ChocoMom

Forgot to take pics, but so far I've plucked 4 zukes off the big bush this week. Gathered 4 big gobs of green and yellow beans. Discovered the youngest turkey was the one really demolishing the 90 feet of bean plants, so I fenced it in with an old roll of baling twine. (The calf did get in there and trampled plenty, but the turkey must have followed her in, and just went to town plucking away at the leaves.) There are plenty of spaghetti squash growing now, along with the pie pumpkins and hubbards. Still have a few plants that I am completely clueless about. Discovered a few little cukes growing, and a couple baby watermelons on the massive vines. The greens on the Oxtail carrots are about 6-8 inches tall, so those are developing well. And, even though the beets went in much later, the beet greens are nearly the same height as the carrot greens! The kale FINALLY made its way up through the ground, and is 1-2 inches tall as of last evening. Chard is about 3-4 inches. The rutabega and turnips just went wild overnight, and quadrupled in size. (We make pasties up here, so rutabega is a must-have.) The lettuces are doing well, but the spinach never came up. =( For whatever reason, the tomatoes are growing like crazy, but not ripening. There must be close to a hundred out there, but no red ones. Going out to check on it this afternoon, so perhaps some pics might be in order. =) Happy gardening all!!!

I found myself on a mission to replace a few of my must-haves that were lost in the house fire. The dehydrator moved closer to the top of the list, since my freezer space has been drastically reduced, and the bountiful harvests of berries, veggies and apples this year have increased over past years. So, while on an unfortunate trip to Chicago Heights for a funeral, DH and I stopped off at Fleet Farm in Green Bay. The Nesco Gardenmaster caught my eye. With the capability of handling 30 trays, I could not pass it up. And it was on sale - so it came home with us. So far, I've experimented with dehydrating strawberries- which were wonderful. (Blueberries are next.) And, since my doc put me on the Whole 30 diet, I decided to try making my own Lara-type bars. After some tweaking, those seem to be a success as well. Being able to set the temp is nice, as my older one did not have that option.I used to make my own fruit roll ups- which seemed to be an essential item for the kids (and now grandkids). Venison Jerky will be on the menu come Nov.15, and lots of it. Might try turkey jerky- since I've got three left from last fall that never made it to my butcher block. I did zucchini chips last fall, salting the slices with Jane's Crazy Salt, and dehydrating them to a crisp. Fabulous snack! Looking forward to doing some apple slices soon, too. I just love that thing.

FWIW....Hydrogen Peroxide is dandy. No odor. J ust let it set on the board for a minute or two. it'll fizz. Then rinse and dry thoroughly. If there are stains to get rid of, try coarse salt or baking soda to scrub with.

Aww, peanuts! I just saw this!!!! Man, I wish I could come down and join all of you! A2 was my old stompin' ground. The farmer's market, right near Kerrytown, may be running over the weekend, so you may find some fresh goodies there for the dinner. This really has me reminiscing. I miss Kerrytown. Used to go grab lunch at the Moveable Feast mini shop there, and the go shopping upstairs. Took cooking classes at the Kitchen Port, and bought a ton of Caphalon there. (Not sure if its still around.) The Full Moon used to be a terrific hangout with LOTS of beers and delicious potato skins. One Eyed Moose was another favorite. And the Earle for a little jazz and wine. Palio with its outdoor, rooftop patio...with live music, watching movies on the side of a building during Top-of-the-Park while sipping fun things. Geez. The fun you could have there!!! Sadly, I will be there in spirit only.

Tere, your garden is just lovely!!! I envy all those raised beds...they look so neat and organzied! KennethT....that basil is AMAZING!!!! I cannot believe the size of those leaves! It was quite hot and humid today, and the Blacktail watermelons are lovin' it. I've found blossoms on all nine of the tomato plants, cukes, zukes, blue and golden hubbards, sugar pie pumpkins, and beans. The early planting of the Cantare and Galopka beans all have new little beans popping out,. (I;d have taken a picture, but I plucked all I could find, and promptly gobbled them up.) The grape tomato has several tiny tomatoes already, which is encouraging. The oregano is growing beautifully. The Oxtail carrots are thriving, despite the multiple hoof prints. It appears that the horse wasn't the only one to visit the garden. We have this little red Angus calf, Clover, who's turned out to be quite the escape artist. She left her mark alongside the horse's prints. Grrrrr. The beets, chard, etc, are all popping up at alarming rates, but with all the rain we've had, I guess that would be expected. They clocked the winds last week at 92mph. I'm amazed the tomato cones were still standing. It was a doozy. Off to pull more weeds. With all the manure we dump into that garden, its no wonder there are weeds everywhere!

