Pussywillows: Is Spring here?

It has been cold for a few days now. Back to normal winter conditions, because the 'heatwave' we've had for a couple of weeks was not a good thing. This morning when I looked out of the window I noticed the catkins on the pussywillows are already out--almost large enough to be picked. That is much too early. Usually, I pick them around Easter Time.

Last week, a big, gray squirrel came to the bird feeder. Much of the snow has melted and now it is getting cold again, which is not good for the plants. They don't know what to do. That insulating blanket of snow got thinner.

I went ice-fishing yesterday, an event our club 'Seven Oaks Game and Fishing Association' puts on every year at this time. The ice was still thick enough to drive on with trucks, but the surface was bumpy. We jumped all over the place.

My son, my grandson, and I caught 3 small sauger. There were others who caught fish, but the action wasn't that great overall. A couple of years ago, I bought 'Fisherman's Delight' soap, to attract fish. I used it for the first time this year. All I have to say it was a waste of my money. It didn't help at all. Much of the stuff they are selling in the stores to help catching fish is useless.

The sun came out only in the afternoon for a bit, but most of the day it snowed. It was still a lot of fun anyway.We ate hot dogs for lunch, talked with other members of the club and when we got cold we warmed up inside our heated collapsible huts. Technology is wonderful--sometimes.

Even though it's only February, I'm beginning to think about my garden. I already bought some seeds and soon I'll be making my garden plan. That is important, because I'm moving the various vegetables around to different spots in the garden, making sure I don't plant tomatoes in the same row as last year or even the year before. It  needs to be done to cut down the chance of picking up diseases.

I sometimes don't understand the people who complain about being bored. I think it's just being lazy. There are not enough hours in a day and not enough days in a month for me to do all the stuff I want to do. I have no dull moments and I have no time to dwell on things that bother me. I've got 8 batches of wine sitting to be either filtered or even bottled. I have my aquariums to take care of, I plan my garden now and in the summer I work it. There is plenty of work in the yard, things to fix in and around the house. I write my books and promote them. If I have a bit of free time I go fishing, hunting in the Fall. When it snows I have to clean the driveway. I could go on.

All those people who complain they have nothing to eat or they live in a dump: How about planting a garden? How about raising rabbits for food? Or keeping a couple of goats for milk? We did that after the war in Europe. How about fixing the broken stuff in and around the house? How about cleaning up the yard and house? A coat of new paint does wonders. How about cooking instead of buying ready-made junk food? Make a soup, it's easy and doesn't cost much. Being busy keeps you from taking drugs or getting drunk or falling into a dark mood.

Sorry, got carried away.

Speaking of writing. My books #Codename Salamander and #Bullet of Revenge are on sale right now for $2.99 from my publisher Melange Books

http://www.melange-books.com/authors/herbertgrosshans/codenamesal.html

Have a wonderful Sunday and a great week

#Turkey/Vetable Soup

There is something about soups that gets me excited. I love soups. Soups are so versatile, delicious, and are easy to make. There is nothing complicated about cooking up a large pot of soup. Anyone can do it. I’m proof of that. I’m always surprised when young women claim they don’t know how to make chicken soup. To that I’ll say: Get off your butt and learn. When we got married, my wife knew the basics of cooking and baking, but she was by no means an expert. She learned and she is a great cook and baker. I count my lucky stars to have married a woman like her, because I love food.

We used to buy soup in cans. The problem with ready-made soups is they are salty and the salt-free soups have no taste. After a while I got tired of the taste, so I decided to make my own. With a little help of my wife and research on the internet another soup-maker was born. My wife doesn’t mind. After all, if I cook the soup she doesn’t have to. She leaves me alone in the kitchen, because she can’t bear to watch the mess I make, and that’s just fine with me. I need to be my own man when I cook soup. I clean up when I’m done.

Yesterday, I made a pot of turkey/vegetable soup. We use a pressure-cooker. It goes much faster.

We throw away very little food. In fact, almost nothing. I grew up during and after the war in Europe and I was raised not to waste food. It was scarce and we appreciated everything we could get. I get upset when I see people waste food, be it at a buffet or anywhere else. People who do that have never experienced bad times. They don’t know how it feels to have nothing to eat. We are spoiled here in Canada and in the USA, because of the abundance of food available.

When my wife cooks broccoli, she saves the water. That’s where all the vitamins are. We put it into containers and freeze it. We save the carcass of the turkey we eat for Thanksgiving or any other time. It also goes into the freezer, along with the neck, the wings, and anything else they leave inside. We do the same thing with the duck we usually eat for Valentine’s Day. If we have beef bones, we save them also. They make a good beef-soup.

I don’t have a real recipe for the soups I make. I use whatever ingredients we have in the fridge or freezer. This is how I made my last soup. All the measurements are approximate.

3 cups of Broccoli water
2 cups of no-salt-chicken broth
Part of a turkey carcass with some meat on the bones (broken into smaller pieces)
1 chicken leg and thigh  (sometimes I use two if we want more meat) -I remove the skin and fat-
½ cup of frozen peas
½ cup of frozen yellow beans (cut into ½ inch pieces)
4 large carrots (chopped)
3 large stalks of celery (chopped)
1 small turnip (cubed)
1 potato (cubed)
½ on onion (chopped small)
Spices I used: (I don’t measure. I just shake it out of the container)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp marjoram
Dash of ground cumin
Dash of club house original one step seasoning
Dash of Seasoning salt

I put everything into the pressure cooker, let it come to a boil (until the steam comes out of the vent) Then I turn down the heat and let go for 10 minutes. Then I shut off the heat and move the pot away from the element. Once it cools down I taste it and if it needs more salt, I add a little until I get the desired taste. We use very little salt.

We remove all the bones and meat, scrape the meat of the bones, pull it into smaller sizes and put the meat back into the soup.

The soup tasted delicious. I ate a bowl, kept enough out for two more meals and the rest I put into smaller containers and freeze it. I still have a few containers with different soups in the freezer, but I eat a bowl of soup almost every day. This means once in a while I have to make more. There are still more turkey bones in the freezer. Enough for another batch of soup. Next time I may put in some parsnip and maybe some frozen corn. In the summer, when my garden is producing, I put in Kale or cabbage. Or maybe Kohlrabi and Kohlrabi tops. The possibilities are endless. I might even use different spices.

I enjoy making soups and eating them. Soups are nourishing and don’t make you fat.

Oh, so yummy