UNBEARABLE HEAT

Normally, I would say even a bad day on the mower is a good day but this heat is really pushing that.

You may have seen this picture on our Instagram...funny thing, I had my hat and my headphones and the key and then I was frantically looking around for my phone...which you know, was in my hand...taking the actual picture!

I mowed a little less than normal, I just had all I could stand in the heat.  It's nice to be on the mower, it can be breezy and in the shaded areas it's nice, but in the wide open sunny spaces...JUST. SO. HOT.

The grass, without rain now in three weeks, is starting to turn "Summer beige".  I hope that without rain again this week, I won't have to mow this weekend because I need to focus my stamina on edging and cleaning up the orchard area, which is a bit out of control.

Notice the warning at the bottom of the weather app:

"Conditions are extreme, delaying/canceling outdoor activities is recommended".

I followed the advice.  When I left, it was 99 with a "feels like" of 110.  Later in the day, it made it to 100 and a feels like of 117.

Saw this the other day. So often, people will go "it's always hot in Houston" or "it's just as hot as it was last Summer".  This is a chart showing the number of hours with a heat index (feels like) over 105 at both Houston airpot monitoring stations.  The two bars on the left are last year through July 16 and the two bigger ones on the right are this year through July 16.

Waaaay more heat than last year.  Last year broke the record.  We are now breaking that record for longest heat index temps.

And no end in sight...

NO SUGAR COLESLAW RECIPE

Several of you have asked for this recipe over the years and so when I made it this most recent time, I took pics and here it is! 

We found this recipe online a few years back (don't remember where) but we've modified it over the years to make it how we like it so I guess that makes it more like our own recipe.

Now please note, there is zero sugar in this coleslaw.  This ain't your Grandma's coleslaw, ha!

It's contrary to normal slaw.  2nd Man has never really liked sweet coleslaw (or potato salad that's sweet for that matter).  I do like them, but when I started making this, I was a convert.  Of course you could always add a bit of sugar (to your taste) and just turn it into a more traditional style, if you desire.

We make it with "broccoli slaw" which we get at our HEB grocery store but you can use a regular slaw mix.  We like the prepackaged mixes because they are much easier to prepare (feel free to shred your own).

Ingredients:

14 oz bag coleslaw mix (the mix we use comes in a 9 oz bag so we use two bags but it still works fine)

1 cup mayonnaise

1 TBSP yellow mustard

2 TBSP heavy cream (we only had half and half this time, it works just fine)

Seasonings:

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper 

1 tsp dried chives

2 tsp celery seed

Once you have your ingredients, mix them all together.  It might seem a bit dry as you mix but remember, the salt will start to pull out additional moisture and it should be just right.

However, if it needs to be adjusted later, you can always add a little more cream or mayo or even a little more mustard.

Make it as you like it.

I always try to make this the night before, because it's even better the next day after all the flavors have melded together and it gets nice and creamy. If you get the prepared bags of mix, it literally comes together in less than 10 minutes, so it's super easy to do ahead.

If you can't do it overnight, at least do it a few hours before dinner so the slaw veggies have a chance to soften up a bit and the flavors to developed.

Lastly, just dish it up and serve!

Even though I enjoy a sweet coleslaw, when we have something like BBQ, which is inherently sweet with BBQ sauce, it's a really nice compliment to the meal.  Bonus points for also being "low carb", "lower calorie", "no sugar", "keto friendly" and all those things, ha.

Enjoy!

99 RANCH BONUS FOR 1ST MAN

I forgot to include this the LAST POST.

On our recent trip to 99 Ranch Market, while all the cooking ingredients and fun stuff were for 2nd Man (though I reap the rewards of eating said wonderful ingredients), I saw these!

The gardening side of me was happy!

I didn't buy any because I wasn't sure what I'd want to try (all of them? ha).  I need to venture back and pick some up when we have our garden or maybe go ahead and snag a few and store them away?  They seem a little pricey, though I haven't bought seeds in a while so maybe this is normal, ha.

How long can packets of seeds like this last?

SHOPPING TRIP PURCHASES

 We know many of you always like to see what we picked up on shopping trips so here is some of what we got on our recent trip to 99 Ranch Market.

We posted HERE about that trip.

