Posted on 09/01/2026 5:40:17 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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I had to look it up, but your blue potato guess made sense also. Delft blue, right?
Dry here. Incredibly, we are almost back to drought conditions, although most spots near here got more rain the last couple weeks than we have. NWS has us on track starting today for 3 days of 97 deg., then 96 on Friday, a degree or two cooler over the weekend. My tomato plants will not be happy.
I’ll be lucky to get anything at all out of the Mortgage Lifters this year: Even if we get a stretch of more normal weather, the fruits just take too long to develop. They seem to be the worst of any breed I’ve tried, about not setting fruits unless conditions are good, even though the plants themselves seem to endure poor conditions (like hot spells) fairly well.
Yep. Delft Blue was what I was thinking. WRONG ANSWER! ;)
17 Easy Instant Pot Recipes for Beginners
https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/easy-instant-pot-recipes/
I don’t use mine as much as I should. It makes really good ribs and cuts down the cooking time dramatically. I like it for that, for sure. All of the spices you would normally use for a rub go into the water at the bottom of the pot and it really adds great flavor to the meat.
The Autumn Apple Chicken and the Lentil Pumpkin Soup recipes would get the season off to a good start! :)
The dreaded ‘100 days until ...’ (cringe!)
Back from a 2-day out-of-state birthday trip with mom, visiting a HS friend & the stomping grounds of her youth. She had a good time. Between the 2-day yard sale & this trip, I am bone tired.
I can only post a ‘Christmas Countdown’ because Mom has declared a moratorium on Christmas Gifts from this day forward. Works for me. But now she’s decided we need to spend a LOT more on Birthday Celebrations. *Rolleyes* She’s getting that cast iron fry pan she requested for HER birthday this year; she made the rules - not me. ;)
Sleep Tight! Get some good sleep in tonight into tomorrow!
Beau and the ‘101 Hunting Dogs’ left earlier today and I gotta say...I ain’t crying over it, LOL! He called about 5pm; they all made it safely up to the cabin. Now he only has to unload, bed down and feed 16 dogs! Yeah - he’s nuts.
I’m not bragging or anything but MY chores tonight took about 15 minutes. LOVING IT! PLUS I got all of my canning done today! Ya-Hooo!
I moved Emma Jolene and Blackfoot to the outside Doggy Condos. Jennifer Cooniston stays put, but Ithaca has been moved to a lower pasture for fresh grass as long as it lasts. He still comes up to the barn for treats and water, of course. ;)
Dolly (old Beagle) is off the leash now since Omaha has gone up to Bear Camp and she can no longer lead him astray. She’s stayed put all of today. Life as Omaha knew it as a pampered pup is OVER! But Dolly has his house (with fresh bedding) until I RECLAIM the Front Porch as my OWN and dress it up for Fall and grow out some lettuces and spinach within kitchen-reach until it gets too cold. Back ups will be in the Greenhouse, which is also being cleaned out and organized AGAIN this week. I am MORE than motivated with the cooler weather and no pup underfoot. :)
Probably only one more mowing - I stop mowing on October 1st, no matter WHAT the shagginess of the grass. October 15th is usually my First Hard Freeze up here. I am BEYOND ready for it! Of course the KALE won’t care, LOL!
Since I can’t sleep for some reason, instead of tossing & turning, I’m looking at recipes. Mom got this one in the mail & it looked pretty good so I put it in my recipe app .... my favorite orchard says apples will be here soon!
Harvest Apple Chicken Salad
INGREDIENTS
2 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped
2 crisp apples, diced (Honeycrisp or Gala)
2 celery stalks, diced
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbs mayonnaise
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt & pepper to taste
STEPS
1) In a large bowl, combine the chicken, apples, celery, pecans, and dried cranberries.
2) In a small bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
3) Pour the dressing over the chicken mixture and gently stir until everything is evenly coated.
4) Serve immediately over lettuce, on whole grain bread, or chilled for later.
That dressing is a winner.
Sour Cream Biscuits / makes 10 biscuits
Just beg to be served with honey. Sour cream makes an incredibly flaky biscuit.
Ing: 2 c self-rising flour ¼ tsp ea b/soda, salt 1 ¼ c sour cream 2 Tbl unsalted butter, melted
Method: Whisk flour, b/soda, salt. Stir in sour cream; just combine. Turn onto lightly floured surface; knead briefly, just to hold together. Pat into 1" thick circle. Cut 10 biscuits w/ 2" round cutter. Bake golden on parchmented b/sheet 450 deg 15–18 min. Brush w/ melted butter last few minutes of baking.
Chef Notes: The ultimate high-rise flaky biscuit. For best results, use self-rising flour;
has a lower protein level than regular all-purpose flour and results in a more tender biscuit.
Question for anyone - I have an atv trailer and the front part has some rotting wood. It’s covered with a tarp outside but sometimes the tarp gets a big rain and caves in. Going to remedy that in a better way today but is there anything I can spray or pour on the rotted wood to stop that process?? Thanks for any advice. Replacing the wood will have to wait til next year.
