Happy Saturday!

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Visit me over at Homemakers Who Work today for ideas on getting ready for your overnight holiday guests.

He Thinks He’s So Smart

So we have this little game we play. Been doing it for 9 1/2 years, but he just added a twist to it last week.

He chews. Everything. One of his favorite past-times is to get all comfortable on his bed, gather a big soft bunch of it up in his paws and start chewing. He goes into a trance almost.

mmmmm, this is soooo yummy

Then one of us sees him, and yells…OZZIE!!

Whaaaat??? I'm doing nothiiiiing, why are you always yelling at me???

Most of the time he immediately starts licking, without even looking up, acting like he was only licking all along. Or, he’ll jump up and go away, come back when he thinks we aren’t looking, and start again.

Last week, he got another idea.

If I can't see you, you likely can't see me.

Brat.

Things About Me – #7

I LOVE to play poker. This started a few years ago with a friend asking if we played, and I said ‘I don’t, but we will’. Mike spent a few hours teaching me basics, we played at her house, and I’ve loved it ever since.

I’ve played a lot of home games, and played in major casinos including the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.

And I’ve never lost…except in the home games. I’ve always come out ahead in the casinos. I don’t get that. I’m guessing my friends know me.

Weekend in Review

I just love it here. I say it so often, but it’s so true. We had another great weekend in the country.

We have been planning a Halloween night get-together with some friends that have young children. Mike’s plan was to hook the trailer up to the tractor and fill it with hay bales so he could take the kids for a hayride around the property, have food and goodies, and end the night with a marshmallow roast. Well, as it would happen, we didn’t have company, it didn’t work out for our friends afterall. But, we didn’t find that out until late Saturday evening, so we got to enjoy chili, hot dogs, hot wings, apple cake, spinach artichoke dip…I could go on and on…with son Adam who did come late Saturday night. He spent the night, and stayed Sunday most of the day. Dad also came up to visit, which we always love.

Some of us spent a lot of time lounging around on the warm porch.

Others worked part of the time on inside projects.

We all agreed it ended up being a great weekend after all.

Time Out

This is what time out looks like at the Funny Farm.

Updates

Fall is here,and we’re having a wonderful time at the Funny Farm.  Busy, but wonderful.

We still have so many projects to complete here, so we’re just doing the best we can, one at a time.  The past few week ends we have been staining the stair railing and the stairs that lead from the living room to the basement.  I say ‘we’…I mean ‘he’.  I have volunteered to help…but the response is “I don’t think so, remember the laundry room ceiling?”  The laundry room ceiling story is etched in his mind.  It had to do with me, a paintbrush and paint, and a disfigured ceiling…well…I won’t go into it.

I’ve had this in the living room for two weeks…

Living room floor with a stair staining project in progress

 But it will be worth it.  In another week or so.

The newels and top and bottom railings will be stained, and the spindles will be painted white to match the baseboards and other trim.

Other than that, of course there’s been lots of cooking.  Fall means soup to me, and I’ve been making our favorites.  One that I love is Butternut Squash Soup.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons chopped onion
• 4 tablespoons margarine
• 6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash (I roast it in the oven for 45 minutes with olive oil and garlic, then cool and cut up.  I think it adds deeper flavor)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese or 1/2 cups of Half and Half (or heavy cream if you want to be really bad)

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, saute onions in margarine until tender. Add squash, chicken stock, marjoram, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to boil; if the squash is roasted first, lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.  If raw, cook on low to medium heat for 20 minutes, or until squash is tender.
2. If you like your soup totally smooth, puree squash and cream cheese or Half and Half in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.  I just mash mine in the pot with everything else and heat and serve. 

 
This is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  Add a piece of fresh home made wheat bread, and it doesn’t get much better than that.

We’re having some folks with little ones out this Saturday night for Halloween. I’ll be making a different chili than my usual, can’t wait to try this recipe. If it’s as wonderful as I think it will be, I’ll share the recipe next week.

Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!

My New Thing

I have a new addiction.  I just want to preserve everything in sight.  I love the idea of going to the pantry or the freezer all winter and enjoying the food we grew this year, and bought from local farmers.

We’ve dried strawberries and peaches this year, and I’ve frozen many quarts of peaches as well.  We’ve frozen several quarts of peas and beans.  I’ve got peppers hanging to dry, and have frozen several quarts for cooking later.  I also found a recipe for pepper jelly, so I gave that a shot.  It’s absolutely delicious.

Pepper Jelly

My brother called Saturday night and asked if I’d run to the orchard a few miles from my house and get some apples for him because he couldn’t get there before they closed.  While we were there, I got 1/2 bushel of apples to make apple butter.  I”ve been waiting all summer for apple butter!

So, Sunday I cooked the apples all day.  Mid-day dad called to see if we’d be home later, saying he had been to the orchard Saturday (same orchard) and got us sweet potatoes and 1/2 bushel of apples .  Bring ‘em on! I told him.

I got 6 half-pints of apple butter made, I’ll have to cook 2 pots next week to double that up.   I made an apple crisp for dessert, and put 4 quarts in the freezer.  That was all before I cut my finger and put a real damper on the evening.  I decided to call it a night, but can’t wait for next weekend to do more of the same.  Still have 1/2 bushel of apples, so I’ll do more apple butter and probably make up some apple crisps for the freezer, to be cooked over the holidays. 

Final product, apple butter

FUN!