Early Tuesday, Tommy uncovered the plants he kept safe with plastic bags. The front of the house is in shade until noon, so there was no chance of the sun and plastic bags ruining the plants. Wednesday evening, he recovered them as we are expecting below freezing weather once again.
I washed my hair and ate the scrambled eggs I had cooked the night before. After I bathed and threw on clothes, we left. A spectacular vehicle fire slowed traffic and we arrived just in time to get lunch.
Wednesday, we went to the pickup lunch in Cullman and picked up a lunch...lol. We had spaghetti, bread, and salad. We ate all the spaghetti, a bit of the salad, and a bit of the bread. Since he had called and found out the menu, I took parmesan cheese for mine.
The next program was under a pavilion about 80' x 40 '. The floor was concrete with an open space about 6 feet wide running down the middle. It was full of rocks and covered with plywood. A portion of the plywood was uncovered. In the opening were large logs burning. Where we sat, the smoke and ash made it almost impossible to breathe. The ash covered the new sweater I wore. My eyes and others' eyes were stinging. After about 45 minutes, the wind died down and changed direction. I was miserable.
I had worn my mask the whole time since nice fall days with falling leaves are almost lethal to me with asthma. Finally, I held my sweater over my face.
The director of the center is a great niece of a friend of mine in Cullman. She and several other people helped me with food, well, putting my pouch of food in the fire and then retrieving it.
The program at the agriplex was cooking over an open fire. I had repeated to Tommy the purpose was building an open fire. The showed us how to make a pouch from foil, heavy duty foil. It was pretty easy, but lots of people had trouble. When we had the pouch made, we went to fill it with vegetables. I took carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, mushroom, one piece of onion, clove of garlic. There were also diced red peppers, Conecuh sausage. I passed on those. Tommy took sausage and Worcestershire. There were multiple seasonings--soy, Worcestershire, pepper, salt, other ground seasonings. I just used water.
Tommy's pouch did not make it. His burned and everything spilled. Of course, I shared mine. We could have flavored water of some sort from a dispenser or bottles of water. We chose water.
At the beginning, water was boiling on the fire. Boxes of elbow macaroni were dumped in and cooked. Later, a bag of shredded cheese was added.
For dessert we had banana boats. A banana and foil were used. The banana had a small strip of the skin removed but left connected. A portion, a little strip of the banana was removed. In the little trench there were goodies to put in for the boat. I chose chocolate chips. I think there were peanuts, other nuts, marshmallows, and various other items that I don't remember. Wrapped in foil, too, the boat was place amongst the coals.
It was all delicious. I had shared some of my vegetables with Tommy and still brought some home. I brought most of the banana boat home. I ate most of it on the way home. The leftovers of mac and cheese and the vegetables made it home.
When we first arrived, I told the director we had three butternut squash to share. She called the person in charge of gleaning who retrieved them from the car. I did not even know there was a person in charge of gleaning. So, those were not wasted.
I went to the store with Double Luck greens beans for $0.69/can and bought ten with date of October 2023 and two 48 oz cans of Argo peaches with a date of Nov. 2025.
Getting my mail was at top of the list of things to do. Well, we forgot it! I need to go back Friday, so I suppose it will last until then. There was nothing appealing in the ads from this small store.
We did nothing else at all. I did not even have to go to bathroom. We arrived home by 3:30 pm and I took a nap from 5-7 pm. When I awoke, Tommy had had the second plate of spaghetti and a salad we got, and I had mine and the salad I started at lunch. The bread I bought home is still here.
The highest temperature was almost 60F, but we were hot in the car and hot at the event outdoors. Our seats were in the sun and the fire was in front of us. With sun it was a warm and pleasant day.
There was one question and a prize of a thermos for the answer to one question--when is the first evidence of fire being used to cook food. Answer--1.9 million years ago. Neither of us guessed right.
The smoke smell is still in my hair. It is going to be rough sleeping with it all night. I hope all my meds, pills, nose sprays, and inhalers for allergies work tonight so I will not wake ill tomorrow!
When was the last time you cooked over a open wood fire? When was the last time you cooked on an open wood fire with a foil pouch? When was the last time you were exposed to wood fire smoke?! Does smoke affect your health?
Susie, how is Fritzi?
