Monday, January 25, 2021

Better Days & Homestead Happenings



Hello, friends.  Last week, I canned mushrooms, which will add two half pints and six 4 oz jars to the pantry.  Homemade thousand island dressing was made.  I recently picked up a birthday card, 6 Valentine's cards in a pack, and Christmas gift tags (75% off) at Hallmark for about $13, and received $5 back through a Swagbucks promotion.  Suet was made for the birds, which used some of the dehydrated berry and tomato remains after canning last summer.  In the mood for comfort food, I made colcannon with some of our cabbage.  I'd eat it often, but J only likes it on a rare occasion, so I took advantage of him working out of town.  Another jar of the gifted jam was shared with a friend who stopped by.  I made tapioca, a favorite comfort food since I was a child, and enjoyed every bit of it.  




I made The Prudent Homemaker's taco soup for lunches, and pulled a package of maitake mushroom from the freezer to make gravy, which was used over jasmine rice.  A bag of cubed winter squash was pureed for dog treats.  Home ground wheat and the last of the chickpea flour were used in them.  I've been trying to use up last year's frozen winter squash before starting on the one's in storage, but I do need to begin using them soon.  A sweater, shirt and a pair of pants were mended.  I'm still using my old muck boots some, and repaired them once again with shoe goo.  A load of laundry was done, with the intention of hanging it on the line, and getting the previous day's laundry in.  The last time I had looked, there was 5% chance of rain, but it changed to 70%, and was sprinkling.  Oh well, my preference is to dry laundry on the line, but I'm very thankful to have a dryer as a back up plan.  As always, we collected rainwater for household and chicken use, and heated with wood.  My potter friends sent some new shaving mugs with J.  I took photos, and got them listed in the shop.  They've been good sellers for previous Valentine's Days, so here's hoping.




With J's return home on Friday, I tried two new dishes.  The first was a sweet & spicy cauliflower, which had 2 tsp of sriracha in it.  Wow, that warmed us up, but was just a bit too hot for our tastes.  I'll cut it back next time.  The next was a butternut squash mac & cheese, and for that, I pulled another bag of last year's winter squash from the freezer.  It also used homemade bread crumbs and our rosemary.  You really couldn't detect any squash taste, so that's a win in my book.  It made a big pan, so I froze a good bit of it.  We ran to town on Saturday, picking up a bundle of insulation, paint and sheetrock for the workshop project.  J got his 5% veterans discount on our purchase.  Then we ran to Tractor Supply, for chicken feed and sunflower seeds.  In the mood for pancakes on Sunday, I decided to use up some things.  Along with unbleached white flour, I used up the remainders of home ground corn and wheat.  Homemade buttermilk was used for the liquid, and our frozen blueberries.  They were denser than the usual pancakes, but that's not a bad thing on a day that started out in the low 20's.  I'll be heading out to powder coat orders, and that should stick to my ribs while I work.




When done cleaning up the kitchen after pancakes, the buttermilk was renewed, which just involves adding some milk and letting it sit on the counter.  I watched a free movie on amazon prime.  J got the insulation up when we got in on Saturday, and the sheetrock on the walls in the workshop while I was powder coating orders on Sunday.  We're heading to pick up cypress lumber for the porch floor on Monday, found for a good price on fb marketplace.  I prefer that over treated lumber.  For Sunday dinner, several of our sweet potatoes were baked, and succotash made, which included our lima beans and sweet onion.  For a green salad, vinaigrette was made with some of our mixed berry syrup.  I expect everyone knows who Amanda Gorman is at this point.  It gives me great hope to see the young people speaking out with wisdom and grace in these times.  I believe we are moving into better days, and though there will surely be rough patches along the way, I feel we'll look back to this past year as a turning point.  Wishing you a week of whatever brings you peace, comfort, joy.


8 comments:

daisy g said...

Your weeks must be so fulfilling. You get so much done. I enjoy staying busy as well.

Yes, the young poet certainly has attracted a lot of attention. How can someone so young speak with such wisdom? Gifted, for sure.
I feel a weight has been lifted from our nation, and I am again optimistic. Praying others feel the same.

Enjoy your week!

Michèle Hastings said...

I watched the inauguration on TV and was very moved by Amanda Gorman. Later in the week we found it on YouTube and streamed it again.
Butternut Mac & Cheese! Could you share your recipe? I still have lots to use and while we enjoy it roasted, it would be good to get creative with it.

Laurie said...

I hope others feel optimistic too, so we can work together to create better days.

Here's the recipe, Michele. I used regular, cooked pasta, and just whizzed up my own squash instead of using canned. https://www.southernliving.com/dairy/cheese/butternut-squash-mac-and-cheese

Michèle Hastings said...

Thank you for the recipe!

Jeannie said...

Chick Pea flour? Saturday afternoon was not freezing cold so I spent the afternoon out on the back deck grinding wheat and rye. I also ground a little rice to see what I can learn to make with it. I hadn't thought about chickpeas. Who do you use the four?

Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry

Laurie said...

I had gotten the chickpea flour for a gluten free recipe, though I can't remember what. I believe we were thinking we might have a guest that we we'd use it for. Sorry I'm no help with recipes, but I'm sure there are plenty online.

Unknown said...

I don’t comment often but wanted to say that i love the calmness of your days. It’s always a pleasure to read what you’ve been up to during the week.
I did see Amanda Gorman and was awed by her grace under pressure. If all the young adults are anything like her, i think we’ll be okay.
Debbie

Laurie said...

Thank you, Debbie. I must admit, lately I've been feeling like I'm just repeating the same old things, and there are many others who write so much better. So thank you for that. Yes, I'm very hopeful for the future.