Ds2 found a praying mantis on the grapefruit tree today! He exclaimed to me, "Mama! I found a praying mantis!" :-) It was a beautiful green praying mantis. I have always loved praying mantis. When I was a child, my mom once had a "pet" praying mantis. We lived in a rental place and the owner would have a bug spraying service come by regularly to spray the property. My mom forgot about it and was crying and so sad that her praying mantis was probably killed. But then we found it and it was okay. It lived in some of the plants near our front porch.
I moved the praying mantis from the grapefruit tree to my garden. I love having beneficial insects in my garden. I had some ladybugs in there the other day? I think birds are eating my lettuce, but I have not had a chance to take care of that.
Until next time.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Praying Mantis
Labels: Gardening, Memory Lane
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Sick Goats
Labels: goats
Monday before last, which would have been the 13th, I noticed one of our baby doelings was feeling sickly. She was standing hunched over and just looked sad. Usually when they are hunched over like that, they are wormy, so the "cure" is to worm them. I wormed her and gave her some Probios. She was still looking poorly the next day, so I asked dh to give her a shot of B Complex and Vitamin C. The Vitamin C couldn't be found, so he gave her a shot of B. I then started thinking she had a cold.
But this week on Tuesday, I noticed the L's boy was acting like he was sick. I thought he just had a cold. The other little doeling was acting like she had gotten better. By Thursday, I had six sick goats. I still thought it was a cold. Everyone's fur was puffed up, they had snotty noses and were hunched over, just looking miserable. It warms up pretty good in the daytime, into the upper 80s, so once the morning chill is over, they seemed to be doing okay. I had looked in my goat books the previous evening, wondering if this could be pneumonia, which can happen with a change in weather. We have never had even one case of it in the 3.5 years we've had goats.
So on Thursday morning, we got out there and started giving immune boosters to everyone that was sick. I gave them all shots of Vitamin C, shots of B Complex, and drenched them with cod liver oil, molasses and garlic powder (herbal store organic).
On Friday... I woke up to find we had eight sick goats... By now I'm beginning to panic, as you can imagine. We have fifteen goats in all, and I was not looking forward to doctoring every last one of them.
I don't like to treat with antibiotics, but one of my goat mentors told me I should use them as pneumonia is 95% fatal. I got worried at that, but it wasn't until I got a few more letters of advice to use antibiotics that I decided to use them.
I actually panicked on Saturday morning when I saw that my favorite milker, L, had a snotty nose. One of the emails said to give 5mls per 100 pounds and a double dose on the first day. So I gave L 15mls. Which I found out afterwards that the dosage is actually 2.5ml per100 pounds. So I quadruple-dosed her. I do not know what the withdrawal time is for this antibiotic. Withdrawal time, as in the need to discard her milk in order to avoid ingesting antibiotic residue.
I ended up being able to talk to a lady that lives in a town about 2 hours from us, and she said I should check temperatures first before using antibiotics. So I used the guidelines if someone had a fever over 105°F, they were started on antibiotics. Luckily only three had temps over 105°F.
My mom came over yesterday to help us with doctoring everyone. I gave the ones without high fevers shots of C and B Complex, the garlic drench and cod liver oil (this is for the A and D vitamins).
My little doe that had been sick for so many days was not good at all yesterday. She was not even interested in THE GRAIN. Being she is her mother's daughter, she loves THE GRAIN. Since she was uninterested, that was quite worrisome. If a goat's rumen shuts down, they are in serious trouble and it is difficult to get the rumen started again, which of course means they could die. So that is always a concern when goats stop eating and drinking.
This morning she was still feeling poorly, so I gave her shots of C and B, and drenched her with an over-the-counter expectorant. I took her temp, which was 103 something, so I knew she was better. I offered her grain on the milking stand, and she nibbled at it. This was a great sign that she was feeling better. Not totally out of the woods yet.
But when we went out this afternoon to give shots to the three on antibiotics (since they now must have a dose for five days in a row), I observed her actually chewing her cud! This was a fantastic sign. She also seemed MUCH better.
I am feeling more optimistic that we won't lose anyone. I went to a thrift store on Friday morning where I was able to buy 10 sweatshirts/sweaters for the goats to wear, and they only cost me fifty cents each. It is a lot easier for them to hold in their heat if they have a covering.
We also ordered our first "squeeze" load of hay yesterday. $10.25/bale plus $10 delivery charge. Total came to $727.50. Seventy bales. We anticipate this should last for 7 weeks.
I'm so glad the sick goats are better, and that no more have gotten sick. Thank God.
Until next time.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Radish Slaw
Labels: recipes
Blogger is not letting me upload pictures. Oh wait. It's only in "Edit Html" mode... hmmm... now what does the code look like... that "div" "/div" thing seems to have stopped!!
I have all these radishes in my garden and I can only eat so many by themselves. So I decided to look on the Internet and see if there were any radish recipes. There were lots of hits for "grated radish" but it didn't seem any of the recipes used more than a tablespoon or two or three of radish.
So I decided to create my own radish slaw. Here is what I put in it:
- 7-8 radishes, grated
- 1 small clove garlic, crushed
- 2 Tablespoons sour cream
- salt to taste
- few shakes pepper
It was very tasty!
Until next time.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Baby, It's Cold Outside!
Labels: LJ
Last night, my little LJ was outside until about 8:00pm. He usually comes in much earlier. His ears were very cold and he curled up in a tight ball on his place on the couch. I snuggled two towels around him. He was asleep within moments. Such a sweetie pie.
Until next time.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Thanksgiving
Labels: blah blah blah
Last year we raised our own turkeys. We overgrew them actually... here is a hen and a tom. This tom ended up weighing 70 pounds and took EIGHT HOURS to pluck. I'm serious. My dh spent four hours immediately, but wearied of the process, so once I got home we both tackled the thing and sat there two hours plucking pinfeathers. He was a dark feathered bird. We learned that white feathered birds are much easier to process.
We had hoped to raise Bourbon Red turkeys this year. Our hen sat on eggs two or three times, but she had little success. We ended up taking some of her eggs and managed to hatch out two. One perished when it was only a few weeks old, and the other one managed to thrive. So now we have two toms and one hen but we don't want to have only one tom, in case it happens to die.
So that left us with a store bought bird this year.
Until next time.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Did I Get a Good Deal or Not?
