Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Cream Cheese ~ Dirt, a Dyson, and a Tomato ~ Hubby Funny

Here is another coffee cup.  Again, from a trip.  I'll make this story short.  This cup is special.  Java Jo's is now longer Java Jo's (although there are still other locations in the US).  It's been changed into a new coffee house with a new name.  Way back in the day, Mom and I took a trip and we stopped in for coffee.  Year's prior to that trip, Java Jo's had a fire, but rebuilt.  When the rebuilt, it changed.  The original was so fun and original.  I miss the old Java Jo's.  I just remember the old look, and the real feel of a coffee house.


It was another long day in the kitchen yesterday, and today may be as well.  First, I need to make a trip to the garden to pick tomatoes, and whatever else needs picked.  Which now reminds me I have a cabbage that needs eaten for dinner.  Phooey, I don't think I have any bacon in the freezer either.  Hm.  What to do, what to do.  I had planned on making fried cabbage (simply because I have never made it, or tasted it).  I do have potatoes and sausage.  Hm. Anyway...





I made another batch of homemade goat's milk cream cheese. This is how I drain mine.  I don't have hardware on my kitchen cupboards (another job unfinished), so I tie the cheesecloth to a long wooden spoon and sit out over the top of a large pot.  I secure the cloth with a few wooden clothespins just to make sure it doesn't slip free.  


Dirt, A Dyson, and a Tomato . . .

In haste yesterday, as I was zip-zapping around the kitchen, I grabbed the Dyson to make a quick clean up.  First, let me tell you that I have my tomatoes all over the kitchen tables, an extra card table, and on windowsills.  When the vegetables come inside, so does the dirt.  I put them all in a single layer to prevent bruising, vs. in bowls and baskets (until I can preserve them).

So, there I was sucking up the dirt where my onions had been sitting, and being so careful to not suck up anything else.  I moved over to a table with tomatoes.

Not all paste tomatoes ripen at the same size.  I think you can figure out what happened next.  Ha ha!  I was trying to be so careful.  

SLURP!  

I frantically turned off the sweeper and tapped the hose onto the floor.

Mr. Dyson spit out the tomato without a scratch on it.  Phew.  Tomato saved. 

Hubby funny ~ 

Hubby and I were signing the sky high pile of school papers for the girls.  Over the years I signed them all. Not this year.  I put the man to work with a pen.  He was still signing papers for our 15 year-old when she shared a story.

"You know Dad?" she began, "last year I was called to the front of my class.  The teacher pushed my field trip permission slip towards me and asked if my Dad really signed it himself."

"Are you kidding me?" I laughed.

"Nope," she added "and the teacher wasn't laughing either, but I was."


3 comments:

Michelle said...

We had an old neighborhood restaurant that I loved going to. They did the same thing. With the new updates it lost it's charm.I know about tomatoes, I have so many .

Susan said...

Love the Hubby story! He should have been a doctor... I have tomatoes all over the place, too. When I put them in a basket, I forget to move them around and the bottom ones always go bad. Do you just make a soft goat cheese and then drain it? I am trying to find ways to use my Jersey milk for a fast cheese. I do ricotta, but it does come out grainy.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Susan, I use a recipe I found online (http://wonderlandkitchen.com/2013/04/better-than-a-silver-packet-diy-cream-cheese/) and I use goat's milk. I let my milk sit for cream to rise, then pour out my 2 cups off the top, getting as much cream as I can. It does take a day of sitting then 10 hours of draining. It is very good though.