mountain news daily

buttercup squash soup

2011-01-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

1 medium buttercup squash
3 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
1T fresh sage
1 apple
2 carrots
1 T olive oil

cut squash in half (i used my ninja strength) and bake in a pan of water for about 30 minutes or until soft. cool enough to be able to scoop the squash away from the skin (which should happen pretty effortlessly at this point).

roast garlic, onion, apple and carrots-combine w/squash in medium pot, adding 3 or 4 C water. add salt and pepper. let simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes.

add sage and blend.

creamy squash soups are perfection.

"I'll have a blue Christmas..."

2010-12-10T08:11:00.000-08:00

in a few weeks we will be hosting a holiday dinner party. I think I probably enjoy the planning and preparation that go into dinner parties more than the party itself-usually, but this is different. I am excited to say that (at least) for the evening, some of my favorite people in the entire world will be here-in one place! one of my younger sisters-Jaime (the one I can actually have a conversation with, without *facepalming* the entire time) and her long-time boyfriend Jordan, my close, good friend-Mel (one of my favorites from Brooklyn via Buffalo(currently)), my best, good friend, Lee-from high school and of course, my husband and current best friend-Jacob.

so much yay!

the menu is "appetizer" themed and still in the finishing "brainstorm" phase, so could change/be enhanced.

fondue "say cheez" gravy (total eye-roll at the name)
crumpets
stuffing muffins (half with cranberry)
candied yams with Sweet and Sarah vegan "pumpkin spice" marshmallows
glazed carrots
pumpkin mousse w/ginger snap pieces
blueberry/cranberry tarts(galettes?)
baked artichoke dip

(yes, it has been pointed out that this is a very "orange"-themed menu) (whatever)

it has also been pointed out that this menu is lacking in protein (which I'm mostly, "whatevs" about), so Lee is allegedly bringing some kind of lentil chili-may The Force be with her.

also wine (muddled or not or "whatever") and warm spiced cider with rum.

since my only real defense against wanting to kill myself during the Winter are the holidays and the planning/decorating that (I make)happen, there will be some gift exchanging and Elvis Presley Christmas album-playing...

...and cats wearing reindeer antlers. but only cats, because I've broken my human-pair :(

oh! and besides general present-ry that will be happening we have a small pile of stuff from around the house (or that we have never even used) that we are going to donate, but will have our friends take whatever they might want-first.
which-totally reminds me of the party that we had in Brooklyn before we moved to Oregon that was "getting rid of stuff we don't want to move across the country"-themed and ended up with Benjamin wearing my Jr. prom dress and playing with dolls...

FALL!

2010-09-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

i've never experienced buttercup squash before. it's pretty tasty. sweet and dense. made an apple and buttercup squash bake w/raisins.

2 lb. squash
2 Cortland apples
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C melted Earth Balance
1 T flour
1 t salt
1/2 cinn. and nutmeg

bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.

there really isn't a proper way to describe how difficult it is to actually cut up this particular squash. i didn't have the patience to slice it in half and bake it in water and THEN let it cool before using it...but i should have.

still have one left. considering using some of it in the pumpkin ravioli that i anticipate making this week, as it will make it pretty sweet w/out using sugar...idk. ideas.

* * *

Pumpkin Coconut Bread

2 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1 C oil
4 eggs(egg replacer =4)
15 oz. pumpkin puree
3.5 C flour
2 t baking soda
2 t salt
1/2 t cloves
1.5 t cinn.
1 t nutmeg
2/3 C water
1 C coconut
1/2 C walnuts

@350 for 60 minutes

cooked down some blackberries w/ a little water and maple syrup to make a coulis to put on top.

zucchini (or in my case-yellow squash) burgers

2010-09-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

4(ish) zucchini (yellow squash actually works amazingly well and when that's what you have an abundance of...)
1/2 t salt
1/4 C almonds (crushed or slivered)
3 T minced basil (fresh from our garden!!!)
1 T flour
egg replacer equivalent to 1 egg
1/4 C bread crumbs
1 T oil

as always, of course, doing what a recipe tells you to do is vital and makes a huge difference/makes you not want to pull your hair out and cry.

after shredding the squash, squeeze out the excess water via cheesecloth.

combine all ingredients. shape into patties and fry in a good amount of oil until lightly browned. transfer to a tray and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

also, another good lesson is to actually use (purchased) breadcrumbs as opposed to just toasting leftover bread and making your own as this works much better for desired results.

as we (of course) STILL have a bunch of yellow squash from my mom's garden, but alas, have no more almonds, i will be making them w/walnuts, today. we'll see.
*shrug*

credit to Emily Gould:
http://thingsiatethatilove.tumblr.com/post/919605145/cookingthebooksshow-this-morning-we-had-a-visit
the link to the actual recipe is not working anymore, FYI.

"raw" corn chowder, rawr.

2010-08-27T05:27:00.000-07:00

"raw" corn chowder.

4 C raw corn
1 red bell pepper
2 C almond milk
1 t salt
1 T agave
2 tomatoes
1 t dill

* * *

as we had some corn leftover from mom's harvest this year i just used what we already had in-house...so i substituted a green for a red pepper, regular soy for almond milk and maple syrup for agave.

while i think it would have been slightly better w/the original ingredients, i found it to work quite well, otherwise.

don't know how i really feel about the dill in this, though.

dill is more of a savory spice than i think this recipe calls for...

also, the original recipe is "raw," but in using the maple syrup i clearly wasn't "going for" that aspect...

cucumber salad, pickled cucumbers, corn pancakes, perogies...

2010-08-23T05:35:00.000-07:00

i'm super terrible about this! (the beginning of every entry!)

i've started about 5 posts and let them sit idle for days and not revisited them. i suck.

BUT...

we can say that my reasons for not being super-active online are that i'm being super-active in real life.

but now it's going on day 2 of rain-all-day-ocity.

froze a lot of marinara sauce this past week(or tomato base w/basil, salt,pepper,garlic and oil...that's marinara base, no?)

cucumber-yogurt salad has taken over our lives as we have a lot of lemon cucumbers going on and, really, how many things can really be done w/cucumbers? namely-lemon cucumbers. yellow, round, tennis ball sized...

1 C soy yogurt
2 (ish) cucumbers
1 C water
1/4 C vinegar
1t dill
1 onion (finely chopped)
1/8 t tumeric (or a little more if you heart it, in some things-as i do.)
dash pepper
1/2 t salt

serve over greens

* * *

something that we just decided (and by "we" i mostly mean "Jacob") to try, yesterday, b/c we just couldn't fathom using the cucumbers in a timely enough matter, was that we "pickled" 2 big mason jars-full. here's hoping it works out as we have tons more on their way, still.

mason jar of raw cucumber slices, 1C vinegar 1C water, S&P, spices.

* * *

i read a recipe for "corn pancakes" and veganized it and it was awesome.

2T oil
3/4 Corn
1/8 t salt
egg replacer for 1 egg
1 1/4 C buttermilk (soy w/vinegar)
1/4 t vanilla
1 T sugar
3/4 C flour
1/4 C cornmeal
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda

fry in a pretty hot pan of oil to prevent sticking.
maple syrup to taste.
viola.

* * *

perogies? pierogies? peirogies?

well, "the computer" says that those are all "not wrong" while simultaneously letting me know that they are incorrect. idk. super Polish power, go!

either way, whatevvvvs.

made some garlic pierogies and froze them, this past week.

2 C boiling water poured over a mixture of 4 C flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

potatoes mashed w/roasted garlic, salt and pepper.

i use my ever-trusty ring molds to size out good-size dough-to-potato filling ratio.

* * *

a good companion to this is-of course-apple sauce as well as some beet horseradish:

3C cooked beets
6oz. horseradish
1 T brown sugar
1 t vinegar
1/4 t salt.

blended.

When it's 100 degrees in New York, it's 72 in Los Angeles. When its 30 degrees in New York, in Los Angeles it's still 72...

2010-07-30T04:53:00.001-07:00

...However, there are 6 million interesting people in New York, and 72 in Los Angeles." ~Neil Simon

yesterday i harvested another 1/4 row of potatoes and these ones seem to be free of blight. i've managed to cut around on the blighted ones and par-boiled a few cups of cubed potatoes for freezing.

going to make and lightly cook some latkes to freeze, but still have a row and a half left to harvest, which can wait awhile...so i think it's pretty apparent that potatoes are going to be our winter food for this year.

pierogies will also be made and frozen w/in the next week.

* * * *

just picked 5 smartypants' of blueberries w/mom at mom's neighbors'!

probably going to make some blueberry/gooseberry/blackberry muffins later as we have a few cups of gooseberries from mom and there were random blackberry bushes w/in the blueberries that attacked me a lot.

doing that just cut into my normal sitting around time, so i guess i've gotta go get THAT taken care of...

While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth? ~George Bernard Shaw

2010-07-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

we took in all of the garlic last week and it really is a beautiful thing! we got about 12 full, beautiful bulbs and a handful(5-6) of partial bulbs that had a few cloves that had to go...

lemon cucumbers are doing amazingly well. we've noticed 1 blighted tomato and have hundreds of potential healthy ones on the way. *crosses fingers*

took in about 1/4 of a row of potatoes and about half were blighted...

looked up whether the potato blight would hurt a person, if eaten, and found nothing saying that it would. apparently it just makes them kind of woodier but i cut around the actual blighted spots (it seems to mostly be nearest the surface on the potatoes...the tomatoes are the real fatalities. either way, i made a batch of samosas and still have 10-12 potatoes left.

