Snapshots: Multiple Sunflowers

This first photo is one I forgot to post during county fair weekend:

These two are too old to nap anymore. Except during the county fair, which is enough to wipe anyone out.

A. and I both read a lot, although we don't read the same sorts of things. Occasionally my current book and his will get in close enough proximity to each other for me to be amused at how different our tastes are.

Bet you can guess whose is whose. Mine isn't one I would typically choose, but it was given to me by a friend, and it's good enough so far that I'm still reading it. 

In addition to having no cucumbers this year, I also have no summer squash of any kind. The calabacitas that I use in place of zucchini never germinated in the spring, and the very late planting we did manage to get growing is way behind. Luckily, the lady the older boys work for who has been sending cucumbers home with them has added squash to her offerings.

I know the joke is that you can't avoid being gifted squash in the summer by overzealous gardeners, but I was so happy to see this.

A relatively small knife, and a very large squash.

I don't know what kind of squash that is, but it had very small seeds even though it was large, and it was delicious, so it's a good one whatever it is.

This sunflower I found this week looks so much like an actual sun to me.

Something about the pointiness of the petals makes them look like rays.

Poppy found a several more sunflowers on her way home from the post office and thoughtfully brought them home to me, so we have a nice arrangement on the bookcase right now.

Four whole sunflowers! Impressive for this pathetic year of wildflowers.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Barbecue and Grill

Friday

Short version: Spanish tortilla

Long version: I still had excessive quantities of eggs on hand--I think 7 dozen?--and Spanish tortilla takes care of almost two dozen at once. This one had finely chopped collard greens, bell peppers, onions, salsa, and grated cheddar cheese, along with the potatoes, of course.

I made this also because I could make it ahead of time and we were going to town in the afternoon for appointments at both the post office (for passports) and the MVD. As I was cooking the Spanish tortilla in the morning, BOTH appointments were canceled.

Nice to have dinner made already, anyway.

Saturday

Short version: Grilled chicken, Italian sausage, pasta with pesto, grilled leeks, green salad with herb dressing, peaches and cream

Long version: This meal got a lot more elaborate than I had anticipated, mostly because it was the Feast of the Assumption. I like to look up what foods were traditionally made for different feasts. Apparently, for the Assumption, the emphasis is on herbs and other garden produce. Makes sense, since this is the time of year that the garden is most productive. There's even a tradition in some places of people bringing herbs to Mass to be blessed. 

I missed my chance for that, but I did use as many things from the garden as I could in the one meal. Because that's my idea of fun.

Poppy and I counted seven things from the garden in our food: garlic and basil in the pesto, leeks (I tried grilling these for the first time and they were a little tough even with par-cooking, so I think I'll stick to stewing), carrots and collards in the salad, parsley and green onion in the salad dressing.

Even though I didn't get my herbs blessed before cooking with them, we did have our priest over for dinner, so he blessed the food before we ate. That works, too.

I didn't grow the peaches, but the ones I got from the produce bus in town earlier in the week were perfectly ripe for this night's dessert.

Can't be miserly with the sugar for peaches and cream.

Sunday

Short version: Leftover ham, Spanish tortilla, tomato and cucumber salad, ice cream

Long version: Although the Spanish tortilla I had made was good, they're always better with some kind of meat in them. I hadn't put meat in because it was for a Friday meal, but I did still have quite a bit of ham left. So I just fried that separately and everyone had some ham with their leftover Spanish tortilla. An excellent combination.

I used the salad dressing from the night before for the (store-bought) tomatoes and cucumbers. I had made the dressing in the food processor after making the pesto, figuring the remains of the pesto in the bowl would just add to the flavor of the dressing. So I put in mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil to emulsify, and then added in parsley and green onion to chop up a bit in there. It was a very good dressing.

Monday

Short version: Barbecue meatballs, mashed potatoes, green salad with herb dressing, cookies

Long version: First day of school, and we were off to the races with a meeting for all athletes and their parents in the evening. We have a football player this year, so he went from school to practice to the meeting. 

My friend who has both a football player and a volleyball player and is a teacher was staying at school to work until the meeting. Her daughter, who is Poppy's best friend, was going to be hanging around with her. I suggested that maybe she could just come to our house after school so the girls could play until the meeting was over, rather than being bored at school. This meant she had dinner with us.

Since she was eating with us and our house is on the way from our school to the school the meeting was at (twenty miles away; we have a co-op athletic arrangement with the only other school in our county so we have enough athletes to field teams), I asked my friend if she'd like to eat with us too before the meeting.

