LONELY: DOES IT MEAN ALONE?

I didn't know, lonely I could be,

When lovely, is as far as my eye can see,

Years and years ago,

People kept asking me, I'd say no.

The world, spread out before me,

Filled with everything imaginary,

Whatever my heart's desire,

In my mind, lit a fire.

Gardens flourished, with good hard work,

Animals birthed with the help of me and the stork,

Friends, who depended on me,

Kept asking, are you ever lonely?

Never, my days filled with excitement of all kinds,

Sometimes there were big disappointments in my mind,

But never did it occur to me,

Loneliness could be connected to my beautiful sea.

I flitted and floated from this and that,

Changed, when I wanted, to another hat,

Never thinking this merry-go-round would stop,

Telling me, "Lady this is your last hop."

"We know it's been a dizzy fifty years,

Go and wipe those unwanted tears,

Find an outlet for those hidden desires,

You never know what ignites little fires."

Other blog sites by me:

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup 

who has become a hidden treasure.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
 Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
 Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. 

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

http://bakingatbabas.blogspot.com/

an intro to baking for kids.

TEA TIME

This week the postman left a package.  I wasn't expecting anything and it wasn't a birthday.  I couldn't imagine what it contained.

The return address was from my sister, Kathie.  Hmm, Why would she be sending something?

It came at the right time.  I had been needing a perk me up. Unexpected fit the bill.  It could have been anything and I would have been thrilled.

The contents were something I'd been obsessing over, TEA.  Any  tea, especially naturally flavored no caffeine tea.

She unknowingly had picked the perfect surprise for me.

We have this mobile cart with five shelves.  I originally bought it to put assorted plastic ware in the pantry.  That stuff made the pantry like "Fibber McGees" closet. 

The day we received it and assembled it I was making tea.  We had a cabinet we stored all our teas in, but every time I went to get tea, it seemed the one I wanted was behind the others.

We keep our teas in deli-salad containers we have washed and labeled.  They stack nicely in the cabinet.  When I touched them I thought, their length is about the depth of the shelves.   Eureka! A place to organized the teas where we can see at a glance and grab the one we want. 

A plus; the top shelf was just the size for my everyday teapots, hot pads, and a couple of canisters.  (The brown canister contains sassafras roots we dug from our yard.)

On the left it has hooks which I hung our tea tray and one of my grabbers.  (These are a necessity when you have back surgery.  They are also great for reaching the far back of a cabinet .)  The red hanging on the other end is my apron with lots of pockets!

After we choose a tea of our liking and have chosen what pot to use, the cart slides right back into  the pantry, "out of sight not out of mind".  Take time out for a relaxing cup of tea.

TEA COZY AND HOT PAD

 Other blog sites by me:

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup 

who has become a hidden treasure.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
 Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
 Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. 

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

CHARBROIL BIG EASY TURKEY FRYER: CHICKEN

Each time I use the Big Easy, it is just that!  Easy is an understatement.  The ease of clean up is a major thing.  Cooking in it is a breeze.  It is called big, but it isn't even as big as our Shop Vac.

The picture on the left is the chicken we did on the weekend,  30 minutes after we took it out of the cooker.  You should have seen how glistening the skin was as  we removed it from the cooker.  It was as scrumptious as it looks.  

We  have prepared chicken in it before, but we didn't have the extra basket.  We procured the inner basket through Amazon.  Previously we have cooked two chickens side by each, breast to breast.  The backs of course got good and crispy but the sheltered fronts left a lot to be desired. The you tube videos show it done this way.  Cooking time for the birds in this position was 2 1/2 hours.  

This is our first time using our new bed basket.  I looked for videos showing  using of the extra basket for two whole Chickens, nada.  Either that or I didn't ask the right question to get the right answer, anyhow, we got to the end, toute suite.  The two 5 1/2 lb chickens cooked in 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Along the way I have procured some knowledge I hadn't read before about using the Charbroil Oil Less Big and Easy Turkey fryer. (BTW, one chicken takes 1 hour 15 minutes to cook.  We just cooked two for the price of one.)  Remember the two facing each other, breast to breast took 2 1/2 hours the same as cooking a turkey.

One of the facts not mentioned in the directions  is, there is a dead zone on the bottom.  I hadn't realized that, I saw the note on a you tube.  All the things we have cooked in it have come out to perfection.  If there were some underdone moments then the whole item was on the blue side.  Not the fault of the cooker, but the lack of  expertise of the cooks.   Next use, we will jerry Rig  something to hold the food an inch or so higher.  Another recourse would be try to find one of the single shelves to install above the bottom of the basket.

As you can see in this previous blog we roasted a leg of venison.  We had to use skewers to hold the leg in position. 

 http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/2017/01/big-easy-turkey-fryer-venison.html

This Blog is about our first experience with the oilless turkey fryer.

http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-big-easy-oiless-turkey-fryer.html

The chickens above are now devoured.  The breast was as juicy as the thighs.  The only dry meat encountered was the kneecaps. They were on the chewy side.  When one of the breast was sliced for sandwiches the next day it was comparable to the "deli sliced chicken" that is succulent when sliced wafer thin.  The next day the leftover slices had not lost any of their moistness.  Until this moment we had nearly sworn off our beloved white meat because the breast always turned out dry.  We thought it was because we were so used to farm raised chickens.  We are now past the stage where we like to raise chickens for consumption.  I will tell you that a free range chicken is far more succulent than a cage raised bird.

How did we prepare these chickens for the cooker?  Brought them to room temperature (took the refrigerator cold off them.)  Washed them well.  Dried them, and applied a wet rub inside and out.   

The rub I used is not strong flavored.  We wanted only to enhance the basic chicken flavor not be easting the rub flavor.   I rubbed both chickens thoroughly outside and sort of inside.

My recipe I used :  6 TBS Olive oil,  1 teas salt,  2 teas cumin,  3 teas garlic powder, 1 teas paprika. The only change I would make next time is to increase the salt and the garlic powder.  I would also like to put some bay leaves under the breast skin.
The hour and fifteen minutes we cooked the chickens was with the wire lid on the charbroil.

HINT:  Before you preheat, place the basket in the cooker and spray oil the basket and the liner of the cooker.  Remove the basket and preheat burning off the oil and sealing your cooker from rusting.

There are a zillion rubs around and you probably have a favorite.  If you don't like the burnt skin I suggest not use anything with sugar in it (if you do add it the last of the cooking). 

We have found the cooker is very economical on gas, using much less gas than a BBQ.  On windy days we build an enclosure around it.  Rainy days we have a piece of plywood suspended between two lawn chairs for a roof (the board never gets even warm.)  This day was 60 degrees and very windy.  We had wind breaks two sides. 

If you are inclined to invest in something new for your kitchen repertoire.  This item fits the bill.  I can't wait to try roasted veggies in it.  BTW,  we have found it is not kin to fried turkey, or a BBQ, or a smoker.  It's its own self, producing delicious food, efficiently.

Have fun.  I hope this blog helps you enjoy a little more good eats in your life.

Other blog sites by me:

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup 

who has become a hidden treasure.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
 Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
 Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. 

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

http://bakingatbabas.blogspot.com/

an intro to baking for kids.