Went to concert last night. S. stopped in afterwards and sampled solar baked corn bread and she approved of it. She's intrigued by cooking and not heating up house.
Note for next week: Managed Stores: Picked up extra dry cat food. I had some canned on hand for them; they like canned of course, but it's also wet and a treat in the heat.
Mom is holding her own still this week. Cats are doing okay. Going to San Diego next sunday, July 6 for business with K. I hope that will be the last trip for those reasons!
And I'm feeling a lot better than I was last summer at this time.
cheers,
shamba
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
June 26-27 end of the week
June 26th
Talk about a Dismal Thursday yesterday==DJ went down 350 pts. 1100 pts down in one month. Worst June for the Dow Jones Averages since 1930! L According to www.americanenergycrisis.com.
Oil closed at 19=139.64 after being in the mid 130s for several days.
GM and Ford stock at something like 50 year lows! Bankruptcy in the next 6 -12 months? One commentator who is very accurate these days say there will be a dramatic announcement about them both or one of them right after the election.
June 27th
11355.88 and 1278.82 Oil:: 140.21 first time above 140 to settle according to my observations. Not the first time during day trading though.
It seem so irrelevant who get elected this fall .... as to who could really change the direction things are going in. but, yes, I'll vote.
shamba
Talk about a Dismal Thursday yesterday==DJ went down 350 pts. 1100 pts down in one month. Worst June for the Dow Jones Averages since 1930! L According to www.americanenergycrisis.com.
Oil closed at 19=139.64 after being in the mid 130s for several days.
GM and Ford stock at something like 50 year lows! Bankruptcy in the next 6 -12 months? One commentator who is very accurate these days say there will be a dramatic announcement about them both or one of them right after the election.
June 27th
11355.88 and 1278.82 Oil:: 140.21 first time above 140 to settle according to my observations. Not the first time during day trading though.
It seem so irrelevant who get elected this fall .... as to who could really change the direction things are going in. but, yes, I'll vote.
shamba
June 25 th Little Closer to Doom it seems
Doom also seems closer in the summer heat--I have 3 full mor months of it to go. I count September as summer.
-Dow Chemical is increasing prices 25% on it product; as of June 1st it had just increased them 20%. So 45% increase in about one month! :0 Yikes—this is a lot of cleaning products and makeup products for one thing. I don’t know about hair dye and nail polish—I’m going to miss those two things a lot when they’re not available—sigh,
-Quaker oats processing plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa was closed June 11 because of the flood threats there. That’s why there were so few rolled and quick oat packages available at the store yesterday, I’ll bet.
I wondered what “thing” of the issues surrounding us—climate change, gasoline prices and/or shortages, electricity prices, local government budgets, consumer good prices increasing, food supply issues and prices, housing/real estate issues, financial system issues—would “get us’ first. I’m not sure what I mean by “get us” because as a national economy it’s the financial problems that have actually gotten us first, credit crunch and too much debt, too much leverage, etc.
But my personal “getting” isn’t the price of gas; it’s the price of food and possible shortages. I find this extraordinarily frightening. I suspect my next “getting” will be the price of electricity in my bill for July. New rates go into effect this summer with July and august as the most expensive electric season in my part of Arizona.
-Dow Chemical is increasing prices 25% on it product; as of June 1st it had just increased them 20%. So 45% increase in about one month! :0 Yikes—this is a lot of cleaning products and makeup products for one thing. I don’t know about hair dye and nail polish—I’m going to miss those two things a lot when they’re not available—sigh,
-Quaker oats processing plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa was closed June 11 because of the flood threats there. That’s why there were so few rolled and quick oat packages available at the store yesterday, I’ll bet.
I wondered what “thing” of the issues surrounding us—climate change, gasoline prices and/or shortages, electricity prices, local government budgets, consumer good prices increasing, food supply issues and prices, housing/real estate issues, financial system issues—would “get us’ first. I’m not sure what I mean by “get us” because as a national economy it’s the financial problems that have actually gotten us first, credit crunch and too much debt, too much leverage, etc.
But my personal “getting” isn’t the price of gas; it’s the price of food and possible shortages. I find this extraordinarily frightening. I suspect my next “getting” will be the price of electricity in my bill for July. New rates go into effect this summer with July and august as the most expensive electric season in my part of Arizona.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
June 24th
Went to buy vanilla, some eggs—to do some baking I thought but then I found numerous items at the Safeway for “buy one get one free” –fresh strawberries, some canned fruit, herbal teas—which I use all year round for just drinking general purposes, cold or hot, stewed tomatoes ( which I love).
