There He Goes Again

That time of year has rolled around again.  There goes Santa on a flatbed float.  Ho-ho-ho Merry Christmas!  He was going a little slower this year, so no serious doppler effect this time.

True Color?

I finished a small painting project in the back entry and took some pictures to commemorate the fresh paint before the activities of life ding and scratch it back up again.  It didn't seem to matter what type of light I used, halogen, incandescent, camera flash.  Each time the color came out not quite matching what my eyes saw.  It made me wonder how accurate digital cameras really are at capturing colors correctly.  My dad had dabbled in photography when he was younger, and he had said that the best color film could be judged by the quality and accuracy of matching something yellow.  For my camera, its nemesis appears to be Valspar's Deep Blue Ocean paint.  It is both blue and green, and the camera seems to make it an either/or choice depending on the lighting and exposure.  Perhaps it is yet another item to add to the digital vs. analog debate.

The new paint image as captured with camera flash.

It looks too green, not a match.

This time with overhead entry light, halogen, blurry longer exposure.  Now it looks blue, still not a match.

This is with incandescent worklight, and halogen overhead light.

Still too green, but a little closer, maybe.

The next shot with incandecent worklight and overhead halogen was the best the camera could manage.

It is pretty close, but lacks the brightness of the real thing.

Even on the dark side of the house (north facing entry), the blue is really bright; it is a make you want to go to a tropical beach bright.

So I tried putting the paint sample chip on the scanner,

and it gave me this.

So it would appear the scanner has a problem too,

because the scan did not match the chip.

After playing with the image settings,

this is as close as it gets to what appears on the wall.

It would appear that in digital photography a bold blue-green is just as elusive as the perfect yellow was back in the days of film.

Blue Skies, Dog's Shower, & Biscuits

There is nothing quite like the clear, cold blue skies after the first real winter day appears.

After adventures with mom, it was time to give Chloe a bath.

 Runaway curls.

Mom,

"Please give me the dog biscuit.

I was a very good girl.

I sat still when you dug the gunk out of my ears with Q-tips.

Ok, so I didn't listen when you told me to stop shaking my head,

oops, not so good.

I jumped into the tub when you asked me to,

and didn't jump back out until after the bath was all done.

I didn't rub my nose and snort on too much of the furniture after you released me from the bathroom.

For a dog, that is about as good as it's ever gonna get."

Sit still for the picture;

then you can have your treat.

Flash,

crunch,

crunch.

Now for people biscuits.

Sweet and Savory Hickory Nut Biscuits

Biscuit Dough Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

generous 3/4 cup cold skim milk

Preheat oven to 450 deg. F.

Mix together dry ingredients.  If you can get it, use 2 1/4 cups White Lily Self Rising Flour in place of the first 2 ingredients.  Whisk together olive oil and milk, pour into dry ingredients and stir just until incorporated.  Drop onto oiled #8 cast iron skillet.

Sprinkle 3-4 handfuls of hickory nutmeats over the top of the dough.  If you cannot get hickory nuts, pecans are the closest substitute.  Press them into the dough slightly.  Melt 2-3 Tbs. Smart Balance light and baste the top of the biscuit dough with it.  Mix 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1-3 dashes of Penzy's Chili 9000 or your favorite chili powder in a small bowl.  Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the biscuits.  Bake for 12-14 minutes.  Serve while still warm.

Remove all biscuits from the pan while still warm, because the sugar and any Smart Balance that dribbled down into the pan will carmelize then harden and stick like glue if your pan does not have a really good cure.  Enjoy.

Sunny Day

Have to go help mom take a shower.  Oh, and Chloe needs a bath too.  Too bad it isn't possible to scrub them both at the same time.  Maybe there will be the first winter blue sky and food pictures later.  Enjoy your Saturday.

Was Today Black Friday?

We didn't notice.  We did not go shopping.  Although the day was a bit noisy with the wind howling quite steadily since yesterday afternoon.  Since it is unlikely that we will see temperatures in the 60's anytime soon, it is time to begin installing the window insulator kits.  There are nine windows done, and ten more to go yet.  You might ask why we haven't installed more efficient windows.  Well for the price of one good replacement window not including labor, trim and misc. incidentals, we can install insulator kits for about seven years.  By the way, this house has 30 windows, including the ones on the front porch, and they all still work.  If it ain't broke....

Thanksgiving, Hunting, & Misc. Adventures

We wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving, and pray that all blessings both large and small will be remembered with gratitude.

Firstly, I am thankful that the air quality advisory has been lifted.  Between people burning leaves, local industry, and mega-farms spreading liquid poo, the air has been a bit thick to breathe since Saturday or Sunday.  Breathing fresh air is really fun for a wonderful change of pace.

Last year's Thanksgiving gathering was quite large with all of hubby's siblings, spouses, and children gathered here at our house for a meal and a family discussion on ma and pa-in-law's health, living arrangements, and various legal issues.  It was very busy to say the least.  This year, the extended S. family has chosen to gather around Christmas time instead and leave Thanksgiving for individual family celebrations.  Although you might have liked seeing lots of pictures of another multi-course meal, I am glad to have this Thanksgiving off as chief cook.  (I'm not a big fan of turkey, sorry.)  Dad went to New Jersey with his lady to visit her family, and mom and step-father will frequent a local banquet hall for their Thanksgiving meal.  They love the food there, but I can cook better and am usually disappointed by the food offered at the restaurant.  Plus my being there might ruin mom's party by reminding her of all the things she should not eat (basically most of the menu).  She will probably end up getting two insulin shots tomorrow to take care of metabolizing the feast properly.

