ORChick's Not-a-Journal

[rathbone]

Parsimonious. I love that you chose that word. I know exactly what you mean. I tend to save some things back and am afraid to use them. Glad you started though. If we don't try something, we never grow.

 

[ORChick]

I've got 6 pints of cream of mushroom soup base in the canner right now. I followed the recipe in the *cream of x* thread in the cooking section, but did not add any salt, preferring to do that when I heat it up to serve. And, although I did add the flour as directed in the recipe, I am thinking that next time I probably won't do that until serving either. I know the *canning rules* don't recommend using flour, and really I am not sure how it will stand up to the prolonged heat. And it isn't at all hard to add when adding the milk before serving. I'll see how the contents seem when I open one of the jars.
I have some mushrooms left over so am planning on making a separate pot of soup for dinner. I'll add some leeks, diced celery root, and the small piece of bulb fennel that I have in the 'fridge. Should be good.

 

[rathbone]

Fennel (seeds) are one of my favorite flavors. I know nothing about the actual plant though. "fennel bulb" is a completely foreign concept to me. Sounds yummy though.

 

[ORChick]

The canned mushroom soup looks good, and all the jars sealed. The dinner soup was delicious, though I wish the fennel piece I had was bigger; it rather disappeared among the other flavors.
Rathbone, fennel bulb is what the Italians call finochio, and is a cousin of the seed fennel. Both are very pretty plants. The bulb fennel looks like this - http://harvesttotable.com/2009/03/how_to_grow_florence_fennel/ - and the seed/herb fennel is the same, but without the bulb , and is usually taller.

 

[rathbone]

That actually looks like it might grow here in my climate. I am going to look into it.

 

[ORChick]

We went up to "the Big City" today; Eugene is about an hour's drive away, so we don't go often, but there are several things that I keep a list for on the 'fridge that are in Eugene, so we can make a day of it. First and foremost, there is an art class/workshop on Fridays that DH enjoys - better, and different, than the opportunities he has here. So up we went - had a nice lunch (actually, late breakfast) together, and then I dropped him off at the art center. Then I went to the butcher that sells pastured meats, and picked up a few things for the freezer, as well as 5# of leaf lard to render down tomorrow. And then to the natural foods style supermarket to check out their organic veggies - got some potatoes and onions, as well as celery root and some kale. Then a quick stop at Trader Joe - not much today; some cheese, maple syrup, a few bottles of cheapy wine. And then the fun part! I spent a lovely hour in an amazing second hand book store. It is always a serious temptation (and I will not be stopping by the "what did you save today?" thread until I have recovered ). And then, a new temptation - though here I was better. I only just learned of a knitting/fiber/yarn store the other day, and had to stop by. It was truly lovely - but I have enough projects going on that I was able to resist the lure of soft yarn. Besides, whenever I am tempted I just repeat "you have boxes of alpaca fiber at home; you do not need any more!" :lol): DH was happy to get out of the house (always a minor production since his broken ankle), and I enjoy the expanded shopping opportunities that we do not have where we live (I'm not a huge shopper, but some things are just easier to find in a university city as opposed to a small rural city) I stock up when I am there, and don't shop much at all till the next time.
It started to rain heavily later in the afternoon, and continued for most of the drive home. I really hate driving in the rain. DH will not be the only happy one when the doctor finally gives him the OK to walk (and drive) again - hopefully next week.

 

[ORChick]

I went into the store where I buy chicken feed to get a bag, and when the fellow carried it out to the car for me he saw the potatoes I had bought. Asked if they were seed potatoes, but I said no, for eating. I would like to plant potatoes, but don't have space. So he says, have you seen the potato box we have? No; so I went and looked. It is a box, about 2 feet square, made up of 4 levels - that is, 4 2' planks screwed into a square, and 4 of these squares stacked on top of each other. $55
I said I'd think about it.
I have now thought about it (it took me about 5 seconds), and decided that the idea is good, and I could fit someting like that in the garden - and I can build it myself so much cheaper

 

[Denim Deb]

In other words, it's kind of like what some on here have done w/used tires.

 

[ORChick]

In other words, it's kind of like what some on here have done w/used tires.

Right! Its exactly like one might do with used tires. Though I think that lifting the individual squares on and off to hill up, and get to the potatoes might be easier than lifting tires - for me, anyway. I'm thinking that by adding another 6" or 12" per side it won't make the footprint that terribly much bigger, but would hold more potatoes.

 

[rathbone]

Your day in Eugene sounds wonderful.