Pickled Eggs???

(A guest post by Mr. Incredible.)

A recent comment on this blog asked about pickled eggs... How do they taste?
What is the texture? Who would pickle an egg anyway???

First, let me tell you that I am no food safety expert and Shari thinks I'm crazy for most of the things I eat. That being said, here we go. I started pickling eggs by simply hard boiling eggs, peeling them, and sticking them in a jar with a bunch of pickled jalapeno slices and enough of the juice to cover the eggs. Make sure to boil the eggs an extra minute so there is no chance of an undercooked egg sitting around in a cupboard for a few months. That's right. A few months. Two months seems to be about right from my experimentation. Food poisoning you say? That's what all the vinegar in the jalapenos does for you. I sometimes use jalapenos as pictured below.

I know the bottle says 'hot', but you can't trust everything you read, can you?

If pickled jalapenos don't float your boat, you can branch out and try making up your own recipe. The batch pictured above has one jalapeno sliced length-ways, a tablespoon of red pepper flakes, one clove of garlic sliced thinly, and topped off with white vinegar. The eggs pick up the flavor of whatever is in with them, only more muted. For example, if you just use the commercial jalapenos pictured at the top, the eggs will have a spiciness to them, but will not be 'hot'. The texture of a pickled egg will not change much if you follow some simple rules. If your peeling goes a little haywire and you expose the yolk, eat that one instead if pickling it. The yolk will get mushy otherwise. Don't let the eggs sit for more than a couple of months at the risk of them getting a little rubbery. Not a lot, mind you, but a little rubbery. You may refrigerate your concoction if you are paranoid about leaving eggs unrefrigerated in a cupboard. There will be less texture change in the whites in a 'fridge also.

If you are feeling crazy, boil and pickle 10 dozen eggs in one sitting. Not many people have such an unlimited supply of fresh eggs. We are cursed with them.

Pickled eggs are best enjoyed with friends, and plenty of salt.

This post not inspected by the FDA, pickle at your own risk. It never hurt me. See?


Happy Pickling.

Hand Me Downs...

This Post over at Meridith's inspired me to post about how I handle hand-me-downs. With 3 girls, each two years apart, I'd be INSANE to not recycle clothes. We have ALWAYS dressed our girls in either hand-me-downs or thrift store finds.

When we had Peanut, we were lucky enough to have a friend in our apartment complex in VA who was... well-to-do... shall we say. Her family supplied her with a never-ending parade of new little girl outfits, and I seriously don't know that her daughter ever wore something twice. She gave us trash bag after trash bag of brand new clothes. I don't think we even bought any baby clothes to bring Peanut home. This started a trend I pretty much still follow today.

Twice a year (fall & spring) we have HAND-ME-DOWN day. The day you get to try on your big sister's shoes, and that dress you liked so much last year... I start at the top, making Peanut try on anything I'm not sure of. Then I "Shop the Bin" I keep under the bed. (due to a recent windfall, I have 2 1/2 bins at the moment) This is where I stash anything from friends, cousins, & sisters that was too big/ small to fit someone last time. I keep a running list of anything missing that I'll have to purchase to fill in the gaps. (with a 5ft tall 10 Y.O., this is getting hard to keep up with...) Anything that is too small for Peanut goes into a pile on Curly Sue's bed. She then has to try on her stuff, and these new finds, then I shop the bin and add to the list again. Anything too small for her goes on Little Bit's bed. SHE is always the clothes lottery winner. I have rarely ever had to buy clothes for Little Bit. In fact, once or twice I've bought her something new (usually on sale) just so she has a chance to give a little input on her wardrobe.

I always use hand-me-down day as an excuse to re-organize dressers and closets, and turn anything ratty or stained into rags. Anything that has reached the bottom of the food chain in good condition, either goes on to friends with smaller kids, or to Goodwill to be someone else's frugal find. Some of the best dresses my girls have ever had came from Goodwill. I keep a running list of who's wearing what, and check the racks for good deals whenever I'm there.

To keep it all straight who's what is whose... I use a sharpie and put dots in EVERYTHING. I read this once on someone's blog (thank you, thank you whoever you are!!!!!) Starting at the top, Peanut's clothes get one dot on the tag. When they go to Curly Sue, I add a second dot. Little Bit gets a third dot. That way we can all tell at a glance whose is whose on laundry day, and it's a simple system to keep track of.

