Friday, January 13, 2012

Several have mentioned my very early  risings......We milked for several years and  had to be up very early to get things ready to start milking at  6 am.  I think I just formed a deep pattern.  Also before that DH  worked where he left the house at 4 am to  drive to Fort Wood and  I always got up to fix his breakfast.

Then I am on Prednisone and it causes some problems with sleeping....will be off that shortly.

Next I do go to bed fairly early sometimes.  I get by on about 6 hours sleep but really need more.I have been known to take an afternoon nap but with the Prednisone, that isn't happening.

I do like being up early but things tend to go downhill rapidly from noon on.......

We didn't get much snow but it was bitterly cold and very windy.  If you look closely, you can see the snow blowing sideways to the east in front of the woods across the road (rh side of photo).
and this is the view from the porch directly across the driveway to the east,


Poor DH had to feed some hay out in this!  I chose to not milk and stay  inside.  I will have to milk this morning.

Day Before Yesterday

Another little annoyance......DH took the old Pontiac (I would rather refer to it as the "classic" Pontiac,1990) in to exercise and on his way home, it sputtered and died!  I was right in the middle of making bread; it was about 20 minutes from baking so I had to improvise.  I should have just put it in the fridge but it would have been very cramped so I set the pans on the tile floor of the back porch and placed the turkey roast pan and lid over it.  That floor stays cold year round!  We had the car towed to the shop; $400 and a new computer later, it is running again.

Bread wasn't affected by this annoyance at all.

Food

I sort of developed a new recipe yesterday.  I love Fettuccine Alfredo but usually use chicken.  I had a package of ground pork thawed for a couple of days and needed to use it.  I made Italian type tiny meatballs by adding salt, pepper, some crushed fennel seed (from my bronze fennel), and some oregano to the meat and then a slice of whole wheat bread crumbled up along with an egg.  Mixed it all up well and browned in olive oil with a little butter.  I cooked them completely while boiling the fettucine.  At the very last I added maybe a half cup of cream, a dash of freshly grated nutmeg,  stirred it well and then tossed the pasta in the skillet until all was coated.

We thought  it was very tasty.


I wanted to try the coconut oil in a pie crust so I made a regular pie crust (not my huge Nathan's Never Fail recipe) and made half up in strawberry tartlets an half in my mincemeat.  It is OK, but not the flakiest crust and the bits I had to re-roll were even tough.  The slight coconut flavor was good though.

The strawberry used in these was a way of using up  leftover thawed strawberries.  I just added some extra sugar and cooked them down on the stove top for 15 minutes to make a loose jam.  I always do this with leftover fruits.  I may even like this method better than  using pectin for jam.  The rule is same amount of fruit to sugar, i.e., 4 cups fruit/4 cups sugar.


My Kindle was supposed to arrive yesterday....it did not.  It left KC on the 9th..I am wondering if bad weather up north caused the delay.  I may make some calls  to UPS today.  My sis is more excited than I am and calls daily....I think she is having a slow  week!  She keeps warning me  to call her the minute I get it.  If you have a Sis like this one, count yourself lucky!!!


 

10 comments:

  1. You're not alone in your early rising habits. I have a hard time sleeping past 5 and usually am up by 4-4:30. I'm nodding by 8:30 though.

    You're pasta looks delish! But then all the food you cook looks great. I can only imagine how wonderful it tastes.

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  2. This morning I woke up 2, couldn't get back to sleep, I looked at the clock again it was around 3:15, oh brother, I just laid there thinking about things, and the next thing I knew it was 6, which is our usual wake up time. No alarm, it's just when we wake up. I love mornings and don't want to waste them. I'm usually in bed reading by 8, and sometimes earlier and asleep before 9.

    Your winter weather looks bitterly cold and I would hate to have to go out in that.

    Sorry your classic croaked, but glad you got it fixed, although yikes, things aren't cheap anymore.

    Your pasta looks wonderful and so do those pastries.

    Hope the milking goes well this morning and that you will soon be back inside where it is warm and cozy.

    Hugs ~ FlowerLady

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  3. I, too, wake early (although not as early as you, Glenda), and more so in summer than in winter when it's so dark in the morning. And I tend to nod off during anything on TV after 9:30. Your pasta dish looks luscious. Sorry that coconut oil has turned out to be a disappointment, but glad you have a good supply of lard on hand.

    The front came in before midnight last and I heard the wind howling all night. It was 42F when I went too bed and it's only 12F this morning. At least the wind isn't as bad right now and there's only about the same amount of snow that you have (although we may get lake effect snow later on today). Finally, winter is here, at least until next week when it goes back up to the 40s.

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  4. Your strawberry turnovers look yummy! Isn't this Missouri weather brutal after having 55 degree days??
    Have a great weekend!
    Patti

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  5. We nearly blew away yesterday! I went out to add some bread to the bird/squirrels pan and nearly froze. Hope your sleeping improves after you get off the prednisone, you need that afternoon nap if you get up at the crack! Grandma used to serve the boiled down fruit like that with hot biscuits, so GOOD! Have a great weekend Glenda...

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  6. Hi Glenda,glad to see you in my comments the other day:) our weather has been mild to say the least so far anyway. You do have early hours. your recipe looked so good,with the meat balls,yummy! Our vehicles can be so expensive! Blessings Jane

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  7. Your snowy photos are good and they look like what we had here. Not too much snow, but lots of wind and cold. Your turnovers look so good!

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  8. I think I set my sleep habits during our milking years as well although not quite as early as yours. Hope getting off the meds helps.

    Like the bowl the meatball/noodles are in and the tartlets look yummy.

    Our school dismissed (several others as well) due to the ice and snow yesterday. They are back in session today. DH took me in at 8 a.m. yeaterday to get a perm-sure needed one!

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  9. I love snow scenes. Even if it's harsh cold, the snow makes it LOOK beautiful and serene. :)

    And the turnovers look wonderful. Under doctor's orders, my mom has recently had to start using coconut oil instead of dairy-based ingredients, and she too is discovering the challenges of cooking and baking with it. It'll take awhile to figure out how to adjust recipes.

    Stay cozy tonight. xoxo♥

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  10. Thank you for the snow pictures! I didn't feel like taking any, so it's nice to see yours. Your food looks delicious, as always!

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