Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: November 5 ~ 11, 2023

[kyrsyan]

I'm having more issues today. But I'll live. My voice lasted for two phone calls. Then it said goodbye again. The abdomen areas are now actively in pain with some cramping. But I'm done for the day so I'm just going to take it easy.

Really, really light rain all night. Stuff is damp. But not heavy enough to move leaves so the leaves that fell are stuck all over the road.

I got the notice that my onions are on the way. I hope they will hold in the fridge. I'm going to try to get the bed prep done this weekend. And then I can just plant a few at a time until they are all in. That wasn't the original plan, but I'll adapt.

And paid off a lot of bills. Van should be paid off by the end of the month. I'm looking forward to that. One less monthly bill. And I'll likely be pouring all of that into the fridge loan until it is paid off. Maybe. Because I have some things I need to buy to do some house repairs that I may grab first. I refuse to spend all winter not getting anything done again. There are indoor projects to do.

 

[hd5574]

The next county over from us has nasty fire about 4,000 acres burned....it is both in the county and now the Shenandoah National Park....so now the Feds are helping fight the fire with 2 blackhawk
helicopters dropping water...
We are not in any danger from the fire....but we have had no rain until today....and not lot...maybe up to 1/2 inch...
It was mid 80s yesterday and today in the 40s.... totally rude change...brrrrrr
Working on recipes....fire in the buck stove... something in the oven for dinner....more recipes more variety

 

[SouthernBreeze]

The next county over from us has nasty fire about 4,000 acres burned....it is both in the county and now the Shenandoah National Park....so now the Feds are helping fight the fire with 2 blackhawk
helicopters dropping water...
We are not in any danger from the fire....but we have had no rain until today....and not lot...maybe up to 1/2 inch...
It was mid 80s yesterday and today in the 40s.... totally rude change...brrrrrr
Working on recipes....fire in the buck stove... something in the oven for dinner....more recipes more variety

The one thing that scares me more than tornadoes is a wildfire when we have these severe droughts. It happened one year, and the fire came up to the back of the old barn just across our property line! It's terrifying to see flames well above the tops of all these tall pines we have around us. They got the fire quenched before it got the barn.

 

[hd5574]

We are fortunate that we are a good distance from the fire and it seems to be moving away from us...

We went up to the mountains last weekend to see the leaves..and grab a few things from Rural King ....
DH had seen the smoke from the fire a couple of days earlier...he was working on equipment out in the field in the county that has the fire..

Long story short we came home a different way and he drove as close to the fire as we could get... county had the road by it closed...it was very sobering to look at the mountain and see all the smoke rising...it was only about...250 acres at that time..it is very scary to see a mountain burning
It has been raining off and on at our house today..not a lot but we will take it...

One of the guys DH works with lives in that county and he said that when left for work it was raining...praise the Lord....we have been praying for rain.....not a lot but hopefully it was enough to wet the woods down...that is the first rain since the fire started...the governor declared a state of emergency so he could call in the national guard to help...maybe now they will get it contained.

 

[connie]

We were traveling home once after a grass fire. This is desert so no trees. It was evening and very eerie. Small fires on sides of the road. Telephone poles burned and wires sagging and down. It was before smartphones but I would call our neighbor for reports from tv and computer. I think they closed the road behind us.

In 2015 we drove through Snow Apocalypse at night to get home. 3 feet of snow fell in high desert. We barely made it home before road closed. Could not see front of truck. And it was 73 when we started our 5 hr drive . Daughter was watching tv weather and said we needed to leave right then or would be unable to leave. We were going west and another daughter travelling from North to get back home. We were on phone. We went over overpass as they passed under. We were about the only cars on either highway. She was a few miles from home. We still had 100 miles to go.

 

[moldy]

I'm glad the work week is over. People are cranky, and I just want to stay at home! Plans for the weekend - organizing the pantry, working on items from the clean out house, and regular chores. I have my Thanksgiving menu planned and the shopping list (and timetable) made. I need to work on the same for Christmas goodies. I am usually more prepared than this, but the last couple years have thrown me off a tad.

Youngest 2 DDs have started making the traditional cookies I make (rainbow cookies, sugar cookies, shortbread, etc), so I am going to try out a bunch of new ones. I have to have at least one fruitcake type for DSIL (DD #2's DH) and plenty of chocolate for DH. DS will want fudge, but other than that, I'm going to experiment. I pulled out my old Farm Journal cookie book and have a couple ideas from there. Over the next week or so, I'll look over my collection of Southern Living cookbooks. I have an extensive collection (it is NOT a hoard, it's not!!) of cookbooks, but my must haves are Farm Journal ones and the annual Southern Living ones.

 

[TxGal]

I'm glad the work week is over. People are cranky, and I just want to stay at home! Plans for the weekend - organizing the pantry, working on items from the clean out house, and regular chores. I have my Thanksgiving menu planned and the shopping list (and timetable) made. I need to work on the same for Christmas goodies. I am usually more prepared than this, but the last couple years have thrown me off a tad.