I have used teas and made by own teas for medicinal purpose—I took a few classes on that years ago and still have the recipes. But then I’d have to have the right ingredients to make them. Often the general public herbal teas in grocery stores serve simple “medicinal” needs.
Then, I was horrified by some break loaves being 4.59 apiece! Eek! It was bread I like but I didn’t need any loaves of bread so I passed on that. Not all their bread was that high it was something I buy sometimes. My energy bars at the Safeway bakery I love have gone from 50 apiece to 59 cents apiece in the past 4-5 months—I could probably learn to bake those. Also, I was low on whole oats—all they had on the shelves today was quick oats but that could be just today. This was Quaker oats and Safeway brand both that were low. I bought the higher price because I didn’t want Quick oats anyway. Also, got box of cornmeal, corn starch, but forgot the vanilla. Also, got some more butter and olive oil and black tea.
Every time I go to the store, I find these 10 cans for $10.00 or other things like it and I buy 10 things or sometimes only 5 things because I know it can be used and it or similar things will cost more and more in just a few weeks, I know it will.
I was looking at bulk foods online yesterday just to avoid driving to a couple of places in Phoenix that I know of in the heat.
Weather Note: Our record according to last night’s weather news on NBC local was 18 straight days in 1974 of 110 plus temps. Last year we had 30 or so days but not in a row, that was a record, too. As of today we’re running 12 or so days.
Where am I going to put all these cans??? My "canned cupboard" is pretty full.
Cheers,
I have used teas and made by own teas for medicinal purpose—I took a few classes on that years ago and still have the recipes. But then I’d have to have the right ingredients to make them. Often the general public herbal teas in grocery stores serve simple “medicinal” needs.
Then, I was horrified by some break loaves being 4.59 apiece! Eek! It was bread I like but I didn’t need any loaves of bread so I passed on that. Not all their bread was that high it was something I buy sometimes. My energy bars at the Safeway bakery I love have gone from 50 apiece to 59 cents apiece in the past 4-5 months—I could probably learn to bake those. Also, I was low on whole oats—all they had on the shelves today was quick oats but that could be just today. This was Quaker oats and Safeway brand both that were low. I bought the higher price because I didn’t want Quick oats anyway. Also, got box of cornmeal, corn starch, but forgot the vanilla. Also, got some more butter and olive oil and black tea.
Every time I go to the store, I find these 10 cans for $10.00 or other things like it and I buy 10 things or sometimes only 5 things because I know it can be used and it or similar things will cost more and more in just a few weeks, I know it will.
I was looking at bulk foods online yesterday just to avoid driving to a couple of places in Phoenix that I know of in the heat.
Weather Note: Our record according to last night’s weather news on NBC local was 18 straight days in 1974 of 110 plus temps. Last year we had 30 or so days but not in a row, that was a record, too. As of today we’re running 12 or so days.
Where am I going to put all these cans??? My "canned cupboard" is pretty full.
Cheers,
Monday, June 23, 2008
June 23rd
June 21 “Extreme” heat continues—
Funny how we’ve had extreme here all my life and the local media never called it “extreme heat warning” and gave lots of advice on how to handle it. It’s a good idea, I think, especially for all the people who live here from where the heat isn’t so extreme every day but still it strikes me as funny that 111 is extreme heat when we always have our highest temps—from 110-115 in June for a week or two.
Of course, we are a lot warmer at night than we were 30 years ago and don’t cool off as readily anymore because of the amount of asphalt and cement we have here now.
-Chicken tenders are in the solar oven today to see how they will cook. Actually, they are strips of chicken breast that was on special at Safeway last week.
-Rubbed some Mrs. Dash on the chicken and put in a larger pan. I wanted to check on it about every 30 minutes to see how it was doing—I know it takes longer that way! But I want to see what it looks like. It’s different the way it evolves from cooking in the inside oven.
-Two small potatoes, some white onion sliced/chopped. Parsley flakes, some turns of peppercorn, some salt and basted with some butter a little into cooking after the butter melted enough.
-Put the potatoes in an hour after the chicken.
-Temp in the oven for this gets to 250 according to the thermometer in the oven.
-So far, if whatever cooking needs more than 250 degrees, double the time to cook it.
