2022, animals, Family, Farming Update, Nature, pets, Seasons, Weather

Late March

111 Comments

The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

Cold again this week. The farmers’ spring excitement has tempered a bit this week. Next week it will be back.

Tuesday was such a nice day, Kelly and I went out and took down the snow fence we so carefully put up last November. The mid- December storms shredded up 80% of it and the weather turned too cold to fix. We had more snow in the road this year because of it, and it made me realize how useful the snow fence is and why we put it up every year. I was tired of looking at the remains of it and we got it picked up. The dogs helped.

The ducks have split into their summer groups; Mostly the fliers and the non-fliers, but there might be some other sort of grouping that I haven’t figure out yet. It makes it hard to get a good count on them. But I did see 6 mallards take off and then 7 more took off. And still got 2 poufs, 3 cream, 4 black… and some others.

The chickens are enjoying the grass again. And leftovers. And they like when I fill the bird feeders.

Kelly and I saw ‘Hadestown’ last week at the Orpheum. Boy, was that good. And my friend Jerry and I saw Colin Hay at the Pantages. Colin Hay was the lead singer for ‘Men at Work’ way back when. I saw them in concert way back when.

I should have found this picture of the barn for Wednesday’s article about selling the cows.

Dinner at Olive Garden Wednesday night was yummy

I know some of you read ‘Independently Speaking’ by Brent Olson. His latest article is in the same vein as I’ve written about lately. Getting machinery ready and being in town before the stores are open. We’re both still farmers at heart.  www.brentolson.online  He’s also on FB as ‘Independently Speaking’. He’s got great stories. Colin Hay told some stories too.

Pies, donuts, chairs, cows, dogs. We’ve had it all this week. 

What’s in your fridge and what are you making for supper? What do you WANT for supper? 

111 thoughts on “Late March”

  1. I’m going to Fair Trade Books in Red Wing for a meet and greet, so my wife is cooking. It’ll either be Cajun-style country ribs in the crockpot or some leftover soup or stew from the freezer. Her choice. And then the second choice is dinner tomorrow.

    Fridge has all sorts of interesting stuff. Wife is into beans, lentils, etc. lately. She combines them with pumpkin seeds, salsa, shredded cheese, and flaxseed to make breakfast that smells way better than my Cheerios.

    We try to eat more veggies so there’s usually salad greens, spinach, carrots, and other salad toppers in there. Lots of cheese, bread, PB, apples, halos, other fruit. ANd of course, jars of condiments, salad dressings, olives, pickles, etc., that haven’t been opened in more than a year. But at least we don’t have mold growing in the dark back corners. 🙂

    Chris in Owatonna

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    1. I’ll miss you at your meet and greet today. My work world is imploding so I am going to have to do next weekend at Once Upon a Crime (by next weekend my work world will either have completely dissolved and I will get fired or everything will be fine and the people get on the plane and go to Cancun and have a wonderful time).

      But I have a question. If I pre-order the book from them or buy it when I’m there, won’t they get a great big chunk and you and Little Brother will get less? Can I write a check and slip it to you under the table?

      Not that I don’t want to support wonderful small businesses. I just want to support authors that I know personally a little more.

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      1. VS–you can buy the book from OUAC and give me a separate donation to BBBS if you prefer. I actually bought a small donation box that I put on my display table for that very thing. I’ve had many people not buy a book and give me a direct donation to BBBS or buy a book AND make an extra donation. I’ll make sure it gets to the organization.

        Chris

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    2. OT: It was nice to meet you today at Fair Trade Books in Red Wing. I can’t wait to start reading your books. The author of the books I mentioned was Tim O’Brien. The titles were Northern Lights, The Things They Carried, and In the Lake of the Woods. I read them long ago and they were very good. They might not necessarily be mysteries.

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  2. And since work stinks right now and I will be working this weekend, albeit from home, I don’t think it matters what’s in the fridge. Because I’m not cooking anything. I think there’s a very good possibility the Chinese food will be delivered to our house in the next 48 hours and maybe Davanni‘s.

    I did however take a loaf of Stella‘s Chili Cheese Bread from the downstairs freezer this morning. It’s thawing on the counter right now. I get this from a bakery in Madison; every time I go to bisit my friend there, I buy four more loaves .

