Appalachian Living
my IRL BFF is here at HSB!!!!!
My BFF friend has finally joined us here!!! She has been here vicariously for a few years, but has never had a fast enough internet connection to join herself.Let me tell you about Harmony - she married one one of my best friends from high school, and I have totally forgotten that former best friend in her favor. hehehe. She is a true kindred spirit - she was with me when we made soap for the first time, and she is game for lots of homestead-y activities. Such as this week, she is here teaching me how to bottle beans.
She was homeschooled, and is one of the most outgoing and social people I have ever met. She is an anti-testament to the homeschool-kids-are-unsocialized myth. She has never met a stranger, and has a special knack for making people feel comfortable. She is laughing at me right now.
So, please go visit Harmony and welcome her here!!!! pretty please!!!!!
Dinner tonight - Chicken stroganoff
Chicken Stroganoff3 T butter
3 T Italian dressing mix (see recipe)
4-6 chicken breasts
8 oz cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup (see recipe)
place chicken, butter, italian dressing in crockpot on low. Cook 6 hours. 45 min before serving, mix cream cheese and soup, then pour over chicken.
Serve over egg noodles (start when adding cream cheese and soup).
Italian Dressing Mix
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
2 Tablespoons garlic powder
6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Mix and store in an airtight container.
To make dressing: Use 3 Tablespoon mix with 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil and 1/2 cup wine vinegar
makes 9+ T of mix
Canned “Cream of *** Soup”
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups dry milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup chicken bouillon granules
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes, optional
1 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil, optional
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf oregano, optional
1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram, optional
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 to 3 teaspoons butter
PREPARATION:
Combine all ingredients except butter together and store in airtight container. To use, mix 1/2 cup dry soup mix with 1 1/4 cups water and cook until thick; add butter. This is equal to one can cream soup. The mix makes enough to equal 6 cans. For cream of mushroom or celery soup, add chopped sauteé mushrooms or celery along with the butter while cooking.
Travalogue, chicken pox, swimming, and pancakes
I have 5 turkey carcasses in a cooler on my deck. I need to go get my pots and fill them with water for boiling. I should have done ti the moment we walked in the house yesterday..... but I was too foggy to think properly. sigh. so now, that is one day of simmering I have not got done, extending the process out later this week. I guess I shouldn't complain, since it will probably be a 7-8 day process anyway.... but still....We got to my mom's on Thursday morning. My bro and his family showed up soon after. we ate veggies and cheese and then had dinner. I made my children have 2 bites of everything - even stuff I know they don't particularly like (squash, stuffing, sweet potatoes made even nasty-sweeter with brown sugar and maple.... it is so sweet and sugary it is gaggy! anyway....) And they ate it. Good little children.
Of course, I did that as well. Need to be a good example. But I let them eat as much of the other stuff that they wanted after that, so they filled up on mashed pots and turkey. And then we took a walk to the park where we walked (or ran or played) the food off. Then home for hot chocolate and pie. I managed to score 3 turkey carcasses from my mom's neighbors. My brother, who went to massage therapy school, but RARELY ever uses his talents to bless his family, was convinced to massage my back and shoulders while I sat on mom's massage chair in the kitchen. It felt good, but my back was so tight, he could only do so much. When he was done, I just sat there not moving, and my ds7 came over to do what he saw his uncle doing. he was very good. what a sweet boy I have.Saturday morning, we left the children at grandma's to make gingerbread houses. We went to IHOP for breakfast. We went to a specific one close to the movie theater at which we had tickets fro Twilight at 10:30. Unfortunately, it is smack dab in a shopping center, and had a 30 minute wait "at least" - at 7:30 am!!!! So we decided to head to my SIL's to pick-up/drop off some stuff in the meantime. She pointed out that there was an IHOP right across the highway from her, so we went there; twice as big, and EMPTY (well, not completely) and we sat down just as dh's 30 min alarm went off. I had their yummy yummy "coffee cake pancakes" - the lemon blueberry (except I had strawberry) - and I LOVED them!
Then we went to the movie. I was very disappointed. First, let's start with all the garbage ads I had to sit through. Movie starts at 10:30. NOT. Ads start at 10:30.... movie at 11:00. As for Twilight itself, well, it was as true to the book as it could be, I like how they portrayed Charlie, the Blacks, Alice, Carlisle, and Jasper. It had a good Bella and Edward and I liked the kids at the high school. But I did not like the way it condensed the book. I guess there was only so many choices, but this reaffirms: NEVER WATCH MOVIES BASED ON BOOKS THAT YOU LIKE!!!!!!! I watched the first two HP's, but refused after that. I do not like the LotR books, so the movies were great for me. But I have not and will not watch the Narnia movies. The books are too much part of me, and my visions of them are the best, and I will NOT have those corrupted.
