Checking In

I'm still not sure if I will come back to a regular posting schedule, but since I updated the Haphazard Homestead On The Road blog, I thought I would make a quick post here as well. We have been very busy this summer.

We are doing life learning (a type of homeschooling) now and technically began that on July 1. We have made new friends, had camping trips, enjoyed field trips with other home schoolers, had picnics with other life learning families, visited museums and other points of interest, went to the Missouri State Fair, and have done many other things both at home and away. All of those things have been both fun and educational.

Kat at a family art event at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art earlier this summer.

Shane continues to work most of each week in Joplin, MO, with occasional Fridays worked here in Kansas City. None of us really likes having him gone, but it is better than being laid off. Our garden has been very atypical this year, mostly because the weather has been atypical.

Rowan turned 10 in July 4.  We celebrated with a camping trip and a visit to museums in St. Joseph, MO.

Here it is late August and we're just now getting cucumbers, our peppers haven't matured enough to set on fruit yet, and we're picking lots and lots of green beans. I canned 20 pounds last week, have another 25 pounds picked and ready to can, and I expect another 10-15 pounds before we are done.

In terms of those goals I set at the beginning of the year, I've reached my reading goal and increased it from 18 books to 24 by the end of the year! I have read a few of the stacked up magazines, but unfortunately have done very little toward the other goals, including all those crafts I was going to make.

We have two more camping trips planned for our season, on next weekend for Labor Day, and one in October. I hope to write about those on the other blog as they happen. That, in a nutshell, is what's been going on here the last couple of months. I just want to say if you're still checking in here, thank you. I appreciate your support although I haven't been a very good blogger lately. I'll see you again...perhaps.

Dehydrating Potatoes

My friend Melinda and her husband gave us a boatload of potatoes recently, and I've been slowly working them up.  Some will be chitted and planted in our garden, some canned, and some dehydrated, and of course some eaten fresh.

This week I've been dehydrating.  The process takes a little time, but isn't difficult.  I learned the basics from this post at Hickery Holler.

First I scrubbed and peeled about five pounds of potatoes.  I sliced them into a bath of about three quarts cold water and 3/4 teaspoon of citric acid.  This will help keep them from turning brown or grey from oxidation.  I am pretty fast with a knife, so that's how I cut mine, but you could use a food processor or mandolin.

As I was slicing them, I was also heating a large pot of water to a full boil.  In batches, I blanched the sliced potatoes in the boiling water for four minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, I removed the slices from the boiling water and returned them to the cool water and citric acid bath.  I made a new bath each time, using 1/4 teaspoon citric acid to each quart of cold water, because the water needs to be cold to stop the blanching process.

I then drained the slices and placed them in a single layer on the trays of our dehydrator.

I would like to one day have an Excalibur dehydrator, but for now we have a basic Ronco with ten round trays.  The five pounds of potatoes filled all ten trays perfectly.

I set the dehydrator on high (in this case, that means heat AND fan), and rotated the bottom tray to the top each hour.  Rotation isn't strictly necessary, but I feel it speeds up and evens the drying.  All of the slices were dry after eight hours.  Had they been sliced uniformly thin, they may have dried mopre quickly.

Five pounds of dehydrated potato slices fit perfectly into two quart canning jars.  I have ordered some oxygen absorbing packets and will put a couple in each jar to seal them.  Properly stored, these potatoes could be kept safely for years.

The next, I decided to make dehydrated hash browns.  I used the same basic process as above:  Wash, peel, shred with food processor, soak in citric acid bath for a few minutes, blanch for four minutes, shock in another citric acid bath.  I added a couple of steps by rinsing the shreds with cold water to remove some of the starch and wringing them in a clean cloth napkin to squeeze out most of the water.  Then I spread them on the dehydrator trays. 

Some of the shreds fell through the mesh of the trays, but that was really no worry, as the heating element is enclosed and doesn't get hot enough to burn food anyway. There are small-mesh mats available for the trays that would keep this from happening, and would also make clean-up easier for other (stickier) foods, so I may end up getting those in the future.

With shreds, five pounds filled up seven trays, which tells me I probably could've made the layers thinner in each tray so they would dry more quickly.  In the end, they filled two quart jars after six hours of drying time.