4 mystery squash plants.

already done are the purple mustard greens that replanted itself all over the place. and snap peas and collards.

first time i've ever grown brussels sprouts and they grow like such aliens! but they are doing well, i think.

we bought some hot pepper starts but despite the fact that they all seem to be producing peppers, they remain short, so can't really-physically deal w/more than 1 or 2 peppers.

peppermint seems to have taken over and despite the fact that horseradish is "unkill-able", ours seems to be the most apathetic, sad looking horseradish-possibly ever.

catnip is still alive. Fat Tony and Deimos have both found it and tried to thwart it but were quickly ejected from the garden.

the dahlias seem to be doing ok, but have no blossoms yet. my tiger lilies are all done for the year. my lily of the valley has just gone into full effect. a mysterious red lily popped up that i did not plant-but am pretty excited to have, even though it is also done for the year...

"bad to the scone."

2010-06-28T14:39:00.001-07:00

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift together

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

with 1/2 cup brown sugar

Add 6 tablespoons of chilled unsalted soy margarine chopped into small pieces. Gently work the flour-butter mixture with a pastry blender until the dough looks like coarse meal.

Tip: Overworking the dough makes scones tough or heavy.

In a separate bowl, mix together

3/4 cup soy milk, or 1/2 soy milk and 1/2 tofu cream.

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup sesame seeds

For variations, you may add an additional 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Add to flour mixture and stir just until blended.

On a floured board, pat the dough into a circle and cut into 8 wedges.

If you are making small scones using this cranberry scone recipe, divide the dough in half and pat into two rounds, then cut into wedges.

Place on the baking sheet, bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on wire racks.

so i found this online b/c i have no recipe for cranberry scones and i had lots of cranberries. it was a lot different than the other recipe that i've been working with, i.e. the ONLY recipe i've ever used.

as usual, i used w. wheat flour.

i also cooked them about double the time since i forgot to pay attention to the recipe, but i think they needed a little extra time from the original recipe and about 5 minutes less than i cooked them. either way, i think they're good.

oh, and i also forgot to "sweeten" the cranberries, besides the fact that "honey" was suggested and i'm not that kind of dirty vegan.

The best alarm clock is sunshine on chrome. -Author Unknown

2010-06-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

last week we made a pesto out of our garlic scapes. we were gifted w/the garlic scapes from my mom's garden as they thought they were too creepy to eat. (they are creepy looking, but once they're cut up it's easy to forget since they're filled w/garlic-y goodness.)
i, of course misplaced the recipe that we used but it really doesn't matter since we altered it so much, anyway.
this time the recipe went:

1 C scapes
1/3 C nuts
about 1/2 C oil
a little sprinkling of "cheese" type something or other
salt & pepper to taste.

i also made garlic scape "scallion pancakes" last week, too, which will be revisited as well, as soon as i can get the jar of sesame oil open...

greens of all sorts from both our garden and my mom's. salad it up.

there's some sort of motorbike event at the end of our road again this weekend and for the past few days RVs and pick-ups have been going by in caravans. much-less maddening than the constant rumble of said-bikes on the trail that is directly adjacent to our property.

i think i'm going to make some muffins, later. maybe cranberry. possibly w/walnuts. maybe raisins, idk. feeling indecisive. i just know that i have all of these things! possibly do nothing but go out to the garden as it's supposed to be a pretty rainy weekend.

tomatoes are looking more promising than last year! come on, tomatoes!

"In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it." -Frank McKinney Hubbard

2010-06-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

after what was possibly an entire week (the first week that posed no threat of frost, so-the week to put in starts) w/out rain-it began raining last night and is scheduled to return to a more "normal" pattern of no rain for a couple of days and then a day of rain/thunderstorms for (about) the next few weeks, which i am mostly fine w/though it's scheduled to just be pretty rainy here, for the next week.

really hoping that the tomato blight that hit the NE last year doesn't reoccur. a super-rainy season is what brings it out from dormancy and allows it to ravage the tomatoes/potatoes.

so far, our garlic is being good as well as a set of Brussels sprouts starts that we got from a farmer at the Ithaca farmers' market that i don't remember the name of.

we also had to buy a bunch of tomato starts from another farmer at the market as our one window that faces South and is able to be closed off from cat-activity is just not cutting it as far as getting starts properly started.

also got some Hungarian wax peppers. a couple of our own pepper starts might survive. a bunch of Japanese Giant Mustard reseeded itself from last year so is sporadically strewn throughout the garden(as we tilled it up-twice before planting.) Stan gifted us w/some OG lemon-cucumber seeds that none of us have any first-hand experience with. * shrug*

as far as herbs go, basil is this years' winner. yay! have about 12 little plants that are looking promising. also have chive, our always-faithful rosemary, horseradish and the wild mint that planted itself and continues to spread.

got some strawberry plants that we have yet to decide on a home for.

kale and spinach are doing well, the former more-so than the latter.

snap peas, also.

weeds are the bane of my existence. no, that's a lie. rocks are. no. bugs. all team together. team horrible!

we went over to my mom's for Memorial Day and i made an apple pie. it was my first attempt at making a pie crust from the whole wheat flour that we've taken to dominantly using, as it's local and bought in bulk at the Greenstar Co-op in Ithaca. it's incredibly hard to work with. it acted like it was a really dry dough even though it wasn't dry at all. basically, it fell apart a lot. but really, i thought it tasted fine despite the fact that my mom wasn't too keen on it.

tonight is the season premiere of Hell's Kitchen and that usually means pizza, but we've decided to go the calzone direction, instead. Gordon Ramsey, pizza-type-food and wine. yes!

later this week we are going out to dinner w/dad to this place:
http://www.moghulcuisine.com/

hope it has good samosas. actually, i hope it's all good as Central NY is severely lacking in the "other cultures" department.

Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold. -Judith Olney

2010-04-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

a scone. essentially, a sweet biscuit. never had a non-vegan one.

never tried my hand at making them...until today!

muahahahah!

i think that they turned out exceptionally well.

i used the "Classic Currant Scone" recipe from the Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, which is the best for everything that is vegan baking. <3

1 egg(egg replacer euivalent)
2T water
2.5 C flour
1/3 C sugar
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 C non-dairy butter, cold
1C currants or raisins
1/2 C non-dairy milk
2-3 T non-dairy milk for brushing the tops
cinnamon/sugar for sprinkling on top.

good. having warm cinnamon-sugar biscuits w/a cup of coffee is next to perfection on a brisk Spring morning....or probably any other kind of morning.

mmmmm, sweet biscuits.

"Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned." -Mark Twain

2010-03-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

i'm a fan of muffins or cupcakes versus breads or cakes. this is b/c of a few things-ease of storage, which includes being able to store for freshness(sometimes in a refrigerator-even though "i hate cold bread!") or away from cats who love to eat bread and steal frosting...which we have multiple of and the simplicity that is eating a cupcake, which can involve nothing more than your hands while a slice of cake very often involves things like plates and forks...who needs those things?

anyway, i've been dreaming about making raisin bread muffins for awhile but always forget. this morning when Jake was making his breakfast oatmeal before work, it smelled raisin-y and oat-y so it was on my mind all morning.

i couldn't find anywhere that "raisin bread muffins" were mentioned so i just found an adequate-sounding vegan raisin bread recipe and just figured i'd bake it a shorter time and make sure it was a wet enough mixture, which it was.

2 C flour
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 salt
2 t cinnamon
1 1/2 t baking powder
1t baking soda
1 C (sour) soymilk(+1T vinegar)
1/2 C maple syrup
1/2 C raisins
1/2 C pecans

bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes

i think they turned out pretty well. i wouldn't add the pecans again as they weren't necessary and i guess i don't appreciate that much "work" in my muffin. also, perhaps a little more spice, like more cinnamon? or clove? idk. i suppose a small amount of flax could be added if you want it to be that kind of day. as far as the sweetener being maple syrup, i like the way it works in this(as opposed to usually just using sugar that tastes like...sugar.) . it gives it a breakfast-y type flavor.

In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours. -Mark Twain

2010-03-10T04:43:00.000-08:00

i guess one could say that i've been pretty dormant, like the weather, since i haven't updated this in months and months.

days ago we made (pineapple) chutney. were inspired by the samosas i made that i used the Moosewood cookbook recipe, for. the recipe for the samosa dough is SO GOOD. i've tried it before w/out the yogurt and the last few times i've made them w/the Silk plain(unsweetened) soy yogurt and it is so much better that way, go figure that using what the recipe actually calls for is a lot better than not...
we kind of just made up the chutney recipe...
samosas:

Filling

2 large potatoes, cooked and mashed
1 cup finely minced onion
2 medium garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh gingerroot
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (I use dry mustard)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 cup diced carrot, cooked till just tender
1/2 cup cooked green peas
cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon, juice of
2-3 tablespoons butter

Pastry

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons melted butter
1/3 cup yogurt
water

there's still a few feet of snow...argh.

i'm finding conflicting information about the appropriate time of year to prune fruit trees. we have 3 fruit trees that didn't die and are more than a year old at this point. so, i think that the beginning of April is when it should happen...?

this year we plan to purchase a tiller b/c we did not borrow one last year and the results of trying to hand-till our land is frustrating and tiring. plus, time consuming.

also, we have so many seeds leftover from last year and we've tried to keep them stored pretty well, so i hope they work out even though it's highly predicted that "old seeds" don't work as well. if not, we'll just pick up some starts of the basics at a local garden store...

we'll also get to put to the test my ability to not kill dahlia bulbs over a winter...i hope i stored them okay b/c they really are gorgeous.

we have ONE catnip plant that is alive and well, despite getting knocked out of a window and chomped on no less than a dozen times. preventative measures have now been taken...this may or my not involve Jake bringing it w/him to work for his office...everyone has an office plant,right? and it's usually catnip,yes?

sage, dill and cilantro are the extent of my winter herb gardening...better than nothing?

there.

