Worm dirt is a wonderful thing. We've (mostly Bug) been raising red wrigglers for a few years now. We started out with an old canoe that lives in our garage and it's now a worm city. Now have an additional pile outside that is a mix of horse manure, because we have SO MANY WORMS. They eat all of our vegetable and fruit scaps, coffee grounds, coffee filters, paper towels, etc.
We fill up a container with scraps, then "feed the worms", and they follow the food. In their wake, they leave their poo (dirt). You take out the dirt when they've made a circle, then add more bedding, such as leaves, newspaper and so on. It's the best fertilizer. I can put a handful of the dirt on houseplants every few months, and water as normal. The plants LOVE it. It doesn't smell either.
Worms are amazing little things. They become a tiller for your plants. They clean the roots. They do everything!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
What to do with that pile of leftover turkey bones? Turkey Stew!
I. love. STEW. SOUP. Whatever you want to call it, nothing is better in the winter. Here's what to do with that big pile of nasty turkey bones and stuff.
I had a 21 lb bird. Take the carcass and pick off most of the skin, or what's left, and any small bones that are loose and throw that gunk away.
Here's what you need for the stock:
Bird carcass
1 T. Curry powder
Salt to taste-I use sea salt
2 boxes of chicken stock
Enough water to cover the bird 3/4 the way up
Here's what you add to the stock:
Any veggies you wish (I used potatoes, carrots, celery)
Rosemary and sage.
2 bags of the Yellow Saffron rice you can get at the grocery store
2 c. orzo
You'll need a pot large enough to hold the bird, plus enough water and stock to cover the bird 3/4 of the way up. I used a large canning pot. Add as much salt as you wish.
Bring to a boil, then turn to low and cook overnight, or about 8 hours. Let it cool long enough to remove the bones and other yucky stuff you don't want, leaving the meat. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring back to a boil, then cook on low for 4 hours. Get ready to stuff yourself for several days. Serve it up with some habenero corn bread.
I had a 21 lb bird. Take the carcass and pick off most of the skin, or what's left, and any small bones that are loose and throw that gunk away.
Here's what you need for the stock:
Bird carcass
1 T. Curry powder
Salt to taste-I use sea salt
2 boxes of chicken stock
Enough water to cover the bird 3/4 the way up
Here's what you add to the stock:
Any veggies you wish (I used potatoes, carrots, celery)
Rosemary and sage.
2 bags of the Yellow Saffron rice you can get at the grocery store
2 c. orzo
You'll need a pot large enough to hold the bird, plus enough water and stock to cover the bird 3/4 of the way up. I used a large canning pot. Add as much salt as you wish.
Bring to a boil, then turn to low and cook overnight, or about 8 hours. Let it cool long enough to remove the bones and other yucky stuff you don't want, leaving the meat. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring back to a boil, then cook on low for 4 hours. Get ready to stuff yourself for several days. Serve it up with some habenero corn bread.
We slew Evilbuffy...
A big sigh of relief....after mulling over the Fire King cake casserole pie pan issue for a couple days we finally got rid of Evilbuffy (yes that's the handle). Evilbuffy had sent us a catalog page with the descriptions of Fire-King dishes. He had called it a pie pan-he didn't even read his own page right-it's listed as a cake pan. Guess it was my bad, too, but I bet 90% of people would have called it a casserole. In the end-they decided they were wrong and were just going to keep it-and be happy about it. Which makes me happy. I can sleep at night.
Thanksgiving hangover...
Back to reality boys and girls. Thanksgiving is always a blur. You do all that cooking, and it's over in an hour! We finally got our bar set up Saturday. It was an auction find-$2000 bar for $700. We cooked turkey stew and had some friends over. Can't beat that. It's a nice one, complete with a neon light that says "party". My Bug loves it.
