spring flowers and good food

[Handstitched]

 @chuck123wapati

"My biggest issue and i wont give folks a second chance is selling low grade leather for higher grade leather" 

I put my response here, as its off topic, and about food. 

The one thing that has been p****ng me  off about supermarkets lately , is selling 'lamb' especially  leg roasts , but I know damn well its mutton .  We used to get it all the time, it was cheaper. Cook a mutton roast slowly,  its just as tasty as lamb, and theres 3-4 meals from the left overs.  I thought it just disappeared.... nup , they just re-labled it  call it "lamb" and charge more for it.

But any type of  roast, or any type of meat ,  is now becoming a luxury item these days.  

Thank God my Mother taught me how to cook as soon I could reach the stove , and be frugal at the supermarkets . 

HS

[toxo]

6 hours ago, Handstitched said:

 @chuck123wapati

"My biggest issue and i wont give folks a second chance is selling low grade leather for higher grade leather" 

I put my response here, as its off topic, and about food. 

The one thing that has been p****ng me  off about supermarkets lately , is selling 'lamb' especially  leg roasts , but I know damn well its mutton .  We used to get it all the time, it was cheaper. Cook a mutton roast slowly,  its just as tasty as lamb, and theres 3-4 meals from the left overs.  I thought it just disappeared.... nup , they just re-labled it  call it "lamb" and charge more for it.

But any type of  roast, or any type of meat ,  is now becoming a luxury item these days.  

Thank God my Mother taught me how to cook as soon I could reach the stove , and be frugal at the supermarkets . 

HS

That's what passes for "business" these days. In the interest of profit they gradually hike up the price until it no longer sells. Then they start reducing the size. Over here we have something called a "Wagon Wheel"  and when I was a kid it was around 7inches across and almost an inch thick. Now it's the size of a biscuit.

I used to think some of the better stores were better than that. I was wrong.

[johnnydb]

It's the stockyards and the grain.  

Meat is processed in huge butcher shops these days with lots of low cost labor.  It's cold, wet, and tight quarters.  

With covid a lot of people got sick or just didn't bother to go back to work.  (Found other jobs)  So livestock which was ready to be butchered had to wait....and wait some more....and wait some more.  The prices of the livestock ready for butchering went down and farmers lost lots of money on a high dollar crop.  

At the same time the price of transport and grain went through the roof.  

 

The risks being so high...people stopped raising livestock.   The cost of tractor fuel, fertilizers, pesticides, and etc went through the roof too.  You can't feed animals straight grass or hay if you want to eat them.  You have to feed them grain.  What was once $4/bushel  is now $17/bushel.  Not much relief in sight either.  

With the current prices of petroleum products it's not going to get better for a few years.  

China vs Taiwan, Russia and Ukraine, and even Africa and Vietnam are all having issues....these places need shipping containers made of steel and people going to work.   Guess what they don't have? 

With all the things going on....it's not going to get any better for a while....if ever.  

Last year during the sugar shortage India had a bumper crop of sugar just rotting away unable to distribute it anywhere for a lack of shipping containers.   Meanwhile everyone was in the grocery stores wondering where the sugar was.   

That's how things are going to continue until there is peace and harmony on a global scale again.  We don't have to like everyone but we can learn to get along well enough to stop breaking down the farmers and supply chains.  Ethiopia from the 70's and 80's should be a clue as to what happens when farmers can't farm.  (Wealthy nation when they don't fight themselves) 

[chuck123wapati]

5 hours ago, johnnydb said:

It's the stockyards and the grain.  

Meat is processed in huge butcher shops these days with lots of low cost labor.  It's cold, wet, and tight quarters.  

With covid a lot of people got sick or just didn't bother to go back to work.  (Found other jobs)  So livestock which was ready to be butchered had to wait....and wait some more....and wait some more.  The prices of the livestock ready for butchering went down and farmers lost lots of money on a high dollar crop.  

At the same time the price of transport and grain went through the roof.  

 

The risks being so high...people stopped raising livestock.   The cost of tractor fuel, fertilizers, pesticides, and etc went through the roof too.  You can't feed animals straight grass or hay if you want to eat them.  You have to feed them grain.  What was once $4/bushel  is now $17/bushel.  Not much relief in sight either.  

