T Stands for Tuesday & Lots More Good Eats

  Tuesdays we share a drink related post with friends. Our hostess is Bleubeard and Elizabeth-see link to join us in my right hand column.

   Here in the States we celebrated Thanksgiving last Thursday-a time for being thankful and also for giving to those in need.
   We were invited to a friend's to celebrate the feast with them, but hubs decided he wanted to stay at home with quiet and not a large crowd
   That was fine with me, I had picked up a small Butterball turkey and fresh herbs and oranges-it turned out so moist and delicious. The sides were simple-fresh turnips, brussels sprouts, fresh whole sweet potatoes that I steamed done, my own home made cranberry sauce, and of course I went over board on the pies.

   On Wednesday I decided to make sourdough biscuits for hubs with sausage gravy. For the bread for me I had these small gluten free buns that I toasted and it turned out really delicious. Also served with two eggs easy over.
  Here are a few food photos: and all of the photos will enlarge to full size just click on them

I made several pies: a blueberry-cranberry pie which I ended up freezing for later, a gluten free apple-raisin with crumble topping, and a gluten free pumpkin pie. My pumpkin pie is a little darker as I used coconut sugar, and added in nutmeg to the spices-one of my favorite pies We also had a delicious pecan pie that I had gotten free with my order from Nuts.com-so delicious.
  

The weather here has been very warm and very windy with no rain for months-so in the woods that means fire warnings. Someone already burnt their house down near Springfield, Mo burning leaves when it was very windy-what was he thinking? a huge no no so here in my woods we are still in much need of rain-so no outdoor baking in my cast iron til we get a good soaking of rain which is still not in the forecast.

On Friday I joined in for another virtual race called opt out Friday where the challenge was to run or walk a 5k or 10k and then do things outdoors-not shopping. That was easy for me-the weather was warm, and I don't shop in all that madness and the profits went to the national parks for this race too. the organization is called Virtual Running Club-they have lots of neat swag too that you can opt to purchase and the race's profits always go to a good cause.

I have been walking my 3 miles every day now for over a week since the weather is so warm. Trying to make this walking into a daily routine which has always been difficult for me to stick to

This year I decided to replace my little Christmas tree that I had needed to toss a few years ago. Awhile back when I was going through and organizing some things I looked at my ornaments and decided I needed to get them out and enjoy them. Most are very old and some belonged to my grandparents, and when I was really young on my own and had no money I bought a set of little wooden ornaments to hand paint-which are perfect to fill in on this small tree.

     I really splurged and purchased a Balsam Hill table top tree. I set it up on a wooden cheese box that I had and have been enjoying my little tree and the lights in the evenings. I set this up on the hearth rug in front of the wood stove. We no longer heat with wood only-but if it should turn super cold I can still get a fire going.

and while decorating my little tree-I roasted fresh chestnuts over an open fire-that is over my gas flame on my stove-lol  soooo good and brought back good memories with my Grandpa when I was a young girl.

Friday I got a surprise in the mail-the package I had sent to Germany for Val with goodies and my corn husks papers was returned back to me.  Couldn't tell for sure if it was sent back do to the wrong address or they did not like the contents for some reason-but at least it did not get lost. Wow a couple months in limbo. I emailed Val about the address-did you get my email?  anyways I feel bad it did not get to you but happy was not lost.

   When ever we have pie-we really enjoy a piece for breakfast-better than any sweet roll or doughnut  lol  

      Hubs has his with coffee and I have mine with my herbal dandelion root and chicory beverage with a dash of cream.

Happy T Stands for Tuesday everyone.  

     I am off to take the first batch of fruitcakes out of the oven. I know most of you do not like fruitcake but then you have not had mine-lol  I use a very old English recipe that is mostly all fruit and very little cake-just enough to hold it together-and yes I do wrap up in cheesecloth that was soaked in a bit of spirits, that will help these cakes store for up to a year or so-and stay moist and delicious.I have been making these cakes for over 40 years now so I guess it would not be the holiday if I stopped making them. I now make a gluten free version for me-with mostly dried fruits and just a few of the glazed fruits.

Have a good week everyone!

T Stands for Tuesday Deer Camp & Christmas Card Swap

Good morning everyone,
    T Stands for Tuesday is when we get together and share a drink related post. Link to the T Party in my right hand column with our hostess Bleubeard and Elizabeth.