I’ll try to remember to get pictures of this when it’s done. And the cats get some chicken for dinner tonight!
_Took everything out at about 2:00 p.m.
--Little too long for chicken –started somewhere about 12 p.m. or little before. Chick was too dry
--Potatoes were okay, but not as tasty as I thought they might be—little squishy.
Note about potatoes: they were better cold the next day after they were cooked. More flavor completely.
Funny how we’ve had extreme here all my life and the local media never called it “extreme heat warning” and gave lots of advice on how to handle it. It’s a good idea, I think, especially for all the people who live here from where the heat isn’t so extreme every day but still it strikes me as funny that 111 is extreme heat when we always have our highest temps—from 110-115 in June for a week or two.
Of course, we are a lot warmer at night than we were 30 years ago and don’t cool off as readily anymore because of the amount of asphalt and cement we have here now.
-Chicken tenders are in the solar oven today to see how they will cook. Actually, they are strips of chicken breast that was on special at Safeway last week.
-Rubbed some Mrs. Dash on the chicken and put in a larger pan. I wanted to check on it about every 30 minutes to see how it was doing—I know it takes longer that way! But I want to see what it looks like. It’s different the way it evolves from cooking in the inside oven.
-Two small potatoes, some white onion sliced/chopped. Parsley flakes, some turns of peppercorn, some salt and basted with some butter a little into cooking after the butter melted enough.
-Put the potatoes in an hour after the chicken.
-Temp in the oven for this gets to 250 according to the thermometer in the oven.
-So far, if whatever cooking needs more than 250 degrees, double the time to cook it.
I’ll try to remember to get pictures of this when it’s done. And the cats get some chicken for dinner tonight!
_Took everything out at about 2:00 p.m.
--Little too long for chicken –started somewhere about 12 p.m. or little before. Chick was too dry
--Potatoes were okay, but not as tasty as I thought they might be—little squishy.
Note about potatoes: they were better cold the next day after they were cooked. More flavor completely.
Friday, June 20, 2008
June 20th Accomplishment finished the past two weeks
These categories are from Sharon Astyk's Independence Days challenge, link to her signt is on the right hand column. The goal is to try and do some tasks in each of these categories every week.
1. Plant something. No food garden. But I have several pots of aloes that have been thriving all by themselves in a portion of the patio. Now with new gates, woodwork on house painted, dead bushes cut down but not cleared away it’s time to do something with these feral (!) aloes.
I don’t think you should just pick pieces of aloes and eat them but I know that aloes like these are very good for rubbing the inside of a piece on a cut or insect bite or a small sunburn.
I’ve got lots of pots of various sizes and I have the right kind of potting soil I’ve had for several months. As soon as I repot these aloes, they’ll be growing like anything. Probably anything else I’d like to plant will never make it in these summer temps, so that will have to wait until mid-September at least.
2. Harvest something. Um, no.
3. Preserve something. No.
4. Prep something. One small bag of clothes to give to St. Vincent de Paul or Salvation Army or Good will.
Also, I cleaned out the shed completely and rearranged everything inside. With the new wall and door, it is more secure than it used to be. I don’t want to put too much inside as everything gets so dirty but all the outside tools can go in there now instead of being under the bed.
Patio is also a much more appealing place and has possibilities to be a very pleasant place with some decent landscaping and the wind bells hung up again.
Best of all, I got my new solar oven. Checked it over and read instructions thoroughly. Also, read instructions that I found online from a solar oven site. Both instructions have several recipes listed. Also made a copy of the instructions from oven manufacturer on my hard drive—the instructions come on a CD. They are written in Hindi English which sometimes sounds funny to my American English native ears—but the instructions are clear enough to follow quite well.
5. Cook something.
Did rice in one pot, and veggies in another pot the night I got the solar oven. I followed instructions I got with the oven and kept checking it every 10 minutes. Of course, to get the best results I’ll have to leave the oven alone once I put something in there, I knew that but it was fun to keep checking it and see how it looked on the patio.
Veggies taste better than if they are steamed. No more mushy steamed broccoli for me! It is also better to cook earlier in the day than at 4-6 in the afternoon here; that is the hottest time of the day in Phoenix.
Also, I can’t burn things in the solar oven easily. Over the years, I have ruined perfectly good pots that way on the stove. I put it on and walk away and don’t come back soon enough.