One thing we have learned over the years, is that if you have to buy something new, higher quality lasts longer, but buy with respect to how many kids you expect to have wear something. If Peanut needs a new jacket, I'm more willing to shell out some cash than if Little Bit is running short on tops. (this hardly ever happens.) If 3 kids are going to wear something, it needs to be built to last. We had one outfit we bought Peanut when she was learning to crawl from The Children's Place (back when I still went to the mall...) All 3 of out girls crawled around in these little jeans, and they still looked brand new when we passed them on to someone else. We got a lot of bang for our buck with that purchase.
Something I do buy new is short sleeved white T's. (whenever I find them on sale at Old Navy, I buy in bulk, many sizes...) They go with everything, and I can bleach them if needed. At Christmas I got them for $1/ea. They layer under jumpers, go with skirts for church, and bridge the style gap between sisters.

I also make sure everyone always has a white cardigan that fits. That way I can avoid the summer/ winter dress thing. A jumper can be worn alone in summer, add a T under it for spring and fall, and top that off with the cardigan in the winter. VOILA!

Anyway, this has been a really long post on hand-me downs... How do YOU do it?

Big Date

Last Wednesday, mom stayed with the girls so Mr. Incredible and I could have a date day. We ended up in a long string of thrift stores, second hand shops, and hole in the wall diners. It was a GREAT day... Mr. I. Spotted the silver bowl there for me in a Goodwill for $5. It was really tarnished, but he polished it up for me, and now my peaches look positively classy in it! At the same store we found this coffee table for $15. It is working hard already in our basement family room...

I fell in love with it's carved legs and little swivel casters. The casters MADE the deal. I flirted shamelessly with Mr. I. to get it.

THEN I found this round table cloth for $1.50. I've got about a million ideas where to put it...

Then, at our local Goodwill (where we shopped FAST as they were closing early to do the floors) I found this little carrot print, which goes with the other 3 I found last month on 1/2 price day. I love these prints.

AND for $1 I picked up this nicely framed white board, which got pressed right into service Thursday at the Farmer's Market.

I also found a cute little Camp tin sign (I'll share a pic once I hang it) at a little store Sherrie told me to go in last year. Yes, I LOVED the Curly Willow. I will be going back, guaranteed. I LOVE that Mr. I & I (??) can have a great day doing something like thrift shore shopping. It's what we used to do on dates, and it's still working for us 10 years later.

County Fair

Last Thursday we went to the county fair. Not our county, it's not big enough for its own fair, but a county fair, none the less. The girls LOVED the cloggers. I loved the fact they convinced their dad to watch the cloggers. WOOHOO!!

In the AG building the girls liked the mini-pet petting zoo. Little Bit LOVED this mini horse...

And, just like their mama, Peanut & Curly Sue LOVED the Nigerian Dwarf Goats...


Then we hit the midway. Curly Sue convinced me to ride the Mini Himalayan with her. Mr. I had custody of the camera...

Little Bit rode the carousel...

And Curly Sue gave us a glimpse of what Drivers Ed will be like! YIKES!!

Peanut went fishing for a prize, a little stuffed dog she dubbed "Mocha."

We ate some funnel cake, Drank some lemonade, checked out the poultry & rabbit show, laughed at the Elvis impersonator, cheered for Matt in the truck pull, (he got 3rd) and had a great time!!

(I just noticed the child standing on her horse in the background of this photo... She's lucky she isn't mine!!!)

El Bandito...

For about two weeks now, we've been hearing things go bump in the night.

And crash. And chew, and scurry, and all kinds of things. And eggs have gone missing. Not that we miss a few eggs, but it's the PRINCIPLE of the thing, you know? So I've become a critter detective. I ID'd (??) tracks, and looked up predator habits, and finally, used a REALLY BIG flashlight to see what was in the trash cans. BRILLIANT, I KNOW!

COONS.



SO we began setting the live trap. Wed. night. Nothing. Thurs night, egg bait gone, trap still open. Friday night I managed to set the darn trap myself, and BINGO! This guy was waiting for me Saturday morning. At least he had the decency to look ashamed. He's been relocated to state land, and the trap has been reset for any buddies he may have left around. Success!

NOTE: next time remove caged raccoon from chicken yard BEFORE opening chicken door.
I now know the true meaning of PANDEMONIUM!

Canning...

So... my latest bout with OCD is canning.
Pickles, Peaches, Tomatoes, OH MY!! This is a pic of dill spears (7 qts) and bread and butter pickles (10 pts) at sunrise. Ahhhhhh...

Can you smell the spicy goodness?

Here's the finished product... (one jar isn't quite full, but we'll eat it right up!!)
Salsa (1 1/2 qts fresh, 5 pts canned)

Peach Freezer Jam! (5 1/2 pts)

Hamburger Dills (14 pts)

And finally, Spiced Peach Butter (10 -1/2 pts)
Isn't it all so PRETTY????
Next week I plan to make more salsa,
and some peach jam,
and some canned peaches in apple juice,
and some sweet gerkins....
and bake some bread...
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Last Week's Farmer's Market Finds...

