Peach Butter

Rory bought the baseball bat zucchini

Rory and I went be-bopping around the Tompkins county countryside on Friday.  We saw a hand printed sign for peaches with an arrow.  Works for us.  I love peaches.  Wegmans had them for $1.49 a pound.  These guys had half a bushel for $13.50, or a full bushel for $21.50.  Then Rory uses a phrase I have never heard before: "peach butter.'

***Cue angelic music and a beam of light shining down.***

In the food mill

I bought half a bushel.

Why have I never heard of this?  I looked online and found dozens of recipes.  The one I picked used a ratio: 5 large peaches to 1/2 cup if water and one cup of sugar.  East European Food Peach Butter

The recipe suggests pitting the peaches, boiling them for 20 min and then using a food mill instead of slip peeling the peaches.  I though it would be easier.  Meh.  I'll try slip peeling next time.

Up to the rim

I get it into the crock pot and it fills it up to the rim.  I put the top on tipped so that steam can escape and go off to knitting.  Three hours later, the butter is no where near butter.  It cooks all day, no where near butter.  We go to the ball game.  Come home and it is still no where near butter.  Maybe the crock pot is too open?  I go back and start reading recipes.  They talk about boiling in the crock pot.  This stuff is not boiling.  I decide to let it rip overnight on low.

Yippie.  Lots of steam.

In the morning it looked like hell.  But the taste was not bad.  Pretty darn good in fact.  I decide to press on.  I dumped it into one of the farmer's sauciers and boiled like mad.  It was like peach napalm.  The splatters were unreal.  I was using the lid like a shield.  At one point the farmer came in and looked at what was left in the crock pot.  "Ick" he said.  "Yeah, but taste it" , I replied.  He did and despite laughing, he agreed that it was good.  It is a dark mahogany color, but that's what color the online pics are too.

9 jars!

27 hours after starting I ladled it into lots of different sized jars and put them back into the bath. While we were out at the movies, every one sealed.

If I ever do this again, I will probably make the commitment to hang out in the kitchen with it stirring for an hour and a half . 

I'm not sure I'm confident enough in this batch to gift them.  It's a really good thing that I like peaches.

Making a critter

When I re-taught myself to crochet, I used Debbie Stoller's The Happy Hooker as a guide.  One of my favorite patterns from the book is Bedfellows by Camilla Engman.  When I stopped quilting, it became my 'go to' baby present project for coworkers and friends.  I have made 10 of them (!)

As usual, this baby present is late.  Here is the one I made for this baby's older brother a few years ago.  As you can see, my bear does not really look like a bear.  The face is more mouse like.  I made it in stripes because I was using up the blue and red yarns and did not want to run out in an awkward place.

It usually takes me about a week to make a critter.  There have been too may distractions lately, so this one took longer.  She was worth the wait.

Day 1: Picked out the yarn from my stash, bought a skein of white from Michael's (50% off coupon!).  Made and stuffed the body.  Cleaned up the yarn tails.  I'm going to do stripes again.  All the yarn is acrylic so the critter will be easily washable.

Day 2: Crocheted 16 rounds of the face.  She has a pointy nose.

Day 3: Crocheted 3 more rounds on the face.  My hands are not used to crochet and are a bit achy.

Day 4: 5 more rounds on the face....

Day 5: Nada.  Busy with work, car shopping, soaping, and packing  up baby blankets.  I need to make more money and work less so I can have more time to goof off.

Day 6: Placed the nose and eyes.  I's fun.  It goes from being this weird lumpy thing to a face.  The faces can be so expressive.

Day 7: Did a few rounds on the head.

Day 8: Finished the head.

Day 9: Made an arm. 

Day 10: Made a second arm and a pink foot.


Day 11: One and a half legs done.

Day: 12: Finished!  Went to Saturday morning knitting.  While there, I finished the second leg, sewed on her head and limbs, and made and sewed the ears.  Later in the day, I made her scarf and tail.  Since she turned out to be a mouse, I made an I-cord tail.  I started with a double strand on 5 stitches and slowly tapered it down.  It looks pretty darn mouse like.


On Monday, she will go to her new home.

Buying a Car Steps 13-22

Monday:

Step 13: Call Credit Union Car Buying Service.  Tell him we have narrowed it down to the: Honda Fit, Scion xB (toaster-mobile), or Pontiac Vibe.  Looking for '08 or '09.  Manual transmission.  Bonus points if it is red.  Gave him the budget. 

Step 14: Call credit union car loan lady to extend car loan authorization as it expires on the 6th.  Leave message. 

Tuesday:

Step 15: Look online for xBs, Vibes, and Fits within 75 miles.  Find a red, stick shift, 2010 Vibe with 10,000 miles on it just a bit over our price range.  Drool on keyboard.  It is within 75 miles as the crow flies but you cannot get there from here.  It's at least 90 miles away in the middle of nowhere....  One hour and 51 minutes. 

Wednesday:

Step 14: Car buying service calls back with three really promising cars in our budget, including a red, stick shift Vibe with 10,000 miles.  But it's in Vermont.  Maybe they will bring it to one of their sister dealerships in NY.  

Step 15: Leave another message for credit union loan lady.

Step 16: Do rock-paper-scissors to see if we are getting the toaster mobile or the vibe.  Okay, not really.  We reviewed our notes, and went back on line.  We picked the Vibe.

Thursday: 

Step 17.  Sick the car buying lady on the dealership.  She gets them to bring it to within an hour's drive of us and gets a final price with tax, tags, and fees that is within our budget.

Step 18: Play phone tag with credit union lady.  Getting annoyed.

Step 19: Deal with guy from the dealership.  He says the plates are not included in the negotiated price.  Is he nickle and dime-ing me?

Friday:

Step 20: Finally get the car loan lady.  Get the insurance stuff sent to her.  Confirm the loan and set up a time to go get it.

Step 21: Car buying service confirms that the tag fee is legit.  

Step 22: Get the Carfax from the dealership - should have asked for that yesterday...   Arrange to pick it up next week.  His manager forgot to tell him that they were bringing it into New York.  


That was only 3 steps but it took 9 phone calls to accomplish.


I am so ready for this to be done.

Carrots

No one in this house is a big fan of carrots by themselves.  Especially cooked.  But, in the winter they are an indispensable ingredient in soups and stews.  We buy a bunch when stew is on the menu.  Then they sit in the crisper.  And sit.  And sit.  At some point they rival Rory for their ability to do yoga poses.  At that point, they get tossed into the compost.

Carrots came in the box last week.  I ate one.  We shredded one for the potato-zuke pancake.  That left a lot of carrots.  We finally learned how to blanch and freeze them.  I'm embarrassed to admit I have never done this before.  It is wicked easy.  If you have done this, pat yourself on the back for your practicality.  If you haven't, but think maybe you could; read on.

Step 1. Peel and chop carrots.

Step 2. Put in pot of boiling water.  Boil covered for 2-3 min.

Step 3. Drain and plunge in ice water for 2-3 min.

Step 4. Drain again and pick our the cubes.  Put in a bag, squeeze out air and freeze.

We will never have yoga carrots again.

Is this funny?

The kid came flying down the stairs a few mornings ago and flung herself at me.  She said she had a terrible nightmare.

She and Daddy were riding in the car.  The car fell off a bridge into a deep hole.  Scarey so far...  The car (with her and Daddy in it) got eaten by a big, black dragoon.  Humm.  Could Be scarey.  Then they got pooped out.  Trying not to laugh.  Then they got flushed.  Burying my head in her shoulder so she won't see me cracking up.  The car went through the sewers and out into the ocean where they were eaten by a big fish.  Still laughing...  Then she woke up.

I understand that she was scared and I don't want to minimize her experience.  But.  I think that is a really funny dream.  I have all these these mental images...  Her Aunt commented that the dream is like the circle of life.  Eventually, we all wind up in the ocean being fish food.

She made sure to take her favorite bed companion with her that night.  China Cow has been with her since she was about 5 months old.  China Cow was only allowed to leave the house when we went somewhere overnight.  Mostly, the kid does not really need her anymore, but when she us stressed or in an unfamiliar place China is somehow always there with her.  Sometimes I think about how the toys are alive on Toy Story, and I wonder what the secret lives of kiddo's toys would be like.

I wonder if China would think her dream is funny too?

Zucchini-Potato Pancakes

The farmer made salt potatoes earlier this week.  A whole 5# bag.  For 3 people.  They were good but we had a ton of leftovers.  We got more zucchini in the CSA box this week.  Surprise!  There were also carrots, onion, and a little yellow summer squash in there. 