Youngest 2 DDs have started making the traditional cookies I make (rainbow cookies, sugar cookies, shortbread, etc), so I am going to try out a bunch of new ones. I have to have at least one fruitcake type for DSIL (DD #2's DH) and plenty of chocolate for DH. DS will want fudge, but other than that, I'm going to experiment. I pulled out my old Farm Journal cookie book and have a couple ideas from there. Over the next week or so, I'll look over my collection of Southern Living cookbooks. I have an extensive collection (it is NOT a hoard, it's not!!) of cookbooks, but my must haves are Farm Journal ones and the annual Southern Living ones.

Love the Farm Journal cookbooks, and we also have quite a few of the Southern Living annuals. I bet a lot of the folks on the forum do, too! Farm Journal cookbooks are my absolute favorite.

 

[nomifyle]

I have some Women's Home Companion cookbooks from way back when.

I only took a couple of my supplements tonight, my stomach has been so upset that I can hardly stand it. So I'll see if its some of the other supplements, I'm think it may be the Quercetin because it smells.

My stomach bothered me so much today that I could hardly get anything one. Although I did get two meals in front of DH.

I have just got to get some things done around here, the kitchen piled up again while I was sick for four days and some laundry.

 

[feralferret]

The older we get, the less it seems to take to upset our digestive systems. I wish I could eat any and everything like I was able to do until I hit around 60. I sure miss spicy, or at least non-bland foods.

 

[hd5574]

I have several Joy of Cooking the oldest being 1946... inherited from my Mom..a 1953...and several newer ones...my go to is my first one from mid1970s..the recipes have really changed over the years

I inherited all the family recipes...my Aunt on my Dad's side had all the recipes going back to her great grandma... her Mom was born in 1890... there are family recipes from the early 1800s...and then all the ones from my Mom's side....again going back into the 1800s..I found a 4 draw library style deep 3x5 file box to hold all of them...and marked each card where it came from... also ended up with all the family cookbooks...so I go to the family recipes....

 

[hd5574]

Year ago DH had all kinds of stomach problems..he was suddenly unable to eat spicy.or citrus...and on and so forth...he walked around with his bottle of mylanta...it was always on the grocery list...
I got so tired of it one week I went to health food store and talked to the owners daughter... she told me cayenne pepper would fix most stomach problems..

Yeah I know...no way...lol....so I grabbed a bottle of cayenne capsules...and no mylanta...DH tore into the grocery bag...looking for it...and handed him the pepper pills..he had a fit but finally settled down and agreed to try it...with in a week he was fine...

I am 76 and eat anything he is 70 and can eat anything ..if we have heart burn or upset stomach.... very rarely it happens....we just grab a pepper pill...it really works...

 

[philkar]

I have several Joy of Cooking the oldest being 1946... inherited from my Mom..a 1953...and several newer ones...my go to is my first one from mid1970s..the recipes have really changed over the years

I inherited all the family recipes...my Aunt on my Dad's side had all the recipes going back to her great grandma... her Mom was born in 1890... there are family recipes from the early 1800s...and then all the ones from my Mom's side....again going back into the 1800s..I found a 4 draw library style deep 3x5 file box to hold all of them...and marked each card where it came from... also ended up with all the family cookbooks...so I go to the family recipes....

What a treasure!

 

[SouthernBreeze]

The only thing that I regret for not keeping was Cary's mom's WW1 German cookbook that was handed down to her by her mom. I couldn't read or understand a word of it. That's why I didn't keep it. Stupid me. Cary could have translated every word for me.

We got more rain last night. Not a lot, but every little bit helps. It was nice hearing the raindrops hitting our metal roof when we went to bed.

I feel better this morning, but don't plan to do a whole lot, today. Cary is going down to our hunting club with DS this morning. Deer season opened today for primitive weapons only. Yesterday was youth day. We have a great firing range there, and Cary wants to do some more target shooting with a few of his weapons.

 

[briches]

I am so thankful for the weekend with a chance to relax a bit. I am still fighting off a sinus something. I have never had something linger so long. I will say that last weekend it was definitely respiratory and was in my chest. I drank a mullein tea Saturday night and then Sunday and was remarkably better respiratory wise! I had read about mullein tea at the beginning of covid and have kept some in my cabinet ever since. It works!

As far as preps go, I just placed an order for a year’s worth of some otc meds I take (5mg of melatonin and CoQ10 to help with my statin). I was “getting a nudge” and felt it best to listen to it.

Work will be providing me with a free turkey this year which will be great. My coworker doesn’t eat turkey so said she will give me hers. I will gladly take it! They tend to be smaller birds at around 10 pounds, but that is still a lot of free meat and easier for freezer storage. I also hope to buy one at food lion on sale.

Slow and steady …..