"It is good to be alone in a garden at dawn or dark so that all its shy presences may haunt you and possess you in a reverie of suspended thought"

2009-11-20T05:08:00.000-08:00

-James Douglas

time seems like it's bizarre, lately. like, i can't wrap my mind around the fact that it's ALREADY the end of November. everyone is just as crazy, if not more crazy, than i. this leads to spidzer Thanksgiving plans.

for dinner at my mom's we don't need to bring anything, but want to. so...sauteed brussels sprouts w/lemon and pistachios,it is.
plus, i want to make a vegan pecan pie, but do not, despite hours(yes, hours) of searching, have a recipe. they're all too slightly different and i don't know which direction to go w/it.

i'll let you know, maybe.

also, we're having Thanksgiving at mom's on Daniel's birthday, so i might make him some sort of cake, i just don't know. i mean, i like cake and i guess that decides it. i like cake.

i haven't been reading enough lately and i can feel it in my brain. it's like it's short circuiting or something.

"luckily" winter's on the way. so, lots of time for reading.

planted a couple herbs in small pots for the winter. brought in the oregano and thyme that aunt Janice brought us and our rosemary plant. newly sprouted are a bunch of cilantro and a few dill, plus a bunch of catnip that i'm trying to use cat-mind control to try and save so that they can grow at all before they get attacked/eaten. oh yeah, and a bunch of sage that, if you ask me, is one of the best-looking herbs out there.

i will now medicate my brain w/coffee and recipe-searching.

“What fun is it being cool if you can't wear a sombrero” -Calvin and Hobbes

2009-10-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

Salsa verde.
We grew tomatillos.
(I hate that this computer doesn't know Spanish-therefore it squiggly underlines verde and tomatillos b/c it thinks that i misspelled them)
Didn't have any of the peppers the recipe called for, so i used 2 of the small super-hot ones that my step-dad gave us from his garden, and it burninated my mouth, but was otherwise good.

20 tomatillos
2 hot peppers
2 cloves garlic
appx. 4 T lime juice
salt
cilantro
1/2 onion

besides my mouth being on fire, it turned out fairly well.
have a bunch of tomatillos left, i think i'll give it a day or two and try again, minus the burning!

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion" -Henry David Thoreau

2009-10-18T05:22:00.000-07:00

had a BUNCH of pumpkin puree left from when i made the ravioli. wasn't really ready to make more ravioli, so i made some pumpkin, cranberry, walnut muffins.

every recipe that i could find called for either brown sugar or molasses, which there was neither of, in our house,so i searched and searched and finally found one that called for neither. but it didn't seem altogether right,so i altered it,very slightly.

2 C flour (1 C w wheat, 1C white)
1/2 C sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
15 oz. pumpkin puree(yes, our measuring cups have ounce measurements and i forgot to look at what that equated to...)
1/2 C cranberry (i would recommend cutting each cranberry in half)
1/2 C walnuts(smashed)

they are pleasantly not too sweet,but fruity and pumpkin-y. had one then w/soup and it was perfection. just had one w/coffee and it was just as good.

"We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friend, so we buy ice cream." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

2009-10-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

i made pumpkin ravioli,again. after looking back to last year's MND-posts, i realized about half-way through making this year's that i did not actually post too much about it and that i'd written all of the dough and filling-making stats in my "recipe book" (very commonly called a cookbook...FYI.)

so, i guess i will post last years' recipe:
dough: 2.5 C flour
appx. 1 C water
2t olive oil
salt

filling:
brown sugar
(vegan)butter
nutmeg
pepper
sage
vinegar
oh, and pureed pumpkin.

this year's recipe:

dough:same

filling:
pureed pumpkin
water
garlic powder
S&P
cinnamon
nutmeg
ginger
vegetable oil

and a critique of both:
the critique of last year's will have to be from memory,which, if you know me,is not terribly reliable. let's see, it was really, really good. there.
this year's was clearly a lot different. i don't think that this year's filling was as "smooth" as last year's. it seemed...chunkier? which isn't to say that it wasn't good. i just baked some pumpkin inards and Cuisinart-ed it. it definitely wasn't as sweet of a filling. the sweet filling offset the savory-ness of the sauce, if i remember right. this time we made a garlic-oil-sage sauce for it. i was satisfied.

*shrug*

still have a bunch of pumpkin left. will make more filling using a sweeter take on the recipe. i froze about a dozen and will make a nice,tidy comparison at a later date.

hmmm. i wonder how whole wheat flour would taste for the dough? i'll stick to perfecting the filling first...

oh, i also baked the apple pie-pocket-things that i froze this last summer and besides one leaking all over the tray, they were perfect and eaten w/ice cream...you know, b/c it's almost winter. and nothing says 'good-times' like ice cream when it's frigid outside...

lousy smarch weather!

2009-09-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/dining/29toma.html

//A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.// -Carl Reiner

2009-09-16T04:28:00.000-07:00

again, i'm always so bad about this...i guess my conviction w/everything waxes and wanes and i'm sorry.

tomatoes are odd. they're all incredibly late this year and some seem to be diseased w/ some kind of "blight". mom's tomatoes, too, so i know that it's not something that we did wrong,specifically.

hopefully, before it gets too much colder there will be enough healthily ripened to make a couple ounces of reserve sauce for winter.

speaking of which, i keep putting off freezing latkes from our potatoes and making one last batch of apple sauce from the apples i picked a couple of weeks ago.

i also want to make zucchini bread,which i haven't made yet this year as we weren't blessed w/any amount of zucchini, this year.

everything just seems really stunted and slow-going as far as the garden is concerned,this year, and it's gonna be like trying to garden in Antarctica,soon.

bat-peep time!

2009-08-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

after returning from Kristyn's wedding too much later than we should have and subsequently only sleeping 6 hours, i'm lazy. add to this that it looks depressing and overcast out, i did one quick garden walk-through and in about a week we're going to be tomato-ed. a pumpkin is perfectly shaped and the size of an infants' head.(ew, what?) okra looks like a couple might happen sometime maybe next week...one of our pepper plants flowered! due to some unfortunate-pepper-happenings(or not-so-much) i have no idea which kind it is,but whatever! i like peppers of all kinds, save roasted red ones...which i don't think you can just grow all roasted and red...a few cucumbers have started. cucumber flowers,despite their yellow-ocity are really pretty. i don't have the mental-energy to think about any of this right now...

I do my work at the same time each day - the last minute. -Author Unknown

2009-08-18T04:07:00.000-07:00

i'm so bad/inconsistent w/this and that makes me EXTREMELY annoyed w/myself.

upon rereading i've realized that i just 'left you hanging' with a couple of things...the "mystery" of the sunflowers is that deer ate the tops right off. stupid,cute,hungry, diabolical deer. the dahlias are amazing and kind of perfect. they are simply maroon. the petals are awesome-looking.

i've been very lazy...or absent-mother-like w/the garden, this week. blame random, freakish, unavoidable faults of country-living. (if you want more details...ask,but be prepared for a no-less than 300-500 word rant)

not that it has anything to do w/the garden but we finally got a porch swing!!! we can now SIT AND LOOK at the garden. leisure-like.

"Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." -H.G. Wells, The Outline of History

2009-08-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

2 things have happened w/in the last few days that are worthy of documenting. 1. we found the book of what/where we planted everything 2. if we hadn't found the book,the plants that we were (very poorly) guessing were eggplant plants were, in fact, tomatillo plants. don't even ask me what we were thinking. probably just wishful thinking as there is NO REASON that eggplants shouldn't thrive,but we have not been able to grow a single one, despite planting dozens.
either way,tomatillos. weird,but yay. i will seriously salsa verde-up this place.

it also looks as though a few of our heirloom tomato plants are tomato-ing!

we've gotten a bunch of potatoes this week and took in all of the garlic and a couple onions.

i made scallion pancakes the other night, which, despite what my spidzer-mom thinks, one does not eat w/syrup. they were exceptional.

i gave myself 2 blisters from "frenching" green beans, which is really the only way that i like to eat them.(i don't know why. they're just not as overwhelming) Jake got a mandoline for his birthday but i'm too scared of cutting various fingers off to ever use that,i will just deal with blisters. weird. maybe i hold knives wrong?

b/c a lot of the garlic was split and we want to be able to preserve/extend it,i chopped a bunch of it up and put it with olive oil in a jar, to be used for cooking, which is very garlic-y.

this week, we'll get the rest of the onions and will probably slice/freeze the majority of them.

greens and lettuce. lots.

