The Excellent Adventure...Part 1

Lovey Puppy and Friends were getting 

bored with going to Grandma's house.

Bored with making soap, bored with cooking, bored with sewing. 

They had more fun when Grandma played....

They loved to watch The Little Boy and Grandma shoot the bow and arrows,

sword fight with their sticks and skip rocks at the creek.

Grandma wasn't very good at any of these things...

But there was one thing she was good at.

Story telling.

Magic wands, far away places, evil kings, flying dragons, enchanted forests...

Grandma knew about these things!

Lovey Puppy and Friends would listen when Grandma read to the Little Boy.

They imagined themselves riding the dragons,

 fighting the evil kings and camping in the enchanted forests.

They wanted an adventure like the ones Grandma told about in the stories!

But how to make it happen?

The Little Boy did have a magic wand.....

And a flying dragon!!!

Lovey Puppy and friends started making plans!



Till next time,

Bonjour

Grinding Pork, Making Breakfast Sausage

Well....

Ground Pork

I'm experimenting again.

I haven't used my meat grinder in quite some time

but a great deal on some "pork roast" 

 made me pull it out again.

This meat was labeled  "for Carnitas", (a Mexican dish).

Heavily marbled, it seemed the right type of meat for breakfast sausage.

I ground it up, sort of,

the fat keep clogging the grinder,

added herbs and seasonings, then fried it.

It was ok, not great, dry tasting,

I guess I need to experiment some more.

Round Two!

I decided to grind some more to use as taco meat.

I trimmed away some of the fat this time and that helped getting it through the grinder.

I sautéed  the meat with some onion,

garlic and jalapeno peppers,

then added chili powder, cumin, diced

 tomatoes and tomato sauce.

I cooked until the liquid had reduced a bit,

then served in taco shells with grated cheese on top.

That turned out really good.

So the first batch, with the fat, turned out dry,

and the second batch with the reduced fat turned out great.

Maybe I cooked the first batch too long?

Maybe the acidity of the tomatoes in the second batch helped to tenderize it?

 Anyone have any opinions/suggestions?

Till next time,

Bonjour

It's A Family Thing

Oh Boy!!!

I'm off to Louisiana for the day.

I'm going to my sister Kathy's birthday party.

Mom and Dad had a system,

3 kids born in May, 3 born in November.

Save on cake!

(I don't know what happened with my brother Mike, he's a groundhog's day baby.)

Anyway,

I didn't think I would be able to go.

We only have one vehicle, so the logistics of getting Steve to and from work

and me to Louisiana just wasn't going to work out.

 

That is until the vehicle fairy showed up!!!

It's a long involved story but the bottom line is....

I have a sweet ride for my little jaunt to Louisiana.

(Thank you Heather).



My beautiful daughter, Heather



It's about a 3 hour drive,

the party's at 3,

 so if I leave at noon I should be ok.

 

 I'll take lots of pics.

Do you think it's significant that there's a lot of 3's

in this post?

 

Till next time,

Bonjour

 

 P.S. Sue- you're right...

blogger is acting up.

It erased the comments from my last post,

is doing weird stuff with my labels 

and it's not formatting correctly!

My Sweet Valentine Gift

Canton First Monday & Frugal ideas

OMG.....

I can't believe I slept soooo late, almost 9:30, all that walking at First Monday I guess.

Half the day is gone already!

Yesterday at First Monday

I wanted to take a few photos of all the great crafts, but it was so crowded in the sheds, there was no way!

We headed out on to the grounds for a little junking. (not nearly as crowded)

My friend Irma was with us & she's working on cross crafts, so we scouted for the parts & pieces she needed.  (You take different sizes & shapes of wooden crosses, somehow attach them together, then decorate in various ways.) She's making these for a craft fair in November to benefit The Cancer Society.

Here's one she found already painted.  That thing next to it in the cart is a gourd. She wants to decorate/paint it for Halloween.        

I collect dishware so that's what I was looking for. I found this cute Tea/Coffee Pot with the 2 cups & the sugar bowl. (NOTE) They are sitting atop THE RUNZA RECIPE. (a reminder to try the recipe again today)



Steve's mom, Annette was with us also, she likes to buy clothes & jewelry. She got a pretty green sweater & a necklace to match.

Steve found a fruit vendor & scored 8 pints of strawberries for $8.00. I'm thinking jam, preserves, maybe even freeze some for muffins or pancakes. (gave some to mom too)

Mom & Steve

We didn't stay too late, Irma had to get back & help out at the concessions for the football game.

Mom is 83 so we had to be mindful of that also.

We all had a good time & I got to take a few photos.





Fall is here







Bottle Tree



My frugal ideas for today

1. freeze way to ripe bananas for later use in smoothies, muffins, bread ETC

2. freeze stale chips, bread, cornbread to use in stuffing/dressing
3. save the water from boiling your chicken & freeze or can for later use as stock
4. simmer the washed celery ends, onion skins, garlic skins, ETC in a pot of water to make a veggie stock, freeze or can
5. if you have dogs, scatter the vacuum canister contents around the veggie garden, keeps the rabbits away

Feel free to share your frugal/smart ideas.

I'm headed to the kitchen for a day of cooking. Probably need to vacuum also!

Till next time

Bonjour

P.S. Even thou it's called first monday,
trade days last all weekend.

Canton First Monday



First Monday here we come



WELL....

We're off to First Monday Trade Days. Not looking for anything in particular, just like to go.

In addition to all the junk vendors, Canton also has what they call "sheds" where there's plenty of

handcrafted items. It's like a free art show. There are so many talented people with great imaginations. 

Maybe I'll find a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow!

Hope you guys have a great day!!

Bonjour