Another recipe, sort of and my new kettle and trivet...........

Picked up a packet of thick pork chops the other week on sale and paid around $7 for the five.  Had hoped to  use them while my mam was here, but never got around to it.  So pulled them out of the freezer and defrosted them.  With two of them I browned them in the frying pan (no oil used).  Chopped a couple of small onions and sliced half a pound of mushrooms, and put them in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Popped the chops on top and topped with gravy made from a packet.  Cooked them in my toaster/convection oven at 325 oF for an hour and a half.  They were so tender they just fell apart.  Had them with mashed potatoes and mashed carrot and turnip; which was leftover from Christmas (had put them in the freezer.

It was yummy and a cheap meal.  I made double the mashed potatoes and will use them along with the left over carrot and turnip to top a shepherd's pie.

On Monday I popped the other three chops in the slow cooker with bbq sauce and had pulled pork sandwiches with salad.  The left over meat will be put into sandwiches for dh's lunch.

I bought a stainless steel kettle the other day to heat water on top of the wood stove and it works a treat.

I picked up this trivet to put it on, it's a turtle:

Monday was a spend day as we picked up more wood for the basement, had lunch out and bought the trivet.......oh well there is always tomorrow I guess?

'Tis the season, and they're gone....well as far as I know!

'Tis the season...........for road works. I was in the city yesterday and all the way there and all over the city there were road works everywhere. I have to say one stretch of road reminded me of Britain, where there were mile upon mile of bollards (cones in Britain) and not a workman in site!!! I guess Fall is a great time of year to do roadworks?

Now I am touching wood as I say this, but it's been 10 days since I last caught a mouse? Now does that mean I won't get anymore in the house........somehow or other I don't think so!! Still I live in hope.

Also I saw SNOW on Wednesday........I mean I was quite distressed about the whole situation....I even told the guy in the store, that someone up there hadn't got my memo, about no snow until December 24th!! Now granted it was only snow on a car, but it was snow. Then I went to knitting club and one of the ladies there said they had snow on the ground in the morning. So I am guessing it will be here with us soon, especially if Carol decides not to keep her snow and sends it my way ;0)

Thanks for your opinion on the firefighter donation, we are going to write a cheque. Also made a decision on the Internet and will be changing providers in November. I will sort it out on Thursday, as I have give 30 days notice with Bell, and the new providers are booking appointments for setting up the system for the second week of November. I can then be on the Internet more that I am now, which means I will be able to start and visit everyone's blogs again.

Popped into the library to pick up a book I ordered "The Backyard Homestead" by Carleen Madigan, looks like it will be an interesting read.

I got the door repaired today on the wood stove, and when I was in there I picked up a wood stove steamer and trivet similar to this one I couldn't believe the price of them; granted they are cast iron, but I bought a cheaper one and ended up paying nearly $70 for both the steamer and the trivet to put it on. We are finding it very drying to our skin having the fire on, so we are hoping this will help a bit.