Recipe: Creamy Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

Yes, we went to the San Benito County Fair yesterday, and yes, I know I need to post about the final outcome of "Project Pork" (which *was* successful, and the super-rambly post is coming!) - but I am going to side-step momentarily and share a recipe that I cobbled-together today.

See?  I had a couple of bowls-full of tomatoes, sitting on the counter-top, since last weekend (when I ripped out the Finny-Farm).  We haven't been eating enough salads lately, and the 'maters were starting to go a little "soft" - too soft for salads, but still VERY edible!  And since these are, essentially, the last 'maters of the season, I couldn't bear to let them go to waste! (and - since most of 'em were salad- or cherry-sized, it didn't make sense to try to can 'em).

In the meantime, poor Hubs has developed a toothache and can't really chew anything.  Soooo...  What could be better than FRESH home-made tomato soup, right???

I started with the recipe here, but ended up veering way off track (as I am wont to do).  So here is what I ended up with:

QT's (mostly home-grown) Creamy Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup
Yield: I'd say 4 generous servings

Ingredients:

Roasty Part:

• 2 lbs fresh, mixed tomatoes (Mine were mostly Kellogg's Breakfast and Indigo Rose, plus a handful of random salad + cherry tom's) (all from my garden!)
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (from the Organic Farm-Share)
• 5 cloves of garlic (whole) (again, Farm-Share)
• fresh chopped basil (appx 10 fresh leaves) (from the plant growing on my kitchen sink)
• 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil 
• Sprinkle or three of balsamic vinegar (mine was actually an olive oil + balsamic mix)

Soupy Part:

• 1 (14.5 oz) can  + 8 oz.chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 TBS butter (I ended up using "Tuscan style" spreadable butter which is butter + olive oil + italian herbs.  I think plain ol butter would work just fine)
• More fresh chopped basil (maybe 5 more leaves while simmering)
• Whatever other herbs/seasoning you like (I used a grinder full of dried Italian Herbs)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 8 oz. cream (at the very end)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450*F (I used my micro-convection oven)
2. Wash, core and halve tomatoes (I ended up halving, then quartering the halves on the bigger tomatoes).
3. Spread in a layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.
4. Chop onion, sprinkle on top of the maters.
5. Peel garlic cloves, place 'em, whole, on the sheet with the maters and onions.
6. Chop 10 leaves of basil and spread over everything else.
7. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over that.
8. Put in your pre-heated oven and cook appx 30 mins 'til caramelized and the edges are starting to brown (but not burn).  Took appx 35 mins in my Nuker/Convection oven.
9. After they're well-roasted, transfer roasted veggies to a sauce-pan/stock pot.
10. Add broth, bay leaves and butter.  
11. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15-20 mins 'til reduced by appx 1/3
12. While it's simmering, chop and add the remaining basil leaves and add seasoning to taste

After simmering:

1. Remove bay leaves.
2. Allow the mixture to cool, a bit, then puree it with a stick blender (or whatever you've got) 'til smooth.

Just before serving, add heavy cream and re-heat the soup (do not boil).

You can garnish it with more fresh, chopped basil, or garlicky croutons, or whatevers.

Serve and ENJOY!

This soup was FREAKING AWESOME.  I served it to hubs with a grilled-cheese sandwich b/c that is, like, the Ultimate Comfort Food when you're sick (IMHO).

Pictures:

(Sorry - no pics of the 'maters BEFORE I started this - but you know what 'maters look like!)

Sliced, diced, and ready for roasting!

And after roasting...

Starting to simmer...  Smells like YUM!

All done!

It was awesomely delicious!  And a great way to dispose of a "medium" quantity of tomatoes that might have otherwise gone to waste (Perish the thought!!!).

Yummmmmmmmmmmmm!

Heeeeere Piggy-Piggy! (Everything you never wanted to know about pork, but were afraid to ask!)

Warning: Rampant Rambling ahead so, if you aren't interested in "How to buy a pig at the Fair," you can just skip this post, k?!   But it's been a very interesting learning experience for me!  And I hope to post more info, as the saga continues...

So, referring back to my earlier post, we are waking up Bright 'n Early on Saturday morning, and heading down to Bolado Park - on the other side of Hollister - for the San Benito County Fair.

