Sunday dinner and then some

I was going to roast a chicken for Ray on Saturday, but we went out to eat instead. So, I roasted a Chicken yesterday instead, with all the fixings. It turned out pretty well. I probably put too much butter in the dressing, but I like moist dressing, so it suited me just fine .

I did fix the bacon and saved the bacon grease for future cooking. I don't have a picture of the bacon grease because it is in a glass jar and the flash reflects off the jar.

Do you save the bacon grease from your frying? I do and I also save the chicken fat and leftover liquid in another container. You can use the bacon fat and drippings for gravy, flavoring foods and frying eggs in. The chicken fat also makes a good flavoring agent in stews and even in some baking, such as homemade biscuits. Just add a teaspoon or so to the dough and see how good it makes biscuits taste when added to a regular recipe. I can make pretty good dumplings with some leftover chicken fat and drippings in a pot of boiling water. You don't have to have the chicken, but you can add the liver, heart, gizzard and neck or any other chicken part to the pot of water. Add seasoning to taste. WHAT? YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE DUMPLINGS? So cheat a little bit and use Bisquick from a package/box.

I put the steaks back in the freezer. If meat thaws out in the ice box/fridge you can safely refreeze...according to the experts...and I have done it before.

Go online to your search engine and type in bacon or chicken recipes and you can really make a chicken squawk or a pig squeal!

I didn't intend to go out today or go anywhere, but I just remembered that I needed to take some books back to the library...like two days ago. I attended to that and checked out one...only one...book.

When I went to Wal-Mart last week I picked up some ant traps. I don't think they are very effective, but I will try them and hope that they work.

So...wad do ya think? Does that chicken look good? Yummm! Bet you wish you were here to help me eat that roasted chicken.

The END of the life of a chicken.

Ray visiting

A shot of Ray relaxing. That is the quilt that Cindy made and sent to me down by his feet. The couch will open up, but he says this is OK. OK for short people like me. Anyway, I got all the clutter off the couch. I just had to move it around as storage space is hard to find.

Ray is my nephew. He stopped to visit on his way through with his car hauler, up from Texas. We have been out to eat twice and I am fuller than a tick. We went the Chinese restaurant first and for supper we went to the Mexican Hacienda. I ate too much.

Other than washing a load of cloth and running them' through the dryer I haven't done much worthy of calling it work.

I guess I will cook Ray bacon and eggs in the morning so he can pull out around 7:A M. I am lazy, I know.

THE END OF THE DAY AS WE KNOW IT.

Money Tree loses it's leaves

My money tree has shed a few leaves in the past few days. I have been shopping again. This time I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a few things that were on sale.





I bought dressing which was on sale for $.78 cents a box and cake mixes that were also $.78 cents a box. I got four boxes of each.





I think I am pretty well set of winter. give or take a few items. I know I will get more bathroom tissue and maybe some boxes of tissues.





I got a couple steaks out of the freezer in case Raymond(nephew) is hungry tomorrow.





These days of sunshine and clear skies will probably slide away soon and be gone. I really don't look forward to winter..I like to be out, even if I can't do the yard work. I am trying to get someone to fix my mower for next summer and have it done and ready.





Now, an odd thing: my cursor keeps jumping all over the page and I have to constantly stop and "fix" the content of my posting. I don't know why it does this, but it is **** annoying.

I, like everyone, have spent a lot of time watching the tragedy of Fort Hood in Texas TV. It reminds all of us that anything can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere and that we should be prepared the best we can. If that means to have extra food stuffs on hand, then do have it, if you can. Have water and medical means available and a basketful of hope and goodwill.



END

Store stuff

My van is full and overflowing. Yes, I hit the grocery store with glee. There were some items that get I didn't get, but still, shoppers were giving my cart the eye, like.."I wonder what she is gonna do with all those canned goods." A couple items were sold out and I forgot a couple, but that's OK...I think I will go back.

Most of the canned goods remain in the van and I will bring them in one bag at a time. I found bananas for only $.39 cents a lb. Here, in town, bananas are $.59 cents a lb. I am in good shape if the weather turns in the wrong direction...I won't have to go out.

A friend is trying to talk me into getting a dog. Do I want a dog? Probably not, but may agree to do some volunteer work at the shelter. We will see.

I am trying to lose a little wt. so I guess I will fix a salad and a boiled egg for supper. I have been eating too much bread, so I will cut back on bread a little, too.