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. -Chinese Proverb

2009-07-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

super-rainy-summer. good for the garden...i suppose. makes me annoyed at myself that when it's not raining, i really do not spend enough time out there.

a few sunflowers have blossomed! one of them is of the red variety! yay. i specifically planted about 6 on the far-side of the garden fence,nearest the road,but still over 20 feet from the actual road and about half of those have been to all appearances,chomped in half. no more top. nothing. and there's no evidence of anything. in my head, it's some 'Lost'-like scenario that is half-ing my sunflowers! good thing i still have at least a dozen that planted themselves from last years sunflowers.

snap peas are currently sustaining us, food-wise. while any actual peas continue to be less-than-exilerating

also, greens such as lettuce, spinach and radish-greens are fine and have the potential to make me entirely sick of them if i wasn't so satisfied with not having to grocery shop for produce.

as i have previously mentioned, a lot of tomato plants were victims of blight, but there are a couple that we might get a tomato or two off of...grumble grumble.

also finally! eggplant plants?!?

corn is still stunted. all squash,pumpkin and melon plants have blossomed w/in the last day or so. cucumbers are...only 2(of 6) survived, but have not blossomed yet.

one nasturtium (flowered)...amazing that more did not survive as i previously have been known to consider them indestructable as they were THE ONLY THING that survived in PDX.
though, the only ones that i planted this year were from seeds that i saved from last years plants, so...

onions and garlic are almost there,but are really just miniature-versions of actually edible, exciting food. so i think that we'll give them another week or so to continue growing.

dahlias have buds but have not blossomed yet.

more string beans than ever. might can some. might. could freeze them too, we'll see.

"He does not need opium. He has the gift of reverie." -Anais Nin

2009-07-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

ok, i lied, it only takes between 10-15 snap pea-plants to produce more-than-enough snap-peas. i have about an entire smarty-pants of snap peas...and there are at least that many more on the way.

green beans(of the not-green, but yellow and purple variety) are totally going to be in full effect in a day or so...

lots of greens and salad-y items...

some tomato plants appear to be trying to do something after appearing to have given up...

pumpkin plants look good. i'm vowing to make more pumpkin-ravioli than anyone could EVER NEED, this year. plus, can or freeze the puree for middle-of-winter pumpkin pies...

i'm excited to see the mystery-dahlias as they have budded but have yet to bloom. hopefully pictures to follow.

so many marigolds. mom started no-less than 6,000 and upon saying that i wanted them all around our porch,to ward off mosquitoes, and she keeps gifting me with them...

our corn appears to be stunted,much like our tomato plants appeared...i dunno.

cucumber plants are touch-and-go,really, at this point...we were totally going to "pickle" them this year, if we got as many as last year,but it's not looking so good.

The reason cats climb is so that they can look down on almost every other animal - it's also the reason they hate birds. ~K.C. Buffington

2009-07-11T04:36:00.000-07:00

so, "gardening things" have been A LOT of weeding and getting sunburned(despite my constant application of sunblock)(yay! Team Paleforce!) and awaiting the arrival of no less than ONE ZILLION beans.(mom bought a "frencher," which is the only way i've ever liked to eat green beans. they taste better that way. it's probably something about the surface-area and the brine-y salty-ness.)

i have recovered about 5 pea pods,leading to the conclusion that if a person wants to do anything like-eat a serving of peas, instead of-add them to a stir-fry, that person needs to plant no less than 50 pea plants. our 15 or so, do not make for good eating. but the flowers are pretty, if nothing else

of the 6 pumpkin seeds planted, 5 came up and are growing and despite being outside of our garden-fencing, have not been eaten by deer. mom and Stan planted their entire former-alpaca-grazing-area with pumpkins and deer cleaned it out. oops!

been talking to some people a lot lately about elevation and how apparently vital it is to take into consideration. example:less than 2 miles away it can be fine,weather-wise and here, it will be blizzard-ing. this mostly only matters when, say, you're driving and all of a sudden the road turns to ice and you have to be pulled from a ditch...but! when you've been very careful to repeatedly check last-frost dates and want to preserve your lovely heirloom pepper and tomato plants that you very carefully started indoors,and then they are all frost-touched, less then 2 weeks later, it's annoying,to say the least.

that said,we have a very short growing season,here. one stupid reason that we a.)can't grow sweet poatatoes and b.)need a greenhouse. (anyone want to gift me w/a million dollars?)

using the ever-faithful fallback of google,i've concluded that the elevation of Cayuta,NY is about 1060-ish ft. who knows what part of Cayuta that measurement was taken,but it's approximate. compared, Elmira is at about 984ft.

deer,elevation,bugs,blight(whatever THAT is)-all factors to consider,when gardening. as well as rainfall,freak-wind storms that uproot entire rows of corn and cats (and neighborhood dogs)who ignore the fence and use parts of the garden as their litter box/personal lavatory.

the Dead Animal Count for this week is: one huge robin, 2 baby mice(still in wrinkly,fetal-position!), and two adult mice. my favorite being the fetal mice, one being dropped in the middle of our bed and one being batted underneath the couch. Stan's building us a bat house(at my request b/c i'll do anything to stop the onslaught of mosquitoes) and i just hope that we can find a place out-of-the-way enough so that Euronymous doesn't catch ANYMORE bats...

happiness is garlic

2009-06-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

spent much of the morning weeding and being attacked by various forms of the insect kingdom. now it is raining,which is good for the garden and to stop bugs, so i am pro-this rain.

there were a couple of pea pods! it's very exciting.

Publish Post

other than that and tons of weeds, not much else is happening yet.

garlic scapes are good, kinda creepy-looking,but, you know. might try making some garlic-scape pesto...

there are so many friggin' ways to use garlic! i love it! garlic-lovers unite!

"The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks." -Tennessee Williams

2009-06-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

got the first 'fruits' of the garden,yesterday. 2,yes 2 radishes. i hate radishes. but they grew! and Jake likes them.
the pumpkins have sprouted!
i'm excited about the dahlia bulbs that someones gave Jake. they are actually doing pretty well! it's an exciting mystery since they can look a thousand different ways,and these are rumored to be red!
raspberry bush transplants also happened.
as well as mom building a small rock wall around the lilies and other random flower-bed, spidzer mom.

rock gardening 2009

2009-06-01T06:05:00.000-07:00

planted about 10 pumpkin plant yesterday. one couldn't really imagine the amount of rocks just below the surface! it was crazy-hard.

also found,when loosening the dirt in the last two rows that sunflowers from last years seeds have planted themselves! this is very exciting. now i just need to be careful not to squish them. and i hope that they are the red ones. i saved a million of the regulars, but the red ones were incredibly hard to extract/find the seeds on and i like red...

it's not so windy today,but kinda freezing.

i'll wait for the temperature to go out and finish preparing the final pieces of garden,then i have to decide what to actually plant there...

porch sitting and lemonade drinking.

2009-05-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

Stan found and ordered some sweet potatoes that have a shorter growing season than most,so would(hypothetically) be able to be grown in these here parts...he gave us 6 of the plants...i counted 12 bean-plants that have already sprouted from planting them last week!

still have 2 rows left to get done and planted. what's going in them is a mystery as it could be any of dozens of things to choose from.

i've got to get a bunch of pumpkins in today,which also requires digging in the rock capitol of the universe.

it's so windy that i might die.

so many itchy-bug-bites that i might die,also.

Weed 'em and reap.

2009-05-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

it was hot and sweaty yesterday and even though i was up really early today and continue to put in beans and peas around the perimeter of the garden,(so they can climb on the fence) i've managed to get about 50% of them in and i'm dying of sweat and bugs.

stupid rocks! i hate you! and bugs!

the bugs and rocks make me reconsider hobbies and how 'worth it' growing tons of food actually is. i know,i know, i'm just being cranky. it's totally worth it.

and really,what other hobby do i have? tv? the interweb? disciplining cats?

i should get back out there. i know,i know, i'm going. going to finish planting the beans and peas today.

we'll see when the rest get done(i'm going to predict that 'tomorrow', is likely,if it doesn't rain,which we could actually use...)

The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie

2009-05-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

been relocating herbs and over-active seedlings to bigger/more permanent pots. still a week or two before we can get the rest of the stuff(besides roots) into the ground. probably finish up the roots tonight with the potatoes that we prepared the eyes for planting the other night.

Jake and Stan finished the roof of the porch last night. Jake lost a good hunk of his finger...

debating whether or not to make some kind of little apple-pastry that i have yet to plan out,at all.

still have about 2X the amount shown in the picture to till up and try to de-rockify, before planting can commence. 'good' thing there's still over a week of potential-frosts.

"Plant carrots in January and you'll never have to eat carrots. "

2009-05-08T04:06:00.000-07:00

officially started the garden for this year!

got a bunch of onion and potato starts from a farm/garden place that i can never remember the name of.

have some onions that i started from seed that,i guess,are going to have to go in a different area. either way,onions.

turnips, carrots,radishes and beets. hella. i don't like radishes. Jake and mom do. many happy-radish-parties to them.

will do more this afternoon...clay deposits and tons of rocks make it a very time-energy-consuming task.

plus dahlias. thumbs up.

