Busy days, and a recipe...
The last two days were a whirlwind of being busy. Well, more of a whirlwind of a lot of time spent doing not a lot of much, but stuff that needed doing. On Tuesday the workmen arrived to install a natural-gas pipeline in the house. The boiler (for heating) and the hot-water tank already run on natural-gas, so the service is here. We have a gas clothes-dryer, Bar-B-Q, and someday I'll be getting a gas stove in the kitchen. Rather than calling the gas-fitter out each time, we decided to have ports installed for everything in one shot.
In theory, this should have been simple: Extend the gas pipeline from the Utility Room out into the downstairs hallway. Run the pipeline straight down the hallway and have branches coming off for the dryer and stove. Run the pipeline straight outside, and branch off to the west for the Bar-B-Q port.
Things are never as simple as they ought to be.
Things actually went pretty well up until they tried to run the pipeline outside for the Bar-B-Q port. Due to the thickness of the wall, and the shortness of their drill-bit, they had to drill from both sides of the wall. They actually lined up the holes almost perfectly, but the resulting pipe coming through was on just enough of an angle that they couldn't line it up properly with the rest of the pipe. They struggled with that for about an hour, before finally just enlarging the hole by a fraction of an inch to give them some "wiggle room" for the pipe. Then it joined together no problem!
The second problem was running the vent for the dryer. I was going to do this myself, but I figured since they had the proper tools, I'd get them to do it instead. Plus, that way it was done, and trixstir would be happy. I'm really glad that I got them to do it! Again, what seemed like a simple project was a lot harder than it looked. The biggest problem being that the vent didn't come out under the front balcony as I had thought it would; It came out inside the front balcony! That meant cutting an access panel into the bottom of the balcony (no big deal), but also created a rather cramped working space to cut the 4.5" hole for the vent. The fact that they were using a hole-saw that could have been featured on Antiques Roadshow didn't help them.
It took them a lot longer, and a lot more effort than it ought to have, but they did finally get the job done. In all, they were here for eight hours! There was one slight scare when we found a gas-leak at the dryer connection during the testing stage, but they had everything sealed up properly before they left. Trixstir is delighted to finally have a working dryer again, and you can be assured that my gas Bar-B-Q will be on the next load of stuff coming out from Calgary!
Wednesday was spent getting a bunch of other supplies we needed: Paint, parts, etc. Mom and I headed to Swift Current to get the various supplies that we couldn't get in Shaunavon, and that pretty much shot the whole day. Long story short, it took from 10:30am to 7:30pm to get it all taken care of. We got home late, fed the horses and then ourselves. Supper was simple: Hotdogs and Cream of Mushroom soup. Simple comfort food, but warming and delicious.
The Kidling told us that he got the part he wanted in the upcoming school play, and he's very excited about that! I hope his enthusiasm continues, as it will help him on many personal levels (reading, practicing, working with others, etc.) By then it was past 9pm, and we called it a night. At least, some of us did. I still had a meatloaf to prepare for Thursday's supper; This is a recipe I've used many times in the past, and it's always been enjoyable. The prep-work takes a while, but you can make it the night before and put it in the refrigerator, then just pop the stoneware dish into the slow-cooker base in the morning. Here it is:
Traditional MeatloafLarge Eggs, fork-beaten22Milk¼ cup60 mlDry Bread Crumbs *1 cup250 mlWorcestershire sauce1 tsp.5 mlSalt1 tsp.5 mlPepper¼ tsp.1 mlDried Sweet Basil¼ tsp.1 mlGround Thyme¼ tsp.1 mlFinely Chopped Onion
2 cups500 mlLean Ground Beef1 lb.454 gLean Ground Pork
1 lb.454 gGrated Sharp Cheddar Cheese (optional)1 cup250 mlketchup¼ cup60 mlMix first 9 ingredients in a large bowl.
Add ground beef and ground pork. Mix well. Press ½ of meat mixture into bottom of greased 5 quart (5 L) slow cooker.
Spread grated cheddar over mixture. Press second ½ of meat mixture over top. Cover. Cook on Low for 10 to 11 hours, or on High for 5 to 5½ hours. Smooth ketchup over meat mixture during last half-hour of cooking. Serves 6.
*Any other "binder" can be used. I find uncooked rice works really well!
Serving: 405 Calories; 18g Total Fat; 875mg Sodium; 36g Protien; 23g Carbohydrate
Tomorrow (Thursday) the weather is supposed to start cooling off: Highs around -10c, and then it gets really nasty the next couple of days with temperatures in the -20's. I've got to ge the outside work done for the generator connection, as well as clear more snow out of the way, and try to get the horses' hooves trimmed. PoohBear's forehooves are in terrible condition, but they seem to be soft enough that I should be able to trim them myself. I'll have to see. I have the tools and the skill, but my back and legs may veto that again and insist on calling a proper farrier. The question is how quickly I can get one out here.
