John Weiland

Heidi Schmidt wrote:If anyone has a recipe / tried-and-true method for making gluten free pie crust, I would be all ears!

Well, not really answering your question, but may be good for some humor!

Since I was already in the process of making a vegan pecan pie filling, I thought I'd go the extra nine yards and try a gluten-free crust with tapioca flour.  Please note that I grabbed what was in the cupboard before reading all of the ins and outs regarding cassava flour, tapioca flour, and tapioca starch.  At any rate, I used my usual recipe for wheat flour crust:

1 stick of margarine
1.5 c. all purpose flour
bit of salt

cut margarine in until crumbles form.

mix 1/4 c. milk (used oatmilk)
with 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar.
pour into flour/margarine mix.

mix well, knead into ball.  For one Pyrex glass pie dish, use 1/2 the ball for a bottom-only crust.

Attempt #1 with straight recipe and tapioca flour gave good enough texture to press into pie plate by hand.  But when I tried pre-baking the crust, it all slid down the sides of the dish onto the bottom.  Figuring the fat-to-water was too high, I add a bit more flour and water to the remaining half of the dough for attempt #2.  Pressed into the pie plate fine, pre-baked fine as well.  

So I put the filling into it (see below) and it baked up really nicely!....

As you can SEE......

Cuz of course, you can't TASTE from where you are sitting in front of your screen. :-/

In truth, for a non-egg filling, it was one of the best pecan pies I've made.

But the crust was like a cross between cement mortar and rawhide! :-(    If there is a 1-10 scale for crust flakiness with 0 being ultimate flake and 10 being too hard, mine was an 11.

Sorry I could not provide what you were seeking, but maybe a few more pies from now I'll have the secret!....

If a small front-wheel assist tractor is in your future, that front-loader bucket that does so much work the other 3 seasons will be right at home moving damp Missouri snow.  For our Minnesota winters, the rear mount snowblower removes 90% of our snowfall. But this time of year with spring storms on the way, it becomes too wet for the blower and the bucket is the tool of choice.

Lorinne Anderson wrote:.....

Now, can someone please explain to me how come every where but OUR driveway is snow free? The old "cobblers kids have no shoes" scenario, me thinks.

Lorinne,   I'm pretty sure you are missing the point.  Hubby likely anticipated that since he has so much fun removing snow, he didn't want to steal all the fun for himself.....and *generously* left some for YOU! ;-)  

Maybe???.....


Maybe not??....  lol


Normally, I don't mind a little blowing and bucketing of snow in the winter, but we are emerging from the deep freeze outside of Fargo.  All of the wind from the past 1.5 weeks has compacted the drifting at the top of the driveway into a solid chunk of concrete, .....but it's finally warmed into the 20's F so I've no choice but to get out and chisel away at it with the front loader.  Still, it beats the old grain scoop any day!

Just out of curiosity, Jen, do you plant enough seedlings that a garden window would be out of the question as a new installation on the south side of your house?  Depending on the timing of planting in the spring, you may be able to get a number of crops started as seedlings in such a window sill.....AND not have to worry about winds, overheating, and the surprise cold snap!  Maybe of some use?.....

My own 2 cents although I don't recall seeing a square footage of your pole barn mentioned here.  Depending on whether or not the pole barn has a good sized garage/vehicle door, I would hunt around for a used, small camper trailer.  Sometimes you can find them for $2000 - $3000, which may be something you don't wish to spend right now.  But the upside is that it will have many 'homey' amenities and it could be moved into the pole barn or outside depending on the season.  As the living space is up off the ground, you don't have to worry about critters as much and again, it can be towed by the hitch to various locations on the property.   If you can buy one for around that price and keep it in reasonable shape, you typically can resell when finished with it.....lots of hunters like these just for their fall forays so you can often get $1000 back for it.  Good luck!

Thomas A. Cahan wrote:.... please stop; getting hungry/dizzy... Oh German food.....

Yeah....I had no idea this thread would have so many great variations!  One of my favorites is Ungarisches Gulasch (Hungarian Goulash) which has a great paprika spiced gravy that is served with dumplings or spaetzle.

Annie Collins wrote:

John Weiland wrote: Edited to add that I do have a decent egg replacer so that part is taken care of already.

Which egg replacer do you use, John?

My egg replacer is a mixture:  For one egg, use about 1 tsp. Chia protein powder with 1-1.5 Tbls. chickpea flour mixed, as powders, together with 1/4-1/2 tsp. Himalayan black salt (kala namak).  Then add water (~1/4 - 1/3 c.) and mix to get desired consistency.  I used this for baking, but if making scrambled "eggs", I add tofu for texture.  You may wish to play around with the ratios of the three powders to get the consistency or end result that you desire.  Good luck!

elle sagenev wrote:Googled it and apparently she's showing dominance because she's never had rules, which I do believe. SO, maybe we can teach her who the boss is and if not, there's still a gun.

She quite probably was hand raised and possibly removed from her mother and sibs too early...another unfortunate product of the 'tea cup pig' craze.  We've had many pigs living in the house, but any that were a problem went to live with the others in the barn. The "others" don't take kindly to a un-socialized member of their own species and the pecking order is established pretty rapidly (.....remarkably much like humans if you ask me....).   I feel sorry for the little thing, but the barn 'until due process' seems to be the best choice.

Edited to add Jay A's comment which I missed before posting and is very close to the mark:  

Jay Angler wrote:.....it also occurred to me that she may be the pig equivalent of "Human Imprinted" rather than having been taught manners by being part of a pig family, which could be aggravating the situation. If you get time to observe her with the boars, see if she seems to "speak pig" with them?

Won't say things will be rosy in this situation....it may be the lesser of two bad situations, but best not to have her in the house.

elle sagenev wrote: I'll just be the only one allowed to feed the pigs until then.

  ....aaand one more addition to address this comment which may or may not be of use.  We keep pieces of livestock panel handy....the 36" high stuff cut to 4-5 ft lengths.  If we need to corral a pig or worry about aggressiveness, we always have one nearby or in-hand.  Just keep it as a divider between you and them whenever possible. Cleary I would be foolish to try this with the 700 - 800 pounders, but for Kune's and pots, it seems to work pretty well. If worried about their strength at lifting the bottom of the fence piece, just slip the toe of your boot over the bottom-most strand of the panel to keep him/her from lifting.

Miles Flansburg wrote:My JD 500 industrial backhoe has a lever that disconnects the transmission from the engine so that the engine can start and warm up without having to push the transmission. Do you have anything like that?

Another lament:  Even though the smaller JD's use Yanmar engines, only my grey market Yanmar tractor has a decompression knob.  Pull the knob out and there is no compression in the cylinders as you spin the engine with the starter.  Between glow plugs and moving the pistons around a bit with the oil, it helps warm up the components before a cold weather start.  Sure wish the newer JDs had that.....