With the current prices of petroleum products it's not going to get better for a few years.  

China vs Taiwan, Russia and Ukraine, and even Africa and Vietnam are all having issues....these places need shipping containers made of steel and people going to work.   Guess what they don't have? 

With all the things going on....it's not going to get any better for a while....if ever.  

Last year during the sugar shortage India had a bumper crop of sugar just rotting away unable to distribute it anywhere for a lack of shipping containers.   Meanwhile everyone was in the grocery stores wondering where the sugar was.   

That's how things are going to continue until there is peace and harmony on a global scale again.  We don't have to like everyone but we can learn to get along well enough to stop breaking down the farmers and supply chains.  Ethiopia from the 70's and 80's should be a clue as to what happens when farmers can't farm.  (Wealthy nation when they don't fight themselves) 

world economic forum! They are real and they are doing this on purpose. Stopping fertilizer usage in all countries as we speak. 

[Handstitched]

15 hours ago, toxo said:

Over here we have something called a "Wagon Wheel"  and when I was a kid it was around 7inches across and almost an inch thick. Now it's the size of a biscuit.

That was a popular fave back in school. But now,  they seem 'bite size'.  Most chocolate bars  ( amongst many products) have reduced in size as well, but the price hasn't changed .

I don't pay full price for anything at the supermarket  these days. I wait until they are marked down, especially meat . 

HS

[johnnydb]

8 hours ago, Handstitched said:

That was a popular fave back in school. But now,  they seem 'bite size'.  Most chocolate bars  ( amongst many products) have reduced in size as well, but the price hasn't changed .

I don't pay full price for anything at the supermarket  these days. I wait until they are marked down, especially meat . 

HS

See....this is a perfect example of training customers to devalue products.  

Food is a commodity like gasoline or leather goods.  But because the grocery store always has a "special " you have been trained by them to look for only those items that are discounted.  The full price goods are ignored.  

If a bakery puts items on sale after 2:00pm and they close at 5....they train the customers to come in after 2:00 and make purchases then of baked goods.  They won't stop by before lunch.  (Which kills sales) Because if a customer only has time during the morning hours to buy bakery goods they won't get any because the goods go on sale after 2...they would rather go without than pay the higher price.  

[toxo]

1 hour ago, johnnydb said:

See....this is a perfect example of training customers to devalue products.  

Too much of a generalisation for me. Every method of parting us from our money has to be looked at on it's own merit. Every "business" (was there ever a word as abused as that one?) strategy has to go through the morals and ethics corridor which has a bearing on how a company makes it's money. Sadly, over the last 100 years business has learnt to sprint through that corridor with less and less effect on their conscience or accountability.

[Handstitched]

3 hours ago, johnnydb said:

See....this is a perfect example of training customers to devalue products.  

In many instances,   the markdowns are the foods that are soon to expire ( according to the label),  they  also have to get rid of them according to ' the rulz' , but,  .... from that point on,  is where the 'dumpster divers' take over   

HS 

[chuck123wapati]

here their latest trick is to use the same size containers but lessen the amount. A 16 oz bag or box just like always but with the new 12 oz size written very small.

[chuck123wapati]

1 minute ago, Handstitched said:

In many instances,   the markdowns are the foods that are soon to expire ( according to the label),  they  also have to get rid of them according to ' the rulz' , but,  .... from that point on,  is where the 'dumpster divers' take over   

HS 

here local food banks get the outdated foods of course the businesses get a nice tax deduction and a write off so they aren't ever hurt. They aren't really being honestly generous or committed to helping the needy they really do it for the write off.

[Handstitched]

27 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

They aren't really being honestly generous or committed to helping the needy they really do it for the write off.

   

 I made a simple stir fry last night, with all the usual  stir fry vegies, seasonings  etc. fresh home grown herbs, . I found an odd piece of lamb and  pork lurking  in the freezer , all chopped up small, cooked up...and the main ingredient? 2 minute noodles. Enough for 3 people.  Tasted damn good too !! worked out to be around 2-3 bucks each. 