(I found this photo online-I may need to make something like this)

  I had been talking about our deer camp for a couple weeks now. The event was last week and we all had a good time-mostly eating good foods and socializing with old and new friends.
   A couple of you have asked me what exactly is deer camp? Deer camp is when friends gather and yes hunt for deer, at our deer camp hubs has rules for ethical hunting, only bucks and young bucks can be taken for meat processing. and No hunting in our "back yard" where we feed them-that is their safe zone-always. 
  Over the last several years conservation allowed unlimited hunting of does-I still have no idea why they let that go on for so long. Just a little ways from us there is a couple that took advantage of that and processed 12 to 15 does a season-unheard of. So the consequences now- fewer does in our area-so we don't allow on our property any does to be taken til the doe population increases.
    The hunters took two nice meat bucks home to process and  home can.
   I have been wanting to can venison but hubs is not in shape any more for all the work involved-and all the walking in the woods as well. I am still hoping that perhaps we can hunt for one though.

  Sorry I meant to take lots of photos of the food-I do all the cooking for the evening meal, and the guys coming in we ask for lunch food-so we had lots of chili, beef stew, goulash, deli meats and breads for sandwiches. For extras and gifts one person brought me a gallon of his own homemade maple syrup Wow that was a huge surprise-He lives way up north near Green Bay Wisconsin. He also made homemade blueberry muffins from his own blueberries to go with their coffee in the morning. The guys all said those were sooo good.  I have to say that I was thankful that for the lunch meals they were gluten free aware so I could eat most of the food-very thoughtful.
    They also brought dozens of hard boiled eggs, Wisconsin sausages, lots of Wisconsin cheese and the list goes on lol  As a gift for my hubs one Wisconsin friend's wife bakes up two cheesecakes for him and the group every year-his favorite.
    We had an Illinois friend that came in on Wednesday in case he wanted to bow hunt, and brought 3 meals of fresh Mexican dishes-sooo delicious.
    Friday is when the others came in and I always invite several other friends and ask that they bring a dish. I made a large crock pot and a small slow cooker full of shredded pork and peppers for grilled sandwiches with provolone. The sides were potato salad, taco soup-delicious, three bean salad and much more. Early in the day Friday I got out my dutch ovens and made two apple-raisin-dried cherry pies.

We had drove to the big box store Sam's Club (over an hour away from us) to shop and they had this large crock pot with a mini crock pot on sale. I have been wanting a larger one to go with the slow cooker I have (yes there is a difference in how these two work) I am in love with this new one. It holds allot of food. Sorry these were the only photos I remembered to take. 
   One night I grilled chicken breasts with sides, another night grilled center cut pork chops, and another night we all went to our friends for fried catfish. The Wisconsin men had never ate catfish before.
   So yep this is mostly a fun eating event lol  We enjoyed the two new men that came down with our long time friend. The little space we put together above hubs shop worked out perfectly too.

             Christmas Card Swap

For the last couple of years I have been making handmade papers and then turning them into Christmas cards.
      I would love to swap cards with you all if you care too. For international I am going to send postcards-hopefully those will go right through and not get lost and since our postage is so high here the postcards will be less to send.
   If you would like to swap my email is located on my profile page-just send me an email with your name and address and I will send you mine back. 
    These cards can be handmade or not up to you. I searched for blank postcards and found some-so I may be creative with those this year.

    I haven't been drinking anything new and exciting lately lol Somehow a couple weeks ago I got into a food allergy so I have been drinking mostly water, juices, and adding aloe vera juice or drinking my herbal decaf beverage in the mornings.
  ( I am pretty much back to normal now-thank goodness.)

Happy T Stands for Tuesday everyone
 And for my friends in the States-Happy Thanksgiving

T Stands for Tuesday & Hub's River Trip

Hi everyone,
   Happy T Stands for Tuesday where we share a drink related post. You are most welcome to visit and/or join us-our hostess is Bleubeard and Elizabeth. Find the link to the party in my right hand column

   I have a bit of time before I need to gather ingredients for supper tonight-this is the last night of deer camp and our guests will leave for home early tomorrow morning So I thought I would share a few photos. I won't be around to visit everyone or possibly link up til tomorrow morning after everyone heads home.