Labels: Bargain Hunting, Musing
When we got satellite Internet, I cancelled our second phone line. Our home land line ranged from $42 to $50 with long distance at $0.05/minute from $10 to $25/month.
So about $52-$75/month.
When I cancelled the second phone line... I think the bill was going to be about $15 less, but it would still bounce around. So it would have been from $45 on up.
I decided last night that I wanted to have Call Waiting ($3) and so I went to the website to order. While there, I decided Caller ID ($5.85) would also be nice to have, so I ordered that as well. I anticipated the bill to go up by nearly ten dollars. So now we were up to $55/month+ again.
I didn't know that ordering these services was going to be like a shopping cart, so I got to a certain point and thought I was done. I left the computer for over an hour, came back to discover that I still had to hit one last button. I did that, but the "thank you for ordering" page didn't show that I'd ordered anything.
So I called this morning to double check and make sure my order had gone through. It had not. The guy I talked to was very chipper and nice and suggested a "bundle" where I could get three services -- the Call Waiting, Caller ID and one more. I choice the Voice Messaging. I always loved having Voice Messaging instead of having to fuss with an answering machine. So then the guy tells me that they have another thing they can add to this bundle. He says for $40.99/month, I can get these three services, plus free long distance to anywhere in the US, including in-state long distance. That is where the bulk of our long distance occurs, within our home state. As we live in the country, in a different area code, whilst most of our family and friends, my job, etc., live in an area code which makes our calls to them long distance. In-state long distance is free within our state on our *CELL* phones, but they sometimes don't get the best reception while inside the house.
Anyway... I will be curious to see just what the phone bill is each month. The guy made it sound like that's it, period, $40.99. But I bet there will be taxes and surcharges and all kinds of other things like that.
I won't know if I got a good deal for sure until I receive two phone bills. The next one will have a credit amount on it, for cancelling the second phone line. I mean, I guess I could just call and ask them, but I'm not THAT curious.
I'm happy to have those three extra services on the home line. They are nice little things to have.
Until next time.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Who Watches This Stuff?
Labels: Musing
The family and I were sitting around the living room the other morning... someone was channel surfing, don't know if it was dh or ds2 (since they both have a remote, haha!) but we came across this show called _You're Not Getting A Dime_. We watched the last half of it. I couldn't believe how stupid it was. It was a pilot show, I hope no one picks it up.
As far as I could tell, the father wasn't sick or dying, he was just rewriting his will. His four sons were supposed to help him figure out who to leave the house (worth $1 million), his collection of antique cars, and $50,000 cash.
So one son was "not getting a dime."
Ugh.
Until next time.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Cat and Mouse
Here's what happens in our house between cats and mice...
This is Tiger. We think he's visually impaired since he's so clumsy. This is a baby mouse, and the only interest Tiger has in it, is watching it run 'round my tub.
Now here it comes, running toward him. Obviously no fear from the mouse...
And here's the tub later. Sans cat. One lone mouse.
I discovered by chance that the mice were hiding down inside the drain... so I have started to leave the plug engaged. Now I'm finding that the mice (at least the babies) cannot leap high enough to leave the tub.
Even the pitbull, who is supposed to have terrier in his genetics, and according to societal perception, a desire to kill everything, isn't interested in catching my bathtub-trapped mice.
I ask dh or ds2 to do the deed, or on occasion I have slain them myself. Trust me. Removing them gently outdoors does no good at all. They will simply come right back in. Worst case scenario they chew holes in the underside of our manufactured home, big enough to tempt snakes to come inside. No, no, no, no, no!! I would rather slay a mouse or two than deal with a rattlesnake in my bedroom!
Until next time.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Pruning Bushes and Visiting the Dump
Labels: Memory Lane, work
I blogged previously about chopping the poor bougainvillea bushes down to nothing. Yesterday was the day we were scheduled to chop down the other four. As you can see, they are quite full and beautiful. If you click on the photo, I uploaded a large one so you can have a closer look.
It was almost painful to chop these down to nothing. As I said in my aforementioned previous entry, this is what my FIL requested.
So that's the before picture, and now here's the after picture.
I guess it's not so shocking. Again, it's just that I've never seen this type of bush butchered down to nothing, ever before.
The back of our pickup was loaded, as well as our trailer. We brought along some other things to throw away while visiting the dump. The cost was only ten dollars, which is quite inexpensive! Out where we live, it costs $25 just to drive onto the site and dump anything. Then you pay a per pound price. This dump is a long ways from where we live, so it wouldn't really be economical, even though it's cheaper. Once you figure in gasoline at $2.15/gallon and the vehicle only gets 12-15 miles to the gallon... it's cheaper to just pay the $25 to the locals.
I know you will probably never hear anyone else say this, but going to the dump makes me feel sad inside. The thing that makes me feel sad, is to see all the things that people throw away, which are perfectly usable!!!! When we throw things away, they are totally trash and no longer fit to be anywhere, but in the dump! Note the arrows pointing down to the old mattress and two box springs. They are ripped and torn apart and no one could use them for anything. We throw our old mattresses and box springs out for the dogs to sleep on. They play on them and sleep on them, and rip them apart... so they need to be thrown away.But while we were at the dump, I saw truck after truck, after truck with men throwing away perfectly good things. One man, I imagined that he was a landlord who had evicted some tenants. He was driving a rental trailer, and he had trouble getting it backed in properly. He kept jack-knifing it and having to pull forward, and try again. He threw away a propane fueled barbeque, not the best one you can buy, but it looked like it was in perfectly usable condition. He also threw away a wooden desk, just a little one that you might sit at and write notes. Not a big office desk. He threw away a desk chair and a la-z-boy type chair. Plus a bunch of other things that looked like something you shouldn't be throwing away!
Another man threw away two big wooden gate looking things, plus a bunch of big pieces of plywood. The gate things looked really neat and I'm sure would have made some really good shades for the goats.
But it's illegal to take anything with you from the dump nowadays. When I was growing up... we rarely had a vehicle to go to the dump with, but when we did, it was okay to take anything there that we might have been able to use. But now people throw away perfectly good things, and smash, into the refuse pile it goes. At least at this dump.
