When we chose to move to our mountain home, one of our priorities was to minimize the culture shock for our teenager. The nearest small city with several national chain restaurants to choose from is about an hour and a half away. Sorting through the situation with the teen we realized her longing was for access to certain specific meals and not the overall dining out experience.

This made sense because our teen is gluten intolerant which severely restricts what she can eat both home and away. When she eventually finds a tasty restaurant meal she can actually eat and enjoy, it stands to reason she would want to return again for more. As a result we have been trying to recreate (often in a healthier way) the same gluten free meals she is no longer able to purchase on a regular basis.

In the beginning it was Chinese food she longed for. When a friend, a home canner her entire life, bestowed a Bourbon Chicken recipe upon us (one I successfully converted to gluten free) I did the victory dance. Alas, a penalty was called for premature celebration since our daughter’s fancy had turned to a dish from Chipotle called Barbacoa, a spicy and sour meat served atop beans and tangy cilantro/lime rice, all topped off with salsa and sour cream. Our work was cut out for us.

Last weekend we dined on our first Barbacoa creation thanks to the modern marvels of Google. Once again I partook in the happy dance as the child unit ate a huge plate with a big grin on her face. Each time I looked over at her she continued to smile and nod her head, indicating yes, this works. The recipe and procedure can be found below.

I have discovered most restaurant recipes can be found online without too much effort, so I searched out and recorded all our restaurant favorites for future reference. Often it is the sauces I am most interested in. The honey mustard dressing from Chili’s and the awesome blossom sauce from Outback are just a few of many examples. Perhaps Cog is onto something when he teases me that I treat food as simply a delivery vehicle for any given sauce.

Lemon trees and lemonade

Over the last few weeks Cog has humored me in my search for the correct lemon to harvest its seeds so I may propagate my own lemon trees. As explained in the thread here lemon trees can be grown from seed to produce lemons year round in about three years. The trees are small and can thrive in a sunny window, so it makes them a wonderful addition even if your growing space is limited and the climate is cold. My seeds have germinated and I will update the lemon tree thread on TIF as the experiment progresses.

As I extracted the seeds from various organic lemons we had collected I used the pulp to make lemonade while setting aside the rinds. After cutting the rinds into thin strips I left them out to air dry for 5 or 6 days. Once dried, I will use a food processor or coffee bean grinder to grind the rinds into powder. One teaspoon per day of this powder can be added to any drink for a whopping organic dose of daily vitamin C. The same can be accomplished with orange or grapefruit rinds.

A (re) purposeful life

While Cog was busy installing the equipment and wiring for the photovoltaic solar panel system a few weeks back, I was able to obtain his distracted permission to raid his clothes closet. Within hangs a treasure trove of dress shirts, no longer needed by Cog to suit up for high finance. My mission was to ‘repurpose’ a gray button-down into a kitchen apron.

My sewing expertise has thus far been limited to simple quilts and tote bags, so I had my work cut out for me. Suffice to say, an apron was produced in time to slop Chipotle fixin’s down the front, making it a rip roaring success. The apron can be viewed on Mrs. Cog’s Pinterest.

 

If a tree falls in the forest...

We continue to cut firewood as often as possible. Cog is clearing some land for a neighbor in exchange for keeping the firewood from the trees. This is no easy task on several levels. We live high on a mountain and are often subject to high winds, sometimes sustained for several days in a row. As such we watch the weather forecast for wind speed so we can plan our cutting days. Sometimes Cog will take down several trees on calm days so we go back to buck and split the larger logs and haul it all back to the house later in the week regardless of wind or weather.

But in addition to the felling of trees there is a considerable amount of sumac, saplings, brush, brambles and thorns to clear as well. This limits how many trees Cog can take down at one time because it all gets tangled up into a nearly impenetrable mess. Since this is all taking place on the side of a hill Cog is limited in the direction he can drop the trees, complicating matters immensely. There is nothing quite like the workout one receives from dragging branches and swaths of debris out of the woods to create large brush piles. In the warmer weather of early spring we will carefully burn each pile one at a time.

*As a reminder, especially if you have stocked up on a favorite item, it is a good time of year to sort through your freezer for forgotten goodies. I was thrilled to find several bags of flavored coffee we could no longer find in stores. Also buried in a neglected freezer bin were bags of fresh frozen blackberries begging to be eaten.

 

Our Chipotle Creation:

We used two crockpots, although either or both could be slow cooked on the stovetop.

1. In the first crockpot we filled half full with water. We added about ¾ pound of dried pinto beans which we had first soaked overnight to remove excess starches. This stewed for six hours and was stirred occasionally.
2. In the second crockpot we combined:

• 3 pounds of beef roast cubes cut into approx. 2 inch cubes
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 2 chipotles chopped (add more or less for hotness preference)
• 1 medium onion chopped well
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. oregano
• 1 Tbsp. cumin
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• ½ tsp. ground cloves
• ¾ cup water

Stir periodically. Cook for 6 hours or more until meat is falling apart.