And so we had two guests with us for dinner. 

This is how scheduling goes during the school year. So long, lazy days of summer.

I also made extra effort for the first-day-of-school breakfast. The children had requested muffins and bacon. I don't typically make muffins--too much work for first thing in the morning--but I did. I made coconut muffins using this recipe, to use the rest of the coconut I bought for Poppy's First Communion cake. They were very good, and popular with the children, but nothing could make up for the fact that they had to get on the school bus.

Pity breakfast. Sorry, kids.

Tuesday

Short version: Barbecue chicken and beans, chicken-y rice, carrot sticks, ice cream

Long version: I had three chicken thighs left, plus the bones from dinner on Saturday. I used all of that to make chicken stock, then stripped the meat and combined it with a can of pinto beans, already-cooked onions, and ketchup and barbecue sauce. That was served over rice cooked in the chicken stock and butter.

Low effort, but fine.

Wednesday

Short version: Ham and potato casserole, sauerkraut, ice cream

Long version: I still had a ham bone in the refrigerator, along with a few kind of gnarly slices from the end of the ham. I cooked these with a pot of pinto beans until they were soft. Then I took them out of the beans and used them in the casserole.

The casserole was just chopped cooked potatoes, ham, the rest of the chicken fat that's been in the refrigerator awhile, a bunch of butter (more fat and salt than seems reasonable is the secret to good potatoes), already-cooked onions, and grated cheddar cheese.

It would have been better to put the sauerkraut in the casserole, but some of my kids prefer sauerkraut uncooked, so I cooked some in the microwave and left some raw and served it on the side.

Thursday

Short version: Grilled steaks, leftover pasta and pesto, leftover mashed potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing

Long version: I had quite a lot of leftover starches, all of which would go well with pretty plain meat. Thus, steak. 

Refrigerator check:

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

I Got New Steps

I think it's probably clear to anyone who has been reading here for awhile that we do not live in a luxurious home. I mean, it's great for our family, but it's not really a normal house. What it is, in fact, is a 1972 single-wide trailer with owner-built additions from the 90s. It's old, with some very, um, unique elements.

We--by which I mean A.--have fixed or replaced some things over the past several years, but it's always an ongoing project.

The most recent phase of our very slow remodeling was the front-door steps. They were pretty bad, just a too-high concrete slab with some cinder blocks underneath, the whole thing covered in nasty old white carpet.

After removing the carpet.

I asked A. if he could put new steps there that weren't quite so steep. He decided to do this with brick, as brick is flatter and more regular than the irregular stones he usually builds walls with.

He kept the existing concrete, which saves quite a bit of time and materials. He just covered them over with bricks. This also had the benefit of raising the height of the step under the door to much closer to the actual door level.

After A. had laid out all the bricks and started putting the mortar in the cracks, Poppy asked if she could help. Mortaring isn't heavy work, nor is it particularly difficult, so he showed her what to do and left her to it.

She did almost all of the mortaring herself. It took her about five hours, and she did a very good job.

Mini mason at work. Ah, to be eight years old and flexible enough to squat like that.

And now we have very nice brick steps that are sort of comical leading up to our not-very-nice trailer.

The lower concrete platform on the side at the right is where the dogs like to lie at night, so as to guard the door. Since we had taken their comfy disgusting carpet away, I bought them an actual dog mat for right there. They were suspicious of it, but seem to be gradually getting used to it.

These steps are much more comfortable for me with my shorter legs to get up and down, as well as looking much better, and I'm very happy with them. Yay, A.

Snapshots: I'm Late!

Apologies to anyone who was wondering why I didn't post this early this morning, but here we go!

I found exactly two sunflowers this week.

One for the table.

One for the bookcase.

This has been such a sad year for wildflowers. Next year has to be better.

A. dug some leeks for me yesterday, and we discovered that with the greens attached, they're almost exactly as tall as Poppy.

She is 4 feet, 5 inches, with means these leeks are at least 4 feet tall. Fun.

Fall in New Mexico means green chile roasting season. Stores that sell big boxes of the chiles have roasters outside so you can get them roasted before bringing them home. I saw the roasters set up for the first time last week when I was in town.

It was too early for them to be operation, apparently, but there they are. The chiles go in that big drum, which rotates as a propane flame roasts them from the side. Then they're put in a plastic bag to steam, which makes it easier to pull off the charred skin of the chiles.