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night. ~

2009-05-04T06:09:00.000-07:00

apparently, we started the 'starts' a little too early. we've still got about a week or so before the real chance for a frost passes, and most of the 'starts' are READY TO GO.

so many tomatoes! which is good b/c this year,i'm gonna freeze enough sauce to make it through this year.(or longer than October,which the time that we made it to last year.)

also decided that,for next year, we're going to plant like 5 or 6 rows of garlic, preserve a lot and then go back to 1 or 2 rows the next year,and so on and so forth. 1 row is simply not enough!
plus,i really enjoy young-garlic scallions,but would feel wasteful if i did that to the 10-ish plants we have right now.

our peach tree blossomed! both it and the pear have another year or so before anything substantiates, but i'm excited. plus one cherry baby-tree(of the 2 that my mom bought us) survived the winter and has leaves!

no word on any of the nut trees, as they appear dead. or to be 'sleeping',but who knows!?

for the past couple of days i've been dirty-ing myself with trying to get the flat walk-way rocks set. harder than it looks!

thinking about making some pierogies for dinner and freezing some,too. we have a lot of potatoes that Jake got from a 'veganic' farm in Ithaca,who are at the farmer's market. think they're called 'Unexpected', but my memory is unreliable.

okay,hours later...i did make the pierogies,onion and roasted garlic. we have run out of flour,though,so only enough for a meal,not to freeze,yet.

" In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." ~Margaret Atwood

2009-04-18T04:50:00.000-07:00

we've gotten the main garden-area raked and fenced and basically,ready to go. the fence was the hardest part,since there are hundreds of thousands of huge rocks just below the surface just waiting for someone to TRY ANYTHING. rock farmers.

in the fall we started a small(about 10 plants,but we LOVE to use it) row of garlic. it's like bulbs. for 'best results' they should be put in in the fall.

we have yet to see if,in fact,the winters are too harsh for asparagus,since it takes a couple years before you start getting anything edible. now we're looking at sad little piles of potentially-dead asparagus plants,hoping that they survive.

we've got the starts-started and now we're waiting for fear of frost to put them in the ground.

we've also got it pretty-much mapped out, as far as taller plants and sun exposure and plants that need to climb on things,ect.

still planning out a couple separate spots(dirt mounds?) for things that have a tendency to try to take over and dominate the rest of the garden. these include,but are not limited to,cucumber,zucchini,pumpkin and squashes.

cucumber blossoms are the prettiest. wouldn't mind trying to come up w/a stuffed squash blossom recipe,this year...

If you pass by the color purple in a field and don't notice it, God gets real pissed off. - Alice Walker

2009-03-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

did the heirloom 'starts' 2 days ago. it basically was everything that can't wait to be put directly in the ground,which will begin to happen w/in the next month,unless we keep getting freak snow-storms that blanket the ground with 2 inches of snow...greatest thing to wake up to ever!

finally,after more than a week,a pepper decided to sprout...one of the non-heirloom ones that i started awhile ago,just to 'see'. weirdo. beardo.

we also(finally)got on top of obtaining a compost bin.

we also got a wheel barrel.
good for moving things around and such.

picked up some really cool flower seeds. passion flower. it looks like an alien. it's a climber,so i would like to have it,eventually, climb around the garden fencing, which we,of course, have yet to get around to putting up. flowers everywhere! the lily bulbs that mom got me have sprouted! hope snow doesn't get them! also want to try and save the living christmas tree by transferring it to new dirt and ground and fresh air, w/in the next week...plant. plant. plant. dirt. dirt. dirt.

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_178/1188148841SCGa5U.jpg

spring approach-eth.

2009-03-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

haven't planted any heirloom seeds yet,as i want jake to help,so that i'm not the only one to blame when something "doesn't work. "

non-heirloom seeds that i have planted and that have spouted are:
*sunflowers
*red sunflowers
*catnip
*basil
*dill
*climbing spinach
*nasturtium
*peas
*okra
*sage
*sweet marjoram

in the next few days,i think that jake and i are going to at least start preparation for heirloom-seed-ocity.

nothing too exciting yet...

make it okay.

2009-02-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

planted a couple of herbs yesterday,before i got really frustrated with dirt/mess/cats. running a humidifier next to the seedlings,see if it does anything besides make the room really humid...probably try to do some more today and be more patient about the whole deal/cats.

bonfires and gardens...

2009-02-22T07:08:00.000-08:00

we got our heirloom seeds yesterday. so many seeds! still gonna be a couple of weeks before i can start seedlings.

not that it's 'mountain news'-y,but it's news...we went to a 'punk' show last night. better than my expectations,but by no means good. 'fag' and 'cunt,' are not synonymous w/bad. i love living in western ny!!! or...i left as soon as i could. boomerang life. oops!

we're still trying to plan out/execute the 'greenhouse' room. we'll see how THAT works out.

don't understand amaranth. we have seeds for it. jake is excited. i continue to shrug my shoulders in confusion about it.

there is still snow. why so much winter?

time to work on a 'zine!!

//she could be a farmer in those clothes//

2009-02-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

we made french toast(obviously vegan...) out of zucchini bread, last night. for the record, the frozen zucchini has a slightly freezer burned taste. but it worked. and we have been super busy with planning the garden.
plus, we actually have the stuff for fencing it off this year.(well,the front one.)
we have a lot of seeds left from last year,which are mostly random ones that mom picked up on sale,plus some that i retrieved from the garden and we ordered well over $100 worth of heirloom seeds.

we're still unclear about heirloom. like,is heirloom always organic? i mean,i'm pretty sure that it isn't the other way around,so i dunno.

are you ready for the giant list? yeah?yeah?yeah?

crappy(regular store-bought) seeds that we had left over from last year:
sweet basil,climbing spinach,regular spinach,dill,parsley,catnip,opal basil,cilantro,sage,sunflower,red sunflower,jalapeno,thai hot pepper,habanero peppers,carrot,garden beans,radish,romaine lettuce,zucchini,cayenne peppers,sweet corn,turnip,nasturtium,nevada summer crisp lettuce,cucumber,okra,four seasons butterhead lettuce,mighty red oak lettuce,black seeded simpson loose leaf lettuce,eggplant,broccoli,peas.

saved from the garden:
dill,cilantro,sunflower,red sunflower,jalapeno,tomato,plum tomato,arugula,thai hot pepper,zucchini,pumpkin.

ordered heirloom seeds:seriously,we just go the small 'seed package'
cumin(yeah,yeah we did),corn,peas,cowpeas(i have no clue),carrots,beets,cabbage,onions,tomatoes,peppers,eggplants,melons,watermelons,cucumber,lettuce,greens,okra,winter squash,summer squash,radishes,turnip,huckleberries(yeah,i dunno),sunflowers,leeks,amaranth(jake's excited...),broccoli,ground cherries(??),kohlrabi,lemon basil,genovese basil,german chamomile,cilantro,catnip,oregano,parsley,cilantro,sage.

we're also starting to use the blue room(since it's on the right-light side of the house) as a pre-garden greenhouse-type room,to be kept cat-free.

zoom!

we'll see.

the plan is to have two small garden spots to do all of the leftover seeds and zucchini and sunflower plethora in the back.

also going to try to keep an herb garden going indoors all year long.

2009-01-25T04:56:00.000-08:00

"researching" compost bins. definitely want one of those kind that are easy to rotate. found one that is supposed to look like it's a rock formation(or a castle or a covered bridge or something...),which i'm more inclined toward than one of the incredibly ugly looking ones,but it isn't easily rotated...

i'm bear-like. i hibernate in winter. curling up into a ball and reading a lot is way more enjoyable than ever going outside in january...

happy birthday to my lil' sisters. i would make them a cake if they were here,maybe i should make a cake anyway...

a thousand thoughts...

2009-01-17T10:12:00.000-08:00

perhaps one of the reasons that i don't make new year's resolutions is b/c i make a thousand everysingleday that i can't make myself follow through with,so i find the idea of it to be a practice in futility.

but,either way,i made one this year,in my head,to myself- "to get more things done." and even though,i really do plenty(more than some,not as much as others.) updating this more frequently,was a big part of that. clearly i have proven my theory correct b/c i thought that maybe telling myself that it was my resolution would motivate me...nope. besides the fact that it is the dead of winter,i can't make myself DO anything.

yesterday, we sat down and made a list of potential garden-ideas for the spring,since we're determined to have this year's be better than last. or,at least, less hurried. last year's was fine,but now we've learned a little about what's good out here,ect. so now we know that 9 tomato plants are not an adequate number if we want to freeze even close to enough sauce-base to last us through,even november.

anyhow,we want to do so much more than last year. we definitely want to put things like zucchini and pumpkins in areas other than the front garden area,since they just TOOK OVER the entire left(north?)side of the garden...

new things to plant this year are: kale,collards,chard,cabbage,brussel sprouts(ew,for jake,not me),celery,mustard greens, parsnips,onions,scallions,leeks,chickpeas,peas,cantaloupe,chervil,bay,horseradish,fennel,tarragon,chives,mints, and catnip that we won't let ed sleep on and kill.

definitely want to try eggplant again,as nothing happened last year...and we know it was more us,than 'it'.

i want to check again, but,if i remember right,there's not enough of a growing season to do artichokes,which i am totally in love with. so,i guess they'll have to wait until i can invest the thousands of dollars that i have just sitting around,in a greenhouse...

we'll see...