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  3. OK and I should probably be clear so that no baboons are worrying about me over the weekend. I’m not actually in any danger of losing my job. Even if it does I’ll go to Helena hand basket, which I doubt, most of what’s happening right now is not within my control, everybody knows it, and there are several others in similar boats as well.

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    3. And here I am, reading that sentence three times, trying to figure our if “Helena hand basket” is a restaurant or perhaps a food shelf I haven’t heard of, before the proverbial light bulb clicked on.

      And a triple snort to the responses from Jacque, Bill and Renee.

      While I’m at it, I’d like to know what various baboons thought of today’s Wordle? It has me stuck for while.

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        2. Got the Quordle in 5,6,8, and 9. Today’s word in Wordle I think of as a brand name, but I guess it’s like xerox or thermos, terms that have taken on a broader meaning. I got it, but not till my fifth guess.

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        4. nerdlegame 67 3/6

          ⬛🟪⬛⬛⬛🟩🟩⬛
          ⬛⬛⬛🟪🟪🟩🟩🟪
          🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

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  4. I have very little in the fridge or cupboards. The freezer has 15 lbs of ground bison and a big package of chopped veggies for The Birds. Using up all the “bad” stuff before a good faith effort to cooperate with Mr. Losartan and Mrs. Atorvastatin seems appropriate. Too much weight, too high blood pressure, too high cholesterol too much much. It’s likely that The Birds diet will be mine by Tuesday. No tacos.

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    1. Right there with ya, Wes. Mr. Losartan works for me, paired with Ms. Chlorthalidone. I refused the statin though, and I’m giving red yeast rice capsules a try instead.

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  5. Last weekend I made kreotopita and two kinds of lamb curry from a leg of lamb we wanted to use up. There are still leftovers from those dishes, along with Paprika Chicken that Husband started last night and is finishing today. Lots of cheeses, green and white asparagus, and a variety of barbecue sauces and condiments. We also have a lot of cream and half and half. We like the organic brand and it is hard to come by at times, so we stock up when we see it in the store.

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      1. I buy the frozen Athens brand phyllo sheets. I can’t imagine how you would make your own and roll it thin enough. We got some really interesting Serbian phyllo once at a Bosnian grocery store in Fargo. It was in bigger sheets than the Athens brand, and thicker.

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        1. Day time temperatures need to be in the 50’s before he is willing to grill. The smoker will take too long to get hot enough if it is too cool outside.

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  7. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    My fridge is increasingly bare this week as we prepare to launch ourselves back to MN. There is part of a head of Romaine lettuce, a cucumber, 10 eggs, some leftover scraps of cheese and sliced turkey. In my pile of bins there is a box of citrus to bring home. In a month we will have eaten through that or given some away and winter in AZ will be a distant memory.

    We have had an unrelenting trickle of difficult family news this week. My mother is back in Long Term Care after 8 days of hospitalization. She is diminished and unhappy there. I will visit on our way home,then return soon. Her last living sister (age 87) is also now in a nursing home after falling at home. She is supposed to be doing physical therapy to gain strength while she is there, but she is refusing to do it which, similar to my mom, consigns her to languishing there. Her husband, age 91, is having difficulty coping with this and turned his affairs over to 2 daughters. He cannot even watch Fox News anymore. That news had the effect of an earthquake running through the extended family. In the last 25 years, when I visited there, Fox News was always running in the background. I so dislike that network that it reduced my visits markedly, but the TV turned off signals that the end of this family is near.

    I am so sad.

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    1. That is a tough situation. It is hard to see people give up. I have only one aunt and uncle left, both in their late 90’s, both living in their own homes. It will truly be the end of an era when they pass.

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    4. Wish that whatever spirit my mother has, I could get her to pass it on to others as they age. Nonny is 89 and when we talked on the phone today it turns out that she pulled a muscle in her shoulder last week. It wasn’t getting better as she wanted so she went to the doctor and the doctor said she didn’t break anything or tear – here are some exercises. And she is doing them religiously. When I was there in July and she needed to do exercises on her leg so that she didn’t have to use the walker anymore she did them religiously. I don’t know why she doesn’t fight it but she doesn’t.

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  8. I impulsively bought an organic chicken at the Co-op yesterday, brought it home and roasted it with onions, carrots and little baby yellow potatoes. I used garlic, fresh rosemary and thyme to season it. One chicken is a lot of chicken for me. It will become soup this weekend and I’ll keep some and freeze the rest.