Overall, this was an easy way to preserve our potato bounty, and one that's a space-saver, too.  I'm looking forward to trying recipes made with these potatoes, and I'll be sure to post them when I do.

Best of...?

I'm not one of those bloggers who likes to publish a "Best of..." post at the end of the year.

I figure if you want to spend your last few hours of 2012 looking at my humble little blog, then by all means, go for it.  But you'll have to dig around on your own.   I'm not going to tell you which posts are the "best".  If you really want to know, there's a widget over there --------> that shows which of my posts have been viewed the most.

On the other hand, if you're like most folks, you aren't even reading this message.  You're off partying with friends or playing board games with your kids or listening to a radio countdown or watching a ball drop on TV.  Which is as it should be, I think.  I'm headed that way myself.

Enjoy yourself tonight.  Enjoy your family and friends.  Have fun.  Stay safe.

I'll see you next year!

I Vote For The Taco Party!

Who doesn't love a fiesta?  I think that's a party we can call agree on.

If you have a deep fryer and one or two of these taco forms, it's absolutely worth your time to fry your own tortillas for these baked tacos.  

If you're feeling really ambitious, you could make your own tortillas from scratch, but it works just fine to do like I did and use the store-bought soft (not fried) corn tortillas like you'd use for enchiladas.  Or you could just follow the recipe (linked below) and use regular crunchy taco shells from a box.  I'm sure I'll try it that way, too.

You can eat these straight out of the oven just like this:

Or you can load 'em up like we did with lettuce, sour cream, black olives, salsa and guacamole.  Soooo goood!

Special thanks to my friend Melinda for sharing the link to the recipe for Oven Tacos at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures.  These tacos will get our vote every time!

Summer's Winding Down

• Shane and I enjoyed a weekend getaway in the camper. I'll write more about that later this week.
   
• Kat has a quick back-to-school night on Tuesday, then classes begin on Thursday. Yes, already.
   
• When we checked out teacher assignments, we learned that Kat's new teacher is named New Teacher. Hmm...seems a little late in the game to not know who's filling that position.
   
• Looking forward to dinner out on Thursday with my good friend C. We've been friends since 5th grade. She invited all of us, but I may decide to ditch the family and make it a Ladies' Night Out. Used to be that would have meant heading straight for the bar, dancing and drinking until the wee hours, then somehow each of us making it to work the next day. Now a wild night means dinner, one cocktail (if any), a little conversation, and making back home and asleep by 10:00 -- and probably feeling it the next day all the same.
   
• How dare you insinuate that we're getting old!
  
  



• Our garden is down to just tomatoes and a couple of watermelons at the moment. We let the pinto beans dry on the vine and shelled those out last week. We completely missed our window of opportunity on picking corn; it got too tough and chewy to eat, but we are letting it dry on the stalk and will try making some cornmeal with it. Our few cucumbers were so bitter from the heat that we gave up and ripped them out. The green beans and zucchini that we planted along with the corn (Three Sisters planting) didn't produce a thing.
   
• We're not done gardening yet, though. It's time for a fall planting!

An Early Birthday for Kat

Kat's birthday is the Fourth of July, which is also the day we will be leaving for our camping trip. My daughter wanted to celebrate before we leave, so with the help (and home) of her mother-in-law, the two of them hosted a great party for Kat yesterday. It was a Lego-themed party with Lego cupcakes, Lego candy, and Lego free-play, as well as a few rousing games of bingo, a coloring session, and some free time to visit. It was a fun afternoon!

The birthday girl, and her doll, who is currently named Sage.

Our friend Chris with his son Jude.  My daughter T doing the classic rabbit ears photo bomb.

Kat and cousins, coloring in the kitchen. (I love a little alliteration...LOL).

Yummy cupcakes with little candy Lego figures on top.

Lego construction site.

My daughter T., son-in-law M., Kat, and me.

Lego construction challenge.  Build your favorite food with Legos!
I'm not sure anyone met that particular challenge.

Kat with M and her Grandma K.

Jude contemplates what will come next.

Kat and her step-dad.

Kat and her mom.
Can you believe T. photo-bombed again??  This time it worked well.

A fashion statement.

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery.

Grandma K. with colorful balloons.  Did you know there is a helium shortage??

Lego figures climbing the balloon strings.