I didn't buy any chiles this time, but I probably will when I go to town next. I'm out of green chile puree for the freezer, and it is a tasty addition to many things.

And . . . I guess that's it. I'm late and brief today, apparently.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: My Refrigerator Is Way Full

Friday 

Short version: Breakfast burritos, grape tomatoes

Long version: A long day at the county fair means I don't want to cook a lot for dinner. I just microwaved a few potatoes until they were soft, then fried them in a pan, in which I also scrambled eggs and added salsa and grated cheddar cheese. This filling went into flour tortillas heated up on a propane burner.

The addition of potatoes to breakfast burritos is key, by the way. It makes the texture better, and also makes them more filling.

Saturday

Short version: Gyro rice, pickles

Long version: The longest day of the fair, and also the day we eat in between the rodeo and the dance. Everyone is always very tired this day, including me, which is why I make it as easy on myself as possible to provide dinner.

I had a quart container of the gyro-spiced ground beef in the freezer, as well as a quart of chicken broth in the refrigerator. In the morning I made rice with the chicken stock, and then at dinnertime, I just mixed in the ground beef to that, heated it all, and added feta cheese.

Surprisingly good. The feta helps a lot.

Sunday

Short version: Grilled steaks, leftover rice, grand champion leeks, coleslaw, grand champion gingerbread with whipped cream

Long version: I built this whole meal around the leeks that I had entered into the fair. They were the grand champions in the agricultural products division, so obviously they were special.

I sliced them and fried them in butter before adding the juices from the chicken I had cooked the previous week and simmering them until they were completely soft. Then I added cream. Stewing them this way is the best method for cooking leeks, in my opinion.

They don't look like much, but they sure do taste great.

The leeks were perfect with the steaks, which A. grilled for me.

The coleslaw ended up being more involved than I had anticipated. I typically use pickled onions in it, but I was out of those and had to make some. I was also still out of mayonnaise, so I used the last of my canola oil to make some of that, too. Annoying.

The gingerbread was Poppy's prize-winning fair entry. She was very proud of it, as well she should be.

Monday

Short version: Hamburger steaks with milk gravy, leeks, mashed potatoes, leftover coleslaw

Long version: I think what I typically make is more like a hamburger steak than Salisbury steak, given that I don't use any binders. I think? I don't know. Basically giant hamburger patties with gravy. Always popular, in any case.

I used some of the leftover leeks in the gravy. An excellent addition.

Gravy everywhere.

Tuesday

Short version: Leftover meat, fried bread, carrot sticks

Long version: I had enough leftover steak and hamburger steaks to parcel out, and almost enough mashed potatoes. Two people had fried bread instead of potatoes.

Wednesday

Short version: Omelets, fried potatoes, cherries

Long version: I had to drive this day to town to buy a new washing machine.

BOOO.

Our commercial Maytag only lasted four years. After last year's miserably long period of tub laundry and laundromats while I waited months for it to get fixed, I decided it wasn't worth doing that again.

It broke Tuesday. I was in the van less than 24 hours later to buy another. This time I got a Speed Queen. Any bets on how long that will last?

Anyway. I went to Walmart while I was in town. I had planned to buy a rotisserie chicken for dinner. They didn't have any.

Sigh.

I hadn't taken any meat out to thaw, but I did still have large quantities of eggs. Eight dozen, to be exact. Certainly enough for omelets.

I cooked a package of bacon and put some of that in the omelets, along with cheese. In the one for A. and eldest, I also put in the last bit of an onion and some diced tomatoes.

I also microwaved a few potatoes and chopped those to fry them in bacon fat and butter.

Not pretty, but tasty. As usual.

I didn't feel like bothering with a vegetable. But I had bought cherries at the produce truck--actually an old school bus, because this is New Mexico--in town.

Fruit is the new vegetables. Or something.

Thursday

Short version: Ham, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, bread and butter, watermelon

Long version: I can't remember if it was A. or I who bought a whole ham awhile ago, but we have certainly not had any weather that has inspired me to turn on the oven and bake it. 

However! 

The ham was fully cooked, so I just cut some thick steaks off it and pan-fried them. This made the unpleasantly pink and wet ham much better.

Needs browning.

I got the corn on the cob from the produce bus, too, as well as the watermelon. It was a really good watermelon.

Refrigerator check:

The chaos that results from four gallons of milk, 2/3 of a giant watermelon, and half a ham. Don't worry. It will clear out quickly.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

Magic in the Air*

Another county fair has come and gone, and we have covered ourselves in glory once again.

