7/18/08

A couple of weeks ago someone asked: I was going through my bookmarked blogs the other day and ran across the old link for Anita’s site (bald moses). I miss her writing. Do you know what happened to her? Is she writing somewhere else? In my response to the question, I totally lied and said … Continue reading “7/18/08”

A couple of weeks ago someone asked:

I was going through my bookmarked blogs the other day and ran across the old link for Anita’s site (bald moses). I miss her writing. Do you know what happened to her? Is she writing somewhere else?

In my response to the question, I totally lied and said I didn’t know, but I got the okay from her to announce that actually she’s blogging privately, and anyone who wants to know where, email me and I’ll forward your email to her.

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What a garden haul! I have a question about the cucumbers: are those two different varieties? I was wondering why some curve when the rest are straight. Last year all my cukes curved, but I didn’t know why. Still tasted good, just looked odd.

Yeah, they’re two different varieties – Straight Eights, and Pickling Cucumbers, I’m told. I’ll be damned if I can tell any difference between the two – and as a reminder to 2009 Robyn and Fred, YOU DON’T NEED TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF CUCUMBERS. Pickling cucumbers are all you need. You don’t really LIKE cucumbers all that much, and for the love of god, only plant one panel worth of cucumbers, not TWO.

For the green beans, have you tried the recipe on the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog? I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks so good!

I’ve made it several times – always without the red peppers, because I don’t like bell peppers (or any kind, really) – and though I’ve never actually gotten to the point where the onion carmelizes (no matter what temperature I cook it at or whether I keep the lid on or not or how long I cook it), it’s still DAMN good. I also don’t use bacon grease, because we rarely have bacon and thus have no grease to keep around, so I stick with the butter/ olive oil combo.

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It seems like you have so many veggies and you don’t like doing all the canning and what not. Did you ever think of planting less or selling/giving some away???

Well, no. I’m canning this stuff not for shits and giggles, but so we’ll have it to eat through the year until next Summer, when we can have it fresh from the garden again. You can enjoy the results of something without enjoying the process of getting there. Once we’ve put away enough of each vegetable to get us through the year and have made sure our friends and family have more than enough, we either feed the excess to the pigs and chickens, or yank the plants up.

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Is that thing Zoe is sitting on a cat scratcher?

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Yeah, it’s one of these (I did NOT pay $30 for it, though! I don’t think I got it at the pet store, either. Maybe Target or Wal-Mart?). Also, there’s a fuzzy ball hanging down from the part that curves upward, and Zoe likes to get on her back under there and bat at it. She looks like a little kitty mechanic when she does.

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How do you prepare your sweet corn for freezing? The last recipe I tried was a disaster; the directions were a real pain and the end result was hard and unappetizing.

We have this book , the Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery. In it, she says that she brings a big pot to boil, puts as many ears of corn that will fit in it, then when the water comes back to a boil (it takes a few minutes), she removes the corn and puts it in ice water. That’s what I did this weekend with all our corn – the other books I have say that you should blanch the ears for like 10 minutes – that’s WAY too long in my opinion, and you’ll end up with mushy corn.

Another way to do it, if you have room – we did this last year – is to just freeze the corn in the husk without blanching or anything (though you’ll want to put the ears in bags for freezing). When you’re ready to eat it, thaw it out (still in the husk) and microwave it for three minutes. It tastes great and it’s easier to husk after it’s been microwaved, too. The only reason we didn’t do that this year is because our ears of corn were particularly wormy – every ear of corn Fred checked had a worm in it – and I didn’t want to find a cooked worm in my corn next year!

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Are those hats or just stuffed animals on the cats’ heads? I can’t believe you got one on the Boogs. Is he hetting much?

They’re hats. I got them at Target (I stood in the aisle and giggled for several minutes when I spotted them, imagining how much we’d have torturing the cats), and I’d link to them, but I can’t seem to find them on the Target site.

Mister Boogers didn’t het for long – he’s a kind and benevolent Boogs.

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Have you taken any pictures of your garden? I didn’t realize you had so many different things growing at once. It’d be cool to see it all before it was harvested all pretty on the vines/trees/etc.