Hubby has to work on Thanksgiving day, but the overtime will come in handy to pay for meat, since the hunt provided no venison this year.  Hubby saw two illegally constructed blinds and some illegally placed salt licks in the public hunting area.  He also found a fresh gutty (probably acorn chunks), blood trail from one of those salt licks trailing off 1/2 mile into the swamp, but he lost the trail in the thick stuff.  (He was picking twigs out of the scope mount when he got home.)  He figures that some Fudds (as in can't hit the broadside of a barn Elmer Fudd type hunters) gutshot a deer, and it died a slow and painful death back in the swamp.  Oh, and an animal rights activist bought land adjacent to the public hunting area; he goes out at sunrise and before sunset during hunting season and runs noisy machinery around his property to spook the deer.  Unfortunately, it only takes a few jerks to tarnish the enjoyment of hunting season for everybody else.  I think hubby needs to find a different hunting spot, but he likes going out to the Wild Rose area, because Lauritzens Sport Shop is out there. It is a family owned store that specializes in guns, archery, and fishing sporting goods (huntwildrose.com).  Hubby found some nice ammunition there last year for his Mauser.  This year he found a nice, transparent scope cover, and they didn't laugh too much at the "high end" piece of inner tube he was using to cover the ends of the scope.

While hubby was having some adventures in the woods, I must admit that I participated in some retail therapy on Sunday afternoon.  So I ventured to the outskirts of the "accursed" mall and visited one store, Penzeys Spices.  That place always gives me a serious case of sticker shock, but I enjoyed wandering the store, smelling the spices, (Warning: chili 9000 can double as sneezing powder if you're not careful), and putting occasional selections into the basket.  Mom wanted some chili powder, so in went a bag of that.  It was not the fancy stuff with natural smoke flavor though, because sometimes smoke flavor bothers her almost as much as msg.  I broke down and also purchased a small bottle of Mexican vanilla extract, a small shaker of Chili 9000, a bag of marjoram, and a bag of cinnamon.  I contemplated buying a little ground fenugreek for my aunt who has digestive troubles, but decided to do a little more research on it's benefits before taking the plunge (more sticker shock).  So far I have already used the cinnamon, vanilla, and chili 9000.  The marjoram might go in some homemade pork sausage, and maybe some chicken and fish dishes.  More recipes will follow in later blog posts as they materialize from dreams to reality.

Since hubby had today off work but has to work tomorrow, we took a trip to the grocery store, and hit the jackpot on reduced for quick sale meat.  Since everybody is getting ready for turkey tomorrow, there were some Angus sirloin steaks, round steaks, and some pork chops at really reasonable prices.  We split one of the tasty Angus sirloin steaks tonight and also had some potato pieces sauteed in a pan with canola oil, seasoned salt, tandoori spice, and malt vinegar, and of course garden green beans from the freezer.  The round steaks will go in the freezer for another day.  The pork chops will probably make a nice brunch tomorrow baked with some wild rice, brown rice, and cream of mushroom soup.

Not wanting to leave hubby without treats for Thanksgiving, I asked him what baked treats he wanted.  So a fresh batch of pumpkin spice bread was made today, and a batch of peanut butter cookies.  The bread smells really yummy with the Penzey's cinnamon in it!  Before he headed to bed, hubby caught Chloe trying to huff a peanut butter cookie off the cookie sheet on the table.  She could have reached it if she had put her paws on the table, but she knew we were watching.  It really did look like she was attempting to generate enough vacuum force by inhaling to lift the cookie, without success poor dear!

Dog Food for Dinner?

Hubby had a lovely day yesterday in the woods.  He saw a fat squirrel, but unfortunately he saw no deer yesterday.  After spending the afternoon putting new wiring up in the basement, I was not terribly interested in cooking a multi-course fancy meal.  To add to the culinary chores, Chloe has gone on a bit of a hunger strike after coming out of season.  She is in no real danger of starving since when she was in season, she ate whatever she could. Seriously, she had the appetite of a pothead with PMS munchies to boot.  She even tasted scraps of paper and floor lint.  Getting back to the subject of what was for dinner, a dish was needed that could feed man and canine beast.  My reply to hubby was "dog food, and would you like salsa on yours?"  To which he said, sounds good.

So without further ado, here is the recipe for Dog Food.
(Or if you want to be gourmet about it, Risotto with Pumpkin and Beef.)
2 1/4 cups medium grain or short grain brown rice, sorted,
   rinsed, and drained
4 cups water
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 pound sirloin roast, trimmed of any silver skin and fat, and cut into very small pieces (or lean ground beef)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

Put all ingredients into a 1 gallon pot, bring to a boil, turn heat down to a low simmer, cover and simmer for 35 minutes.  Turn off the heat, stir it, put the lid back on and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.  Add water if the consistency is too gloppy.  Put a serving on a plate for the dog and let it cool for 10-15 minutes.  While the dog's portion is cooling, the people can eat their portions hot.  Add more salt to taste if needed.  It goes well with salsa.  If you make it with stock rather than water, check the ingredients to make sure there are no onions in the stock, or it will be poisonous for your canine friends.