Yesterday was pretty busy. We went to two flea markets. The first one was cool-a lot of fresh produce, chickens, fish, you name it. I got a big bag of limes for a dollar-which ticks me off because I had just paid one dollar for four of them at the store the day before. The second was more treasure hunting for stuff to sell on Ebay. We got some food from a Mexican food truck. We did that last weekend before an auction we went to. I guess I feel like I'm actually getting authentic Mexican food that way. We found some neat hanging baskets, some vintage Tupperware to resell, a neat vintage purse. Bug is into chamber pots. Any kind of weird chamber pot. I don't understand it, but have to admit some of them are pretty trick.
We have our chickens named. Two of them are called the Wigger Sisters. They are two bipolar Ameraucana chickens. One of them finally came around and let me hold her yesterday. Squatty almost fell asleep in my arms from being pet. We've found a total of 40 eggs so far. It's good because I love some eggs!
Yesterday was pretty busy. We went to two flea markets. The first one was cool-a lot of fresh produce, chickens, fish, you name it. I got a big bag of limes for a dollar-which ticks me off because I had just paid one dollar for four of them at the store the day before. The second was more treasure hunting for stuff to sell on Ebay. We got some food from a Mexican food truck. We did that last weekend before an auction we went to. I guess I feel like I'm actually getting authentic Mexican food that way. We found some neat hanging baskets, some vintage Tupperware to resell, a neat vintage purse. Bug is into chamber pots. Any kind of weird chamber pot. I don't understand it, but have to admit some of them are pretty trick.
We have our chickens named. Two of them are called the Wigger Sisters. They are two bipolar Ameraucana chickens. One of them finally came around and let me hold her yesterday. Squatty almost fell asleep in my arms from being pet. We've found a total of 40 eggs so far. It's good because I love some eggs!
Friday, November 25, 2011
My beautiful, egg laying chickens
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Habenero Fiesta Cornbread
One of our fun plants in the garden this year was a small habenero pepper plant. It produced a lot of peppers. I love the flavor of them-it's kinda meaty. Totally different than other peppers.
This is a spicy habenero cornbread that brings the heat. You can add whatever peppers you want, and adjust the burn as needed. I like a lot of burn! The more I eat, the more heat I can take!
Here's what you need:
1 1/2 c. yellow cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
Pinch of salt and pepper
3 T chopped habenero peppers, or pepper of your choice, chopped
1/4 c. mayonaise (yes I said mayonaisse)
1 egg
1 1/2 c. milk
1 1/4 c. melted butter
Put the butter in a loaf pan, then put the loaf pan in the oven. Heat the oven to 425. Beat the egg, mayo, and milk together. Add the rest of the ingredients. Get the melted butter out of the oven and swirl it around to coat the sides and corners of the pan. Add the butter to the mixture and stir. Bake for 30-35 minutes. When it starts to turn brown, turn the oven off and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
This is a spicy habenero cornbread that brings the heat. You can add whatever peppers you want, and adjust the burn as needed. I like a lot of burn! The more I eat, the more heat I can take!
Here's what you need:
1 1/2 c. yellow cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
Pinch of salt and pepper
3 T chopped habenero peppers, or pepper of your choice, chopped
1/4 c. mayonaise (yes I said mayonaisse)
1 egg
1 1/2 c. milk
1 1/4 c. melted butter
Put the butter in a loaf pan, then put the loaf pan in the oven. Heat the oven to 425. Beat the egg, mayo, and milk together. Add the rest of the ingredients. Get the melted butter out of the oven and swirl it around to coat the sides and corners of the pan. Add the butter to the mixture and stir. Bake for 30-35 minutes. When it starts to turn brown, turn the oven off and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
Our first chicken eggs!
Our 10 hen-e-hens are proud mamas this week to 14 eggs. We have 6 black sexlinks, 1 red sexlink, and 3 Ameraucanas. The Amercaunas make a blue/green egg, the others a brown color.
We had some for breakfast this morning, and they were SOOOO much better than store bought eggs. We have happy hens!
