November Week 4: Wow where did November go?
dbarron
2 years ago
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Nancy RW (zone 7)
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Recipes for All Kinds of Sidedishes - Week 4 November 2012
Comments (14)Crock-pot salsa cornbread INGREDIENTS: * 2 boxes corn muffin mix, (8 oz each) * 1 can creamed corn, (15 ounce) * 2 eggs * 1/2 cup sour cream * 1 can chopped green chiles, (4 ounces) undrained * 2 tablespoons soft butter * 3 to 4 tablespoons chunky salsa PREPARATION: In a medium bowl, combine creamed corn, eggs, sour cream, chiles, and margarine. Whisk together until well combined. Add corn muffin mix, stirring well to combine. Generously grease a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker/Crock Pot with margarine or butter. Pour batter into the slow cooker/Crock Pot. Spoon salsa over the top and cut into the batter. Cover and cook on high for about 2 1/2 hours. Turn heat off and let cool with lid ajar, for about 15 minutes. Loosen sides with a knife and invert onto a large plate. If a little of the top sticks to the bottom of the pot, dollop a little salsa on the top, or decorate with sour cream and chopped green onion. Delicious side dish! Serves 6 to 8....See MoreNovember 2017 Week 3 General Garden Talk
Comments (68)I think I have a bad cold, not the flu. I need to kill my husband but love him too much to kill him. We have to put our fire radios on a charger every night to recharge the batteries. Apparently he did not set his radio on the charger, so it started beeping very loudly at 4 a.m. to let us know the battery was almost dead. It was like having a fire alarm going off in the house. Can anyone say "Wide awake?" We had another big fire today, but had spent the morning buying supplies---prepackaged snacks, gas cans, bungee cords, gloves, zipties (no, I don't know why---but the firefighters said they needed them, so we bought them), etc. and cleaning up/reorganizing all the trucks and tweaking minor mechanical issues and such, so we were ready. We had already done all the basics last night, like gassing up all the trucks and refilling all the water tanks. Today was spent fine-tuning everything else and cleaning up the trucks because they were dirty and sooty from last night. We also picked up about another dozen cases of bottled water and Gatorade. We were trying to be ready for anything that might happen. Two big multi-alarm fires in two days concerns me. Today was supposed to be a "low" fire danger day, but eventually our Fire Danger status for our county was showing "High" fire danger, so I guess our weather overachieved. The forecast high was 70 and we hit 77, which I think is a bad sign. By then, we had six VFDs, including ours, out at a combination vehicle fire (a Winnebago with a full 50-gallon tank of gas) and grass fire/wildfire (because a burning vehicle is going to ignite the grass beside it). So, for the second day in a row, our attempt to lay floor tile in the mudroom fizzled out. Maybe tomorrow will be our day. Or, maybe we'll finally get it done sometime in 2018. I feel out of sorts, Jennifer, and have for months. I blame the weather. I feel like, at least lately, we have all four seasons of weather every day. You wake up in the morning and it is cold, so you dress for Winter in sweats, a coat, boots and gloves and go out into 30 or 40 degree weather to take care of the animals. By mid-morning, it has warmed up a lot and you shed the heavier clothing because it feels like Spring. You start thinking it might turn out to be a really nice day after all now that it is no longer cold. Somehow, then, in the early afternoon the house is starting to feel hot, so you decide it is Summertime and turn on the air conditioner. Summertime isn't too bad, as long as you watch out for snakes hiding in the leaves when you're out in the yard with the animals but at the same time, you know that it isn't right to have 75 or 80 or 85 degree weather in November. Then, as soon as the sun starts to set, the temperatures fall rapidly, you turn off the air conditioner and a couple of hours later, make sure to turn on the heater before you go to bed because, now it is Winter again. Stack a bunch of these days on top of one another and it is enough to make anyone feel out of sorts. And...there's dust, pollen (weed and tree pollen here still is at moderate levels) and smoke in the air, so you really don't even want to be outside during the prettiest part of the day, especially if you're coughing your head off. I just want some normal weather. I want it to be cold when it should and hot when it should, and getting rain would be lovely, but I'm starting