Posted on 10/01/2024 6:10:14 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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You had me at, ‘Taco!’ :)
She does many of the things I have done and for the same reasons.
Mr. mm was watching some of it with me and listening to parts of it and we were both cracking up.
But when she said she bought granulated garlic, my first thought was *Honey, GROW YOUR OWN!!!!!*
What?? Did she mean she doesn’t already?????
We’ll have to scavenge some old storm doors or something.
Brr, 40 degrees this morning. Just a one day cold front to remind us winter’s coming.
For the first time in about a week & a half, no rain on radar or in the forecast here at the old homestead .... 2.75 inches in the rain gauge. It’s still cloudy this morning. I need SUNSHINE and DRY grass so I can MOW before the grass gets up to the window sills!
I’m so interested in the ‘big board’ concept of feeding a crowd that I looked into buying a big board. VERY expensive! I have a cousin who has a millwork shop - he has a computer driven saw & might be able to cut one out for me (I like the round ones). I did a little research on ‘food safe’ coatings for a wooden board & that is interesting, too.
Buy a board:
https://houseofhyacinth.com/collections/the-reluctant-entertainer
Food safe wood finishes:
https://vanduynwoodwork.com/2021/11/19/food-safe-wood-finishes/
Good job......your guests will be eating w/ class in no time.
https://themerrythought.com/diy/diy-marble-cutting-board/
I see a LOT of larger wooden and/or ceramic trays at my local Thrift Stores that would also work well as a 'board' for entertaining. Now I'll REALLY keep my eyes open for them.
Cobb Salad is my favorite! Something so yummy that was invented using whatever ‘leftovers’ were on hand.
“The original Cobb salad was created in 1937 in Los Angeles, when The Brown Derby restaurant owner Robert Cobb made a late-night snack for his friend Sid Grauman, according to the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE).
The story goes that Cobb went through the restaurant’s refrigerator and pulled out a variety of ingredients — lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, chives, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, chicken, and, of course, bacon — to create the improvised meal. The next day, Grauman requested a “Cobb salad” at The Brown Derby. From there, the salad was added to the menu, and the rest, as they say, is history (via ICE).
The Brown Derby went on to sell more than four million Cobb salads, notes The Kitchen Project. Although the two original Hollywood restaurants have since closed, the Brown Derby Restaurant Group licenses the name and sells Brown Derby-related merchandise, including bottled Cobb salad dressing.
One notable change from the original 1937 Cobb salad to the modern version is the dressing. Originally, Mr. Cobb made the salad with a “special French dressing,” according to Delicious Table. It was made with red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard and garlic. Nowadays, Cobb salad is typically served with blue cheese or ranch dressing.”
https://www.tastingtable.com/885626/how-the-original-cobb-salad-was-invented/
44 degrees here when I got up at 7am. A lovely string of low 70’s, high 60’s ahead. No rain in the forecast. Time to get serious about cleaning out the greenhouse and moving some things in there to extend the season. :)
And, of course the never-ending chore of vacuuming up Box Elder Bugs and those FAKE Ladybugs. *Rolleyes*
Oh boy, I’m in “trouble” now .... I ordered Sandy Coughlin’s Big Board recipe book! Of course, I got a ‘used - good” from Amazon ... $7.03 with tax & free delivery. I have found the majority of used books are in good shape, certainly good enough for my purposes.
Next: could I make my own large round board?? I think I could ... found this blog post:
https://wholefoodfor7.com/diy-large-charcuterie-board/
I am going to see my cousin with the millwork shop this weekend (his birthday) & I am wondering if he would cut the circles for me with his machinery? I would bet he would .... he uses some great wood (cherry, walnut, etc.) & might have some scrap pieces big enough to use ... I would pay for them, of course. If we could work something out (scrap wood & he cuts the circles), I would love to make some boards for gifts. To be continued after Saturday (fingers crossed he’ll help me out!) ...
