Hello Friends :)
The theme for today's Scribble Picnic is "Market". I figured I'd draw a day in the life of Wile E. Coyote as he's shopping at the Acme Market. He always has enough money for gadgets but never enough to feed himself right? :) Here is a Road Runner cartoon for anyone who wants to watch:
I'm such a Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies fan...I can't get enough of these shorts! I hope there aren't too many ads on this video, I have Ad Blocker so I don't see them!
Watercolour: I am DREAMING of a day trip next summer to my favourite market for fresh produce!!! During the winter months, I really miss the fresh stuff...
...speaking of that, the sixty pounds of potatoes that I harvested last September have served us well! We went through about 45 pounds already, holy potato! The last 15 pounds or so were starting to grow "eyes" so I took Mama Pea's advice and canned them. I kept 5 pounds of the best looking ones so that we still have some potatoes for french fries or baked potatoes. I realize that the next time I set up my old tires to plant my potatoes, otherwise known as my "tater tires", I will have to double them up!! Also, I need a proper root cellar! I checked the temperature in that unheated basement room and it was at about 10 Celcius (that's 50F)...not cold enough?
Gotta use those potatoes!!! Leek and Potato Soup was on the menu last night! Alex actually took the time to strain my soup because I don't like those stringy parts that always come with leeks, ain't that nice? :) I served this with a nice side dish of comforting garlic/Parmesan bread! (I flash froze a bunch of chives before Christmas and they are PERFECT for using in my cooking! Great way to extend the harvest!!)
What's Rain's kitchen without a pizza? :) This is a vegetarian version of my BBQ Chicken Pizza.
Most of the river around the village is covered with snow, only a few spots near the little waterfall are still showing the raging current.
I'll tell ya though, I wouldn't want to be in that water.
I'm still trying to take my daily walks with Charlie despite the deep freeze. She does pretty well with the boots on her!
My arm injury is healing well (I strained it shoveling snow), I can function very well again despite still being one-armed most of the time; but I'm thankful that I have one good arm! This week we have rain and snow in the forecast, then back to winter by the weekend. Crazy weather!
"Tater Tires" LOL! Great name!
ReplyDeleteAs always, your food looks great. You have a lot more snow than we do right now. I canned potatoes once, and really don't ever want to do it again. I had to borrow a pressure canner to do it. A pressure canner is still on my wish list. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteThat's a "Joyce-ism" Debra!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Kristina :) I love my pressure canner, it's been on my list for years too and I finally got it last fall, I'm so happy with it!
ReplyDeleteLove your market piece Rain, and your food always looks sooo good! Glad your arm is getting better.
ReplyDeleteIt all looks so yummy there in your home Rain - you do such amazing things with your produce etc.
ReplyDeleteWhat would life be without the lowly potato. I made leek & potato soup again yesterday - always a favorite even though it's not at all cold here this week! I always chop my leeks quite small and never use the stringy/tough dark green tops, just the white and as far up as the pale green - my soup is never stringy! We like to have the first bowls chunky - I just mash it a wee bit to thicken, then sometimes completely puree the remainder with my stick blender for next time.
Love your fun art today - and fresh field grown tomatoes can't come soon enough.
Sorry about your arm problem, I'm fighting shoulder/arm pain right now - PT not doing much to help so had injections this week which helped somewhat. Need our precious arms to stay busy - hope you continue to heal quickly.
Hugs - stay warm and watch out on the ice.
Mary -
Thanks Christine :) The comfort food is healing me lol! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Mary :) Oh, I hope your shoulder and arm heal soon! It's not fun to have an injury. Though it makes me appreciate my limbs that much more! Thanks for the tip about the green part of the leeks. I try to cut them close enough to the green, but not too close...I probably have too much green stuff in my soup! I bought a huge bunch of leeks last fall and froze them, so for the next soup I'll try to remove as much green as possible! Hate those stringies!!!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of canning potatoes! But leave it to "Mama Pea" to have a solution!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh that soup and that pizza look soooooo inviting! Sooooooo...
Don't get too close to that snow-ed-over-river. But that bit of raging water, is a beautiful photo op.
