The Last Day of March is Upon Us...Don't be Caught Around the Corner.

Halfway into my first coffee and still feeling the need to shake the cobwebs from my head.  I had better start shaking as the day will be putting forth sunshine soon, or I sure hope it will be.

The crock pot Roast Beef dinner last night for supper was tender and falling apart.  The carrots melted in my mouth with flavor, and according to Rob (as I don't eat gravy) the gravy smothering the potatoes, along with everything on his plate, was very good. 

I figured out last night as to why it was easier to make gravy in my crock pot sometimes and sometimes not.

There have been times after a Roast has been in the Crock pot since morning, I have, usually just an hour before supper, turned the crock pot down to low.  Last night, I had left it on high.  After removiing the meat and veggies, adding hot water to bring it up to the amount of gravy I needed, it was piping hot and thickened with no problem once adding the cornstarch/water mixture..  The change in temperature has been the cause of me having problems with the thickening of my gravy in the slow cooker at times.  I will have to keep that registered in my memory bank for further gravy making (somehow, lol).

I came across an interesting website with regards to the Crockpot vs Oven, with some related links at the bottom of the article:

http://food.thefuntimesguide.com/2008/10/crock_pot_cooking.php

With Hydro charges constantly going up in my area I think I save by using my Crock pot.  Nevertheless, it is at times more convenient for me to use and we love the way the receipes in it taste.  I use my Crock pot year round, so it is not just a way to make comfort foods!

I am proud to say I have completed some more Spring Cleaning tasks!  Hooray!  The dust monsters on the blades of my light/fan fixture in our bedroom have been slain, you can see yourself, once again, in the bathroom light fixture, and the scenery out both the bathroom and bedroom windows much more clearer.

I can now come up the stairs from the front entrance landing to gaze upon a lovely display cabinet unhibitated by dust monsters and maybe some other undesirable creatures unseen by the human eye.

And Fly Poop !!!  My biggest challenge at the best of times when one lives out in the country with three horses onsite and a huge cow manure pile directly across the road.  Well let me tell you, all fly poop that was in my path yesterday has been washed off in ready for the new upcoming Season......oh yech.

My best friend, Bob, sent me an interesting email yesterday.  Since I have worked as a Short Order Cook, and have put my hand through hot oil in a fryer, I appreciated the knowledge this email held for me:

Sounds like this person found a new cure? 
Once I was cooking some corn and stuck my fork in the boiling
water to see if the corn was ready.   I missed and my hand went
into the boiling water....

A friend of mine, who was a Vietnam vet, came into the house, just
as I was screaming, and asked me if I had some plain old flour...I
pulled out a bag and he stuck my hand in it.  He said to keep my hand
in the flour for 10 mins. which I did.  He said that in Vietnam , this guy
was on fire and in their panic, they threw a bag of flour all over him to
put the fire out...well, it not only put the flour out, but he never even had
a blister!!!!

SOOOO, long story short, I put my hand in the bag of flour for 10 mins,
pulled it out and had not even a red mark or a blister and absolutley NO
PAIN.  Now, I keep a bag of flour in the fridge and every time I burn myself,
I use the flour and never ONCE have I ever had a red spot, a burn or a blister!
*cold flour feels even better than room temperature flour.

Miracle, if you ask me.  Keep a bag of white flour in your fridge and you will be
happy you did.  I even burnt my tongue and put the flour on it for about 10 mins.
and the pain was gone and no burn.  Try it!  BTW, don't run your burn area under
Cold water first, just put it right into the flour for 10 mins and experience a miracle

 I am hoping I never burn myself to that extent again that I might have to try this, however good to know should it happen and should it work.  Better then the old wife's tale of putting butter on a burn, as this I know, first hand, does not work!

Let's see how my day is going to far weatherwise:

Today:

Cloudy. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 9. UV index 5 or moderate.

 

Tonight:

Cloudy periods. Low minus 4.

Looking good for what I am going to be doing today.

Ummm supper?  I am always trying to think ahead since I have to take whatever I decide out of the freezer to thaw beforehand.

I am thinking, since I picked up up some lovely thin asparagus yesterday, of trying the Asparagus Bow-tie Pasta dish from the 2011 Kraft What's Cooking magazine, to go along with the chicken breast halves I took out of the freezer last night.

http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/asparagus-bow-tie-pasta-122042.aspx

Yes, I think (I do think quite alot) I will marinade the chicken breast halves in Zesty Italian dressing and try out this new pasta dish as a side for tonight's supper.  I do have two willing Guinea Pigs, that never do without their supper......

With bucket of vinegar water in one hand and dust rag in the other I venture out into the last day of March 2011 to see what the day brings......Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard.