Mixed Bag

First of all, my eye is still giving me grief. No matter what regimen I have tried, none has helped much. In spite of this, every day I aim to accomplish at least one project, be it large or small. Today was James 2 and the removal of his autumn leaf garland. My daughter found a piney one with cones and red berries at a garage sale and it has been attached. It was a finger-freezing. 'do not fall' project and I am on the lookout for a large red plastic ribbon to complete the job. James #1 is not decorated at all - at least at this point. No good pictures of James 2 yet, road too muddy to go out there to snap 'em.

Two days ago I kept busy cooking down the Thanksgiving ham bone and then freezing the works so I could skim off the fat that accumulates on the top before adding the split peas. Then yesterday the peas were added and the brew kept on low for many hours with frequent stirs. Two quarts were the final yield and they are in the freezer.

The ice covered the lake for only one day and then it warmed up and melted. I hoped the geese were gone, but they still remain. 

Today I will do some upgrading of paperwork and 2024 clendar marking with birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  I'm seriously considering to not create or buy and send holiday cards this year via USPS. 

Pretty soon the daily sunset will be coming later and I look forward to that.  The good thing is that everyday the view through my windows is changing. Can you see how beautiful it is through the image my neighbor took?

Oh, yes I am only a little crazy with my computer creations. I like to escape once in a while.

Pea Soup

From a beautiful and naked spiral ham bone to two quarts of pea soup was the accomplishment yesterday.

I had simmered the bones and 10 cups of water for over ten hours the day before. After I had strained out the bones the kettle of broth was cooled out on the front porch to cause the fat to solidify over night. I removed the fat crust easily and then another simmer with a bag of split peas (not a thing else!) for another seven hours, stirring often. The broth needed NO spices and was both sweet and salty. You can be sure it is delicious! Yes, I tasted a bowlful. I don't even want to share, but will.

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Still At It

... baking, cooking, you know! Along with the fantastic tomatoes our daughter brings to us, she also shared a hambone from a ham she recently baked for her family.  Of course when she brought some slices as well, we gobbled them like we never had home-cured ham, but they are all gone!  Her neighbor gave her some of his pork after it was smoked and ready to distribute. We have never tasted such delicious ham as this. Isn't it nice how sharing can be such a treat? It's a way of life around here.

Last night we had a bowlful for dinner and the containers shown are left-overs to be frozen and shared too! (There is nothing in this soup except for some chopped onions and dried split peas cooked for 4 hours after the bone broth was cooked and strained for the first 8 hours.)

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What?? You say you don't care for split pea soup? All the more for me.

Pete and Repeat

I do this every year! Making split pea soup is quite simple and we sure do enjoy the end results. The first ham bone has been simmered for an entire day and then strained out with the broth set aside to have the fat come up to the top for skimming off the next day. (We will have another ham bone soon as our daughter is saving hers for me.)

This year I put the kettle of broth outdoors with a milk crate covering it and the heavy 5 gallon gas can setting on top of that! Critters abide in our woods, don'tcha know! In fact, I saw four large deer browsing behind the cabin this very morning. There also was a "funny" noise in the woods during the night. I think it might have been an owl.

The end results after simmering and stirring often was a yield of about 2 1/2 qts. of very tasty soup for freezer storage. Of course that doesn't count the lunch bowls and it was GREAT!

On another note, I was pleasantly surprised to see a photo that I had submitted to our regional news station be shown in the usual Friday night video clip. Good thing I had the camera ready and got a shot of it right from the dining room table! The 2nd picture here is a screen shot I took of my photo while watching a rerun on the computer.

To see the actual presentation click on the link below. There is a wonderful picture of an eagle taken by a local lady who gets incredible nature shots.

Video Link

Kettles a'Cookin'

There are two batches of winter comfort foods bubbling at slow speed on the stove. One pot holds chili - you know, beans, burger, onions and red sauce; the other kettle contains split peas in pure ham broth. These will simmer all day and be put in containers for the future weeks in February and March. Of course, there will be a small tasting event here before the lock up. In the meantime I stepped outdoors into the carport for a few shots of snowy surroundings. Today I like winter.

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Yesterday the upper part of the clothesline often went into this oscillation state. I don't know why. Sorry for poor video and I hope you can see what I saw. Short clip.

Keepin' Busy Today

Busy day in the old cabin this morning. Son-in-law just came over to take our 2006 truck for state inspection. He’ll go over it thoroughly first to be sure it’ll pass. We feel safe when we travel, knowing it is maintained so well. 

I have old fashioned style split pea soup simmering on the stove. Yesterday I cooked down the Easter dinner ham bone, put the pot outdoors overnight to bring the fat to the top so I could skim it off this morning and start the soup. It will be finished this afternoon and I will share some with our daughter, when her husband returns to deliver our truck. 

It is pouring down moderate to heavy rain as I write. The Mister is shredding old files that I shouldn’t have kept since 2002! Now it must be done. We have been procrastinating attacking this project for way too long. It is a start but will probably take us all summer to complete. The shredder is a small size and needs to rest and cool down after every ten minutes of work. The Recycling Center will take it all if we empty the big black bagfuls into the waste paper bins. So far we have two of them! We have no other way to eliminate such an accumulation of personal documents. 

We hung a clock and a lovely tile of a hand-painting on the log wall today. The clock was a recent gift from a dear long-time friend. The artist who painted the tile is well known in our area and a lovely lady and friend to boot. I’m proud to have two pieces of her work. The “Roosters” is a wonderful depiction of our country life.

Since going outdoors to clean up the yard is out of the question today, I hope to make some Rice Crispy Treats this afternoon to appease the sweet tooth issue we both have.

If you would like to see more of Christine's work, please click on the links below.

Artworks by Christine Lathrop

Art For Sale by Christine Lathrop

"Twas the Day After...

...and the sun is shining! We haven't had a sunny sunrise for 19 days!  Yea!! Clap! Clap! Clap!

...and the hambone is on the stove simmering away for the next 8 hours. Split pea soup is a comin' soon.  Ham salad is prepared for lunch.  

...and there is another ham in the fridge waiting to be baked for another kettle of soup.

...and the frost has left our dirt road and it is a slippery, slimy and rutted trip in 'n outta here. 

...and all's well at Cabin Tranquillity. 

Oh Happy Day!

The Cutup Cook

Back in the kitchen with another kettle of cut and cored apples on the stove. It was eight weeks ago that I made a batch and it is already half gone. Today's applesauce is from apples we got at the orchard right after making that first lot. See blog below.

http://nookworm-connectionsmore.blogspot.com/2013/11/cooking-fool.html

Now I'm finished for this season. Oh, what a relief it is. They kept well in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator and the sauce tastes great - again. 

No Paul, this isn't Ed's Shed Restaurant. It's the Cutup Cook's Citchen. See? See? See?

My next old time meal will be split pea soup. I bought extra dried split peas so my daughter can make her own this time. If you "might" be interested in how I make this you can see the blog below from last year's project. (Warning, it's a long blog but the photos are there.)

http://nookworm-connectionsmore.blogspot.com/2013/04/ham-and-eggs.html