For this next update, I have a couple pics. While its not included in this set, most of the siding is on the house, and parts of the base and exposed chimney are receiving stone. Insulation started yesterday, as did drywall. It was a surprise to me, to see part of the shop dry walled. As for electrical, I have seven circuits running from that room alone. I lost count of how many outlets. Had them do all 12 gauge wiring for the entire house, much to the electrician's chagrin. Not sure what ever happened to "the customer is always right" idea, as they sure argued about doing it. I paid for it, so I don't get why it was such an issue, (other than the wire is a little more stiff than the 14 g.) Drywall continues, as does insulation, then siding gets finished next week, doors get installed, and a couple last windows. From there, I can start some painting and flooring. All the appliances are ordered---not the machines yet- but the major stuff. I had to downsize a bit to stay in budget, and still have a good amount left for the machines in the shop. So here is the inside...

After the horsey fiasco yesterday, I went back to the house last evening to repair the damage from the hoofed demon. Salvaged some of the squash and most of the carrots. Roto tilled the remaining areas, and hoed a few more partial rows and a little "greens" section. In the partial row sections, I planted purple topped turnips, rutabega, Okragly beets, leeks, kale, five color silverbeet Swiss chard, and peas; For the little section of greens, I planted some Butter King lettuce, spinach (forgot which variety), Blonde du Cazard lettuce, a few Calabrese broccoli, and some Brussel Sprouts. I'm sure there are some items missing from that list. If anything else pops up in the ground, it will be because my bag of seed packages tipped over, and mixture of seeds planted themselves. Might make a groovy little salad.

Well, I used to have a fence, but the deer would jump right over it and the calves would go under it. (Before our house burned down, DH has his cross bow mounted on the deck, aimed at the garden to deal with intruders. ) But, since we moved our herd of Angus to the house and keep them in back pastures, the deer seem to stay away. Nope---that wasn't solarized. I actually had some large sheets of rubber that were laying there too long. I put them in the garden for weed control- but there were a couple I hadn't move into place yet. If you look to the left side of the pic, there is a light green section of grass---that is also garden. But, I did not put corn in the garden- so that part can just rest. It gets amended with tons---literally TONS - of manure every fall and spring.

Well, I was working in the garden, and my daughter let the horse out to graze. All was well and fine, as Whinny decided to do a little weed control at the edge of the garden. But then, Miss Naughty Horsey decided to tap dance across the garden and conduct her weed control on the other side. My poor carrots and Table King Acorn squashies got trampled. Bad horsey.

YAY Shelby! So happy your plants made a comeback! I just experienced some great success with my sweet potatoes. I had posted earlier that some survived the transplant...but I've found even more, and wow are they going! Weeded 90+ feet of green/yellow beans yesterday. And even found a few blossoms on the beans, tomatoes, squashies ,and some other mystery plant. I can't wait to fire up the rototiller again and make way for more goodies!!!!

A colorful, torture-diet friendly, cashew chicken stirfry...

Well, it is strawberry season in these parts...so....my daughters and I went a pickin'. We managed 23 quarts in a couple of hours. Some were given away fresh. Others went right into a few desserts. And the rest ended up in 12 pints of strawberry-lemon jam, and some are canned in simple syrup to enjoy during the dead of winter. Next up are my made-at-home "Lara" type bars. I guess dehydrating is a form of preservation, right? So, with this torture diet my doc put me on, there are very very VERY few things I can grab off the shelf at the grocery store, tear open and munch on. Lara Bars and That's It bars are the only two I've found without all the taboo'd added sugars, oils, soy, peanuts, blah blah blah. However, to me, $1.99 seems a little pricey for a 1.2oz / 35g bar. Now that I have procured my newest toy...the Nesco GardenMaster dehydrator....I have set about trying to making my own bars. To start, I used the main ingredients for the Lara Bars that I have here: Dates and Cashews are first. For more flavor, I added in some blueberries, cherries, a plum, a little coconut, a few figs, etc. I then blasted it into a paste -puree in the Cuisinart, spread it onto the solid circular surface that came in the box, and set it in the dehydrator. My guess is in about 12 hours, I will have something to form into bars that will hold their shape. Should save a few bucks, and I can add whatever I like (within the confines of this diet.) I'd like to toy around with some veggies mixed with fruits too. Pineapple-coconut-carrot, maybe? My next experiment will be making Apple-Pear bars. The ones I tried from "That's It", are fantastic. Like fruit leather on steriods. I have all kinds of apples growing at the old house location, but I'd like to try finding some locally grown pears. (If I can't, then I shall purchase trees and grown them myself!) As for canning, I will green and yellow beans coming in soon enough. I weeded a 90ft section of beans yesterday, plus a couple partial rows of squashies, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, carrots and watermelons. Got a new pressure canner, so that should come in handy when the time comes.

