Posted on 08/01/2025 6:03:57 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Nicely done! I have some pruning to do on some Lilac shrubs that are in my way when mowing, but my anvil pruner can take care of those - also a Maple tree growing where it shouldn’t be, but still young enough to easily cut down.
Then, there’s a big Goldenrod growing in the middle of my beautiful row of Spirea on the east side of the house. Been driving me NUTS to get at that, too.
Weather is changing for the worse after today, so it’s now or never! Canada Wildfire smoke is lifting, but then it’s back to heat and humidity and maybe some rain the rest of the week. Good motivator to work on that under-stairs Pantry and to get my China hutch organized. Maybe. I talk a good game these days, LOL! ;)
8 pint jars of Pickle Relish, 6 pint jars of Jalapeno Pickle Relish, 10 pints of Dill Chips, 15 pints of Bread & Butter.
Someone do the math - is that 3 gallons? LOL!
Also - 4 monster-sized cukes, seeded and peeled, went into the V-8 Juice double batch.
I would make that, but with freshly torn spinach, wilted just a little - can’t stand the frozen stuff - just a ‘mouth-feel’ thing for me. Same with canned Asparagus. Nope!
Fresh Asparagus would work nicely in this recipe, too. :)
We had Canadian smoke yesterday, really heavy. There was a smell in the air, too. Today is really hazy as well. I don’t like the smoke, but it does keep the sun from being so hot when trying to work.
Roofer coming out at 11 to check out the leak in our foyer. I think it’s flashing on a dormer window. It leaked bad enough that there was a puddle on the floor.
Today, after the roofer leaves, I want to finish up the landscape edging on the other side of the porch (company doesn’t see it when they arrive so that’s why I’ve put it off). After the edging, I’ll have to haul mulch to fill in that spot. I think I have room enough to pull the trailer up next to the bed & shovel straight from the trailer which is the most efficient way to do it.
It was a big day yesterday, getting the trees down and the barn gutter UP. That gutter won’t come down unless the board it’s now screwed to comes down with it! I love the Farm Bureau - there’s one guy there who has lots of good ideas & is super helpful. He told me where to find the cobalt drill bit for drilling through the metal gutter. When I told him how I planned to fix the gutter, he said he thought it would work - next time I see him, we’ll have something to talk about - successfully fixing that gutter!
Took my cousin to church Sunday - she’s fainting & having other issues, can’t drive right now. Anyway, I noticed a beautiful bush in her yard - it’s a double bloom purple Rose of Sharon - so pretty! I like the singles, too - might have to get more than one! I’ll probably have to order it online - two garden/nursery places I’ll check first. The rotten redbuds will be coming down soon & that’s where the Rose of Sharon bush(es) will go - since I got the humongous apple tree branch down, I know I can handle taking down the redbuds.
I LOVE bread and saw this recipe on the Creative Culinary site while looking for something else. It looks easy, is a Pillsbury Bake-Off Winner, & then there’s this comment in the blog: “The notion of combining a flavor best known for pickles with a bread seemed strange to say the least but I’m telling you the truth; left to my own devices I think I could sit and eat the entire loaf in one sitting.”
I got the cottage cheese & fresh yeast to make the bread ... there is a Lactaid version of cottage cheese, so that helps me with my lactose intolerance issues.
Dilly Casserole Bread – 1960 Pillsbury Bake-Off Winner
https://creative-culinary.com/dilly-casserole-bread-recipe/
I would make that too also with fresh chopped spinach and at the end toss in chunks of fresh tomato (not a lot) and stir, Sauce will get pink and have tomato flavor. I sometimes just make this with fettucini and basil and tomato and the sauce.
I would make that cream sauce with fresh chopped spinach and chunks of fresh tomato (not a lot)
for a pink sauce w/ tomato flavor. I sometimes make this w/ fettucini, basil, tomato and the sauce.
Your variations are great——the recipe is open to using favorites.
I thought the use of shredded parm—not grated—was a good addition.
The recipe accidentally posted without my comments-——
but I sure agree with your fresh spinach approach.
