But when Phil came down with a bad case of hiccups that lasted most of the morning and left him with a raging headache (which may also have been a result of dealing with tax preparation—ick), I wondered if the hiccups were the result of the french fries. Maybe too rich for his digestive system?
After a several hour nap, Phil awoke, and ate the fries I had made for lunch.
The hiccups came back immediately. I tried homeopathic Nux vomica for rich food. That didn't seem to do anything, but the single dose of Magnesium phosphoricum both stopped the hiccups and immediately sent Phil back to sleep for hours in the afternoon.
While I may wish that Phil didn't have quite so strong a biofeedback system (since neither the boys nor I were affected by the rich food), I suppose it's a benefit that his body is quite clear about what he can tolerate and what he can't. Otherwise, he might eat fries and have deeper, more chronic reactions.
Around the farm, Babe and Denise are doing well. Denise had wandered under the single strand electric wire at one point, but Phil brought her back.
The puppies are fully mobile, and have expanded their territory to include the entire motor home. When Bitsy comes in, they are often so eager to eat that they stand on their hind legs to nurse, and Bitsy stands still, a picture of maternal resignation.
I planted a few "just for fun" tree seeds, too, just a single flat with olive, neem, Japanese raisin tree, kiwi, and pineapple guava. The raisin tree seeds may take, apparently, up to five months to sprout!
That's considerably longer than the greens I planted on Friday. They have green leaves showing already! Tomato and pepper seeds have little rootlets emerging now after four days. That's very fun!
Finally, Jadon made me smile today. We were reading in our history book about the beginning of social security. Jadon, somehow, already knew that there is no nice savings fund of social security waiting for all the contributors to be old enough. He already knew that the monies are used as they are taken in, and that it's basically a Ponzi scheme.
After I drew a diagram of what's happening for Isaiah, Jadon said, "I learned about all that from, well, eavesdropping."
Homeschooling at its finest.
So...funny you post about cooking today. I am making caramel for the first time while reading this very fine blog. Well let me start again. I am making caramel for the third time TONIGHT while trying to figure out how to make caramel, and thinking about the wonderful creme caramels you brought to community group once. Who knew how challenging this simple candy is! A batch of coconut fries sounds pretty dern good right now too!
ReplyDeleteWell, I grew up making caramels more than I might wish to admit. Rich, sweet butteriness has always been a weakness.
ReplyDeleteBut there was my very bad scorched peanut caramel experience (well, maybe that actually happened twice before we realized the candy thermometer was broken). I had such high hopes that my peanut butter caramel would still taste okay despite the burning, since it LOOKED like chocolate.
Nope. Burned sugar that looks like chocolate doesn't taste like chocolate.
And I think that time I poured the burned peanut caramel in in glass pan and put it in the sink where it promptly shattered.
Which is all to say that I'm sorry you're making caramels for the third time, but I hope you have not destroyed any pans in the process.
I think my recipe went something like equal parts cream and sugar, with a little salt added, cooked until it reaches the soft ball (or is it hard ball) stage. Yum!
My caramel destroyed no pans! It only took four tries:) Seriously I was not prepared for that. The recipe was for "creme caramel" in a crock pot. Step 1 was: Pour 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup water into a large sauce pan. Do not stir. Melt until sugar becomes caramel colored.
ReplyDeleteThere was no part of my being that thought I would spend TWO HOURS trying to "melt sugar in my large sauce pan". I figured with two ingredients and the "no stir" command, it had to be the pan. A skillet finally did the trick. There is a rather thick layer of caramel that seems to be permanently stuck to the souffle dish. I am thinking about pouring some hot water into that dish to see if that gets things moving.
Hey, I was wondering where you planted your carrots and radishes last time. Did you plant them out direct in your soil? Last year I got a few dinky carrots (low light), but the radishes did well and I think it might be because in that raised bed there is really loose soil. Maybe you could trench one area about a foot deep or something and fill it in with some of your compost or atleast a compost-heavy mix. I guess you could maybe not dig down so far and make a mound alternatively...I think the longest carrot I got was probably about as long as my hand outstretched, and maybe as thick as my thumb. So that advice may not get you much further. Whatever you do, don't plant your garden under a heavy canopy of trees and near complete shade from the surrounding homes a good part of the day:)
I relate to that two hour comment. My first attempt at caramels took, I believe, two hours over the stove. That was a long time back in middle school.
ReplyDeleteSince then, I've ignored all instructions with the words "medium" or "low" for heat, and gone full speed ahead, just watching very carefully.
Hot water will eventually dissolve sugar. (After all, water is the universal solvent.) At least, that's what I keep telling myself about the pot with the remains of a roast, burned on the bottom last week when I accidentally left the heat on for a few hours too long.
Some varieties of radishes have done okay in raised beds. This variety has never had a sprout. And carrots--I truly don't know how they can be so cheap in stores, when they are so hard to grow! I had no success in CO and no success here.
Someday soon I plan to make new raised beds, and then I will try to sow some carrots and radishes straight in the soil, and compare the results with any transplants, assuming they sprout in the greenhouse.