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~ Sunday, November 2, 2008 ~
~ Pumpkin Pie Again ~

Well, a slow day Saturday so lets get at it... I had that pumpkin puree in the fridge from cooking down the pumpkin they gave me at Carving Night... But I needed a few other items at the Price Chopper to make a pie... Some ground cloves, evaporated milk, couple of frozen pie crusts... (I cheated on this one)... and Cool whip for topping..Back at the ranch and whipped up a pie acording to the Libby's Recipe... And had a piece after dinner last night... Can't say this was the best I have made, but pretty good... Those field pumpkins aren't as good for pies as the special canned Libby's pumpkin... But did fine for the price...


Then with that of the oven for cooling I started on the cornbread... Doubled the recipe as I wanted to use my new 11 inch cast iron skillet to bake it in... I melted some lard to use in the corn bread and then some in the skillet to preheat in the oven... Using cast iron and preheating before adding the batter makes for a nice crust... And I can say this was much better than the cornbread I have been making lately... Went fine with butter, and smoked chicken, who;e grain buttered corsn and greens with ham and onions... Yeah!...

~ AND HOW SWEET IT IS! ~


~ Friday, October 31, 2008 ~
~ Ghost Story Night ~ Parkville Nature Sanctuary ~


Well a good day to add the Ghost Story Night Video... It is Halloween... But this Event happened last Saturday and a good time was had by all, and it was a nice turn-out... Despite the vandalism of about 90 carved pumpkins the night before... The 30 or left were spread thinly along the trail and though sparse, did serve the purpose... The perpetrators were identified and prosecution is being considered... But it did not dampen the enjoyment of the participants...

~ AND HOW SPOOKY IT WAS! ~


~ Monday, October 25, 2008 ~
~ Green Tomato Relish ~

Well it was relish day and it turned out just fine... I ground up most of the green tomatoes, then drained them... Them 3 red sweet peppers and 2 green ones, then a lot of sweet onions... Meanwhile simmering a syrup of sugar and vinegar and pickling spice... Into the Hot Pot with all the veggies and then simmer awhile, let cool and into 4 twenty ounce containers to store away, will have relish until springtime now... That's 5 pints or for the people fascinated by metrics.. two and a half liters...

~ AND HOW SWEET IT IS! ~


~ Saturday, October 27, 2008 ~
~ TAMALES!!! ~

Busy day again... All week just about... And every time I finish with that tamale making I am thinking why go to all that trouble? Well, you can't buy them like that... But these weren't my best... but good... And I had the right amount of masa made up and just enough corn husks soaked and ready.. and my new Hot Pot did a fine job of steaming them it looks like... Then two for dinner with chili and 15 in freezer bags and put away...

Then down to the Pumpkin Carving again to get pics of the people not there the night before and a pic of the trailer full of pumpkins for tonight... And the Assistant Director of the Sanctuary gave me a nice sized pumpkin to make some pies... Another project now waiting...



Now today... Relish Day! I think I have everything I need to process all those green tomatoes, peppers and onions into relish... That will take awhile... And then it will be Ghost Story Night in the Sanctuary and then a video to finish up tomorrow... And then what? Busy, Busy, Busy!


~ Friday, October 24, 2008 ~
~ TOMATO FINALE!! ~
Well... First, I went to the Sanctuary Pumpkin Carving last night and all went well, though it was trying to rain on their parade... But they had tents set up andmade headway into a pile of pumpkins and I got some good video.. Will go back tonight to get a few finishing scenes and a total pic of the pumpkins

BUT then... Yesterday my neighbor BJ called to say that my tomatoes all fell over..NOW WHAT!? Well, all the tomatoes were on the front of the trellis and already had been leaning precipitiously with the weight of ever enlarging tomatoes..and only a week til a forecast freeze anyway...

So after my morning routine I went out to clip the vines and pick all the surviving tomatoes.. All sizes and a total of 60... And a few will continue to ripen on the table... The rest will be ground up in my food processor along with some peppers and onions and made into green tomato relish, a project maybe for tomorrow...

As for today, I just finished up my tamales and they are steaming away in my Hot Pot now... And I can smell something good that smells like a Mexican restaurant in here.....

~ Oh Yes, How Sweet it IS and will Continue to Be! ~



~ Tomato Finale! ~


~ Thursday, October 23, 2008 ~
~ TAMALES! ~
OK... Not yet, that is a 5 pound hunk of pork shoulder that I got on super sale at the Price Chopper... So many times I get an idea for a dish and then the Price Chopper has that item on sale... I love my Price Chopper store...

Well they only had two very large roasts on the shelf... about 7 pounds, a bit too much... I asked the lady if she had a smaller one and she brought out a 5 pounder... Well, that would do but would it fit in my Hot Pot? Yeah it did, but just barely... Added a bit of peanut oil to the pot and cranked it up to about 350 to brown on all sides.. then with a couple cups of chicken stock to simmer a couple hours... Well it took longer than that to get it to shredding consistency...

Meantime chopped up a BIG onion and some garlic and jalapeno... Then popped out the meat and pulled out the bone, any visible fat and then shredded it all up... then back in the pot to add to the sauteed onions and peppers... and add chili powder, oregano and cumin.. salt and pepper of course...

But by then it was getting late and as tamales take some time to assemble and steam, I put it all away for the night in the fridge.. Now that might be today's project to finish them up...

But other things on the agenda... Need to check if my HDMI to DVI cable is in the mail... Then to the Price Chopper to get another can of beef stock for the tamales... Then to Kick's 66 to trade in a $5 winner Bingo for a better one... Already cashed in a $20 winner Bingo and a $10 winner Crossword scratcher yesterdsy, that paid for the pig and some to spare...

And then... if we get some sun, I want to do a retake of the Sanctuary from the top of the Dam and change the intro to my latest video... And then.. tonight is the first night of the pumpkin carving for tha Ghost Story Night.. and I want to get video of that... So.. perhaps a busy day ahead...

~ Oh Yes, How Sweet it Will Be! ~