Shredding chicken with what?

On March 18, 2023 By CarynIn Recipe

I stopped by my local Brahms to pick up some Frontier soup mix and the cashier asked if it was easy (it is) and shared with me her way of shredding chicken: with a stand mixer. What? I’ve been using forks and battling the steam of the Instapot and doing a middling job shredding chicken to this point in my life. My stand mixer lives on my counter, right next to where I set up the Instapot, so transferring the cooked chicken (I cook for 10 min, high pressure, with one cup of water) over to the mixer bowl and using a standard paddle on low for less than a minute was much easier and more throughout than using forks in the pot.

She did warn me not to run the mixer for too long, so I watched as it ran on low until the shredding met my satisfaction. Then I transferred the chicken back into the Instpot to finish the soup. Yes, I dirtied more dishes, but the soup felt thicker with the finely shredded chicken than it does with larger chicken chunks. And I didn’t have to hold my hands over a steaming pot, cursing hot sprays of chicken broth.

Next spindle size

On March 17, 2023 By CarynIn Craft

In developing my 3D printed spindle design I’ve had three sizes printed up. The smallest works well, but the bore of the shaft is a little small. The largest version had a good sized shaft, but wasn’t as sturdy and was a little unwieldy. I’m hoping this new middle sized version is the winner.

First, though, I need to sand down the printing artifacts, which are small bumps of filament that didn’t quite go where they were programmed to go. Filament is like that. Resin printing has less of these artifacts than filament printing, but the PETG filament is tremendously more durable. Plus it makes the spindle look like a calcite crystal. Nice.

Closer

On March 16, 2023 By CarynIn Cats

When Mr Tom and Shadow showed up for treats (OK, Shadow comes for treats, Mr Tom comes to get brushed and de-burred), Momma cat was right behind them! She has a pink arrow in the picture pointing her out behind Shadow.

She was too skittish to eat a treat while I was there. I have the camera up, but the SD card is glitchy, so I only get a live feed, no scrolling backward through time. Still, the food I’ve put in the back of the cage has been consumed, so I hope all this will help to catch her so she can be fixed.

Wool gathering

On March 15, 2023 By CarynIn Wildlife

The suet cages I filled with scraps of wool are getting some attention. I caught one of the local squirrels gathering up the fiber and managed to record some video.

Video still of a squirrel wool gathering

Squirrels have kits twice a year, so I imagine this is Momma squirrel lining her nest for the impending babies. Or maybe a secondary nest construction, I’ve read squirrels can built multiple nests. Either way , I’m glad the unspun fiber is an approved squirrel material.

Chord progressions

On March 14, 2023 By CarynIn music

I know this is a craft and critters blog, but I’m going to sneak in a music post. I’ve started singing with a women’s barbershop chorus, and I’ve been learning about barbershop chords. Actually, before I get into barbershop chords, I need to learn about triads, or chords with three notes. It is amazing how complicated things sound when you combine two languages and two numerical systems. I was awash in Roman numerals, and tonics and subdominants until I wrote it all down. My first attempt, I used the note letter names (ABCDEFG), which did not help my chord understanding. Then I was told about numbering the scale. Lightbulb moment. In the image below I have labeled and laid out the chord progressions in the first four measures of “Canon in D” by Pachelbel. The D scale is under the music notes, labeled with numbers 1-7. Triads built on scale degrees is another way to say “the three note chords that go with the scale”. Musicians use Roman numerals for these chords, which correspond to the numbered scale. Oh. One, four, and five are capitalized in Roman numerals because these are important chords in the progression. Oh! Chord progressions make the song interesting to listen to. Familiar chord progressions make songs easier to sing along with. OH!

Canon in D by Pachelbel with chord progressions labeled

Thinking of the notes as numbers on a scale, rather than by the alphabetical name also makes it easier to change the key. I’ve been practicing Canon in D, but in the key of C on my Kalimba, which has the keys helpfully numbered as well as named.

I promise you a critter post tomorrow!

Critters and Craft

Author: Caryn