Heavy Metal Collection

You weren't expecting music

were you?

Name the Bunnies?

Yes, there are two now, one buck and one doe.

The doe hopped into the live trap yesterday evening.

Neither of them have a microchip, and the male is not "fixed".

There is a very slight possibility that the female is fixed, because we did not see any little black bunnies hopping around the neighborhood late this summer.  For now they are drying off in the cat carrier in front of the pellet stove after their flea bath.  I did not see any fleas, but who would with all that jet black hair?  So far the cat is leaving them alone because whenever she sees the carrier it usually means a trip to the vet of which she is terribly afraid.

Since the names Jeff and Lester are highly inappropriate, could you offer any suggestions that imply a degree of mayhem and mischief mixed with their otherwise highly agreeable nature?

Some that come to mind are

George and Gracie

Chuck and Sarah

Borris and Natasha

Bonnie and Clyde

(Ok, maybe I haven't completely forgiven them

for the garden and apple tree chewing yet.)

Any other suggestions?

Oops, I Forgot to Take Pictures

at Christmas Lunch.

Lucky for you, there were a few leftovers.

I sent the shrimp home with mom,
because they are her favorite,
but there was plenty extra of the other items for pictures.
Here is the traditional homemade chicken and vegetable soup.

Some mashed potatoes, catfish and apple slices were added to the leftovers from Christmas lunch.  The Christmas lunch menu was chicken-vegetable soup with crackers, fresh molasses-wheat bread, shrimp, steak, and pumpkin topped with bacon, pecans, and cinnamon.

Making use of the pumpkin skins and the apple cores, I restocked the live-trap outside.  the rabbits have been "pruning" the lower branches of my apple trees rather severely and leaving lots of "smart pills" in the yard, which Chloe tries to eat when she thinks I'm not watching.  This morning we had a well fed black rabbit in the trap.  Most of the bait was devoured.  It is a tame rabbit.  The humane society checked it for a microchip, but there wasn't one.  The trap has been restocked, and maybe tonight we will catch the other black rabbit that has been roaming the neighborhood since this summer.  I hope we catch that one too, because they are close pals.  So the bunny from this morning is hanging out in the basement in Tigger's cat carrier for now until I can build a proper hutch.  He was crunching happily on some bird seed, until I can get him some rabbit pellets.  If we catch the other one and it is also a male, I am thinking of naming them Jeff and Lester.  If the other one is a girl, that would be nice too - free breeding stock for meat rabbits anyone?  Once again, I will have to check the city ordinances on such things.  I already know they don't allow chickens.  Considering that the black bunnies have been running loose for a while, I would not be surprised to find the wild ones in our neighborhood sporting darker colored coats in the future.

Well, it is time to go shopping for some flea shampoo (just in case) and rabbit kibble.  Lester is not going to like getting a bath at all!

Oh, and on the car front, stepfather and I took the one with the bad exhaust to the shop today.  He actually did all the work of tying up the broken portion for the short and noisy drive to the mechanic.  Thankfully the police car that we saw was going the other way.

The Spirit of

Christmas is gradually creeping into our household.

Hmm, there's something not quite kosher about that nativity scene.

(The blue piggy was a reoccuring white elephant gift at an annual Christmas party with friends a few years back.)

This is a picture of the tree from a few years ago;

the plastic one I put up yesterday will have to do for this year.

I went shopping today to pick up hubby's present and to get a little something he can "give" me.  Colds and miscellaneous family emergencies definitely cut into the spare time over the last few weeks.  It is also nice to have all the December bills paid before buying any extras.  Food is still in the preparation stages for the Christmas lunch with mom and stepfather tomorrow.  Pictures will be posted after the fun is done.

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Using an Ice Scraper

on a driveway is about as efficient as scrubbing a floor with a toothbrush.  On the plus side, I think my aerobic exercise is done for today.  Stay warm, and have a wonderful Sunday!

Having Lots of "Fun" with Cars

And they are not even mine.  So, stepfather cracks off the exhaust system 2 feet ahead of the muffler while exiting a parking lot.  That's one car down until it can be fixed.  They have another car, but haven't bothered to drive or maintain it for over a year since mom stopped driving and a tree branch fell on the car and broke the driver's side rear view mirror.  A new/used mirror is on order.  

After digging frozen tree blossom crud and other stuff from around the wiper arms and checking oil and other necessary fluids, I took stepfather shopping for some new wiper blades. His first question when we entered the auto parts store was, "Can we just buy the rubber wiper inserts?"  How many years ago did they stop selling those?  After persuading him that he's not going to find those anymore, he bought two full replacement blades.  We went back to their place and by flashlight installed the blades and also put in a new battery that had been purchased two days before, (but he still hadn't installed it).  I like Hondas; they tolerate neglect better than a lot of other cars.  It started on the first try!  It test drove fairly well last night, but today it presented with the annoying squeak/grinding sound of unhappy wheel bearings, not surprising really.  So that one is also parked until the Christmas holiday is over and it can visit the mechanic for a full checkup.  Guess I will be their driver for the next week or so.  I am seriously considering crawling under the one with the broken exhaust and seeing if I can rig a temporary patch with soup cans, safety wire, and high temperature sealant.  Some kind of temporary patch will have to be made in order to drive it to the mechanic anyhow.  If I hurry and get my regular chores done, there might be a little time left to do some Christmas baking, but don't hold your breath waiting, sorry.

