Gunga Din

[altivo]

Well, we're getting into a routine with the water hauling, which is good because it looks as if we'll be doing it for a while. On the suggestion of goldenstallion, Gary went out and got a cheap plastic toy sled. It's more or less boat shaped, which means it catches spills. Slides over snow beautifully with as many as three five gallon buckets in it, and very little sloshing (to my amazement.)

Because we're using lukewarm water, it takes a little longer to freeze. The rabbits seem to like it warm, and will drink quite a lot as soon as their bowls are filled.

We should be able to switch to hoses as soon as the hard freezing weather ends, but that could be a good month yet. We're still in single digit temperatures here, with dips below zero at night.

Went to the guild meeting today mostly because I wanted to try out a light weight spindle now that I've had a breakthrough in getting the top whorl spindle to work for me. Sure enough, a 20 gram Bosworth worked nicely, and I was quickly producing worsted spun thread (yes, thread) from some Merino I had handy. I couldn't resist, bought the spindle so I could play with it some more.

Made salmon patties for supper. We like them and I get the canned salmon when it's on sale for an inexpensive price. I bake the patties rather than frying them, so they are fairly healthy too. All those "omega 3" fatty acids or whatever it is. Of course the fact that we like macaroni and cheese with them probably cancels out all the benefit. ;p

Comments

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

When you're done hauling water, you can go sledding -- whee!

Salmon patties... I haven't had those since I was a kid, and I miss them. This is probably Cooking 101, but how do you make them?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Easy. Take a 15 oz. can of salmon (pink or red) and drain the liquid. Pick the fish apart with a fork and remove the larger bones. Then mash it up in a bowl, mixing in some chopped onion (about 2 tablespoons will do), 2 eggs, parsley, dill, and ground pepper to taste. (I use about a teaspoon of dry parsley, half a teaspoon of dill, and a quarter teaspoon of pepper.) Crumble up nine or ten crackers into the mixture and blend well. (Gary insists on Ritz crackers here.) Shape into four thick patties, and roll them in bread crumbs or corn flake crumbs to coat. Place in an oven dish sprayed with PAM and bake at 425°F. for 20 minutes.

Serve with whatever condiment you prefer. Tartar sauce is fine, some folks like ketchup, or if you want to be really proper, a honey mustard sauce or a sweet and sour made of lemon would be appropriate.

I recommend peas or spinach, and macaroni or rice with these.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I can handle that, I think. As soon as I buy some salmon, that is.

Tuna patties would go pretty much the same, no?

I like the idea of baking them. Mom always fried them, because back in the 1960s we didn't think fried was a bad thing.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, they are good fried. Too delicate for deep frying, but in an electric skillet at 400° using about 1/4 inch of peanut oil or whatever...

You can come closer to the fried effect without nearly as much fat by drizzling about a teaspoonful of oil onto each one before baking.

[alaskawolf.livejournal.com]

the Sled is a great Idea :)

yum salmon patties :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

See recipe above. They're very easy.

[ducktapeddonkey.livejournal.com]

Glad you found an interm "solution".

Hay, just think of all that extra exercise you'll be getting. Isn't that great? ;)

All the groundhogs said it would be a short winter though. Hopefully they're right.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I thought the one in Pennsylvania said six more weeks. Not that I take groundhogs seriously anyway, what do they know? Woodstock Willie just nine miles from here said two more weeks. That means it should be over in six days. Hah!

More snow tonight, but at least that means a warming trend for a day or two.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

If any additional trouble making snow events happen, you can always, you know, send it my way. ^^ need to practice my stalking under camoflauge conditions.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Actually, snow wouldn't bother us much. It's the subzero temperatures that are a problem. They're actually predicting more snow for tonight and tomorrow, but that is accompanied by a warming trend. Typically here we get snow when temperatures are in the 20s. Down in the single digits and below, we have clear, dry weather.

But that's OK. You can come up here to visit and practice your stalking. Just no eating my horsies and sheepers, OK? I'll feed you enough.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* I may be a carnivore, but I like inspected meats. So no worries there.

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun. :) I should come along to practice my skills as well. Not just the stalking, but the whole getting-behind-locked-doors thing too.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Locked doors? What locked doors? We rarely have locked doors because one of us is almost always here.

[corelog.livejournal.com]

I doubt you'd lock me out anyways, unless I was being particularly bothersome. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Nah. If you became bothersome we'd just feed you to the ducks...

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Is he house trained?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

He's Canadian, so we might have to make allowances. I guarantee he's cuddly, though.

[octatonic.livejournal.com]

Omega 3 is your friend!

I'm a fan, but not a fanatic.

Your supper sounds yummy.

I'd reccomend some kind of erstwhile Y2K plan for the frozen
water so it doesn't happen again.

Excuse me, I'll be nibbling your feeesh while your
hauling things in an icebucket.

*puts his foxpaws on the oven door and sneeefs
deliscious feesh*

^_^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Fish, yum. I agree. Even when I was otherwise vegetarian, I still had fish occasionally because I like it way too much. Perhaps it's just that it was rare when I was a kid. My parents didn't care for it, except for tuna or salmon once in a while. I'm not very diverse in my ways of preparing it but we do like it.

[octatonic.livejournal.com]

Fish can be hard to cook in ways other
than grilling or pan frying. Try baking
it with some "Itsadilly" with a side
of baked tomatos. Unless you have
children come over, then make hot dogs
and beans too. Or Pizza. ^.^;

[altivo.livejournal.com]

We've done salmon poached or braised with apricots or peaches. It turns out very nice, but more fuss than the usual ways.

I also bake fish fillets after dipping them in breadcrumbs and sprinkling with Italian dressing and grated parmesan. That one is easy and tasty.

With Sunday good wishes

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

March of the Librarians

Re: With Sunday good wishes

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*snicker*

I could never do that narration without cracking up. It's more or less true, as far as it goes. I've been to a few of those conventions, but frankly, they don't seem worth the bother of travel to me. I would have chosen lemmings rather than penguins to model it from, but the penguins were an easy choice given the popularity of that film.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Salmon!! Kitty's favourite fish *sits by the fridge looking hopeful*

I get fantastic salmon steaks locally and grill them plus serve with rice and miso soup *drool*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Grilled salmon is indeed nice. It's very expensive here, so we don't get to have it often. Canned salmon, on the other hoof, is quite cheap when they ahve a sale price.