We have been to another dump that does a good amount of recycling and has areas cordoned off for things like bicycles and parts, mattresses and box springs, furniture, etc. But I think they take it someplace and refurbish and then sell it. Or maybe sell it to someone. I know it's probably grossing you out to think of reusing someone's old mattress... but I have never bought a brand new bed in my entire life. The only ones I could allow myself to buy would be such cheap pieces of crap that they would wear out in a year's time.
Until next time.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Two Bread Things I Learned Today
Labels: Nourishing Traditions
First off, I decided to try converting my favorite banana bread recipe... I have always known that quick breads should be made with pastry flour, and I just received my food coop order which included pastry wheat berries. Only as usual, when the idea struck me, it was night already and I don't like to grind flour indoors due to the flour dust and noise. And I don't want to grind outside once it's night. Just too noisy.
Anyway, I took out my cook book, La Leche League's _Whole Foods for the Whole Family_ and noticed that I had made a note to myself (years and years ago) to not use pastry flour because the bread came out too soggy. Nowadays I'd just add less liquids to fix that. At any rate, when I saw that I'd made a note to myself years ago to use regular flour vs. pastry, I thought I'd just go ahead and try it.
Bad idea. I did wonder how I was going to mix the bananas, maple syrup, oil, etc., into the glutenous ball of soaked flour... but I figured it would eventually mix in. It wouldn't. I put it in my KitchenAid on high speed using the whisk... all that did was break the soaked flour down into little globs. I ended up fishing through the batter with my fingers, feeling each little bit and pulling out all the flour globs. I put all the globs into my blender and blended them. I didn't want to pour the entire batter into the blender, because I like to leave my bananas mashed and in little clumps.
I also decided to add an extra 1/2 teaspoon baking soda since the batter had been mixed so much. I always try to mix my banana bread quickly and only as much as needed to thoroughly mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients, then pop it into the oven. Obviously soaking the flour first changes that.
The banana bread actually turned out, but I want to try making it with pastry flour next time.
Second thing I learned. This is regarding yeast bread. I have been soaking my flour overnight, using 1 cup water and 4 tablespoons kefir. I decided to soak this batch for 24 hours. This loaf was extremely sour. So I will probably refrain from soaking more than 12 hours. This loaf was a flop. The only saving grace is it will work excellently for Zucchini Custard Casserole. I could also soak it with kefir for the chickens. They always love kefir-soaked failed loaves of bread. :-)
I have renewed my interest in trying to avoid phytates. There is a book coming out in spring of 2007 called Rebuild from Depression and the author has put an excerpt from her chapter on phytic acid on her website. It is a very convincing excerpt, and although I've read about the problems with phytic acid, it never really sank in all that well. Basically, whole wheat flour/grains, etc., contain phytic acid. Phytic acid binds to minerals while in your intestines, moving them out of your body so that your body cannot use these minerals, especially zinc and magnesium. The very first part of her excerpt mentions the vegetarian diet and believes the absorption of these minerals could be doubled by following the soaking methods.
Until next time.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Books I've Read in 2006
Labels: books
Thursday, November 16, 2006
My Accent
Wow. This thing is pretty accurate.
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta. | |
| North Central | |
| The Midland | |
| Boston | |
| The South | |
| The Inland North | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The Northeast | |
| What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes | |
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Fall 2006 Seed Order and Lotsa Radishes
Labels: Gardening
Radishes from yesterday's thinning and there are still more to go! There's a couple dozen here, I'd say, and there is a good 3-4 dozen more out there. LOL. I was hoping to encourage myself with the growth of SOMETHING, anything! Radishes grow so fast, I knew they would be encouraging. The varieties in the photo above are Purple Plum and French Breakfast.
I did order seeds from my favorite seed company, and was surprised at the shipping cost. Apparently they finally decided to raise their seed shipping price. I suppose it is due to the Internet shopping cart. They used to take the order, then compute the shipping costs later, and charge your credit card later. But now they charge a flat rate, based on how much you buy.
This is what I ordered:
SP3. MUNG BEANS 4 Oz. 1.95 These are the beans used to make bean sprouts that are found in the store. We have a hard time finding fresh bean sprouts. They don't seem to last too long once we get them home. So we know we have to use them that night or the next night at latest. I'd like to try growing them.
- 51. BUBBLES Brussels Sprouts (F1 Hybrid 88 days) 1.50
- 53. FALSTAFF Brussels Sprouts (95 days) 1.50
- 32. EARLY WONDER Beets (50 days) 0.80
- 36. ACTION Beets (F1 Hybrid 50 Days) 0.95
- 45. DIA GREEN Broccoli (F1 Hybrid 43 days) 1.25
- 6101 GONZALES MINI Cabbage (F1 hybrid 55 days) 1.25
- 64 KRAUTMAN Cabbage (F1 hybrid 73 days) 1.50
- 73 LITTLE FINGER Carrots (60 days) 0.75
- 74 RED CORED CHANTENAY Carrots (75 days) 0.75
- 78 HEALTHMASTER Carrots (80 days) 0.95
- 82 SILVER CUP 40 Cauliflower (F1 hybrid 40 days) 1.25
- 84 GRAFFITI Cauliflower (Purple!) (F1 hybrid 75 days) 1.75
- 8402. CHEDDAR Cauliflower (Orange!) (F1 Hybrid 58 days) 1.75
- 94. BRIGHT LIGHTS Chard (F1 hybrid) 0.95
- 152 ICHIBAN IMP Eggplant (F1 hybrid 57 days) 1.25
- 158 LAVENDER TOUCH Eggplant (F1 hybrid 66 days) 1.25
- 19101 KONSERVA Kale (50 days) 0.95
- 203 PINETREE LETTUCE MIX 0.95
- 213 TOM THUMB Lettuce (47 days) 0.75
- 257 MR BIG Peas 1.50
- 280 CAYENNE-LONG Pepper (70 days) 0.75
- 301 CHERRY BELLE Radishes (21 days) 0.75
- 332 SPACE Spinach (F1 hybrid 41 days) 0.95
- 406 SUNGOLD Tomatoes (F1 hybrid 60 days) 1.50
- 395 CLUSTER GRANDE Tomatoes (F1 hybrid 63 days) 1.25
- 409 TIP TOP Tomatoes (74 days) 0.95
- W239 CHIOGGIA Beets (55 days) 0.95
- W321 VERTE A CARDE BLANCHE Chard (54 days) 0.95
- W467 EVERGREEN BUNCHING HESHIKO Green Onions (65 days) 0.95
- W468 BUNCHING CRIMSON FOREST Green Onions (60 days) 0.95
Subtotal $35.45
Shipping Calculated 5.25
GRAND TOTAL $40.70
Until next time.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Blogger is Driving Me Mad
Labels: geek-stuff
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
Labels: recipes
I have a hankering for chocolate chip cookies, and thought it would be fun to make them giant-sized. So I went looking on the Internet and found Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies from the All Recipes site.
I actually managed to follow the recipe exactly. Except my recipe only made 9 giant cookies, instead of one dozen.
Until next time.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
My 9 Month Old Pooch
Labels: LJ
I shot this picture of him yesterday. He's gotten SOOOO big!! We weighed him a couple of weeks ago, and he weighed 69 pounds. Not an ounce of fat on him, he's pure muscle. He loves playing fetch and is learning to herd the basketball outside. He still rolls around on his back with toys, pawing the air and chomping the toy.
He outgrew his crate several weeks ago; he could still get in and snuggle into a tightly curled ball, but he couldn't stretch out at all and it just didn't feel right to expect him to sleep that way. One night he had an accident in his crate and it was taken outside for cleaning but never got brought back in.
The first few nights, I didn't feel comfortable allowing him to sleep by himself in the livingroom, so I called him to sleep with us in bed. He was so excited to get to sleep with us. Around that time, my asthma started acting up, and I started to wonder if it was because I had a dog sleeping in my bed... after all, I did test positive as being allergic to dogs. Also because he is so big, I was sleeping on the very edge of my side and dh was getting his back scratched every night due to the pooch stretching out.
So we decided to let him sleep in the living room. He is house broken, but I was worried that he might not be able to make it overnight. His being housebroken is such a HUGE thing for dh and I. When I was growing up, I remember when I was 6 years old and we had a dog that we could never get housebroken. Well duh, we were gone many hours a day. We dealt with that problem in later years by having outside only dogs. We used to babysit this one dog, a Golden Retriever named Dukie but he was housebroken by his owners. When dh and I were first married, our first Christmas, he bought me a miniature black poodle. I named her Mistletoe and we called her Missy. We could never get her housebroken. We finally gave her to one of our neighbors that wanted her. Our other dogs were already housebroken since we got them as adults. We couldn't get our sister puppies, Tess and Penny, housebroken. We just didn't know how to do it, duh!! We would let them out by themselves and then call them back in and they would wait until they came back in to potty!!!!
With LJ, I took him outside and stayed with him and told him to "go potty" and praised him when he went. He figured out what we wanted him to do.
Early Thursday morning, around 2am, I heard whining at our bedroom door. I got up because I figured LJ had to go potty. He was so happy to see me, his tail wagging hard but he was also slowly walking toward the front door, where he rang the bell.
We've trained him to not bark in the house, and this works out really wonderfully as he will look up and listen when he's inside, but mostly sleeps through hearing our other dogs barking.
I figured he had to go to the bathroom since he usually sleeps through the night. I stood on the front steps outside the front door, listening to the night sounds. Hannah, our dog pack leader was moving things around by the garden, probably after a lizard or some crawling critter. The moon was shining brightly and I could hear one of our milkers, Miss L. calling questioningly, wondering if it was time for milking yet, and what was going on over there with all that racket? One of our other dogs, Tess, ran over to see LJ. Through all this, he did his business and came running back to come indoors and continue his night's sleep. I have let him stay outside two or three nights and it is so funny because the next day he's exhausted since he's been on high alert all night long. Anyway, that was a huge breakthrough, as to me it says he is fully housetrained and he also respects that this is our territory and not to be soiled.
I was realizing the other day that he never bothers the trash. I mentioned that to dh this morning and he said that LJ did show some interest in the trash a few days ago, but he corrected him and that's that. He is so intelligent.
Oh, the latest thing he's learning is to carry the flashlight. He is so proud and excited about his light. The past week when I leave for work it's dark - that's normal since I leave at 5:30am, but I've been home late every single night and it is also dark once I arrive home (close to 7pm). LJ carries the flashlight proudly every morning and evening. There is a little rope with a ball hanging on the flashlight. Sometimes he carries it by the rope, but sometimes he carries the whole flashlight in his mouth. Backwards. So the light is shining into his throat, LOL!! He is so proud. He prances around happily, with his ears back and shoves the light into the other dogs' faces trying to show them how special he is.
I'm excited about it, because he is learning to carry something, and now he'll understand to carry other things.
He is usually anxious to go outdoors in the early morning and help with chores (cleaning the milk strip cup, mainly), but since it's been colder in the morning he has been staying indoors where it is warm and snuggly. I have a pattern for a dog sweater, I am really tempted to buy one for him from Walmart, they are only ten dollars. But I want to make him one, so I keep crocheting along on the baby sweater.
Tess and he love to play fight.
I practice a lot with him, ordering him to stop when he's very excited about something. For example, I have heard for years that you should never play tug-of-war with your dog. But then I learned that you can play tug, it's just important to follow some rules to make sure you don't end up with any problems. Interestingly enough none of the dogs will play tug with LJ. They must have figured out long ago that he can hold on longer and is stronger, so they don't even bother to play with him. He will pick up a toy to play tug with and shove it into their faces, trying to coax them into playing with him. They won't, so I do. We play tug for a few minutes at a time, then I tell him "DROP!" and he lets go of the toy right away. I have him sit, then tell him "Catch!" and toss the toy directly to him. He is getting better at catching, especially if the tug toy is floppy.
He was so mouthy for the longest time, but he has grown past that stage as well. I worked with him on bite inhibition, so he understands that he must be gentle with hands.
I didn't understand in the beginning when he was biting so much all the time, that he was just being a puppy!! It's a normal part of being a puppy to bite everything all the time! He has absolutely no aggressive behavior with regards to food, even his beloved *bones* that he gets every day. We have been buying him beef back ribs and having the butcher cut them into 4 inch long pieces and he just loves them. I can take him bone right out of his mouth and pretend to nibble on it myself and he just watches me with curiosity.
He's an awesome dog.