Have a wonderful weekend!  I sincerely hope your days are not as "interesting" as mine have been.

Been Popping Wheelies Today

with my snowblower that is.

The snow is deep, wet, and heavy.

It has not stopped snowing yet, but it was getting so deep already by noon that clearing was necessary and wheelies were needed to get the tops of the piles with the snowblower.

It is quite possible that the clothes I was wearing will dry faster if I run them through the wash first.

I saw a tow-truck pulling a mail delivery truck this afternoon.

The mail hasn't arrived yet;

maybe that was the delivery truck for our neighborhood.

Pumpkins

They have turned a bit more orange

since they were picked in September.

Then - above.

Now - below.

A few have "disappeared".

It was nice to have some smaller ones this year;

they fit easily in a roasting pan when cut in half.

Not sure if that stubborn green one will ripen or give up and rot.

Perhaps another one will be served

with Christmas lunch next week.

Hot and Sour Soup Recipe

Sorry about not posting the recipe earlier; I was still under the influence of the cold.  This recipe has been "adapted" from one found in The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines by Jeff Smith.  Public television dropped his show like a very hot rock when someone accused him of doing very naughty things.  Never heard what happened after that, but his career on TV was over in a flash.  I have found his recipe to be a bit too thick like gravy, so I increased the liquid quantities.  Also ordinary grocery store mushrooms were used rather than the fancy dried ones, and I added carrots, turnips, and onions to the recipe.

Ingredients:

6 quarts chicken stock or water with the appropriate amount of chicken stock concentrate

3-4 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 to 1 pound lean pork cut into julianne

  (Not too long, it is a royal pain when they don't fit on the spoon!)

2 large carrots, cut into short julianne

1-3 shogoin turnips (if you can find them) cut into short julianne

2 or 3 strong yellow onions, diced very small

12-16 oz. mushrooms, washed, cut in half and sliced thin

Bamboo shoots, cut in julianne (optional)

3/4 -1 tsp. white pepper, freshly ground

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

  (Or if you want this recipe to have two kinds of hotness,

   use the vinegar from a jar of pickled jalapenos.)

5-6 tablespoons corn starch mixed with an equal amount of water

1 cake of firm or extra firm tofu, cut in 3/4" cubes

3 or 4 eggs, beaten

Additional salt and some black pepper to taste (optional)

Kimchi pepper flakes (optional garnish)

In a 2 gallon stock pot bring the stock to a boil, add the soy sauce, the carrots, turnips, and onions.  Cook on a high simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the pork, and cook for 5-10 minutes more.  Add the mushrooms (and bamboo shoots) and when the soup has returned to a high simmer, add the white pepper, vinegar, and corn starch mixture.  Stir until thickened.  Add the tofu.  When the soup has returned to a high simmer, pour in the beaten egg in a thin stream over the surface area of the pot. and let it sit for 30 seconds or so before stirring.  Taste, adjust seasonings if necessary and serve.  It refrigerates well; on the second day, more vinegar and pepper may need to be added as their flavors will have been absorbed by the ingredients.  This soup cannot be frozen because the corn starch will cause the soup to separate when thawed, so only make enough to eat within 2 or 3 days.  Enjoy.

Sunset

The morning began with hubby taking Chloe outside,

but since it was raining Chloe decided to hold it for a while longer.

Here's a sunset from the other evening to brighten things up a bit.

There is one trouble with living in town.

The neighbor's house does get in the way a bit.

Scorch That Cold

with some hot and sour soup.

Seriously

Someone from the city stopped by this afternoon to find out if the downstairs electrical and plumbing work was done yet.  We politely told him no, since we had just reopened the permit only a month ago.  I refrained from laughing loudly at him as bureaucrats generally have no sense of humor.  I did however mention that no - the work is not finished yet, no - it is not ready for them to reassess, and therefore my tax bill cannot be adjusted (increased).  When the work is finally finished, I am not looking forward to a larger property tax bill.  And to think all this started not for any desire for a prettier kitchen but because the old drains in this place cannot be trusted for much longer.

The Cold Progresses

It started with general exhaustion.  Then it continued on to randomly shifting clogged sinuses and ears.  First it was the right nostril, then the left, then it switched back and forth... and back again.  Blowing my nose made my ears pop, whistle, and clog.  It is possible that I have single handedly increased the profit margin for Kleenex Ultra for December.  I still think the new "sneeze shield" that they added a few months ago was just a way to add fluid proofing so that they could make the ply's thinner.  Unfortunately, there aren't any other brands of three-ply tissues on the market for competition anymore.