to think it isn't going to rain ever again. Or, at least it isn't going to rain again in 2017. Other than the above, everything is just peachy keen here. Rebecca, I like JetStar as well as all the other hybrids you mentioned. They all perform really well for me here. In our garden, Jet Star is more productive, but Big Beef has better flavor, so I tend to just grow them both. I think Big Beef is the best-flavored red hybrid available today, and Brandy Boy is the best combination of hybrid vigor, flavor and productivity available in a pink tomato. Amy, Yes, movies were expensive and herding a bunch of kids was a chore, but those still were sweet times, and I cherish the memories. I think the kids had as much fun seeing second-run movies at the $1 theater as they had seeing first-run movies at the bigger, more expensive places. I don't miss those days though---they were great at the time and now they're over. (grin) Now it is those children who are the adults taking their kids to the movies and they can do it without me and I'm not offended at all. I really enjoyed going to movies as a kid in the 1960s and 1970s. We had a little local theater that was open through at least the late 1960s (with a drugstore right beside it that had a lunch counter, stools and a soda fountain) and we went to a local drive-in a lot in the 1970s. I do love Gary 'O Sena. In fact, I like all of Keith Mueller's varieties, though Liz Birt is a more tart flavor so it appeals more to people who like old-fashioned flavor than to those who like the sweeter types of tomatoes. It is conversations like these that make my tomato grow list spontaneously expand and get too long. Nancy, I think it is an age thing. When I'm with my brothers and sisters, I don't want for the gathering to end. Perhaps it is partly because we're at the age now where we've buried at least some of our parents and their siblings and spouses, our grandparents are long gone, and we've lost a cousin here or there far too young, and we're becoming more and more aware of how quickly the time flies by. You look back and wonder where the decades went. It seems like just yesterday we siblings and cousins were the kids, and now a lot of us are the grandparents. How did that happen? Tomorrow we start the last week of November. Where did the month go? Dawn...See MoreNovember 2018, Week 3, We Are Thankful
Comments (19)Nancy, Is it possible that the dog lives somewhat nearby, but his family might be out of town for Thanksgiving and the dog escaped from his yard and came looking for company and attention? Regardless, I bet he is enjoying all the petting and loving attention from the grandkids. I bet y'all are having lots of fun. During the last week, we had the grandkids on Friday-Saturday-Sunday and then Tuesday-Wednesday-part of Thursday, so we had lots of fun together and now Tim and I have the weekend and next week to recover before they visit next weekend. Grandkids are a ton of fun, but somewhat tiring as well. Don't get me wrong---I love every second with them, but then I do need time to rest and recover afterwards. I wish I still had the same energy level as a 4 year old and a 9 year old, but I don't. Last week was a Grinch weekend planned just for the kids. First, I already had bought a Grinch storybook planned on the 2018 movie The Grinch, and it came with a board game. I had it stashed away so I could take it out and surprise them at the appropriate time. We went to a theater in Gainesville TX to see the movie, The Grinch, on Saturday afternoon. As a bonus, a costumed Grinch character was present in the theater lobby so the kids got to do a "meet and greet" with The Grinch and have their photo taken. They were so thrilled. He also walked through the theater a couple of times which thrilled all the kids....big ones and little ones alike. Later on, at home, we read the storybook and played The Grinch board game about a billion times. The next morning we went to IHOP for breakfast and we all ate something off their The Grinch menu, including hot cocoa with minty green whipped topping and little red hearts. This was a thrill for the kids, though the food was just typical IHOP food....but somehow I guess the pancakes are tastier when they are dyed green and have whipped cream and little red heart sprinkles on them. Over the next few days, we played that board game a lot. I'm all grinched out, and if I never eat at an IHOP again, I'm cool with that. (Grin....the things you'll do for your grandchildren! lol) I'm glad you and GDW are able to have the three with you right now. Hopefully the cats will come out of hiding. Jennifer, It sounds like y'all had fun and got a lot of shopping