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Got ready for the festival we plan on selling at tomorrow but now we are supposed to have the outer edges of the tropical storm that my daughter is already getting in Virginia beach
Weather was nice ALL week , supposed to start raining tonight
Put goats in barn, sheep are still out but if it is raining a lot in the morning we will put them in the barn also
 
ABR said:
Trying to determine the timing for hard boiling bantam size eggs 🤔 I have about 2 dozen that I want to do but I've never boiled that size egg before. Also need to get the meat going for the tater tot caserole I'm making for supper. Then homework after chores.
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I saw other comments, but years ago I read to start eggs to boil. As soon as they start to boil, turn the burner off, put a lid on and let the eggs sit in the water for 10 minutes. I have made hard boiled eggs like this for many years. I would think that would work for smaller eggs as well.
 
Weedygarden said:
I saw other comments, but years ago I read to start eggs to boil. As soon as they start to boil, turn the burner off, put a lid on and let the eggs sit in the water for 10 minutes. I have made hard boiled eggs like this for many years. I would think that would work for smaller eggs as well.
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Asked a friend who has Bantams, 6-7 minutes only!?
 
sonya123 said:
I keep reading about tater tots, ok maybe stupid question but what exactly are those things?
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Not a stupid question!

They’re basically 2”x1” hash brown potato cylinders, frozen. You crisp them up in the toaster oven or deep-fry them. People use them as an alternative to french fries, or use them to top casseroles, that kind of thing.

They’re more or less “junk food”, but irresistably crispy, properly made.
 
I did get the last solar panels installed yesterday without getting stung, will spray the hornets nest this morning. Then I will turn to working indoors, need to clean the kitchen and do laundry. Once that is done I can shift to working in the greenhouse.
 
Coming off a b-bi-bear of a week at work. First week of vaccine clinics for the fall. Got a taking too when a customer wanted to know why their insurance didn't cover the latest version of "The Vaccine." I suggested, perhaps their insurance company didn't want them to get myocarditis. It's OK, I know the person asking and they know me, so it was more of a comic relief moment. I was told not to say that to anyone else.

I thought this weekend would be nice and relaxing with the rainy weather from that tropical storm. Nope. Came home to find Dad went the farmer's market and the Amish guy that sells there took a chance on Dad being there. Twenty-one, yup 21, quart containers of fresh lima beans. He spent the entire afternoon from 12:30 to 6:00 shelling them. He knew he had better have them done before I got home. I blanched them and popped them in the fridge. Today I'll package up for freezing--prefer that to canning them. Then onto roasting the two sheet pans full of roma tomatoes that were picked during the week and turning them into tomato-basil soup for canning. I had put all the canners away so I'll just bring the soup pot nextdoor to my place and use the electric canner. I don't expect that many jars.

The sooner I get that all done, the sooner I get on with some fun stuff. I'm still working on that white fleece I bought last October. I've got at least 6 more bobbins to spin before I have enough for the jacket I want to knit. There's also a grocery bag full of fleece that needs combing before spinning. Then there is the black/grey/blonde fleece I bought at the beginning of summer that still needs sorting and washing. I've been working on that for about 10-20 minutes every morning before work sorting it into boxes by color/staple length. Almost done with that, about another pound to do and then I can move onto washing it.
 
sonya123 said:
I keep reading about tater tots, ok maybe stupid question but what exactly are those things?
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Haha! I think they were started from the little pieces of potatoes left in some manufacturing process. The first time I had them was at a friend's house. She would buy those batter dipped frozen fish filets that are baked in the oven. Since she was using her oven, she made tater tots at the same time. I honestly have no memory of ever making them myself, but that is also true of me never making the frozen oven fries either. I almost always cook from fresh food, and I just never think of buying these kinds of things. With all the discussion about them, maybe I'll remember the next time I'm grocery shopping. But in memory of my now deceased friend, some of those frozen, battered fish fillets would go along with them.
 
INresponse said:
those T-bones and briskets and burger will be delicious along with all the other cuts.
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I love a good t-bone. One time I bought some and took them in a cooler on a trip to visit someone. They thanked me for the T-bones, but then told me they preferred rib eyes! Okay then. By the way, I am in envy of you getting that beef. We always got a quarter of beef when I was growing up. I loved being able to have roasts, burger and steaks that way. You know the meat will be so much better than what you buy in the stores, and hopefully not injected with water to increase the weight.
 
jishinsjourney said:
While I have not yet declared victory over the mess that is the kitchen, I have pummeled the stove grease into submission, cleaned both ovens, cleaned the toaster oven, cleaned the counters (ugh, you know how the counters get when they’re covered in stuff that doesn’t get wiped under often enough? Blech!), cleaned the top of the microwave (this requires a stepladder, I am short) and the cabinets above it (ditto), cleaned the vent ducts (eeeurgh) and washed down all the odds and ends that live on the counter (knife block, hot water boiler, spice rack, etc.).

What I have left still to do: wipe down all the remaining cabinets (white. why do they have to be white?) and repaint all the chipped paint on them (why did they have to paint them white …? ), wipe down the appliances (that’s easy, I did that last week, so just maintenance), clean the pantry door, and purge the pantry.

This may still be another two-three day project but I see the end in sight.
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I had two students from a family that painted their kitchen cabinets turquoise! You can do it! There are Youtube videos showing how people have painted them. But that is another project that would take time and make a mess! This family probably hired their project to be done.
 