Or at least got some ribbons.

Lemme show you!

The first day of the fair is just a day for entering the projects in the community building and dropping off animals for showing. We don't show animals, so for us, it's just bringing in our projects.

This year, that was gingerbread, a purse, and a watercolor painting from Poppy. 

Please enjoy these awkwardly-cropped photos that got rid of the names of our county and the children.

She actually sewed this just randomly for her best friend (by hand, with no pattern or anything), and then when she needed a fair project, I suggested she enter it before giving it to her friend.

And her watercolor.

As you can see, her gingerbread won grand champion in the child's baking category. She was very proud of this, particularly because my buckeye brownies only got first place, not grand champion.

Not-champion brownies.

It was kind of funny that the judges' notes on Poppy's gingerbread included the comment that it had a strong molasses flavor and she might consider substituting some honey for the molasses. We do not agree with this. It's supposed to have a strong molasses flavor. But to be fair, it's also supposed to be eaten with whipped cream, which we could not give the judges, so that affects the flavor, too.

Anyway.

I also always enter whatever I can get from the garden. This year, that was leeks, carrots, and garlic.

All prettied up for judging.

The leeks won grand champion in the agricultural products category.

I also always enter something canned. This year, the only thing I had was some rhubarb jam. I brought it, but it was literally the only thing entered in the canned goods category, so they didn't bother judging it.

(I should probably note here that our county is very small, which means our county fair is very small. Like, VERY small. I think there were only a dozen entries total this year in baked goods, and only a few people entered vegetables.)

One boy chiseled a cross into stone.

This didn't really place, but I feel like that's because the judges have no idea how difficult this is to do.

And another boy did a collage from "Fur, Fish, Game" magazine.

Featuring many dead animals, because that's what the magazine is about.

A. entered a watercolor flower, too, which got first place.

So! Very successful, yay us, etc.

The second day of the fair is most of the animal showing. We don't show animals, but many of the children's friends do, so we always go to watch them manhandle goats and steers in the ring. I didn't take any photos of that this year, though.

The third and final day of the fair is my kids' favorite. It starts with the parade. This year, the older two kids were on the FFA float, so it was only the younger two picking up candy. There was a lot of candy this year, thanks to the many political candidates who were campaigning.

Never any chocolate, though, because it's way too hot at the parade and chocolate would just melt.

The next exciting thing is the rodeo. Before the riding events, which my children do not participate in, they have a couple of fun activities for any kid. This includes goat dressing, which is catching a goat and getting a t-shirt over its head. Also the calf scramble. This is in a large pen where all the kids go and they release several calves in with them. The calves have money rubber-banded to their tails. The kids chase the calves and pull the money off their tails. This is actually really hard, and somewhat perilous, as the calves have been known to kick, or to turn and run down their pursuers. I've never seen anyone get really hurt doing it, though, even the littlest kids.

The dance at night is the last fair event. I always take any kids that want to go. We only stay a couple of hours, because we have church early the next morning. They always get a live band, which I particularly appreciate. Everyone knows how to two-step, so everyone, from little kids to elderly people, dances. Parents dance with their children, brothers dance with their sisters. It's fun.

It takes place in the same pavilion the livestock are shown in. Properly cleaned up, of course.

And that was it for this year's fair! It's always a very tiring three days, but they are some of my kids' favorite days of the year and they're already looking forward to next year's fair.

* Lyrics from this Chris LeDoux song, which we always have to listen to as we drive to the county fair.

Snapshots: An American Life

 I have some pictures from the county fair, but I think I'll save those for Tuesday. Here's what else we were up to this week.

A sunrise football practice for our new football player. Good thing I wake up stupid early every morning.

Poppy helped me make some sauerkraut this week. I didn't grow any cabbages this year, so I just bought a few organic ones at Walmart and used those.

An American boy with the American flag.

A bit moodier, this one.

A. was gone all week in New York, leaving the rest of us as shepherds. The complete lack of rain has meant that there is no grass left in the pastures, so we've been letting the sheep out in the evening to graze the roadsides. They mostly will come back on their own before sundown, but they needed a little help a couple of days.

I prefer to do my sheep herding from the car.

A new lamb was born while A. was gone, bringing our lamb count this year to seven: four girls and three boys.

Young lambs sleep so heavily they look dead, which is always concerning.

Slightly older lambs, more alert.

And last, say hi to the horses.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.