Then we went back to mom's for a few hours where I learned that my midwife's children have the chicken-pox. very exciting, and I was planning to head right over to expose my children.... but.... dh has never had them, and he is unsure about the wisdom of purposefully getting our healthy children sick. and, this is probably not the best time for getting the house sick with this. Especially since dh has not had it. We do not have time for THAT! Hopefully we will get another chance in the next few years. And we can decide what to do with dh in the meantime.
We went and did a bit of clothes shopping, and found our favorite pizza place closed - it was a small mom-n-pop shop with the BEST breadsticks you have ever had! They were immigrants from Bosnia, and they worked so hard to make it. Very sad. Then back to mom's where we got all the kids ready to go swimming. Oh dear, it has been too long. My little swimmer babies were afraid of the water! We used to go weekly, and my older two were swimming laps and playing in the deep (for them) without life jackets. They were 2 and 4 when we moved and quit. Friday night they would not let go of the edge. and dd2 was scared to death and would not let go of anyone. But by the end of the night, ds7 was swimming around easily (as long as he had on his life jacket) and dd2 loved the water and would "swim" (we push her away and tell her to "hum" when her face goes under) 3 feet to her other loved one. and dd4 - she refused to get out of the water until it was almost a threat of consequences. We need to find a pool here.
Saturday morning, I woke up, and took the olders on a date to breakfast (back to IHOP for more of those pancakes); g'ma came with us. we took some home to daddy and Lion (dd2) and then we played a game, cleaned up our room, packed our stuff and waved goodbye. Stopped at a friend's house for a moment, then on to home. And that was our Thanksgiving weekend.
my misery
I am sick. ughheadache (I have an ice mask on right now.... but it warms so fast, and soon it will have to go back to the freezer)
earache (I put in some GOOT and that took care of the pain, but the ringing is still there anytime my children sing or hum repetatively - which is ALL the time, and normally, I love the songs they sing...)
sore throat (I am making some lemon herb tea with Eucalyptus honey - that is always good)
tired body (I am headed upstairs to sleep)
floaty head - do you know what I mean? My head and body feels like it is floating around, not really connected to anything. That probably has something to do with my ears, eh?
slight nausea - is this a symptom of whatever I have right now, or is it a side effect of all the mucus hanging out in my throat aggrevating my all-too-sensative-because-of-pregnancy-gag-reflex?
and other side effect - I cannot spell today. so I apologize for my worse-than-usual spelling. ow - I need more goot in my ears. good night.
how to cut a [free] turkey
We are not BIG turkey fans around here, but when the local grocery gives you turkey vouchers every time you shop, and you get some extras from a friend.... well, I got a 16# turkey for $.02. Free food, really.but - we are only 5 people, who have a hard time eating a 5# roast chicken in 3 meals. So, how does one deal with 16# of meat? Even free meat. Well, a little research gives some ideas......
http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--436/cutting-up-a-whole-turkey.asp
great illustrations of how to butcher a turkey. Give it a minute - for some reason this site was slow to load even on my usually fast connection.
and the USU extension service has this PDF:
http://extension.usu.edu/boxelder/files/uploads/fn290.pdf. (I hope this works - I have never linked to a PDF before...)
this is cool because it claims that you do not have to fully defrost the turkey to butcher it, and then you can refreeze the portions... definitely helpful in my situation. It does mean that I will have to work fast though, and have freezer space ready and waiting. Still..... a handy thing to know.
Oh, and assuming we can manage a 5# chicken in 3 meals, a 16# turkey could conceivably last us for 10-12 meals. Not bad for 2 cents!
Have a great Thanksgiving!
I am the Stuffing
Okay, I do not usually do so many quizzes, but this one was kind of fun. Do not ask me what the last question means..... I am very removed from popular culture, so that might explain it! LOL!What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?
| You Are The Stuffing |
 People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why. |
what spice am I?