Kat and Great-Grandma D. playing bingo.  The card markers were -- you guessed it -- Lego pieces.

M. and me, drinking coffee and playing bingo.

Of course, there were plenty of gifts.  Here's a Lego set.  Are you surprised?

An artist/illustrator friend drew or painted many posters for Kat, including these Star Wars cupcakes...

...and this portrait of Darth Vader.

Last but not least, Sage received a whole new hiking outfit for her and her dog.  Just in time for vacation!

Crockpot Pork and Gravy with Vegetables

This is another recipe inspired by something our friend John made and served to us.  He makes a dish of sauteed chicken breast chunks served over rice, with zucchini and mushrooms (each sauteed separately) spooned over, and then poultry gravy ladled over all of it.  It's a pretty good meal.

Now, I'll tell you this, because I tell John this too...although he's a he, he's also something of a diva in the kitchen.  He does nearly all of the cooking for his family and he doesn't really like it when I take one of his ideas and make it my own.  But I do it all the time and he just has to deal with it.  So, if you were able to ask him, he'd say the recipe that follows is NOTHING like the one he makes, and not as good, either.  To use John's own words, I have only this to say...

Whatever.

I took his meal and adapted it, not only to the foods I already had on hand, but also to the crockpot, so I could let the meat cook at camp while we were out doing other things.  It could still be served over rice, but we voted for pasta instead.  So, John's right, this isn't much like his original dish.  But I have to give him credit for the idea.

None of us thought we were very hungry the day I made this at camp, but we ended up eating every last bite of it.


Crockpot Pork and Gravy with Veggies

1 pork loin roast (about 2 pounds) cut into 1-inch cubes
2 packets of gravy mix (pork or poultry, either will work) or equal amount of bulk gravy mix
1 small to medium zucchini, sliced into half-moon shapes
1 small to medium onion (I used vidalia), cut into large chunks
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks
pan spray or a small amount of oil
1 Tablespoon butter
seasoned salt
cooked, drained pasta of your choice

Place pork and a generous amount of water in a smaller crockpot and turn on the HI.  Let meat cook on HI for about 4 hours, or on LO for about 6 hours, or until tender.

When meat is tender, whisk in gravy mix, cover and let thicken.  Ours turned out rather thin, but it still worked just fine.  If you like a thicker gravy, use either less water in the crockpot or more gravy mix.

Meanwhile, saute the chopped veggies in a skillet over medium heat that has been sprayed with pan spray or coated with just a drizzle of oil.  Add a little seasoned salt to taste.  When the veggies start to get a little bit tender, add a Tablespoon of butter to the skillet, increase heat to high, and sautee until veggies begin to brown.

Spoon veggies over cooked pasta and top both the veggies and pasta with some of the pork and gravy mixture.  Serve with fresh fruit and/or bread on the side.

Cowboy Potatoes

I mentioned in my previous post comments that I learned how to make Cowboy Potatoes by watching our friend John make them.  The method is his, but the measurements are mine.  You can adjust the amounts as you see fit.


Cowboy Potatoes

6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 to 1-1/2 inch chunks
1 medium or large Vidalia or other sweet onion (or any type of onion, really)
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 stick butter (yes, 1 whole stick)

Place potato chunks on a piece of foil.  Slice onion into strips and sprinkle those over the potatoes.  Sprinkle potatoes and onions with season salt and then top it all with chunks of butter.

Cover with another sheet of foil and fold the edges over.  You want lots of room in there for steam, thus the two pieces of foil instead of a folded-over packet.

John's charcoal grill method is to like the charcoal, place the packet on the grill while there are still flames, and by the time the coals burn down and are ready for grilling meat, the potatoes can come off the grill.

My gas grill method is to light the grill and set it at a medium flame.  Place the potato packet on the grill and cook for 20 minutes.

Either way, take the packet of potatoes off the grill, but do not open it.  Set it aside while you grill your other meat and/or veggies.  When the rest of your meal is done, open the potato packet.  The potatoes will still be hot, and perfectly done.

Eat them just as they are, or top them with sour cream and shredded cheese.  They are delicious either way.

I haven't made these in the oven yet, but if you want to try them that way, I would suggest 20 minutes at 350F, then let them sit on the counter for 10 minutes before opening the packet.