I have been trying to acquire a rolling pin from Freecycle. So far, no luck. I have never gotten much of anything from Freecycle. I am patient and persistent. I am still looking for a coffee percolator; all in good time.

I put a large load of cloths through the washer and ran them through the dryer. I bought the washer and dryer in 1987 which means they are getting old. I usually don't run big loads in the washer, but I did today. The larger the load the harder the machine works, so I generally keep it to smaller loads. One thing I do, do, is to clean the and filter/lint screen on the dryer frequently...just about each and every time I run the dryer. I have read in the papers that a lot of fires were/are caused by clogged screens and vents. So, I keep them free of lint the best I can.

The weather man just stated that we have had the coolest November on record. Heck, I could'a told 'em that.

END

Sales..Love 'em

I went out for a little time this afternoon. I wanted to go to THE FAMILY DOLLAR STORE and get some things that are on sale. I bought 3 bottles of DAWN DISH DETERGENT at .75 cents for 14 oz. per. bottle. That comes out to about $2.25 for the smaller bottles. That's about 10 oz. more then if I had bought one large bottle of 32 fl. oz. at a higher price. Also, picked up 2 cans of Vienna Sausage at .50 cents per can. That is about the average price for the little doggies, but I got them for an occ. snack. I will go back because I had a coupons I should have taken the first trip.

The grocery store is having a "ten for ten" sale and there are some bargains to be had; Hunt's Ketchup, Hunts Pasta Sauce, medium Grade A eggs, Pasta with meat and several other items are on sale. Ketchup will keep forever, even though it darkens over time. I use Hunt's Pasta Sauce for a good soup base and have about used up all that I had. So, it is off to the store I go tomorrow. Anyway, I plan on loading up the van and hauling it home.

I have just about read that book half way through that I got in the mail today from Beverly and enjoyed looking at the photos. too.

I pulled out a big bag of assorted material that I have been saving for a long time. I am not sure what I will do with it. Maybe some ideas will *pop* into my head.

I fixed a salad for lunch today and as I was "fixing" I wondered how clean the stuff in the stores are. I really don't trust the commercial packaging anymore. There are so many recalls for contaminated foods. Meats are often repackaged and relabeled. You can tell when meat is old because it is probably brown on the underside. Meats packaged on black plastic trays and are sealed. They are generally gassed for longer shelf life.

If you don't raise your own produce or know where to buy fresh meat, you get what you get. For those independent spirits that want to live off the land and off the grid...it is a hard way to go.

Well, I am off to find some dried fruit to munch on.

END

Me poo' eye

Well, I went to the eye Dr. today and had all the testing done. The bad news is that apparently I have had a laser induced "stroke" in my left eye. This is the same eye that I had laser surgery in about two years the ago for a bleeding vessel in the back of my eye. The good news is that I can't tell the difference and the Dr. said I probably wouldn't. I do have to go back for one more test to rule out tumor(s) which I don't really worry about. I already knew that I have the start of macular degeneration and cataracts. I have had glaucoma for several years which is well controlled.

I charged up the batteries for the camera and took it with me, but I didn't take any pictures. By the time I was finished at the Dr's office it was getting late and I lost interest. I did want to get some shots of the old post office. It is a fabulous building made of large lime stone blocks and almost castle-like. They had talked about tearing it down at one point and did knock down the old Greyhound Terminal, which was also a fine looking building. Europe has history; we keep tearing our history down.

I have all this furniture on the front porch and the weather man says it is supposed to rain tomorrow. I hope not because I can't move the stuff. Too big and heavy for me.

The "snoop lady" from across the street in the hospital with kidney cancer and a "black hole in her spine." It sounds pretty serious and I wish her well even if I did catch her up on my porch looking in my window.

In the last few months I have known three people with kidney cancer. I really think the water has a lot of pollutants in it. I have even seen toilet paper floating down the river . What else is in the water??

SHORT POST JUST BECAUSE

This a short post; mostly because I am tired. I have been dragging out some odds and ends and trying to clean behind stuff. I am trying to make room for my "new" computer desk/hutch and "new" TV. Also, the time change has left me tired, even 'though I got "more" sleep.

Tuesday is Doctor Day and that will take most of the afternoon.

I think I will go to bed early and post more next time.

On Sunday I cooked a large meal of white potatoes, turnips, sweet potatoes, carrots, green peppers and ham. That will make a few meals and I won't have to cook for a couple of days.

That is all...over and out......END