Okra Snack

I really hate okra. However, I dehydrated okra and Roma tomatoes to enter in the fair. I won a blue ribbon. That was two years ago. Still, I was stuck with the pint of okra and tomatoes since no one would take them. People were confused about the fact they were dehydrated or either hated okra. So, two years later, they were still here.

Finally, I took a piece and bit it to see if it was like chewing rocks. It crunched nicely and still tasted and smelled like the detestable seed pod it is. Since these are sliced like you would slice it for frying, the pieces are popcorn sized, just right for snacking.

One day, I asked exbf if he wanted to try it for a snack. I dumped the contents of the pint jar into a freezer bag and sent it home with him. After a month, he tasted it and gave me an opinion.

"It tastes delicious, just like fried okra!"

Now, I have something to do with okra offered to me rather than fry it for him. I am not sure if it gets slimy when chewed or not.

If you have a dehydrator and okra, you can make a snack that has no oil and no salt. I suppose if you don't like the taste, you can always put a seasoning that is not salty on the crunchy nuggets. Maybe without the slime, okra will be a new favorite snack at your house.

As for me, the taste and smell are inextricably tied to slime, so, no, I won't be eating any okra snacks. I spit out the one bite I took to feel the texture.

Maybe I will dehydrate another pint of okra and Roma tomatoes as a snack ready for anyone or ready to take to a gathering. By the way, I dehydrate the okra separate from the tomatoes and mix together. You could dehydrate them at the same time if you have them available at the same time.

Your turn
Do you think dehydrated okra might be a hit at your house? Do you like okra in any form?  Anyone growing okra?

Dominique Needs a Friend or Six

Dominique is not a very good layer. She laid about 12 eggs in February and quit. I need more hens. Since I like to raise them from chicks, now is the time to get more babies.

I am torn between getting them from a local store or getting them from a farmer. My first ten were from the farmer. All those were mutts. The one from the local store are breeds.

Maybe I will wait until the warm up this next weekend. For sure, I have to get set up for them. When they start laying this fall, I may get rid of Dominique. Why?

She is not trained and does not know where she can go and where she cannot. Yes, you can train chickens to stay in the yard.

When chicks are little, I like to let them free range for 30 minutes and then lure them back to their pen with food. My high-pitched "Delilah" call means food. With Dominique out, she might lead them away or not obey the call to come into the pen.

They won't be put out when tiny, but sooner than usual.  I have not seen any chicken hawks around here, but in other parts of town I do. After they got three cats and my two hens, the pickings were slim around here!

Okay, so maybe she won't have friends for long.

I know older hens teach chicks what to do and how far they can go. However, Dominique has never been allowed to free range since she came here. I was too afraid of hawks and where she would go. I am not capable of chasing chickens around other people's yards.

Your turn
Do you like getting new chicks to add to your older chickens? Or, do you want to start over with all new chicks?  Do you have a routine that you want your new chicks to learn without them following an untrained hen? Maybe you can extrapolate these concepts to other animals you have.

Colder than I thought

When I got into my blog tonight, I stated it was low 50s. My friend who was helping me read what I wrote. He said he thought it must be low 30s. He was right. I was 35 F and raining. It's miserable after 70s this last week and using the ac. There could be snow just north of here. Just our luck, it will be knee-deep tomorrow.

This loaner computer has a very difficult left click key. I now have a Logitech wireless mouse--RED. I thought I was going to lose the use of my index fingers for a while. I had continual pain in that finger and my whole hand was aching all the time. After one day with a wireless mouse, the pain was subsiding. Now, there is no pain at all.

Since I lie down when I type, I just use the mouse on my chest. On a sweatshirt, that works great, but with a blouse or nightgown with buttons, gathers, or seams, I have to arrange the fabric so it lies flat.

My friend, Charlie, swears by his wireless mouse with his laptop. He hates the mousepad on a laptop. Now, I understand.

Your turn
Is it snowing at your place? Cold? Have you ever used a wireless mouse with your laptop?

Let's see if this works!

Okay, I think I am back on track. The guy who helped me last time by fixing it is meeting me here at McD. Hopefully, I solved this by myself.

After a week of 70 F, tonight it is soooo cold, low 50 F, I believe right now at 10 pm.
I am going to log off and see if I can get back in with this new password.

Back In!

See you later today. Friend got me in!

Chocolate Sleeping and Christmas Plans

Last night, I slept over eight hours and I awoke feeling energetic. Well, I am always tottering and groggy for a while after I wake. It's been this way all my life. It's like I have no ankles.

For awhile I forgot I had a computer available, so I did not get on it as usual. I puttered around about five minutes and lay back down. Since I cannot get the weather inside adjusted, there is a wadded blanket on the back side of the bed ready to pull over me rather than trying to adjust the heat and make myself too warm. Last night, I noticed I was lying on a lump but went to sleep before I could remove the lump.

A few minutes ago, I noticed the lump was under me. And, it crinkled. A bag? Yes, I slept on a WM bag full of something. I tugged and found I had slept on my Christmas candy--a bag of Hershey Miniatures and a bag of kisses.

It's an hour later. I tried a warm Miniature. Not quite right. It had a strange shape! It appears I have incubated my chocolate candy into a different form.

It's not Christmas without these two candies. They were an integral part of childhood Christmases and since.

Since exbf will be here on Monday, I decided not to fix a big meal for me on Christmas Day. Instead, I am going to make broccoli and cheese soup with turkey in the soup. Friday, I found the greenest fresh broccoli crowns and bought them for the soup. In the freezer are broccoli "cuts" for our dinner on Monday. I may put the frozen in the soup and save the fresh for Monday. Probably.

I could go to Birmingham for Christmas Day, but won't.

Right now, I need to warm me and cool the chocolate!

One year when I was an adult, I asked my mother if she loved Miniatures and Kisses so much that she bought them for our stockings every year. She said that she bought them for us because we were three very little children (eventually five) and the candies were small so she could give us "more" candy and it was a variety and cheaper than buying variety in larger sizes. I could trade for all the dark chocolate!

Merry Christmas!

Your turn
Do you have a BOUGHT candy that is part of wonderful Christmas memories?

Bargains

I last posted on Nov. 26 at about 1:30 am. It is now Dec. 24, about 1:30 am. It has been a long time! I have been ill with sinus and ear and lung problems. There was much scrambling and searching for my rescue inhaler around here.

This is not my laptop and is difficult to type on! The guy who is going to put in a new power port lent it to me. Yay! He is a very nice young man, twenty-one-years old.

For the last month milk has cost me $.99/gal. I bought enough to last me several weeks until Aldi put it on sale again. I have a gallon now, but will buy two more gallons by Tuesday before the ad ends.

Kraft cheeses were 3 for $5, so I bought 6 8-oz packages of chunk Cheddar Medium cheese for $1.67 each. I still have most of the bags of Five Cheese Italian, so I only bought chunks.

Land O Lakes Butter was 2 1-lb packages for $3. Six pounds of butter reside in my refrigerator. It seems dairy products were the big sale items.

Turkey, bone-in breasts are $1.38/lb. Since my freezer is full, I can only buy what I can thaw and cook. Oh, well! I am not quite ready to start canning meat since I am still weak.

There were other bargains, but those are the best or, at least, the most recent and most memorable.

 I need to sleep since my left eye hurt me all night long last night, so I got three hours sleep. The night before, I had a nightmare, totally horrendous, and only got three hours sleep that night. I napped about an hour each evening, but the sleep deficit still remains.

Miracle on 34th Street is on, not the one with Natalie Woods and Maureen O'Hara.. McDonald Carey is in this version.