Glad you and Charlie are still taking walks. And very glad that your arm and shoulder are healing. Give the body some rest, and it will do the healing. :-)
We are in that up and down temps time too. Guess the Jan. Thaw came a little late, this year.
Hugs... 💟💟💟💟
Hi Wisps of Words :) Oh you can can pretty much anything, though I've read on the National Center for Home Food Preservation's site that you should avoid canning dairy, fats and thickeners. Though I've read on some blogs that people do it anyway! I try to keep on the safe side though.
ReplyDeleteThe walks are good for my spirit! I'm so glad we can still go, I had to take a few days off for my arm's sake. Hugs right back! :)
Heaven only knows how many potatoes you will end up with when you have your own homestead - you can corner the Canadian market! I love Charlie's boots - I am thinking of trying some on Lovey, as she is better at tolerating clothing. The Pat would have them off in a NY minute. Your food always looks so good and comforting, Rain.
ReplyDeleteLOL...wouldn't that be a hoot Susan? If I could outgrown P.E.I. potatoes? :)) I can't wait, I imagine having 400 tires of taters growing each year!!! :) PB would wiggle right out of those booties! I did a post on how I make cheap dog boots, like the one's Charlie is wearing. They cost about $4 each set if you're interested: Homemade Dog Boots
ReplyDeletecharlie looks so cute in those boots! the taters served you well....hell, i could live on potatoes! potatoes and cabbage is one of my favorite dishes. it's pouring here today and i have some very unhappy chow chows!
ReplyDeleteHi Joyce :) I could live on taters too. I just wish I had more of them!!! Oh your poor W's...they must soak in the rain when they go out!
ReplyDeleteI've never pressure canned anything. I wonder if I can do it now in my Instantpot? Your pizza always looks so incredibly good! I'm glad to hear you are recovering from your very Canadian injury! Take care - Jenn
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what temperature a root cellar should be but I'd like to know too. I keep some stuff in my garage but then we have days like the other day when it was 72F and that is way too warm but my basment is heated so that's a no go.
ReplyDeleteWith the snow covering the river do you have to be careful you don't accidentely walk into it?
Good for you canning potatoes! Mama Pea is a wealth of knowledge and did you see her picture of her garden last summer? It's my dream garden!
You make me so hungry with your food pictures! Great use of your potatoes too! I'm going to get back to pizza making and I think I'm going to try a sourdough crust. Wish me luck! How do you 'flash freeze'? On a cookie sheet?
You really made me realize how much I missed gardening and canning and regardless of moving whenever...I am gardening this year. I'll have to protect from critters so it may be containers but look how well you did last year! You're my role model! Take care and give the dogs a big hug and Alex too! ~ Sam
Your tater tire garden was brilliant, Rain.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite soup is potato leek soup. I use a hand held blender to purée it so there are no gritty pieces.
Hi Jenn :) I'm not sure about pressure canning in the instant pot. I'm a new pressure-canner and I go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation for my advice (nchfp.uga.edu) and also the Ball site (https://www.freshpreserving.com/home). Maybe check those out to see if you can do it or not. Pressure canning opens up so much in the way of food preservation! I laughed at my very Canadian injury lol...it's so friggin true! ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Sam :) I guess I'm in the same boat. The downstairs room I used as my cellar is unheated but dang if it's the only well insulated room in this leaky cottage! I'm sure on those days when the temperatures rose outside, it wasn't very good for the taters. I need to figure this out for the future. I love Mama Pea's garden...it's always so clean!! She's my gardening heroin (among other things!!)
ReplyDeleteYes! The flash freezing...I washed, dried and cut up the chives then put them on a baking sheet for an hour. They froze up quite well and then I quickly dumped them into a tupperware for the freezer. They didn't clump together at all! I did parsley, cilantro and basil the same way and so far so good!
The river is so dangerous these days. I won't walk on it anymore unless we have at least 24 hours of a deep freeze! Some people have skidoo'd across it even though there are patches of thin ice or open water, they are idiots!