I've not tried this particular brand, and it does have some mixed reviews...but thought I'd throw it out there for the sake of experimentation. HTH... https://www.amazon.com/Bakto-Flavors-Natural-Banana-Flavor/dp/B004LHIFO6#customerReviews I seem to remember that one of the companies I ordered from also had fruit powders, not just puree. Might check http://www.forthegourmet.com/Banana-Fruit-Puree-Frozen-p8441.html or https://www.gourmetfoodstore.com/baking-and-pastry/fruit-purees-0734

There's a ton of new storage ideas I found on Pinterest, and I've been forwarding them to my kitchen designer. The most genius one I have her integrating into my kitchen rebuild, is the removal of the fake drawer beneath the sink, and replacing it with a paper towel holder. The next one is the root bins I found, in lieu of a standard cabinet, on the island. Then there was the magazine holder, turned from a vertical position to a horizontal position, and using the slots to store cutting boards. Nail it or attach it to the inside of a cupboard. Then, there was the plastic or wire file pocket turned horizontally, affixed to the inside of another cabinet door, in which you can vertically store saran wrap, foil and zip-loc boxes. And then, (this was so cool!!!), install a spring rod underneath the sink in that cabinet, and hang all the spray bottles of 409, Windex, SScleaner, etc. With all of that stuff suspended on the rod, you have all kinds of space for sponges, clothes, scrubbies, and stuff. And then...this is great...you know the really really long utensils that don't seem to fit into a drawer? So, install the section separaters DIAGONALLY in the drawer, and you end up with a couple super-long sections for skewers and whatever. I am driving that poor designer absolutely insane....but, I can't help it. I feel bad for a little bit after I send her more pics and ideas, but then I'm like- "gosh, I'm paying for this! Why should I be sorry? She'll probably use it on some other clients!!!" Some of these things are just too cool to ignore. Pinterest is addicting, but great for ideas.

Dang...I am developing a serious case of kitchen envy. Vulcan stove? All that cool shelf space? the puppy? Islands? My kitchen is still in the design stages, and drywall starts next week. I've settled on a soapstone countert op for the main counter. The island- thinking of butcher block. Found some good kitchen "hacks" on Pinterest, though I fear I am driving the kitchen designer mad with all the links I send her. One of the coolest is the paper towel holder. You know that do-nothing, fake "drawer" panel beneath each sink? Pop it off, and insert little rods to hold the paper towel. Love that. Root bins are another alteration I found. Old wooden plate racks/shelves- painted to match the island, though I don't know what color yet. Cupboards/Cabinetry is white, distressed with windows on the upper section. Flooring is oak. Wall color---Greige. (warm grey, I guess you could say.) Toying with a distressed blue, red or sage green for the island and plate racks. I can't decide. I do have the 36" Bluestar range ordered. I'll take pics of the space and post it once the drywall is in.

Ahhh, the Slurpee. My brother always takes my kids for them when we go visit. As a former 7-11 Slurpee junkie kid from Detroit, I miss them sometimes- but not so much that I'd drive back and get one. (One too many brain-freeze incidents.)

Wonderful transformation!!! Hard to believe its the same space. Love, love, love the French Bakery table!!! If you're not too busy, I've got two kitchens that need to be designed and built this fall.

Bentley, those are works of art! My daughters and their friends are sitting here drooling over those now. Nice work!!!!

When I grew around Detroit, A & W had great burgers, followed by Jack-in-the-Box, and there were lots of other places to try. Now that I live on the other side of Mackinac Bridge, not much of a selection as far as chain restaurants go. BK, McD's, Culvers and Hardees. No Five Guys, No Shake Shack. No A &W BK and McD's, I just eliminate automatically for anything except maybe coffee, and a breakfast biscuit for the kids. Culver's and Hardees both have pretty good burgers. I find the Culver's Butterburgers are pretty true to texture for a real hamburger, but EXTREMELY salty. Hardees Lo-Carb Thickburger (minus the cheese, mayo and ketchup) works perfectly into this torture diet my doc put me on. So, I can cope slightly better now, when I am out and about and need to hit the drive through. Its not grass fed, so no matter what, none of these get ranked as GREAT---just good or acceptable. We do have an Applebees now, but I have not tried the burger there. I shall put that on the to-do list. As for a really GREAT burger, one must drive further north to The Hut in Calumet. Its not "fast food "unless you order ahead- so be ready to sit down, and then behold greatness.

The Sweet potato "toast" is a Pinterest find. She sliced the potato thin--- like 1/4 inch or less,then set the toaster on high, and ran it through 2 cycles. I can't complain...it works. I've also just cut one in half and nuked for 4 min. Its a little more squishy, but, you can scoop it out and it holds a poached egg pretty well. The BP thing kinda stinks, but, doc would rather try to cure it naturally rather than medicate it right away. I found sweet potato hash, with eggs , onions, peppers, and turkey sausage or turkey ham. Apparently,. one can do alot with sweet potatoes....its just not really what you'd think of having for breakfast. (I just made sweet potato fries, and dipped them in guacamole for a snack.)

No pics today. I forgot. Doc put me on (what I consider to be) a highly restrictive diet...something about me internalizing stress and high BP. Who woulda thought?! So, no grains of any kind, no rice, no legumes, no white or red potatoes, no soy, absolutely no dairy- including butter, no sugar and sugar subs, etc. So, in lieu of what a normal person would enjoy...like tomatoe sammies with Miracle Whip, and cheesy delicious things...I've improvised beyond what I thought I could. Sliced, "toasted" sweet potatoes, doused with ghee and Jane's Crazy Salt, and then I lop 2-3 poached eggs on top with more salt and ghee. Kind of visually mediocre, but fairly tasty. (I'm down 10 pounds in 2 weeks, so here's to hoping the BP is dropping too.)

I had read this thread a couple of times prior to making the purchases for all the appliances at our rebuilt home. My appliance guy gives me the true low-down on current appliances. There are some that he flat-out refuses to sell. Gotta love that. He warned me about certain dishwashers which are now made with all plastic parts, and horsepower of 1/8hp. We went over appliances for the main house kitchen, and the chocolate shop, plus laundry room as well. Dishwashers will apparently max out the 14 gauge wiring, so I made the electricians install all 12 gauge....just to be safe. Net result is, I am getting a 36" BlueStar range with backsplash, an LG range, 2 refrigerators, 2 dishwashers, a chimney fan, an undermount fan, garbage disposal, dehumidifier, and a washer machine for 17K. All of it top notch, and I could not be more thrilled. Buying on July 4 weekend saved 4K. I will report back once everything is installed, but I am so freakin' geeked about the prices!!!! This gives me more to spend on the Chocolate shop toys. Can't beat that!!!!!

Diana B....Thank you for posting the pic and conversations about PDFs! Pre-fire, I had made Raspberry PDF several times using Shott's Raspberry-Wasabi duo--- and loved it! Had to beat the heck out of it while cooking. Set up beautifully. As I've mentioned on other threads, you all are so incredibly talented , knowledgeable and inspiring! Your enthusiastic embrace of trying, testing and experimenting reminds me why I loved this type of craft so much! I am beginning to have a hard time containing myself- as I await to get into the rebuilt house and shop! Thank you for igniting that excitement again!

This past week, I managed to revive several sweet potato plants. Added in approx. 150 beans. Half are yellow Galopka, and the other half green Cantare. I had started some broccoli over here at the condo, then took them over to the house to transplant. They seems to be doing well. The yellow squashies, zukes, pumpkins, hubbards, and who knows what else (my labels blurred in the rain), are fantastic. The tomatoes seems to be thriving alongside the Mediterranean oregano. I also added in 29 hills of potatoes, 40 feet of Oxtail carrots,10 hills of Spaghetti squash., and some unknown amount of Blacktail Mountain watermelon plants. (Its a 70 day watermelon I've had some success with up here.) The fun will come when I have to roto till again and put in the corn. All this rain makes the weeds grow exponentially. Once I nix those, I will add in some greens- like spinach, lettuces and cabbages. The house is coming along well, now. Most of the signs of fire damage are gone- just a little bit left in the garage. So, I should be able to grow some things inside on the porch once they drywall, I tile, and get a door put on the front of the house. Most of the siding is on. They are waiting on some trim pieces to arrive, and then they will finish the gables. I'm just anxious to get my indoor garden going too! This porch has in-floor heat, and I will use slate to tile with. Hoping that the heat will come through well enough to keep roots warm in the winter, should I set the pots directly on the floor. Once this rain/mist stops, I have to sprinkle everything again with diatomaceous earth---and kill off all those little potato bugs before they get going. Love that stuff. Shelby- you might want to get some of that and sprinkle on your plants. To us, the powder feels like baby powder; to a squishy bug, its like razors cutting their bellies up as they squish along. An old parmesan cheese container is handy for sprinkling. Never get it in your eyes. I was on Prednisone for 5 days- after an "ooops" with that stuff.

Oh, these are all so lovely!!!! You're all keeping me inspired and excited to get started again. The electricians come out on Monday and need to know the volts and amps of all the machinery and appliances...so I've had to go back through and find new toys again. After looking at machines, and then looking at all these masterpieces----I think I'm feeling the happiness and excitement again. Thank you all for posting pics of your lovely creations!!!