Corn bread from scratch and it fit in one of the oven pans and it cooked very well in an hour!
A recipe for this was in the oven instructions but I just used another one I already had and figured it would take about twice the time of the oven baked corn bread. I watched it and it was very good at just over an hour in the solar oven.
6. Manage your reserves. listed new items needed for next weeks food shopping trip; coffee, cornmeal, food fresh or dried, and always cat food.
7. Work on local food systems. No.
8. Reduced Waste: No.
9. Learned a skill. Yup, cooked some things successfully with the solar oven.
cheers, shamba
1. Plant something. No food garden. But I have several pots of aloes that have been thriving all by themselves in a portion of the patio. Now with new gates, woodwork on house painted, dead bushes cut down but not cleared away it’s time to do something with these feral (!) aloes.
I don’t think you should just pick pieces of aloes and eat them but I know that aloes like these are very good for rubbing the inside of a piece on a cut or insect bite or a small sunburn.
I’ve got lots of pots of various sizes and I have the right kind of potting soil I’ve had for several months. As soon as I repot these aloes, they’ll be growing like anything. Probably anything else I’d like to plant will never make it in these summer temps, so that will have to wait until mid-September at least.
2. Harvest something. Um, no.
3. Preserve something. No.
4. Prep something. One small bag of clothes to give to St. Vincent de Paul or Salvation Army or Good will.
Also, I cleaned out the shed completely and rearranged everything inside. With the new wall and door, it is more secure than it used to be. I don’t want to put too much inside as everything gets so dirty but all the outside tools can go in there now instead of being under the bed.
Patio is also a much more appealing place and has possibilities to be a very pleasant place with some decent landscaping and the wind bells hung up again.
Best of all, I got my new solar oven. Checked it over and read instructions thoroughly. Also, read instructions that I found online from a solar oven site. Both instructions have several recipes listed. Also made a copy of the instructions from oven manufacturer on my hard drive—the instructions come on a CD. They are written in Hindi English which sometimes sounds funny to my American English native ears—but the instructions are clear enough to follow quite well.
5. Cook something.
Did rice in one pot, and veggies in another pot the night I got the solar oven. I followed instructions I got with the oven and kept checking it every 10 minutes. Of course, to get the best results I’ll have to leave the oven alone once I put something in there, I knew that but it was fun to keep checking it and see how it looked on the patio.
Veggies taste better than if they are steamed. No more mushy steamed broccoli for me! It is also better to cook earlier in the day than at 4-6 in the afternoon here; that is the hottest time of the day in Phoenix.
Also, I can’t burn things in the solar oven easily. Over the years, I have ruined perfectly good pots that way on the stove. I put it on and walk away and don’t come back soon enough.
Corn bread from scratch and it fit in one of the oven pans and it cooked very well in an hour!
A recipe for this was in the oven instructions but I just used another one I already had and figured it would take about twice the time of the oven baked corn bread. I watched it and it was very good at just over an hour in the solar oven.
6. Manage your reserves. listed new items needed for next weeks food shopping trip; coffee, cornmeal, food fresh or dried, and always cat food.
7. Work on local food systems. No.
8. Reduced Waste: No.
9. Learned a skill. Yup, cooked some things successfully with the solar oven.
cheers, shamba
June 19th
Omigosh, my corn bread from scratch came out great in the solar oven!
Have to leave it in twice as long as I would in an electric oven, but it came out fine. I’m using the thermometer that came with the oven. I set it inside and watch the temp that way.
The batch I made fit perfectly in one of the larger round pans that came with the oven. It took just over 60 minutes to cook between 11 a.m. and noon.
How cool is this, cooking with this thing outside and not letting the heat build up inside the house. And we're running over 110 for the past 7 days and are going to go for another 4-5 the same way. it seems to me it's just our usual high June summer day. Our highest temps are usually in June.
Cheers,
shamba
Have to leave it in twice as long as I would in an electric oven, but it came out fine. I’m using the thermometer that came with the oven. I set it inside and watch the temp that way.
The batch I made fit perfectly in one of the larger round pans that came with the oven. It took just over 60 minutes to cook between 11 a.m. and noon.
How cool is this, cooking with this thing outside and not letting the heat build up inside the house. And we're running over 110 for the past 7 days and are going to go for another 4-5 the same way. it seems to me it's just our usual high June summer day. Our highest temps are usually in June.
Cheers,
shamba
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