Sunday = Funday 10/24/10

It was a bit of a slow start this particular morning…see post "Saturday 10/23/10." But we started what ended up being a very busy day. Lucky for you my memory is failing me of the details of that day, so an overview it will be. Sometime the evening before or that morning over coffee (me) and tea (Ann) we decided to invite our mothers up to help w/ our canning adventures we'd planned for the day. We had picked the apples the day before, so step one was complete. We also started a frozen tub of apple sauce w/ all the yummy spices in the crock pot that night to be ready to can some apple butter the next morning. And by me, I mean Ann. As there's proof that I had a late night on the 23^rd, I was in no shape to be measuring spices.

My mom came out mid morning and Grandma Keast came out later in the afternoon. We ate sandwiches for lunch and then dove into all things canning. Mom put her new apple peeler to work peeling apples for apple pie filling. We did two...TWO…double batches of apple pie filling. Then we canned the apple butter that had cooked in the crock pot. Then not long after Grandma Keast got here, we cut, boiled and then put the apples through the food meal. We did 2 ½ pots of apples and ended up w/ 2 tubs of applesauce to go in the freezer. I think we ended up w/ 16 or so quarts of apple pie filling, 5 pints of apple butter, and 2 tubs of apple sauce. We sent the apple butter home w/ Mom (b/c she eats it right out of the jar from her fridge w/ a spoon!), and a few jars of the apple pie filling. Grandma Keast left after some quilting help from Ann. Mom helped us finish putting the apples through the food mill and then left shortly after. They rocked, I was so glad to have their help and it was tons of fun.

During all this, the guys were in the living room watching TV, and later I learned they turned on the subtitles b/c they couldn't hear the TV and knew they'd get yelled at if they turned it up loud. Hahahahahaha. But we all know they were both sleeping most of the time anyway. It was so nice to have Mom and Gma Keast come up. I think it's pretty darn cool that we are all friends. And I think we can call Mom and Gma Keast "buds."

I'm trying to remember what time it was that we finished. It was still light outside, but the sun was definitely setting. We sat on the porch for a while and Ann decided we needed a celebratory beer b/c the apples where done for the year. I'll continue to can apples every year, but man was I glad we were done. But then I had a thought. I do have those every now and again. I still had a cheap jug…yes jug…of wine in the fridge. So we sat on the porch and enjoyed a nice cup…yes I said cup, so what. There were cats everywhere and I didn't want to break anything…of cheap red wine to finish off the day. Oh, and we might have high-fived.

But the day didn't technically end there. The guys had gone to drop off a bunk they had repaired and the cows who's calves they wanted to wean that weekend (but didn't b/c Josh was a little under the weather…see post 10/23/10…hehe) ended up coming in. And when things just kinda fall in your lap easy 'round these parts, you take it. So they closed the gate, sorted the calves, came back to get the trailer, and brought the baby's to the house. While they were doing this business Ann and I strung a water hose to fill the water tank. I kept an eye on it while she ran to town and got a couple of pizzas. You don't know how glad I am that this little town has a pizza place. By the time the guys got back it was dark and I was starving.

No one had to rock me to sleep that night. Because of the busy day, or b/c of the wine….we'll never know.

Fishy Friday

In just a bit we are headed to a fish fry at the bar. Woo-hoo!!! Can't wait for some yummy fish, potluck sides and cold beer. I'm so tired though I don't think I'll last long after my tummy's full. I subbed for P.E. again today. Man is that always a mess in a half.

I wore one of Josh's K State long sleeve tshirts today. It was costume day at school so I asked the kiddos what I was for Halloween. I got answers like: K State fan, K State cheerleader, nothing. But I told them no. I was an OSU fan dressed up as a K State fan. :)

I crack myself up!

Tonight 10/28/10

It was fend for yourself night. That means a lean cuisine/healthy choice/smart ones meal for Rich (me too, but that's beside the point). After Rich's frozen healthy meal he ate a package of pop tarts, a bowl of ice cream, a few marshmallows, and a bag of popcorn. He's been sacked out in the chair for quite a while now. He's like a 3 year old who's crashed from a sugar high.

Saturday: Apples and a Wedding. 10/23/10

Did you know some dogs like apples? They do. We found that out Saturday as we were picking the last of the apples. Did you hear that…THE LAST OF THE APPLES! I'll get to that in a minute. Annette was using our new handy dandy apple picker and I was checking the apples on the ground. Boy was that apple picker worth the money. Oh wait, I didn't pay for it. Anyway, I decided to pretend one of the apples was a tennis ball and threw it for Emily to fetch. After she brought it back, she proceeded to eat it….crunch, crunch, crunch. A little later, Harley was crunching on one...not to be outdone by Emily I'm sure. They each consumed almost an entire apple. It's a good thing it was nice outside and we had somewhere to go that evening. There's a good chance their tummies were a little messed up.

Saturday evening we attended a wedding of a local couple. We know them through the grooms' parents, who own the bar in town. We like their Friday night burger deals, their $2 coldbeer, and their Saturday night steaks. You will not find a better steak. The groom's mother is also the first grade school teacher. I love small towns. It was an outdoor wedding w/ an indoor reception and the mild October temperatures made for a very nice evening. It was so nice to be at a wedding where Josh and I would both know people and didn't have to drive to hell and half of Georgia and back.

Not too far into the night they did the usual bouquet and garter toss. Josh and I neither one like to go up there and have gotten away from it for most of the weddings we've been too. Not Saturday night. I got called out by the bride. Ugh. Other people attending it, you can say no too. But the bride? You can't tell the bride no. So when it was garter time, I made Josh go up there. Fair is fair. Neither of us caught the bouquet or the garter, but somehow Josh ended up w/ the garter in his shirt pocket.

All in all it was a fun night. I got giggly drunk with some of my local silly girl friends. Josh and I were able to hang out, dance and such. And we both had people to hang out with. He could sit at the guys table and talk about tractors and crops. And I could sit around a table with who knows how many empty Boone's Farm wine bottles trying make an "L" on my forehead as quick as my reflexes would allow me so that I wouldn't be the last one and have to drink. It was serious business.

Kittens 'n Calves

I did....

I did start writing a blog over in word. Then the program stopped working and spit my blog into no mands land. Sorry. I'll try again another day. Too tired to start over.

Sigh.

Straight out of PW cookbook...

RIB-EYE STEAK WITH WHISKEY CREAM SAUCE

Makes 2 servings

5 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons diced onion

1/4 cup whiskey

1/4 cup beef stock or broth

Dash of salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup light cream

2 rib-eye steaks

1. Begin by melting 2 tbsp of the butter over medium heat in a small skillet. Add the onion and cook until brown, about 4 minutes.
2. When the onion is brown, turn off the burner temporarily so you won't ignite your kitchen or yourself.
3. Pour in the whiskey
4. As soon as teh whiskey evaporates, turn the burner on medium and pour in the beef stock or broth.
5. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper
6. Now, whisk in another tbsp butter.
7. Allow the mixture to bubble for 30 seconds, then reduce the heat to low.
8. Over low heat, pour in the cream.
9. Whisk, adding more cream if the mixture looks too brothy.
10. Allow to simmer on very low heat while you prepare the steaks. Stir occasionally.
11. Melt the remaining 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet oer medium-high heat. Generously salt and pepper the steak on both sides, then add it to the hot skillet.
12. For medium rare, cook for 2 minutes on each side for a thin steak, or 3 or 4 minutes on each side for a thick steak. Place the steak on a plate and keep warm.
13. Spoon the sauce over the steak.....and don't skimp! You want to taste the deliciousness.
14. Mmmmm. It doesn't get much better than this.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't eat the leftover sauce by the spoonful. I'm just being honest here.

When the onion is bron, turn off the burner temporarily so you won't ignite your kitchen or yourself.