We'll be indulging in Free Breakfast (Carbs 'n Caffeine - no doubt!), and I'll be studying the Buyer's List and making note of "maximum prices" I can bid, per pig!  And, after the sale, we'll get to enjoy a free Buyer's BBQ (Yummm!!!).  And I love-love-love the San Benito County Fair because it is as close to "Old Timey" as you can find in Northern California (most of our fairs are obscenely "commercial!")

See, Finnyknits, and I are going in halvsies on a 4H/FFA pig.

Finny claims to be "the worst Jew in the history of Jews."

Not so, Finny.  My College Bud,D, (who is now an Ex-Pat) converted to Judaism when she married her husband (a Born 'n Bred East Coast Jew - complete with Noo-Yawk accent!).  Their FAVORITE restaurant is an open-air joint that they've dubbed "The Cholesterol Palace" (and I honestly can't recall the restaurant's real name!) - just outside of Jocotepec, Mexico.  Hands-down, the VERY BEST dish they serve is freshly slaughtered and smoked pork.  We're talking: The soon-to-be-dinner animals are all milling-about in a pen in FRONT of the restaurant.  The coals are red-hot, and the meats are skewered onto rebar posts and cooked RIGHT THERE.  The place is a TOTAL arm-pit - that no self-respecting tourist would EVER venture into - but the food is FREAKING AMAZING!!!  Anyway, she - and her husband - snarf-up their Smoked Pork like nobody's business!

Anyhoooo...  Finny usually stocks up her "Chestie" with a quarter-share of grass-fed beef every year.  This year, I convinced her to go-in on the purchase of half a pig.  No, not grass-fed, but definitely NOT "Feedlot Fare."

I know I've alluded, many times in the past, to wanting to get "closer" to where my food comes from.  And, having done the FFA-Thing, I think I can safely assume that these animals are NOT abused.  Yeah, they're grain-finished - but (to be perfectly honest) - I kinda like the idea of grain-finished, fat-filled meat.  Hell, that's where the FLAVOR comes from, right?

OTOH, I don't want meat that's been fed "questionable" stuff (dead chickens or whatevers - I think the practice of feeding "beef-bi-products" to cattle has been discontinued after all of the Mad-Cow-Scare stuff).  And I really-and-truly HATE the idea of "Feedlot" animals standing knee-deep in sh*t (But no - it doesn't stop me from buying supermarket meat - I must shamefully admit)...

But - all of that aside - I figure "every little bit" counts.  And if I have an opportunity to buy a "humanely raised" pig - well, that's a good thing, right?!  Ultimately, I do want to get closer to the source of my food.......

(and I DO get my eggs from backyard-raised chickens, k?!!)

Okay.  I'm stepping down from my soap-box now!

So, I first got this "Wild Hair" last year, actually.  I subscribe to the Santa Clara Valley Chickens group on Yahoo (b/c Good-Friend P is a chicken-keeper and two of the hens are "technically" mine!).  And one of the posters had a daughter who was pretty heavily into 4-H.  There was a post about the Santa Clara Valley Fair and the upcoming livestock auction, and did anybody want to "go-in-on" beef purchases...?  Well, for whatever reason, I didn't get to jump on that bandwagon, last year.  And - when I contemplated the sheer quantity of meat, I decided that Beef wasn't really a realistic option for the two of us.

Pork?  Maybe...  Half-a-pig?  PERFECT!

We *did* go to the San Benito County Fair, last year, and I grabbed the Buyer's Packets, and kept copious notes about what the pigs were selling for...  Didn't BUY anything (couldn't find anyone to "split" with me), but I figured it was good reconnaissance work, right?

Yeah.  Awesome.  Except that - after we got home - I put my detailed notes someplace SUPER-SAFE!  So safe, I couldn't friggin' FIND 'em this year!!!

Anyhoooooo...  Around July-ish, of this year, I pinged Finny to see if she was interested in splitting a pig and - Yippeee - she said "Yes!"  So "Project Pork" is a GO - Yay!

Then, today on the SBCF Facebook page, they posted this picture:

And I'm all "Ohhhhhh!  That pig is soooo cute!!!!" 

Gawd, I *hope* I don't chicken-out!!!  (No!  I won't!  All of the pigs are destined for the same fate - whether *I* buy or not, right?! - and the money goes to a Good Cause!!!)

