There was a time in my younger years when I was unhappy because the mall didn’t open til 10 a.m. On Saturday mornings, I was there when it opened and stayed as long as I could. I would’ve been there earlier if they were open earlier. How times have changed! I had wanted to go up to the Amish place to get eggs. It’s probably about 20 or 25 miles from my house. We can’t call ahead to see if they have any and I figured Vince wouldn’t be happy if we drove up there and struck out. They’ve closed the little grocery type store and have moved the operations to the basement of their home til spring. I had thought about going during the week because I figured everyone is wanting eggs for Thanksgiving baking. But, Vince insisted we’d go up there together on Saturday. I wanted to be sure we left the house by 7:45 so we could be some of the first ones there. I woke up at 5:15 thinking . . I know someone is going to get there and get all the eggs before we get there! What a difference from when I was worried about someone getting all the good stuff at the mall before I got there!
We beat the rush (doubt there really was a rush); got 8 dozen eggs but we’re giving one to a friend that Vince works with. I still have a dozen left from the last trip so I hope 8 dozen eggs lasts me through Christmas. Before you question if I’m keeping them too long, here’s an article from the USDA in which they found no decrease in quality in eggs that had been stored over 10 weeks.
We had to go to Wal-Mart to get salt for the water softener. I detest that water softener but we can’t live without some kind of conditioning for this hard water. Does anyone have the Easy Water system? We keep saying we’re going to look into that. Chad drinks only bottled water because of his blood pressure so I have to use bottled water for tea and Kool Aid if he’s going to be drinking it and I’ll have to make sure Dad doesn’t drink tap water while they’re here. Anyway, I decided to buy as much of the groceries as I could for next week while at Wal-Mart. I didn’t have my list with me and it frustrates me a lot to shop without a list. I managed to get almost everything I need but I’ll have to make a grocery store run Monday to finish up.
Now I’m off to make two batches of rolls for dinner at a friend’s house tonight.
dawn says
We go to a market by our house to get Amish butter. Oh my goodness…….I could eat that stuff with a spoon!! The Amish surely know how to eat! 🙂
dawn
Howdy says
Judy I don’t know about that system… we had the softener replaced after we moved in to this house as the old one wasn’t operational… the hard water was awful and tasted so bad the dogs wouldn’t drink it. We had a reverse osmosis system put in at the same time to provide drinking water at a spigot at the sink and it also provides water for the icemaker. The dogs will drink this water… and we don’t buy bottled water anymore.
I love the produce I’ve gotten at the local farmers market from the Amish… OMG the size of the cauliflower was amazing and all these fresh veggies have been so much better than I use to get at a regular store. I’ve seen the butter but didn’t need any at the time… I’ll have to pick some up and try it out.
Karen L says
Judy…….eggs have an amazingly long shelf life….and since you basicly buy them right from under the chicken you can feel real comfortable with that 10 week thing. The water……have you had it checked by an independent agency to find out what exactly is in your water and plan a system from there……..In the country water that we have, we have two systems…..a filter to remove the undisolved particles (we are already soft after that so we don’t have to add anything) and a reverse osmosis system to remove the disolved solids (salts) for drinking purposes. Most states have a water board of sorts that you can have the tests run with.
Karen L
Fitzy says
We use a Whirlpool Undersnk Water Filtration System. About $100, purchased at Lowes, and is a 2-stage filter system. The filter set (replaced every 6 months) is $40. We have used the same kind for about 10 years and love it. It has a separate small spigot at the kitchen sink, so we have the option to consume filtered water or wash the dishes with unfiltered. I guess my one fault is not with the water…but the tap water (unfiltered or otherwise) in Arizona NEVER gets cold! Darn desert is always warm! 8^)
Mary says
You’re so prepared as usual. Keith and I walked to dinner tonight and talked about our Thanksgiving menu – we’ll just be getting back from GA and since there won’t be time to thaw one out and it’s only the two of us – it won’t be Turkey.
Danielle says
I am terribly jealous that you are so close to Amish farmers. I love their butter and cheese, and jellies, too. Soooo… what are you making with all those eggs?
Cindy says
When we lived in Wichita, we had a softener. But I had Joe fix it so it was only hooked up to the hot water line. That way we could drink the water, but bathing and laundry got the benefit of the softer water. You could try that.
I had to carry those huge sacks of salt down the stairs to the basement.
Now I have to carry huge bags of salt around back for the swimming pool!
Deja vu all over again.