Don’t Miss This Week’s Dazzling Venus-Jupiter Encounter — Now Showing
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2025/08/05/dont-miss-this-weeks-dazzling-venus-jupiter-encounter-—now-showing/
Excerpt:
“This month, it’s all about Venus and Jupiter. Over the next week, the two brightest planets in the night sky will slowly get closer together, culminating on Aug. 12 when the gap between them will be less than a degree — the width of a little finger held at arm’s length.
That will be the time to see the planets at their closest conjunction (the name astronomers give the phenomenon), but if you love the night sky, all this week it will be possible to see them get closer and, next week, to watch them go their separate ways.”
Casserole Breads are fun to make and you can add all kinds of herb blends and cheeses to them.
I’ve used the Betty Crocker recipe for decades. 1986.
https://www.recipelink.com/recipes/cheese-casserole-bread-betty-crocker-1986-016777
It’s pretty much the same. ;)
Thanks for the reminder! Hoping the haze clears by then. Some rain predicted for Thursday, but I’ll see what I can see this week.
Got zuchinni? I got a recipe. Make lots.
It’s a secret, though, so keep it under your hat. No measurements given to protect trade secets. The batter should thick like dry muffin batter before you add in the zukes and onions.
Zucchini, Onions, and Cheese Bake
Ingredients
zucchini, trimmed and sliced very thin
onion - red or white or both sliced very thin - 1/2 onion per medium zuke
table salt - 1 tsp per zuke
flour - whatever kind you have or eat - 1/3 cup cup per 1 med zuke
Parmesan cheese, shredded - 2 oz per 1 zuke
cornmeal - half as much as flour
dried oregano about 1 tsp per zuke
black pepper - 1 tsp per zuke or to taste
large eggs, lightly beaten - 1 per 1/3 cup cup of flour
extra-virgin olive oil - 3 tblsp per 1/3 cup flour
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees.
Line 13 x 9 baking pan with parchment paper.
1. Toss zucchini, onion, and salt together in bowl tand leave for 15 minutes. DRAIN as much water from them, but keep 3.5 tblsps of this water per zuke. Set aside.
2. Whisk flour, Parmesan, cornmeal, oregano, and pepper together in large bowl. Add eggs, oil, and reserved zucchini liquid. Mixz well.
3. Add zucchini and onions, mix well.
4. Pour mix into pan and even it out
5. Bake until golden brown and crispy at edges, 35 to 40 minutes.
6. Transfer to cooling rack or cutting board, Cool for a few minutes before cutting, warm or room temp.
Found two nice zucchini and four (2 of each kind I planted) cucumbers just for slicing or a cucumber and tomato salad to go with supper.
Mom and her 'Girl Gang' are coming out on Sunday to see what they can raid - Kale, for sure, maybe some cukes, beans and Zinnia and Dahlia for bouquets. I told her not to get her hopes up for tomatoes, but there may be a few by Sunday. We can try the Bread & Butter Pickles she and I made last time she was out to the farm.
This week, Sunday thru Thursday, she is doing all the cooking for Vacation Bible School. She has been feeding 80 adults and kids on average each day so far! The woman is a dynamo..but I hear the tiredness in her voice now, when we talk. Not liking that. :(
I picked a few pears as 'experimental' to see if they'll ripen on the counter, as they are SUPPOSED to. The peaches I picked went straight to rot even before ripening. They got way too much water this season. Not hopeful for the peach crop this season, either. :(
Anyone else besides ME getting tired of all of my complaining? LOL! Glad I don't depend upon myself 100% to feed us.
Bear Training Camp is going well. Comanche (pup from this last litter) is getting the hang of things, but Little Sister Blackfoot is lagging. Beau is not giving up hope, yet. She's a tiny little thing, so I can see how a black bear (even on the small side) would be intimidating. He has promised me he won't sell her if she doesn't work out and I can have her as a House Dog - if I can keep her from eating my cats, LOL! He can always down-size her training and turn her into a Raccoon Hound - which is what Walker Dogs were initially bred for.
