Excuses

The Bag Lady has been busy with all kinds of things in real life, and just wanted to stop in and say hello. She was going to post some pictures for you, but her computer is in a snit and won't cooperate. So after she takes it out behind the woodshed and gives it a "good talking to" with a willow switch, she hopes to have something for you tomorrow.

In the meantime, she hopes everyone is doing well.

Random Babble

The Bag Lady is having difficulty adjusting to the time change! Believe it or not, the change back to standard time causes her more trouble than losing an hour in the spring. She gets up early as a rule anyway, so losing the hour in the spring doesn't really bother her. It just means that other people are getting up closer to the time she is awake. But gaining the hour in the fall? Instead of getting up at 5:30 in the morning, this morning she was awake at 4:30. Sigh.

She still seems to be busy with all manner of sewing, and trying in vain to keep ahead of the dust bunnies (which are rapidly growing into dust elephants) and housework. The Rancher has taken over the care and feeding of the cows, which is a good thing because the Bag Lady doesn't seem able to manage her time very well. He has also been pitching in with some of the kitchen duties, for which the Bag Lady is grateful.

She got an email from a friend with more pictures of the People of WalMart. What the heck goes through some people's minds when they get dressed to go out in public? Do they REALLY think they look good when they are wearing clothes that look like sausage casings? It made the Bag Lady sad. (It also reminded her to check her image in the mirror from ALL directions before venturing out into the world!) She can still remember the care and attention to detail her mother took before she went out. She would even have us make sure there were no stray hairs on her shoulders and back from combing her hair. That wouldn't even cross the minds of some of the folks in the pictures! (And if the Bag Lady knew how, she would share some of the pictures with you, but she doesn't, which, on second thought is probably a good thing.....)

It is apparently winter in the Bag Lady's neck of the woods. It snowed almost 8 inches on the weekend, and although some of it has melted, a lot of it is still hanging around. The Bag Lady is resigned to the fact that she probably won't see the grass until some time in March or April. Some of the trees and bushes were caught unawares, too, and still have leaves on them. It looks a little strange to see the rose bush with all it's (admittedly brown) leaves against a backdrop of snow.

So what's happening in your life?

Winter? Already?

So.
Remember how the Bag Lady was bragging about it snowing in town but not at her house? Well..... things can change.
There was no snow on the ground anywhere when the Bag Lady went to work yesterday morning, but it started snowing around noon in town. By the time she finished work at 2 pm, there was quite a lot of snow on the ground (and on her truck). She bravely set off from work and was quickly reminded just how slippery it can be when the temperature is just below freezing!

She stopped and got her hair trimmed, then ran some errands and actually bought a new winter coat - woohoo! (She hasn't had a new winter coat for about 10 years) After running her errands, she set off for home. There were sirens all around town, the snow was falling thickly, traffic was moving slowly. Every intersection was icy and the whole affair was fraught with tension. The Bag Lady has 4-wheel drive in her little truck, and she occasionally turned it on to gain a little traction taking off at the icy intersections. Once out on the highway, she ended up behind a little truck that was proceeding quite cautiously at 80 km/hr. That was fine with her - the road conditions certainly didn't warrant going any faster. Unfortunately, the little truck in front of her was not perhaps as well prepared for winter as he could have been.

The dreaded river hill had been sanded on the side closest to the city, but the other side of the bridge falls under a different municipality and they had not yet sent any trucks out to deal with the road conditions. The little truck in front of the Bag Lady was in trouble almost as soon as they left the bridge. In order to get home, she takes an exit immediately after the bridge, and the exit road swoops around and meets up with another highway. When the little truck started onto the other highway from the stop sign, he started fishtailing. The Bag Lady waited for him to get straightened out, then followed him to the base of the hill. He was not going very fast, but even so, he started fishtailing again as soon as he tried to accelerate up the hill. The Bag Lady put her truck in 4-wheel drive and didn't have any problems, except for the little truck sliding all over the road in front of her. He kept slowing down and speeding up, then sliding around again. He finally came to almost a complete stop, which enabled the Bag Lady to get around him and continue up the hill.
Heartless as it may sound, for all she knows, he's still down there at the bottom of the hill, trying to get enough traction to get home! There was nothing she could do to help. She had to pass a big truck, too, who was having a lot of trouble making his way up the hill. It took her almost 20 minutes longer to get home than it normally would, but she made it safely.
She heard on the radio while she was driving home that the road conditions were terrible (which made her mutter under her breath) and that there were numerous accidents throughout the area.
She is hoping that the weather improves today because she doesn't relish the thought of driving home from town when it's icy AND dark outside! She is a big bit of a coward about driving at night.

The forecast is for warmer weather on the weekend, so she is hoping they are right. She has to work again on Saturday morning.

She's hoping the weather where you are is better than it is here right now and that you have a great weekend!

Wednesday Woes

The Bag Lady had big plans today. She had to work this morning, and then had a choice between staying in town and trying to find a place where she could get a haircut without an appointment, or coming home to write a blog post and do some sewing. She opted for the second choice.