Hi Starting Over :) Thank you! I loved the tire experiment last summer! I'll be using it again in my future garden for sure! I puréed mine with the stick blender too but I think I used too much of the greens, so that's what made it more stringy.
ReplyDeleteLast year we had a huge bumper crop of sweet potatoes and like you I have no real root cellar so I canned them. Took time to peel but so glad I did them up this way. Have made many a batch of sweet potato muffins that my husband loves.
ReplyDeleteAh, Acme - What do they not make?
ReplyDeletePlease be mindful of the arm.
Hi Donna :) Oh yes, the peeling...that was a pain. I have to find a better way to peel stuff. I'm happy I canned these, though I do want a root cellar one of these days so we can have baked potatoes all year!
ReplyDeleteHi TB :) They sell anything Wile E. Coyote needs! :) Thanks, I'm being careful so I don't re-injure myself! :)
ReplyDeleteI am on my post vacation diet, so it was a mistake to come to visit you ... my gastric juices are begging for some potato leek soup and vegetarian pizza among other things. Even The Road Runner and Wile E couldn't distract my hunger pangs (there were no ads, by the way). I missed the timeline on Scribble Picnic again so if you want to visit, you will have to go directly to my blog. The older I get the harder it is to keep track of my life, Oh my :(
ReplyDeleteAnyway, as always it is a pleasure to visit you and appreciate all of the good things you do ... I don't think I ever had the energy you have even when you are one armed. You are an amazing person ... I wish there were more like you :) Have a wonderful, loving Valentine Day, Rain ... can't think of anyone who deserves it more ...
Andrea @ From the Sol
Hi Rain! What in thunder happened to your arm? I was wondering if you can grow sweet potatoes up there, as they gave me quite a wonderful harvest last year, and seem to keep better than the little red potatoes that we love... I cut yellow squash and zucchini this summer and put them on parchment paper and froze them and they are fabulous to have... pop them in soup, or in an omelet, or in a spaghetti sauce, and the best part is that none of them spoiled! I have also done peppers, and chilis like that. Hope your healing is quick, and please don't overdo with the storms this month.
ReplyDeleteI love the pictures of the the water running just beneath the snow. :)
ReplyDeleteYummy looking pizza there. Glad you and Jack are able to keep walking in this weather. A sore arm slows one down. I just got a shot in my shoulder to try to help. Nancy
ReplyDeleteOMG... Charlie and her little booties. So darn cute. You have to keep those toes warm :)
ReplyDeleteSo much fun at your place. Fun art, great food. I want to move in if you'll have me. I'm quiet, and a good cook and gardener :)
Hi Andrea :) Thanks so much for your sweet comment! :) Better late than never for your art, I really enjoyed your market piece!! Oh a post vacation diet...hmmm...what's THAT??? LOL...I don't think the word "diet" (in the sense of weight loss) has entered my vocabulary in decades lol!
ReplyDeleteHi Dino! :) Oh my gosh...okay...long story short, we had snow, then freezing rain, then snow. The front deck needed to be cleared so one morning I ventured off bravely on my own to do it. Well, I got the one foot of snow off...then came the TWO feet of solid ice. Banging it down, that repetitive motion plus the impact I guess, I pulled my shoulder, bicep and wrist. As Jenn above said a very Canadian injury lol! ;)
ReplyDeleteI JUST flash-froze some zukes!! We have a really great year-round market here and I got some zucchinis 6 for $2. They will be in soups this winter, thanks so much for that tip! I'm sure I could grow sweet potatoes. I never have because Alex doesn't like them, but I thought about a small crop for myself one of these days when I can organize myself!!
Hi Becki :) Thanks! The running water is lovely but it's so dangerous! I have to be very careful when I walk along the river and the lakes here!!
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy :) Oh I hope your arm is okay! I once got shots (prepare to cringe) in the arches of my feet to help me walk. After burning out the meds I was taking killed my metabolism and I gained about 100 pounds really quickly. My ankles and feet couldn't handle it and I walked with a cane for 2 years! Those shots helped so much, but ouch, they hurt!