That Chicken Salad looks great! Madison used to have a restaurant called ‘Ovens of Brittany’ and they were all the rage for a good decade, but went out of business, I don’t know why. It started as a bakery and deli and then added the restaurant, too.
They had a chicken salad like that but in lieu of the apples and crasins it had sliced red seedless grapes.
I still dream about that chicken salad and make it myself sometimes. You could have it as a sandwich or on a bed of greens.
I still have their cookbook and still see it from time to time at thrift stores. My ex started his work life as a Chef and he used to work with the owner before she became famous. ;)
Her flourless chocolate cake, ‘Queen of Sheba’ was always requested by everyone as their ‘birthday cake’ at our house.
I would look for a wood preservative, something they use for wooden boats. I THINK it’s Teak Oil? Dad’s sailboats only had wood trim, but he always made sure it was sealed well.
AI Says: “Marine wood oils are specifically designed to protect and preserve wood on boats, providing resistance against rot, moisture, and UV damage. Look for products that are formulated for marine use to ensure the best protection for your boat’s wooden surfaces.”
Danish Teak Sealer:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J348E66?tag=sailingredrt-20
I’m sure you don’t need a GALLON of the stuff, but I’d hope they’d sell smaller quantities. Know anyone with a boat that could give you a cup of the stuff? ;)
If any of the ‘Gadget Guys’ here think I’m wrong, please say so!
Re: tomato poem
Here’s the lyrics to the only song I know about tomatoes.
John Denver has this recorded on an early album.
(YouTube has videos)
Guy Clark “Home Grown Tomatoes”
There ain’t nothin’ in the world that I like better
Than bacon and lettuce and homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin’, out in the garden
Get you a ripe one, don’t get a hard one
Plant ‘em in the spring, eat ‘em in the summer
All winter without ‘em’s a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin’ and diggin’
Every time I go out and pick me a big one
Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can’t buy
And that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes
Well you can go out to eat and that’s for sure
But it’s nothin’ a homegrown tomato won’t cure
Put ‘em in a salad, put ‘em in a stew
You can make your very own tomato juice
You can eat ‘em with eggs, you can eat ‘em with gravy
Eat ‘em with beans, pinto or navy
Put ‘em on the side, put ‘em in the middle
Put a homegrown tomato on a hotcake griddle
Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can’t buy
And that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes
Now if I was to change this life I lead
Well I’d be Johnny Tomato Seed
‘Cause I know what this country needs
It’s homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see
When I die, don’t bury me
In a box in a cementary
Out in the garden would be much better
And I could be pushin’ up homegrown tomatoes
Well.... I was reading the thread from the end up and didn’t see the other post about
Home Grown Tomatoes until I already posted it.
Arg.
I love the John Denver recording of that song.
You can hear him smile.😊
Thanks I’ll be heading down to the barn in a bit to take a picture or someone. I am thinking something like bleach or something that will stop the rot.
With it already being in a state of decay there’s not much point to spending a bunch of money on a good wood preservative. A good soaking with diesel fuel will slow what’s already started, but the only real fix is to tear out the old floor and replace it.
We’ve always soaked the floor of a new trailer, or a new floor on an old trailer, with used motor oil. Park it in the sun for a few days and let it get nice and dry. The wood will suck that stuff up like crazy. The surface might be a little sticky for a few days afterwards, but once the dust settles on it for a while it will dry out.
My old trailer is due for a floor replacement. It’s got a load on it destined for the landfill right now. Once I get around to hauling/dumping that stuff it will get all new wood. Definitely a job for a cool day.
I like the grape idea in lieu of apples & craisins.
The Pastor wanted to visit mom on her birthday, but we were going to be out of town so she got a rain check for lunch. Last night, when I couldn’t sleep (took a caffeine pill mid-afternoon when I got sleepy driving) I was thinking of a menu, nothing too heavy: Harvest Apple salad, Ina Garten’s squash (butternut) soup, & cottage cheese pie with wild blueberry sauce. Sally has a bread bowl recipe so if I was super ambitious, that would be a more dramatic presentation for the soup. Mom, for whatever reason, doesn’t like the menu idea - wants a ‘heavier’ casserole ... but then again, she’s not doing the cooking!!
The ladies who run the Community Center, where we had our yard sale table set up, make/sell food in the CC kitchen. It’s all homemade & they had a steady line both days. Someone said they made $1600. One of the items was biscuits & gravy - I wanted it SO bad, but the dairy would have killed me. This morning, I made sausage gravy & biscuits - oh so good! The biscuits were keto, the gravy was a white Southern gravy recipe, but I used Lactaid milk, & the sausage was the last pound of ground pork from my niece’s hog, seasoned with a breakfast sausage spice mix recipe I have. Now my craving has been satisfied :-)
It’s a great song and ‘hearing’ it twice is terrific!
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