Had a crazy dream the other night that I left the kitchen door open and I had already gone to bed. There was a pot of stewing tomatoes on the stove for some reason, and a bear got into my kitchen and raised holy heck - tomatoes from one end of the kitchen to the other! What a mess! Never been so GRATEFUL to wake up from a dream! I don't know what happened to the bear. ;)
Thanks for sharing that. You can never have too many ways to use Zucchini! :)
Watched a video of a couple that have a nut orchard and they recommend a cordless reciprocating saw with a one-handed design for pruning. They mentioned the Milwaukee Hackzall but there are plenty of other brands that are cheaper.
I use a lot of kindling and the smoker basically takes kindling size wood too but cutting up branches has always been a pain.
I have a bunch of old Ryobi cordless tools in the 18 volt ONE Ni-cad system but the batteries are all bad. The newer 18 volt ONE+ lithium are backward compatible with the tools. The new ONE+ batteries used to cost a small fortune but have come way down in price.
I see Ryobi makes a similar saw to above and also make one-handed chain saws in 6" and 8" bar lengths, $130, $120 and $180 respectively. Prices are with 2.0 Ah battery and charger and is only $20-30 more than tool only. Would be a good way to get a new tool and revive a bunch more, 2 drills, flashlight, two-handed reciprocating saw, circular saw, jig saw.
Any of the above one-handed saws would be better than any other method I've used for cutting up branches for kindling. The back and forth motion of a reciprocating saw always tends to vibrate and sometimes binds and snags so I'd have to lean towards the one-handed chain saw and probably in the 6".
Thanks for the pruning post. It made me look at Ryobi again and see that reviving a bunch of cordless tools isn't $200 now, plus made me decide to ditch some small engines and the maintenance involved. I don't do enough push mowing or string trimming to justify the maintenance involved in gas versions. Seems like I work on them more than use them but some of that is the ethanol gas these days. A cordless trimmer with a couple of 4.0 Ah batteries could replace them both.
I'm even eyeballing a 40 volt chain saw with 16" bar. I have no desire to continue clearing land by cutting trees down. I have enough stumps including some I've been tripping on for 13 years. Killed a push mower by hitting one and bending the crankshaft too. They get 4.7 reviews minimum including from experienced gas saw users, even one that has a Stihl which he keeps for bigger projects.
A dozer could knock down everything but the biggest of trees on my level area in a day and I want to keep those biggest trees. I'm going to start taking out everything 4" or less using a mattock and ax, dig around and chop feeder roots and use the tractor for pulling them over to chop the tap root. BTDT and it leaves no hole to speak of and no stump or regrowth. Roots will rot in a few years. Most anything bigger than that can be knocked over.
I'm keeping my Stihl saw for all day cutting projects, like after a dozer has been through here, but when not using it for a while, I'll dump the fuel and start it and run it until it quits and then leave the cap off the tank until it's dry. Can dump the fuel into a gas can and then into the truck for no waste.
The 40 volt cordless would be handy to keep in the truck too for those times when I head to work and there's a tree down across the road. A 5 year warranty is as good as it gets. It's getting harder all the time for my little old arse to pull start anything.
Yes I only used shredded parm.
Nifty - thanks for the info.!
My chainsaw is a 40v, 16”. I’m surprised at how well it does. That apple tree branch was almost as big as the tree itself & it went through it fairly easily. With all the sawing I did, I don’t think I went through half a battery.
My brother has an EGO lawn mower & loves it - small yard. A lot of the electric tools (like EGO), use the same battery for all of their products.
My cousin, talking to him at church, wants an electric chainsaw. He’s tired of messing with gas/oil mixtures & a lot of his various ‘tools’ require different mixtures.
For me, electric was the way to go - I have a string trimmer & a blower as well as the chainsaw. My brother is bringing his pole saw up & after mom sees that, we might be getting one of those, too!
Bears DO make one heck of a mess when they get into a house! No personal experience, but when you see scenes on TV (like in AK), there is stuff everywhere, looks like a bomb went off!
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