Scott worked, I was lazy, Cevonne came over

It's been one week in our local challenge and things are a little tougher than I thought.

I wanted to buy some fruit and the only local ones the coop had were apricots and currants. I never had currants before and had just talked to my Grandma who mentioned she had them on her farm growing up. So they must be good right? Wrong! They taste horrible. Unless I happened to buy a bad batch or something. I figured the only way to make them better was add a bunch of sugar and make a crisp.

I did buy groceries for the week and they were all local. I like that the Wedge has a tally on their receipts.

I attended a party on Saturday where I was asked to bring chips and orange juice. The chips I had no problem with, but orange juice. Well, at least its from America.

Scott's phone plan expired and it was time to get a new one. The one he ended up getting was free for one day. So technically we didn't buy it so it doesn't count, right?

Besides local August, things have been pretty boring around here post-art show/Blake visiting. We had another major thunderstorm and this is what I woke up to on Sunday.With our dehumidifier running this was dry by days end.

 Recently Brooke's been making me cook Sunday breakfast. She was tired or something.

The most exciting part of my day. We used up the last of the blueberries from Brooke and Blake's berry picking adventure. Then I went to work. How exciting?

 The neighbor kids (bless their hearts) have been coming over a lot lately. Sometimes I need to get things done so I don't answer or pretend I'm not home. Today they knew I was home and wouldn't stop knocking on our door. Eventually they got bored and left. When I came outside I saw that half our basil plant had been torn out. Little punks are grounded from our house.

This week I replanted spinach and arugula. It never grew in the spring so hopefully it will grow this fall.

 

 Pumpkins are getting bigger.

Yay corn!

I had leftovers for lunch. This has been the summer of stir-fries.

Cevonne and I had plans to hang out today. Scott had the car so she offered to pick me up. She hasn't seen our house since we moved in so I invited her in for another tour. 

 

 Lately I've been obsessed with Skype. We decided to Skype with Amanda. It was fun. I don't know how to capture my screen so I had to take a photo with my camera.

I missed the Skype action. I always enjoy hanging with Cevonne and Amanda, so it was a bummer. 

We've been sticking to what we have in the fridge or the pantry for dinners lately. I made another Tuska family tradition, Swedish Meatballs. 

Mother Tuska's Swedish Meatballs

 1 lb ground meat (we use venison)

1 roll of buttery crackers, crushed

2 heaping T allspice

1 egg

1/2 cup (or enough to moisten the crackers) milk

1 T of vegetable oil and butter

2 c beef stock

2 heaping T corn starch

Optional: 1 c sour cream

 White Rice

Combine the ground venison, crushed crackers, a healthy amount of allspice, the egg and enough milk to moisten the mixture. Mix with your hands. Meanwhile prepare a rice of your choice. 

Melt butter with the oil in a thick bottomed frying pan that has a lid. Shape the meatballs into balls and put in hot oil. Turn after the meatballs have browned nicely. 

Combine the corn (or potato) starch with some of the stock. Add the rest of the stock to the pan when the meatballs have browned on the other side. Once the stock is boiling, add the corn strach and beef broth mixture. Cook until thickened. Serve over rice. 

If you're feeling adventurous replace the corn starch with flour and remove the meatballs after browning. Create a roux by scraping up the browned bits. Add a few tablespoons extra butter and two heaping tablespoons of flour. Then whisk in the stock and sour cream. 

The first version of the stock is the way my mom and grandma make it. The second is an adaptation of a recipe from Bon Appetit for Finnish Meatballs. 

 We had no crackers or bread crumbs. Instead we made the meatballs with flour. The meatballs lost their delicate consistency. Eh, whatever.

The End.