Saturday afternoon, with clouds

[ksmith]

The day started sunny and warm, but now clouds have moved in and the temp has dropped below 80F. Could get rain later. We could use it. They could use it even more south of Chicago–the ranch from which I’ve purchased my beef and chickens for the past couple of years emailed to let customers know that they’ve cancelled all 2012 orders due to drought. They received less than an inch of rain in May and nothing so far this month; their usual rainfall total for that time period is around 10 inches. They’ll resume filling orders if/when things improve. This year, if possible. 2013 more likely.

I am disappointed, but I still have beef and chickens from last year’s order and have access to stores that sell grass-fed/free range. I am more concerned about the ranch. This is the second hard year in a row for them. Last year, they were able to fill some orders, but this year conditions are worse. I hope they are able to weather this blasted weather and stay in business.

It was a kitchen morning. Cleaned and cut up one of said chickens for tomorrow’s dinner–it’s now marinating in dumpling sauce with garlic, onion, and ginger. Made hummus with sun-dried tomatoes, dried basil, and…peanut butter. This was done because I once again forgot to buy tahini. Two weeks ago, when I made hummus and realized I had no tahini, I decided that nut/seed butter was nut/seed butter, and natural peanut butter (read: peanuts, salt, stir before use) would be worth a try. And it did work fine as far as I was concerned. I know it isn’t authentic, and I can detect a hint of peanut flavor in the finished product. But it works, there’s a lot of peanut butter in the pantry, and sometimes tahini is hard to find. Or I keep forgetting to find it. Whatevs.

Strange day. Sun’s like a bulb shining through a lampshade. Pups are quiet–they both ate breakfast but turned up their noses at lunch. I’m used to Gaby being picky, but I still can’t adjust to King not eating everything in sight. He still licks the rugs, eats treats, and goes after Gaby’s uneaten food, so he does have an appetite. Maybe he just doesn’t care for the new dry food, the roasted bison/roasted venison stuff that he loved to snack on before he got sick.

He wraps up the antibiotic tomorrow. I really hope that helps.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.