The above is straight out of Pioneer Woman's cookbook.

My take on it:
I doubled the recipe and to do it over again, I would have doubled it again. It was THAT good. I didn't make rib-eye's, I made hamburger steaks and mashed potatoes and it was great over both. For the whiskey, I used crown. For the light cream, I used skim milk mixed w/ a little butter and flour.

If you make it and change a few things, I'd love to hear your take on it.

Blogging HELP!

I was going to post some pictures but I can't figure out how to put pictures where I want them. I need a tutorial, apparently. I can't bring myself to post pictures that aren't where I want them.

Will someone please help me?

Wow, over two months since I've been on here. Shame on me. I have no reason, just haven't. Let see if I can catch up of the last two and a half months. I'll just tell you right now I'll be using Facebook (FB) as my brain for this little adventure. What did we do before FB?

So I'm gonna say a big HA on updating. This is like research. Here's where it starts:

• Got my niece and nephew for an entire week.


• Posted this as my FB status on Aug. 2nd - "T minus 3 days till the fair. T minus 11 days till Colorado vacation. T minus 298 bales to move before we leave for vacation."


• Volunteered at the Fair -checked in vegetables, served at the free BBQ, threw candy out of the gator in the parade, and was a time keeper at the ranch rodeo.


• Vacation in Colorado. Hello Colorado, where have you been all my life?


• Mom bought a place in Dewey that we call "The Ponderosa."


• Took (and passed!) my last certification exam.


• Was finally given a way to season my cast iron skillet that worked. Why I needed to do that, I don't know. I don't ever get to cook in "my" (it's not mine, its Josh's...hence the air quotes) kitchen.


• I turned 31.


• Started cooking more.


• Canned for the first time - Apple Butter and Apple Pie Filling - and more canning since.


• Kicked ass at an apple pie (and a few since).


• I sealed my graduating by walking across the stage.


• Posted this on my FB status Sept. 20th - "Had a couple of firsts last week. 1 was pretty neat and the other was pretty dang gross."


• "Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do....but how much love we put in that action" -Mother Theresa


• Finally got my Kansas sub license in the mail....well, Tammie Provence did anyway. Longton...aka -Elk Valley...accepted it. So I began subbing.


• Spent most of a day w/ my little buddy taking tractor rides, playing w/ kittens, and driving the truck through the pasture to see all the baby calves.


• We got a new toy...a skid steer. No one knows what a skid steer is. Its like a bobcat, if that helps.

That brings us up to this week. 2 days now Josh and I have went for morning walks. Wednesday, the first day, we didn't feed the cats before we left thinking they would still be asleep. Wrong. A handful of them followed us. So we didn't do the entire 2 miles for fear of our neighbor leaving for work and running them over. That night Josh didn't get home till 8:30. While getting ready for bed he said he wanted to walk the next morning, I told him he wouldn't. My alarm went off at 5:15 and he said "I'm tired." I was right. No walk Thur. morning, but back to it Friday morning....which we fed the cats just a smidgen and then took off! Its dark and cold at 5:45am, but really no complaints.

Last night I got together w/ some old friends/classmates. It was really nice to just sit around and visit. We ended the night around 9:30. I was tired, but it felt too early since I don't see those people very often. My good friend Shane is being stationed in Hawaii (again) for 3 years. He's always good at getting people together and I'm so glad he did. He also brought along a sign that says "Provence" that he'd gotten in London, or somewhere, and has been hanging onto for a while. I also got to see my BFF Katy. We talk often, but nothing is like face-to-face. I miss her bunches and was glad she was able to come down (okay, its really up but I always say down).

Today. Well today I've....ummm.....well, I haven't done much of anything. Josh ended up having to work today till who knows when, it was colder than all get out in here so its 12:13 and I'm just now considering changing out of my pajamas. I don't know what the day holds, I'm not really sure what I want to do. In a kind of bummed mood to be honest. So in my pajamas under a blanket may be the best place for me.

Kittens~&~Calves