I thought I had, but apparently not! Fred’s got pictures here and here (from early May), though.

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I was thinking of doing a fall garden….I’ve never done one. In fact, I haven’t even done a summer garden in probably 15 years. So, do tell, Robyn….what does one plant in a Fall garden? Because I’d like to try it this fall.

This Fall, we’re planning on growing:

Collards
Turnips
Carrots
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Potatoes (we grew red potatoes this summer, and will grow white this Fall)
and possibly Kale

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I need your help, Oh Creative One-I’m planning my first ever trip to Maine in September and have no idea where to start with planning. I want to eat lobster and just generally see some pretty scenery. I love the water and would enjoy some easy hiking. Any suggestions? We’ll be there 4-5 days.

A great area to stay in Maine for day hiking, seeing wildlife, and go whale watching (not to mention shopping) would be either the Portland area (they have a walking/ running path around the Back Bay, boat tours that leave pretty regularly in the summer and early Fall, and plenty of shopping – though for some SERIOUS outlet shopping, I’d recommend either Freeport or Kittery) or Bar Harbor. I’d almost recommend Bar Harbor higher than Portland because it’s near Acadia National Park (ie, lots of day hikes – http://www.acadia.national-park.com/hike.htm ), it’s on the water and if I recall correctly, it’s got ferries to nearby islands, some of which you can spend lots of time exploring on foot. It used to have pretty good shopping – lots of little shops to check out – when I was last there (though it’s been a few years), and it’s a very pretty small-town Maine experience.

The Seabasket has – in my opinion – the best seafood in all of Maine.

That’s what comes to mind right away – those of you who’ve been to Maine, feel free to chime in with suggestions!

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You’re making cookies? For the pigs? Don’t take this the wrong way, because I say this with love, but that’s CRAZY.

and

Homemade cookies for pigs – yep – crazy! Isn’t easier to just buy some day old cheapy cookies?

I am SO not crazy. It takes like 10 minutes to make the cookies, I know what’s going into the them (ie, BETTER FOR THEM), and I don’t have to haul my ass to the store to buy cheap-ass chemical-filled cookies. HMPH.

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Robyn: We get to suggest “Best of”s? I like the Senator Boogerton entry.

One of the absolute best entries EVAH is the one describing how you got your arm stuck behind the bed. PRETTY PLEASE add that one.

This one? Also, I am sad to say, I got my arm stuck behind the bed a second time six months later, and Fred wrote about it.

Anyone who ever wants to suggest an entry for the “Best Of” page, feel free to!

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Is it the camera angle or is Zoe really like half the size of the others?!

It’s the camera angle. Zoe and Kaylee are about the same size – they’re the little ones I call my “peanuts” – Inara’s bigger than both of them, and River is the moose of the bunch.

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Is there something wrong with Mr. Booger’s eye?

If he spends too much time outside, Mister Boogers’ allergies start acting up, and his one eye gets watery and kind of gross looking. If it gets particularly bad, we treat it with chlorpheneramine which usually clears it right up.

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Edgar may be your secret boyfriend but Phil of Cornelia Marie, Rick of Maverick and Sig of Northwestern are mine. >D I got a little captain in me.

Man, stop bogarting all the captains! My favorite captain is Phil but for overall funnest boat I have to say that the Hillstrands seem to have some serious good times.

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what do you do with the dried cherry tomatoes?

I stick ’em in the freezer, and then during the winter I make what we’ve come to call “vegetable medley” with yellow squash, pattypan squash, zucchini, okra, and dehydrated cherry tomatoes. It’s faaaaaaaabulous.

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Kittens, fighting. First on the bed, and then in the tub:

See it here in MPG format.

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Joe Bob, probably planning to pee on my laundry when I’m not looking.

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Previously
2007: Like mud with a soupcon of cat poop stirred in for good measure.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: If I were Jennifer Lopez, I would be VERY frightened at the thought of birthing an Affleck baby, if noggins like that run in the family.
2002: I mean, an online journal. Have you ever heard of such a silly thing?
2001: No entry.
2000: Okay, I just really don’t have anything to say today.