   Hubs and his friend went on a long river trip with his new boat and they totally enjoyed themselves-I have not seen my husband soooo happy in a long time. His friend is so good too with helping him in and out of the boat. He broke a bone in his knee area about a month ago that has really added to his pain and now difficult to walk now too--nothing stops my husband though if he can manage it.

  I did not go along but they both took some gorgeous photos that I thought I would share.

These photos should enlarge further just click on them.
They started the trip very early in the morning and got out of the water just before dark so was a long day-but the weather was perfect too. This area of the river had not yet been cleared of large trees that had fallen in. So his friend needed to get out of the boat and guide it over the logs-fun  at least they said so haha

For the drink I am sharing today-this was the "hit" of the party-after supper we would sit around and talk and those that were drinking a little bit loved this the best. I should have grabbed two bottles-one can really taste the apple and then the cinnamon This is very very smooth and is low in alcohol only around 35%

Happy T Day everyone

T Stands for Tuesday & Fun at the Alpaca Farm

Hello everyone and welcome to T Stands for Tuesday where we share a drink related post.
   Link to the event on right hand column with our hostess' Bleubeard and Elizabeth.

 Last Saturday a couple of friends and I visited a local alpaca farm for their open house. This is something I have been wanting to do for many years but I am not someone that enjoys going to events like this by myself. I mentioned it to a friend and she was all up for it and brought along another friend.
    I buy allot of my alpaca fiber for spinning at the Fiber U event in July from their  ranch. exhibit at this event.
 
    We were the first ones there so we pretty much got a private tour. She shared knowledge about her alpacas and then when we went into the buildings she explained more with displays and then of course she had a nice shop. After shopping and we went outdoors again wow lots of people had arrived and the daughter was presenting-so we stayed another half hour or so and learned more.

  This was allot of fun we all really enjoyed this adventure.

Just click on each photo to enlarge for better viewing

   I totally forgot to take photos of their shop. Sorry about that-they had allot of offerings-fiber to spin, yarn for knitting, crochet, weaving, clothing items, and cute little stuffed alpacas for display-those were really adorable,
    I was a "good" girl lol and did not bring home more fiber to spin-I really do have lots of different fibers to spin already in my stash.
    I did purchase this very soft and thick head band to protect my ears in cold weather I think I will really like this one, I don't wear hats much but enjoy these better. They had some really nice fingerless gloves from alpaca but I decided to pass on this time.

   The farm was in a gorgeous setting-the buildings and allot of the pastures were up high and the leaves were finally turning this past weekend. Thus area of Missouri is full of hills and hollers I also forgot to take photos of their large white great pyrnees that guard the herd. The dogs were gorgeous and definately on guard with all the people.

I haven't been feeling myself the last few days so I am behind on getting things ready for our deer camp-the first two arrive this Wednesday from northern Illinois and the other three from Wisconsin come in on Friday. I also invited a few other friends to join in the feast Friday evening. 
    This year I decided to make shredded pork sandwiches with pepperoncini peppers stuffed into grilled buns with provolone cheese with lots of sides. One friend sends down 2 handmade cheesecakes-yum  we definately eat good lol

For my beverage I have been drinking watered down juice today.

Welcoming November

(photo found online)

     Wow I have to say October just zoomed right past me this year-must have been all that hard work I was up to lol
    I really can't believe this is the first day of November-but it is.

   I started cleaning and straightening up in the house yesterday after putting the kilnz paint coat on the textured hallway wall-I can't do anymore til the tile gets moved-I talked with one of our friends that is coming down and he said nooooo problem at all. Hubs never wants to ask for help-I also asked him if he would hang my Yellowstone framed photos for me and he said of course. well that was easy to ask lol  we need to be able to do that sometimes.

  My last craft adventure was making the corn husk papers so I really miss not creating--once things calm down a bit I want to do that-I usually  make my own Christmas cards to send out so I am planning to take time to do that.  
    If you would like to swap Christmas cards just drop me a note with your address-my email is in my profile-and I will send you mine. 

   Tomorrow is suppose to jump into the mid 70s and also only get down to the 50s tonight-so hubs and a couple of friends are going to take out his new river boat and explore-and hopefully catch some fish-we wanted to smoke some for deer camp.

Have a fabulous November!!