Until next time.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Baby Garden Greens
Labels: Gardening
I need to spend more time in my garden! It's time I planted more seeds, and I have more weeding and thinning to do. I decided to take a trip out there earlier this evening, and I was delighted to find that I have lots of mature radishes, just ready for the picking! I am glad I decided to not buy any from the store while we were doing our grocery shopping today. The last ones I bought had a chemical taste to them anyway. I had a thick clump of lettuce growing together, so I transplanted about a dozen of them. I picked a few outer leaves. I also thinned out a few beets, but there are a lot more that need to be thinned and/or transplanted. I weeded out more Malva, but there is still a lot left! The radishes are growing like mad all over and I really need to thin them out as well.
I always order my seeds from Pinetree Seeds. They are my favorite seed company. I've been ordering seeds from them for over a decade. Here is what they say about their company, "While we sell a variety of items for the home gardener, we started out as a vegetable seed company and this remains our primary focus. We spend the majority of our time in our trials evaluating vegetable seed varieties and produce some of them here. Since we deal only with home gardeners, we don't worry about shipping or machine harvesting characteristics. What we do worry about is flavor, space efficiency, beauty, and uniqueness. If you can't find something you are looking for in the regular vegetable section, be sure to check the Vegetable Favorites from Around the World section that directly follows the standard vegetable section."
I love looking at their seed catalog, reading the descriptions and imagining all these lovely veggies growing in my garden. I'm so excited that so far my garden is not being ravaged by any pests! The gophers seem to be stumped by the chicken wire in the bottom of the bed, or maybe they've moved away?
My harvest consisted of: Purple Plum radishes, Oakleaf lettuce, Plato lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, Fordhook Swiss chard, and baby beets. I really must take a look again at my catalog and order a few more packages of seeds. I am planning to grow kale for the first time, because it is a favorite of ds2. Pinetree Seeds is located in New Gloucester, Maine so the planting instructions are a bit different for our climate, but that's okay because I know what gets planted at this time of year. I like to order this lettuce mixture: 203. PINETREE LETTUCE MIX (begin harvesting in 40 days) We have been experimenting with various Mesclun Mixes from France and Italy and you will find these in the ethnic vegetable sections. We see a number of advantages to mixing greens: you get a variety of colors, textures, tastes and maturation times from the same planting. This mix has a uniquely American twist, however; they are all leaf lettuces and all sweet varieties. You won't get anything bitter or spicy. The mix will contain all the looseleaf varieties in the catalog and nearly a dozen others. Our reasoning must have struck the right note. This has become our best selling item and we continue to receive hundreds of compliments on it.
This package contains ~500 seeds and costs $0.95. That is a GREAT price!! I try to order seeds at least once or twice a year and shipping is only $1.95 each time when you order only seeds.
This is the list of things that can be planted this month (T = Transplants, S = Seeds, if no symbol assume Seeds):
- Asparagus T
- Beets*
- Bok Choy
- Broccoli TS
- Brussel Sprouts T
- Cabbage TS
- Cabbage, Chinese TS
- Carrots*
- Cauliflower TS
- Chard TS*
- Collard Greens
- Endive
- Kale
- Kohlrabi TS
- Lettuce, Head TS
- Lettuce, Leaf TS*
- Mustard
- Onions, Bulb
- Onions, Green
- Peas
- Radishes*
- Rutabagas
- Spinach
- Turnips
Tonight we will have a little salad to go along with our grilled Green Chili and Cheese burgers.
Until next time.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Crocheting On The Way Home
Labels: crocheting
I am sure I've mentioned time and again my lengthy drive home. On the way home on Tuesday evening, I turned my two skeins of yarn into balls, and I got started on the rib for the toque. I learned with the first skein that the yarn would become incredibly tangled if I just pulled the center piece. I ended up having to turn half a skein of tangled yarn into a ball. This was much easier. Took me about 20 minutes per ball.
This yarn -- Bernat Baby Coordinates Sweet Stripes Yarn -- is the worst I've ever used. I am pretty sure the problem lies in the fact that I'm crocheting instead of knitting. The crochet hook manages to hook the little shiny thread that is wrapped around the yarn.
I'll be really glad when I'm done with this little outfit. I can't wait to move onto something to knit. 
Now on the way home today I got some more rows added to the rib of the toque. Actually I had an opportunity to crochet the rows that are white while I was doing the company banking. I happened to get in line with a new teller, being trained by another gal that I saw for the first time about two weeks ago. I was probably there for fifteen minutes. The training teller asked me what I was knitting. I explained to her that I was crocheting. A few minutes later, she needed "teller assistance" and a young man came over and asked me what I was sewing. ;-)
Then on the way home, I managed to crochet the blue rows.
Have I taken loss of my senses? Driving while crocheting?
No, dear reader. Here is the reason I was able to crochet on my way home on Tuesday evening:
There was apparently a fatality on the only highway that I can get home on. It is only two lanes going both directions. Traffic was held up on both sides for at least an hour.
I considered voting early in the morning (next time I will remember to vote by mail!) since the polling place was 4 miles away from home. But I had such a busy week ahead of me, that I decided to wait until after work. I left work late, and then ran into this huge parking lot on my way home. I had to go home first, (because I forgot my wallet at home!) and of course after sitting and driving for two hours, I had to use the little girl's room. So I got to the polling place at 6:40pm.
Today I don't know what was wrong on the freeway, all I know is it was backed up into a parking lot. So I thought I'd take the alternative route, (this is before I hit the highway which takes me home) which proved to be a lengthy wait, but gave me more time to crochet.
I finally got my asthma attack under control last night. I realized/decided what I was experiencing was an asthma attack. I started back on the Flovent and was taking a homeopathic remedy every thirty minutes which helped a lot. I am still needing to use my inhaler every 4 hours or so. I hope I can get this under control without needing to contact my doctor, who might want me to take prednisone. Although the last time he said I should take it, I told him straight out I wanted nothing to do with it, and he was okay with that. It causes some unearthly cravings and hunger. I am feeling pretty good about my eating and body right now, that's the last thing I need is to be on prednisone.
Until next time.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
200th Post
Labels: Musing
Too bad it's not something more exciting... I am not even going to blog about yesterday evening. I'm actually a bit worried about myself. Ever since the head cold, my breathing has not been right and I've had to use my inhaler much more often than I have for at least a year. I was using it maybe 5-15 times a month, and now suddenly I'm up to 4-5 times daily. It has been very dusty and the air quality has been poor in the city where I work.
