Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry My Way

Image of cast iron skillet with beef & broccoli stir fry, a stainless steel pot with white rice and a serving bowl with the two ingredients combined ready to eat.

I'm a lover of Chinese cuisine; the hubby - not so much.  After re-reading that intro, I think I better clarify that I AM a fan of the hubby, he's just not a fan of Chinese food.  Whew! lol  If I want an oriental dish more often than DH is willing to endure at a restaurant, I have to make it myself.  For some reason (probably love) he doesn't mind eating Asian dishes when I make them at home.

I didn't quite have every ingredient I would have liked in my stir fry, however I made do with everyday ingredients we all should have in our pantry's. 

Here's my take on Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry:

Plastic Bag Melted On My Glasstop Stove

Close up image of my glass stove top.

I screwed up and left a burner on my glass top stove going while we went to the store.  Luckily, it was on the lowest possible setting.  First & foremost, I'm very fortunate there wasn't a fire or any damage whatsoever; howsoever, I had a mess to deal with because a plastic bag was set on the burner.  Check out the video for all the details and how I remedied melted plastic on my stove top.

Christmas Greetings

A Christmas Card To You - click the link to view.

Can't Make The Party

I was invited to a party being held on Saturday and it was suggested that I bring some of my home made goodies as a gift if I was so inclined.  I was very inclined as a matter of fact.  I grabbed a quilting fat quarter and lined a cute basket, gathered up a few home canned items, thinly sliced some venison & put in a marinade to make jerky and mixed dough to make spelt rolls.  Before the dough was done rising, I found out I have no way to get to the party tomorrow. Boo-hiss!

If anyone is having a party tomorrow and is willing to pick me up (and bring me home) I have a great gift to bring!

 In the picture

In the basket are:  Quart of tomato juice, pint of salsa and a half-pint of peach jelly - all made with my own two hands from what we grew on our little farm. 

On the cooling rack are:  Spelt rolls (Spelt is an ancient form of wheat and the bread is dark like unbleached whole wheat.)

The beef jerky is still in the dehydrator and won't be ready until about noon Saturday, so any party invitations will have to be for after that.  ;-)

A wire cooling rack with spelt rolls sitting in front of a cloth lined basket filled with home canned items

The Halls Are Decked for 2012!

A closeup image of the nativity scene I have in front of my Christmas Tree.

This Christmas season is extra special to us this year as I have my 23 year old son back home with me at last.  My son has faced many challenges throughout his life and while he has tried to go it alone, we have decided life will be much happier for both of us if he lived under the same roof with the rest of the family.

I really want to enjoy this holiday season like no other so didn't hesitate to get a jump on decorating and preparing.  The day after Thanksgiving the boxes of Christmas decorations came out of storage and we had at it.  Inevitably we always find items in the storage boxes that remind us of Christmas' past, such as a booklet from a school Christmas play my son was in and several handmade ornaments he has given me over the years.  Of course the pictures of my then youngster son sitting on Santa's lap are priceless.  Then there's the very old and fragile ornaments of my grandmother's that were passed down to me as well as the ornaments that my own mother had given me.  Finding these memories and pausing to talk about them makes decorating much longer than it should be, but we don't mind a bit.

My friends, may your strings of lights never be tangled causing you to lose your temper in this holiest of seasons. lol

Here's a brief tour of some of the Christmas decorations we have up in our living room this year:

Thanksgiving 2012 Menu

Image of 2 Falmouth Farm free range chickens in a foil lined roasting pan in the oven.

Yeah, I'm late getting this one on here, but as they say, "Better late than never".

Home Canning Pork Shoulder

Image of a quart canning jar filled with chunks of pork shoulder in the meat juices.

Alright, I think I've got the hang of this new video camera & editing method!

About a week before Thanksgiving I caught a good sale on pork shoulder at the grocery and bought two 10 pounders.  Since I'm trying to save freezer space, I decided to can the pork.  You might be surprised to know I only got 6 quarts (loosely packed) of meat from the 20 lbs I bought.  A quart is plenty enough to feed at least 4 adults depending on the recipe you use it in.

Due to this past summer's drought the price of animal feed is sky high; therefore, the ranchers are going to be culling more of their herd than usual rather than pay more for feed - IF they could find feed to begin with.  This means the price of processed meats is going to go down temporarily - so STOCK UP!  The price of meat will surely shoot much higher than it is right now after the "glut" is over.  After all, it takes many months to grow a beef steer or hog, so there won't be any meat relief for a while.  Chicken may not be as hard hit as it takes much less time to raise a chicken to maturity than our four-legged farm friends but they still need feed just the same.

You might want to be on the lookout for some good vegetarian recipes and/or maybe think of meat as a seasoning rather than the main course.