Posted on 09/01/2026 5:40:17 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The MONTHLY Victory Garden Thread is a gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
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It is impossible to hijack the Victory Garden Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.
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Agreed! I’ll just make a mental note to check the thread until Diana’s Internet is back up & running.
It’s been quiet since she’s been gone. Let’s face it she’s the life of the party.
A paw-paw! (Wishing I could taste that!)
Checking in from the Florida Panhandle. With family. Nephew got married a week ago, and it was a wonderful celebration with two families (and friends).
Some of us took a detour and are beaching it. Perfect weather so far. We will be home in a few days. Sniff. I miss my kitty, so it will be great to give him hugs, but this has been a very nice trip.
QUICK RICE PUDDING / when you have cooked rice on hand
You could also make extra rice for dinner and hold it for this recipe.
ING: 2 c cooked rice 1/2 c sugar 1/2 tbl melted butter, 1/2 tsp nutmeg 2 eggs, beaten
2 c milk (using cream adds creaminess) 1 tsp vanilla (or 1 tbl rum) 1/2 c raisins (option)
METHOD: Mix ing well; set in greased dish. Bake in bain marie (shallow hot water) one hour 325 deg.
I could have that with less sugar. Thanks.
Well, after several days of cool, cloudy weather (not THAT cool!) we finally got a sunny day, Friday and Saturday. Mid-70’s for highs — pretty darn gorgeous! Today is supposed to be mostly cloudy again as a front comes through and cools us off a little: 53 deg. at night is a bit too cool to leave the windows open. :-(
Then it looks like we climb to 86 deg. Wednesday B4 several days of “chance of rain” weather move in. I imagine the farmers will be going nuts trying to wrap up their corn and soybean harvests B4 then. Hopefully winds will not be blowing lots of the “red snow” from the grain elevators our way, again. I’ve about had it with that stuff!
Our trip to the BBQ Festival was great (fab weather) but our slab of ribs was WAY overcooked. Bizarrely, that vendor won best of show! My only explanation is that we got a “leftover” slab from the prior day, which reportedly was slow. The taste was ok - I guess having to gnaw like Hyenas was sort of worth it. What’s left is from the middle of the slab and still overcooked, but, at least the meat is not actually dry, hard and charred! (It’s pretty blackened, but more palatable.) This slab was exactly like what I’d expect if either it was cooked 50 degrees too high, or, more likely (?) got run through the cooker twice.
Ah, well, wifey liked her funnel cake* (very good, but too many calories for me to take more than one bite!, sitting out in the revamped riverfront park, looking out over the river was great, and we were entertained by a powered parasail flyer doing all sorts of arial acrobatics. (I didn’t know they could safely do such steep banking and such — wifey thought the sail was gonna fold up and crash, more than once, but he was ok.) I “cracked” at wifey that maybe he was practicing avoidance of air defense fire... ;-)
*Usually, wifey doesn’t like very sweet foods, but apparently funnel cakes are an exception!
Sriracha Chili Garlic Oil Noodles / add fave protein, if desired
Comes together quickly for the perfect filling weeknight dinner.
Ing: 6 oz Udon Noodles 1 tbl ea dark soy sauce, Sriracha Chili Sauce (at Target) 2 tbl soy sauce 2 tsp ea sesame seeds (more for garnish), crushed red pepper flakes 2 minced gar/cl 1 tbl minced fresh cilantro, 2 chp green onions, (more for garnish) 1/4 c neutral oil
Method: Rinse cooked noodles w/ cold water 3-4 sec, drain; hold. Heat oil sizzling hot. Add noodles to bowl. Top w/ soy sauces, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, green onions, garlic, cilantro, sriracha. Pour hot oil over noodles/toppings; evenly coat. Serve garnished w/ green onions and sesame seeds
I do not understand the why of "Funnel Cakes". The only one I ever ate was full of grease and old rancid grease. Took 2 days to get the taste out of my mouth!
I like rice pudding but folks should be aware of the warnings to use up rice within 24 hours of it being cooked. (Some issue with Fungus or mold on saved rice. )
from Dians - repairs are still on for tomorrow on her internet.
Right, the one end of the slab of ribs last Friday werre not only charred, they reminded me of that saying that Chuck Norris is (was) tougher than an overcooked pork chop! I can make a LOT better here, tho’ I wouldn’t mind knowing that seller’s seasoning mix..
