October 11, 2009 – My Little Country

As you all may know, if you are a regular reader of my blog, we look forward to the cooler temperatures because we are able to cook in our fireplace with our Dutch oven. Jason called this afternoon to tell me he was preparing a pot of fireplace chili, so I was really excited. After I got home, Jason carefully tended his precious Dutch oven with nothing but great love and care. He gently stirred the contents of the pot, all while adjusting the pot oh-so-precisely. As he stood up, he said, “My chili may need a little spice adjustment.” At that very moment, I remembered that I had used up the last of the chili powder about 4 days ago.

I said, “Uh, we don’t have chili powder. What did you use?” J: “Well, I found some powder in a jar.” Me: “Um, it didn’t happen to be a glass jar did it?” J: “Well……”

I thought, uh oh. We went into the kitchen and he showed me the glass jar, which was now missing half of its contents. “This one” he said. I stuck my finger in the spice jar and licked my finger, knowing full well what was coming.

“Bleeeeech! That’s cayenne pepper! Oh my God, how much did you use?”

“Well, like half the bottle.”

I burst out into laughter. “I guess it’s a chicken nugget night, huh?” I said. So, due to the culinary faux pas, we instead ate a plate full of chicken nuggets, which I am almost convinced are not really meat at all.

After dinner, curiosity got the best of us. Jason tasted the ‘chili’ first.

“Oh………..my………….GOD!” he managed to say between wheezes. ” This is DEADLY.”

I took my place in front of the pot. “My Lord! And how many jalapenos did you put in?” “Well, just a few.” A few? There were about 2 whole super hot jalapenos in there! I put a drop on my tongue.

“GAAAAAAAAKKKK!” I managed to get out while spitting the ‘chili’ in the trash. It was so hot, it seared my tongue and throat and made my eyes water.

If I remember correctly, this is also the same man that accidentally substituted salt for sugar in a cookie recipe. Then again, maybe I just have my memories mixed up. Anyway, just so that you all know, Jason actually happens to be a good cook most of the time (with the exception being Chinese food, and when he gets ‘inventive’ with his spices. For whatever reason, he tends to over-garlic things sometimes).

He makes the best brisket this side of the Mississippi, and that’s the truth. Just don’t try the chili on a night when he’s using an unlabeled spice jar!

Lately, we have been having ‘problems’ with our goats. Oh, they’re perfectly healthy and robust, but unfortunately, they all seem to suffer from some sort of co-dependent paranoia/eating disorder that if I do not come and feed them every 10 minutes, they are at the fence (unfortunately which can be seen through my back door) and scream at the top of their goat lungs. An incessant, “BAAAAAAAA, BAAAAAAAA, BAAAAAAAA” from early morning to nightfall. It is to the point that my husband is ready to gut and clean every goat and have a giant, citywide barbeque. So much for the peace and quiet of the country. We currently have eight goats; I am trying to get that to two or three to quiet the decibel level of “Baa”. Oh, they have full access to about 12 acres of brushy, goat-friendly goodness, but they’d rather take a hand-out. Reminds me of some of the people in this great nation. Anyway, maybe that’s why I find it doubly irritating. I don’t know. I did just look and the goats were all where they are SUPPOSED to be, which is in the woods. Maybe they will learn, yet. We shall see.

In farm life, yesterday, we had a couple of ‘our guys’ come and help us burn dead wood out in the goat pen, clean out the goat pen and apply it to my garden, and haul bricks to our pathway we are constructing in front of our house. It was really great to have 4 extra hands! I found one of my up and coming Rhode Island Red hens with her rear end virtually pecked to a bloody mess (ah, the fun you can have with chickens) so, I had to put her in a separate cage, clean and medicate her chicken bootie, and see how she does. She’s a lot better this morning. If you didn’t know it already, chickens will ruthlessly peck most anything that is red, blood especially, to the point they will kill a fellow chicken. It can be extremely annoying and frustrating. That’s why many chicken brooder lights are red, so that they cannot distinguish one red area from another. So, I’ll have to turn back on the red light, I guess. Oh well. They are almost ready to put out with the big guys.

So, screaming goats and doctoring chicken booties aside, yesterday was a really good, productive day!