Monday Morning Ramblings

It's Monday morning and I have started the dough for bread (6 to 8 loaves for the week) and started the Darlin' Mans laundry. His unit had to go out in the field last week (I call it a *camping trip*) from Monday until Friday, so he has presented me with a weeks worth of laundry and a rather dusty duffle bag.
So, while the bread dough rises and the laundry churns, I figured I would just ramble a bit about some things that have been on my mind this morning.
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The repercussions of the Sandy Hook shooting continue to spread. I hear now that managers of Wal-Mart stores have been told by *corporate* not to order ammo to restock. Some online stores  have pulled all guns and gun parts. For how long? Who knows.
I suspect there is much more going on than what the media has told us. The *facts*, as presented, simply do not "add up". Victims were identified by photos only, family members/parents were not allowed to see the bodies for identification or to say goodbye, and a *group* is the spokesperson for the parents---even to the point that VP Biden had to go through the spokesman group to speak to any of the parents.
As my dad used to say "there's something screwy going on".
False Flag event? Maybe.
Evil? Definitely.
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As we plan our move and look at more and more properties, I have convinced the Darlin' Man that it makes WAY more sense to have a *ready pantry* and no cabinets. I showed him picture after picture of kitchens from the 1700s on up to the 1930s and he saw the sense and frugality of it. It didn't hurt that I got him to sit down and watch a home improvement show where they redid a kitchen. The cabinets ALONE were over 14 thousand dollars! I told him I would rather buy a few better appliances (such as a good wood stove!) than have those silly cabinets...most of which have been constructed with fiberboard backs (glorified cardboard!) and other cheap components.
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If you get RLTV, watch this show: A Taste of History . Oh My Goodness! This chef cooks all his recipes in spider pans and cast iron dutch ovens, etc., in an open hearth fireplace.
Spider pan for those that don't know:

Seriously...it made me want to figure out a way to have an open hearth fireplace in my kitchen! The recipes are easily adaptable to be made on a stove or in an oven, but still, the romantic in me thinks everything would taste better being cooked on an open hearth!
RLTV is for the over 50 among us. Yes, we now have an *old geezer* network, as the kids here say.
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Speaking of cooking, I had a minor meltdown yesterday at lunch when I found out I was missing a needed ingredient for a recipe I had planned to make for lunch. That drives me CRAZY! Especially when I find out the ingredient was casually snacked into oblivion by people I normally hold great affection for!
Recipe:
Apple-Walnut-Chicken Salad Wraps
1 cup cooked chicken, diced
2 cups peeled apples, diced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup golden raisins or dried cherries or dried cranberries
1/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup mayo or miracle whip (I like the miracle whip). You might want to use more or less. Depends on personal tastes.
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Romaine lettuce
Whole wheat tortillas or *wraps*
Directions: Mix everything except lettuce and wraps together until moistened. Can be covered and chilled in refrigerator overnight or used immediately.
Warm tortillas or wraps (makes them flexible so they don't crack), put torn romaine lettuce on wrap/tortilla. Put 3 or 4 tablespoons of apple chicken mix on lettuce, wrap up like a burrito, serve!

Anyway...my walnuts were gone. Also my golden raisins. So I made a stir fry for lunch instead.
 And I think I am gonna hide my fancy recipe fixin's next time!
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I have not yet sold the sheep, so I think I am going to drop the price on the CL ad.
Going over all the critters here with the Darlin' Man, we made some decisions for the move AND for what we will raise in the future.

Chickens....we will definitely keep going with chickens!  HOWEVER...I will NOT raise Buff Orphingtons again! Yeah, yeah, I know there are a lot of Buff devotees out there, but all the ones we have had are horrible, stubborn, peck-y, hateful birds! I don't know what breed we will go with, but NO MORE BUFFS!

Turkeys: The Darlin' Man loves the turkeys. Me? Ehhhh...not so much. He wants to continue to raise them, so I have told him that that ball is totally in HIS court! Same with the peafowl and the exotic pheasants he also wants to raise.

Geese and Ducks: I like them, so I suspect we will raise them when we move. Besides...what is better than roasted duck with that luscious crispy skin.....drooooooooool!

Alpacas and Goats will definitely go with us and continue to be with us where-ever we go! I want to add some other goat breeds in...some Saa'an and some Swiss Alpine.

I also want a couple of cows, a horse and the fella wants a mule. We also want sheep...just gotta settle on a breed. Still in discussion.

Rabbits? Not so sure. The Darlin' Man doesn't like rabbit meat, I do, so this is still under discussion.
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Well, the washer is finished with the first load, so I have to hang them up and start another load. I suspect I will do around 10 loads before I am done. The bread dough is still rising, but I'll be punching it down and shaping loaves within an hour or so.
Happy Monday to all!