The City Mouse in the Country

Hope is the poor man's bread. Somehow I started watching a video about "Poor Man's bread" that was bread made from various flours in the 1700's and early 1800's.  This popularity of this type of bread has waxed and waned in popularity at times when wheat production faltered for whatever reason. The history of bread is an interesting one and their have been lots of substitutes for wheat bread throughout times of drought or diseases; or when other issues like poor soil and wheat diseases affected production.  Wheat has always been the preferred crop when it came to bread. While wheat farming practices and yields have certainly increased since the late 1700's this most important of crops face new problems in a ever heating world. I started to wonder....could some of these substitutes make sense in today's world?  Or better yet, what about the world of tomorrow?  What would replace wheat bread if the crops failed today? Quick searches for things lik...

This is going to be a more personal blog than normal.   If you have been following this blog for a while...then you know that Sue and I have had a series of deaths in the family.   We have not gone into that much detail concerning these deaths other than the passing of her father, and then mine .  We have experienced the loss of loved ones some six times since October. Susan has half jokingly suggested that we simply hang a black flag outside of our home. These deaths have only reminded me that, since nether my brother or I have any children of our own (my brother adopted and I have a step daughter) that the genetic line that makes up this particular branch of the Wilson family, will go extinct.   On top of that we have had a "run of bad luck" regarding our automobiles as well, nothing that was to serious and nothing that was not caused by time and mileage.   Luckily, we had the money to  repair and replace the parts. Still, it was an unex...

Recently I've seen memes and posts over "banning" the gas range.   What I'll be referring to as the Gas Stove War.  It's silly really...but I understand it. For some, it must seem like government over reach.  We personally are moving from an electric stove to a propane stove because my wife wanted one (she's a former professional chef) as we finish the last bit of the kitchen remodel; and because this would mean drilling a hole though the house for the gas range the installation will occur in spring. Yes, I'm very aware of my hypocrisy over installing a gas stove for ourselves while understanding the move to ban or limit the use of electric stoves in other parts of the country.  Frankly if it was up to me, I would stay electric.   It's not up to me.  I also was not aware of the environmental concern regarding the gas range till recently. Long story short, this whole kerfuffle began about two years ago New York City moved to eliminate the use of ga...

  As you can see, I've an abundance of apples.  A friend of a friend had a bumper crop...and here we are. We have had them for a few days but up until now have not sure what we were going to do with them.  The lovely Sue I'm sure will find away to make a Dutch Apple pie.  I'm sure she'll find something else as well to do with them. It's what I wanted to do with them that interests me.  I like to experiment in the kitchen and generally am not able to.  Mostly because what interests doesn't interest anyone else (See our recipe page for " Farts of Portingale " and a 2000 + year old chicken dish ) and that I don't really feel comfortable in the kitchen unless it's pretty straightforward.  I had apples, a pretty much non used jar of tahini and free time between now and the new year.  It's rare when Susan and I decide to try some things in the kitchen together It all started with toast.  Sue is normally the one that makes breakfast on the weekend...

 Rome, the saying goes, was not built in a day.   Home improvement will take longer than the rise and fall of Rome and despite recent emotional issues, simply can not wait.  Plans were put in place months ago, and for a variety of reasons, could not be completed until now.  Our home was built by its original owner and although there is much to be celebrated about it; it was never really updated since its construction in the 1970’s.  We replaced the roof shortly after moving in as well as the outdated wood stove used to heat the home with a much more efficient wood pellet stove. Fast forward a few years and now we are in the process of replacing the older windows and doors with new and more efficient ones, and the stress of having those replaced as well as work in our kitchen and bath going on at the same time has caused me...to become "unsettled." I would never call myself a fastidious person, but I do have my schedule and my own ways of doing things...

     Lately everything is on "hold."  My garage is filled to the brim with appliances and tile waiting to be installed for the updated kitchen.   We have a new front door ordered, windows sitting on a loading dock somewhere and lightening ready to be installed.     We are waiting on our contractor to finish one job and start ours.        I started a new position at work in late August, where I am working nearly exclusively with "high touch" customers and agents that need to have their needs fulfilled yesterday.  I feel for them, I've been an insurance agent for eight years now and have owned my own independent delivery company (one of those jobs that I fell into - much like insurance) for roughly 15 years.  I've spent nearly my entire working career in sales.  You always want to under promise and over deliver. Due to 1001 reasons a lot of those requests and desires simply can't be fulfilled.  ...

I'm not a vegan.  I'm not even a vegetarian.   I am, for lack of a better word, "Plant based food curious." Like most people today, I got worried about my health.   A lifetime of bacon and cheesy poofs along with the traditional American hobbies of laying around on the couch pushed me close to the diabetic  range.  Heart disease runs in my family and after seeing what my wife has gone through with her diabetes and losing my mother to a heart attack...I started to seriously think about what I could do to improve my health.  Living through a pandemic didn't help either. The more I learned about diets and where food comes from, the more I realized that I could do lots of little things to help the planet too .  I'm proud to say that generally speaking I go at least two days out of week eating a vegan or vegetarian diet.    My interest in this type of food was sparked by my interest in cheese making , a hobby I picked up during the epidem...

     Over the last couple of weeks, I've had a lot on my mind.  I've been given the opportunity to pursue two different, yet very similar jobs through my current company.  Both would pay me more and both offer me more, yet oddly similar responsibilities.  Although there is a great difference in how I would carry them out.        One of these positions would allow me to continue to work from home, where I can  continue to save money by not having to commute and work four - ten hour days in a week, having an extra day off in the middle.        The other position is in the city of Pittsburgh.  It's roughly  75 minutes away by car and that means additional expenses like parking and gas, in addition to my adding anywhere from eight to ten hours in commute time each week.  However it's a little more in line with my long term goals and, despite my bitching about it earlier, I do miss people.   ...

      When I sit down to write something, I do so for two reasons; the first is that yes, I want to remember my thoughts and feeling about a particular moment in time, so in some ways this blog serves as my journal.  The second reason is that I hope to impart some knowledge or information on.  In the hope that you, gentle reader, might learn something new or, more likely, avoid the mistakes I make.        I leave that decision up to you.       Thus, in some ways you can blame our youngest cat, Bobble, for our upcoming spending a lot of money on window's and other home improvements.       Our first winter in Western Pennsylvania was not really that bad.  This year it seemed we had weeks of sub zero temperatures and several feet of snow.  Our house was physically colder.   Now if your wondering why I'm blaming the cat then please read on dear reader.   ...

      I'm done with this series after this.   I'm still trying to eat more plant based items and I do have a few more products stored in the fridge and freezer, but I find that I'm limited on what's available to me here in the country.   The only supermarket that sells vegan/vegetarian items near me regularly is Aldi's and the selection varies week to week.      While I enjoy Aldi's items I really don't want this series to turn into just being about the products of one store.   That being said, I've been able to find items from Beyond Meat, Impossible foods, the Jackfruit Company,  and other products at other stores, but not on a regular basis.     So I'm trying to eat healthier and plant based where ever and when ever I can.   It's simply a matter of being able to do what I can do and when I can do it, for example the other night I stopped at Burger King and ordered their impossible burge...