In theory, this should have been simple: Extend the gas pipeline from the Utility Room out into the downstairs hallway. Run the pipeline straight down the hallway and have branches coming off for the dryer and stove. Run the pipeline straight outside, and branch off to the west for the Bar-B-Q port.
Things are never as simple as they ought to be.
Things actually went pretty well up until they tried to run the pipeline outside for the Bar-B-Q port. Due to the thickness of the wall, and the shortness of their drill-bit, they had to drill from both sides of the wall. They actually lined up the holes almost perfectly, but the resulting pipe coming through was on just enough of an angle that they couldn't line it up properly with the rest of the pipe. They struggled with that for about an hour, before finally just enlarging the hole by a fraction of an inch to give them some "wiggle room" for the pipe. Then it joined together no problem!
The second problem was running the vent for the dryer. I was going to do this myself, but I figured since they had the proper tools, I'd get them to do it instead. Plus, that way it was done, and trixstir would be happy. I'm really glad that I got them to do it! Again, what seemed like a simple project was a lot harder than it looked. The biggest problem being that the vent didn't come out under the front balcony as I had thought it would; It came out inside the front balcony! That meant cutting an access panel into the bottom of the balcony (no big deal), but also created a rather cramped working space to cut the 4.5" hole for the vent. The fact that they were using a hole-saw that could have been featured on Antiques Roadshow didn't help them.
It took them a lot longer, and a lot more effort than it ought to have, but they did finally get the job done. In all, they were here for eight hours! There was one slight scare when we found a gas-leak at the dryer connection during the testing stage, but they had everything sealed up properly before they left. Trixstir is delighted to finally have a working dryer again, and you can be assured that my gas Bar-B-Q will be on the next load of stuff coming out from Calgary!
Wednesday was spent getting a bunch of other supplies we needed: Paint, parts, etc. Mom and I headed to Swift Current to get the various supplies that we couldn't get in Shaunavon, and that pretty much shot the whole day. Long story short, it took from 10:30am to 7:30pm to get it all taken care of. We got home late, fed the horses and then ourselves. Supper was simple: Hotdogs and Cream of Mushroom soup. Simple comfort food, but warming and delicious.
The Kidling told us that he got the part he wanted in the upcoming school play, and he's very excited about that! I hope his enthusiasm continues, as it will help him on many personal levels (reading, practicing, working with others, etc.) By then it was past 9pm, and we called it a night. At least, some of us did. I still had a meatloaf to prepare for Thursday's supper; This is a recipe I've used many times in the past, and it's always been enjoyable. The prep-work takes a while, but you can make it the night before and put it in the refrigerator, then just pop the stoneware dish into the slow-cooker base in the morning. Here it is:
Traditional MeatloafLarge Eggs, fork-beaten22Milk¼ cup60 mlDry Bread Crumbs *1 cup250 mlWorcestershire sauce1 tsp.5 mlSalt1 tsp.5 mlPepper¼ tsp.1 mlDried Sweet Basil¼ tsp.1 mlGround Thyme¼ tsp.1 mlFinely Chopped Onion
2 cups500 mlLean Ground Beef1 lb.454 gLean Ground Pork
1 lb.454 gGrated Sharp Cheddar Cheese (optional)1 cup250 mlketchup¼ cup60 mlMix first 9 ingredients in a large bowl.
Add ground beef and ground pork. Mix well. Press ½ of meat mixture into bottom of greased 5 quart (5 L) slow cooker.
Spread grated cheddar over mixture. Press second ½ of meat mixture over top. Cover. Cook on Low for 10 to 11 hours, or on High for 5 to 5½ hours. Smooth ketchup over meat mixture during last half-hour of cooking. Serves 6.
*Any other "binder" can be used. I find uncooked rice works really well!
Serving: 405 Calories; 18g Total Fat; 875mg Sodium; 36g Protien; 23g Carbohydrate
Tomorrow (Thursday) the weather is supposed to start cooling off: Highs around -10c, and then it gets really nasty the next couple of days with temperatures in the -20's. I've got to ge the outside work done for the generator connection, as well as clear more snow out of the way, and try to get the horses' hooves trimmed. PoohBear's forehooves are in terrible condition, but they seem to be soft enough that I should be able to trim them myself. I'll have to see. I have the tools and the skill, but my back and legs may veto that again and insist on calling a proper farrier. The question is how quickly I can get one out here.