Tasty New Blog

Occasionally, something tasty emerges from our tiny kitchen. I usually include recipes on this blog, but recently decided to create a new blog - for all things yummy and fattening. Check it out at http://fremontkitchen.blogspot.com/.

When David and I moved, we needed something to call our new house to differentiate it from our other houses in conversation. My old house was "Erin's house," David's old house was "the Lark house," so our new house became the Fremont House. Thus, the Fremont House Kitchen was born.

Sharing the Spotlight

I know...too many cats, flowers, and recipes. David will have to add another manly post about all things dirty to keep the delicate balance of our blog. :)

It All Started With a Snow Globe

A few weeks ago, I was straightening up the closet in my office where I keep my computer. A little shelf fell over and suddenly water was dripping on the floor. I stood there stunned, knowing that I didn't have a glass of water in there. What? Huh? OH! The snow globe that I had just carefully placed on the little shelf had fallen and broken. Somehow, the little snow globe seemed to hold several gallons of water. And the lovely fluffy stuff that looks like snow? It is hard and sharp and really hurts when you step on it. The snow globe glass hadn't just broken into a couple of large pieces, oh no. Many many tiny shards of glass everywhere. As I hauled stuff out of the closet to clean up, I realized that I didn't really need my big computer anymore. It was just serving as storage for several years of pictures. So, I moved it out. That freed up lots of space in the closet, but also made me notice how much the closet walls need to be painted. Somehow, that led to the realization that the ceiling in the office really needed to be painted. And the color of the walls is okay, but I might like something else. One thing led to another, and now the ceiling has a fresh coat of paint. As do the walls, which are darker than they look in the picture. And the closet that started all of this? It's still without paint, although it's much cleaner now!

Three Pets - One Picture

Grandparents job is spoiling, whether the "grands" are children or pets. When my mom and dad were here for a belated birthday dinner for my dad, my mom got out the whole drawer full of cat toys. Henrietta and Gracie always come running when the drawer is opened, but they'd never seen all the treasures at the same time. Once Henrietta had identified every catnip toy, she climbed in and made herself at home. Gracie could never get over the wonder of all the feathery toys. Tuley could care less about the toys, just wondered why this box was in his sleeping spot. :) The kitties are looking forward to another visit from Grammy!

Henrietta is so content in the picture that I think she must be dreaming of days when she was an only child. ;)

Happy Birthday Dad!

FART, GUZZEL, BURP, WRENCH

This blog seems to have taken a turn toward the girlish side. What with the pictures of cats in and amongst pillow shams, lemon bars neatly plated on fine china, and picture upon picture of plants and flowers.

Well, I’m here to tell ya that it’s not just lavender scented bath oils, toe nail polish, and frilly things with ruffles around here. HELL NO!!!
It’s guy stuff also and being the lazy bastard that I am, I need to reclaim my corner of the Wedded Bliss Blog. So here goes….

The Discovery shot craps and overheated on the way back from Carthage a couple weekends ago. This had been a nagging problem on and off since the melt down in Arkansas last April. The engine block on the Discovery is aluminum with pressed in steel cylinder sleeves. If the engine gets to hot, the aluminum will expand and allow the cylinder sleeves to move around –very bad, very-very bad. Keeping a Rover engine cool is one of the secrets to its longevity. I’m hoping to get 200k miles out of this engine before a rebuild and with 35k miles to go, I need to address the over heating problem.

New Water Pump on the left, old one on the right

I set out to repair or replace all that a shade tree mechanic could to try and get the Discovery running cooler. I removed the radiator and had it rodded out. The radiator shop reported that the flow rate was restricted by about 40%. Ten plus years of coolant deposits and just general gunk don’t allow the coolant to flow as efficiently as it once had. I replaced the water pump. The old water pump was the original. It did not show signs of failure however with this much of the Disco apart, I wanted to do all I could to eliminate the over heating problem. Of course no one on Springpatch carries water pumps for Land Rovers so I had to wait a week for one to be delivered from Rovers North. I replaced the fan clutch. Thanks to some internet research, I discovered that I could use and very common fan clutch available at any parts store. All I needed to do was drill out the mounting holes in the fan and it bolted right up. I replaced the coolant hoses and thermostat also. With less than a week of light driving everything seems to be running cool and no ill side effects of my ham-fisted wrenching. Knock briskly on any available wood or wood-like surface.

Biggest PITA of the entire project... Cleaning the old gasket off in preparation for the new one.
So… it’s with sweat dripping from the bill of my cap, hands covered in automotive coolant, and grease firmly lodged under my fingernails, that I go in search of a lemon square – daintily place on a fine piece of china, oh and don’t forget the lace doily so as not to soil my exquisitely pressed trousers.

Over and out mi compadres.

dd

Shhh....

They'll never find me here.

Lemon Bars

Crust:
1 and 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
Pinch of salt

Filling:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch pan.

For the crust, combine the flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter to make a crumbly mixture. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

Make the filling while the crust is baking. Mix the eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and lemon extract. Pour this over the baked crust and bake for 25 minutes longer. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cool. These cut best if cooled completely before cutting.

**The original recipe is Paula Dean's from the Food Network. It calls for 2 cups flour, 2 sticks butter, and 1 cup powdered sugar in the crust. We thought that made the bars too "crusty" though. And we wanted them more lemony, so added the teaspoon of lemon extract.

Ozark Empire Fair

I always love the fair, and last night was no exception. We met up with friends to sample the variety of fried delicacies available at the fair. Rob braved the Beef Sundae which I believe was new this year. It actually looked pretty good.

Thomas was happy to drive the big red tractor.

I think Hiland should make this a poster to advertise for their ice cream.

Matt's impression of a baby bird