This tractor's on fiyaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

 I need to retitle this blog "The Idiot Yankee - Learn From My Mistakes".

So on a beautiful spring day I decided to get my tractors out of my mother's lean-to and make sure they were ready for the season.  Li'l Red fired right up and I drove her around the yard and pasture to be sure everything was working.  Then I went back for Reputa and she also fired right up and I headed to the pasture to run the cobwebs out.  And here's where I made a terrible, terrible mistake.  After the last mowing of 2025, I neglected to clean off the top of the mower deck, where grass and leaves had packed between the deck and the bottom of the tractor.  I'm sure some enterprising mice probably nested in that warm and cozy litter, adding to the tinderbox.  As I drove around the pasture I decided to engage the mower deck to be sure it was working.  I went around the pasture twice and suddenly realized there was smoke coming out from under the tractor, and assumed a belt was stuck.  I shut the deck off and headed toward the house to take a look, but within seconds I saw flames shooting out from under the tractor.  I immediately shut it off and lumbered toward the garage to find a hose.  As I was hooking up the hose to the spigot, I looked up and saw smoke and flames in the pasture.  This was the beginning of about a three hour panic attack - I called my mother, screaming, hung up and dialed 911, screaming.  Mom couldn't understand what I was saying, so she came down and I was screaming at her to go get more hoses.  At this point my neighbors across the street came running over to see what was happening and immediately jumped in to help.  My other neighbor had heard the screaming and was walking down her driveway to figure out what was going on, and through the woods she saw the smoke.  She came racing over to help, too.  Within what seemed like only five minutes there were police, ambulance, and fire vehicles swarming the yard.  The fire department had a forestry truck that they were able to drive right into the pasture and begin hosing everything down.  I was zero help as all I could do was sob hysterically and attempt to beat any flames out with a shovel.  The fire chief told me this was their second call that day - conditions are still extremely dry in our area and it doesn't take much to go from a spark to a full on fire.  I am so lucky they were able to contain it to the pasture, and I am forever thankful to my amazing neighbors, and the police, fire, and ambulance crews that got here so quickly.  I'm not sure if Reputa will run again, but if not it's a small price to pay.  I keep thinking of what could have happened if the fire had spread more quickly - I could have burned down my neighbor's homes, not to mention hundreds of acres of forest.  I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened.  I have learned one more valuable lesson in my life.  

 

 

Haluski! (a post for Alex)

I made haluski today!  It's one of my favorite easy peasy meals.  I only cook about three different dishes, and this is one of them.  It's one of those deep winter, stick to your ribs kind of foods that probably isn't for everyone.  Basically it's cabbage, onion, and egg noodles pan fried.  Myself?  I like to 

add kielbasa.  In the background is one of the best strong cheddars I've had in a while for snacking on while cooking.  We went to the Seacoast Farmer's Market yesterday and I purchased this wedge of Caerphilly from Abbot Hill Creamery.  HIGHLY recommend this if you're a fan of creamy, aged cheddar.  

Growing up, I joked that my Grampy would melt a stick of butter to cook a pound of bacon.  I prefer frying in butter for flavor and that wonderful crispy browning effect.  I know, I know...not healthy, so I only do it once in a while.

Once that's pan fried to perfection, I move on to the vegetable portion of the meal.  A small head of cabbage, cut into healthy sized chunks.  A large vidalia onion cut into equally chunky pieces.  I like mushrooms in pretty much everything I eat, so slice 'em up!  And some of my home grown garlic.

I am fairly hopeless in the kitchen and am barely able to function, so one of my best purchases was this little mincer gizmo.  

Now it's time to coooooooook.

Olive oil, garlic, heat.

 Onion! 

 Add cabbage - it looks like a lot but trust me, it cooks down to nuttin'!

 Now mushrooms, and cook until they start getting a little soft

...then add in that kielbasa.  Make sure to scrape any butter out of the pan into the haluski - don't you waste that liquid gold!

 

Keep stirring and flipping and moving everything to get it to cook to your preferred state.  Crispier cabbage?  Sure!  See through onions?  Why not!  Mushy mushrooms?  Get a grip.  There is a point of no return, people. 

Next, boil up some egg noodles.  How much?  I don't know, how much do you want?

 This much.  This is my perfect amount. 

 Fold that into the frypan with the other ingredients, and honey, you've got yourself a haluski.

Mmmmmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmm, good.  You'd better believe this needs to be served with a thick, warm slice of seeded sourdough rye with - what else? - buttah!  

Like all hearty dishes, this is better the next day.  But who wants to wait? Not me! 

addendum: I realized I didn't even attempt to add any spices to this.  Normally I would add sea salt, pepper, and my favorite tuscan blend spice, but I share this with Mother and she can't handle the level of seasoning I normally use, so I try to stay bland.  The woman who shared this recipe with me back in the day liked to make hers with cabbage, onion, egg noodle, craisins, and a little celery salt.  The recipe is so basic, you can really add anything to it.  Sometimes I substitute potstickers for the kielbasa and egg noodles, and that's pretty darned tasty, too!