HS

[Handstitched]

On 8/5/2022 at 9:55 PM, chuck123wapati said:

Butter chicken   next week.  I won't cheat, I'll have a go at making my own butter sauce from scratch , I'll try not to mess it up. 

I had that tonight, slow cooked... made the sauce from scratch, pretty simple and using what I already had in the cupboard  & the fridge , and it does have  actual butter in it . 

It could have done with a wee bit more curry paste, but otherwise damn good 

The price of chicken pieces ( bone in)   is the most affordable atm compared to lamb & beef. Love chook, so versatile  

HS

[chuck123wapati]

2 hours ago, Handstitched said:

I had that tonight, slow cooked... made the sauce from scratch, pretty simple and using what I already had in the cupboard  & the fridge , and it does have  actual butter in it . 

It could have done with a wee bit more curry paste, but otherwise damn good 

The price of chicken pieces ( bone in)   is the most affordable atm compared to lamb & beef. Love chook, so versatile  

HS

We eat a lot of chicken too mostly country fried in a big ole cast iron skillet with mashed potatoes, gravy and corn. perfect meal IMO . But yesterday it was a trip to the river not the store lol. Ate till i almost busted a gut . cooked em up southern style , with corn on the cob, taters, and sausages. Took about two hours to catch them but the water was warm the sun was shining and it was friggin great fun. 

[Handstitched]

21 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

Took about two hours to catch them but the water was warm the sun was shining and it was friggin great fun. 

Thats quite a good feed   Well done. 

We  call them yabbies or 'gilgies' ( joogies ) or koonacs, ,just the size of the claws and the number of legs is the diff ,  whatever , they  all taste yummy. A bit of garlic butter , and mung out ( eat) washed down with a coldie     But I reckon a nice white wine would go well too  

HS

[chuck123wapati]

Not food or flowers but purdy just the same, the hummers are here lol about 8 or them. little buggers fight like the dickens 

[Handstitched]

 

21 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

Not food or flowers but purdy just the same

Thats a lovely pic chuck  

We get  West Aussie honey eaters .  A small bird. They're good to just sit and  watch, more entertaining than TV  . They arrive in numbers late in the afternoons mostly  , and   use their beaks and dig up the leaf litter around the garden. 

Because I'm in the wheatbelt, we often see assorted  birds eating the grain that comes out of trucks , machinery etc. onto the roads.  They eat so much they can't take off and  fly  cos their bellies are so full. 

HS

[johnnydb]

Cinnamon Rolls with cream cheese icing....so much Cinnamon sugar and butter that the bottoms have a bit of candy attached to the chewy soft bread.  

[chuck123wapati]

1 hour ago, johnnydb said:

Cinnamon Rolls with cream cheese icing....so much Cinnamon sugar and butter that the bottoms have a bit of candy attached to the chewy soft bread.  

those look tasty indeed i love cream cheese!!! But there is one missing lol? 

[johnnydb]

50 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

those look tasty indeed i love cream cheese!!! But there is one missing lol? 

Yeah....my business partner couldn't resist.  

[chuck123wapati]

On 8/16/2022 at 5:03 AM, Handstitched said:

 

Thats a lovely pic chuck  

We get  West Aussie honey eaters .  A small bird. They're good to just sit and  watch, more entertaining than TV  . They arrive in numbers late in the afternoons mostly  , and   use their beaks and dig up the leaf litter around the garden. 

Because I'm in the wheatbelt, we often see assorted  birds eating the grain that comes out of trucks , machinery etc. onto the roads.  They eat so much they can't take off and  fly  cos their bellies are so full. 

HS

i love watching them, they chase each other all day long. we have a few different species, mostly sparrows, but we have a set of hawks that live across the street in the neighbors pine tree. Deer strong arming the neighbor for apples lol.

[Handstitched]

@chuck123wapati I have to say I'm quite envious seeing those deer so close. 

All we get is a few bobbies  and a few monitors ( types of lizard) , and on rare occasions,  a roo hop across the paddock . 

One of the birds we get sings a lovely 'tune' of sorts  , instead of a 'chirp' . If I was to put a  type of genre  to it, it would be light jazz . 

HS

[chuck123wapati]

On 8/18/2022 at 3:23 AM, Handstitched said:

@chuck123wapati I have to say I'm quite envious seeing those deer so close. 