    I might try to get over to Red Wing to meet Chris.

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  9. We have a fridge in the basement that is full of flours, grains for bread baking, coffee beans, a couple pounds of parmesan cheese I buy in bulk from an on-line Italian grocery store, husband’s sausage making supplies, nuts, and some dried chilies.

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      1. When we move closer, we may not need so much food storage as we will be closer to civilization and its amenities. You will be welcome to tour what we have, though.

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        1. I hate to break it to you, but you don’t grocery shop like normal people, even in the city. I doubt that will change, no matter where you move.

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      2. my wife mentioned today we should begin readying ourselves for a move in a year
        packing rooms and trimming down
        so much gets stashed to be dealt with later
        box it and tape it for the next chapter

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        2. we have a year before our lease ends and the rent will go up 40-60%

          we need to buy

          so i need to get my inventions rolling quickly to give me income
          a lot of people plan
          i shook the dice and now need to pull a rabbit out of my hat

          likely stay southwest but may go to minneapolis
          found a possible landing today in southwest

          still have a year july 23 but time flies

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  10. My first thought when I saw the header photo was: “Wow, that’s a fancy ceiling in a cow barn!” I held on to that fantasy for a moment, but suspect that the Orpheum is a more likely answer? It’s been a long while since I have been there. I have never visited the barns where the Lipizzaner horses live, but I imagine it’s in some such luxury.

    I love the photo of Kelly in her hat and her yellow boots smooching with the dog in the back of the pick-up.

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    1. Header photo is the Pantages Theater. Even the exit lights are Tiffany glass.

      Yeah, Kelly had to hold Down the pile of snowfence in the gator. 🙂

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  11. Our dinner tonight will be Chicken Marbella using the Silver Palate cookbook’s recipe. As is my wont on Saturdays, I cook something that Philip can have left-overs from on Sunday.

    What’s in the fridge? Our basics that need refrigeration include things I don’t ever want to be out of, such as eggs, milk, heavy cream, sour cream, at least three different kinds of cheeses, carrots, cucumber and celery. There’s also an assortment of condiments and pickles. Things like potatoes, red and yellow onions, garlic and tomatoes I don’t refrigerate. We also generally have a tray of micro greens of some sort growing on top of the convection oven.

    This week’s “specials” include olive tapenade, hummus, fresh baby spinach, green asparagus, zucchini, scallions, portobello mushrooms, three different kinds of peppers, cilantro, and a bunch of parsley. There’s also a package of prosciutto. We should be good for the week ahead. I thinking about making a quiche for brunch tomorrow.

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  12. I recently subscribed to the New York Times cooking site, and for $40 a year we get unlimited access to thousands of recipes. Last night we bought 2 pounds of asparagus. Today we made the mistake of going to another grocery store with even nicer asparagus. Of course we bought some. I found two recipes for asparagus salad that use up lots of odds and ends from the fridge and cupboard like Manchego and Feta cheeses, pine nuts, quinoa, and shallots. Husband is making both recipes.

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    1. I’ve subscribed to the New York Times cooking site for years. If I never get another new recipes, I’m still set for life. Which reminds me, I have several really good vegetarian cookbooks in “like new” condition to give away. Anyone interested?

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        1. Just found a recipe on Milk Street for Fettuccine with Asparagus, Lemon and Prosciutto. Doesn’t that sound divine? So quick and easy, I think I’ll make that after I return from Philip tomorrow.

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        3. In my experience with Milk Street recipes, they are sometimes unnecessarily complicated; I usually skip those. This one sounds really simple, and I love each of the ingredients, so I think I’ll like it. I’ll give you a report on how it turns out. It sounds great to me.

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        4. My verdict on the Fettuccine with Asparagus, Lemon and Prosciutto recipe: Quick, easy, and very satisfying. I’ll be making this again, and I think it would probably lend itself well to substituting other fresh green vegetables for the asparagus.

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        1. Let me know when you’re in the neighborhood, and you can pick them up. If that doesn’t happen prior to next Blevins mtg., and if you plan on attending, perhaps I can talk Linda into bringing them if she’s going. A lot of ifs there, but we’ll find a way somehow.

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  13. OT- Today we met with the soil scientist who husband is going to advise about getting her church garden in shape and I thought of Jacque. Her boyfriend is from LeMars, IA, and his dad works for Blue Bunny Ice C.ream

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  14. OT – I just returned from a quick trip to buy some Arborio rice. Yikes! It looks so lovely and sunny out, but that wind has a real chill to it. Still, I’m sticking with my sandals (at least for now).