2009-01-09T03:31:00.000-08:00

i guess my 'new year's resolution' is to make myself do this more often. this surely means putting more time/thought into it than," i just did this," or "i'm thinking of doing this". we'll see.

going to start a few indoor herbs today. cat-attacks have been the #1 thing stopping me. i can put a few in the window above the sink and the cats won't be able to destroy them,it's just on the exact opposite side of the house than what would be the better side for growing...goodness.

we'll see.

made zucchini fritters last night with apple shredded in with the zucchini. made some soy-peanut-sauce to go with it. they were a lot fluffier than last time,but tasted just as good.

since the sister and her boyfriend will be here tonight,we're making tempura. not sure of the exact recipe yet,will post later...

coconut is magic

2009-01-07T04:19:00.000-08:00

to cure(or at least,aid) my constant craving for coconut,we made these:

CHOCOLATE COCONUT MACAROONS
and
DRIED FRUIT AND COCONUT CANDIES

both from The Joy of Vegan Baking,our new favorite cookbook. though,neither required the oven to actually be turned on.

we're thinking of making the candies continuously,but varying the recipe with,among other things,different nuts...since it called for walnuts,but if we were to use,say,cashews,the flavor would be entirely different. the continuous part is because they are entirely raw and jake has been trying to start the day raw(for the first few hours) since he says that he feels better when he does that. pancakes are good too,if you ask me,but whatever. fine by me.

i think tonight we're going to make ZUCCHINI FRITTERS with apple chunks in them. the shredded zucchini being frozen,from our garden. yay. i'll post that recipe when it happens.

possibly complimented by some of the jalepeno jelly that i made in the summer.

i'm going to try to get back to doing this more frequently. i can't seem to concentrate, fully, on projects.

we're waiting on an organic seeds catologue to come in the mail before we really start planning this years garden. definitely decided that we are using an entirely seperate space for squash-type plants. mostly because they took over and choked other plants to death,but also because we want to plant more More MORE! this year. the tomato sauce that we froze from the upwards of 10 plnts last year,was gone in less than 3 months. putting the squashes somewhere else will free up SO MUCH space to plant,say triple the amount of tomato plants.
we're also going to try a few more things this year. just to experiment,last year,we planted anything that we could get our hands on,but i think this ear we'll make it a point to try things like eggplant,specifically.

since winter is really setting in,and our basement remains unfinished, i think that we're going to try brewing soon...still haven't decided specifics yet,but i do think that we'll most likely, start with wine,just because it'll be easier...and we're lazy,on top of having a billion things to do,already.

went to watkins yesterday. wandered the block of the town. just like i anticipated,it's really a very seasonal town. went into a secon-hand store that is truly a glorified(alphebatized,clean) packrat's basement. only vonnegut they had were ones that i already had. the dude said that it was hard to actually get any of his stuff... also stopped at a coffee shop/bookstore. they had 2 vegan bakedcgoods. blueberry with puff pastry...i wish they would expand that to other fruits...
the summer. i swear,this year.

//i'm faking it 'til i'm psuedo-making it.//

2009-01-05T05:10:00.000-08:00

i don't know what's wrong with me. i have so many ideas floating around in my head but can't pin them down long enough to put any effort into getting them done,let alone actually write about any of them...

since i almost always crave coconut,we bought a package of shredded coconut like a month ago. i've stopped myself from opening it and simply eating it with a shovel. we're thinking chocolate coconut macaroons are the way to go. also found a dried fruit and coconut candy recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking that sounds good.

i will post the recipe of whichever one that we finally decide on.

sewing will happen today. but not fun sewing,fixing sewing. necessary.

...never doing what we wanted. and i'm tired of it.

2008-12-11T05:52:00.000-08:00

haven't been doing anything at all useful lately...

jake made chocolate cupcakes the other day. the peanut butter frosting that he made for them might be the best thing in my life,ever.

no real plans for anything productive...the only things that i have 'gotten done' lately,include everything involved in christmas-ing.
we got another(cross fingers that the cats won't kill this one) living christmas tree. yes,christmas trees make me happy. especially when they're potentially forever,as opposed to killing one every year. it's less tall than last year's so maybe the cats won't knock it iver,though,they've already started to unwrap mom's and stan's christmas gifts. oops.

they say it's christmas

2008-12-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

i made actual ginger-snaps tonight,as opposed to the gigantic ginger cookies that our company that we had in pdx made/makes...it's a pretty big surprise for my mouth to have them be so snappy.
i also made 'butter-cream' frosting for them...it would have bee 100% better had i had food coloring;they would have been actually decorated,instead of just overly-frosted. either way,they're delicious and sugar-coma-inducing.
made an ice-cream sandwich with 2 ginger snaps, the remaining chocolate made with coconut milk-ice cream (new and delicious from purely decadent) and all covered in frosting. jake and i are unbelievably gross.

ginger snap
cookie dough

3 c flour
1/4 t salt
1 t baking soda
2 t ginger
1 t cinn.
1/4 tnutmeg
1/4 t clove
1/2 c non-dairy butter
3/4 c sugar
1 1/2 t egg replacer
2/3 c molasses
2 T water

buttercream frosting
1/2 c non-dairy butter
2 c confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla
2 T milk(non-dairy,duh)

in actuality, this is far too much frosting for the the amount of cookies, but in real life,jake eats at least 2 tablespoons of it and you can never have too much sugar-y goodness,right? so yeah,if i were to go at this project again, i would half the frosting recipe...so as to not be forced into frosting eating,which doesn't sound so so terrible,but might be the reason for the involuntary trembling that i am beginning to feel.

sleepy smile

2008-11-21T04:27:00.000-08:00

2 nights ago(yes,i'm timely with EVERYTHING), i made pumpkin ravioli. it was really yummy. i know that i am biased,and in my head, anything would've tasted good at that point,(it was very time consuming/labor intensive)but jake thought that it was really good too.

so much pumpkin puree left! i want to make a bunch of pumpkin ravioli and freeze them. i'll have to psyche myself up for that project...

also going to make a pie for thanksgiving at mom's,which daniel won't actually make it to(which is too bad since last year my kind of questionably good pie was 80% eaten by him because he thought it was fine.) although,he's coming up the next day,and i'm not anticipating the pie being iffy this time.

i've been looking for those tiny jars that come in like pepperidge farm sausage/jam/gross collections,but cannot find anything even remotely similar...

the end of tragic comedy.

2008-11-18T04:31:00.000-08:00

applesauce
cranberry sauce
grape jam/jelly
tomato sauce
apple butter
raspberry jam
strawberry jam
apple jelly
blackberry jelly
jalapeno jelly
pickles
salsas

all (among a zillion things that i could list) possibilities. found the preserving book. now,what to do?

to process things, i make lists,always have. i think that i get it from my mom,who also makes tons of lists. i have to stop myself from putting the list that i've made,detailing my plans for christmas-presenting,since there's always the possibility of this being read by someone who's made it on the list...

back to brainstorming and internet searching...

turn away from all the rough spots.

2008-11-17T04:48:00.000-08:00

ordered more canning stuff. christmas presents-here we come!!

besides the jam i've already made,that took a spectacularly long time and amount of materials,what should i make for presents?

salsa seems like a good option,but i'm not sure about the whole process.

perhaps i should just look through the preserving book for ideas...now i just have to remeber where i put it...

stan asked me yesterday if i had heard any gunshots,since it's now deer season,and until last night,i had not. just heard them again, at least right now it's light out. there's nothing smarter than shooting people's faces off in the dark...so,mom and stan should be getting some baby deer again,soon. it's sad. but they are cute.

deimos just came inside covered in snow! her teeny-tiny tail was all fat and snowy. she was almost cute.(but don't tell anyone i said that!)

not interested.

2008-11-11T05:11:00.001-08:00

used the remaining cranberries to make more pumpkin cranberry muffins. to be kept away from cat lips,this time...it's really satisfying to grow a pumpkin,make it into puree and then eat a pumpkin muffin,made from it.
i am craving pumpkin/squash ravioli. would it be totally ridiculous to make ravioli from scratch? it seems incredibly involved. but,it would probably be well worth the trouble.

i ain't looking for answers...

2008-11-10T04:47:00.000-08:00

i spent last evening(ALL of yesterday evening) puree-ing pumpkin...much like the apple butter,it's hella time-consuming,and would be SO MUCH BETTER if i had people to visit with while i did it. i mean, jake was there,he was just being spazzy and running around doing other things,which i totally understand. i wanted to make more pumpkin cranberry bread,but didn't even want to look at any more pumpkin last night. today. it's snowing,so a good day for baking.
we're also going to make some risotto. pumpkin spice risotto?

rancid is a good band,circa 'life won't wait' crazy to think that that album is well over 10 years old.

i'll be forever blue

2008-11-09T07:31:00.000-08:00

about time that i got around to a dehydrating cranberry project. weird,but they turned out more crunchy than chewy. guess i'll have to research the appropriate way to do this kind of thing...

maybe today will include finally making pumpkin puree for various pumpkin-y projects,which include,but are not limited to:pumpkin pie and more pumpkin cranberry bread(that the cats are not allowed to chomp on this time)(chomp!)
should also freeze acorn squash,since we have so much. or maybe soup? pretty sure that one needs butternut squash for squash soup,but i dunno. squash.

fall is the best.

i'm babbling.

2008-11-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

got a recipe from a vegnews or vegetarian times for pumpkin cranberry muffins. misplaced it. found another online:
2C flour
3/4 C sugar
1t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
1C pumpkin puree
1 egg(egg replacer works...)
1/4 oil
1Cmilk
1Cranberries chopped
350 15-20 minutes.

was so good that our cats ate a lot of one that i left on the counter...

it seems really moist ,but it's done.

