This and That

I had so much mundane tasks to do Monday, the onions never made their way to the dehydrator.

 Tuesday they finally got into the dehydrator.  

My yarn totes are made their way back to my bedroom closet sadly.  They were headed upstairs until one daughter moved back in last March.  I can't live with my office full of totes, so I'm making room (again) back in the closet. Then I can use my office once again.

I made 3 new recipes.  We loved the rosemary walnuts and the Southern sausage enchiladas with sausage gravy.  We will be cutting the Kamut granola bars and tasting them today.  All recipes are online.  I am thinking of trying a new recipe for dinner tonight.  The breakfast dish I made a few changes - left the seeds in the jalapeno, and I used butter (vs the grease left from the sausage) to make the gravy.  The original photo of the breakfast dish makes it look like you have lots of ooey gravy, but you don't.  It tasted great though.

Rosemary Walnuts  -  Sara Moulton online

Southern Sausage breakfast dish - online with Spicy Southern Kitchen

Kamut granola bars - online at the Kamut direct site.

I'm slowly cleaning the fridge again.  One shelf a day.  It's been crazy lately with trying to keep things stocked up for whatever happens in this crazy year.

 

It's beginning to look a like like Christmas!

Monday was a rainy, cloudy cold day, so no coop cleaning was done.  The ladies got little time outside due to an Eagle (top of fencing is not covered due to it being a temporary location).

Now don't go throwing tomatoes on this, but this year has been just awful and now that the kids are older, there are no Halloween teen parties (wouldn't do them this year anyway).  Two totes of Halloween decor and costumes are going to our grand kids.  They will have a blast going through all the homemade costumes my Mom made and the homemade wig I made (and tons of old jewelry, belts, wig etc).

Master bath Christmas tree is up.  Although I do miss my traditional 6 ft white one I used to have.  I plan on buying a new one next year.  The 4 foot one came with lights, so putting it up and down is super easy.  The new tree skirt has silver glitter and matches the silver tree.  I love the new Christmas shower curtain too.

My daughter (older one living here) brought me home new hand towels for the master bath too.  I just love them!

I need to tidy up the kitchen for the next decor.  First, I have to get all the sweet potatoes in the bin for winter.  I typically mash and freeze some, but my freezer is full.  Once those are off, a new tablecloth is going on it, and more fun begins.  I needed to do something other than regular 'ol chores to lift my spirits.

Oh, and I have this on the wall in the master bath too.  The lights change colors.

The bathroom is the only thing decorated at this point. I have much to do outside yet, but the rain keeps rolling in.  I have some Halloween handiwork to do yet as well.

 

Happy Homemaker Monday

Over the weekend we got in a motorcycle ride.  We had to put all of our leather on, as it was chilly, but may be the last ride we get this year.

I put together this patriotic set and it sold the same day.  The person who purchased it paid well more than asking, including shipping.  I was overwhelmed with her generosity.  I sent a separate thank you card (homemade), with a personal receipt and note and a granny square patriotic keyfob and chain.  I'm now working on another set as well as other stuff to restock. 

I now have a list of restocking to do.  That was my last homemade card of that kind and granny keyfob's which are great to tuck in as an extra.

We went to town to stock up other supplies, like chicken food.  We don't know what is going to happen, and if no shutdowns happen, at least we have more than enough for winter.  Don't forget to stock up on your oil for your oil lamps.  We now have large containers/totes to stock up cat food/dog food/etc.  I have storage bins to hold 6 bags of chicken feed as well.

Outside Christmas lights are up.  I finally got them up early prior to cold nasty weather arriving.  I'm working on the master bath Christmas decor now.  I'm trying to decide if I want to purchase a new taller tree or use the shorter one I already have.  I'm leaning more on keeping the one I have, because we don't know what will happen to the economy in the next few weeks or even months in our State.

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom today.

The weather . . .

49°/46° Windy, Rain, Cloudy.

How I am feeling this morning. . .

Good.  I actually overslept until 6:30am, but my husband had no breakfast to pack and packed his own lunch.  

On my mind . . .

Oh man.  A lot of stuff right now.  Just trying to plow through one day at a time.  My car is not done yet either.

On the breakfast plate. . .

Sweet potato/egg scramble with dandelion greens, coffee.

Right now I am . . .

Drinking a hot cup of organic coffee, finishing this up and posting.  Looking around the kitchen to decide what will go in the breakfast scramble.

On my reading pile . . .

On today's to-do list . . .

-dehydrate diced onions (stocking up)

-make a breakfast scramble for the week

-dishes

-clean master bath

-laundry

-vacuum

-not sure what else since I slept in so late (6:30am is late for me lately)

On my tv . . .