To make this ‘garden” related, check out this gorgeous cheeseboard wreath .... HERBS: sage, rosemary & thyme, which I will definitely have in my garden next year!
Fall Cheese Board Wreath
https://reluctantentertainer.com/fall-cheese-board/
LOVED that video and see that they have many more, thanks!
Love to read about classic food origins.
Dang, how can it be October already?! And will the Opo survive long enough to give us a 3’ long fruit? (One, on the plant less damaged by the squirrels, is close to 15” long now. But, the cooler weather and recovery from the damage from the squirrels and the windy night from Helene will slow it down...)
Squirrel #3 (or more) has apparently taken the hint and vamoosed. No sight or signs of it around, the last couple days. But the larger trap (set on the ground near the garden) caught a big opossum last night. I’ll give it shade, water and a day more for the digestive tract to clear out, then it gets dispatched and boiled to become a treat for the chickens.
I’d cleaned up and lubed that bigger trap - dang, it’s as “hair trigger” now as the smaller ones I’d done such to. :-)
Got the “yard flood” pump fixed: sure ‘nuff, it was a small pebble jamming the impeller against the outer case again. I then dropped the pump into a 5 gallon Menards bucket (just barely fits). I’d drilled ~300 7/64” holes into the bucket, in a ring ~ 2” from the bottom, to create a “strainer”. That took a couple minutes. /s
Did a trial run: Looks like I need about 1000 - 1500 more such holes for the flow “in” to keep up with the pump. To heck with that. I’ll go on Amazon and see if I can find some 3/32” (or maybe 2mm) mesh stainless steel screen to cover much larger rectangular holes I’ll make in the bucket.)
This pump is overkill for most situations. It empties that bucket in literally about a second, maybe 1-1/2 seconds, and that’s with some water coming in through those 300 holes! I wonder if it’s possible to slow it down and control it a bit for less than “cloudburst” conditions...? Pollard, do you know?
I was out at ~4 am replacing a carbon-traced spark plug in wifey’s car this morning, and what shows up, but a gorgeous golden retriever. A bit muddy, decidedly wet and cold, but a great, great dog: Wonderful “personality, and pretty well trained too. No problem bringing it “in”, give it some (cat!) food and scraps from last night, some water, warm up a bit... It made for a great surprise for my wife: “Hey, hon, hon... wake up and look at this.” with the dog sitting patiently on the floor, with its head about 2 feet from my wife’s when she rolls over... Wifey took it quite well — I didn’t have to peel her off the ceiling! (Actually, she really liked the dog too.)
Doggy has a phone number on its collar, so I texted that, and the owner came by and picked it up around 8 am. She had 2 more in the car with her! I’d love to have such a good dog — maybe I should text her again and offer to take one if they get more than they can handle. But, I imagine they can get REALLY good money for these if trained for hunting...
Now... How to safely transfer that ‘possum out of the working trap into the one with the defunct trip mechanism, so I can set the “good” trap back out again this evening. Hmmm...
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Early October here on the KS/MO border has had excellent fall growing weather so far except for the lack of rain. I will continue to water. Beets, turnips, rhutabaga were planted within the last month.
Brussel Sprouts and Cauliflower seedlings were planted about a month ago. The Durgesh and Amazing Cauliflower are supposed to be fairly heat tolerant. There is really too much heat for the Groninger Brussel sprounts and they are not that tall. In about 2 weeks I will top them and hope to develop some sprouts.
Determinate Tomato seedlings with an 80 day maturity (don't recall the variety) set out about 1 1/2 months ago. They have set a large number of Roma type fruit. Will there be enough heat and sunlight to ripen before early November? (Avg first frost here is Oct. 29.) Worth a shot...we sometimes do not have frost until almost Thanksgiving.
Will see what happens tomorrow.
We shall see. Quit my job this morning.
We hit 100 degrees pretty regularly, but not in October!
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