 

[kyrsyan]

I started slow today. And a part of me just wanted to curl up. But I knew I would likely feel better if I got outside some.

So I got the last of the mess in the tomato bed cleaned up. Then I turned the soil a bit, added the worm castings and compost, and mixed that in a bit. Then I did my morning walk because it's too easy to slide back into not doing it.

I can't say I feel a lot better. But at the same time I don't feel worse. Onions are due to arrive sometime this week. I'm clearing a crisper drawer for them to stay in until they get planted. A little bit at a time.

The ground is hard due to the lack of rain. I'm going to be grateful, again, for the garden auger bits that fit in the drill.

Inside today, juicing the last of the box of apples. I sent a big bag off with a friend last night. I just don't have the energy to get them all processed before they start to go bad. And I've got bacon ends to break down into serving size bags and get in the freezer.

I'm debating making a breakfast tortilla recipe I saw. But I still need to work my way through the bowl of hard boiled eggs.

I also made myself stick to the morning routine. I realized it been getting fragged with all the stuff. I paid the ER bill and realized it hasn't even been two months. It feels like it's been forever.

I haven't had the hormone since Tuesday. And man, it's a drastic difference. I don't even know how to explain it. My baseline is back to calm and that is a wonderful thing.

Anyways, off to do laundry, and cooking, and dishes, etc, etc, etc.

 

[nomifyle]

Year ago DH had all kinds of stomach problems..he was suddenly unable to eat spicy.or citrus...and on and so forth...he walked around with his bottle of mylanta...it was always on the grocery list...
I got so tired of it one week I went to health food store and talked to the owners daughter... she told me cayenne pepper would fix most stomach problems..

Yeah I know...no way...lol....so I grabbed a bottle of cayenne capsules...and no mylanta...DH tore into the grocery bag...looking for it...and handed him the pepper pills..he had a fit but finally settled down and agreed to try it...with in a week he was fine...

I am 76 and eat anything he is 70 and can eat anything ..if we have heart burn or upset stomach.... very rarely it happens....we just grab a pepper pill...it really works...

Thank you, I may even put some cayenne in some water and drink it. I've done it before for a tonic. I don't do any of the things like mylanta, Perrier in the plain green bottle has been my go to for years, but I'm running low on it. I did wake up this morning feeling better but its coming back. I feel better enough to tackle the kitchen, what a mess.

I keep going over my running grocery list. Just replacing a few things.

I haven't even thought about Thanksgiving dinner, I usually do ribs for holiday meals but I don't think I have any in the freezer. I always make DH a strawberry rhurbarb pie for a holiday meal.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I'm getting out light this year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, both. Both will be at someone else's home this year. I have my list of foods to bring. Everyone else has their own lists. I got volunteered to bring deviled eggs, dinner rolls, and a pumpkin pie and cool whip for Thanksgiving meal.

 

[feralferret]

Nomifyle, my wife used to make strawberry rhubarb pies. We have had a difficult time the last few years finding decent strawberries and rhubarb at the same time at the store. Both of us love them.

 

[moldy]

Finished pulling all the pineapple from the pantry and getting it ready to freeze dry. I had to pitch more to the chickens than I was happy with, but it is what it is. I'm not going to eat something that no longer smells like it's supposed to.

Still going thru things from the clean out house (I did sell another cookbook on Ebay). I need to get pics of the dresses and get them on there.

 

[kyrsyan]

Well. None of the planned stuff got done. But I did manage to locate where the ground cloth got hidden. And then run and pick up two kerosene heaters in the style I prefer.

And I'm experimenting with making a loom hat. I want to see if the yarn will work for son. If he likes how the hat turns out, I'm going to order enough to loom knit him a tube.

 

[moldy]

When you say 'tube', I have this picture in my head of a older teen (I'm guessing your son's age), in a giant oversized tube top, that goes from neck to ankles with his arms tucked inside. That might take a while to knit!

 

[hd5574]

What a treasure!

That is how I felt about all the family recipes...and old cookbooks.....the sad thing was I was the only niece who wanted my Aunt's recipe boxes and cookbooks ...i was truly surprised that no one else wanted any of them

 

[moldy]

My girls are already 'fighting' over them!

 

[kyrsyan]

When you say 'tube', I have this picture in my head of a older teen (I'm guessing your son's age), in a giant oversized tube top, that goes from neck to ankles with his arms tucked inside. That might take a while to knit!

That is pretty much exactly what it is. And he's 6 ft. He has multiples made of 4 way stretch knit. This is just an alternate idea.

He used to wander around the house wrapped in blankets. The tubes are the closest we've gotten him to clothes and he loves them. He does have clothes he will where in public.

 

[nomifyle]

Nomifyle, my wife used to make strawberry rhubarb pies. We have had a difficult time the last few years finding decent strawberries and rhubarb at the same time at the store. Both of us love them.

I use canned, you can find it on wm.com. I'm in the south so rhubarb doesn't really grow here.