Good Witch

On the menu this week . . .

-sheet pan dinner

-breakfast for dinner, a new recipe to try

-chicken teriyaki over homemade vegetable fried rice or chicken tetrazzini

-soup beans, fried cabbage and buttermilk cornbread

(not in an particular order, and I may even change it as the week goes)

From the camera . . .

Sunrise Sunday morning before the clouds moved in and rain arrived.  

Looking around the house . . .

One kitchen table went from having tomatoes all over it to sweet potatoes.  I'll get them in the bin in a few days.

New recipe I tried last week or want to try . . .

Kamut granola bars.  Remember when I asked if you had recipes using kamut flakes?  Well I found one online.  We also want to try a new recipe for Chicken Tetrazzini.  I think I made something similar to another recipe but used cashews, but I made Rosemary walnuts.  It was on a cooking show, recommending recipes for gifting.  I won't be gifting this year, but want to try it out and put the recipe in my "Christmas" binder.  Be sure to visit my blog to see if we tried them and what we think.

To relax I will . . .

Crochet.  Maybe write (but I get sick of writing about the pandemic already and whatnot).  Maybe read for something different.

Something I want to share . . .

Nothing today.

On my prayer list . . .

My dad (he's scheduled for surgery Nov.11th),  Our state (our Governor is doing everything in is over used power to disrupt the election and to kill our economy).  His mandates and restrictions are out of control and make zero sense.  My family.  If the Governor shuts us down again, I know one that will be out of a job (again), and they are all at risk to get sick with a mask mandate, forcing healthy people to wear them all day at work, then shopping if they need to shop.  The only person I knew recently with the virus wore a mask at work full time. They all look so utterly exhausted, and one moves furniture and another climbs ladders. Our country. 

Sweet Potatoes

I went out and dug up the remaining sweet potatoes.  The results?  We got a total of 21.7# this year.  Carrots, beets and turnips are a complete loss however.  

Determining to become an egg preservation expert - Water Glassing, Freezing and Dehydrating

First, thank you all for all your help with knowledge to freeze eggs for winter.  In the process, I was able to locate a wonderful article (and thank you Debby Flowers for the emails too, very helpful) online that you all may be interested in.

The article is online at Backyard Poultry, and is titled, "Water Glassing Eggs for Long-Term Storage."  It's an excellent read.  At the bottom of the article they also share other methods, such as pickling, freezing and dehydrating and how to use them best.

Water glassing requires your eggs to be completely free of debris, which means maintaining the roosts to keep the eggs clean.  It's not always that simple in winter though.  I purchased a food grade container to do my water glassing, and a lid.  Later I was told if you call your big box store and speak to the deli, they can save you containers they get frosting in, but to be honest I don't know how big those are either.  The container I purchased is 22 qt. and food grade.  It also has handles to move it easily.  I am following the directions of the article on using a "food grade" lime as well.

I knew my ice cube trays would not be large enough to freeze the egg yolks with the whites, so I went on my handy dandy computer and with the help of Amazon, purchased larger ones that come with lids.  On Amazon it said they were BPA free, but when I got them, the label does not say that, so I'm thinking these will be going back and I'll look for different ones.  I can't find anything like this made in the USA.  

If I run out of room, which I don't expect will happen for both water glassing and freezing, I will be trying the dehydrated method.  

Stocking Up

Stocking up, winter prep, apocalypse prep - sort of all of the above. The weather turned to rain, colder temps and a frost warning. 

I filled my dehydrator with feverfew.  It did exceptionally well this year.  Some of the other herbs did not.  I was hoping for more fresh mullein, but it's not looking good.  

While I was out there, I cut all remaining tops of my zinnias and brought them in to dry good for next winter.

I made a batch of homemade elderberry syrup, and this time with rosehips in it. I will see how long it lasts with just myself and my husband (girls are terrible at a regular daily dose).  I may double it next time.

Warm Days

I took advantage of a few warm sunny days to infuse medicinal oil for homemade "Neosporin."

I was able to find organic ginger root recently, so some was grated and dehydrated, and some was put in the freezer for winter.

I put in an order for Thrift books, but one that was in my cart is no longer available.  I guess I will try for that one at a late date.

I spent a bit of time on the phone calling places.  I had to call the hardware store and tell them why we haven't been in to pick up the new shower, so they are taking note. It's already paid for, just waiting for us to pick it up.  

I decided to not can Port Wine jelly at all this year.  If you have a tried and true (and easy) recipe that used port wine, please share.  Of course we could drink it too.

The car finally (finally) was towed to our repair guy, however, the car we sold to our 21 year-old is acting up again.  Our biker friend is coming over today to replace the plugs.  Praying that's all it is.  So thankful to know people who can help.