Okay, anyway...  I've been learning lots of interesting stuff, so far...

Interesting point(s) to ponder: When you purchase the pig, you are paying $x.xx/lb for "live weight" (which is generally in the 200-225 lb range).  But when the hog is butchered, you are paying $y.yy/lb for "hanging weight" which is "roughly" 2/3 of live weight (depends on the butcher - but generally, it's the weight of the pig MINUS head and - I think - skin).

Butcher Fee (to "dispatch" the animal) is $30.00 per animal.  "Processing" costs are $0.98/lb (which includes cut/wrap to our specifications). And smoking and/or sausage is extra.  This info is based on what I've learned from the SBCF and Freedom Meats, our chosen butcher.  And these are Sept 2012 prices (so compare accordingly!).

One more interesting link that I found (no clue how to "Get in on" the re-sale list - but we'll see).

Anyhoooo...  I am very excited about the "Adventure Du Jour" and am REALLY looking forward to buying a pig this coming weekend!  I'll post more (maybe even post some USEFUL) info as the Adventure continues.....

Farewell to Finny Farm...

Yeah, so I've been lamenting the :::sob::: End of Summer and, in fact, today is the Autumnal Equinox.  So I am "celebrating" it with a Sugar-Free Margarita at the Tiki Bar!

And actually, today was a very pleasant day with temps in the mid-80's, and hubs even uncovered the pool and dove in!

Princess Annie even joined-in on the Floatie-Pool Action!

But anyway...  This IS a Garden-Post, after all!  So back on point:  I had wandered back to the garden, earlier this week, and realized that things were starting to "flounder" (moreso than usual!).

I know I've b*tched (more than once) about how "Suck-tastic" my garden was, this year.  Well, the suckiness is even MORE obvious as we reach the end of the season  :::sigh:::

The Finny-Farm, unfortunately, was the Floundery-iest of all.  It's at the "end of the line" on one of our drip-lines and NO quantity of water would help it.  Super-Sad-Face :-(((

Finny-Farm Bed :-(((((

Sooooo...  I ripped it out today.

• Colin-Copia (left-rear-corner) started out getting Blossom-End-Rot (never had a problem with that before), but I did harvest a few 'maters off of that plant today.  Confusingly enough - I don't think Colin-Copia was a Copia at all - but some kinda "generic" cherry tomato (srsly!).  Not a beefsteak.  Not mottled.  Just a plain ol' slightly-orange-ish cherry tomato (but tasty - don't get me wrong!).  
• Brandy the Yellow Brandywine, likewise, got afflicted with the dreaded Blossom-End-Rot and I didn't harvest ANYTHING from her!  
• Stephanie Stupice - barely visible in the front-right corner:  She produced admirably at the beginning of the season (far earlier than anyone else), but she fizzled-out around late-July.  Bummer! 
• New Variety Indigo-Rose (not really visible in this pic) was in the rear, right corner.  That one won the QT-Award for sheer quantity.  I got a whole SLEW of slightly-larger-than cherry tomatoes in a dark (almost black) color.  But, by this morning, the plant was mostly dead...

I had also planted a squash (long-since dead), and two peppers (that produced NADA).  The peppers were still "hangin' in there" as of this morning, but no signs of flowers and not a chance-in-hell of ever getting any peppers...  And, in the center, my "volunteer" peach-tree - which turned-out to be from the rootstock of Roger's Yellow Peach-Tree (can't recall the variety).  The rootstock peaches are "barely edible" so, Long-Story-Short:  It is HISTORY!

I did manage to salvage a few 'maters from the plants before I ripped 'em out:

Black/Red in the foreground came from Indigo Rose
Orangy-Reddish in the rear came from Colin Copia

(Clearly NOT a Copia - but that's okay!)

So here is the Finny Farm as of this afternoon:

:::GASP::: Empty!

I did get to use my Tractor-Scoot, prezzie from Beloved Hubs:

I ♥ my Tractor Scoot!

Back on the subject of the Finny Farm, I had rigged-up my PlantCam to take a Time-Lapse video of the Finny Farm in Action.  Unfortunately, the PlantCam seems to have crapped-out.  I've got the individual jpgs, but have to find some video-editing software to string 'em all together.  So that video will be coming - later!