When she got home, she and the Rancher had a little visit, then she headed for the computer. The Rancher casually mentioned that she wouldn't have much time. The power was scheduled to go off at 3 pm and wouldn't be back on until 6 pm. She had seen a cluster of power trucks on her way home, but had hoped that either they were finished whatever they were doing, or that they were planning on doing some hotline work (which just means they wouldn't turn the electricity off in order to do whatever they were going to do.) Consequently, her hopes for a productive afternoon were quickly dashed.

Should have stayed in town and gotten her hair cut.

Instead, she did a little sewing by hand, then spent some quality time with the Rancher. Talking. (Silly people..... the Bag Lady and the Rancher are too old for that!)

It feels quite wintery here - gloomy and dull, and in fact, it was snowing in town. It is not snowing at the ranch (must be because we're south of town. Seriously. 27 km makes a difference, doesn't it?)

So now that the electricity is back on, the Rancher is happy (he won't miss the opening game of the World Serious) and the Bag Lady is happy because she can post this, then she can go and do some more sewing.
She knows there is at least one person out there who is probably wondering what the HECK happened to the sewing the Bag Lady promised to do for her --- it's almost done, really! In fact, if all goes well, it will be in the mail tomorrow!!

A Post About Nothing

The Bag Lady is suffering from writer's block. Strangely enough, when she worked from home and only had the cows and assorted domestic critters for inspiration, she found things to blog about. Granted, sometimes those were really mundane and/or boring things, but she usually managed to choke something out, and a lot of you were kind enough to read and comment.

Now that she is working, she should, theoretically, have lots to write about, but she finds that she doesn't. She could write hysterically scathing descriptions of the people at work, except that they are all so nice, there's nothing to deride! Unfortunately, nice is boring. She could make something up, but that wouldn't be fair. Neither is she the type to bare her soul to the world, even if she had something deep and dark to bare. Sadly, she's far too shallow and transparent. She is not a deep thinker, nor a grand intellectual, so she doesn't have anything profound to pontificate about. (Does one pontificate about something or does one pontificate on something? See? We are not dealing with a great intellect here. Hell, we probably aren't even dealing with a full deck!!)

And nothing has happened lately to piss her off, so she can't even write a decent rant. Sheesh. So, with apologies, she hopes you have a great day, and that something happens soon (or that her brain comes back from the extended vacation it is apparently enjoying) so that she'll have something she can share with you.

Crab-stuffed Mushrooms

The Bag Lady doesn't have much for you today. She had a busy weekend, full of sewing and housework and ranch work and entertaining!

She did make an experimental batch of stuffed mushrooms on Saturday that turned out surprisingly well, so she will share her recipe with you!

Crab-stuffed Mushrooms

16 large mushroom caps, stems removed
6 portions Laughing Cow Cheese
1/4 C butter
1 Tbsp horseradish
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
onion salt to taste
garlic powder to taste
1 can crab meat

Soften the cheese and butter in the microwave for approximately 30 seconds. Beat together, then add the remaining ingredients, mixing well.

Spoon into mushroom caps, piling the filling on top. Bake at 350F for approx. 15 minutes, then broil for a couple of minutes to brown the tops.
Enjoy.

Chicken, Not Blackbirds!

As promised, here is a little tutorial on making pastry.


The Bag Lady had a half pound of lard left after she portioned out the lard she made, so she decided to make pastry. This meant she had to cut her recipe in half, which took ages (math is NOT her strong suit) -- How do you cut an egg in half? What do you do with the other half?

Anyway, this is 2 3/4 Cups of flour, mixed with1 tsp salt. Oh, and a big lump of home-made lard in the middle.
Cut the lard into the flour and salt mixture, using a pastry blender or two knives, until it resembles coarse oatmeal.



Mix your half an egg (the Bag Lady broke it into a measuring cup, mixed it up with a fork, then took a little bit out - she's a bit anal, can you tell?) with half a tablespoon of vinegar in a measuring cup, then add very cold water until you have half a cup. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients a little at a time until it clings together (the Bag Lady used a little more than a quarter of a cup of liquid):

Gather it into a ball:



Cut it into three equal portions:



On a lightly floured surface:


With a floured rolling pin:

Roll out the dough into a circle:


To transfer it to the pie plate, roll it loosely around the rolling pin:

Then unroll it onto the pie plate:


Trim to fit:



This is where the Bag Lady ran into trouble ... err... forgot to take more pictures.... fill the pie crust with filling of choice (this pie has chicken and veggies with a little sauce), then follow the same procedure for rolling out the top crust and transferring it to the pie. Seal the edges with a little reserved egg/water mixture, then pinch it or use a fork to make a design around the edge. (The Bag Lady is a pincher, in case you can't tell!)

Bake according to your recipe.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Now go... go forth and bake a pie!

(Edited to add - forgot to mention, the bowl and the rolling pin belonged to the Bag Lady's mother - the Bag Lady was trying to "channel" her, because her pastry was always the best!!)