All we get is a few bobbies  and a few monitors ( types of lizard) , and on rare occasions,  a roo hop across the paddock . 

One of the birds we get sings a lovely 'tune' of sorts  , instead of a 'chirp' . If I was to put a  type of genre  to it, it would be light jazz . 

HS

Man i have always wanted to see Australia, the outback looks a lot like the desert around here. we have a western  meadow lark here that makes a nice song they live near water usually so around the little ponds , rivers and lakes you can hear them sing all day long.

 

[Handstitched]

On 8/19/2022 at 6:56 PM, chuck123wapati said:

Man i have always wanted to see Australia

The lower half of Western Australia is green after good rains,  and at this time of year , the native trees start to flower, the Canola crops ( rapeseed)  are in full bloom , just a  blinding sea of yellow, ...and the O/S  tourists go onto farmers paddocks to take happy snaps, (like they've never seen yellow flowers before)  not realising they're actually trespassing . Some farmers are a bit touchy when it comes to bio security .    There are  notices for the O/S visitors in   various places to warn them  not to trespass on Canola crops  to take happy snaps  

But in a few weeks time, the flowers start to die off and then it starts to smell like rotten cabbage .

Had to take time off from the workshop today  to slash all the weeds around the garden . All was going well until....**crash** ,  my ride-on hit a rock   causing it to shoot a 3"  hole into my bedroom window ...   The glazier comes out next week .

My Dad does a bit of weeding on occasion,  but not fully cognisant as to where the weeds should go, like in a bin or a wheel barrow  ...including small rocks. Bless him. 

HS

[Handstitched]

On 8/19/2022 at 6:56 PM, chuck123wapati said:

Man i have always wanted to see Australia

Hope all is well in your universe 

Its been a while since I've been on this thread. All of the Canola crops are well & truly  in full bloom now. Just  blinding yellow everywhere you look. Its a stock pic, but you get the idea. 

Got the 'Grey Fergie' fired up ...yey !! A new battery , fresh fuel, a little bit of ' Start Ya Bastard' ( ether) and away she went.   Now to get the Big Boy (Fordson) started....still sitting idle . All the usual  property maintenance chores to be done this time of year . 

Almost cleaned up a kangaroo on Saturday on the way to a market. A red one too , only a few years old,  quite unusual  for down here. We get 'Western Grey's'  mostly. 

The fully grown red's can  potentially kill you.  Some are  the  Kangaroo equivalent of ' Arnold Schwarzenegger' , a condom full of walnuts  .  

My next foodie adventure is 'sweet & sour pork belly strips ' , can't wait  

HS

[chuck123wapati]

45 minutes ago, Handstitched said:

Hope all is well in your universe 

Its been a while since I've been on this thread. All of the Canola crops are well & truly  in full bloom now. Just  blinding yellow everywhere you look. Its a stock pic, but you get the idea. 

Got the 'Grey Fergie' fired up ...yey !! A new battery , fresh fuel, a little bit of ' Start Ya Bastard' ( ether) and away she went.   Now to get the Big Boy (Fordson) started....still sitting idle . All the usual  property maintenance chores to be done this time of year . 

Almost cleaned up a kangaroo on Saturday on the way to a market. A red one too , only a few years old,  quite unusual  for down here. We get 'Western Grey's'  mostly. 

The fully grown red's can  potentially kill you.  Some are  the  Kangaroo equivalent of ' Arnold Schwarzenegger' , a condom full of walnuts  .  

My next foodie adventure is 'sweet & sour pork belly strips ' , can't wait  

HS

 

All is well fall is coming on now today was the first frost. We were given two pronghorn Antelope the other day they are delicious critters when taken care of properly. Taste like a goats butt if not lol. It wont be long now till snow flys here and our Elk hunting season will start in October. I have to get to work on my hunting truck and winterizing my house again. We have no real fall or spring it usually jumps from hotter than heck to freezing within a couple of weeks it seems. Thats a whole lot of yellow i'll bet its awesome at sunrise. i love sweet and sour one of my favorites is S&S Sage Grouse Its a local wild bird here that we also hunt.