Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Leftovers


Io Caterpillar
Originally uploaded by Contrary Goddess.

This is a caterpillar daughter found the other day. Long time readers may remember the Hickory Horned Devil from last year. This year's was even more exciting because it was poisonous! It is an Io caterpillar and turns, tada, into an Io moth.


Beefsteak Mushroom
Originally uploaded by Contrary Goddess.

And other daughter has found the mushroom book again, bless her. I don't know why I can never put my hands on it. Maybe because I waste too much time wandering aimlessly around the woods after a rain identifying various and sundry mushrooms.

So, this one is a beefsteak mushroom and that is certainly what it looks like. It is supposed to be good to eat but I didn't try it. If that stump becomes covered with them, I might.

Plus, there are a few things I'd just like to make a note of:

I lust after a stainless steel potato masher, the "S" shaped variety. I'm sure it is out there somewhere (are you listening Martha Stewart?). I'm not much of a materialist but there are tools . . . .

It must be noted that a tool designed to take away equine hoof (a rasp) will quickly do a number on the skin of the hand that one is holding the hoof with. Nothing deep, mind you but husband said, "You are bleeding." "So? Haven't known a lot of farriers, have you?" said I. "You haven't known any good farriers, have you?" said the smart a**. May the Gods love him. And me more.

And another sign of living at the foot of the cross is when the number of clothes pins exactly match the number of wet socks.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, there are tools. But I don't recall ever seeing an s-shaped potato masher. I'll keep my eye out now.

I've never heard that saying "living at the foot of the cross", and I thought I'd heard them all because my family owned a Christian bookstore when I was in my teens. Boy, did we get some 'peculiar people' through there. Self-professed and otherwise.

CG said...

Well, actually, I've never heard anyone not currently backsliden to actually use the term either. At least around here it would be tooooooo presumptuous for an actual Christian to use. A backsliden drunk one, however, that's who I heard it from and I like it.

And the shape is SSSSS, ya know? Not the flat stamped thing.

Anonymous said...

The post is titled Leftovers and the first thing is a picture of a single caterpillar. What? They ate the rest of them?

Anonymous said...

I know the potato masher you are talking about, I even have one. Not sure if it's stainless though. I have a non-stick one now since all my pots are now non-stick. Want I should send it to you?

CG said...

Eleu, the post is just oddments, ok, we didn't eat the caterpillars! You are such a troublemaker.

And jules, thanks but no thanks. Although, have you thought of rethinking the nonstick pot thing? I personally won't use them -- I don't feel like eating nonstick coating myself, and I don't find that things stick to my stainless steel and cast iron anyway.

arcolaura said...

Well, I've been looking too. Narrowed my description down to "wire potato masher stainless" but then you still get hundreds of irrelevant hits on catalog pages that have a stainless whatsit and a nickel-plated wire masher. Finally found American Metalcraft at Instawares Restaurant Supply.

CG said...

wow Laura! But I'm almost afraid to go to those sites -- I might lust after even more stuff, err, tools. We were out just last night and there was this great heavy duty biscuit pan, and mine are truly crap and old at that and I was like, oooo, ahhhh, but wished they had a good bread pan and cake pan too . . . although maybe I should try those silicone things? I don't know really. It was aluminum and I don't like that, but it was also the only one not coated and I hate coatings on cookware . . . so anyway, I'm off to browse I guess! Thanks!

And MCM, I've decided that the religious would never say they were living at the foot of the cross, but the sacrilegious would. Maybe.

Or, to quote Tom Robbins -- Everything is sacred, nothing is holy. Nothing is sacred, everything is holy.

Or something like that.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's been quite a while since I was in the thick of it, but at the time, mid-80's, there was nothing the religious folk coming into our store wouldn't say for fear of sounding presumptuous. Or assinine.

"I'm walkin' in the Spirit, brother, and the Lord's speakin' to me. The Lord wants me to have that Bible, brother, that one there with the leather cover. He knows I don't got no money, but when the Lord speaks, you gotta listen."

or

"Oh, Mr.***, the anointing is on this tape. No, really, I can FEEL the anointing raining down right now as I listen to it. Look at me! Look at me! I'm actually crying, it's so anointed!"

or

"Are you saved, dear? Don't think that working in a Christian bookstore is going to get you into heaven, young lady, because the Lord sees the HEART."

MizMell said...

I'm a stickler for kitchen gadgets as well. I would love to find a good-heavy duty apple corer. I've went through a couple and they sure are handy.
My most recent wonderful accessory has been a Longaberger batter bowl.... Perfect for muffins and breads since it has a pouring spout.
I believe the best pans for cookies and biscuits are the Air Bake line. The only drawback are they are not immersible.

CG said...

Well, I'm not much for gadgets per se, but tools. And they have to be tough, and cleanable. I don't think the airbakes would last long here -- we're too hard on stuff. And I like my biscuits to have that nice crunchy buttery bottom. I'm thinking those heavy duty things they use in commercial bakeries. But I like hearing what people like! And don't like.

I have a grist mill (or three) but not a mixer, if that shows where my priorities are.

I am thinking an apple peeler thingie would be helpful to bulk process the apples. Last time we did bushels of them, peeling & coring by hand was the bottleneck. But so many of our apples are irregularly shaped, etc.

arcolaura said...

I tried the apple peeler thingie and it peeled beautifully, but I think the apples (a gift from SIL) were too old and fragile - as soon as they hit the cutting blade they just split in three and fell off the fork, incompletely peeled and not sliced at all. I'm thinking the simple little core-and-section thingie that you press down through the apple might work better for not-so-fresh fruit. If you can process soon after picking, maybe the peeler thingie would work.

Nickie said...

oooooo!!! I have one of htose potato mashers! :)

CG said...

Nope, not the push through thing -- I can use a sharp knife much more efficiently than that. But then I go back to a sharp knive thought. It is what my grandparents used. And all sorts of apples -- little green what we called horse apples to big hard what we called cooking apples (although we cooked all of them that we didn't eat fresh). I do love knives too, and did I mention the sharp part!?! Got a stainless steel tea kettle the other day, feeling very extravagant about that. oooh, gotta do a food post as soon as I get the time to think.

But speaking of the apple thing, my mom had one but we never used it. But my friend WonderSoul told me she uses hers every year.

Ren Allen said...

I bought the Pampered Chef apple/peeler/corer and it saved me a ton of time when making applesauce! Love it.
Definitely a tool in my book, not a gadget......though I tend to be swayed by certain gadgets too.:)

Here I was just stoppin' by for a quick browse and can't stop reading again...you being all inspirational with the simple living and all.