…of course I could be wrong. But our snowfall yesterday melted nearly as soon as it hit, and our prediction of several days of snowfall has moderated to mostly hovering between rain and snow for the rest of the week. Jane and I both prefer the cold: I call 75 hot, and she’ll extend her range to about 75, maybe an outdoor 80 with a breeze. Ask me how I grew up in Oklahoma before air-conditioning and it isn’t a pretty story.
So here we are, owners of a nice electric snowblower, with two snow shovels—and no snow to speak of. Of course February up here, as in Oklahoma, can surprise you.
One thing that we’ll have to get, when first we get a nice enough fall to stick, is a photo of our snow-viewing lantern by the pond, and a shot of the mural with a snowy landscape in front of it. Curious, how that outdoor setting changes: in the summer heat, with everything blooming, you look toward the mural and think of looking up into the mountain highlands. But in the winter, with white over the ground, you look toward that mural with its hint of green and its high waterfall and have the illusion of looking down off the snowy mountain shoulder into a rugged lowlands. Neat. We never planned that effect, but it’s great.
Lynn has just broken her finger. This plays hob with typing for a while. We’re pitching in to help out. She was walking home from the opthamologist with her eyes dilated, caught her foot, fell, and broke her hand. This caps a really rough week otherwise. So our best to Lynn, and a hope she recovers quickly.
That’s about the news there is. The sky is overcast, the air is still and cold, and I’m cooking baby back ribs for supper. Had chicken last night. Here’s a good fast recipe: one whole chicken: slather with Frank’s Original Wing Sauce, which is no-carb; bake at 350 until done, stopping halfway to pour a little more Frank’s Sauce atop.
I’m going to see if it also goes on pork ribs. Those: coat in sauce, wrap in tinfoil, place on rack, cook for 2 hours. That should feed 2 nicely.
I’m still liking the shoes. They’re actually nice to sit around in instead of the muffies.
Ysabel is sitting beside snoring…loudly. At times she snores so loudly at night I have to poke her to wake her up and get her to stop. Lucky me—I get the snoring cat. Grace ‘n Charm—as we once named two pet ducks.
Well, it’s a supposed to be an El Nino winter — which means lots of winter precipitation down here in Arizona, but mostly warmism with rain in the mountains, and not necessarily snow. Not sure what it means for you all in the northern climes. We are all hoping for a good snowy winter for a change, but not sure if it will pan out.
Sounds like the Frank’s would be a good candidate for crockpot cookery. Yes a crockpot is very 70s, but well suited for those cold nasty days when you want to come home at the end and have dinner ready as soon as you get there, or just something you can start in the morning and forget until suppertime. Coq au vin, beef stew, kalua pig (if there is a request, I’ll post a crockpot recipe for Hawaiian style kalua pig, done to fork-tender in a crock pot. Extremely simple.)
I picked up what the butcher calls “ham for beans” today. This isn’t just scraps; it’s good meaty boney bits to go in a bean pot. You have to order them in advance they’re so popular. I’ve some Anasazi beans that I haven’t tried out yet. And I love my crockpot.
Crockpot pork shoulder roast cut as ‘country ribs’. Crockpot. Coat ‘ribs’ in chipotle pepper and bbq sauce, and cook down until you serve with a spoon.
Crockpot a corned beef brisket with its spices, while cooking cabbage and potatoes in a pot. When beef goes tender, add the cabbage and potatoes and their cooking water for an hour, along with a teaspoon of nutmeg.
I have found out that crock pots make awesome baked beans. I have a recipe that I like, but I halve it (no need to make 16 servings!), which makes the cooking time dicey. Too long and the beans dry out, too short and they are hard. Do it in the crockpot and it’s easier to check the moisture level and wind up with smooth and creamy beans. Yum!
Oh yes! We’ll get a ham for Thanksgiving, and I wish one of you lived close enough to donate our ham bone with leavings, for beans—I hate to throw it out, but we can’t have the beans on our diet!
Mmmm, gammon and pineapple. (ham). I soooo wish we could break our diet that far, but nay! We’re going to lose that weight!
Freeze it. And when you’re ready to break your diet with a good meal of beans and corn bread you’ve got it handy.
GOod idea. WE love beans. And if you’re going to overindulge in carbs they don’t seem to be as bad a sort of carbs as some.
After years of living and playing at 6,600ft. I prefer a
nice balmy 60* and any degree higher a sweat box. Now,how-
ever my cats,the nice lady that takes care of me and my
doctor have made the higher temps a must. Sure,it makes sense that all the unusual rain Montana got this summer is
a sure sign of little snow this winter. Poor Lynn,fingers
are painful and inconvenient. Frank’s Original Wing Sauce?
