BIQUINHO PEPPERS NEW EXPERIENCE

Not too long ago, I was grocery shopping and saw these.  Red Peruvian peppers.  They intrigued me and so I figured I'd pick some up.

It's the little self-serve section, so I got some in a container and brought them home.

They are oddly shaped (have a nickname of "little beak peppers") and are called Biquinho peppers.  They have a wonderfully unique flavor profile.  Smokey in a way, sweet and not at all hot, they are on the very low end of the Scoville heat scale, coming in at 500-1000 (considered a rare mild pepper). By comparison, jalapenos come in at 2000-8000.  These originate in Brazil (not sure why they called these Peruvian at the store) but they have a delightful flavor more like the flavor of a roasted red bell pepper with floral and citrusy notes as they say.

I could just eat them like this, just finger food out of the package (and did, ha). They have a pop as you eat them which is kind of a fun burst of flavor.

 ...but we put them into our salads and we love them.  They are a unique addition to a salad.  Best of all, they can also be pickled/canned...and so with that in mind...

...I went online and found some quality seeds and ordered some!

They are supposed to be easy to grow and we figured it would be fun to grow at the new house!  From what we've read, many families in South America grow them in containers on their porch and harvest lots of little peppers.  It'll be fun to at least try to grow some and heck, we might be the only people in our whole area growing Brazilian/Peruvian/Little Beak/Biquinho peppers in their garden!🤣

OUR FIRST HURDLE

Well, it as bound to happen, just didn't know it would happen this fast, ha.  Our home build has been put on a temporary hold while they addressed and figured out a situation that had arisen.

So, they got the forms set just before the snow.  You saw that post HERE.  The next step was to put in the fill soil.  That is when they bring in a dozen full dump trucks of soil and fill and pack the foundation.

The trucks are large and weigh 30,000 lbs each.

Our driveway was inspected, several times over the course of the process, and it was deemed ok.  Alas, that was the not the case.

Here is one direction looking toward the build site.

We aren't land/driveway engineers so we they told us it was fine we were like, ok, great.  I mean, this is the driveway we will use to access the house and it's been fine for all these years.  But, the super heavy weight of that many trucks and the wet ground after the rain and snow melt was just too much and the underlayment collapsed and the trucks had trouble getting down the driveway and pretty much destroyed it.

And here is the other direction from the same spot in the first picture.

I couldn't get any further down than where I parked (this was a couple of weekends ago).  It's the entire length of the driveway from where it starts at our part of the property.

You can also see one of the dump trucks, the last one they brought in actually, in this photo.

For a close-up, this is the truck after it tilted into the ground when the subsurface collapsed and it was stuck.  They did finally get it out.

This is from this weekend.  They have smoothed it out for us and it was better, for cars anyway.  When it's not wet, it makes it OK to drive on. In fact, grass is even filling in as you can see.  

Still, it left a mess that needed be addressed.  The builder put the project on hold to a) let the driveway dry out of course and b) to figure out a solution.  There was some negotiation, but in the end, we have to fund a new driveway.  That was NOT in our plans or our budget but it is what it is.  They are going to build a new driveway for us, the way it should be, that will last us for years.  We are meeting them in the middle for the price.  We pay the bulk of it because they are going to be doing it at cost and they will maintain it without any additional expenses to us, throughout the build.

It has to come out of savings and some of our contingency, not happy about that but it was pretty fair in the end.

It will look something like this (not sure of the color yet).  They will grade it flat and then build up layers on top of that, ending with crushed gravel and will raise it about 6 inches and put a culvert down the side to help with drainage.  Once they start, about 3-5 days to complete then work on the house can continue.  It's about 600' long, but in the end, we'll have a good, solid, driveway that should last us for years to come.

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART RACEDAY SUNDAY

 What a temperature change.  Yesterday, when I was at the farm bringing back the plants (for our upcoming hard freeze) it was 80 degrees.  Right now it's 42.

Last weekend we had meatloaf (our healthier version made without ground beef, using ground turkey, ground chicken and Italian sausage, and lots of minced vegetables.  A side of green beans and a salad to start, it was delicious.  Today, we're having pozole verde and homemade corn tortillas.  Warm and comforting. 

Hobart is gearing up for the Daytona 500 by doing what he does best, dozing off.  Here he is on one of his warm blankets because...

#notspoiled

Regular readers know that we are fans of racing, NASCAR in particular.  And today is opening of the season with the Daytona 500.  The weather is sketchy at best, so we're not sure if it will even happen or make it to the halfway point (the point at which they can call the race with whoever is in the lead).  In years past, it had been postponed to Monday due to weather.

We shall see.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Another freeze is coming...

...and a hard one at that.  The farm will be in the low 20's possibly upper teens.  So, as this posts, I'll be heading to the farm to get the plants one more time and bring them back, hopefully for the last time ever.  A high of 80 today and then tomorrow we'll wake up to upper 30's.  Nothing like a 40-50 degree temp change.  

