February 2014 – Scary Yankee Chick

The deer are here to stay

February 25, 2014 2 Comments by Ruth

Since I put out the trail cameras, half the point was to watch the deer, and the deer have been elusive, a few here and there, but not regularly.

But they appear to have discovered my fruit trees and the feed block, and are here to stay now!

After that visit, which appears to be the big guy from the last post and some friends, I moved the camera and feed block closer to the big apple tree behind them.

It appears to be two groups of deer, the 2nd group contains less fat and more obviously pregnant deer.

They’re spending so much time infront of the camera that the batteries keep dying on me!

I did have a laugh though, its not just the deer enjoying the feed block.

Trail Cameras

What kind of deer is this?

February 8, 2014February 8, 2014 6 Comments by Ruth

Had a bit of a surprise when I checked the trail cameras this morning. They sure don’t look like the White-Tails I’m used to!

Edit: I have a vote for BIG mature White-tail buck who’s dropped his antlers a little early, if thats correct then thats one of the biggest bucks I’ve seen on camera here…..

Food, Gardening

I’ve mentioned before that we have a few apple trees in the back. I’m not sure if some of them are still going to be alive come spring, they were looking kinda poorly last year. Regardless Husband and I had been seriously considering expanding our little orchard. We both REALLY enjoy home-made applesauce made with Granny Smith apples, however after doing some research it looks like Granny Smiths aren’t likely to do well here. We’re technically USDA zone 5b, but I’ve learned the hard way that I really need plants that are hardy to zone 4 if I want them to thrive here…..

I recently ran across the site for Fedco Trees, based in Maine. Their list of heirloom apple varieties is HUGE! I’ve never heard of most of these apples. And best of all, all of them are hardy to zone 4 if not colder! And so now I have this list of heirloom varieties I’d REALLY like to get ahold of to try….

Anyone know where I can find someone growing a Spice Sweet Apple tree?

Food

Deep Dish Pizza

February 2, 2014February 2, 2014 4 Comments by Ruth

So Husband and I normally prefer a good thin crust pizza, and thats normally what I make. But several weeks ago we treated ourselves to a dinner out at Pizzeria Uno. And I had their Pizza Skins appetizer as my meal. It was really really good…..

So it started, first to find a recipe for a Chicago style deep dish crust that looked good, and then to figure out what to bake it in….

After some poking around I picked up a pair of 8″ Lodge Skillets for that use and others.

And I found THIS recipe.

Tried it today, it was very very very good.

A couple minor changes, I pre-heated the cast iron pans in the oven for about 5 minutes before plopping the crust into them.

I also think that this recipe will make 3 pizzas of that size just fine….

The filling was mashed redskin potatoes with fresh roasted garlic mashed in along with alot of shredded cheese (mostly cheddar but some Parmesan and Asiago got in there too), and some home-canned bacon bits I canned up a few weeks ago.

You can see how the extra crust bulged up, and I think we over filled it with the mashed potatoes. I also didn’t quite get the seasoning mix right for the potatoes, but thats ok, it was really really good anyway, I’ll be trying it again!