3. Prepare a fresh salsa for topping. We use a jalapeno dried spice mix, diced onions, diced tomatoes, diced green peppers, cilantro and olive oil. Mix well and let chill until served.
4. Cook approx. one pound rice of choice. We use brown rice. When cooked to desired texture, drain. Add one cup fresh cilantro finely chopped and ½ cup lime juice.
5. For other toppings we prepared shredded lettuce and had sour cream available.

To serve (similar to the “Barbacoa Bowl” experience the child unit described in detail) we scooped pinto beans (now cooked and drained) onto a plate. Next we layered the cilantro rice, then a generous portion of shredded spiced meat. This was topped with shredded lettuce and fresh salsa. The final touch was a dollop of sour cream on top. Add a fork and napkin and… nirvana.

‘Twas the first year at Two Ice Floes and across the website,
Cog told us his stories while shining his light.
The topics each broached with much thought and care,
In hopes that some insight and wisdom was shared.

The members and readers all finding us here,
Some finding their niche where they too shared their cheer.
With Mrs. Cog still at canning and Cog cutting more wood,
Telling tales of our lessons, the bad and the good.

The world all askew and the problems still growing,
We search deep inside to locate our knowing.
And while we are looking and learning and living,
We can turn to each other and bask in the giving.

Marvelous spirits, as told us by On the Beach,
Have beautiful lessons and ideas to teach.
Our morale and self-reliance bolstered without fault,
By the eloquent penning of new Dad, Joe Galt.

Casey Stengel shows us China through his Western eyes,
While Urban Pepper schools on growing hot chilis to dry.
LionLady regales us with her wisdom and charm,
And with wonderful updates from her small west coast farm.

Thank Goodness for Morpheus, defending the wall,
Highlighting agendas, the big and the small.
Too many to name, our numbers are growing,
We hope this trend shows no sign of slowing.

A varied group of people has gathered at TIF,
We share and we talk and ponder what if?
But we have things in common, it is important to note,
Besides our obsessions with stacking and goats.

A global variety is in the TIF neighborhood,
To form a community as all good people should.
Accepting each other with our very different views,
Allows us a freedom oft reserved for the few.

Those few are the ones who will open their minds,
And consider without judging all that they find.
By listening and learning and looking within,
We discover new ground for us each to begin.

So we thank you most deeply for joining us here.
We can’t wait to see what we learn this next year.
Perhaps we cannot stop the mad merry-go-round,
But support and good cheer at TIF will abound.

Cognitive Dissonance and Mrs. Cog wish you and yours a wonderful Holiday and a very Happy New Year.

 

When I was a young child my grandpa, whom we all called ‘Pop’, had many wonderful stories to explain the mysteries in life to us. Loud thunderstorms were just Rip Van Winkle bowling. Or if thunder rumbled way off in the distance Pop assured us Rip was snoring. If we asked why he was doing something we didn’t understand, Pop would break into a tale of his travels to Timbuktu or Buxtahooda in order to explain. It wasn’t until I was grown that I discovered some of the places he described actually did exist.

The story Pop spun for stray holes, especially deep or unexpected ones, was that someone was digging a hole to China. It is still the first thing I think of when I discover a hole in the ground. This week it suddenly became apparent to me that someone, or something, in our south yard had begun a mass invasion….or perhaps a migration to China. There were holes everywhere.

Who, or what, left almost a hundred small holes in our yard? And all of them dug overnight.

Some holes had a depth of only 4-5 inches while others seemed to disappear down into the abyss. Our big coon cat, Tramp, seemed uninterested as he sniffed around the excavated area. After a cursory inspection he proceeded to lounge around the portion of the yard that now resembled Swiss cheese. When I asked why he had not stopped the previous night’s digging activity, he yawned and clearly communicated, “Not my area.” I reminded him cats are a delicacy in China and he may want to reconsider his nonparticipation.

Cog and I set about solving the mystery by ruling out who we thought was not digging. The weather was too cold for many small rodents or snakes to be burrowing this time of year. There were so many holes it would have required an entire tribe to dig at such a furious rate. It just didn’t seem plausible.

We are all too familiar with the moles and groundhogs still actively tunneling on the east slope of our land as well as on the other side of the road. But this new digging was a different animal. Cog suggested it might be deer trying to prod something from the ground, but the dirt was too fine and neatly piled next to each hole for it to be a hooved beast. Various possums and raccoons have been visiting us since we moved here and we never found these holes before. So we decided it probably wasn’t them either. The mystery deepened.

