Thursday, November 29, 2012
All Good Things....
No, I'm not leaving Blogger but I am changing my email address. Of course you won't see any differences here but if you want to contact me - my old Earthlink addy will be turned off next week. So, if you want my new one - comment below and I'll send it to you in a message. :)
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Long awaited post about the pies
I took cbpotts suggestion and strained the puree before I tried cooking with it this time.
These were our pies for Thanksgiving dinner… seems Bill didn’t wait for dinner!
I cut up the other pumpkin that was on the porch on Friday and this time I steamed the meat and cut it up for freezing. I got 5 quarts in the freezer now! Woo Hoo! I will make some of it up for Yule and will have some left for various pumpkin recipes throughout the coming year.
These were our pies for Thanksgiving dinner… seems Bill didn’t wait for dinner!
I cut up the other pumpkin that was on the porch on Friday and this time I steamed the meat and cut it up for freezing. I got 5 quarts in the freezer now! Woo Hoo! I will make some of it up for Yule and will have some left for various pumpkin recipes throughout the coming year.
Monday, November 26, 2012
I'm back....I hope
Well my primary email account is back online (its the one that this blog will update to) so hopefully I'm good to go. They are still working on my secondary acount and the kids email accounts. I have to get Bill's laptop to download pictures from the weekend as that is where they live right now. So as soon as I get them downloaded - probably tonight or tomorrw - I will get my post(s) up with pics.
Troubles
Well, I had this wonderful post all mapped out in my head but my email provider (and internet provider) has dropped some trouble in my lap. My account has been compromised according to them and they shut down all my emails! I called support this moring and they are having some issues as well and are not able to 'fix' my account at this time. I have to call back in after lunch (I'm sure that is going to take FOREVER!) so until I get that fixed I can't download any of the pics I took this week.
Hopefully later today or tomorrow I can post my update for the weekend. And in case you got some weird email from me over the weekend - it wasn't me. The last think I sent out was on Thanksgiving morning and all it said was 'Happy Thanksgiving'. So don't open anything from me until you hear that I have it all fixed. Sorry if my email has been naughty without me. :(
Hopefully later today or tomorrow I can post my update for the weekend. And in case you got some weird email from me over the weekend - it wasn't me. The last think I sent out was on Thanksgiving morning and all it said was 'Happy Thanksgiving'. So don't open anything from me until you hear that I have it all fixed. Sorry if my email has been naughty without me. :(
Monday, November 19, 2012
Pumpkin Pie
Since I had such good luck a few weeks ago with the pumpkin pie from scratch (I didn’t make the crust but I did cut up a real pie pumpkin to use) I decided to make pies for Thanksgiving with our leftover Halloween pumpkins. Now we didn’t carve our pumpkins this year – I’m not sure why my daughter insisted on them if she wasn’t intending to carve them so they were just sitting outside on the porch whole. The cool weather we have been having helped keep them from going bad so they were ripe and ready to go this afternoon.
First I washed the outside. Next I cut open the pumpkin and cleaned out the seeds and stringy stuff (put it in the compost pile – maybe we will get pumpkins next year!) Then I cut it up into smaller pieces that will fit in a pan to steam.
I steamed it for about 20 minutes. Once the meat of the pumpkin is tender and the outside shell pulls off easily it’s ready. (I did notice that with pie pumpkins the shell either pulls right off or is very easy to scrape the meat out of - jack-o-lantern pumpkins - not so much.) I placed everything in a colander to drain the excess steam out. Pull the outside shell off (or dig the tender meat out – which ever works best. It depends on the type of pumpkin you use.)
Place the meat into a blender or food processer to get to a consistency of pie filling.
You are now ready to use this pumpkin in any pie recipe you like.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation does not recommend you can pumpkin pie filling. You CAN freeze cubed pumpkin which is what I will be doing with it soon. For now I just put the chunks in a freezer bag and froze it. You really need to steam it and cut it into chunks to freeze it properly.
For more information about preserving your pumpkin see the website: http://nchfp.uga.edu/tips/fall/pump
First I washed the outside. Next I cut open the pumpkin and cleaned out the seeds and stringy stuff (put it in the compost pile – maybe we will get pumpkins next year!) Then I cut it up into smaller pieces that will fit in a pan to steam.
