- Thread starter
- #131
JRmom
Lovin' The Homestead
Busy week. First of all, the weather has been heavenly! No a/c this week, and I have been leaving the front door open so the dogs can go in and out at their leisure instead of pestering me every 10 minutes. My desk and computer is in front of a window, so I've had a bad case of "fall fever" this week.
The Florida Gator football season started last Saturday. We have a new coach this year and things are lookin' good - first game was awesome! Go Gators!
The goat cheese I bought last Saturday didn't last long - I ate it all up that night. The guy warned me that it doesn't melt very well, but I wanted it over pasta. So I cooked up my pasta, then heated 1 tbls. each of olive oil and butter in a skillet, added the pasta and goat cheese and heated it slowly. The cheese didn't melt and get gooey, but it broke up nicely and coated all the pasta.
Debating whether to go back this morning and get some more. I also want to buy some goat milk and experiment with some simple cheese.
My new dehydrator got a workout this week. I stocked up last Saturday at a farm stand at the flea market... sweet peppers, jalapeno and serrano peppers, and some plum and paste tomatoes. I've got some of the dried plum tomatoes sitting in a jar in the fridge in olive oil, garlic, and herbs. Pizza this weekend I think. I also want to bake up some dog treats and try drying them in the dehydrator. They never get really crunchy when I bake them.
Tomorrow is the Vegetable Garden Expo, put on by the local Ag Extension office. Really looking forward to that. Also, I signed up yesterday for a "Gardening for Dummies" series that starts in a week. Local Master Gardeners will be teaching the classes, five 2 1/2 hour classes on everything you need to know about gardening... all for $25. Hopefully I'll learn a lot and get my garden producing more.
The Ag Extension office also has a strawberry plant sale each year. It started this past Tuesday. $10 for 25 plants, or $20 for 50, to be delivered at the end of September. By the time I got there yesterday they were already sold out.
They put me on the waiting list. So I'm hoping a few people don't show up to pick up and pay for their plants.
Finally got my broccoli and cabbage seeds started yesterday, so I guess I have a target date now of the weekend of October 8th to get my fall/winter garden in. I need to do something today with my herbs that are in my kitchen window. They're all growing like crazy, but some of the plants are extremely leggy and falling over, like the Cilantro. Not sure why. I started them in good soil. I guess I'll mix up some light seed starting soil and add to them. Maybe they already need some sort of fertilizer? This is the kind of stuff I'm hoping to learn about in the gardening classes.
Good news this week concerning my work. My biggest client, a marketing guy, has taken on 2 new clients, plus his established clients are beefing up their marketing. That means more work for me!
He's turning over all the ad campaign work to me, so instead of just designing their print ads, I'll be involved in (and getting paid for) designing/writing/scheduling/placing each 6 month campaign. The only downside is one of the clients has offices in Las Vegas and Los Angeles and the time difference is a bear. I'm usually early to bed, early to rise, but this guy thinks nothing of getting ad changes to me at 10:00 p.m. Oh well, I'm just thankful that I've got work in this economy.
ETA: Note to self: Do I need to go to the farmer's market every single Friday???? Apparently yes. Just got back with good scores. Quite a few new vendors today... came home with homemade vanilla extract and tarragon champagne vinegar, a loaf of homemade Italian bread, and of course more of that yummy goat cheese, plus a 1/2 gallon of goat milk. And I was wrong about the price. It was $4.95 for a 1/2 gallon. So I'm gonna make some farmer's cheese with it today. Need to order some cheese-making supplies so I can do more than just farmer's cheese. There was also a lady there selling tomato and pepper starts. So I guess I'm not the only one trying to get a fall crop of tomatoes. She said she does it every year, so we'll see.
The Florida Gator football season started last Saturday. We have a new coach this year and things are lookin' good - first game was awesome! Go Gators!
The goat cheese I bought last Saturday didn't last long - I ate it all up that night. The guy warned me that it doesn't melt very well, but I wanted it over pasta. So I cooked up my pasta, then heated 1 tbls. each of olive oil and butter in a skillet, added the pasta and goat cheese and heated it slowly. The cheese didn't melt and get gooey, but it broke up nicely and coated all the pasta.
Debating whether to go back this morning and get some more. I also want to buy some goat milk and experiment with some simple cheese.My new dehydrator got a workout this week. I stocked up last Saturday at a farm stand at the flea market... sweet peppers, jalapeno and serrano peppers, and some plum and paste tomatoes. I've got some of the dried plum tomatoes sitting in a jar in the fridge in olive oil, garlic, and herbs. Pizza this weekend I think. I also want to bake up some dog treats and try drying them in the dehydrator. They never get really crunchy when I bake them.
Tomorrow is the Vegetable Garden Expo, put on by the local Ag Extension office. Really looking forward to that. Also, I signed up yesterday for a "Gardening for Dummies" series that starts in a week. Local Master Gardeners will be teaching the classes, five 2 1/2 hour classes on everything you need to know about gardening... all for $25. Hopefully I'll learn a lot and get my garden producing more.
The Ag Extension office also has a strawberry plant sale each year. It started this past Tuesday. $10 for 25 plants, or $20 for 50, to be delivered at the end of September. By the time I got there yesterday they were already sold out.
They put me on the waiting list. So I'm hoping a few people don't show up to pick up and pay for their plants.Finally got my broccoli and cabbage seeds started yesterday, so I guess I have a target date now of the weekend of October 8th to get my fall/winter garden in. I need to do something today with my herbs that are in my kitchen window. They're all growing like crazy, but some of the plants are extremely leggy and falling over, like the Cilantro. Not sure why. I started them in good soil. I guess I'll mix up some light seed starting soil and add to them. Maybe they already need some sort of fertilizer? This is the kind of stuff I'm hoping to learn about in the gardening classes.
Good news this week concerning my work. My biggest client, a marketing guy, has taken on 2 new clients, plus his established clients are beefing up their marketing. That means more work for me!
He's turning over all the ad campaign work to me, so instead of just designing their print ads, I'll be involved in (and getting paid for) designing/writing/scheduling/placing each 6 month campaign. The only downside is one of the clients has offices in Las Vegas and Los Angeles and the time difference is a bear. I'm usually early to bed, early to rise, but this guy thinks nothing of getting ad changes to me at 10:00 p.m. Oh well, I'm just thankful that I've got work in this economy.ETA: Note to self: Do I need to go to the farmer's market every single Friday???? Apparently yes. Just got back with good scores. Quite a few new vendors today... came home with homemade vanilla extract and tarragon champagne vinegar, a loaf of homemade Italian bread, and of course more of that yummy goat cheese, plus a 1/2 gallon of goat milk. And I was wrong about the price. It was $4.95 for a 1/2 gallon. So I'm gonna make some farmer's cheese with it today. Need to order some cheese-making supplies so I can do more than just farmer's cheese. There was also a lady there selling tomato and pepper starts. So I guess I'm not the only one trying to get a fall crop of tomatoes. She said she does it every year, so we'll see.
So he keeps coming back every time just trying to get in your car, or is he taking other stuff? I hope they catch the loser!!!