I wouldn't know the last time I cooked over a wood fire. My SIL cooked barbecue over charcoal a couple of weeks ago, that might count.
ReplyDeleteI can tolerate smoke better than some people but it's never great for you
At least the bbq grill did not have a dozen or more logs extending about 15 feet long. But, smoke is smoke in your face. I am glad smoke does not affect you like it does me!
DeleteNot trying to be a smartass, but why did you stick around when you discovered the pit, fire, smoke, and ashes? Not even lobster boats would be worth the misery.
ReplyDeleteSue,
DeleteLOL...good question. I had no idea I was walking into an inferno where all the smoke would be in my face and on my clothing. As soon as I sat down the wind shifted and I hoped every minute that the wind would shift again. It was a long way back to the car!
A couple of years ago, maybe three, my husband put in a fire pit for me in the back yard. It has actually come in pretty handy, as he uses it to burn paper and cardboard trash that we would otherwise have to put in the garbage bin, taking much space. We cook hotdogs and then roast marshmallows for the grands a few times a year.
ReplyDeleteSmoke from a wood fire does not bother my lungs, but secondhand cigarette smoke makes me not be able to breathe and my chest hurts for days.
Alice,
DeleteI had a neighbor who fed the paper trash into her fire pit. I had never thought of burning trash in my fire pit, but it seemed to work. I have not had a roasted hotdog or marshmallow in years.
Any smoke bothers me, but particularly cigarette smoke. It is probably all the chemicals put into cigs.
The lunch where you were had your food cooked over a fire would not have been my cup of tea. Smoke makes me wheeze too much. Even a candle or two. For a while at the little church I used to go to they used to burn a candle on tables on each side of the podium. I ended up having to sit at the back of the room because even candle smoke bothers me. I was fine at the back of the room, but a few weeks into the candles burning near the podium, I came into the chapel and there were no candles, just pretty floral arrangements. The minister came in
ReplyDeleteand began the program, soon after she started speaking she apologized about not having the lovely candles there anymore, but she told us that the candle smoke affected her breathing so badly that we wouldn't be able to have them. I think smoke bothers a lot of people.
Little Fritzi was able to come home in the very late afternoon, and she was still pretty out of it. Later in the evening she started perking up and was hungry and wanted to eat more than the instructions from the vet said to allow her to have and then she started drinking water normally. She spent the rest of the evening sleeping , then waking up and walking a little, and then finding the different places she likes to sleep. She just walked around doing that . So she is doing well so far.
Our vet doesn't use those cones around the dogs' neck, they have little onesies that cover the incision, but are open enough to let the dog go to the toilet. I think Fritzi gets a little hot with all her fur she has that is under the onesie. Her tail is curling up over her back, so I don't think she is in pain.
susie,
DeleteWhen I have gone to Cracker Barrel, I refuse to sit anywhere near the fireplace! At friend's houses, I try to get a seat away from the fireplace. I find a drafty door at one friend's house. Since the minister told the congregation about the problem, it will make others aware of the problem and legitimize the smoke problem. It is real.
I am glad to hear Fritzi is on the mend. Your peace of mind is important. It seems like most dogs would chew right through the onsie!
I love cooking over an open fire, and I loves me a banana boat. But you are right you do smell like a campfire after.
ReplyDeleteKim,
DeleteOh, yes! You are the camper. It is the smoke of the fire, not the cooking part. Miraculously, I am not ill. Of course, I take lots of precautions every day with asthma.
I grew up around wood fires and wood stoves, but I did not have asthma then.
I detest the smell of wood smoke. Especially when people burn green wood or pressure-treated lumber. It ruins a perfectly good walk when I have to breathe in that foul air.
ReplyDeleteSue,
DeleteThe smell of most wood smoke is not bad to me. However, the pressure treated lumber is a definite health risk. I suppose there is nothing like breathing deeply with exertion and filling your lungs with smoke of any kind. I never thought of people out for a walk having to deal with wood smoke. Maybe you can grab a walk when things are not burning.
We used to camp every summer and I loved the smell of smoke and a campfire in the open air. But once we were home, the smoke smell in our belongings was awful!
ReplyDeleteSassybear
https://idleeyesandadormy.com/
sassybear,
DeleteThe smoke does linger for days!