Getting caught up

Things sure do have a way of backing up on the farm when you turn your head for a little bit. The past several days we have not been able to do much outside with all the rain. Then for me there is the inside stuff that needs to be done up. Routine house cleaning, laundry, ya know the kind of stuff. It was nice out today with sun and a lil breeze so I got some laundry done and hung outside to dry. I had gotten a clothes display rack from my aunt Ann so I could set it up on the back deck in summer to dry laundry instead of running the dryer for long periods of time. It works really nice too, heavy so the wind cant blow it over and very sturdy. I do love sheets dried out doors, makes them smell so nice.
A couple weeks ago Jason and I ordered a 250 ft roll of burlap to use some to make a shade cloth for the greenhouse. Imagine the mess that made when I unrolled it in the living room floor to cut the shade cloth. But I got the shade cloth made and cut 4 extra pieces about 8 ft long to make sun shades for the front porch this summer. The evening sun can get pretty hot out there in summer. Now all I need is to get the furrowing strips cut to length and the burlap tacked on those for shades. Seeing that I already had a mess in the floor I decided to use the 2 big king size comforters that I had bought about 2 years ago at the big 127 yard sale to make slip covers for the patio chairs. Got that done and the chairs will be just like new.  So there, a couple things done and the mess cleaned up.
I hope to be making some lye soap in a couple weeks. I have some lard that I will be using along with some oil that I need to wash. Yes you can wash oil. Sound strange? It is quite simple. You can wash any cooking oil to remove odors and bits of fried foods that end up in there. You will need a deep kettle to which you add about 1/4 as much water as used oil or lard. Heat till almost simmering and stir this mixture for about 5 minutes or so. The stirring helps the oil let go of the particles and they drop to the bottom into the water. Remove from the heat and let cool. If you are washing lard chill in the refrigerator till lard is hardened and gently remove the solid fat and blot the water off and store in a clean container. If you are washing oil, chill well and use a bulb baster to remove the oil from the water mixture or you can freeze the water and oil and once the water if frozen it can easily be separated from the clean oil. This is a good way to get more mileage from your cooking oil or clean it up to make soap. I have done this to remove odors from cooking oil and it ends up as good as new not to mention the money saved as expensive as good cooking oil has gotten.
In talking to some friends and chatting about whats for dinner I had mentioned that I had made some Cajun Pasta for supper last night. So here is the recipe/instructions for my version of quick Cajun pasta.

1 jar Alfredo sauce
1/4 cup chopped bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 lb peeled and cleaned shrimp(small ones are best)
1/2 lb polish sausage, cubed
1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon liquid shrimp and crab boil
Linguine pasta

In large kettle cook linguine pasta till tender while you make the sauce.
In skillet saute onion, peppers, shrimp and sausage in 3 tablespoons of butter till veggies are tender. Sprinkle in Cajun seasoning and shrimp and crab boil and stir well. Add the jar of Alfredo sauce and stir to combine and heat thru. Drain the pasta well and add pasta to the sauce using as much or as little as you like and stir to combine and heat. Serve with garlic toast and enjoy.
The above amount of shrimp and crab boil will give the dish a lil heat but not too hot. You can add more boil to make this dish hotter if you like really hot food. I like mine medium so I use about 1/2 teaspoon.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella