This crazy spring weather just will not go away! We still have snow in the woods, but the pen is finally rid of it. And could there be more on the way????
Hello Folks,
Happy Easter, for those of you who celebrate. We are having our Easter dinner later today. I am starting this blog at 1:00 p.m. The pasta salad is made and chillin’ and has been made since Friday. The deviled eggs are made and also chilling and the parsnips are peeled and cut up and waiting to be steamed. The rolls are in the microwave thawing out (not homemade, sorry to say), and the ham is also waiting to go into the oven. I made a glaze for the last 15 minutes of baking the ham. Unfortunately, I read two different recipes about baking the ham and, although they agreed on the oven temperature, 325, they did not agree on how long to bake and what the internal temperature should be. Grrr. Like all hams today, ours is precooked, so I guess I can’t go wrong if I err on the side of caution. We are not having company for dinner, so I can relax about that.
I do seem to have lots of issues with cooking meat. When growing up, my mother always over-cooked the meat because my father was a fanatic about cooking meat so we didn’t get any illnesses from it. I suppose when he was a youngster there was a real possibility of undercooking meat and getting ill. Frankly, I think that the possibility of improper canning and botulism would have been a larger issue.
Then there is B, who always says (rightfully so), it is much better to undercook the meat and then you can reheat it rather than overcooking meat, which you can’t rectify. Makes sense. Anway, we have a 10 pound boneless ham smoked locally, so I don’t want to botch that up for obvious reasons, as well as considering the price of it. I always splurge on Christmas and Easter meat, since we now raise our own turkeys. That helps to balance things out!
Anyway, that is where we stand right now at 1:00 p.m. regarding Easter dinner. Here is a picture of the deviled eggs. By the way, they were a “devil” to peel as always. Although I have found that steaming the eggs and then rushing them into a big pan of ice water for 5-10 minutes helps a lot with the peeling.
And while I am talking about cooking meat, I will also mention (I may have said this in a previous blog) that our regular UPS driver, Justin, brought us a bag full of venison recently. So this week we had venison tenderloin. Again, I was leery of cooking it, as it was a wonderful looking piece of meat, but the butcher had made it into rather thin slices. I have no idea why. Anyway, I still marinated it although I probably didn’t need to, as it was tenderloin. But I did because I like the flavor that marinades give meat.
I sure was a nervous Nellie cooking that meat on the stove top in a cast-iron pan. However, B said I did just right and we had what I call mini-steaks for dinner for two nights. There were additional, even smaller pieces left so I made tacos with the leftovers. That means, no waste! B frowns when I make tacos with any kind of tenderloin but to me, it just makes sense. Having said that, B had several leftover small pieces warmed up whole, and the rest I cut up into bite sized pieces and warmed up for the tacos. I hope that makes sense! The tacos were delicious!
So, that has been my most recent cooking tales. For a week or two, I couldn’t seem to make anything come out the way I wanted it to, but I seemed to have made some progress. Let’s hope I don’t overcook the ham! We want juicy ham, after all.
Moving on to the leftover snow from a week ago Saturday, when we were scheduled to have B’s mom’s memorial. All week the snow was around here. I had a heck of a time walking in the pen. My feet kept going in different directions and I was constantly slipping. The critters, however, could walk on it well. I just couldn’t get my bearings. It was so bad that we decided to invest in an corded electric (or perhaps battery-operated) shovel for me to use in the pen next year. Both B and I did some shoveling in the pen, but it was still difficult to walk on. Finally yesterday most of the snow and ice in the pen melted. Now I am back to walking in mud!
As I write this blog, the upstairs is nice and warm due to the wood stove running and the sun, by spells, shining in the windows. Beside my chair is Miss Houdini in her plastic bin. She has been off her food this week and I don’t know why. However, once I came up here and sat down, she started eating. I have been putting her outside for a few hours the last couple of days, but I gave her a respite today, mainly because I am too tired to bother. She seems content enough. I am trying to get her “hardened” off by being outside for a few hours a day most days and most of the time she is willing to go outside. Yesterday was pretty breezy and she didn’t care for that at all. Anyway, she seems quite content right now.
Yesterday, Saturday, was the service for B’s mom. The church that the family attended when B was growing up was in the next town over. The inside of the brick church is lovely. Perhaps because the sun was shining, the crisp white trim on the walls and ceilings made the pale blue walls really stand out. It was a lovely memorial with a lot of nice people speaking and attending. Afterwards, the church put on a light lunch downstairs. This gave the family a chance to chat with the folks attending. In any case, it was a nice send-off. However, I think the entire family is exhausted and most of us are resting today.
And, finally, more snow/rain is headed our way for mid-week, if you can believe it! NOAA is calling it a “significant” coastal storm. We are all hoping for a lot more rain and a lot less snow this time. B is awaiting yet more parts for the snow blower, as he ended up with only half an auger, or some such thing, to blow with by the time he was done last week. We may be truly snowbound for a few days up here on the hill.
So, with that, I am closing today’s blog. It is now 2:00 p.m. and time for me to see about getting the oven set for the ham. I’ll let B sleep a bit longer. Like most people who go through a memorial for a parent, especially the last parent, B was very keyed up last night. He was still up at 6:30 this morning and was kind enough to let the screeching critters out of their pens and fill their water tubs for me. All I had to do was top off their food, clean off the shelves in the coop and, of course, hand out treats. I was out in the pen a little while ago and I swear, Freddy was trying to get in my lap when I sat down to catch my breath for a few minutes. I am convinced he thinks I am a giant female goose!
EASTER DINNER:
Stay well.
The Clampetts 