I also took at gander at the other two beds.  Artie-The-Choke is gone (but he left babies behind).  The 'maters in that bed...?  Well, Early-Girl still has a couple of greenies on her, but not sure if they'll ripen before the weather gets too chilly.  Nevertheless, I'll leave her alone, for now.

And the Paste-O-Rama bed?  

Home of the "Volunteer" Kellogg's Breakfast Tomato - tall plant in the back

(Winner, this year, for sheer tonnage!)

Yeah, the Paste-O-Rama bed is definitely still "hangin' in there" with lots of green tomatoes which, hopefully, will ripen soon!  I'm leaving that bed alone, for now.

And, surprisingly, I do see some Paste Babies *finally* showing some signs of life:

Speckled Roma - Tomatoes #2 & 3

Better late than never, right?

And a freaky-lookin' Jersey Devil...

Amish Paste and San Marzano did *NOTHING* this year.  So my hopes of making and preserving GALLONS of pasta sauce never came to fruition.  "Oh, well!"

Anyway, I figure clearing ONE bed was productive enough for one day!  

Maybe tomorrow (maybe later next week), I'll start amending the beds, and seeding for my "Cool-Season Garden."  I'm planning on attempting more cabbages, and kohl crops.  Beets were kinda fun, last spring.  I also attempted turnips (but I don't think I harvested anything!).  And I'll definitely plan on planting something "Nitrogen-fixing" - most likely Sugar-Snap Peas...

And I'll do lettuce and spinach in my Patio-Planters again (closer to the back-door, and more likely to be harvested for dinner-salads, right?!)

Anyway...  On the one hand, it's sad to see the Summer-Garden go.  But, on the other hand, it'll be interesting to see if I have BETTER luck with the fall garden this year...

Soooooo....  That's the Latest from QT's Garden.  Fingers crossed that I can get a step-closer to a year-round garden, right?! (If not, there's always the Farm-Share!!!)

Never eat anything you've named...(My dirty little Vo-Ag Secret!)

Okay, this post might end up being a little (okay EXTREMELY) "rambly" but Deal-With-It, k?!!

I'm gonna spare you ALL the gory details, but I ended up serving a 2-year "sentence" in God's Country: West Jordan, Utah.  This was in the mid-70's - shortly after my grandpa had died - and West Jordan was mostly comprised of Cow-Pastures, right?

Now, it's mostly cheesy 'toilet-paper-and-duct-tape' (read: Low-Rent) Insta-Housing-Developments.

So I thought I would try to embed a "Let's Go Back In Time!" kinda video from Wayne's World.  Couldn't find one, but I found this and found it utterly amusing.  Totally unrelated to my post (other than the "Doodle-Oodle-Ooh" Flashback sequence), but still funny enough to post:

So yeah, let's go back to The Seventies!  Abba, Roller Disco, Farrah Fawcett haircuts, and Bell-bottomed jeans!  "Far-out, man!"

So I had been sent to go live with my dad, on a farm we inherited from my maternal grandfather.  The house was teeny-tiny.  2BR/1BA, and the second bedroom was BARELY big enough for a twin-sized bed, but the house was situated on one acre of land, with lots of neat old barns to explore, and was surrounded by another 17-18 acres (or so) of pasture land (owned by my uncles - and leased-out to a beef farmer, so he could fatten his herd).

Initially, I was only supposed to spend the summer there.  And while it was supposed to be ("Punishment?") (a means to "get me away from the EVILS of California?") (Most likely, it was just to get me out of my mom's hair!), it turned out to be pretty good times.  I was always a "Daddy's Girl," so all that time - just Me and My Dad - was actually very cool!
The back-story behind that (Remember the Blog-Name: "QT's Random Ramblings") was that Dad decided to take early retirement from his job (27 years with United Airlines) - withOUT consulting Mom first!  Mom (who, at the time, was a total B*tch on Rollerskates) was none too pleased with Dad's decision (she was still working, and was the major breadwinner), so Dad got "exiled" first - when grandpa died and left us this property.  Then, since *I* was entering puberty and was just beginning to show signs of "rebelliousness" (I know, hard to believe - right?!), I was exiled to God's Country shortly thereafter... I actually have lots of cool "Utah Stories" - but I'll try to stay focused because there actually IS a point in here - someplace!!!
So I spent the Summer of 1977, exiled in West Jordan, Utah.  The original plan was that we would move-back to California in the fall.  But dad and I found that we really rather enjoyed the "Country Lifestyle" and we started acquiring a bit of a menagerie while we were there.  I think it started with Chiquita - a puppy we got at the local shelter.  She was supposed to be a dachshund mix, but her legs just kept growing-and-growing.  We think she was a chihuahua/min-pin mix (Goofy, nervous little dog!).  We also acquired Patches, a dachshund-dalmation mix (body, coloring, head, and stupidity of a dalmation - with squatty-little legs - more like a basset-hound in size/conformation).  But Patches was not (and could not be) housebroken, so we put a "Free Dog" sign out at the end of our driveway and someone (mercifully) took her away. Next: Since we were on a farm, we thought it would be cool to get chickens for eggs, right?  We looked thru the newspaper (this was LOOOOOONNNNG before the internet), and picked up a couple-three white leghorn hens.  We brought them home in a large box, tucked into the back of our 1974 Pinto Squire Station Wagon ("Stylin!"):

