Beautiful Days!

     I absolutely love the Autumn colors! With all of the rain we had this year, the color has been outstanding! One of the great things about Kansas City also - all of the green space. It has really come alive this season, and enjoy spending my days finding any excuse to run errands and see the fall color! Though having a hard time getting to the yard work that needs to be done at my place, as I really love the color all over the ground! LOL This weekend will be beautiful and a great time to get it done - but for now, I just appreciate all the beautiful leaves scattering on the ground. Definitely going to be a chore to get them all cleaned up, mulched, and put down around the hosta garden! I always leave a few bags on the side of the yard to mold up and add as a Spring soil amendment.

Looks like yesterdays winds took down most of the dogwood leaves out back!

Such beautiful colors! 

     It has been a pretty quiet week around here, goodies baked and given as seasonal gifts to friends. More baking is on the calendar for this week. Somehow mixed up my days for the VW gathering, so will make a fresh batch of everything again this week - at least it all turned out well and was able to share the previous run with very appreciative friends. 

     The engine block is still be worked on, so nothing new on that front. So much work has been done, I really need to find some ideas for giving back for this, even with a cash reimbursement! So incredible the work that has already been done! Perhaps massage is a good trade? Talking with a few of my guy friends to see what they would appreciate in such a circumstance, all came back with the same intriguing answer, but will keep this family friendly (at least for now!). LOL 

     Loved the hat pattern so much, I have made a couple more - the first out of alpaca, which I have decided is just too fuzzy for a great guy gift (though would be extremely warm!), and one more I am making again out of the Malabrigo Arroyo. Absolutely adore this yarn line! I really need to keep away from the yarn store...though it was mentioned that they would have another shipment in at the end of the month! Time to start saving those pennies!! 

Royal blue alpaca sock yarn (just too fuzzy)

One more in Malabrigo Regatta Blue. Adore this - will be perfect!

      So cold outside today, I am thinking it will be a good day for a hot cup of tea, catching up on a bit of HAVEN, and finishing up this new blue hat. I would love to get to the recipient within the next couple of days! Brrr...only 20 or so more weeks until Spring! Can't wait to get back to the kind of weather that allows me to drop that convertible top and enjoy the sunshine!

     

What A Wild Ride This Is!

     Spent most of the week with Clarabelle (she really refused to change her pound name - so Clarabelle it is...), she is recovering from her spay surgery (Sun), and has been doing everything possible to show she is not happy about something. Sigh. Beginning the training has at least helped to pear down the destructive behavior.

This really is my bone...

Unfortunately, she works quickly. This is what the place looked like after a quick bathroom break for me!

Yep, a dirt trail all through the kitchen and dining space. The rubber tree isn't faring well either. Sigh.

     Just have to remember plenty of patience. She is growing and will grow out of it soon. Thank the gods!

     Also made some time today to get back to organizing and getting things accomplished. I spent the morning oven canning some extras I had. Keeps them wonderfully fresh, never have issues with bugs or mice, and can hold for up to 20 years or more! Granted I usually get around to it much quicker than that! Love the look of the jars all stacked throughout the pantry too! Today, I was able to process 35 jars - a mix of oats, dry beans, instant pancake mix, instant spiced oatmeal - set up for single servings, white rice, and all purpose flour. Absolutely adore my new oven, as this was all processed in one go! Woot! Little tight, but worked beautifully! 

This is what 35 jars in a 6 cu foot oven looks like! 

     I always purchase my flour in 25 pound bags, as they cost under $10, while a 5 pound bag ranges $3-$5! Save a ton of money (even cheaper if you have a Costco or Sams' account), and find that I use it pretty quick. Usually pick one up every month or two depending on how much baking I am working on. Also, I like to keep baking mixes and batches of instant pancake mix to keep in the pantry.

     Next week I have plans to make up biscuit dough - enough for four or five dozen - and freeze them after cutting out, for quick dinner compliments. I love hearty soups in the Autumn and Winter, and usually make them a couple of times a week. Great too if company comes, as just pop out of the freezer and onto a baking sheet, then into the oven! As company here is often unannounced, I also make sure to keep a few frozen loaves of artisan bread handy too! Just a few minutes in the oven for a home made masterpiece!

     Thursday will bring the crafting of a pumpkin cheesecake - a cheesecake social is scheduled with friends on Friday, and Friday afternoon I will be working on coffee cakes, scones and biscotti for an event with the VW group on Saturday morning. I know the guys always appreciate that not only can I work on engines, I can whip up one hell of a coffee cake too! 

      For more information on oven canning, check out The Prepper Project - Long Term Oven Canning for Dry Goods. Although I have no plans for preparing for a zombie apocalypse, it is a great site with some great information and I do like having food storage available for emergencies. Not to mention the instant oatmeal is often great to pack along for camping trips!

Another Project Finished!

     Another day of being busy on very little sleep! Training is going well with the Eshe, and she is quite an intelligent little girl! Already settling in very nicely!
     Finished another project last night - a wool hat for a friend. I enjoy giving back when I can, and know that his hat was looking well loved and well used. LOL Love the crown on this one, although the photo doesn't show it well. Will have to get a better photo up later. This is based on a free pattern from Ravelry, with a link below, this was a very quick project and has a wonderful feel using the Malabrigo Arroyo wool yarn.

