Experiments with the Instant Pot, snow removal and chimney cleaning

Yes we finally got an Instant Pot

And no, Lynn did not make the zucchini bread in the picture in our instant pot. We have been looking at getting an Instant Pot for a while, I have been told how great they are but the price of a decent sized one kept me away. Finally got the one we wanted on a black Friday deal online. We make nearly everything we eat from fresh ingredients which can of course be time consuming. Today I had my first try at making baked, (or is it steamed), potatoes, I did some fairly large baking sized ones and they turned out pretty well.  I’ve also used it to steam broccoli and even hard boil eggs. Mostly trying to make sure I know how to work it before I do anything more advanced. I make my own yogurt but I’ll probably stick to pasteurizing it on the stovetop in a saucepan because I don’t want to deal with scrubbing out burned milk out of the stainless steel bowl of the instant pot.

Lots of baking going on

Lynn has been doing a lot of baking this week. Mostly for various fund raisers here in town. Her baked goods are a local favorite, and usually sell out pretty quickly. It has been warm enough this year so far we haven’t had the problem of the propane stove not working. Usually around the December through February time frame we will have a couple of weeks at least with air temperatures below -44F, and at these temperatures propane stoves simply won’t work. 

More Snow

We have been getting fairly consistent snowfall this week. I have run the snow blower twice just keeping the driveway cleared. Shoveling snow off the porch and steps has become part of the daily routine. Supposed to get colder this week so it will probably taper off a bit. Running has become a bit more difficult, flat light and rutted snow in the streets increase the chance of injury while running, its kind of like running in soft sand. I try and do my runs in the tracks cars make in the snow. Still, its better than a treadmill.

Fire prevention

The warm weather we have been having gave me a good opportunity to clean out my chimney and wood stove. I do a thorough cleaning with a wire chimney brush once a month since we burn a lot of spruce. Our stove is a catalytic model so we actually don’t get a lot of buildup but I would rather be safe about it. Built a fire last night since the temperature was supposed to get down in the single digits at least, possibly dropping in to the negative temps for a while. Not much else going on, swim team practice is over till after the holidays but Lynn and I will continue to do our morning lap swims. 

Thats all for now, stay warm!