimed one of them.

So if all continues to go well, we could possibly have four biddies by the end of the month. I'm not anticipating it, as there is no guarantee the eggs are fertilized. And our Momma hens have never had a very good hatching/survival rate. But I'm just so excited and amazed that the curtain works!!!

it made me laugh

Sometimes I think our world has gone absolutely crazy. 

This morning, all over the news, was the story about Macy's Department Store withdrawing some merchandise because it offended some of its shoppers. They called it "body shaming".  I call it funny, appropriate and extremely creative. The ghastly product?  A dish.



Yes. You read that correctly. A dinner plate is the cause for all the indignation and outrage. 

If you want to fit into skinny jeans (think leggings that cling to your legs and do not allow your body to breathe in any shape, form, or fashion), then keep your food in the inner circle.

Want to wear your favorite jeans?  Keep your portion size within the middle circle. But want to wear your Mom jeans (aka - 80's jeans that actually come to your waistline, are roomy in the thigh and butt area and make all high schoolers today roll their eyes)?  Fill that plate on up to the outer brim.

If it were up to me, I'd give the purchasing department of Macy's a raise, not a demand for an apology and "diversity training".  And if I find these dishes, I might buy one set for me. :) I mean, the salad plate has a line that reads "food coma".  Who but a foodie would love that phrase?

But unfortunately for me, Macy's is now aghast at the fact they would actually sell something so delightful and is pulling the products from their store shelves.

Meanwhile, the creator of the dishes (www.pourtions.net), a small mom and pop company, has found themselves inundated with orders. Sadly, they only sell to wholesalers (sellers, in other words), so I can't order directly from them.

So the person who wants to buy them in our area might be out of luck, but the company is now doing a thriving business, thanks to Macy's who broadcast their decision to pull some fun-loving dishes.

Body-shaming?  Only if you were ashamed to begin with. Macy's, I think you missed the mark on this one.

pickles

It doesn't matter what or where I plant, every year there are some things that flourish, some that produce a mere "meh" and the few plants that were an absolute waste of my time.

This year the squash/zucchini and cabbage have been a total waste. We got two very large zucchini when we came back from AL, and the vines are now dying and what veggies are on them are rotting before they mature. So frustrating!!

And the cabbages...ugh! Between the geese sticking their heads through the fence and munching away and the worms devouring the outer leaves, there's not a lot left to be desired! I went ahead and pulled 2 small heads yesterday. And by small, I mean the size of my fist.  I knew if I didn't there would be nothing left.

The corn, which I've never had a lot of success with, actually did okay this year. The French green beans, tomatoes, and zipper peas are doing okay, though the butterbeans and pole beans are just now beginning to flower, so who knows if I will get anything or not.

But the four cucumber seeds I planted. Oh my!  I normally don't plant cucumber because Bobby doesn't like them , except in pickle form, and this was the first year we actually needed pickles.

Left to Right: Pickles started today; pickles ready for spices and cutting; pickles already cut with spices

Mom's 10 Day Pickles

Ingredients:
1 gallon jar
10 medium cucumbers
7 c sugar
1 qt vinegar (5% acidity)
5 T salt
2 T pickled spices
2 tsp celery seed
1 square of cheese cloth

Directions:
Wash cucumbers. Place in a gallon jar. Cover with boiling water and leave for 24 hours. For the first 5 days, drain the water every 24 hrs and replace with fresh boiling water.

On Day 6, drain water. Slice cucumbers. Place pickle spices and celery seed in the cheese cloth bag. Tie. In a large pan, boil the sugar and vinegar. Once boiling, toss in the spice bag and leave for a little bit. Pour everything over the sliced cucumbers.

Days 7-9, pour the syrup out of the jar (but not the cucumbers) into the pan. Bring to a boil and pour back over the cucumbers.

On Day 10, drain the syrup into a pot. Pack cucumbers into canning jars and prepare lids. Bring syrup to a boil. Toss the spice bag. Pour syrup over cucumbers. Seal and process.


Once the jar I started today is done, I'm thinking my pickling for the summer will be over. Any remaining cucumbers will have to find a different home. Enough is enough!

in search of balance

Several weeks ago the theme of the Jr Church lesson was Philippians 4:6:

 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

and I've been rehashing that in my mind ever since.

We had two separate blocks of days this month when we could go to Alabama. A large part of me wanted to go the week of the 4th as my siblings and nephew would all have a day or more off that week. The other part of me knew the garden stuff here would start to really produce that week. Then the week before Mom had a severe lupus flair-up and Bobby had some "minor"  health concerns, so I was not at peace about going. We finally decided to go ahead and go, so I was trying to get the grass cut and everything done before we left. And of course the belt on the lawn mower broke. Thankfully we were able to call and schedule a pick-up for the next day, and my brother-in-law brought his machine over AND mowed for me. I'm very glad we went. Though Mom is by no means well, she was and is much better, and Dad outpaced me in his and Andy's garden to the point it was almost embarrassing. Smith Lake no longer has their fireworks at the dam, which were somewhat visible from Mom and Dad's house, but some neighbors did have some incredible ones to watch. While we worked hard, we also had some good times of just being together. I'm cognizant now more than ever that each in person goodbye could possibly be our last.

We came home Saturday night, and discovered someone went in our garden while we were gone...and left the gate open when they left. So the geese ate a good chunk of the cabbage leaves, the chickens ate five of my green bean plants and about 15-20 small to medium-size tomatoes. I was not a happy camper, at all, and was struggling to be thankful that we still had an amazing amount of produce and there wasn't more damage done. (The last time the chickens got in my garden I lost half of my green bean plants, some of my corn stalks as well as a few okra stalks, in addition to half of my tomatoes.)

Sunday morning, I'm struggling from a week of constantly interrupted sleep and long travel days. In the midst of getting Bobby ready, I realize my side of the waterbed is leaking. We made it to church, even though it was late, and headed to North Raleigh after lunch to order replacement parts. They should be in Friday or Saturday. So I'm thankful we have a spare bed I can sleep in until the parts are in, and I'm VERY thankful it happened when were home and caught it at the very beginning, and NOT after it had shorted the bed's heater system or flooded onto the wood floors. But I have to admit that Sunday morning I was alternating between trying to stay awake and pondering how much time and money all these repairs were going to cost.

And today...Wake Radiology, who has never had a problem in the last 20 years with either assisting me in getting Bobby on an xray table or else had a table that could lower to the height of his wheelchair, suddenly announces that their "new" table, which is 5-6 inches higher than his chair, is a hazard. They can no longer assist me in transferring him because their insurance will not allow it. It could injure the workers or Bobby to do so. I SOOO badly wanted to go ugly on her and inform her that what she was telling me was illegal and violated the American Disabilities Act. I wanted to cry, and ask her if it was her child or her mother needing a health screening, would she shrug it off because it was an inconvenience. They called the dr, and he told them he could get enough information from a different procedure. On the flip side, for the first time in 15 years, we are now back to yearly check-ups!!! After all the cancer procedures 15 years ago, we were excited when we made it to the bi-yearly check-ups, but before we could go back to yearly the kidney stone problems started and we have been stuck at bi-yearly or more for the last 10+years. To finally be back at yearly is so huge, especially in light of the fact he passed a small stone two weeks ago.

Tomorrow we receive our information for the municipal elections this fall. I'm so not ready for this, even though a small part of me will be glad to have a little bit of time working again. But I also know from past experience that once this begins, the remainder of the year will become a busy blur. And I'm not quite ready for that.

I don't know what the rest of this week holds, but I hope we can keep seeking the positive and finding an attitude of thanksgiving, regardless of what obstacles life or people may throw in our direction.