Free Pattern: Ritenour Hat

          Have to keep it short today and get out to run errands. Helping out at a friends' shop today, and Eshe will be tagging along. Great chance for her to meet lots of people and other dogs, working on getting her well socialized, which will be a bit harder with the cold weather upon us. Now if I could just make a bit more time to get the yard work done... 

A New Family Member!

     I wish I could say I have been overly productive this week, getting things done and such, but no luck. I have been taking down time to try and dump some of the stress that has been piling up over the past couple of weeks and working on getting a few spaces reorganized. With the news of the kidney issues, and the problems with the engine, I just needed a break - just a small one! Actually got to closing up the engine case, and had the first stud pop out with just 10lbs of torque. So back to square one with that project. All torn down and getting reworked. I am blessed to have a very talented friend helping out with this, truly a hero to me, as I would have had to scrap the project were it not for his metal working skills. So heads are getting resurfaced so as to be salvageable, the studs are getting helicoiled into the case, and he is now working on creating a flywheel cutter that will level out the cylinder seats. I have been so amazed at what he has been able to accomplish! What I would give to know more about how things like that work! So now just waiting to see if it will all work out. Just have to have faith that it will at this point~!
     We also just adopted a rescue puppy from one of the no kill shelters here in KC, this evening. She is a beautiful 5 month old Pharaoh Hound we are naming Eshe (E's pronounced as "eh") which in Egyptian means "life". Our little girl is a parvo survivor, and has such a wonderful disposition. Settling in well and is already a great source of joy for my son and myself. Looking forward to the years passing and watching her grow!

Eshe with her piggy ears - first night in her new home!

   

A Great Day for Catching Up!

     Had a great weekend, getting a chance to shoot down for a quick trip to Buses at the Brewery down in Springfield, MO! Great day talking with friends and meeting new ones! Making it back, I ended up taking a little bit of down time, enjoyed just getting things done at home and spending a bit of time with my son.
     Finally grabbed a shot of the finished crocheted pineapple vest, thinking the color is just not doing it for me though. Believe in the next few days I will be dying it to a darker brown or even burgundy. After wet finishing, it left it a little large, but thinking the dye process should shrink it up just perfect. Other than that, fairly happy with it and look forward to getting a chance to wear it out. My camera help is not so experienced, but you can at least get an idea. I am a size 14/16, but this pattern on a G hook would easily have suited up to a size 20.

     Update on the engine rebuild - got a bit further, but not by much. Had an issue with the cam shaft not lining up well with the gear, but I am lucky to know some wonderfully talented people! A friend was able to get it to line up and we are keeping our fingers crossed that all will be well with the timing. Should be fine! Last I was at the shop, was able to get the crank and cam shafts in the case, still fighting with one of the cam shaft bearings, so still need to do a bit of adjusting before it is ready to close up (more grease needed on the center crank bearing and gears as well), but went in well for a first shot. Looking forward to getting back to work on it tomorrow! Not the best pic, but this is what it looks like now. Trying to take my time to double check, but sometimes it is hard. Nice to have someone checking behind just to make sure I got it right - it has been a good 20 years since I have messed with engines, and have had a few too many hits to the head to remember much! LOL

     Will have to make sure and post some photos from the event this weekend, had spaced on grabbing the XD card before heading out, so only able to take a few photos while I was there. Looking forward to getting more done on the new sweater tonight - will be helping out in a friends' shop for a bit this evening and figure will be an excellent time to get some knitting done. Looking forward to getting far enough along to have a photo to post on it! For now, time to get moving on some pumpkin bread I have promised for my son and a few others. They adore my mad baking skills! 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly....

     What a week! Glad it is almost finished. This week has been busy and filled with not so good news, but suppose that is part of life. Finally back onto the engine rebuilding project. I have been blessed to have many talented and wonderful people in my life, and pray they know how much I truly appreciate them! One in particular has been wonderful about letting me rebuild the engine in a shop that he owns, and being available to help with guiding me in rebuilding it. There is much I have forgotten since my first one - twenty years previously. LOL So far, the case is clean and ready to be put back together, which is on the list for today. Figured here would be as good of a place as any, for chronicling the project.

Not much, but a clean case is a great start!

     The crochet vest is completed (wet finishing and drying now - photos soon!) and I have begun working on the new Tapestry sweater pattern. Only a few rows in and already very happy with the progress and pattern. Turning out easier than I had originally had thought it would be. Very happy about that! Was hoping to take it with this weekend for a quick jaunt to Springfield (Buses at the Brewery 2013), as I will not be driving, but thinking a small and simple hat project may be a better idea. Less chance of making a mistake on a complicated pattern! Really looking forward to the trip, though will only be there for a few hours, I can really use a bit of time to recharge, make new friends and see old acquaintances.