It looks as though they are probably not gluten free, because they are made with flour. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater... were invented in,slivers of cut-up potatoes.
Tater tots were invented in 1953 when American frozen food company Ore-Ida founders F. Nephi Grigg, Golden Grigg, and Ross Erin Butler Sr. were trying to figure out what to do with leftover slivers of cut-up potatoes.[1][2][3] They chopped up the slivers, added flour and seasoning, then pushed the mash through holes and sliced off pieces of the extruded mixture. The product was first offered commercially in stores in 1956.[8]
 
I got my little front porch decorated for Fall yesterday, except I need 2 pumpkins.
Walked first this morning.
Went to Church and started picking up trash out of the parking lot and grounds by myself. A friend showed up and helped. We got it done in an hour. I'm so thankful for my friend!
Came home and cleaned up brush out of front yard and swept shed out.
I don't have anything else on my list except to water the roses this evening.
I'm kind of pooped!
 
The Forest Service is up here today starting their prescribed burn. I decided to let them come through our property and stage their equipment just east of the house. There's a crew of about 75 fire fighters and a dozen or so fire trucks and other equipment up here right now. Tomorrow they'll have a helicopter out to drop their little fire bombs. So far the FS has been really great to work with. They're taking every precaution to protect our property.
 
I did the garlic planting in the other two raised beds.

20230922_164424_HDR.jpg


I estimate somewhere between 1000 and 1200 cloves planted. The wild turkeys didn't disturb the previously planted cloves.

Today The Princess had the tape measure out and was scheming. Six more shelving units are going in. I get two more for the greenhouse. The rest will be for her canning gear and food storage.

Ben
 
Weedygarden said:
I saw other comments, but years ago I read to start eggs to boil. As soon as they start to boil, turn the burner off, put a lid on and let the eggs sit in the water for 10 minutes. I have made hard boiled eggs like this for many years. I would think that would work for smaller eggs as well.
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That is how I have always done my eggs
 
Curmudgeon said:
I got to play backseat mechanic today. My youngest needed tie rod ends on her Ferd Fusion, and decided she was going to do the job herself,. I chuckled and said OK. tossed her the keys to the shop and said "have at it". Soooo, the adventure began, she opened up the shop and got the car in and got the floor jack and the jack stands around. I went out and copped a squat on my Mac Tools roll around stool. I proceeded to tell her what she needed to do, she followed instructions pretty well for the most part. Getting the front wheels off was her first challenge, The Tire place where she got her new tires at didn't use never-sieze on the aluminum wheel in contact with the steel rotor, they seemed welded on. (if you know, you know), lol.

She went step by step as I guided her and successfully got her tie rod ends installed, got NS on the back side of the wheels. put the wheels back on and tightened everything up..............she even learned how to use a torque wrench!!!
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Surprise, surprise, my youngest came by today to grab her significant other's jack , as he was going to do the other tie rod end. I asked her where it was and it was on a trailer full of cut wood, cause that's where everyone stores their jack dontcha know. She grabs the jack and heads home only to find him washing his car, he says he'll get to it in a few minutes. So a bit of time goes by and she shows back up at the house and comes in to see if she could do it here, apparently she had had enough and said fine, I don't need you to do it, I'll take it to Dad's and do it myself............................DOH!!! And do it she did, basically a repeat of above. I guess he was butthurt the other day when her and I tackled the first side.

Not only is she learning how to turn a wrench, she is finally learning how to stand up for herself, and let me tell you she is a small girl but she can be quite the firecracker when she has had enough, lol. I must admit I had a proud PaPa moment over the whole thing today.


I might be a bad influence, lolol.
 
Taking it easy again today. Allergy shots yesterday went better than last week, but still not great. Blargh. I may talk to my allergist about taking a couple weeks off to recover.

I’m so tired of feeling unwell, and I know I’ve got it easier than a lot of other people! /:
 
Thunderstorms in my area right now. I cooked a big breakfast and dinner. We skipped lunch because neither of us was hungry for it. I did my pre-surgical exercises. Other than that, we didn’t do much. Storming like crazy right now. We have flash flood warnings.
 
I think @Magus ’s cooking theories might be contagious. So when Hubby came home, he had food that had thawed out. I had cooked up a steak so it was done and in the fridge. I sliced it up. In a cast iron skillet with garlic olive oil it went, then chopped some fresh basil, oregano, and rosemary and chopped some kale leaves and made a sorta stir fry. I’m tellin ya, fried kale is the bomb 💣. Crumbled some feta over the mess and enjoyed it thoroughly!
Oh side note- it rained in the house yesterday 😖. Juiced a whole bunch of tomatoes for sauce. As it was simmering, evidently the condensation was a bit much for one kitchen. The good news is the ceiling and cupboards are all nice and clean now 😂
5.5 quarts of sauce.
 
Weedygarden said:
I had two students from a family that painted their kitchen cabinets turquoise! You can do it! There are Youtube videos showing how people have painted them. But that is another project that would take time and make a mess! This family probably hired their project to be done.
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Ha! Turquoise would not go with the house, but yes, could get it done. Really, what I’d prefer to do is have them stripped and stained to a pale wood color, but I’m not sure that’s realistic, especially since I’m not sure they’re made of quality wood. I might have to get them entirely redone if I want to go that route? I really don’t know.

They’re definitely not the cabinets I’d have chosen, but we didn’t get the option. The entire kitchen counter was butcher block, and that was where the money went. There was no way I’d put a slow cooker or a pot of red sauce on a butcher block counter, let alone all the other hot-water-and-stains shenanigans I get up to in my kitchen.
 
Rainy day but I did the experimental tomato soup canned up. It was a recipe from one of the Ball books. Made 5 pints. Vac packed those Lima beans dad got at the market. Got 17 bags with 2 servings each. Really need to to organize the freezer. That’s another day’s project.
 
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