My Bug (hubby's nickname) was so happy last night when he found them. I was in shock, which seems really silly considering that's what chickens do. We had noticed they acted differently this past week. As Bug says, they are more "clucky" than usual. I hadn't had fresh eggs since I was around 10.
Thanks to my beautiful girls for their wonderful eggs!
We had some for breakfast this morning, and they were SOOOO much better than store bought eggs. We have happy hens!
My Bug (hubby's nickname) was so happy last night when he found them. I was in shock, which seems really silly considering that's what chickens do. We had noticed they acted differently this past week. As Bug says, they are more "clucky" than usual. I hadn't had fresh eggs since I was around 10.
Thanks to my beautiful girls for their wonderful eggs!
My Slow Cooker Pot Roast Recipe
This is a great pot roast for nice fall meal.
Ingredients:
3 lb roast-your choice of beef cut
1 medium onion-chopped
2 large garlic cloves-chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1 T Salt
Place the meat in the slow cooker. I have the smaller crock, think it's the 2 quart model. Add enough water to fill the crock a little over half way full, then add the rest of the ingredients. Turn the slow cooker on high for 2 hours, then turn it down to low. This may take around 8-9 hours, depending on your crock. You will know it's done when you can stick a fork in and the meat comes apart easily.
Ingredients:
3 lb roast-your choice of beef cut
1 medium onion-chopped
2 large garlic cloves-chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1 T Salt
Place the meat in the slow cooker. I have the smaller crock, think it's the 2 quart model. Add enough water to fill the crock a little over half way full, then add the rest of the ingredients. Turn the slow cooker on high for 2 hours, then turn it down to low. This may take around 8-9 hours, depending on your crock. You will know it's done when you can stick a fork in and the meat comes apart easily.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Ebay Agnst and other auction woes....
Yesterday was a lovely fall day in the South. We started the day with a nice cup of Starbucks, and headed to the Mac to check out our Ebay whatnots for the day. There was a message from a person about a casserole dish, Fire King they had bought from us. I guess they weren't happy because they thought they were getting a casserole, and they think it's a pie plate.
There is a big difference between a pie plate and a casserole dish. I got a dissertation on the subject from said person, over a dish that sold for 5 bucks...and they are going to take the time to go to work and get pictures out of some sort of "catalog" so we can see the difference. I wish I had that much time to worry about something so silly! I will never look at a pie plate the same with feeling like I need to throw it.
Rule # 1 on Ebay: Your description had better be dead on-or you will pay with a bad feedback! Don't get me wrong, I want to describe items as perfectly as I can....but I think I know what a casserole dish looks like!
I didn't let it ruin my day. We went on to an auction to build up our inventory. We had our sites set on some Jadeite Fire King. I overpaid for some things (great). We found some other cool stuff. It's always like a treasure hunt/what is it sort of adventure. We got a pogo stick in a box lot.
I guess the day was kind of a wash.
We came home to a nice pot roast I started earlier that morning. We discussed our Ebay woes over a cocktail. Oh well.
There is a big difference between a pie plate and a casserole dish. I got a dissertation on the subject from said person, over a dish that sold for 5 bucks...and they are going to take the time to go to work and get pictures out of some sort of "catalog" so we can see the difference. I wish I had that much time to worry about something so silly! I will never look at a pie plate the same with feeling like I need to throw it.
Rule # 1 on Ebay: Your description had better be dead on-or you will pay with a bad feedback! Don't get me wrong, I want to describe items as perfectly as I can....but I think I know what a casserole dish looks like!
I didn't let it ruin my day. We went on to an auction to build up our inventory. We had our sites set on some Jadeite Fire King. I overpaid for some things (great). We found some other cool stuff. It's always like a treasure hunt/what is it sort of adventure. We got a pogo stick in a box lot.
I guess the day was kind of a wash.
We came home to a nice pot roast I started earlier that morning. We discussed our Ebay woes over a cocktail. Oh well.
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