Last Thursday was a GREAT farmer's market day!

We sold our eggs (only a few, but it was a start.)

I drew a chicken for the occasion- whadda ya think??

Who knew Patty Pan squash got this big?? I still need to cook these.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes... I've been making SALSA!!!

And just LOOK at these GORGEOUS beans.
I call them Shell beans, the guy I got them from said October Beans, and my seed catalog says Cranberry beans. Either way, they're pretty AND tasty!

PERFECT!

Wildflowers for Leigh-Ann

My sister, Leigh-Ann turned 40 today.
I wanted to send you flowers, I hope this works!
I Love You!!

Start your week with a laugh...

Heard from the backseat on the way home from China City Thursday night:
"Mom, you, ah, know, my little paper thingie?"
"You mean your fortune?"
"Um, Yeah, that."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"It's stuck in my ear."
"WHAT?"
"Um, yeah, I rolled it up messing around, and it's stuck in my ear."

TA DA!
(no ears were harmed in the making of this post...)

Welcome to our place-

Things are really growing around here, I thought I'd share a glimpse...

Are any flowers as pretty as squash blossoms? Our garden is Booming!

This is Monsieur Poulet. Our new favorite Rooster. Mostly because he doesn't crow as loud as Shakespeare and holds still for the camera. I'd love it if anyone can tell me what breed he is.
This is one of his Lady Friends... We think she's a Silver Laced Wyandotte. I think she's BEAUTIFUL...

These peaches on our tree are almost ready... I've already had some, they are SO juicy and ripe. Makes you want to take a bite out of your monitor, doesn't it!?! Our lifestyle is a lot of work, but man, the meals are totally worth it!

Frugal Friday

I've had so much I wanted to post about, I'm just now getting around to showing you what I found last weekend. It was 1/2 price Sat. at Goodwill, and there were some great yard sales we went to with mom. Here's everything I got for the $40 in my pocket.

Maple doll bunkbeds-$10. Two bunny statues-$2. Two Dove Statues-$2. Green PB Kids Shower Curtain-$1.50. Fishing Creel-$.45. Fishing Net-$1. Copper Leaf-$2. Pumpkin Dishtowel & Cookie Cutter-$.25. Silver Mirror-$.99. 3 Veggie Prints, unopened-$2.00 ea. "Soaps" Enamel Bowl-$50. Papercrafts-$.25. Roses Wrapping paper-$.45. 2 plate hangers-$1.00. (these were on plates at a yard sale, I said "no thanks" to the plates and bought the hangers. LOL! She thought I was crazy.)

Those veggie prints really help class up my kitchen bulletin board.

I LOVE this copper leaf. It's supposed to be a candle holder. I may put some mints or something on it. I LOVE this thrifty end table arrangement in my living room, can you tell?

Watch for future posts showing where I used everything, and some thrifty transformations, too!

Frugal Meat Options...

So, I'm pretty sure most of you know where my affordable chicken comes from, right? NO? Click here for the (gory) details...

And the steaks in my freezer? No questions there, right?

Today, let's talk about frugal pork chops. This time, I don't actually have a friend with pigs, although in the future we hope to raise our own perhaps... But no. Here's how I got a STEAL OF A DEAL on boneless pork chops today...

Pork Loin is on sale this week at our little, local market. Note the price: $1.69/ lb. We bought two of these the other day. One we had for dinner that night stuffed with feta, asiago, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, coated in italian seasoning, and grilled to delicious perfection. (having a foodie friend with a commercial kitchen who filleted and stuffed the roast for me ROCKS!!) We froze the second one for later.

Today, Mr. Incredible went on a mission for me. He was out getting me some free canning jars (more on this at a later date...) and stopped by the store for 3 more pork loins and 8 packages of the AWESOME, fresh sausage they make in this store also. We froze the sausage in freezer paper, and then he cut up the pork for me himself.

We got 26 thick boneless pork chops out of it.

Now they're "in the coolah." And we will have pork chops for months, for pennies. Having a big, upright freezer is REALLY worth it to us.

Lovin' Livin' Local...

Today was Farmer's Market Day!

At today's market we got: squash, zucchini, peppers, red potatoes, yellow tomatoes, and lemon cukes. Ah.... Then we met Lora from Organic Grounds Roasting Company, a locally owned micro business where she & her husband roast their own organic, fair trade coffee beans. Great stuff, try the Powerhouse blend. I also signed up for a canning & food preserving class that some of the ladies will be giving. It should be fun & interesting. Up in town I got a coffee at Southern Perks, and truffles and a cast iron cornbread pan at Nina's. (try their Jack Daniel's Fudge sometime)
I LOVE living here!

Whack-a-do!

Some things are worth repeating.
(This photo brought to you courtesy of Maytag)