Like I said, it had to be an issue with being from the prior day, or the vendor took on extra help for the event and that didn’t work out so well that day. They won Best of Show on Saturday (the “big” / final day), and given the numerous competitors from as far away as TX, I can’t see that their usual offering would be so poor. I’d contact them if I could figure out a way to do so, and make a mild complaint. At $27 for a slab, and not a particularly big slab, I think a modest gripe is not out of place...
I’m no expert on funnel cakes, but, cooked with good fresh vegetable oil (not grease!), they should be very “light” and with no aftertaste. The basic recipe is pretty simple:
The oil should not be TOO hot - it needs to be around 375 deg. F:
We, well, mostly wifey, go through 20 lb. bags of dry rice at a prodigious rate. Her “small” rice cooker makes up a little over 2 lbs. (once cooked) or right at 1 kg, of sticky rice at a time, and we make a 1 kg pot of rice almost daily.
It often gets cooked for supper, so, what’s not eaten then needs to be kept cold (like meat or milk) or, rarely, we freeze it. Rice, especially if cooked without, say, salt as a flavoring and preservative, which is how my wife cooks it, can get a sour taste and odd smell pretty quickly in warm temperatures, and that happens well before any mold or fungus can be seen. :-(
Well, over at NWS, they got down to 49 deg. early this morning, but we only got down to 53 deg. F. Fine with me - that’s cool enough. But by Wed. afternoon we may hit 89 deg.!
If I ever have leftover rice I roll it up in a baggie and freeze. Good for throwing some in a soup, etc.
Our weather Friday turned into a glorious Fall day, despite a cool, foggy start. The sky was solid blue with the exception of a thin line of white clouds on the eastern horizon. Temps were in the 70’s with a nice breeze. Saturday morning was similar, but the breeze turned into a wind by late afternoon, clouds rolled in & we had storms overnight. Yesterday was cloudy although not too cool & this morning has been gray & gloomy. The sun is just starting to make a comeback so the next couple of days should be nice Fall weather.
Friday, I finally got the gate reversed at the top of the basement steps. Reversing was problematic from a latch standpoint - I ended up resorting to a simple chain & hook, which should be strong enough to hold up should someone stumble into the gate. Next step is to call the company who installed our front porch railings & get them to install a handrail. They have to mount the rail on both cinderblock & dry wall so I will let the pros deal with that.
Called the insulation guy this morning & reminded him we still exist. I got a contract via email within an hour & he should do the job in the next week so he’s making up for lost time. My bedroom is upstairs & with no insulation, it’s getting a bit chilly at night - 10+ degrees difference after insulation should help.
I found spare tile for the master bath shower in the basement so I can let that contractor know if he breaks tile installing handrails, the tile can be replaced. No time frame from him - he’s in the middle of a big project.
We want a gate we can control remotely at the driveway entrance (just have a chain right now which is a pain in bad weather). It’s going to be expensive, but mom feels safer without strange cars coming up the driveway plus folks tend to use our driveway as a turnaround spot which is annoying. I think I found a company that might come to our location, but I haven’t talked to them yet ... on the ‘to do’ list for later this week.
This morning, after the insulation guy, I cleaned out my fridge & the big upright freezer we have. It was a major job, started at 9 & took about 5 hours due to washing up all the plastic containers I dumped out. Now I have room to freeze some soups & crockpot dinners for easy meals in the future. The next item going in the crockpot is a nice brisket- using a Nagi recipe so it should be really good!
I post, you decide! I have not eaten much rice lately, not because of this, just trying to lose a bit of weight.
Yeah, most grains are problematic in this regard when molds get involved. We must be ok though, as none of the listed symptoms seem to be afflicting us. I do try to get the rice in the fridge (which we keep very cold) quickly, and it, as I mentioned, gets eaten pretty quickly.
Somehow, my weight has stabilized the last few years, even though I know I’ve slowed down. Probably, I burn up the calories being mad at Democrats and even the local high taxing Pubbies...
I am as steamed as the rice?
Dang! The cold front originally expected by late Wednesday afternoon is now not expected to get here until Friday, so, we get an extra day (Thursday) to heat up, with a high of 91 deg. expected!
Drat! Just when the tomato plants and peppers seemed to be doing better...
I’m trying to “air root” a couple of branches on wifey’s Malunggay “trees” — just started that last Sunday — after seeing the coming hot days forecast, I added white wrap around the plastic bottles containing the rooting soil, to hopefully keep them cooler, as the bottles are clear and the soil is quite black...
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Good timing! The Tech just left. A squirrel or chipmunk had chewed through the wiring that is up against the house! The storm had nothing to do with it.
Anyhow, lots of catching up to do and, YES! I will get back to work, LOL!
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