We got a package of our favorite brand of wheat noodles.  We use these to make our own homemade Ramen noodle bowls, these are healthier than the ones in the store.  Of course, you have to make your own seasoning but that's healthier too, ha.

When we got home, 2nd Man made us two bowls, for mine, he used beef bouillon and frozen meatballs and for his, he used some cooked chicken breast we had cubed up and chicken bouillon.  Then we added some veggies and seasoning of our own.

These are our favorite frozen potstickers.  We LOVE these for a quick dinner, steamed to cook them and then pan fried in some avocado oil until they have a crispy exterior.  We stir up a dipping sauce (which varies from time to time).  So good.

Then we stocked up on seasonings, our main reason for going...we did a lot of research online and watched a ton of Youtube videos to see what cooks and chefs recommend for various things in a good Asian grocery like this.  So we picked up Oyster sauce, Hoisin sauce, Fish sauce, Dark Soy sauce, Sweet Soy sauce, Ponzu sauce, and regular Soy sauce, all the brands most highly recommended.

Oh, and some chopsticks because 2nd Man loves eating with them...me, not so much, I haven't mastered that technique...yet, ha. 

We also got a package...of...chicken feet?!?  2nd Man wanted them to make some chicken stock.  More on THAT adventure in an upcoming post!

PUTTING UP STRAWBERRIES

I have the best luck with my coworkers!

Another sweet coworker had a glut of fruit and offered it to me.  Everyone at work knows that 2nd Man likes to cook/bake and so I always get offered excesses of ingredients since they know it will go to a good home. 

This time it was two pounds of fresh strawberries!

Yes please!

We have a strawberry huller somewhere in the back of a drawer but a few years back, I discovered using a straw and enjoy that method.  It's more difficult with a regular straw as they bend too easily, but we have these hard plastic straws in the bar drawer (they are reusable, meant to be washed) and I used one of those.

It takes a couple of times to get it just right but when you do, it's super easy, you just push it from the bottom up through to the top and...

...you get the core and the stem/leaves all at once.  Usually you can grab the stem from the end of the straw and pull the whole thing out.  If the stem breaks off though, no worries the core part will just push though and come out the other end as you use it.

There's something oddly relaxing about doing it, ha.

Here's a plate full of the stems and cores.

Here they are after I cut them in half.  I figured it would be easier for future use if they were already in half.  I did sprinkle a bit of sugar over them and then...

...I spread them out on a parchment lined baking sheet and popped them in the freezer for a few hours.  We always do our fruit this way, it freezes them individually and keeps them from mushing up when vacuum sealing or sticking together later as they thaw.

Once they were frozen like this, I split them into two packages of a pound each (seemed like a good amount for a dessert) and vacuum sealed them.

Not enough for jam or something like that but ready for strawberry shortcake perhaps?

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

Last weekend was the 4th and our semiannual tradition of BBQ ribs...so this is from then since they were still cooking when I put up the post.

I always make a couple of racks of ribs and then 2nd Man's favorite "not sweet coleslaw" and some of the pickled red onions I did a while back.  We also had some homemade bread on the side.

We split one rack on Sunday and then on Tuesday for the actual 4th of July...

...we split the other rack and had the rest of the coleslaw.  It was yummy!

Here's a great picture of Hobart we took last weekend as well.  We told him to pose for the picture because he has fans on the blog, LOL!  Not a bad looking kitty for almost 18 years old.  He lives a good life because...

#notspoiled

#SPOILED 😁

TWO MEN AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING APPLES

Well crap...

This was a few weekends ago.  We had a little over half a dozen apples developing nicely...

And this was last weekend.

They are all gone!

There were no half eaten ones on the ground.  No parts or cores.  No remnants at all. 

Now we know there are various predators lurking around.  These were a good 6 to 8 feet up into the tree.  There were no tracks around (and the ground was wet) and no broken branches.  There was bird netting over the top and most of these were more "inside" the tree than on an outer branch.

Squirrels?  They were probably too big and heavy for a squirrel to handle without dropping one, plus in ten years, we've never even seen a squirrel.  Deer would have probably damaged the tree getting to them and there are rows of fishing line all around it.

Opossum?  Raccoons?  Do they climb trees?  The branches are not exactly strong enough we would think to support a climbing animal.

The only other thing we can think of is that a storm blew them off onto the ground and THEN wildlife had an all you can eat buffet, ha.