ReplyDeleteHi Martha!! :) YES YOU ARE WELCOME HERE!!! Not many people are! ;) If you'll shovel snow it's a done deal lol! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's always a pleasure to look at photos of where you live. Seems so peaceful and beautiful. I particularly liked the one with your dog wearing her little boots. Good idea!
ReplyDeleteHope you get to feeling better. Don't go out there and shovel snow, and fall over with a heart attack...
Hi Harry :) You're right, this is a quiet village (for the most part!) but the snowmobilers are here in full force lately, sigh! Looks like we'll be buying a place this spring for sure though - (fingers crossed) as long as we find something we like! So hopefully we'll have a quieter life than right now! When it's -25 out (-13F), the dogs need some extra help. Some yahoo made a comment the other day when I was walking Charlie that I was putting "slippers" on her and he laughed. I just ignored him, people have no clue that the dogs' feet can get cold just like ours!!
ReplyDeleteI'll be careful with the shoveling I promise! :))
Rain,
ReplyDeleteUsing tires to grow potatoes is great, and if you double the tire, and throw a little straw on top to protect the potato vine and leaves they'll be your friend and grow hearty. Love those booties to protect your pups paws in the snow at winter time. My dog won't allow me to even touch his paws.....he's spoiled, LOL
Hi Sandy :) Thanks for the tip about the tires! I've used tires for two seasons now and I'm thrilled! Though it's a little tough to harvest them at times, it's so worth it. I'm hoping I'll be able to grow some potatoes this summer, we'll be moving so it may or may not happen, but I'm definitely sold on the tires now! :) The boots are so helpful because even our husky with her hairy feet (!!)...she hops around when it's really cold out!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I am jealous of your garden bounty (potatoes) I will try again this year :)
ReplyDeleteHi Sheila! :) Thank you! I was so happy about the potato harvest this year...I have dreams of expanding the garden in the future! I just need to figure out the "root cellar" issue...good luck with your taters!! :)
ReplyDeleteYour soup and pizza look so good. Whenever we have a bag of potatoes to get through we go through a lot of butta.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stefanie :) Oh yes, butta for sure!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI bet Charlie is so glad to have those boots on! A much needed accessory for those cold and snowy days! Oh my gosh, love the food pics. It all looks so YUMMY. Love that term TATER TIRE!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam :) The little dog boots are helping them a lot, it's so cold out! Tater Tires, yeah, funny huh? My friend Joyce came up with that one!
ReplyDeleteOh dear how can i miss this such a pleasurable visit here :(
ReplyDeleteLoved each bit of this post ,so much to enjoy and to LEARN specially!
sixty pound potatoes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i am proud of you!
hugs!
Thank you Baili :) 60 pounds of potatoes...wasn't enough for our winter meals though, maybe next time I'm able to have a garden, I'll make sure I double up the tires!!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy your arm is healing well! You are so amazing with your food! You truly are Rain! Your puppy looks so cute! Love the snow photos and your art is great! Love both pieces! Big Hugs!
ReplyDeleteRain,
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for missing this entry to the SP challenge. I'm not sure what's wrong me except I'm a bit overwhelmed trying to do more than I think I should. Anywho, I just love all of your sketches, naturally, the Wiley Coyote is my purrsonal favorite. The fresh bushel of tomatoes sure to look good, too. I love the garden ripen tomatoes!! That's something I hate buying from the grocery store but over the years I've learned to look for a local source that generally produces some satisfactory tomatoes. However, I'm telling you the tomatoes my in-law grew years ago were the BEST ever! You sure do a lot of canning. That's just pAwesome!
Hi Rain,
ReplyDeleteThe food looks so delicious. I haven't had 'tarte au sucre' in such a long time.
That PEI house really looks cozy. I am positive too you will find something...April will bring tons of new listings.
Dear Rain, I've finally got around to visiting everyone's "Market" entry! I know! Late but better late than never. I sais I'd get to them eventually!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your tomato text actually reminds me of squashed tomatoes! Saucy! Great job.
Ha, trust you to come up with a unique angle on "market." Why not? Brilliant and funny!!
And yes, I'm back.....see the latest post.