Tonight my breathing got much much worse and I felt I needed to use Albuterol barely 1.5 hours after the last dose.
I decided I would start back on Flovent. I just saw my allergy/asthma specialist not two weeks ago and he was surprised that I had done so well during the head cold. He said most people end up having to take prednisone. I only had to start using the Albuterol again. So... he did tell me if I had to start using the Albuterol more than four times a day regularly, that I should go back on the Flovent.
I also dug out my Fenugreek, took some of that, and I have a homeopathic remedy for Asthma which says to take every half hour during the acute phase.
I have been to the emergency room with an asthma attack just a few weeks after I was diagnosed with asthma. They don't find it important at all. I sat wheezing and gasping for 8 hours. They finally put me into a room, gave me a breathing treatment and a shot of prednisone. I'm not going through that again. The physician who saw me said I could use the Albuterol as often as every two hours. I did not know that.
So I don't feel like being at the computer, and have rambled on much longer than I thought I would. I am going to take more of the homeopathic remedy and if I'm still having trouble breathing by 8:30pm I'm going to use my son's breathing machine to get a really good dose. He is prescribed a more pure form of Albuterol, too, so it might help more than mine.
Gasp. I'm actually feeling much less stressed about my breathing.
Maybe I'll take a nice hot bath...
Until next time.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
One Thing After Another
Labels: Aggravation
And now this! Blogger won't let me post my pictures!
I keep getting a 502 Server Error and "The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request. Please try again in 30 seconds."
Thirty seconds, hah! I have tried several times now and I'm not getting anywhere.
Grrrrrr.
I am too tired for this. I will have to wait to blog about today, tomorrow.
Until next time.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Baby Sweater Update II
Alrighty then!! Moving right along!! I had to rip out one completed sleeve but I managed to get it completed yesterday, along with the second sleeve. Now if I didn't have a bunch of other things to do today, I could probably complete the sweater and move on the "Toque". Waaahhhh!!
I have to work from home today, for 2-4 hours. Another little job I do once monthly is due today. And I need to get the mortgage payment ready to mail tomorrow. Lots of little things.
Of course when I have all this work to do, I am struck with a hankering for cooking. So I defrosted 2 pounds of hamburger this morning, used a meatball recipe from NT (only halfway followed it, beginning with the fact that I used beef, instead of lamb). I cooked one dozen eggs this morning with 1 leftover chicken breast, 6 one week old roast beef and cheese enchiladas, 3 sliced and diced slices of my "good for you" soaked flour bread from last weekend, plus 1/2 cup milk. Uh... this was for the DOGGIES. ;-)
Then I scrambled fifteen eggs for breakfast for the people. I made breakfast burritos yesterday and used a dozen eggs and we were running out of filling. So I made them again today, using an extra three eggs. Ds1 hasn't gotten up for breakfast yet. Dh and I ate a good portion of the eggs, then Ds2 got up and finished them off.
This is what went into them:
- 2 thin slices of finely diced onion sauteed in 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 roasted green chilies, diced
- 8 thin slices of ham, diced
- 5 mushrooms, sliced
After the onion sautes for awhile, add the green chilies, ham and mushrooms. Let that cook for a while on medium heat, about 5 minutes. In the meantime, add the eggs to the blender to whir and blend well. Add to the pan and stir constantly to make soft scrambled eggs.
On Sunday morning, I added grated cheese to the top and let it melt. Today I didn't.
I washed several day's worth of eggs -- 45 eggs. That's not even counting yesterday's eggs! I am going to crack them all into ziploc sandwich baggies so we'll have eggs in the freezer when the hens slow down again. I'll put two in some bags, and up to six in others. Dh says the hens are down to about a dozen a day now, from 18 a day last week. We are OVERRUN with eggs!!
We got a killer deal on canning jars from a local grocery. $5.00 for each case of 12. We ended up buying 6 cases. I believe we got two cases of 8 ounce jars, three of 12 ounces and one of 16 ounces. The 8 ounce jars will work great for making individual portions of egg custard. I guess people use them to make candles, too.
Until next time.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Toilet Mystery SOLVED
Labels: Home Improvement
I've had a closer look at the toilets this morning.
Note to self: Don't measure the distance of the floor to the rim of a toilet while the toilet is lying on its side, in the dark, in the back of a truckbed while using a cloth tape measure.
The toilets are not Right Height.
The toilets are of the Cadet line. The tank is a dead giveaway of that line. I've narrowed those toilets down to 7.
- Cadet Elongated Pressure Assist Toilet
Cadet 3 Elongated Toilet 14" RoughCadet 3 Elongated Toilet 10" Rough- Cadet 14" Elongated Toilet
- Cadet 10" Elongated Toilet
Cadet 3 Elongated Toilet 12" Rough- Cadet 12" Elongated Toilet
I'm sure it's not a pressure assisted toilet. I determined it wasn't the "Cadet 3" due to the way the bottom of the toilet looks. The Cadet 3 costs a bit more. Just a bit. For example, two comparable Cadet toilets (both 12" elongated) cost $254-$356 for the Cadet 3, and $240-$334 for the Cadet. Neither one includes the seat. I could get my tank lid replaced in "shell" color, for a mere $57. HAH! I think not!! I only paid TEN DOLLARS for a minimum $240 toilet! Whoooo!!! I just told dh the toilet was worth $328 and he said, "You're kidding! And it doesn't even flush!"
;-)
I figured out what the 10", 12" and 14" stands for. You measure from the middle of the hole underneath the toilet, to the back of the toilet and add about an inch. My toilets are 12".
So the toilets are Cadet 12" Elongated Toilets. Spec Sheet. BTW, the toilet seat costs from $60 to $72 based on color.
So... my shell colored toilet could be worth $400 brand new, while the white toilet could be worth $300. $700 worth of toilets for $35.
Wheeeeeeeee!!!!
Boy, you learn something new every day, eh? We don't have a new wax ring, and I refuse to drive 22 miles into town for a wax ring. The toilet installation can wait until next weekend. I filled both bowls with water and poured in about a pint of white vinegar in each one. The rough buildup that was in the bowls has completely dissolved.
Now how to break the news to my MIL...
