The City Mouse in the Country

       By the time you read this it may very well be the 10 or 11th day (if not later) of January, 2022.   Happy New Year!     We would have got here sooner but frankly we were hiding in our bunker, unsure if we should peak our head or not.  Sue and I caught what we thought was the common cold around the end of the Christmas Holiday and it stuck around.   Two, thankfully negative, Covid tests later and we are ready to enter the world once again.       However we are flying blind here.   Normally we have a goal, a sure plan on how to attack it.   This year we have a vague idea of where we would like to be and a even vaguer idea on how to obtain those goals.       Sue somehow found a job cleaning some buildings every night which, while not particularly hard, does take up some time and is paying what debt we do have down drastically.    Well I'm thankful for that, it cuts into the time I have to work on other projects, such as this blog.     We are still planning on put up a small con

      I watch way to much Food Network .  When I was given the opportunity to buy some quail eggs recently, I could not pass them up. Where I have had quail in my life - it reminds me more of duck than chicken since the meat tends to be darker - I've never had quail eggs.  The hedonist in me demanded that I buy them.  Plus they came from a local breeder with a good reputation.       I am slowly but surely moving towards a plant based diet, but I'm not willing to give up all animal products yet.        Quail eggs are tiny, it takes about 2 to 5 quail eggs to equal the same amount of chicken eggs (depending on several factors) but, generally speaking, the quail egg tends to be a healthier (and more expensive) choice.      Let's talk about the cost first before I get into nutritional value and what I decided to do with these little beauties.   I paid five dollars for 24 eggs.  That works out to be roughly 21 cents per egg.     Now the average cost for a dozen chicken eggs is $

      It's a classic family scene, perhaps going back to the first family - Greg and his wife Oola as they tried to get their kids to eat veggies.  I can hear it now: " Your mother Oola spent all day slaving in the hot sun gathering those berries and green twig things for you!   She almost got trampled by a giant ground sloth!  So no one leaves the rock till they finish their green twig things!"       So it was that in mind that I decided to try Yummy Dino Buddies.   Originally made by a Canadian company but now owned by Purdue , these are being marketed as Vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian friendly, however not all of their products under the Yummy Dino Buddies name are meatless, so let the buyer beware.       It's up to the indivdual consumer to buy items that they feel comfortable with, however I believe that the only way to move these companies towards an environmentally friendlier product is by supporting their efforts to make plant based products.   With this

           Although no one asked for it, I thought it might be fun to do another food review (my blog, my rules).  I figure that eventually we American's are going to have to adapt to a more plant based diet and if I do nothing more than convince two people to try something new...then they can convince two people to try something new...I've done my job as concerned and decent human being.    In some ways we are already moving that way as the sale of plant based food items recently reached a peak.   I think it has dipped currently due to a lot of different reasons, but the market will only rebound in the future.       So yesterday I decided that it was a good day to try and go meatless for the entire day.  I've been trying to incorporate a few more meals per week into my "Meatless regime" and thought I would make some Tasty Bite Bombay Potatoes as a quick late lunch/early dinner.            I found these before in my local grocery store and this is actually the th

       **I actually wrote this piece a few days ago, but recently found that I'm part of a growing trend towards a more "Plant based" diet.  You can learn more about this trend here.**        Thanksgiving came and went and we have one major food holiday coming up soon...and my scale was showing me going the opposite way of where I wanted to be.   Due to inactivity and snacks I had gained back about half of what I worked so hard to lose over the last several months.        Part of my plan for losing weight was changing my diet and trying to eat a bit healthier and greener.  I've already written about some of the vegetarian and vegan dishes I had tried.  "Meatless Monday's" were just part of the calendar now, and I often found myself having a salad, or trying a vegetarian or vegan item when out to dinner.  Recently I tried Seitan "chicken wings" for example at a bar and restaurant in Pittsburgh.     An example of Seitan wings     I took the

    This entire past weekend had been dreary.  We are in the midst of a cold front that has brought a steady soaking, cold and misting rain that soaks into you very bones.  It is a good weekend for making a good and hearty soup and other foods to warm your soul.     While it is not cold, our high was barely above 60 F (16 C), it was cold enough at night for us to start the pellet stove to warm the house and to start thinking about soup.   It particular there was one soup that I came across that got me interested in making it.         Even the name of it, Brie and Cheddar Apple Beer Soup , got my mouth watering.        I had also came across an interesting recipe for Eggnog Cheese , and while not quite ready to tackle that (I don't have a proper press), I certainly thought that I could make my own Eggnog !       Eggnog is one of those things that I would drink all year round, either "leaded" or "unleaded."  Although there are a lot of different ways to make eggno

      My girlfriend and I are trying to lose weight and she is succeeding at it at a much faster pace than I am.   That's okay, our health is NOT a competition.   We are both trying to cut down on sugars.  We are both trying to watch our portions of what we eat.     That's all good.   Were we differ, and it has lead to some conflict, is that I am trying; slowly but surely to move away from a strictly meat diet.   I've been trying to incorporate some more plant based dishes into my life.  I've been attempting to not eat any meat or dairy products at least one day a week, although I am not always successful at this task..   I do have some healthy substitutes in the fridge such as tofu and jackfruit even though I've no clue what to do with them.      I am even thinking how I could use paneer is a substitute for meat like it is in a lot of Indian dishes..  Plus it's a cheese I've not made in a bit.      Where the conflict starts is that even though she has a b

 Recently we lost power when the transformer blew across the street.  We were without power for about five hours.  Another day we went without power for about two hours due to a fierce thunderstorm.  As luck would have it both these instances occurred when I was off of work (I work from home on a semi-permanent basis) and during the day.             As such, they proved to be not much of an issue, however it did give me time to test the generator, which has been setting out on our covered back porch awaiting this very opportunity.              Only it would turn over, but not start.  That could be due to a variety of reasons but old gas in the carburetor would seem the most likely culprit however.  It would also be the easiest fix to the problem.            I would simply have to open up the carburetor drain screw , let the old gas drain then make sure to tighten the carb drain screw then let the new gas flow in and try it.   It should start right up.                     Only we h

         Ever since I was told by my doctors that I would have to make some changes - and this time that "talk" actually took hold, I've been trying to live a healthier lifestyle .   It's been a bit of an uphill battle as both Sue and I are stuck in our ways.     If change is inevitable then why not start with easy and fun things?   Then move on to some of the harder stuff later on?  So one way that I've decided to try and incorporate a healthier lifestyle is through my love of cheese making.  Never in a million years did I think I would choose this as a hobby, but I do have a love of cheese, experimenting in the kitchen and a love of trying new things.      Thus vegan cheese.     To be honest I wasn't sure what to expect, and I can truthfully say that some of them I really enjoyed.   So I'm going to talk about my experiences making some of these cheeses and my taste tests.  Your mileage may vary.   Vegan Mozz      It was also an adventure trying