Finally we hung up our sleuthing hats and emailed images of the holes to our new mountain friends who own a professional exterminating company. The following day one of their employees came out and inspected the situation. To Cog’s relief he had no ready answer for us. It seems we weren’t so dumb after all. He treated the grounds for the obvious infestation of moles and groundhogs, and then confidently informed us he would consult with the big dogs back at HQ about our ‘hole’ problem and be back in touch soon.

About an hour later he returned with a big grin. He asked….wait for it….if we had seen (or smelled) any evidence of a recent visit by a skunk. Face Palm! Duh! The exterminator explained that in all likelihood the skunk was digging for grubs. In fact he had found evidence of grubs when he fished around in a few holes during his first visit. I immediately stopped laughing at the memory of Cog smelling a skunk at 3 AM the other night. Shivers rippled up and down my spine. “We have grubs? Ewwww.”

Yes, the fun discoveries just never seem to stop for me. I keep getting to the point where I don’t feel like a city gal trying to live on an isolated mountain because I have finally conquered my fear of nature’s unknowns. But my confidence is repeatedly stripped away as all that is natural finds new ways to give me the heebie-jeebies. When will my old programming finally be overcome?

OK, grubs! I can deal with grubs. They are just the immature form of beetles. Perhaps the type that went to town on my green bean leaves last summer? Maybe I like small furry animals that eat grubs even if they periodically stink. Will I once again have to revamp my entire view of the food chain ecosystem that is my yard?

The exterminator set several traps with Cog trailing close behind asking all the right questions I rarely think to ask. What was he using for bait? “Dry cat food,” he was told. How does one reset the trap in case a cat gets trapped? “Carefully if you want to keep all your fingers,” Cog was informed. Why are the traps long skinny tubes? “So the skunk cannot raise his tail to spray.” Made sense to Cog. Both Cog and the exterminator assured me that when caught Mr. Skunk would be relocated to a “foofy” skunk resort where he could live out his remaining days in comfort.

With two traps set and Cog’s training complete, we returned to our regularly scheduled activities. I placed binoculars by the big window in the sun room so I could check to see if either trap had been sprung. Tramp is really far too big to fit into one of those tube traps. But I have seen him attempt to squeeze into a very small cardboard box so I’m not sure he has a true appreciation of his perceptual impairment as it applies to his great size.

The following morning Cog woke early, around 5am while it was still dark. He shuffled over to the front door to see if our outdoor feral cat had arrived for his morning meal. Indeed Gray Kitty was there, with his back to the front door being hissed at by another cat we did not know. Cog promptly shooed away Strange kitty, then returned a few minutes later with a bowl of moist food, complete with warm gravy, for Gray Kitty. Several few minutes later Cog once again checked the front porch to make sure the world was still safe for the feral feline’s breakfast. He arrived just in time to see a fat, mostly gray possum circling Gray Kitty in a challenge for his food.

No sooner had Cog chased off Gray Possum but a small white possum appeared out of the dark from the other direction, marching right up the front steps for his breakfast. This was getting ridiculous. In between moderating conflicts and directing traffic Cog was snapping pictures on his iPhone. Finally, now 6am with dawn just starting to light the eastern sky Cog retreated inside to fix himself a cup of coffee.

Checking back a bit later, steaming mug in hand and Gray Kitty still eating, Cog spotted the main attraction heading for the front steps of the porch. Mr. Skunk had finally arrived for the early morning buffet. He quickly waddled away as soon as Cog opened the front door and headed off in the direction of the traps. We kept our fingers crossed for some good news at first light.

Sure enough, a few hours later we could see a trap had been sprung. Cog headed out to investigate on his way to fill the wood stove boiler. Watching from the safety of my sun room window, I saw Cog shine a flash light into the small dark air holes in an attempt to identify the occupant. This went on for almost a minute as he attempted to see from different angles, finally tipping the tube trap a bit to one end to get the unknown critter closer to the holes.

Obviously modern furry recognition techniques finally allowed Cog to identify the culprit, telling me later he recognized the teeth. Abruptly he began walking towards the woods with trap in hand. At this point I grabbed the binoculars to aid in my own identification. I briefly wished there was time to pop popcorn as this was the best show I’d seen in a long time.

Arriving at the edge of the woods Cog opened the trap and shook it to unceremoniously dump out its occupant. But nothing fell out lol. After a few more shakes I was startled to see what emerged. It was Gray Possum and boy was he angry. For a moment I thought he was going to go all Elf on Cog.  He hissed and showed his teeth, then sized up the big guy and the situation and slowly (and defiantly) waddled off into the woods.

That was several days ago. The traps remain set and we have had no activity since. Aside from Gray Kitty the porch activity has been quiet. And as far as we can tell there are no new holes to China in the yard. I’ll keep you all posted if any more rural excitement develops.