//the real hell of hell is that it is forever//

2008-11-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

been so un-busy that i've been unable to even think about wanting to update this...big halloween last night...rastafariiiiii.

anyway.

row of garlic is exciting to think about/have. must do some research about onion planting.

also garden planning and consideration of gardening multiple places. let zucchini and pumpkin take over the left side of the yard...

we've already used about half of the tom. sauce that i froze from the tomatoes from the garden,and we had over a row of tom. plants...next year it'll totally be on with like 3 rows of tomatoes,at least.

the cats started eating the last cranberry pumpkin bread that i made,so i guess that means it's good...?? gross. gonna dehydrate some of the remaining cranberries to see if they replicate craisins of any sort...

still have a lot of pumpkin from the garden,so pumpkin pie will be happening soon...ish.

it's probably gonna be snowing on the regular soon.

then winter-projects will be in effect. i want to make cat and dog treats. 'zine stuff. reading. the last one isn't really a project,but,you know. i guess i could make whole yards full of creepy snowman animals,or something...except that i hate the snow b/c it makes me cold...and wet. so no.

more coffee. that's a project...right? just like getting dressed everyday,except that's a far more fun/eventful "project".

being a farmer in these clothes

2008-10-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

planted bulbs yesterday. planted rhubarb and rose bushes today. the only things i have left are carnations and some other flower that i could neither pick out of a crowd(of flowers) or that i remember the name of,right now...
but it's cold,so i'm done for today.
speaking of being done...there are so many freakin' rocks in this yard/area,that it takes a special kind of person not to become really frustrated in about 3 minutes of trying to dig a hole of any sort...

attention-span=zero.

2008-10-26T05:36:00.000-07:00

did a small entry yesterday,but with the weather,and our only non-dial-up connection being satellite, was thwarted in actually posting.

we got the trees planted the other day.

as well as everything except the flowery-bulbs. today.

made a cranberry pumpkin bread...well,muffins.

turned out good.

my attention span with everything has been non-existent.

snowsnowwsnosnow

2008-10-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

potted the asparagus and strawberries yesterday. it's gonna be awhile before stan rototils the garden,though we already had snow happening last night into this morning,though no accumulation. plus strawberries should wait until spring to go outside.

going to get outside and plant some stuff today if it kills me,which, w/the recent weather,might be an occurance.

we finally had to turn on the heat...the main user of the propane that is freakin' expensive.
not managed to get anything curtain-like happening,which i really wanted to do to save on heating expenses. stupi stupid stupid. lazy.

we'll see in like an hour when it will be at the height of warmness.

hazelnut trees!

2008-10-21T05:12:00.000-07:00

i've had the intention of getting all of the flowery-type-things that mom got us,in the ground for days,but i get discouraged every time b/c i start with the tiger lily plants that i should have put in 2 months ago,and the area in the front,near the road is rocky and rooty. i know that the others will be easier as the soil around the house is topsoil for about a foot or so,which should be fine.

janice will be here with mark and alex to visit colleges, like binghamton, in a few days...mom is already planning to put them to work digging holes for her to plant stuff. so,i will try to do the same.

mom/stan got us the kitchen table that i've wanted for months! kitchen nook!!

//prove you're different from the rest//

2008-10-19T04:28:00.000-07:00

finally finally finally carved one pumpkin.
it now has a bat on it.
i will do the other one today. it will have a cat on it.

going to have a giant,pumpkin-patch next year.(saving the seeds)

some things that we will also have next year,thanks to my mom's cwazy ordering are: a hazelnut tree, cherry trees, rose bushes(what are we,back in portland?), lilac trees, lilies, asparagus, birch trees...and i don't currently remember what else,but i'll know later when i move my cold self to get more coffee. either way...wooo. oh. strawberries!

stan is almost done with the steps to the...porch/deck.

i feel like being lazy today...too bad i have to get all of that stuff from mom into the ground...not easy when your yard is apparently MADE of solid rock,like ours is. plus my hands have started to be in the perpetual state of cold that they will enjoy until about april...

fast cars,danger, fire and knives

2008-10-17T04:08:00.000-07:00

yesterday we met with some ladies who jake works with to talk about project-y type-things. as usual,my awkwardness took over. it generally turned into what S.C.A.R meetings and such always turned into...we just managed to make all the weird,old, regular-dudes really uncomfortable...it's sort of like,when we went to see cub's band play and we were THE FREAKS. "punk" band at a skate shop...in elmira,oops.

surely hoping that we can meet again,hopefully somewhere more comfortable...

maybe some pumpkin carving today...

it's cold and fall-y.

i think that i'm not really made to be around people. that's why cats,jake,netflix and the interweb are my BEST FRIENDS. mostly cats right meow(and by cats i mean euronymous.)

//you can't consume much if you sit still and read books//

2008-10-14T05:47:00.001-07:00

jalapeno jelly yesterday,finally.

it's very jelly-y. i might have added a little too much pectin...but it works.

we're in the market for more canning supplies.

i guess, on thursday we're finally meeting with the ladies who jake works with to talk about old-lady canning parties! and whatever else we can come up with besides booze-ing. not a book club! as it has been pointed out,we have enough trouble reading the pile of books that we already have...don't need more stress added to that unfortunate-ness.

nap-a-thon

2008-10-12T03:55:00.000-07:00

got the fruit leather right this time! apple blackberry. the seeds are unfortunate...maybe next time i should strain those out...that sounds fun/potentially dangerous.

another small guy of tom. sauce.

2nd round of seitan jerky...we should try some with liquid smoke next time. and maybe something citrus-y.

stan has gotten almost all of the porch done! i want to have cat races. right now,there is just the outline of the porch.and the cats tip-toe around it to get to the door(they aren't used to using the side-door) and it's cute and i totally want to have races. even though he's a spaz and would probably cheat,i want euronymous to be my team captain. i wonder if i have a cat-track-suit in my cat-clothes collection? i'm thinking i would remember if i did...little cat-leg-warmers!!!
1-2-3-4 feel the burn!! okokok time to stop being crazy.

i finally gathered the sunflower seeds out of one of the big guys and aside from the seeds that i am saving to plants next year(i'm gonna plant a lot of sunflowers,everywhere) i've got about a quarter of a smarty-pants* to roast/eat/whatever one does with a ton of sunflower seeds. there are still like 3 big ones left standing,but i like watching the birds swoop down and eat the seeds,so i'm willing to let those go.
i need a nap.

*a smarty-pants is about a quart

//if you watch a river long enough,you'll see your own body float by.//

2008-10-11T04:48:00.000-07:00

probably doing another batch of tomato sauce today...

kitchen table has changed so much!

holes dug for new porch/cat graves.

going to finish sewing the backpatch on my sweatshirt today...should i start sewing the sweatshirt that was cut off of me, back together? it's become more of a joke than anything,but it would be HILARIOUS if i was wearing a sweatshirt that the emts had to cut off of me. even more hilarious would be if i were wearing the pants...

i think planting the fruit orchard is going to happen today! peach and pear trees are all we have so far,but we'll see what happens.

pumpkin carving may also be happening.
it's time to get all halloween-y!

2008-10-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

last night i made apple butter. it was time-consuming/totally boring. it's really a good reason to have canning parties. i could have really used some people to hang out with/talk to/entertain me while i had to continuously stir it.

stan ripped our front steps out in preparation for the porch he is going to be starting soon.

possibly some seitan smoking today as we totally have the mequite chips and it's so so nice out.

//everyday goes down in history//

2008-10-08T05:51:00.000-07:00

finished bringing in the garden yesterday(yes,it's all in the house).

jake is weighing all of our jalapenos at work,since the only recipe that i have for jalapeno jelly gives weights.

we really should acquire a food scale.

the idea that i had for jam-jar-decorating was flawed,so now my brain will continue to brainstorm...

i keep forgetting that we still have a zillion apples,so probably apple butter will be happening.

oh! made the pumpkin pudding yesterday. it's okaaaaay. it called for brown sugar,which we didn't have,so,as with the cookies that we used to sell for money, we used regular sugar and molasses. it turned out too molasses-y. woops. well,it's probably good for me and my lack-of-iron thing...

pumpkin pie is next! i'm good at pie. wish that i still had the fall-cookie-cutters that mom sent to me in oregon,that got left there. i'll just add it to the tab that i am tallying of all of the stuff that bitch-face owes us that i will never see...man,i think the debates, last night, made me bitter at the world and now it will be part of my day today. SWEET!
EDIT(AND RANT):i was just thinking that it comes off as me just sounding bitter and SAYING that she owes us, but we actually sent her money because she said that she would send a bunch of our stuff that we accidentally left there,which she said that she would do...alas,i don't see almost anything...including jake's bmx bike. hope that whoever has it is appreciating that it's worth a bit of money...actually,i wouldn't be surprised if she sold it. that is now the second time that we have sent someone money to send stuff that we were big retards about leaving places,when we moved and not seen the stuff. i guess the lesson is to fucking stop moving...and that kami and marie are the same person. ugh.

i mean,i'm cold and on my way to actually starting my day.

i like pudding,pudding is good.