done. Had I not been so tired after most of a week spent with the grandkids, I might have gone to ON because I did think their sale prices sounded great. It was nice to sit at home and not go out and fight the crowds though. There's no real garden news from here either. I am keeping the amaryllis bulbs watered and they are growing, so hopefully we'll have some flowers by Christmas. With amaryllis you never know---sometimes that grow and bloom quickly, and sometimes much more slowly. So, I just hope for the best. One year they all bloomed after New Year's, but another year they bloomed around Thanksgiving. Some years they bloom in succession for weeks and weeks (I have six of them) and those are my favorite years. I start them about the same time every year, but there seems to be no consistency in how long it takes them to come into bloom in any given year. We got half the Christmas lights up on the house today, but a fire and very windy conditions prevented us from getting more work done. Everything here is so dry now since all the vegetation has frozen multiple times, and the cured fine vegetation catches fire quickly....and then the fire moves rapidly in the sort of wind we had today and will have again tomorrow. Would y'all believe our high temperature hit 79 degrees today? It actually felt pretty nice, but the strong wind made it feel cooler than you'd think 79 degrees would feel. Also, the relative humidity plunged down to 15%....hence the fire this afternoon. Tomorrow is supposed to be quite a bit windier, so we will stick close to home and try to get things done while understanding, rationally, that fires are likely and our Christmas decorating plans might get pushed out into the future. A little while ago the head of our local Fire Association sent us all a reminder that one year ago today we were fighting a fast-moving, wind-driven 200-acre wildfire that was a major threat to one home in its pathway and was a more minor threat to a couple more homes. While we stopped the fire from forward advancement just a few yards from the home and barn that day, burning trees and logs kept rekindling in the strong winds over a period of several days and we kept having to go back out and extinguish hot spots. I was getting over the flu/bronchitis that week and being out in the smoke every day really was setting back my recovery. I was coughing my head off out there. It was a rough week. Tomorrow's weather will be virtually identical to what we had on that day last year, so we're all crossing our fingers and hoping for the best---we do not need a repeat of that day. I think I cooked food for the firefighters every day for several days in a row that week so I could feed them out there at the constant return trips to hit new hot spots that were flaring up. How odd is it that we get a total repeat of the weather 1 year and 1 day later if tomorrow's forecast is correct and verifies? Usually I take down the Thanksgiving decorations immediately after T-Day and put up the Christmas tree but I haven't done it yet, and I might not do it for another few days. I am tired, and I keep looking at all the pretty autumn decorations and thinking that I could be happy to keep looking at them for a while yet. Our big red oak out front has peaked and is declining, which makes me sad. I'd say that 85% of our trees are pretty much bare now, and I think a ton more leaves will come down tomorrow. There are still some big red oaks in the woods that are a brilliant red, so at least we still have that bit of autumn color. The bunny population is returning. I don't know if they are cycling up because the coyote population might be cycling down, or if it is just that coyote population has retreated to the nearby river bottom lands because deer hunters are out running around everywhere with guns, but for whatever reason, we've seen more rabbits in the last 2 or 3 days than we've had in months. Someone near us has had a guy with a Bobcat type tree cutter clearing cedar trees and fence lines for a couple of days now....and the noise from that thing is a tiny bit annoying. Mostly it upsets the dogs, who seem to think the constant banging and crashing of it hitting and taking down trees is a threat to them in some way. Thus, the dogs are not spending much time at all outdoors. I'm not complaining, though, because cleaning up the land, which is adjacent to ours, keeps all of us a bit safer if a fire breaks out. I hope they take out all the cedar trees as those things burn like torches. I cannot believe we are nearing the end of November. This month has flown by. Dawn...See MoreNovember 2018, Week 4 "Oklahoma! Where The Wind Comes Sweeping....."