I think this is interesting, and I can accept this assessment of my personality, but.... isn't basil an herb, not a spice?oh, and I think there is a mistype on it - I hope I am loved by MOST people, not POST people! LOL
What Spice Are You?
| You Are Basil |
 You have a mild temperament, but your style is definitely distinctive. You are sweet, attractive, and you often smell good. |
pumpkin update
well, I got 70 bottles of pumpkin. 70. I was not expecting that. I was definitely not planning on having to use 70 of my quart jars for pumpkin. Remind me not to buy a huge monster of a pumpkin again. I roasted all the seeds so my son would not be tempted to grow one. LOL! We will see in a bit exactly how much that makes in relation to the cans I can buy at the store. We will see.We had some friends up this weekend. I showed them how to make soap, and we talked and my children just thought K (the husband) was the best thing that has ever happened to them! I think they are convinced that K&M came up solely to play with them. Silly children. hehehe. It was a long weekend (do not get me wrong - it was fun and I love having them, but it makes a long weekend....) and I am glad to get onto a regular schedule this week. what? it is Thanksgiving week? oh bah! No normal week for me!
ds7 is going to the Nutcracker tomorrow with the homeschool group, and I think the girls and I will do some Christmas shopping while he is there. I also have a ticket to the play, but the theater was a little alarmed at the number of adults we had per children - I guess they like the more unsupervised public school child to adult ratio better. So I am going to talk to Bug and ask if he will be polite and attentive if I am not there and he is sitting with another hs mom I know. I have hopes this will work out - he is generally very well behaved if I am not around, I do not get it.
Thursday morning we are headed to SL to my mom's for the ritualistic feasting and fete-ing. Friday morning, mom will watch the kids (let them coat gingerbread houses with candy - eye roll) while we go to see Twilight. I know, I am breaking one of my cardinal rules - never see a movie made from a book I like. But, I have hopes for this one. I had hopes for Harry Potter too, but quit after the second movie. I have not and will NOT watch the Narnia movies - I love the books tooooo much. I did not like TLotR books, so the movies were great for me. But off we go to see Twilight.
So, no normal week for me. sigh. well, I guess I had better get to going and starting my week. have a great one.
Stuffing recipe
From my SIL... her ooooohhhh so yummy stuffing recipe. I have liked this stuffing for years, but this year, we kind of forgot about it, leaving it in the oven a bit too long. It did not burn, but the top got brown and slightly crispy. It was sooooo much better than other years. Now, we usually triple this for our family of 18 (and growing). It think I will double it for my family's Thanksgiving coming up next week.Stuffing
3/4 cup onion, chopped finely
1 1/2 cups celery stalks and leaves, chopped finely
1 cup butter
9 cups french bread cubes
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. crushed sage leaves (I use 1 tsp. rubbed sage)
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 cup chicken stock
about 1/3 can of evaporated milk
In pan melt butter and add onions and celery. Cook until tender. Add seasonings, mix well, then stir in 1/3 of the bread cubes. Stir mixture well then add the rest of the bread cubes. Add in the stock and milk to taste. Bake at 350 until crispy on top! MMMMM.....
working hard today - pumpkin
remember that list I posted this morning? Well, I started on the pumpkin. Now this pumpkin is huge. And heavy. And it has been sitting on my porch since beginning of October. So today I took my knife and wacked it up. Mindful of someone else's failed attempt at peeling the skin from a raw pumpkin, I threw mine (in 4 stages, each stage FILLING the oven space) into the oven for an hour at 300. this cooked the pumpkin just enough to allow the skin to come right off with a knife. I still have to skin half the thing. agh! anyway, then I cubed it into 1-inch cubes. Considering the meat is up top 4 inches thick in some spots, this is a chore!But I have my first 7 bottles in the canner at 13 pounds pressure for 90 minutes.
This pumpkin cost me $30 at the farmers market. I know, it was expensive. If I had waited until after Halloween, I could have gotten it for half that. Next year. If I buy such a pumpkin again, which is HIGHLY doubtful. I do not know how much pumpkin I will get out of this. Even if I go by quarts, it is still unknown until I start using the pumpkin. At that point, I will drain it, blend it into puree, and then weigh it. That is when I will learn if this is worth it.
Dh says the work I havew already put into it is NOT worth it. He has a point - cans of pumpkin are so cheap in the stores in December and January as they clean out their holiday stashes. But I like to know what is in our food. Yeah, the cans list as ingredients: pumpkin. but there are things they do not have to list if it is small enough (I do not know if that is the case with pumpkin, but with other foods it is.) And if we ever manage to grow our own pumpkins, the cost will go down significantly.
And hey, bonus - the water in the jars of pumpkin can count towards water storage. not for drinking, true, but for baking or cooking....
oh, and I made the kids help. They were in charge of separating the seeds (these are monstrous too!) from the "goop." They wore some of daddy's t-shirts and complained bitterly about the feel of the innards. Cannot blame them for that! But they did do the work, and now they are outside enjoying the 50 degree weather we will be having all week. Lucky them. I am stuck inside a hot house over a hot stove. Not a pregnant lady's favorite spot.....
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