Sounds too good to be true,no carbs sounds wonderful!!
Frank’s is available among “sauces and condiments” at your local grocery. It is the standard hot-wing sauce, the classic served in bars shore to shore of the US, for “Buffalo Wings.” I’ll bet your supermarket has it, or chide them until they find it. Great on chicken: the pork worked out really well. Counting that catsup or Italian sauce or chili sauce all are 6-8 carbs per teaspoon, and that bbq sauce is far worse, Frank’s, at 0, is great. Your ribs will turn out a little pale, so dump more Frank’s (bright orange) on them at finish, and you’re good.
Weather is strange on top of our little hill. We have had enough frost to kill dahlias and mandevilla , but the licorice plants are still going strong. Half a mile away there is often heavy frost. I unlike so many am a summer person….so I have no complaints about our little eco-system, on the other hand there is ledge a few feet underground so if it gets cold and snows it stays on the ground forever.:( When we started digging the fish pond we chose an area where the snow clears early and did not hit any major rocks. One thing I do like about the changing seasons is the changing color of light
Looks like I might be making ice lanterns in the freezer this year.
I love my crockpot…I make my own refried beans in it and freeze them…..also pulled pork and chicken…..and soup, baked beans etc……so yes please, chondrite, your recipe for kalua pig.
Is it some sort of rule that the cats that snore the loudest are the ones that want the most cuddles…and want to help the most on the computer?
😆 And what’s this,’ice lanterns?’ Inquiring minds want to know.
Ice lanterns would last about 15 min. in my back yard 🙂
Kalua Peeg: Get a relatively lean pork shoulder roast. If you are having the butcher cut one down for country ribs, you can just have them stop trimming when the roast gets barely small enough to fit into your crockpot. Score the roast shallowly on all sides. Mix Liquid Smoke with 2 tbs. coarse or Kosher salt to make a gritty paste and pat it onto all sides of the roast. Wrap in several layers of plastic bags (an initial layer of tinfoil to keep the Smoke mixture on the roast is helpful) and allow to sit in your refrigerator for 2-3 days.
After the marinating is done, simply stick the roast into the crockpot on low with maybe 1/4 cup of water and allow it to cook most of the day. You should be able to pull any bones out of the roast with your fingers when it’s done, and the pork will shred nicely. The juices will probably be way too salty for anything and can be discarded, as can the big streaks of fat. Eat on its own, or add whatever seasonings you like; the pork will freeze well too.
The neighbors sometimes do the original version of this for their extended family as a pit-roasted whole pig with banana leaves, sweet potatoes and the like, but I have no place to store that much leftover pig, even if we invited all our friends.
Thanks,chondrite, this sounds yummy!
Ice lanterns were pure serendipity,discovered when a couple of buckets of water froze enough to make sturdy shell, with the interior water still…*water*. Turn the whole thing upside down, a little warmth will release it….. sun will work but I use a hairdryer….sort of like releasing a jello mold. Turn the ice back over and stick a candle in it for extreme prettiness. Now I make them by putting a form that is weighted enough to make a good floor inside the bucket. We usually have cold enough nights by Christmas but I have made small ones in the freezer. The limit is the space you have in your freezer ; I have used plastic paint buckets and quart deli containers to good effect. The main thing is to weight them enough so you get a nice candle space and remember ice expands….oh and if you have icicles you need to knock down arrange them in a stockade circle in snow or sand (or something fireproof) and put a candle inside. I use cheap candles for all of this….:lol:
Neat! We’re waiting to get enough snow to show off our snow-viewing lantern in a photo. It takes a candle, too, and I want to get a good pic of it. Pix of ice lanterns will be welcome, too!
And here I am, complaining that the temp is getting down in the 40s at night, while I can still go barefoot outside (for short times, I admit!) during the day. And I put in the new front landscaping. If anyone wants to see it, it’s here: http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh51/philospher77/Front%20yard%20landscaping/
It’s very young right now, so not really showing up well on the pics. Most everything is going to get much bigger and wider as it grows up. I plan on taking some photos as it goes to record the changes.
Oh, and I had a new bird on the feeder recently. I looked at it and thought to myself “that looks like a sparrow on steroids!” which is apparently the exact identification of the female grosbeak. I’d seen males around before, but this was a first for the female.
Looking good, philospher 77! 😀
Oh, it’s great! Good job! Ditch that water-hungry, weekly work lawn, and get something ever so much prettier in its place. Yes!
Please keep us posted on the progress, ‘kay?
We’re hoping to do much the same next summer in the front. There’s just no way to keep lawn happy on the basalt sieve we live on, and we both want trees and shrubs and paths and rock. Mostly, we just want to rent a sod stripper and get that stuff up! 😀