     Yesterday was a fairly hard day for me. I received the news from my doctor that my kidney is indeed failing. Granted, this is something I have dealt with for the past twenty years (complications after a severe trauma), but hearing it and seeing it in writing really made it hit home. They had told me I would probably be on a recipient list by the time I turned 22 years old, but it has hung in there. Turning 40 years old come January, I think it has held up well. Thankful for that. Just a bit shaken by all of the procedures, tests and solutions they may come up with now. Working on finding holistic and natural fixes, but I may have exhausted all of those - still trying to find hope and stay positive. It is what it is, and I can only try and be strong and deal with the issues as they arise. I am also thankful for having such wonderful people in my life. I have a great support network, and many  have already sent offers of assistance - even some in other states! Crazy how life goes. Just have to hold on and enjoy the ride (or try to)! 

A Different Twist on Leftovers...

     Had a conversation with a friend earlier looking for ideas on meals and meal planning, and figured I would share what I have been up to this week, in hopes that it might inspire others.
      I have a rule at my house, waste not - want not. Saturday evening, we enjoyed a meal of beef roast (slow cooker), baked potatoes and fresh carrots with a butter dill sauce (Not so normal for us to have a full meat course, but on occasion it is nice...). As always, I plan on leftovers with most meals, using one base to make another meal completely. Now after cooking the roast, I had stock and left over roast to put up. The stock was set into muffin tins, to freeze into smaller portions, leaving easily usable disks of beef stock to add to recipes in the future (one less thing to purchase from the store and I keep it sodium free!). All kept in a wonderful little labeled bag in the freezer - without taking up too much valuable space. (The little floating bits are just fat. I skim most of it off, but happy to leave a small amount). This is also a great thing for leftover gravy, as I often add a disk or two to soups and stews to give it a little flavor.

Muffin tins with beef stock ready for freezing.

     Next, I shredded the leftover roast (had two teen boys for dinner that night - so not quite as much left over...), added some frozen peas & carrots, some onions, herbs & spices, and a bit of the left over gravy - all dumped into a pie crust, and topped with mashed potatoes. A quick and easy meat pie! Completely different meal, but using all the leftovers I had. Even the water that I boiled the potatoes with is set aside and fed to the plants. They love the starch boost from the potato water!

Meat pie before the potatoes. The little white pieces are garlic and dehydrated onions.

     Then I added the mashed potatoes and gravy just before going into an oven heated at 350 degrees for approximately 40 mins - just long enough to get everything heated through and a bit of browning on top of the potatoes. Came out wonderfully, and even my picky son ate it. Always a grand thing!

Finished meat pie - fresh from the oven!

     Now whenever I cook, I try and use whatever I can so as not to waste. Vegetable scraps are chopped coarsely, thrown into a labeled bag in the freezer, and boiled down to make vegetable stock, frozen the same as above. I also do the same with chicken stock, and find I no longer need to purchase extra from the store. After the veggies are boiled down and sifted from the stock, they go onto the compost bag, which when full, heads out to my rolling compost bin. So nice when everything can be used!
     Sunday was a casual dinner night of chicken quesadillas (left over single grilled chicken breast from Friday was cut up and used for them -perfect size for a couple for each of us), along with some single serve cookies in a cup for dessert. Finished off the last bit of cheese, the grilled chicken breast, and some pico di gallo I had thrown into the freezer. Thinking my son also finished off a couple of other small veggie leftovers we had in the fridge as well. Tuesdays are my cleaning the fridge day, as Wednesday is trash day. Nothing worse than something going foul in the trash and stinking up the house! Luckily, it is a rarity that I have any food that needs to be emptied out of there though - lets' get real, I have a teenage son and he LOVES to EAT! Luckily he has a mom that is a great cook! LOL

     Also, most days I bake small batches of all the bread we use (check out this site for Artisan bread in just 5 minutes a day!), but sometimes it still goes stale. When that happens, I end up cubing up and throwing in the freeze for bread pudding or making croutons later on, the freezer halting the oxygen from damaging it further. If I am really not paying attention and a tiny bit gets a little mold, the critters that live out back get a treat. LOL Though I usually am fairly good at keeping it all under watchful eye. 

     Too, if your family has a great deal of left overs and not really a good thing to try and make another meal out of, try freezing single portions into smaller zip lock bags. We have a bin in the freezer just for that, so on nights that I am busy or unable to cook, the kiddos can fend for themselves. A much better "frozen dinner" option. Many times we have left over soup, and it too is frozen into muffin tins and then transferred into zip lock bags, as you can heat up as much as you wish to eat. Makes life much more convenient! 

     I know as busy parents, we are always looking for useful tips that are tried and true. Perhaps just trying to shave down a bit on the grocery bills, etc. Always good to save as much as possible in this economy! If you are single and tired of cooking for one, the freezer portions work great! Or find some friends and get on the same style of freezing, and host a meal swap. Each of three friends cooks three separate meals, then freeze portions. Get together and swap out, so as to have variety without having to cook every night. Saves a ton of money and is always a great way to try other foods! 

     I always love great tips and ideas, please feel free to share some so that we may all benefit from the shared knowledge! Thanks!