Showing posts with label eating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eating. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Reactions are Rewarding

I started something! The reactions to my cabin blogs are wonderful. Now I know why I was compelled to write them. Many are sent to my "regular" e-mail address and several things were clarified, too.

Two neighborhood siblings remember their grandmother being the victim of an overshot dart from the living room into the bedroom behind the partition when they were staying at the cabin for a while. It landed in her wig! Their sister remembers the dog who liked to taunt the children while swimming. She also remembers the jelly making projects with me. One remembers the cleaning of rabbits in the old sink, plus seeing the "egg factory" of a hen being cleaned at the kitchen table and my mother showing what's inside it. The lazy susan that was, and still is, on the kitchen table fascinated one young girl. She shared the name but resented the lazy part. They remember the horsehoe pits and vying for time there; also playing Frisbie when adults were throwing horseshoes. The old horseshoes and stakes are in our utility closet today and haven't been used in decades. Today, these sisters are both elementary schoolteachers. Their "homey" feelings and remembering a welcoming place where so many people came and went were expressed with love.

One friend reminds me that she was there too, when the mouse ran across the mantel and left a scary shadow. She also described the fishing incident where SHE caught the turtle on her line while in a canoe with my brother and the demise of the critter afterwards. It was THE turtle that was later cooked and eaten. She told me that my mom claimed the turtle contained seven delicacies but, being a city girl, didn't want anything to do with actually eating it. No Way! Now I know. I didn't know that!

Their messages and descriptions have made the memories even more important. I wish ALL the children and visitors to Cabin Tranquillity would tell me more!

Monday, January 17, 2011

French Toast - Make Do

Simple - bread, milk, eggs and a skillet. Perhaps a touch of cinnamon, or nutmeg too. Maybe a little vanilla. I use a Lodge cast iron type of skillet, but the older Griswold works better.


When properly browned on both sides, butter generously. I said BUTTER! Not margarine!


Pour pure maple syrup liberally over tops. No pure maple syrup? Then pour clover honey. No clover honey? Then pour Grandma's Molasses. No Grandma's Molasses? Try Caro. All gone. Then pour store bought pancake syrup. None of that? How about sprinkling brown sugar? None? Try white sugar. Not enough to spare? Try using confectioner's sugar. Out of it! Well, then a lavish amount of jam or jelly will do. Nope? Get out the fruit - peaches, strawberries, bananas, berries, apples, nuts? Missing also? All I can say is quit yer cryin' and eat it plain and thanks to at least having bread, milk, eggs and a skillet.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

The Cabin - Part 4

Activities Around the Cabin


Swimming AND diving happened all summer long for many years until the diving board cracked and had to be removed. The dock ladder often became slippery and was scrubbed regularly. The dock finally gave way to a new one, that was built by my daughter and grandson in 2004. The float, a wooden structure mounted on metal barrels, was anchored to the bottom of the lake with an iron chain attached to a huge metal wagon wheel. The float was taken in to the beach bank before winter and then re-launched in the spring. Our family men took care of this maneuver yearly until several years ago when it was too much to handle by the one who did most of the duty alone.


Fishing still is a main activity, done by almost every family member - big or small. An old flat-bottom row boat with an electric motor was in service until a new "V" hull one took its place. Just throwing a line from the bank or dock results in a nice catch often. Fishes caught are: pickerel, largemouth bass, bullhead catfish, perch, crappie, bluegill sunfish and longear sunfish. A long time ago walleye, northern pike and trout were stocked and caught, but were fished out.


Boating is our recreation in water through the use of rowboats, canoes, kayaks, sailboats, paddle boats, pontoon boats - all human-powered or electric-powered watercraft. Then there are the non-boat floation items used for drifting, paddling and moving about: tire tubes, rafts, noodles, and inflatable or foam lounge chairs. What fun!


Picnics, steak bakes, pig roasts, birthday and graduation parties and holiday celebrations such as 4h of July and Memorial Day, were mustered and enjoyed by family, friends and guests. Once there was even an outdoor poultry processing demonstration, put on by my mother to educate an assemblage of youngsters and adults. What an experience that one was! Exclamations of "yuk!" "phew!" and "wow!" rang loudly several times. A barbeque chicken dinner followed, of course.


There are the quiet activities and pastimes: Walking, running, dog walking, bicycling, stroller pushing, ice skating, tenting, reading, and porch sitting. Go carts, quads, snowmobiles, a powered ice boat, the "ice-screamer" horses and ponies, motorcycles, tractors, mowers, saws, weed wackers, snow blowers, generators, and commercial vehicles are the noisemakers. I almost forgot to mention the target shooting before hunting season and horseshoes clanking against the old iron posts!


Cabin Tranquillity is not tranquil all of the time!


Mom & Pop had no idea what they started!