Go figure.

There has been some drama with the build, more on that Monday (all good now, just one of those unforeseen things that come up).

When I get back, we're going to head out for a belated Valentine's dinner.  And then of course tomorrow is...

...race day!  Normally we have our ribs on that day but since today is our Valentine's special dinner and tomorrow the cold weather comes, we'll have something warming and filling.

Hope your weekend is off to a good start!

THREE TIERED BASKET TRASH TO TREASURE

Regular readers know that I have a favorite place to look for bargains...our downstairs trash area!  Our building has trash chutes on every floor, and they feed into a separate room, but for boxes and other things that people can't put in the chute, there is an area (indoor) near the loading dock where people can put the things they don't want.  I've found quite a few cool items over the last few years.

Went downstairs and saw this a few nights back.  I figured if it was in good shape, it might be fun to use, so I grabbed it and took it to the downstairs storage unit to get a closer look.

It's in perfect shape and looks almost new.  It's a good solid metal, not rickety or anything like that and it's tall, almost 30" high. We're not sure how to use it, we were thinking fruits? Or maybe veggies like onions or garlic in the coming pantry? Again, we are never sure why someone gets rid of something but hey, we'll use it for something, and it does scream FARM doesn't it?

And we'd be remiss if we didn't also say...

...you all are OUR Valentine's gifts, we appreciate you all.  Sending love from us to you!

PUTTING UP CHICKEN STOCK

 We save our chicken carcasses when we get some rotisserie chicken or when we roast our own and toss them in the freezer.  Then, we get them out and boil them.  2nd Man did this the other day but I wasn't there to get before photos.

He puts them in a stock pot and covers with water and boils for about 3 hours, on low.

Then he pours it into a container, covers with plastic wrap and puts it in the refrigerator overnight. This lets the fat congeal on the top. Then we take it out and, as you can see above, it's easy to take out the fat.

Look at this wonderful, almost jelly like, chicken stock.

Then it's time for me to put it up.  I ladle in about 2 cups per baggie.  Here, I'm using my cool bag stand given to me by a coworker.  You extend it to the size of your bag and then clip it and it holds it open so you can easily put/pour things into a bag.

We ended up with about six bags of a little over 2 cups each.  I didn't used the vacuum sealer because it's easier to just push out the air.  Popped these in the freezer and we're good to go whenever we need some really good homemade chicken stock.

NO FREEZE WORRIES

 We had our first freeze of the season about a month ago (see below) and then...

A couple of weeks after that, we had a record snowfall.

This is a satellite photo of actual snow on the ground after the snowfall.  As they said, this is something we might never see again in our lifetime here in the South (or heck, it could happen again next year, ha). Still, it's a cool picture for sure.

As usual, they were reminding people to prepare for freezing temps and protect people, pets, pipes, plants.

There have been many posts from us over the years about our freezes, going back and forth to leave water running, turning on and off heaters, covering plants, crawling under the house to wrap pipes...

...worrying from afar in the city while obsessively checking the temps at the farm with our weather apps and then dealing with, unfortunately, a few burst pipes (above from a couple years ago) and plants and trees that did not make it.

That's when we realized, we won't have to do ANY of that this year and perhaps ever again.

No crawling under the house to wrap pipes, no driving out at lunch before the cold front hits to start dripping water, no worrying during the week while we're in town and wondering what we'll find when we drive out.

We took steps to make sure the new house is also as Winter protected as it can be for NEXT year and onward, when we are living out there.

The new house will be on a slab, so no elevation to have to worry about cold air underneath and no crawling underneath the house.  It's also thicker than normal.

Also, all pipes in the house will be PEX.  Much safer in freezing weather than regular PVC.

Being a Texas builder, the company also builds them to be as resistant as possible to freezing temps. That being said, they keep the majority of the pipes on inside walls and not in the attic.  We're moving our water heater to the garage so it's not up there and that means no water pipes moving through the attic space.  We are also having any pipes in outside walls to be double insulated.  They also use spray foam throughout that has one of the highest R factor ratings (keep the heat out in the Summer and the cold out in the Winter).

Here is another thing we changed: we asked them to install special hose bibs on the outside that are freeze proof.  They are from a company called Aquor.  It's like having a water hydrant on your house.  You attach a special connector to the end of your hose and then when you need to connect, you just flip it up and twist it in or out.  When nothing is connected, the water stays inside of your house with nothing on the outside.  They market them as "freeze proof", so we shall see.  We figured it was one more extra layer of freeze protection that we could do.

For the plants, well, we'll be there to cover them as needed and of course there will be heated spaces we can bring them into.  We'll also have a garage and a barn where we can plug in a small heater as needed.  But we're working on other plans for them as well...*greenhouse*. 😉

Of course, the biggest difference is that the house will have heat!  We haven't had that at the farm in quite a while.  "J" from 2nd Family has a new home (as of a few years ago) and she's got full central heat and has never had an issue in any of these recent freezes, so that's a good sign.

