Homekeeping...

 

Most days begin with working in the garden (after I feed Claudette and Crystal), and yesterday was no exception. First I do a walk-through, and then I pull some weeds. After that, I check to see what's ripe enough to pick.

I picked green beans, green peppers, peas and basil this time. I shucked the peas, blanched and froze them. I trimmed the beans and they were our fresh vegetable with dinner last night. I put the peppers on the pile with the others for now. I'll probably slice and freeze those today. Lastly, I picked fresh basil. I'll keep it fresh in the jars of water until I want to use it. What I don't use will likely be chopped, mixed with oil and put in a jar for future use.

 

 

Yesterday was baking day, too, so I got to work on that. I baked the bread and rolls, and while the rolls were in the oven, I mixed up a batch of tortilla dough. The recipe's preference is for lard, so I used the only lard I had in the house...bear lard. It was a gift from my stepsister, Sher. I'd never used or tasted it before, so when I tasted it before mixing it into my dough, I was surprised at how mild it was.

I'm trying to prepare as many ingredients as I can, so that when I need something, I can just pull it off the shelf. Last night, I wanted to make "Mexican Lasagna", so I needed tortillas. They're really simple to make, and I know there are no preservatives in any of the ingredients I used. 

In case you're wondering, "Mexican Lasagna" (not my name for it) is a layering of taco-seasoned meat, sweet corn, green chilies, pinto beans, and blended cheese, spread on a flour tortilla. Repeat at least three times, and then top with more cheese. (I baked this in an oval Corning™ casserole. Bake in a 350º oven, 25-35 minutes, until everything is bubbling. Let rest a bit. Then slice the layered goodness and serve. Handsome loved it, so he was very excited to know there's half of it left for consumption later this week.

I'm working on my reunion books today, so I can meet up with my co-chair tomorrow. We're wrapping up all the last invoices for things related to the weekend. Pretty soon, our gathering will be just a happy memory...and that will be a good thing, too. Maybe I'll get a little needlework done today? We'll see.