Until next time.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
TOILET Mystery
Labels: Bargain Hunting, Home Improvement, Memory Lane, work
Today we had to butcher some bougainvillea bushes, well just one (you thought I was going to say a goat, didn' t you?) but we have about five more to go. My FIL butchered one for us to see how he wants us to treat the others. He did a horrid job, I wish I'd brought the camera. If I go when the others are done, I'll get some pictures. He made a terrible sticky looking mess out of the poor thing, it is just a mess with suckers sticking up all over, it's just gross looking. I have always looked at poorly trimmed pruned trees and thought how awful that someone didn't know what they were doing.
I used to own a bougainvillea bush a few years ago, and I never butchered it down to nothing. I pruned my lantana down to nothing every fall, but never my bougainvillea. One of my neighbors had two bougainvillea bushes that she kept trimmed with scissors and they were nicely shaped. She also never pruned hers down to nothing.
Anyway... then we had agreed to help my mother move some furniture from a storage unit that belongs to my sister and her boyfriend. But while we were waiting for my mother to arrive, we went to one of my favorite places to buy home improvement type things. Okay, it USED to be my favorite place, because the prices were so amazing cheap. It was a cheapskates paradise!
But now (according to one of the employees) the new manager runs around with a pricing gun, putting astronomical prices on things. For example, I found the Glacier Bay 8 Inch Hi-Arch Two Handle Kitchen Faucet that I almost bought from Home Depot last weekend. Dh and I got into a bit of a tiff since he thought he'd told me it wouldn't work (without modification) since we live in a manufactured home. If he told me, I did not hear him. He found a faucet that *would* work because it had long copper pieces coming from underneath the faucet, which is what we need to hook up to our kitchen sink pipes. But it was a regular height faucet.
Ds2 had been wanting a hi-arch kitchen faucet for some time, and I want one, too!! It is frustrating washing the tall half gallon jars we store our milk in, and the milk pails. I'm also beginning to realize that I don't have to get the cheapest thing there is, just to save money. In the long run, you end up with the product breaking, and having to replace it again.
I digress... the faucet had a sticker on it for $40.00. I asked one of the employees if that was really the price and told him that's almost what it costs from Home Depot. Actually it's $48.00 from HD. First, let me tell you there are signs all over that state changing tags is illegal. So the guy tells me the manager might be up front when he's ringing me up, so he has to be careful about changing tags because the manager might remember what he put on the faucet. He removed the tag, and said he would find a pricing gun and reprice the faucet to $20 or maybe $15. So I hung around for several minutes, and he never came back. Finally I left that area and dh and I looked around a bit more and then finally I suggested we just leave. So. While we are checking out, someone else gets the faucet, the tag of which had been removed by the employee. The man stands there waiting until we are done, then asks the cashier, another employee, how much is this faucet. The man takes a look at it, and says, "Twelve dollars." OH. MY. GOSH. I just about fainted right on the spot. The feelings that went through me, like, "THAT'S MINE!! I HAD IT FIRST! Give it BACK to me!" And "Why does HE get it for twelve? NO FAIR!!!"
I was really, really upset, but finally consoled myself with this: The man was wearing an identification badge, which indicated he worked in a group home. He also had a person with him that was obviously impaired, and probably lived in the group home. I know those places aren't rich, and I guess they were meant to have that faucet. Also, the fact that the price tag was removed, what if the manager had been there with the cashier when I asked for the price? What if I had been accused of removing the tag?
I am sure a better faucet will come along. One last thing about faucets. Dh and I looked around at Lowe's over the weekend, pricing a few things, and among those were kitchen faucets. They had some with price tags OVER $500!! Why?! Are they lined with gold, or maybe diamonds? I can't imagine paying that much for a faucet. It's not like the faucet will last 1000 years longer than any other. No one even lives that long.
Now, on to the toilet mystery.
Some time ago, I decided I wanted new toilets for our home. One for the main (boys) bathroom, and one for my bathroom. I am sick and tired of having to fill a gallon bucket with water, JUST to flush my toilet. I hate it. I hate it. I happened to casually mention this to my MIL on the phone one day. She told me they just got a new toilet from Home Depot and said I deserved new toilets and they are only $50.00. I told her that I didn't want a brand new toilet, which would work just as horribly as mine were working. I told her I was hoping to go to this "second hand" home improvement place and she became quite alarmed saying, "NO! Don't do that. Do not go there for a toilet! You deserve new ones!" I tried to explain my reasoning to her, and she was just not hearing it. A week later, she gave us $115 so we could buy two toilets from Home Depot. I've been hanging onto the money since that time, trying to figure out which toilets to buy. Home Depot's cheapy toilets, the ones she said we should buy, were $44. But CHEAP. I am sure I would have been using my trusty bucket to flush them! And I didn't want that. BTW, MIL's new toilet was not the cheapy toilet. I think she would have been happy with the cheapy toilet, and therefore attempted to push the cheapy toilets onto us. She specifically mentioned her new toilet being extra tall, and she says she feels like a child with her feet not even touching the floor. So I know for sure her new toilet wasn't one of the cheapy ones (her husband is a spendthrift, while she's a cheapskate dumpster diver -- gotta love her for that!!).
So finally today, we got to go to this home improvement place. They are a non-profit that takes donations of things from homes being knocked down, or maybe someone's upgrading, etc. They used to have killer prices. Like gallons of "oops" paint for $2.50. Now the gallons are $5.00. Bummer. I used to go there and buy gallons of colors, just to have paint on hand if I wanted to do a project.
I started checking out the toilets, and I am pretty sure I remember that American Standard is a good toilet, at least when you are shopping at Home Depot.
I found two American Standard toilets. I paid $10 for my toilet. It is "shell" colored, according to the American Standard site. My toilet was missing the tank lid, but dh says he can make me one. That's fine. I hope to cover it with one of those fuzzy things soon anyway. The other toilet was $25 and it is white.
I know these things about the toilets: They are both "Right Height" and they both have elongated bowls.
Those two things right off the bat make the toilets more expensive than a normal cheap $50 toilet. I went to the American Standard site and found that there are 71 toilets to look through. I was able to narrow that list down, by crossing out all the one-piece toilets, round toilets, and regular height toilets. Now there are 19 toilets to look through and figure out which are the ones I bought.
Searching on Home Depot, I found this American Standard toilet, with an elongated bowl, and "Right Height". For the toilet bowl and seat, they want $161.25. The tank costs -- GOOD GRIEF -- the danged tank costs $165.00!!!
