Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Some Like it Hot

Another beautiful fall day and another have fun day.  The retired teachers from Oswayo Valley School District get together once a month for lunch. From Olean to Coudersport it is a different restaurant.  Today was Katees in Coudersport.  This is the first one I went to this year and it was so nice to see everyone.  Of course it is  hard to believe that we are all of retirement age.  How lucky I was to work with so many great teachers.  At the table today I had the honor of Mr. Meacham, Mr. Wichert and Mr. Marzo, not only did I work with them but also I had them for teachers.  Mr. Meacham taught history and shorthand.  My all time favorite class, shorthand!  Mr.Wichert taught Science, he was great but science was not my "cup of tea".  Mr.Marzo the new young guy....well I soaped his car windows on Halloween and of course got caught, the punishment was wash his car.  Mr.Marzo and Sue Thomas Shall were our senior class advisers and chaperons on our Senior trip to Washington DC.  Two of them and I believe 40 of us.  I have some pretty good pictures of the bus trip and squirt gun fights, even the advisers joined in.  How about this, we were allowed to smoke!  How did we survive the 1960's?

Quincy had an exciting day out also, Dick took him squirrel hunting.  He is crazy about squirrels.  Another night he has not moved and not begging for treats.  Since Clara and I were alone we sat out at the barn while I  fed the chickens their favorite snack, leftover corn bread and white bread.  They are so funny to watch.  No they are not mean.  I have a few gals that are afraid of chickens and I always ask them, "how many have you heard bit by a chicken"?  The 4 eggs that hatched in May were 3 roosters and 1 hen.  Not good, the roosters have to go.  I don't like to get rid of them but soon they will be sparring and driving the girls crazy.  I have a Silky Rooster and he is staying with Mrs. Silky, a little luck baby Silkies will fill the nest next spring.
A little extra love for eggs ♡
We dug horseradish root this afternoon, cleaned, peeled and ground it with white vinegar and water.  That is a take your breath away job, so bad it has to be done outside.  The end result is well worth the tears.  I remember when we lived in town our neighbor Bruce Maxson had a patch and he would grind it outside, now we know why.  The longer you wait to add vinegar and water the hotter it is.  So if ya really like it hot that's the trick. Some like it hot, not me a little is plenty.   A beautiful snow white it was even better than store bought.  Of course, most things homemade are better.  We had some with our crispy fried potatoes for supper.  This is the first year we made it.  A few years back a guy up the road gave us some roots to start our own bed.  We will be making horseradish often I'm sure.   Amber gave us parsnips from her garden and I fried them in butter until golden brown.  It was a fried supper night, we all need one once in a while.  Maybe not need but want is more like it.
Peeling fresh dug Horseradish root.
Cut in 1/2 inch cubes, grind with white vinegar and water until
desired texture.  The fumes are more than I can stand.
The delicious horseradish, only 20 minutes start to finish.
Roast Beef on wick is in the weekend plans.