A Blog Award

Jill, at Blessings of a Stay at Home Mom, has bestowed upon me the Versatile Blogger Award.  Thank you so much, Jill!

Normally, I have an aversion to blog awards, because 1) I never know who to pass them on to without slighting anyone else, and 2) my circle of blog friends is small, so by the time I get an award, most of my blogging buddies have already received it.  Makes it kind of difficult.  But since this is the first award I've received for this blog, I'll give it a try. 

I think 15 is an awful lot of people to tag, but I did manage to come up with 12.  If I tag you, and you've already received this one, or just don't feel like participating, I understand completely.  On the other hand, if I didn't tag you, but you'd like to play along, feel free to tag yourself!

Here are the rules for accepting the award:

1) Thank the person and link to their page

2) Select 15 bloggers who you follow regularly or have recently discovered & share the award

3) Share 7 things about yourself

4) In their posts of acceptance have them include this set of rules

5) Let each blogger know they have been nominated by leaving a comment on their blogs.

First, the tags:
The Cookbook Junkie
Don't Read This; It's Boring!
A Mom, Money and More
Better Me, Better World
Premeditated Leftovers
See The Woods and The Trees
Quiltgranny's Shoe
Osage Bluff Quilter
Life On Hackberry Road
Mom's Sunday Cafe
Sew Not My Day!
Easy Frugal Living


Ok, now the 7 things about me that you may not already know....

1) I was a math geek in high school and I probably still have the medals to prove it.

2) I will NOT...ever...under any circumstances...sing karaoke, but I will be the first to make a fool of myself on the dance floor.

3) My eldest sister named me.  (Not Annie, but my real-life name).  She found the name, suggested it to my parents, and they went for it.  BTW, I do not know even one other person who shares my real first name, although there seem to be a lot of women who do when I search it on FB.

4) In keeping with the name theme, my blog name Annie comes from my middle name Ann, which was also the middle name of both of my grandmas. Annie is the name I used to give to guys in the bar when I didn't want them to know my real name, and it's still the name I give when I order coffee at Starbuck's because it's so much easier than using my real name.

5) Although I don't/won't get into politics on my blog, I step down firmly on the liberal side of the fence.

6) I think I learned to cook via osmosis.  My mom never required me to help in the kitchen, yet when I set up my first household when I was 20, I knew how to cook almost everything she did.

7) I am not a strong swimmer by any means, but of my parents' six children, I'm the only one who learned to swim at all.

So there you have it.  I'm a geeky, liberal, cooking, swimming, dancing fool who lies about my name.  Yet a few of you still agree to be seen with me in public.  Imagine that...

Monday Thoughts on a Sunday Afternoon

I decided to publish my usual Monday morning post this afternoon because I don't expect to have much time to post tomorrow.  We have friends coming over to help Shane put in our new back door and my world (the kitchen/dining room) will be turned upside down for the day -- maybe longer.  I think the guys will be able to get the old sliding door out and the new swinging door in within the day, but we expect some sub-flooring repairs to be necessary, and will eventually put down a new kitchen floor, so the entire project is going to take a while.  The good news is that the door and flooring were bought last summer, so except for unexpected bits and pieces, this project is already paid for.  I'll be sure to get plenty of before and after pic to post later.

So, did you all have a good weekend?  I think I may have had too much of a good weekend.  Yesterday morning was pretty uneventful for me.  While Shane ran out to meet a friend who very generously gave us a freezer he no longer uses (to replace the one that quit on us last week), I stayed home and made potato salad and homemade strawberry ice cream to take to dinner with the same friend and a few others.   We had a great evening with our friends, eating a wonderful grilled chicken dinner and playing cards, but I absolutely overindulged in both food and drink, especially the food.  I can't even remember the last time I ate so much.  By this morning my stomach was rolling.  It's mid-afternoon now and I'm just starting to feel like my usual self.

Shane must be able to handle his food and drink better than me; he's been out in the garden for several hours already.  As for me, I'm waiting to pick up Kat from an afternoon birthday party.  That, stopping by the grocery store for a few things to feed tomorrow's work crew, and paying this week's bills are the only things I have planned for the rest of my day.

Hope all of you are having a good weekend and that the recent bad weather in some areas hasn't affected you too badly.  I'll be back with a post on Tuesday.