Yes, ours was like the car on the right - only a darker brown!
As we were driving home, we heard a couple-three "clucking frenzies" coming from the back of the car.  And, by the time we got home, the hens had laid THREE eggs! "SCORE!!!"
Those, by the way, were the ONLY eggs we ever ate.  See, even though we had chickens, we didn't realize that hens needed "designated nesting boxes" in which to deposit their eggs.  From that day forward, the hens would lay their eggs "wherever" and - by the time we discovered them - we had NO clue how long they'd been there -and were scared to eat them!
And, while we're on the subject of chickens, we found another chicken farm - closer to home - that specialized in all kinds of "fancy breeds" and had lots of bantams.  I, being a City Girl (and utterly clueless!), was always drawn to the "Prettier" birds and dad, equally clueless, would buy whatever I chose - right?
I'm SURE the people at that particular farm were THRILLED whenever us "Stupid Californians" would come by to purchase chickens because we, invariably, ended up taking home most of their roosters!  
I couldn't tell you what the rooster-to-hen ratio was.  Let's just say it was WAAAAY the hell out of whack (I want to say we probably had about 5 roosters to 1 hen!) (x appx 35 chickens, total), and - by the end of spring - the poor hens were literally BALD from having been gang-raped by all the roosters!
But we sure had a pretty flock!
(And mom - a born 'n bred farm-girl - would just roll her eyes at the ridiculousness of it all).
We also acquired a couple of goats, some geese, and ducks.  And ultimately I achieved my Life-Long DREAM of getting My Very Own Horse! (That's a separate story.  Not sure if I ever blogged about it - but if I didn't - I'll post it another time)...
Well, long-story-short (Too Late!), we ended up with SO many animals, moving back to California for the school-year was no longer a viable option.  We decided to STAY in Utah...
So I ended up going to West Jordan Junior High (and - by the time I graduated - WJJH developed a reputation of being THE place to go if you wanted to score, umm, "Medicinal Herbs!")  (Of course it wasn't called THAT, back then - but you get the idea!) (And I claim no personal responsibility for ANY of that, but I won't deny that I may have "participated!").  And then, the following year, I went to Bingham High School...
Now, I was an Uber-Geek in California (Long before "Geek was Cool," k?).  You know that super-ugly, fat, greasy-haired, four-eyed, "Fatso" kid that everybody picked-on?  Yeah, that was me!  
...And now that I had a "fresh start" in a new state, I wanted to shed my old persona...  While I wasn't ugly (with too-short "floods" pants) anymore, I was still a wee-bit chubby, and yes, I still had glasses.  But the braces were gone, and I wasn't quite so greasy-haired, and I was a bit more Worldly and Wise (for a 15-year old) (I was still stupid as sh*t  - in retrospect!).
In Utah, I found the schools to be unbelievably clique-ish.  And there really wasn't a specific clique that I fit-into, readily.  But that was okay, because there were enough of us "misfits" to create our OWN clique, right?!
The two groups that I aligned-with, most closely, were the "Stoners" and the "Cowboys" and, unfortunately, those two cliques appeared to be Mortal Enemies.  Well, the band of misfits ended up being sort-of a mashup of "Stoner Cowboys"  and that ended up being pretty cool.
(In fact, I learned how to roll joints in Art Class.  A fellow "Stoner-Cowboy" Misfit taught me how to roll joints - using shavings from the pencil-sharpener in Art Class, and we'd leave them strewn-about in the "Stoner Hallway!")...
But I digress...  And YES, there is a "point" coming!  I promise!!!
So, yeah, I became a "Stoner Cowboy" and - somehow - both groups (Mortal Enemies, as previously noted) came to accept our "Mash-up" clique.  Okay, they didn't "embrace" us - but they didn't kick our @$$es, either.  So I take that as "Acceptance!"