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  15. I have the usual staples – eggs, cheeses and other dairy products, apples and oranges…plus some leftovers, and some smoked turkey breast. Dinner will be a main dish romaine salad with leftover chicken, cause we need to be at the Art Center down the street at 5:30, to take tickets for a modern dance concert. Just made banana bread (Moosewood Ckbk.) to use up too many bananas I bought.

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    1. Did you see that Molly Katzen recently sold her house in Berkley? Gorgeous house and gardens, as you’d expect. “Katzen purchased the 3,292 square foot house on the 25,515 square foot property in 1983 for $250,000. In late February, it was listed for sale at $1.95 million dollars, and reportedly sold this week for more than $3.3 million.” The article had some very nice photo from the place. A kitchen to die for, of course.

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    2. Robin asked me to pick up a couple of ripe bananas, if I saw any, so she could make banana bread. As it happened, our local grocery had a bag of about 16 overripe organic bananas for 99 cents. That would be a lot of banana bread but fortunately you can freeze bananas for that use.

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  16. There is a heatwave here and it is 91 degrees with 10% humidity. This is very hot and I am not buying for one minute that dry heat is more tolerable. It is just HOT. We were going to attend a local rodeo tomorrow but it is forecast to be 96 degrees. I don’t think so.

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  17. I’m not really having dinner tonight, as such, because my niece and her husband hosted a birthday party this afternoon for my great nephew. He turned one today. We had a lot of the sort of food you have at a buffet – meatballs in a crock pot, buffalo chicken dip, chips and salsa, vegetables and dip, and of course birthday cake. I haven’t been very hungry, but I’m getting ready to heat up a little bit of leftover fish (steelhead trout) and mashed potatoes. I brought home some pasta salad and a good deal of vegetables from the party this afternoon, so I’ll probably have that for dinner tomorrow. Possibly make the vegetables into soup, or something in the rice cooker.

    I didn’t bring home any of the leftover cake, though – it was that sort of cake where after you’ve eaten a piece, you feel like you never want to eat another piece of cake again. Then it takes a day or two to return to normal.

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  18. OT – Some of you may have seen this before, I know I had, but it’s good enough that it bears repeating.

    The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term:

    “Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Support your answer with a proof.”

    Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

    First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So, we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let’s look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added. This gives two possibilities.

    1) If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

    2) Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

    So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms.Therese Banyan during my Freshman year that “It will be a cold night in Hell before I sleep with you,” and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then (2) cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic.

    The student got the only A.

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  20. I’ve just used up most of my pantry.
    No real recipe which makes things better yet!
    1 lb of ground Bison (very lean meat.)
    1 can of potatoes
    1 can carrots
    1 can tomato soup
    Last of the Worchester
    Last of the mustard
    Paprika
    Baked for a while. Guessing.
    Lots of Guessing.
    Enough to last past Taco Tuesday for sure.
    Still have oatmeal, flour, sugar, frozen broccoli, 2 eggs, ground bison, lots of spices, can of yams, coconut flakes, peanut butter, honey, vanilla, tea, ketchup, Italian dressing, steak sauce, apple cider vinegar, minced garlic, lemon juice, maple syrup, olive oil.
    Sounds like a challenge for an Iron Chef. Secret ingredient: Rum.

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  21. Bill’s commentary on our grocery shopping habits hit home today, as we stopped after church to visit the fish guy who comes to town every other Sunday. We bought 4 pounds of dry frozen sea scallops and
    four Chilean sea bass steaks. Husband acknowledged we are opportinistc grocery shoppers. Luverne is 25 miles from Sioux Falls, where the nearest large grocery store is. We may need even more freezers than we have now so we won’t burn so much gasoline driving there to get the things we think we need.

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    1. As many a Baboon will do, I looked up an unfamiliar artist. A search brought me to a small club with Dowling playing amazing guitar and after demonstration of excellent work says, “So far, so good”. He had be.

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        1. Yes, he had us laughing throughout the evening. I’d like to see him again. His living trajectory was Wisconsin to Wyoming to Mexico, and he and his wife have recently moved from Mexico to Twin Cities (Shoreview).

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  25. Pingback: Late March – MobsterTiger

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