2008-10-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

ok.
basically everything that is producing in our garden is done/done for.

stan's gonna start our porch and rototil the garden area next week.

i also asked him about the fruit trees that mom bought us and i guess the front yard(the part that is not garden-tastic) will be made into a fruit orchard. yes!

ok. now i will start/continue the jalepeno jam-making,squash soup preparation, seed gathering. the last thing being something else that stan un-confused me about...i guess some of the seeds that mom gifted us with were hybrid seeds,therefore they aren't intended to produce seeds..what?ever.

time for tomato sorting. and sunflower-seed gathering and pumpkin pie/pudding making. i like me some pudding.

//there'll be time enough for countin' when the dealing's done//

2008-10-07T05:06:00.000-07:00

big frost last night...
gonna try to bring in everything from the garden that is left(yes,i know that i should have done it yesterday...)

there are still a ton of tomatoes and acorn squashies...

made some salsa yesterday.

saved a an incredibly cute field mouse from death. tony was just carrying it around. when he let it go,you could see her little heart going a mile a minute. i made jake take it into the woods. he said that she seemed more confident with being able to run away and that she probably didn't have an instant mousey heart-attack,like we predicted.

my brain is going a mile-a-minute. so happy that jake has a half-day today...!

pumpkin pie or pumpkin pudding? haven't made the pudding yet,so it's a gamble...
there's also a pumpkin-bread recipe that i want to try...we need more pumpkins!
pumpkinspumpkinspumpkinspumpkins.

//i suggested to him that America teemed with people who were homesick in bittersweet ways//

2008-10-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

half a smarty-pants of tomatoes.

there's some blight on a couple of the plants,i dunno what that is about,but it's looking like it's happening to about a quarter of the zillion-too many plants that we have...there's still so many that i hope get ripe before snow happens

brought an acorn squash in. still about 8-10 left...maybe some squash soup in the next week...i could freeze that if it turns out to be an adequate amount.

mom bought us a peach and pear tree, we just have to figure out a time/place to put them in the ground...

had a bonfire 2 nights ago.

still waiting on pumpkins,but i don't really know why.
pie and jack o' lanterns. possibly some pumpkin pudding...

today is such a good day for pumpkin beer. very harvest-y. at least...cold.

still not enough ripe jalapenos for the jelly,but soon.

jake's been talking with some ladies who he works with about having a jam-making/booze/random project-y party and one of the girls wants to do a book-club,too. i hope that he nixed that,like i told him to...so many books to read already.

i feel like i keep repeating myself...time for more projects and less being lazy! too bad tv is so good...

um. gunshots. great. hunting is freaking awesome.

//coin collecting's a lot like life;it stopped being fun a long time ago.//

2008-10-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

the apple-pie casserole actually turned out a-okay.

brought in almost all of the herbs and dried them. actually got a lot more than i thought would be there.

it's cold.

there are almost enough jalapenos to make the previously-mentioned jam.

a guy at jake's job keeps bringing him apples from his trees,so i think i'll try my hand at apple-butter this time.

pumpkin pie this week!(not pumpkin casserole.)

in the next couple of days,we're going to bring in the plethora of acorn squash that we grew and make an apple risotto, to be eaten out of acorn squash bowls.

there's also a history of wassail in the last cook-book that mom go us,and it's actually really interesting. i want to have a harvest-a-thon with, among other things, traditional wassail.

//so cook it up. cook it up. cook it up yall, cook it up. //

2008-09-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

so yeah, i'm the special one who didn't check before starting,)as i am completely aware that you're supposed to do...)but,there was not enough margarine to make a full pie crust. so,because i already chopped all of the apples that we had(stupid,stupid,stupid...),i thought that i would simply make a bunch of little apple-tart-type things...wrong again!! essentially,they started melting,or doing something crazy/messy all over when i checked on them in the oven...so,basically i added more cinnamon/sugar and put them in a bordered dish,making a sort of apple crisp-casserole,if you will. we will see if it turns out at all,at all.

about another smarty-pants of tomatoes today.

maybe i could make some creepy halloween decoration with all of the dead mice/moles/voles that the cats keep leaving outside the door...i'm sure that it would smell amazing...

i had this idea about jam making,that involved decorating the jars,but i can't really explain it without hand motions and actually explaining it, because there are a lot of,"and then it goes like thiiiis's" so you all will just have to let me know who wants jam,then you will see...but it involves me being an amazing old-lady!

the nasturtium have started to seed and it's weird,totally not how i was expecting...like aliens...

i also brought in about 80% of the lettuce that is left/i'm not waiting to go to seed,and with the million(yes,1 ,million) nasturtium,i can have an intense salad later...

it's such a windy/cool/fall-y day. i heart.

//she could be a farmer in those clothes.//

2008-09-30T04:31:00.000-07:00

clearly i'm a lazy, lying asshole,and i spent all day yesterday cleaning/awaiting the propane delivery/not really doing anything useful or productive...

today will equal

-garden
-more 'harvesting'
-pie making
-more cleaning.

we got the catalog i requested for greenhouse materials,yesterday...

how cool would it be to have a greenhouse? too bad it costs a lot.

i'm very set on getting an herb garden going indoors soon...the cats being my number one adversary.

it feels very fall and i like it.

lists where nothing gets crossed out...

2008-09-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

letting tomato sauce cool before i freeze that shiiiiit.

yesterday was full of cleaning and random useless projects because it was (and is still) raining.

i'm not going (i probably will get bored and end up doing it) out there,in the rain, to check on everything.

as soon as october happens, then i can carve pumpkins for halloween(according to my own stead-fast rules)...there's one that i have deemed unworthy of jack-o'-lanterning and will make into a pumpkin pie...speaking of which,i think that we have enough apples left to make aother apple pie,so maybe i'll do that later,instead of venturing out to the garden in the rain...

how do people feel about jalapeno jelly? i've always been weirded out by it,and still am,mostly b/c of the jelly-y texture, but i tried it at the windmill place that mom & stan brought me to,and i liked the flavor,despite still not really liking the texture,but i might just make a little guy,seeing as our jalepenos are out of control,and i don't want to lose them all to winter...

pizza,booze fruit-leather f-ups.

2008-09-26T03:37:00.000-07:00

yesterday we went to a coffee shop that is about 8 miles from here, right smack in the middle of nowhere. they had soymilk. it was interesting.

also tried my hand at making fruit-leather w/the dehydrator. fyi,brushing the trays w/oil is a must...woops! now i have to figure out how to get the wasted blackberry sludge off...i'm thinking that i'll just soak them and cry about the waste...

last night was a pizza night,since 'kitchen nightmares' was on,and gordon ramsey means pizza...right? we made the tomato sauce out of some of the tom. sauce that i had frozen a week or so ago...we also used a lot of hot peppers from the garden. yay. it was really good...the first time in awhile that we bothered makking the ricotta-like "cheese" to put on it,and it was pretty good,despite our lack of vegenaise and doing some pretty random substitutions.

we got a new home-brewing catalogue yesterday. do we want to make wine or beer? both take about a month...

today's projects will include: more tom. sauce,retrying fruit-leather and purhaps the 'harvest risotto' that we've been talking about trying.

a lot about jam,not so much about tomato sauce.

2008-09-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

just went out to the garden(it's a lot warmer out there than it is in here,(yay for the summer,but i'm freezing right now)to see if there were more tomatoes. we have just under the necessary amount to do another batch of tom. sauce,for freezing.

this morning i threw a couple of containers of random stuff that i'd dehydrated last week,that apparently,i failed to dehydrate enough,so there was still moisture and therefore...mold(ew).

brought in more seeds from the dill plants. contemplating having a year-round herb garden,since trees that were too big/shady at this time last year are gone,therefore not killing plants that i set in windows. though,i still haven't figured out a cat deterent,yet. just this morning euronymous ate,and then threw up part of a flowering plant that i brought in b/c it's pretty and the frost that is now always a possibility,will killinate it.

have yet to bring in the seeds from the lettuce or broccoli...gonna give them a week to get good and seedy.

a couple more peppers.

one,yes one, tomato that was fully ripe...

hella acorn squash,but i brought one in yesterday that is scheduled for risotto(i'm thinking of adding an apple,cinnamon and cloves,to give it a more fall-y feel.) so the others can wait.

everyday i pass the pumpkins and can't wait to carve them/make pie! but it's too early.

still contemplating making blackberry jam out of the ones that i froze from this summer. it's a very small amount and think that i want to wait,get another berry so as to be able to make an adequate amount,(or a pie?!)(besides,we still have the jam i got from the farmer's market 2 weeks ago,plus 3 things of grape jam that i just made last week...) we need more toast...or crackers,or something. still in need of a much bigger pot for jam-making and homebreewing...

the rest of the day will be spent cleaning/brainstorming/x-files watching.

COME TO HAVE A GOOD TIME,STAY BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO...

2008-09-24T02:06:00.000-07:00

reasons that i am doing this:
-to stop babbling about the dozen projects that i always have,and to record any mistakes,success,bad ideas...
-to stop taking up space in my personal blog,that is largely unread...
-to feel like i'm 'doing something,anything.'

reasons that you should continue reading:
-you like me
-you care about or are interested in reading about troubleshooting various project-y-type things that one who has not grown up rurally,but now lives in the middle of nowhere, finds herself doing.
-you like cats
-learning is fun...?

you should:
-introduce yourself,or let me know if you read this,so there is the possibility of networking,or sharing ideas or whatever.
-give me feedback. i can take criticism. i'm a pretty big douchebag as well. we can all be stupid hippies and grow together.