I steamed it for about 20 minutes. Once the meat of the pumpkin is tender and the outside shell pulls off easily it’s ready. (I did notice that with pie pumpkins the shell either pulls right off or is very easy to scrape the meat out of - jack-o-lantern pumpkins - not so much.) I placed everything in a colander to drain the excess steam out. Pull the outside shell off (or dig the tender meat out – which ever works best. It depends on the type of pumpkin you use.)
Place the meat into a blender or food processer to get to a consistency of pie filling.
You are now ready to use this pumpkin in any pie recipe you like.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation does not recommend you can pumpkin pie filling. You CAN freeze cubed pumpkin which is what I will be doing with it soon. For now I just put the chunks in a freezer bag and froze it. You really need to steam it and cut it into chunks to freeze it properly.
For more information about preserving your pumpkin see the website: http://nchfp.uga.edu/tips/fall/pump
Monday, November 12, 2012
American Heroes
PFC Thomas Baird Hodge - My son, currently stationed at Ft. Hood TX. Scheduled to be deployed August 2013
Sgt Justin Britton - Army National Guard (Bill's son) Served in Iraq 2005 - 2006
Staff Sgt Justin Tyler Voorhees - My nephew. Currently stationed at Ft. Benning Georga scheduled to be deployed in December (for his 3rd tour)
Good Bill Hunting
Ok, maybe this one was a stretch but I think you’ll see where I’m going with it… hopefully.
Last week I fired my housekeeper. Yeah, after 5 years of service he had gotten slack and I just couldn’t put up with it any longer. If I pay good money to have someone clean my house then I expect it to be clean. I don’t think he had dusted my bedroom for ages and the shelves in the living room had cobwebs on the cobwebs! So, I fired him and Bill came last Thursday to clean the house. I actually haven’t looked that closely yet (We left for the weekend when I got home from work on Thursday) so I will see how he did when I get home. Just what I could see when I walked in the door looked good though.
Erik and Miss Meghan came down this weekend for the first weekend of hunting. Last year Miss Meghan sat in the tree stand with Erik for a total of 15 minutes before he got his deer. This year – well, it’s Monday morning and they are sitting out in the woods one more day. Yesterday they sat out until it started to rain. They both came walking up from the tree stand to the shop in the rain. I didn’t’ think to get pictures of them in full camo but I did take some pics of them cleaning the rifle and Erik showing Miss Meghan a few pointers on gun etiquette.
It was such a beautiful day on Saturday I was disappointed that I couldn’t go out in my woods for a walk but with all the hunters in the area and Erik out there trying to get a deer – well, I settled for sitting out on the porch with a book. But the weather has turned cold today – it was 29 degrees this morning when I went out to the truck to come to work. Brrrrrr!
Maybe Bill will be able to get out in the woods this week and get a deer to replenish the venison in our freezer (we hunt for the meat not for a trophy). I know last year he passed up a big buck looking for a more tender younger animal but this year he said if it has a white tail – he’s gonna shoot it! LOL
Last week I fired my housekeeper. Yeah, after 5 years of service he had gotten slack and I just couldn’t put up with it any longer. If I pay good money to have someone clean my house then I expect it to be clean. I don’t think he had dusted my bedroom for ages and the shelves in the living room had cobwebs on the cobwebs! So, I fired him and Bill came last Thursday to clean the house. I actually haven’t looked that closely yet (We left for the weekend when I got home from work on Thursday) so I will see how he did when I get home. Just what I could see when I walked in the door looked good though.
Erik and Miss Meghan came down this weekend for the first weekend of hunting. Last year Miss Meghan sat in the tree stand with Erik for a total of 15 minutes before he got his deer. This year – well, it’s Monday morning and they are sitting out in the woods one more day. Yesterday they sat out until it started to rain. They both came walking up from the tree stand to the shop in the rain. I didn’t’ think to get pictures of them in full camo but I did take some pics of them cleaning the rifle and Erik showing Miss Meghan a few pointers on gun etiquette.
