Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Just A Lil' More Summer

Once I was done blogging about summer's last hurrah, I promptly went out in the yard to find a shady spot to break beans. It was beautiful out. I'm already mourning the end of days like these. Like everything else in life, summer seems so short. Life seems so short. I sure hope I live a good long life. There's so much I want to do! I'll be REALLY ticked off if I die young. Seriously.

After reading all your comments the last couple of days, it appears that the majority of you are more than ready for fall. Hmm. I'm still torn. I'm so torn. I guess it's because we've had an unseasonably cool summer. I could live with this weather all year long! The heat didn't really hit our area til the first week in August. The heat and humidity ravaged the garden. Things look spent. But the tomatoes, oh the tomatoes are in their glory.

Can you think of anything better than a BLT with a fresh tomato?



Hello lover.

If there is one thing you take away from my blog, ever, it would be to start baking your bacon.
Bacon and I have a long history. A love hate relationship. Love eating it, hate cooking it. I'm embarrassed to tell you that the last time I fried bacon I acted like a two year old. After being splattered with hot grease for the 19th time, and seeing bacon grease on the walls, I turned the burner off, and walked away, declaring I would never cook bacon again. I could hear the bacon laughing in the pan. It knew better. Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) had baked bacon on her show one day, and it looked so lovely. She even glazed it with maple syrup. Oh my. Iced Bacon. Yum! BUT, she cooked it up on a cooling rack. I did that, and the bacon just didn't taste right to me, and there was still a HUGE mess to clean up. Found out about making bacon like this, on parchment paper, in the oven. The bacon still cooks in it's own fat, which seems to make it super tasty like frying, but NO MESS GIRLS. No mess. Simply let the drippings harden, and throw the whole shebang away.


Thought you might like to see a little behind the scenes photo of the Coop Keeper. Glamorous, no? I'm playing around, trying to learn some vintage hair styles with pin curls. Aaron took this pic, laughing his head off as the breeze was blowing my bandana around. I was too busy breaking beans to look up.

Please please please keep me posted with your summer doings. I know we are all looking forward to fall, but don't diss summer. He'll be gone before you know it.

Love your comments! You've no idea how excited I get when I see them. Keep 'em comin'.

13 comments:

  1. Baking bacon...who would'a thought! I am going to try that! Thank you so much for sharing that tip-keep em coming! Love the pic Aaron took, you're a much braver woman that I! LOL

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  2. We call it "snapping beans" down here. And I like your new tennis shoes. It's still pretty hot down here. We did have a cooler weekend so that was nice. I've been freezing tomatoes and making jelly. Tomorrow I will start peeling pears. I can them and we eat them all winter long.

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  3. I adore bacon!! Especially peppered bacon. I want two pigs to raise and butcher...and I'll name them both Bacon. But like you I am not a fan of cooking it. I have been know to (((GASP))) buy the precooked stuff for BLTs! It isn't nearly as good as real bacon. I think the last time I fried bacon I got popped by grease on my eye lid! Yes, my EYE LID! Maybe I was too close smelling or gawking or something, I don't know. Anyway, I am going to have to get some parchment paper and try this method. BLTs are inthe menu this week and the poor bacon is just sitting in the fridge, wondering if today is his day to perform. Now I am very curious about these pin curls...I am giong to have to know more! I have naturally curls hair, and enough for 50 people at that, so maybe a few pin curls woul help calm the madness? Well, the AC is back on because it it hotter and humid again...so I guess that counts toward summer doings? :) LOL

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  4. Howdy woman, girl you use parchment paper for everything. Your so funny. Thanks for stopping by the other day just for a hug, your a doll. That's it.... a Jayme Doll, adventures in homemaking. I love it. Anyway fresh bread baking as we speak, sorry, in a bread machine, couldn't pass it up at the g. sale for 3 bucks. I am going to do your bread and see the difference. I love snappin beans. Watched all the women in my family do it as I grew up. Love the pic, you look like something in my family album from Middletown, Ohio. Love ya, off to clean some more.

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  5. Just found your blog, thanks to a friend who knows I'm nuts about chickens. But not the live ones. I don't need any more animals to care for. I'm a finally farmgirl, soon to be 60. Come for a visit to my blog.

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  6. Like you, I love bacon but hate the mess so I'll be trying your method.
    You're so funny, love your blog..
    Keep it coming.
    Alabama Grandmother

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  7. Love BLT sandwiches. I had one over the weekend and still my favorite. My mom used to cook bacon in the oven. She was a terrible cook but I guess she did that one right! My dad took us out for dinner lots since most of my mom's meals had what we called, "her special sauce" which was charcoal!!! She burned everything. Love your pin curls and scarf! How did the hair-do turn out. You are a kick...love your blog~and the sound of you life!

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  8. Tim cooks the bacon in the microwave...does a pretty good job. But I miss the smell of bacon in the house. Have to try the oven method!

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  9. I am laughing so hard right now, first about the bacon and second because that picture of you is adorable. I LOVE bacon and LOATHE cooking it. I discovered the baking method about 6 months ago and I can promise you that my bacon will never, ever see another frying pan. Never.

    I am feeling the whole Summer vs Fall thing too. I am totally ready for Fall, totally. Frankly, the heat makes me mean. Mean as a snake. It zaps me. But I look around and realize I will miss the breezes through the green leaves and thunderstorms and well, the lightening bugs seemed to have packed up and left already. I miss them. I need a change. I love the changing of the seasons.

    So, on the top of my to-do list for tomorrow is to add you to my list of favorites. Bug me about it if you have to ;)

    Have a great night!
    Kim

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  10. I dunno, summer for me isn't breezes and lightning bugs and lovely evenings outdoors - but how wonderful that sounds, and HOW I wish it was so! For me summer is a 3-month battle to escape the heat (no central AC in my old Victorian house, just a couple of window air conditioners.) Evenings outside mean heat, humidity and mosquitoes. During the summer, when I'm not at work, or at the store, I'm in my house, in one of my two air-conditioned rooms, pissed off that I can't be doing all the zillions of things I want/need to be doing because it's too hot. Everything - the yard, housecleaning, cooking - goes to heck during the summer. My garden looks beautiful in the spring, and then falls to ruin when summer comes because I can't bear to work out there in the heat. Plus I gain weight every summer due to inactivity. I spend less time outside during summer than in any other season, including winter (I love winter!) That's probably the opposite of most people, but that's me. Maybe I should move farther north?......nah, a friend just came back from Quebec and told me it was sweltering up there last week. Am I whining? Sorry.

    Jayme, you need LOTS more tomato on that BLT!! And you're so right about baking the bacon. I use a stoneware pan (from Pampered Chef)- it cooks the bacon evenly, crisps it nicely, and is super easy to clean.

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  11. Hey Ladies! I tell you I'm like a pig in poop right now, reading all your funny comments. You guys crack me up, touch my heart and inspire me with all of your creativity. How fun to find new like-minded friends, and stay in touch with old dear friends.

    Thanks for making a great day, a super great day.

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  12. P.S. Ohmigosh, Jayme, you look SO much like your Mom in the pin-curl picture!

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  13. Have I told you lately that I love you? So much I ache.

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