November 19, 2010
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Canning Apples And Grapefruit…Oh My!
TALES FROM THE BRAT FARMI have no idea what got into him but today the Beast hit a new low. High? Whatevah! He bought stuff for me to use for canning without consulting me first. And that includes bags of apples and grapefruit. What the hell got into him, I have no idea but……I decided that it might be a good idea. What he DID forget was to pick up sugar for the light syrup I plan on using for it all.
Yeah, I’m not going to go ahead and make jars of apples that can just be poured into a pie shell for apple pie. That’s a heck of a lot more work. I DID tell him that he was going to help peel the grapefruit (those are work intensive to get ready) AND he can core the apples for me. The rest, I don’t really trust him to do. He has a bad habit of thinking he knows better than anyone how to do something or else he decides that this or that isn’t important (when it IS). God knows, he’s never cooked for himself even until we bought this house and he stayed here during the summer. It was learn to cook at least a few things or eat nothing but TV dinners!
But, he now considers himself a genuine cook after making some decent chili, spaghetti, pancakes and French toast. There is nothing more irritating than a know-it-all whose expertise extends just three or four years and the most complicated thing he’s ever made is spaghetti sauce. Actually, we make what the older of my two brothers calls *Irish spaghetti*. He was married to a gal that was half Italian and learned from her what real Italian *red sauce* was like. To us, it was kind of a mish-mosh of veggies and meats. We mostly used green pepper, onion, some garlic, tomato sauce/paste/puree and browned ground beef. When things were good, we added Italian sausage. Sometimes, we made meatballs out of the ground beef….just for a bit of variety. I still like the small meatballs like my mom made for us kids.
The Beast won’t even TRY making meatballs. Nope, he doesn’t even chop his own green pepper. He HAS learned to cut up his own onion but he will never get a prize for any kind of size consistency. Like most men, if it’s chopped up (that means NOT WHOLE), it works for them.
Notice I said *MOST* men. I have known men who take pride in any job that they do, including chopping up veggies. I just didn’t get one of them.I told the Beast he was welcome to help out a bit but then he had to just sit and observe. He gets a bit bent out of shape when I do that so I know he has no plans on doing so. He will do what he must and then will go play games on Pogo or watch some of his news on Fox. Thankfully.
As I was going through all that he bought, I ran across some pickling spice. I told him that it was a bit late for pickles so I would save it but he has that figured out. He said, *Can’t we use cucumbers?* I gave him *the look* and said, *Oh sure, but it will cost an arm and a leg since cukes are out of season now and the skins will be tougher.* A light seemed to go on in his head and he said, *Oh, so that’s why some pickles have such tough skins to bite through!* Well, DUH!!! The big barrel kosher dills are a good example. The taste, when they are spiced right, is wonderful but the skins are tougher than regular pickles. It’s the price you pay sometimes.
Chewlee told me that she had a good day at school when I asked her. She wasn’t really enthusiastic when she said it so I asked her, *Are you sure?* With that, she turned and had her hand on one hip and said, firmly, *I SAID I had a good day, Gramma*. I just said, *Okay…just making sure.*
She got into a discussion with me about the cold meaning that winter was coming and that meant no more rain. I told her we would still get rain but….if it was cold enough, it would come down as SNOW!!! Her eyes got big and she said, *Really??* She got a kick out of that idea when I answered, *Yes, really!*
She also told me there would be no more snakes now that it was cold and I agreed with her, telling her that they would sleep all winter because of the cold. She then told me that after winter was over, she was going to have her own garden. I asked her where she was going to have her garden and she looked at me, incredulously, and said, *At YOUR house, Gramma. Remember?* That made me laugh and I told her that I didn’t know if SHE remembered. She then launched into all the different colors of flowers she wanted and told me that there would be purple ones for me since I like purple. So cute.
When her mother got here to pick her up, she grabbed her pictures she had colored at school and a package that had come here for the Princess and said, *It’s time for me to go, Gramma.* She marched out into the kitchen, handed it all to her mother and turned for the door. The Princess, ever the sweetheart (that is sarcasm), opened the package here so she could leave it for OUR garbage and handed the DVD that was enclosed to Chewlee to carry. It was a new Sponge Bob so that got Chewlee more anxious to leave. She ran to the door, turned on the outside light and was ready for her mother to open the door (her hands were FULL….LOL). The Princess asked her if she wanted to go home with HER, Chewlee said YES and then we said our goodbyes.
The Beast didn’t realize that Sheepie comes this Saturday and he started asking just WHO was picking her up in Birmingham. The Princess works and that means I have Chewlee so, process of elimination, it means HE has to pick her up. I did tell him that, if he wanted to watch Chewlee, I would go. It’s up to him. I know what he prefers. He doesn’t want to have to check out Chewlee’s poop so he will take Baron and pick up Sheepie. Watch and see.
Well, love you all. Keep warm, dry and stay happy. TGIF!!!!! If you go out with a few friends after work, have one for me, too.
