A Snake in the Wood Pile!

While preparing dinner Boogie was occupying himself with the fire wood we had carried in. It wasn't long before I heard screams of "SNAKE! Mommie! Mommie! SNAKE!" from the dining room. Dear Son, it's 20 degrees out, I'm certain there is no snake. As a dutiful Mommie I responded to his cries and found......

a grub!

He was quite fascinated by it and fortunately was in bed before it met its end in the wood stove.
Yeah, contact PETA, but I wasn't going to try to raise the darn thing!

Just another reason I love my wood stove

There is nothing warmer then wood heat, at least not in my opinion. It is very drying, so I keep a pot of water simmering thus giving me a handy bottle warmer for the goat kids.

Cooking on a wood heating stove can be a challenge, but given my frugal nature I want to make use of every opportunity I have to save money. Since I am already dealing with a big old ugly wood heater in my dining room then damn it, I am going to use that heat to cook! To start, I put a grate across the top to give me a flat surface to work with.

Obvious candidates are soups and stews which like a nice long simmer, but I've done roasts, prime rib and even a whole turkey using a large roasting pan I picked up at auction.

I own a number of the 'Turbo Cooker' pans and really like the way they work. Yup, the ones from the info-mercial, but I have found them on ebay, at garage sales and even had one sent to me for free after I mentioned how much I liked the on the Homesteading Today forum. They are really just a big, deep skillet with a dome lid and steaming rack and have a pretty good non stick coating. And yes, I actually do use them to 'bake' cakes and they come out great! I also like cast iron, though it does take longer to heat.

While it does take some time, my absolute favorite way to cook bacon is on the wood stove. The fat drains away and the bacon gets nice and crispy without burning or splatter.

I place a rack on a large baking sheet and lay out the bacon in a single layer, placing the cookie sheet on the hottest part of the stove top. I turn the pans as necessary and how long the whole process takes depends on stove temperature and thickness of the bacon.

I also use a camping box oven for some baking, however I am still looking forward to installing my vintage wood cook stove so I can do some real wood stove baking. I only have a small camp oven, which limits what baking I can do. I've been kicking myself all winter for passing on a large vintage wood cook box oven last summer because I didn't want to pay their asking price.

The next project that I am really looking forward to is building a solar oven.
If anyone has built or used a solar oven I would love any insight as far as design and tips and recipes for cooking.

Handy, Dandy, Quick, Cheap and Easy Fire Starters!

There is nothing better then wood heat and the dogs certainly love sleeping by the wood stove. No matter if wood is your primary source of heat, supplemental or just a cozy fire now and again, getting the darn thing started can be a challenge.
Try these home made fire starters, they are quick and easy to make and they work really well.

All you need is a cardboard egg carton, wood shavings and some paraffin. Here I am using pine bedding, but any bedding or sawdust will work. I'm also sure you noticed my wax is red. It is cheese wax that I found on Freecycle, but canning paraffin, beeswax or even old candles will work.

While you are melting your paraffin, discard the top of the egg carton and fill the cups with wood chips.

Pour the heated paraffin over the shavings to fill the cells, tapping gently.

Allow the wax to cool then break into individual cups.

When you are ready to use, just light the paper cup and place with your kindling.
They will continue to burn long enough to get your fire going.
For a pretty starter, wrap a pine cone with candle wick and dip that in paraffin.

Boogie has been helping with my knitting, here he models a Moebius Cowl that I made for myself. Visit my Hyena Cart if you want me to knit one for you!
Cowls, scarves and hats can be hand knit to order.
We are expecting the temperature to drop again this weekend, so enjoy your wood fire and get some knitting done (or at least wear something hand knit ;-).