And somehow or other, I ended-up joining the Future Farmers of America - and I probably took a Vo-Ag Class or two (can't recall, offhand).  Part of that endeavor was that I decided I wanted to raise a steer to sell at the County Fair.  And that fit in, just fine, because I had befriended "Stan," the cool old geezer-guy (who leased the surrounding 18-acres from my uncles for his beef herd).  I'm pretty-sure he's the one who hooked me up with my hereford calf.  No clue (at this point) who "financed" the purchase.  I've actually got it stuck-in-my-head that FFA actually paid for it (with the understanding that I would pay it back when the steer, ultimately, got sold).  But it might've been my parents...
Anywaaaaaayyyyy...  In addition to the dogs, and chickens, and ducks, and geese, and goats, and horse, we added a hereford steer to the menagerie!  And Dad was totally cool with all of it (Dad had a KILLER Veggie Garden, as well!).  So I set-about raising "Boogie" (yes, it was the '70s - so "Boogie" was an appropriate name.  Shut UP, k?!) while training my horse, and feeding the other critters..........  It was a simply GRAND time - seriously!!!
And, even though I still had lingering "visuals" of the 4-H kids, at the San Mateo County Fair (in California), snuggling-up and crying into their critters' necks - the last night of the fair, I figured I could do the whole "Raise a Steer" thing...
   And so I persevered............
Of course, I managed to get in my own share of trouble - in the meantime (details *not* forthcoming!).  And the overall stress got to be a bit much for my Dad...
Long Story Short (Oh, we are Hell and GONE from that!), Dad ended up having a heart attack (he survived).  Mom and Sis would've had me believe it was All My Fault - but (judgement aside - "It was what it was"), we ended-up having to pack-up the Pinto and drive back to California in a damned hurry.  Friends and neighbors took care of the critters for a few weeks/months after we'd left - but ultimately, the critters had to be dealt with.
And mom flew back to Utah to handle the "dealing with" of the menagerie....
The chickens, I have no clue what happened to them, but I'm guessing they were all given away.  Ditto the goats.  The dog came back with us, in the car.  The geese and ducks had long-since died.  That left the horse (who was trailered to California - amazingly enough) (again, that's a separate story!), and Boogie, the hereford steer, who was not yet old enough/big enough for slaughter...
Mom, evidently, had tried to sell him back to the FFA (or offered to reimburse them, or whatever), but apparently that didn't fly.  We were "on the hook" for the original sales price, and FFA wouldn't take him back (and I learned all this - many-many years "after the fact").
So mom, when she returned from Utah, "coincidentally" had a couple-three suitcases full of "Fresh Beef" which was stashed in our ginormous freezer...
I wasn't stupid, though, so I took a vow of "vegetarianism" for approximately one year (until all of the "Fresh Beef" was depleted from our freezer!).
  Yeah, those steaks looked *mighty* tasty (and I have no doubt that they WERE)...  But I steadfastly REFUSED to eat anything I'd named!!!   In spite of the fact that mom vehemently DENIED that we were eating "Boogie," I knew better!!!
So yeah, I can't honestly claim that "Home-Grown Beef" is better than "Store-Bought Beef" (although I am SURE that it is!).  I just couldn't see myself eating my own "pet" - ya know?!!  That just seems too freaky, right?
Now....................  Fast-Forward to 2012.................
Me and Finny are going in halvsies on a 4H/FFA Pig.  See?  The "Never eat anything you've named" Rule does NOT apply to eating something that SOMEONE ELSE has named!
So, in a couple of weeks, I'll be going to the San Benito County Fair to purchase a "humanely raised" 4H/FFA Pig which will be butchered and cut to our specifications...  I'll post more as the "Adventure" continues - but I've learned a whole lot, so far!
Anyway, I think it's time to cut this post OFF!  I've rambled plenty, right?!!
More to follow...............................................
xoxo if you've made it this far!!!
-QT

