Charge!!!

Oops, I mean Charger.  Since my Jeep needed cosmetic surgery following my 'object lesson', I need a temporary chariot.  The insurance company usually agrees to a similar vehicle so I could have been driving an SUV of some sort.  Mike and I thought that it would be a good idea to get a car instead as we've been thinking about adding a car to our fleet some day (he still misses having a car.  The Jeeps are my obsession. lol.)  I was thinking we'd end up with some old lady car like a Malibu.  But nooooo!  We have a Charger.  A muscley sort of car. 

It feels sturdy, an important quality considering that I've been in an accident recently.  And it's pretty comfortable, too.

Here's its back view so you can see that it really is a Charger.

This is the problem:  it's not a Jeep.  It's not that I have an obsession with Jeeps, really. It's that driving around in a car makes me feel short.  And since, I'm not all that fond of being short, I'm not liking that feeling much.

When I drive my Jeep, I'm tall enough to see over most folks.  Makes me feel like I can see trouble coming before it hits me.  Didn't work the other day, I admit.  That guy just plain snuck up on me.  lol.

In The Garden - March 12

Perfect day for some work in the garden!  I found some signs of life.  A pansy just beginning to bloom...

A crocus...

Time to attempt to regain control of the orchard.  This supposedly dwarf apple tree has been giving me fits for a couple of years.  Last year, I gave it a severe pruning to completely reshape and resize it.  It retaliated by producing only two apples.  This year, I gave it a renewal pruning to get it ready for fruit production.  I'm hoping for a few more apples this year.  lol!

I also pruned the two peaches and did a little work on the apricot tree.  I usually do the heavy pruning on it after I harvest the apricots.  If we manage to dodge a late last frost, we may have enough apricots to make jam for the entire neighborhood on that tree.

One of my favorite spring projects every year is pruning the grape vines.  I feel a bit like Michelangelo as I remove all the parts of the vine that don't look like a productive plant.

The vine on the left is a Niagara white juice grape.  It is easily the most obedient and easy to care for grape vine that I have experience with.  The finished pruning job always looks just like the pictures in my pruning textbook.  It produces by the book, too.  Most years, it produces quarts and quarts of the yummiest grape juice.

The vine on the right is a Canadice pink table grape.  While it produces a very yummy seedless pink grape, the vines are just crazy.  Most years, all the growth will be on one side of the plant.  Pruning is difficult because the whole vine is lopsided.  It's the grandkids favorite grape, though, so I coax it into shape and usually it will cooperate by providing enough grapes to give each child a bellyache from eating too many at least once per summer.  lol.

Object Lesson

I spent most of my morning today trying to keep up on the news about the terrible earthquake and tsunami that began off the coast of Japan.  My heart goes out to all those who are affected by this catastrophe.

Obviously, I am also very concerned about my missionary who is currently living on the little island of New Caledonia.  I took a page from Enos' book and began to pray nonstop for my son and his companion.  After a few hours of making myself absolutely nuts searching the web for information, I took a break and headed to the fitness center to work off some of my frustrations.

On the way home, my Jeep was hit by another SUV.  

The damage isn't much (yay for Jeeps!) compared to the possibilities.  I was traveling at about 40 mph when I was hit.  There was one near miss immediately after as I was pushed into the next lane.  I ended up in the middle of the most dangerous intersection in Salt Lake County.  But...I could not have felt more safe.  The feeling of safety and protection was overwhelming.

Dealing with the the other driver and the paperwork was frustrating and took such a long time.  So, it was a while before I realized that I had just had one of the most awesome object lessons of my entire life.  It is this:  so if the Master of All Creation could keep me safe in the middle of such a scary and chaotic place, He could most certainly keep my son, His own representative, safe if he chose.

Sometimes, it takes me a while, but I'm still teachable.  My prayers will now include many more 'thanks' and many less 'pleases'.

Turkey Cannon - Experiment #1

Last fall, during a contest sponsored by PinchingYourPennies.com, I won a specialty turkey roaster called a turkey cannon.  Dorky name for a pretty cool product.  My cannon arrived last week (long story), so after my weekly grocery trip where I picked up a whole chicken, I was ready for a test drive cook.

The turkey cannon can be used for a turkey or whole chicken over 4 lbs. in weight.  It can be used in the oven or on the outdoor grill.  It assembles easily and can be just as easily disassembled to be washed in the dishwasher.  The included instruction book had lots of information, but it was a bit disorganized so it took a few minutes to figure out just what needed to be done.  I followed the instructions exactly this time (stop laughing!), but I thought of a few things to try differently next time.  Some instructions are critical to success:

1.   Use a pan with sides in the oven.  Just enough juice escapes that it would be a hazard without an edge to keep it off the bottom of the oven.  I did line the pan with foil which meant that the burnt on drippings didn't need to be soaked and scrubbed afterwards.
2.  Measure the liquid that is poured into the cannon.  The instructions say 1 - 1 1/2 cups of liquid.  I put in 1 cup of teriyaki sauce.  That was all it needed.  One more drop would have spilled out.
3.  Trim all excess fat from the bird before sliding it onto the roaster.  The instructions warn about spattering and there was plenty of that even with a carefully trimmed bird (thanks Harmons for taking care of that!)

Here's the chicken all decked out and ready for the oven:

I used teriyaki sauce in the cannon; salt, Mrs Dash garlic and herb blend, and Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime on the outside.

Ta da!  75 minutes later, here is the finished deliciousness.  We ate a great deal of the chicken for dinner tonight and there is enough for another good-sized meal leftover.  Yum!

Next time I use the turkey cannon, there are a few things that I will do differently...

...more seasoning inside and out.  The meat was juicy and seasoned, but could have used more zing.  I worried that using a liquid like salsa might make the meat too spicy for the gringos around here, but I think that I'm going to try it next.

...plan for more time in the oven.  The instructions say that the bird will cook more quickly using the turkey cannon, but I didn't find that to be true.  This 4+ lb. chicken needed 75 minutes which is what the instructions suggest that roasting a whole turkey would take.

...cook it at 425 for a larger portion of the roasting time.  I was worried about drying the chicken out by cooking it at the higher temperature, but I think that instead of 30 minutes at 350 and 45 at 425, I'll try it all at 425 next time.  The crispy skin was very tasty.

...gotta try the grill, too.  I think that a smoky, grilled flavor would be wonderful with meat that is so tender and juicy!

Thanks again PinchingYourPennies and Camp Chef for my new tool!

In The Garden - March 2

All the new seedlings are up...except for the spinach. Figures, since it's the one I'm most anxious to EAT!  Actually, the spinach always seems to take longer to germinate, so I'm not terribly surprised.  I am amazed at how quickly everything else has sprouted.  They were all up, out of the soil, yesterday, but I didn't get around to removing the plastic bags until today.  I forgot just how well that heat mat works!