It was such a beautiful day on Saturday I was disappointed that I couldn’t go out in my woods for a walk but with all the hunters in the area and Erik out there trying to get a deer – well, I settled for sitting out on the porch with a book. But the weather has turned cold today – it was 29 degrees this morning when I went out to the truck to come to work. Brrrrrr!
Maybe Bill will be able to get out in the woods this week and get a deer to replenish the venison in our freezer (we hunt for the meat not for a trophy). I know last year he passed up a big buck looking for a more tender younger animal but this year he said if it has a white tail – he’s gonna shoot it! LOL
Monday, November 5, 2012
Maverick's sanded trip to Caladonia
Well, Ok this title isn’t nearly as cute as last weeks but hey – this is what I had to work with. LOL
I got pictures of the floor now that Bill has the second floor sanded. Next step is staining and sealing then walls! We also got the heat tape on the water lines under the shop so that they won’t freeze this winter. He is hoping to get the toilet in sometime soon but I’m not sure that is going to happen this week. Too bad because next weekend is hunting season and Erik and Miss Meghan will be coming down so Erik can hunt – we were hoping to stay in the upstairs but not without a toilet – it’s one thing to go outside in the middle of the night to pee in the summer time but I don’t think I want to now that night time temps are in the 30s!
This is looking at what will be the kitchen - the fan on the left is sitting in what will be a HUGE pantry!
This is the view looking toward the stairs coming up from the shop below.
Closeup before the staining and the sealer - I love this! It's all utility grade
unfinished flooring - several different varieties of wood.
This is standing at the top of the stairs looking back toward what will be the bathroom on the left
(where all the stuff is piled up - this will get tile) and the bedrooms in the back.
We took a trip over to Perryville to the farm store over there so Bill could get stain and look for some of the plumbing supplies and we found these ceramic heaters. Our neighbor has two that he uses to supplement the wood heat in his house. He says they run for pennies a day and cover over 1000 square feet so we bought one. Here is Bill setting it up upstairs. We ended up bringing it downstairs because of the high ceiling upstairs it works better down and let the heat rise.
Tom sent me a picture of his ‘costume’ for another Halloween party he went to this weekend. He is Maverick from Top Gun. I found this hilarious since I always told his dad that I named him Tom for Tom Cruise!
On Sunday we took a trip over to Caledonia to see this little Mercantile Store that our neighbor told us about. It’s like stepping back in time! They even have a Barista! Bill got coffee and I got Chai Tea then we met two women from Woven World (pagans) that just happen to be there at the same time! Small world really.
I got pictures of the floor now that Bill has the second floor sanded. Next step is staining and sealing then walls! We also got the heat tape on the water lines under the shop so that they won’t freeze this winter. He is hoping to get the toilet in sometime soon but I’m not sure that is going to happen this week. Too bad because next weekend is hunting season and Erik and Miss Meghan will be coming down so Erik can hunt – we were hoping to stay in the upstairs but not without a toilet – it’s one thing to go outside in the middle of the night to pee in the summer time but I don’t think I want to now that night time temps are in the 30s!
This is looking at what will be the kitchen - the fan on the left is sitting in what will be a HUGE pantry!
This is the view looking toward the stairs coming up from the shop below.
Closeup before the staining and the sealer - I love this! It's all utility grade
unfinished flooring - several different varieties of wood.
This is standing at the top of the stairs looking back toward what will be the bathroom on the left
(where all the stuff is piled up - this will get tile) and the bedrooms in the back.
We took a trip over to Perryville to the farm store over there so Bill could get stain and look for some of the plumbing supplies and we found these ceramic heaters. Our neighbor has two that he uses to supplement the wood heat in his house. He says they run for pennies a day and cover over 1000 square feet so we bought one. Here is Bill setting it up upstairs. We ended up bringing it downstairs because of the high ceiling upstairs it works better down and let the heat rise.
Tom sent me a picture of his ‘costume’ for another Halloween party he went to this weekend. He is Maverick from Top Gun. I found this hilarious since I always told his dad that I named him Tom for Tom Cruise!
On Sunday we took a trip over to Caledonia to see this little Mercantile Store that our neighbor told us about. It’s like stepping back in time! They even have a Barista! Bill got coffee and I got Chai Tea then we met two women from Woven World (pagans) that just happen to be there at the same time! Small world really.
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