NOW are we ready for winter?

 

We get two kinds of wood for heating:

Regular logs that are split for use in the kitchen stove.

Trimmings from the local sawmill for use in the fireplace in the den.

The latter is a third of the price of the former, but, while it works great for big fires in the big fireplace for the hour or two we sit in the den in the evening, it would burn too quickly to provide much heat for serious heating in the stove.

The wood for the stove was delivered and stacked (by me) in September.

This wood was delivered on Friday – three bundles.

Because the truck is rather big, we have him dump it in the field.

Then we load up the trailer and haul it to the woodpile for cutting.  It’s 2 meters  (about 80 inches) long so needs to be cut.

Mon marie wielded the chain saw and I fed him the wood…. Trusting soul, aren’t I?

I still haven’t figured out who did the heavy lifting…. But I have a sneaking suspicion it was me.

This is one bundle, cut (5 cuts each) and stacked in front of the other wood.

Because we were thinking wood (and because it was on sale for 20% off) mon marie bought the flooring he plans on using this winter – to finsh the hall and one guest bedroom upstairs and the dining room downstairs.

That took another whole day – two trips with the trailer.

Notice how he stacked some of the new wood under his workbench…. He’s in charge of fetching the wood for both stove and fireplace.

That’s what we’ve been doing this week – loading, unloading, cutting and stacking wood.

And chasing the puppies out of what used to be an herb garden…. But that story is for another day.

On another note – I’ve been having a very hard time getting decent photos this week – my fancy new camera (just a year old) doesn’t want to focus, and even when it seems to, it doesn’t really.

I’d lay odds on the problem being the operator and not the equipment.

Chances are I did something and now can’t figure out what.  One more attempt to solve the mystery before I do the ‘restore factory defaults’ reset bit.

I really didn’t need this…..

But I did need this!

This was inspired by my Moroccan Meatballs with Preserved Lemon.

Stuffed Peppers, Moroccan Style

For the Stuffing:
6oz ground beef (180gr mince) 
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
4oz (120gr) cremini mushrooms
3oz (90gr) feta
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
2 tsp olive oil
2 – 3 nicely shaped bell peppers
For the Sauce:
2oz (60gr) cremini mushrooms
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp olive oil
3/4 cup beef stock
1/2 preserved lemon
2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbs water
Couscous or rice

Cut peppers in half the long way (try to find the best flat sides before cutting so that they will lay nicely) and remove stem end and seeds. Cook in rapidly boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove and put into a baking dish that will just hold them. 
Chop onion, mushrooms and mince garlic. Heat oil and spices in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, mushrooms and sauté 5 minutes. Add beef and sauté until cooked through breaking it up as it cooks. Crumble feta and stir into beef. 
Spoon mixture into the pepper halves, cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes at 400F (200C).
Roughly chop mushrooms. Heat oil and chili powder in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until well browned.  Clean preserved lemon, discarding pulp.  Roughly chop.  Add lemon and stock to skillet.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in cornstarch mixture until clear and thickened.
To serve: Put peppers on a bed oc couscous (or rice) and spoon sauce over.