Diart 11/27/13

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I am so blessed~ Great family, good health(except for short bout of laryngitis) and prosperity if not financial. Best wishes to you and yours for a nice holiday weekend.

Go Beavs! (Just had to stick that in.)

Diary 11/25/13

Found so many different patterns on the ice at the edge of our pond today. I am sure someone would understand the chemistry that made for these patterns. For me, it is just another example of the wonders of nature. Glad I went for a walk there, I almost skipped it, worried about mud on my boots. I guess that is the opposite of "smell the roses".

Diary 11/23/13

The plum tree that offers shade and hawk protection to the chickens all summer has now performed its last duty by adding a new layer of bedding to their yard. Notice the leaves above our rooster, Mr Darcy's, head. They have been sent airborn by his wild back kick. The sunny afternoons, though cool, have been delightful and will last several more iving me a chance to get hoses rolled up and tools put away before all is missing under snow.

Diary 11/21/13

While picking the last of the tomatoes yesterday, I found this cauliflower! I forgot I planted cauliflower and I had given up on them because the gopher made off with several of the young plants. This one survived and was a great surprise yesterday. My favorite cauliflower recipe is just to steam the florets and add a cheese sauce. I have eaten mashed cauliflower that a Paleo diet fan prepared, it was interesting if not quite like potatoes and a lump of butter...

Diary 11/20/13

A high pressure system blew in this afternoon. With it comes sunny days and very cold nights. I believe the inside of the greenhouse will freeze tonight and the trickle of vegetables we have been enjoying is going to come to an end. The cold wind announced the change, and the clouds were smeared by it's entrance.

Diary 11/19/13

After traveling a few logging roads, we found a small patch of Chantrelles. At least we didn't get skunked!

Diary 11/14/13

The last few days have started with fog and then opened up to be beautiful days. Not so much today which stayed cloudy and pretty much gloomy all day. It seemed close to raining all day, but never quite pulled it off. The woods are stark with their leaves gone. The evergreen trees and the newly watered moss give some relief from the browns. I am ready for a sprinkle of snow.

Veteran's Day

I can't come up with the words to say thank you to those who served, especially those who had to sacrifice their goals, their dreams, and sometimes their bodies for the ideal's of another. I could never ask for that. I wish our countries would not either.

Diary 11/11/13

I love spooky nights when the moon drifts in and out of the clouds, one minute lighting the nigh, the next fading to pitch black. The leafless trees add an element of mystique.

Curing Garden Dog's cough (Diary 11/9/13)

Thank goodness for Google, once again. Garden Dog was retching and choking and I was worried about him. He has done so before and one bowl of chicken broth seemed to do the trick, but not this time. As the cough continued, I looked online for help and found a YouTube video of exactly what Garden Dog was doing. He had kennel cough. I must say that I thought it was a serious ailment, but when I read more, it was kinda like a common cold in dogs. He had been stressed as he had cysts removed the week before. he also got wet and cold a couple times when he insisted on helping gather firewood and other farm chores. The vet on the video suggested the age old remedy for coughs: honey, lemon, and warm water to be an aid. He said you could add goldenseal and echinacea also. I had echinacea, so I made the dog some cough syrup. At first it took a dose every 3 hours. Then that lengthened to 6. Yesterday morning when we had a visitor was the last time he coughed. After only 36 hours, the dog was cured! Information highway, for sure.

Diary 11/8/13

So many mushrooms, so little time. I have spent many an hour trying to identify various fungi only to either not be able to do so conclusively, or finding out they are either inedible or even toxic. It is a fun science, but tiring! I don't touch them anymore as I have heard there are some small brown ones that can put neurotoxins through your skin just by touching them. I know the friendlier families such as the boletes, and those I will examine closer. The ones I don't know, I nudge with my foot to see their gills which will help with identification. Photos help also. I really should start a diary of my hunts to help as far as where each mushroom was found and what time of year. Meanwhile, I will be happy to search for the few I do know to be edible even if I have little success.

Diary 11/7/13

The day length grows shorter and shorter, and with no sun, I know mold and mildew are on their way. For now, I will continue to bring the orange tomatoes into the house to finish up. I will enjoy having them until sometime late in the month, and then not eat a real tomato until late June or early July. It's a cruel world...

Diary 11/5/13

You might be a redneck if you get excited about a stack of dry firewood...

Diary 11/4/13

Lots of mushrooms coming up now. There are so many I don't know. This one I do because it is easy to identify with their smooth, fringed, yellow caps. Still, not going to eat this one as its edibility is unknown. Maybe the name might give it away. It is the Questionable Stropharia, Stropharia ambigua.

Rendering Pumpkin

It is a cold and gloomy afternoon, so I decided to tackle the stemless pumpkin sitting at my front door. The pumpkins that keep their stems tend to last longer than the ones that lose the stem and expose a bit of their insides at that navel-a weak point for decay. This pumpkin was fine, but it was the largest and so I took it on. 1. Open the pumpkin as if carving a Jack-O-Lantern, extracting the seeds. I love roasted pumpkin seeds, so that is all part of the deal.

2. Cut, chop or break the pumpkin into pieces that will fit in a large pot with a steamer tray in the bottom. I tend to use an ax or the edge of our stone step as it is safer than me and a knife tryoing to cut open a large pumpkin.
3.Stack the chunks, flesh down in the pot above the water line. If they get into the water the flesh will absorb too much water and mess with you later in recipes(pies that won't set up, for instance).
4.Steam for at least 45 minutes or until flesh is soft.
5. Remove with edge of spoon and if it is soft enough, great, if still firm, food process for a minute. If there is excess water showing, squeeze into another bowl before measuring.

6. Measure for use immediately or in my case I made pumpkin bread and had a nice package for pie later this month.

Diary 11/2/13

Snow storm on the top of the Cascades made for a spooky view from here. Light showers and cold temperatures kept cats, dog, and me inside most of the day.