That being said, we are going to figure out a backup plan for those extended power outages (winter freeze or summer storm).  We are thinking ahead to that potentiality in the future by having a transfer switch installed for a whole house generator.  Not sure what type of generator we'll get, but we're researching that.

But for THIS Winter anyway...zero worries.  It's kind of refreshing for a change, ha.

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART BIG GAME SUNDAY

Here it is, time for the Big Game.  We're having meatloaf today, photos of that later.  But a few days ago, we had a delicious meal.

Green beans with tomatoes and onions, and then some lean PORK medallions pan seared with a gravy made using sautéed mushrooms, wheat flour and water with some non fat powdered milk.  It was amazing!

Also a salad, of course, to start!

Hobart is getting ready for the big game, doing what he does best: taking up half the couch on his special blanket.  Because...

#notspoiled

Superbowl 59 is here.

Philadelphia Eagles vs Kansas City Chiefs

Who will be victorious?  And how many cool commercials will there be?

MINIATURE ROSES TRASH TO TREASURE

 Regular readers know that I have a favorite place to look for bargains...our downstairs trash area!  Our building has trash chutes on every floor and they feed into a separate room, but for boxes and other things that people can't put in the chute, there is an area (indoor) near the loading dock where people can put the things they don't want.  I've found quite a few cool items over the last few years.

Saw these two little miniature roses that were in a window box sort of thing that was broken.  There were also some pots sitting around that someone threw away.  I couldn't let the roses go in the trash so I gently dug them up and grabbed a container...

I brought them upstairs, got my potting soil and planted them side by side in a large container.

I watered them down and they are happy!  We put them outside on sunny days to recharge.  One even has a bud on it, hope it blooms so we can "discover" what color at least one of them is, ha.

Second chance at life for them and flowers for us!  Just in time for Valentine's Day!

It's a win/win!

BECAUSE EVERY BANANA NEEDS ONE

Here's a fun gift 2nd Man got from one of my dear coworkers.

It's called a Nana Hat (as seen on Shark Tank).  They sell them HERE on Amazon.

 It works because bananas produce ethylene gas as they ripen and the cover over the stem end keeps them from absorbing the gas so they stay fresher longer.  You stretch the silicone cover over the stem end of the bunch.  There is a magnet in the end and once that is done, you put the cover on so it has some pizazz!

Practical AND cute!

They make other animals of course, dogs, pandas, octopus, unicorn, etc but I mean, come on, every banana needs an actual monkey watching over them, am I right?

By the way, these bananas had the cover on them for 5 days, sitting on the counter and they still looked good!  I think we can say this works, ha!

Once we have bananas growing (hopefully) at the farm, we might just have to have several of these!

A BUCKET LIST EXPERIENCE

 OK, that was a play on words, as you'll soon see, but I also didn't know that this should have been on my bucket list anyway, ha.  Wow was it ever fun!

This happened a couple of months ago when we had the clearing done but I forgot to post it and with the holidays, I figured I'd wait until the new year.

So, I'm standing around talking to the owner of the company that was doing the clearing, he mentions that he climbs trees and is up in the air all the time cutting branches, etc and not working in an office.  Then, he asked me if I'm afraid of heights.  I thought it was just the natural course of a conversation and discussing our jobs.  I was honest and said, "yeah, a little".  And then he goes, "oh, well I was going ask if you wanted to ride up in the bucket and see your property from up there?"

Whoa, wait, WHAT?

"I'm not THAT scared of heights..."

This was the truck.  He had to get me strapped into a safety harness, I climbed in and he locked me in with more safety harnesses, put a hardhat on me and said "if you get freaked out, just give me the thumbs down and I'll bring you back down".

He pushed the button, and I started going up!

Check out these views!

The barn/shed looking toward 2nd Family's house and their property which butts up against our front yard.

This is looking to the next door neighbor's property where the donkeys sometimes come to visit.

This is part of the 200 acres behind us.  They use it as cattle grazing land.  It's basically our backyard view.

This is looking back toward our driveway and the front part of our property.

Last but not least, this is the future homesite and orchard area behind it.  You can also see the cleared area around Barnabas (the old mesquite tree).  We still have some left to clear at a future date in that area, but we also have new areas for planting.

Maybe we can plant actual regular trees.  We'd love a good pecan tree but seeing as how they can take up to ten years to start producing (should have done that ten years ago, ha), we might have to forgo that and just get some pretty flowering trees.

And this is me, up in the bucket!  It was 60' high up fully extended like this.  It was SO much fun!  Was I nervous?  Sure, but I felt safe in the bucket and like I said, it was a TRUE bucket list experience for sure!