We will just have to learn to coexist and figure out a way to keep them next year.

A TRIP TO 99 RANCH MARKET

Warning, picture heavy post.

We know people like to see stores that maybe they don't have in their area or perhaps have never been to.  So the other day, when we both had a day off at the same time, 2nd Man wanted to go to an Asian grocery store chain called 99 Ranch Market.

We try to go once every six months or so and stock up on whatever we need or try something new.  We hadn't been since the pandemic so it was good to go back.

Lots of produce and fresh herbs, many are products of the country of origin which means you can find some great stuff you might not see elsewhere...

They have an amazing seafood department with every kind of fish, shellfish, both local and exotic.

Likewise for meat and poultry...

A HUGE butcher counter with every kind of cut you could imagine...

The shelves are filled front to back and top to bottom with all sorts of great stuff...

Noodles and rice as far as the eye can see...

And every kind of sauce and seasoning you could possibly want...

You like Kimchi?  Take your pick!

Lot of frozen goodies as well.

They even have a kitchen section that unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of, but they sell woks and pans and bowls and utensils and lots.

It was a great way to spend a few hours inside where it's cold on a sweltering hot day.  We always love exploring something new and in the end, we get some some good food out of it!

4TH OF JULY 2023

Here we are, Happy 4th of July!

Not much on our schedule today...just relaxing and staying inside where it's nice and cool.  There is a chance of showers today, but then again, there is always a chance of showers this time of year, ha.

I made my BBQ ribs on Sunday and we split one rack, today we split the other one.  I mean, we have to have BBQ on the 4th, right?  Ha.

Houston will have a big fireworks display tonight, we should be able to see part of it from our balcony, though a couple of buildings usually block the best view.  Every year, it moves a bit (the launching site) so maybe this year it will move just enough to see it in between those buildings, ha.  

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO EVERYONE!

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

It's the weekend, 4th of July weekend though the 4th is on Tuesday so no fireworks until then.  But it's time for some good food and Hobart.

First the good food.  As this posts, I'll be working on our traditional 4th of July weekend meal, BBQ ribs and homemade coleslaw but it's not ready yet...

...we wanted to make a quick lunch the other day so we looked around to see what we had on hand.  We had some fresh croissants (from a bakery, 2nd Man has not attempted those...YET, ha).  We also had some leftover marinara sauce, sliced cheese and some frozen fully cooked meatballs.  Boom...sliced the croissants in half, thawed the meatballs in the microwave, put some marinara on the bottom, four meatballs on that, a little more marinara and a slice of cheese.  Pop under the broiler and about 5 minutes later, lunch was ready, ha.

And it was good!

Hobart, still sleeping in the sunshine.  Of course this is right in front of the door blocking our access to the balcony most of the day.  But it's OK because...

#notspoiled

*UPDATE: WEATHER DELAY, SIGH*

Today is a big NASCAR race...the 4th of July Weekend is always a big race (usually the Coca Cola 500) but this year, for the first time in NASCAR history, it's a street course race through the waterfront streets of Chicago.  Watched the practice and qualifying yesterday but today will be crazy fun to watch.  If you don't normally watch NASCAR because going around and around in an oval is boring, this would be a fun one to watch.

DO THE LEAST

I had to use up some vacation days before my work anniversary date so I took off Friday and Monday and we're closed Tuesday so I get FIVE days off.  Yay!

But it is hot.

Yesterday was mowing day.  Grass is starting to turn to Summer drought beige, ha.  There is a 50% chance of rain next week which sounds promising but that only means there's an equal chance it won't.

But I survived, lots of hydration and a few porch breaks...mowed, watered and came back to ac, ha!

Wish I could have five days of working outside and doing something but it's just SO hot.  Dangerously hot they say.  This is yesterday when I left the farm.  It was 99 with a 'feels like' of 111.  It got hotter after I left, I think we reached 100 and a 116 'feels like' temp.

We used to say August was the month of doing as little as possible outside but this year, it's part of June and most likely a large part of July.

Today, we ran a few errands, had an appointment to get both of our TSA Pre✅ set up (so we can travel easier) and then we went on an adventure to one of our favorite stores, 99 Ranch, to find some fun new ingredients.  More on that in an upcoming post.

Tomorrow are BBQ ribs, coleslaw and some NASCAR...

Hope you are all staying cool.