Comments (37)Aaaackk! I'm so far behind I don't know how I can catch up, but I'll try. And, technically, this is a new month and a new week but I want to finish this thread before I start the new one. Bruce, It definitely is encroachment of a major type. Frisco and all the surrounding areas have grown, and continue to grow, exponentially. We drive down some of the roads mentioned in the coyote area occasionally, and they were country roads not too long ago and are city roads now. The development is occurring at such a breakneck pace that one of the things I tend to say to Tim every time we drive through there is ""where's all the wildlife being pushed away into?....what's left for them now?" Amy, It is alright. You've been through a lot recently and I am sure you have a lot on your mind. Now that you've found this thread, I'll go start the new one for this week in a few minutes. Regarding the chickens? We've had ferrets, weasels and ringtailed cats all get into coops we thought were secure, so maybe you have one or more of those sneaky beasties around? The first two, in particular, can squeeze through fences and through tiny openings. Congrats on the contract on your dad's condo. That happened fairly quickly all things considered. I know you'll be glad when you can cross the condo off your list of things you have to worry about. Nancy, The beautiful weather sounds nice. All too soon it will be icky again, either cold or snowy or windy or icy or some combination thereof. Today was only 56 degrees so warm but neither too hot or cold. All the wind the last two or three days brought down most of the leaves left on the trees, so we look really wintery now and even the last remaining red oaks in the neighborhood have lost their red and gone brown or naked now. It definitely looks wintery and I sure miss the green foliage. Fruitcake is an acquired taste. My dad made it as did several of my uncles, but I never acquired a taste for it. Early in our marriage I made one. I have no idea why. I wonder what I was thinking? Maybe I thought that making a Christmas fruitcake was a southern/family tradition I should carry on into my adult life? Nope, nope, nope. It wasn't worth the bother, we didn't even eat it, and I never made one again. If I wanted a fruit cake (and I don't) I'd order this one from Corsicana's Collin Streat bakery that ships tons of them annually: Deluxe Fruitcake A lot of people in Texas, in particular, consider this the ideal fruitcake, perhaps because a lot of it is not fruit---it is pecans. They sell about 3 million pounds of fruitcakes per year (mostly at this time of the year) and ship to at least 195 countries, in addition to the USA. In this particular case, even though I love to bake, I feel like they make a much better fruitcake than I ever could or would or have. Rebecca, I am not even sure my dad and his family members really liked fruitcake, but I guess it was a tradition from their relatively poor youth so they kept making it and eating it....despite not really liking it. I think maybe it is because their parents loved it and they lost their parents really young, so perhaps they clung to the fruitcake tradition as a way of hanging on to their memories of their parents. Larry, It is really kind of you to provide some entertainment for the cows. I know there must be some really good fruitcakes, but most of the ones I've eaten would not have been labeled as good in any shape, form or fashion, which is a shame considering how much work goes into making one. It also is tiring to try to chase down all the ingredients. I've noticed the last two or three years that a lot of the candied fruit type stuff that goes into them isn't even sold in local stores any more. Kim, I bought the Whole Seed Catalog at Sam's Club the first couple of years but it wasn't that special, other than just for reading it to pass the time, and I stopped spending money on it. Jen, I don't know of any way to tell the good seeds from the bad ones when they all look the same at the time you harvest and dry them. About the only thing you could do would be to run a germination test by sowing 10 or 20 of them on a wet paper towel or coffee filter and putting it in a ziplock bag. Check daily to see how many germinate. That at least would give you an idea of what percentage of the seeds you've saved will be viable. Keep in mind if the original plants were hybrids, their offpsring likely will not come true from saved seed. Jennifer, I hope your long day on Saturday went well and that you've spent today resting and recovering. Amy, I was watching the weather when the tornadoes spun up and was horrified when they started issuing Tornado Warnings for a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" type tornado emergency. It looks like it was horrible in the areas hit, but also seems like injuries were minimal and no one died. Why can't we have normal weather here? Tornadoes at the end of November are not unheard of but also not terribly common. We had some very strong wind gusts (likely in the 50s) as our severe tstorms roared through, but no real damage here. Some people in our county had portable structures, like sheds and carports, flipped or destroyed and trees damaged and power lines down and such, but I think it all was straight line wind damage and no twisties here. We got less that 0.20" of rain out of it, but I'm so relieved to not have mud any more that I'm not complaining. Rebecca, I hope y'all found a Christmas tree that was up to your standards. We bought a terrific and beautiful pre-lit one several years ago and I love it. I believe we got it at Lowe's. When I looked at the trees they have this year, none of them were anywhere close to it in quality though. It seems like everything we buy anymore just keeps being made more and more cheaply, although prices continue to go up. We had the girls this weekend and had lots of holiday fun, but I am exhausted and ready for the new week so I can catch up on my rest a little bit, Good-bye November! Dawn...See Morehazelinok
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