Some of the toilets at the AS site are very expensive, for example, the Retrospect Elongated Right Height toilet costs $435. The Champion Right Height Elongated toilet costs $424-$594 based on color.
Now my dear reader, if you have made it this far, you may wonder what all the fuss is about. Well... first off, my dear MIL was so aghast at the thought of my buying a "second hand" toilet, and now it looks as if I may have purchased two very nice quality toilets for a mere $35. We now have enough money left over to buy a brand new hi-arch kitchen sink faucet, if we so choose.
I really wish I could go back and buy the matching bathroom sink. Well, I don't know if it really matches EXACTLY, but there was a bathroom sink that was peach colored, with really nice high quality brass handles. It was $60 though! That is really high priced, in my opinion. I still wish I could have it for my bathroom. I do like to have nice things sometimes.
Back to the fuss... secondly, there are some nice features to the AS toilets, like the Champion Flushing System... or the Cadet Pressure Assisted flushing which run $625-$862 depending on the color.
I've been googling a bit while blogging... and it's starting to look like my toilets might be the Champion line, which features a "flush tower" instead of a standard flapper. According to this site, it's one of the Best Toilets. But now with more research, I see my toilets are not Champions. That means I can eliminate 7 more toilets from my list. That leaves 12 to research. That's much more manageable. I'm sure it will be much easier in the daylight tomorrow. I can take a picture and bring it in to compare with the others for one thing...
I think one of the things that may have horrified my MIL was the thought of picking through grungy, ugly, filthy toilets. These toilets are relatively clean. It won't take much scrubbing to make them look brand new.
Enough about toilets. It's past my bedtime.
Until next time.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Real Men Eat Liver
Labels: crocheting, Herd Queen Productions, Memory Lane, Musing, Nourishing Traditions
My newest design over at Herd Queen Productions. Since I live with three men, I ought to know what "real" men can and should do.
I get a lot of opinions from the men I live with, just about how tough and manly they all are.
The story behind today's creativity... I thawed out the chevon liver and prepared to fry it for Monday night. I was supposed to soak it in lemon juice for several hours, to remove impurities and give the meat some texture. Only I never got around to frying the liver that evening. I asked ds2 to fry it for Tuesday's dinner, and for Wednesday's, but because I "didn't remind him" he forgot and I didn't have time.
I finally had time to fry it this morning.
You must know that I hate liver. I have hated it all my life. But according to Nourishing Traditions, organ meats are VERY good for us. So, I am trying to make myself eat it.
Note to self: Don't let chevon liver sit in lemon juice for four days before frying it.
It was not good. It was tolerable with the fried onions, but the taste was still coming through.
I asked dh to try it, and he absolutely refused. (He has tried turkey liver, and was surprised that it was not that bad tasting). He is usually a good sport and will try just about anything I come up with. And absolutely LOVES much of it, kefir for example. He LOVES it, while it makes my lips pucker due to the sourness. Even when it's mild!
Ds2 tried a bite and deemed it THE WORST thing he'd ever put into his mouth. Lucky chap. He didn't have to grow up as one of my siblings and then he'd know WORST from NOT SO BAD.
Liver in my family growing up, was HORRIBLE stuff. My mother would buy the cheapest cut, which was the mature beef liver, not the *baby* beef, which might have been good, properly cooked and served. It was my stepfather's FAVORITE meal and the side dishes were, along with the vein-ridden and dry tasting liver (sans fried onions):
- mustard greens (sans butter)
- cornbread (sans butter)
- black eyed peas (sans butter)
Found out some neat news today. My mother was married to the man for fifteen years but since she is currently unmarried, she is eligible for survivor's benefits. At the time of his death (a few weeks ago), he still owed her $25,000 in child support, and so she'll still get some compensation with the survivor's benefits.
I could never have attempted using Cafe Press with slow dialup. That is probably why I never even considered it before. But unfortunately, it feels nearly as slow as dialup with Cafe Press. They were having some site slowness problems, and it seems as if they still are. It takes better than half an hour to upload images for a new section, choosing items to sell, labeling and adding images.
Baby Sweater Update: I discovered yesterday that the 5 inches worth of sleeve I'd crocheted was missing two stitches from the foundation row. So I had to rip it out, and start over again. I'm at 6 inches now. I have to crochet even for 7.5 inches, then one sleeve is done and I'll be on to the next one.
Working with dh tomorrow, so I won't have much computer time. And I brought work home from my "real" job, so that means even less computer time. Waaahhhhhh
I was up at my regular time this morning, and was in bed late last night. I'm tired.
Until next time.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Best Candy Making Book Ever
Labels: book review
Ds2 went through a candy making phase and ordered three books on making candy. The best one was The Ultimate Candy Book More Than 700 Quick and Easy, Soft and Chewy, Hard and Crunchy Sweets and Treats by Bruce Weinstein. We only made a few sweet treats before burning out pretty good on candy.
Much better than anything you can buy in the store.
Until next time.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Desserts Using Your Bread Machine
Labels: book review, Memory Lane
This is an awesome book. I love to just sit and read it. It has so many delicious recipes in it. I have made the donuts before... hmmm... I thought I'd blogged about them when I made them... ahhh, now I see. I made them in November 2005 when I was on blogging hiatus...
Well, here' s a picture of the donuts. They were so delicious. Even better than the famous Krispy Kreme's that everyone drools over. Seriously. They were just like the donuts I remember having as a youngster. KK's are too mushy soft. Anyhoo... here I am blathering on and on about the book and haven't even mentioned it yet.
Desserts From Your Breadmaker Perfect Every Time Cakes,Cookies, Pastries, Doughnuts, Sticky Buns, and Other Recipes You Never Thought You Could Make in a Bread Machine by Lora Brody. ISBN 0-688-13071-2
I have made donuts one other time. This year, I think. Yes, end of March. I made them especially for some of our neighbors who live in Chicago most of the year, but visit here when they can in the spring. They didn't turn out so good. I must remember to use only the freshest ingredients next time I try making them.
One of the other recipes I've been wanting to try from this book: Lemon Poppy Seed Sweet Bread. My job gets food donations from a local foodbank and we're always getting this kind of "bread" which is more like cake, but of course it is made with partially hydrogenated oils, which I try to avoid. I just know a real homemade version would be a hundred times better.
Until next time.