I had the bright idea to make zucchini-potato pancakes.  I used to have a vegetarian cookbook that had a great zucchini pancake recipe.  I Google it and there are a million recipes out there.  All have the same basic ingredients: shredded potato and zukes, egg, flour/bread crumbs/cornmeal, spices, and maybe Parmesan/Romano cheese.  I can work with that.

Bird in Hand Zucchini-Potato Pancakes

2 small zukes
1 tiny yellow summer squash

1.5 #ish/ 20 or so cooked salt potatoes

1 small carrot

1 small green onion

3 eggs

1/4 c flour

2 T corn meal

2 T seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 c parm cheese

1. Grate zukes and toss with a generous pinch of salt.  Let 'em sit in a colander for 10 min and squeeze out extra fluid.

2. Grate the  potatoes and carrot.  Chop the onion fine.  Dump in everything in a big bowl and mix really well.  The potato will essentially break down into mashed potato consistency - that's okay.

3. Fry in 1/4" of oil in a cast iron frying pan.  It takes 4ish min per side.  Flip when golden brown.  Resist the temptation to mess with them.

4. Drain on a wire rack over paper towels. 

5. Season with salt and pepper and serve with sour cream or applesauce.  The farmer likes hot sauce on his.

Makes 11 good sized pancakes.

One of the recipes had the idea to make a "well" in each pancake and then bake an egg in each "nest."  I think that could be a really good idea for a breakfast someday.

These were really good.  I love it when leftovers become the staple of another great meal.  I think I could substitute actual leftover mashed potatoes this winter and make this again with some of the frozen grated zucchini.  

Guess what I'm eating for breakfast this morning?

Buying a Car: Steps 10-12

Step 10: More test drives...

'06 Hyundai Sonata - It was a v6 so it had great pick up.  Unfortunately, the one we drove had a slight shimmy above 55, smelled funny, and was not totally clean.  The interior is a weird two-tone that I did not like.  Otherwise it was fine.

'08 Honda Civic sedan: The past owner had a dog there were scratches and claw marks all over the dash and driver and passenger side doors.  The sterio/clock display read "error one."  The sun roof is cool.  It drives well.

Did not like that dealer.  The guy talked WAY too much, the woman was better but was trying to show me how they are so well priced compared to Kelley Blue Book.  But, she was showing me Kelley Blue Book for excellent condition and neither car we drove was in excellent condition. 

'09 Toyota Yaris - It was a very basic car.  It looked okay on the outside.  The inside was pretty plastic and the windows were crank windows, with manually adjusted mirrors.  Not gonna work for us.  This car is going to have two drivers.  We have a city, one  lane driveway.  So whoever is going somewhere is going to take whatever is parked second in the driveway.  I need to be able to move the mirrors without leaning all the way over the car.  It was loud (road noise) and also just did not feel safe.  

It was a lot like the Toyota Tercel I drove several years ago.  That car was a reliable econobox.  I want to be one step up from that.  Oh, the guy who showed us the Yaris was another pushy car salesman in a shark tank atmosphere.  We could not get out of there fast enough.

'09 Pontiac Vibe: I loved it.  It was red.  I love red cars.  It was nice inside too.  It was fun to drive: nimble, good pick up, quiet.  I did not want to pull over to give the Farmer a turn.  The only things I did not like is that I could not see the dash dials from the passenger seat.  I'm having a hard time being objective about the vehicle.  I just really, really liked it.  Not bad given how suspicious of a defunct brand that I had been to begin with.  Need to research how GM is honoring the Pontiac warranty and how the acceleration recall was addressed.

Step 11:  Step back and take stock.  

Top three lists: 

Farmer: 1. Scion xB, 2. Honda Fit, 3. Pontiac Vibe

Me: 1. Vibe, 2. Fit, 3. tie: Corolla or Scion.  I've taken to calling the Scoin "the toaster mobile." 

Seems like we like hatchbacks better.  Decided not to test drive the Mercury Milan sedan.  We went back to Edmond's and Consumer Reports and looked at more hatch backs...  As it turned out, we did not change the list; but I am glad we looked. 

Step 12 in progress: Research gas mileage and prices. Lining up the top three vehicles side by side.  Reading more reviews.

I really just want the car in the driveway paid for and be done with it.