The Old Diving Board
The Old Dock
The Old Float on Tilt
The Old Float Repaired

The New Dock

Grandson & Son
Daughter
Husband
Grandson
Flat Bottom Boat
New "V" Hull Boat
Floating & Lounging
Daughter's Inflatable Friend
(Me) Grilling Hamburgers in Tire Rim
Granddaughter's Birthday Party
Blue Ribbon Hand Made "Pig-Rig"
Skewered Pig Cooked
Removing Skewer
Removing Chicken Wire Wrap
Picking and Tasting
Poultry Plucking
Poultry Processing
Son on Motorbike
"Dune buggy Gang"
Brother on Motorcycle
Trail Riding
The "Ice Screamer"
Granddaughter on Quad
My Kids and Husband Snowmobiling
Mom Mowing
Husband Blowing Snow
SC Friends Camping
Brother & Pop First Sign
Husband Replaces Sign

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Persimmons Payoff

This September caper happened in a campground by the ocean in the state of South Carolina.



You would have loved to see me go to the one and only (that I could find) persimmon tree every early morning for two weeks to sit on my golf cart and wait for a persimmon to fall! Let me explain: There were many already on the ground, but they were bruised, rotting and bitten. The squirrels get to them first, leaving remains of seedless fruit everywhere - even on the picnic tables and electric hookup fixtures at the campsites.



As soon as I would see or hear one fall, I gathered it, put into my plastic cup and waited for another. After gathering about 5 each morning, I went home, washed and put my treasures in the refrigerator. One morning I even took a straw broom with me and whacked at the branch but none would release and fall! After I had two pounds of them, I had a friend find a persimmon jelly recipe on the internet and made jelly! (I went to another neighbor to weigh my fruit on her bathroom scale to be sure I had enough!) Looking back, I guess everyone knows by now that I'm harmless.


What a mess this project made with my meager kitchen equipment when making the pulp. It was sticky and gooey stuff everywhere, but I was determined. After the jelly had cooled and I tasted it, I didn't like it! Too sour. I added some more honey, took a roll of Pillsbury biscuits, flattened each out, put a glob of jelly in the middle, topped it with another flattened dough piece, pinched all around, dunked in sugar and baked TARTS! Now THEY were delicious! I shared with my assistants - researcher and weighmaster, who also agreed wonders will never cease.


The end of this story is that another neighbor told me she has tubs of the stuff frozen at home in NC and will bring some to me the next time. Well, she did and then proceeded to share her persimmon pudding that she baked for me to taste. It's really a cake and delicious. I now have her recipe and will share it. She also will bring me more tubs when we're both at our beach places in South Carolina so I don't have to make my own pulp again! Whew!



Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Culinary Masterpiece

Come on-a my house - I giv-a you cookies!


Good old fashioned soft molasses cookies from scratch!

My very own at-home cookie monster is already at work.

H U R R Y !

(Who counts calories anyway?)


Monday, July 12, 2010

Corn Fed

Here in the country, a local farmer brings his produce to town. He sets up in a vacant parking lot. Corn is all the rage now. It sells for 45¢ an ear and is well worth it.

The first we had was "Silver Queen" but it wasn't mature enough to suit me. This week it's "Butter and Sugar" and is WONDERFULLY delicious!Our favorite is "Bodacious" but he doesn't grow that variety. It's the one Ed used to plant here many years ago.

The first step is to find the large kettle which is stored waaaay in the back of the cupboard as it isn't used often.


The Hunt


Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!!! Yes! Corn is beautiful.

Satisfying too! YUM.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

SLAW

I'm gonna make me some REAL GOOD slaw! It has been two months since we've had any. When we're at our beach place, we absolutely abhor the "coleslaw" that is for sale and we've tried it from Walmart, Piggly Wiggly, Food Lion, Kroger's, Bi-Lo, Lowe's Foods, and several fast food businesses.

They just don't get it! First of all, it is NOT shredded finely enough. Second, it is absolutely tasteless. Slaw should NOT contain any peppers, red or green, never onions or celery, and mustard - UGH!!

Coleslaw ingredients should be only green cabbage, a carrot, celery seed, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, sugar, black pepper and real mayonnaise!

Since I don't use a recipe for amounts, I'll not try to explain how much of each I use, but I do make the cabbage very very fine, the carrot very fine, and put the rest in a separate container, mixing and tasting as I go.
The mixture is then poured over the shreds and aged in the refrigerator for several hours - at least!

Now I no longer shave off the tip of my thumb (OW! @#$%%^&!) when using the Bluffton tool. It was my husband's mother's and is still functional, but dangerous. I have a food processor that does the job fast and fine!


Back and Front Views
Today's lesson:

Bluffton Slaw Cutter

Manufacturing one of the best Cutters and Graters in the world has been the goal of The Bluffton Slaw Cutter Company since it's founding in 1915. This is achieved by hammered blades that wear sharp with use. These tools are a life-time investment and are efficient, hand-operated and easy to use and clean. The user controls the texture and thickness of fruits and vegetable by pressure and speed. Major markets of the Bluffton, Ohio Company are the United States, Canada and Japan.

AKA/ Kraut Cutter: Fast-sweep pattern, speeds operation.