Then the sinus drainage started, which was why I was awake at 2 a.m. the other night.  It was so heavy I could not lay down without feeling like I was going to drown.  Now the cold has moved into my throat and chest.  Chloe does not recognize my voice, what there is of it.  Her look of puzzlement is funny.  I can only guess it means something like "You look like mom, you smell like mom, but you sound like a baritone frog."  Guess it is good that she was trained to come to three whistles, otherwise it would be tricky to get her to come back inside when she goes out for potty breaks.  Thank God I can still whistle.  The cold is hopefully in the latter stages of CCC (coughing colorful crud).  Mucinex is a wonderful thing!

I really wanted to get some serious chores done today.  I did spray some great stuff in a few holes in mom's garage and front porch earlier today.  Hopefully that will keep the squirrels out for now.  Now how did that get in my hair?  Oh yeah, I had to give the can another shake because it was cold outside.  The new windowsill for the garage attic window will have to wait a few more days to be installed.  Now rest is a must.  So in goes a DVD or two, with lots of liquids to drown this cold, and a dog to pet.

 Hope all of you are having WAY more fun tonight!

It is Great to Have Conceal Carry In WI

Thought I would post this now, because the news station will probably bury it in old stories by later in the morning.
http://www.wbay.com/story/20283712/2012/12/06/gun-drawn-after-bizarre-road-rage-incident


Yes, I should be in bed sleeping.  I have a cold and am a bit miserable at the moment.  The good news was a welcome distraction.

Oops, I Let the Smoke Out

It is just a little over a month since I bought a new $50 shredder at Sam's Club.  This week it started making rumbly, grumbly noises.  This was after a month of it overheating and shutting down regularly, and with increasing frequency.  It just didn't like filling its bin in a continuous run.  The most I ever fed into it at once was three sheets.  On that model the motor has no vent holes for cooling, which seems to be a serious design flaw if you plan to run it for more than 5 minutes at a time.  Being a thorough person, I kept running it until it stopped dead, because a partially dead appliance is harder to return.  They have a habit of only misbehaving at home.  It still worked in reverse, but that wasn't terribly useful.  Thankfully, I kept the receipt and Sam's Club gave me a store credit.  I bought the middle priced one this time.  We shall see if it can handle shredding all of mom's old personal and business papers that she just couldn't bring herself to throw away in the last 40 years.  Maybe in a month's time, I will be making a return trip to Sam's club to buy the most expensive shredder they sell, but I hope not.  Oh, by the way, those big paper yard waste bags are really nice; they hold a lot of shredded paper!

Update:  The new one will shred 2 1/2 bins full before the overheat trip function cuts the power.  Thankfully, it cools off much more quickly.

Pickled Jalapenos

Remember that bumper crop of Jalapeno peppers?

They were turned into pickled jalapenos,

because otherwise they just shrivel and get ignored all too often,

and that would have been such a terrible waste.

This was another recipe obtained from Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda J. Amendt.  But as you probably have already guessed, I altered it some.  The yield was about 6 1/2 half-pint jars rather than 4 pints, because I cut the peppers in slices rather than pickling them whole as the recipe instructed.

Six jars were processed and put in the pantry, the partial half pint did not get processed and just went in the fridge.  It is almost gone and has worked pretty well as fridge jalapeno pickles.  When I open one of the other jars, I'll let you know if they have lost any of their crunch.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 pounds jalapeno peppers, tops removed and sliced
2 cups cider vinegar (original recipe called for white)
2 cups white vinegar (original recipe called for 1 cup white wine vinegar)
2 cups distilled water (Don't use tap water; distilled water has a neutral pH and will not react with the vinegar.)
4 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
  (These will be strained away later.)
2 tsp cumin (I added this to the recipe.)
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Wash the peppers, cut off the tops and slice them to a uniform thickness, you choose how thick.

In a 2-3 quart stainless steel pan, combine the vinegars, water, garlic, cumin, and salt.  Bring mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer mixture covered for 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Using a stainless steel strainer and a coffee filter, strain out the garlic and the cumin seeds, keeping the liquid only.  Return the liquid to the pan and put it back on the stove to keep warm.

Pack the pepper slices into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Add the hot brine, maintaining the 1/2 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles, and remove any floaters and floating seeds that might try to work their way into the seals during processing.  If necessary, add more brine to maintain the headspace.  Insure rims are clean, and screw on hot lids.  Process in 180 to 185 deg F water bath for 30 minutes, same time for pints or half pints.  A candy thermometer is handy for monitoring the temperature.  Unlike the mince, my stove was actually able to maintain that temperature.

Made some jalapeno & cheese "popper" wontons the other day.  They were pretty tasty.  They would make a nice, inexpensive snack at a fancy or casual Christmas party.  It would be funny to see people's faces when they bite one expecting crab rangoon and find a jalapeno cheese filling instead.  I'll post that recipe once I get some pictures of it.  Forgot to take pictures the other day; they kinda disappeared rather quickly.