Wild, Wonderful Winter Wonderland

Today's Lesson: never trust a Rodent.  Good Old "Prostitution Phil" (don't ask) predicted an early spring, and last Friday when the temperatures were topping 70, it started to look like he might be right! However, as I sit here looking out my window at over 6" of snow, that groundhog should just be glad that even West Virginians don't consider Groundhog Goulash a delicacy.

The funny thing is, I'm one of those crazy people that usually really likes snow, but after being able to run outside in shorts last week, even I was less than thrilled with the forecast. But hey, if you can't beat it, photograph it!

B3 Waffles: Buttermilk, Buckwheat, and Blueberries

One of the more useful things I found when cleaning out Spring Maples, was a brand new, still in the box, 1970's waffle iron. A waffle iron was never something on my kitchen wish list, but I figured since I found one, I may as well use it! After several trials and lots of errors, I finally made really good waffles without setting off smoke detectors or having a stream of batter across the kitchen floor. Before you make these waffles there are two things you MUST remember:

1. Do not overfill the waffle iron
2. Do not under any circumstance use fresh blueberries*

B³ Waffles

2 Cups - Buckwheat Flour
4 Tablespoons - Baking Powder
2 Tablespoons - Sugar
1 Teaspoon - Salt

2 Cups - Buttermilk
2 Eggs

2 Tablespoons - Melted Butter

1/2 Cup Dried Blueberries**

-Heat and grease up waffle iron as appropriate for your model

-Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl

-Whisk eggs and buttermilk in small bowl 'til frothy

-In small batches add dry ingredients to liquid mixture, and stir 'til combined.

-Stir in melted butter and blueberries, ladle batter into waffle iron and cook 'til golden brown.

*I used fresh blueberries once, and will never do it again. The blueberries adhered themselves to the waffle grid and it took me hours of scrubbing to remove them.

**You could also use a 1/2 cup of raisins, toss in a teaspoon or two of cinnamon and have cinnamon-raisin waffles.

Lesson Learned 2: Wellies are not actual "work boots"

After spending the past couple of months nurturing my seedlings, it's finally time to start getting things in the ground! I have around 400 heirloom tomato plants alone, so needless to say my garden is going to be a tad bigger than last year. I decided to fence off part of my horse's pasture for my plot; it needs re-seeding, so I don't have much of a sod battle, it's in a nice and sunny spot, and it's already fertilized (thank Dan).

So, last weekend, I was all set to get started: I went to Tractor Supply, loaded up the Mini with 25 metal posts, 100 yards of snow fence, and a straw cowboy hat. As I headed out to the field clad in Orange Wellies, cut-off shorts, a wifebeater, and my new hat, I was ready for some serious farming, right?

Silly silly me, figured that an effective method for starting the posts was to jump up on them a few times--think jumping on a pogo stick--until they were stuck in the ground. This worked out well for the first post. On the second post, however, my foot slipped, the "T" part of the post sliced through my Wellies, and about 3 layers of skin. My first reaction was obviously "OMG I cut my Wellies!" and then I was like "oh wait, my foot hurts" which was followed by "Mom, I think my boot's filling up with blood!"

One week, 20 bandages, yards of surgical tape, and copious amount of bourbon later--still can only wear Havaianas, and my foot still feels like it's going to fall off.

Needless to say, I think my next shoe purchase is going to be a pair of real work boots. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

P.S. my dear little brother and one of his friends put all the posts in, in less than 20 minutes...

Lesson Learned 1: And it Burns, Burns, Burns Like a Ring of Fire

Capsaicin--the component of peppers that determines their hotness a.k.a. how much pain they inflict. I knew that when handling extra hot peppers, gloves were suggested; however, I never dreamed an innocent bell pepper could cause so much pain!

As I was making dinner the other night, I decided that I wanted to harvest the seeds from the pepper I was using (from an amazing farm in West Virginia; Kitchen's Orchard), so I could plant the seeds in the spring. After cutting off the top of the pepper I simply used my hand/fingernails to scrape the seeds from the membrane. I really didn't think much of it, until about 15 minutes later when my finger started to burn. At first, I figured I must have accidentally touched something hot on the stove, but then it started to spread, and the pain quickly intensified.

Through process of elimination, I figured it had to be something with the peppers. I tried scrubbing my hands with soap and water to no avail, so I did what all good children do: called my mother. After chastising me for cutting up peppers without gloves, we argued for awhile as I tried to explain that I was merely handling innocent little bell peppers! Anyway, she told me to go soak my hand in milk.

This alleviated the pain for a bit, but then the milk started to get warm. I placed the milk in the freezer to chill, only to find my hand virtually aflame. I figured there had to be a more immediate solution out there somewhere, so with my one working hand I did some Googling. I found remedies ranging from using alcohol (both externally and internally) to making biscuits (something to do with kneading causing pores to open and the flour and the shortening extracting the capsaicin). I decided to forgo the drinking and the baking and try out a bevy of household products instead. Clorox, rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover, olive oil, lemon juice, toothpaste--I was willing to try ANYTHING.

By the time I went through virtually half the items in my kitchen and bathroom, my hand was REALLY on fire and the pain was starting to creep under my fingernails. It was back to the trusty bowl of milk for me. Four hours of soaking later, my hand still hurt, but I needed to go to bed. I didn't think keeping the bowl of milk on my nightstand was a viable option, so I ended up sleeping with an ice pack bound to my hand with a Pucci scarf. The next morning showering was quite a feat, and driving to work was sheer agony. I spent most of the day at work with my hand in a plastic bag of milk: do I even need to elaborate on my co-workers' reactions?

My hand finally started to feel normal by late afternoon, but what baffled me most was what went wrong? I frequently cook with peppers, and I've never had this problem before. Plus, bell peppers are one of the mildest of the pepper family! Amidst my remedy research, I found my answer. Apparently the largest concentration of capsaicin is in the membrane that holds the seeds in place. This would explain why it never was an issue; I had never tried to harvest seeds from peppers. Needless to say, I will definitley wear gloves next time! Talking about learning a lesson the hard way...