Lotion/Lip Balm Recipe #2 (kind-of a recipe)

Sorry - No pics yet!  But I'll try to post 'em later (after they've setup a bit).  Although - to be honest - they're gonna look just like the pics in a previous post!!!

So I've really enjoyed the Hard Lotion Bars I made a few weeks ago.  I've enjoyed 'em so much, they are almost all gone!

And the consistency is "stiff enough" that I think they'll serve double-duty as Lip-Balm.  So I purchased some empty lip-balm tubes from eBay...

So anyway, I decided to make 'em again - but tweak the recipe just a tad - in the hopes that I might cut-down on the greasiness.  (Final results/opinions to be posted later).

Here is what I used:

1.5 oz Shea Butter (supposed to be kinda "sticky" and therefore not "greasy!")
1.5 oz Cocoa Butter
3 oz Coconut Oil
3 oz Beeswax
~1 tsp Chamomile Essential Oil
~1 tsp Tea Tree Oil
~1 TBS Aloe Vera Oil
~1 TBS Castor Oil

I melted everything in my ersatz double-boiler (1 QT glass Pyrex Glass Mixing/Measuring Cup Thingie, nested inside of a 2+ QT Saucepan filled w/appx 1" of boiling water), stir constantly.  As soon as everything was all liquidy and smooth, I grabbed a Turkey Baster to suck-up some of the melty stuff, and squidged it into a couple of lip balm tubes.

I squidged the remainder into my silicone "flower/muffin" molds.

I ended up with two lip balms, and 5 hard lotions.

They need to set-up overnight, then I'll check 'em for "setness"/usefulness.  I am HOPING they aren't as greasy as the last batch - but still smooth and soothing enough for Everyday Use on my dried-out-and-peeling-Zombie Paws!!!

I'll check back-in later - with pictures! :-)

AAAACCCCCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spotted in Wal-Mart this afternoon:

Yes, today is September 18. 

It's not even Autumn yet, ferchrissake!

"WTF??!!"

That is all.

Semi-Productive Weekend (Oh Gawd, More Happy Stuff!)

I managed to wander out to the Tiki Shack *relatively* early this morning (well, around 10-ish k?!).  Got my Bisque-firing started and, as I was "on my way" I glanced at the Veggie Garden, and the Garden Fence, and started *thinking* about the chores I need to start tackling!!!

Now, had I been SMART, I would've started with the Garden Chores *immediately* after firing up the kiln! ('cuz temps were in the upper-60's/low-70's at the time - PERFECT "Yard-Chore Weather!").  Of COURSE I didn't do that!  Instead, I set-about "cleaning-up" my 24 Christmas Ornaments (Umm, *before* the Tiki Shack got oppressively hot with the kiln running!!!).  So I logged a couple hours' worth of Tiki Shack Time...  And the ornaments are now drying (slowly) under loosely-wrapped plastic.  Might start something new - might not!  We'll see!

Anyway, after cleaning-up the ornaments, I looked outside and realized that the Veggie Beds were now in FULL sun and I wasn't too eager to tackle any of my yard chores (Ooooops!).  Nevertheless, I did grab a pair of pruners and I DID hack-back the Morning Glory Vines (which were threatening to behead me as I walked thru the gate to the Secret Garden!).

Before (Sorry, no "Afters!"):

Love 'em, buttt....

They're pretty-damned "vigorous!"

I also did manage to hack-back Arte-the-Choke.  No picture, but you've seen plenty of shots of Arte's Bed.  And Arte has put-out a "pup" or two, so I expect that we'll get even more 'chokes next year! (Yay!)

And that was about as much "productivity" as my body would allow, for today!

Even though I have been walking and acting like a Normal Human Being for THIRTY DAYS NOW!!!! - I don't want to"push it" and risk a relapse!  (Trust me when I say that relapses SUCK out loud!!).

Anyway, I've got one of the raised beds clear-enough for amending and re-planting and installing the framework for the cold-frames.  That's a pretty-damn-good start, I think!

So, I'd have to say that - overall - this was a fairly productive weekend (I'll f**kin' take it!!!)

Not a whooooole lot.  But enough, k?!!

Me = Happy.  And that's all that matters! ('cuz it's All About Meeeee!!!!)

-QT