Tag Archives: food

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Labor Day Laboring

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While most everyone else we know is barbecuing and relaxing for the holiday weekend we’ve been working our backsides off inside and out.

Paul’s been playing in the mud rescuing the stream from the mangled tree debris that our less than wonderful landscaper piled there, and I’ve been cleaning, working on lesson plans and making pasta.  There was also a brief time out for the new season of Dr Who.  Because we’re still obsessed, y’all.

We had to install this culvert so we could extend some logs and mud over to stream as a land bridge without interfering with the water.

Did I mention that neither of us has any idea how this kind of thing is supposed to get done?  At least Paul is having fun with the backhoe attachment on our friend’s tractor.

Now all we need is more dirt and maybe some gravel to cover over it all.

The side Paul has finished up is flowing nicely again.  We even saw a fairly large crayfish (crawdad for you Southerners) hanging out on the bank.

See all the debris still on this side?  Don’t you love it when you pay someone to do a job for you and then you end up having to re-do it all?

All I know is it’s getting done.  Paul even thinks we may start fencing next weekend.

What a fabulous birthday present for me!

As for inside the house, there is pasta drying in preparation for the freezer.  September is when the basil in the garden has grown into a giant, bushy shrub and must be harvested before the first frost.  My favorite thing to do is make up a huge amount of pesto and make ravioli with it.  I can freeze enough to last all winter if I don’t get sick of making pasta before I’ve used it all.

I use Susan’s pasta recipe – in fact if you click that link you’ll see my hands creating the last big batch of pesto ravioli we made last year at this time.

Sweet heavenly pesto.  I could eat it for every meal.

Little pillows of delightfulness!  I let them dry on a cheesecloth or clean dishtowel for an hour or more (until they are not sticky anymore) and then toss them into a ziploc freezer bag.  They can be tossed in boiling water from frozen or fresh and take very little time to cook.

For my pesto I fill a blender with fresh basil leaves, toss in a handful of cherry tomatoes, a handful of parmesan cheese, a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic, about half a teaspoon of sugar, a handful of pine nuts, and 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil.  These are all approximate values, and I adjust according to taste.  Not everyone likes sugar or tomatoes in their pesto, but I find it gives it an extra something.  You can also substitute walnuts if you don’t have pine nuts, but I prefer the pine nuts.

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The Beach is Back

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I am happy to report that after 4 blissful days at the beach I am back and feeling great.  There really is something very healing about the ocean; just listening to the waves and feeling the sea breeze does something to your soul.

This year was my favorite beach trip.  Two of our lovely friends brought their new babies with them (both were born in December) and it was by far the most relaxing, stress – free and fun trip we’ve had. The babies were wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures of them discovering the beach and enjoying some time with their mamas.

There was so much good food that I may have put on a pound (or 5).  I brought homemade peach salsa, my friend Gabi brought a delightful Argentinian fruit spread that we ate slathered in large amounts on good hard cheese.  There was plentiful fruit and summer sausage brought by Jessie.

Of course we all splurged at the restaurants as well.

But the one thing I will really remember from this trip was the Stand Up Paddle Boarding that Diana, Jessie, Margie and I tried.  It was something that was a little bit outside my comfort zone, but I didn’t want to miss out.  I am SO glad I did it.  It was much easier than I feared and we had a blast.I wish I had pictures to show you, but I couldn’t bring my camera.

Little Liam was my seat buddy on the ride out and back.  He giggled and cooed and was a total angel both times.

Teddy was very much into exploring the sand.  And is so obviously in love with his mother it made my ovaries hurt.

Rainbow!  Fortunately the rain didn’t affect us too much – it was brief, and gave us a glorious rainbow.  UNfortunately, due to the cloudiness we were unable to see the perseids meteor shower.

The best beach crew you could hope for.

I’ve linked above to the company we used for the paddle boarding.  If you are ever in Virginia Beach, give them a try.  They were reasonably priced and a ton of fun.

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In Which I Wax Rhapsodic About English Muffins

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English muffins.

When I was growing up I loved Thomas’ English muffins.  Toasted, slathered in butter & jam they were pretty close to the perfect food.

In a more savory application my mother used to make what we called “pizza burgers” : toasted muffins with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni, broiled to bubbly deliciousness.  And don’t even get me started on those sinful Egg McMuffins.

Unfortunately as I got older my digestive tolerance of english muffins became problematic.  I don’t really know the hows or whys of it, but they became one of those foods that I began avoiding because they caused me heartburn.  Every. Single. Time.

I know.  Heartbreaking.

It took me awhile, then, to hop on the “homemade English Muffins” bandwagon.  I’d been seeing the rings used to make them advertised on the King Arthur Flour website, along with the recipe to make them.  There were rave reviews.  But I hesitated.

It was Emily that convinced me to take the leap.  She has been loving my pain de mie and homemade jams for breakfast, and gets awfully cranky when there is no bread.  In an effort to come up with an alternative I decided she’d probably love the muffins.

I ordered the rings and got to it ($11 for a set of 8 – not a bad deal!).  And you know what?  They were a snap to make.

I used the King Arthur Flour recipe since it seemed to be the simplest.  They also have a honey – wheat variation that you KNOW I’ll be trying.

These come out big and thick and lovely.

I had planned on making them to put aside for breakfasts, but while they were cooking I realized I had the makings of dinner: eggs, ham, cheese.

When I cut open the first one and knew I had success, I assembled the fried egg, ham, and melted cheese sandwiches for a tasty dinner.

They were far better than any fast food sandwich you can get.  Dinner was accompanied by pleasant moans of happiness from my children: and that’s quite a feat, let me tell you.

The best news?  No heartburn.  The true test will be when I have one with butter & jam, but I am feeling optimistic.

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Early Harvest

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Here it is barely August and my garden has officially given up for the season.  The only plants that are still producing are a few of the heirloom tomato plants, the basil, and the potatoes I have yet to dig up.

This weekend I will go out and lightly till the dead and rotting vines back into the soil and set about getting the fall plantings ready.

The biggest challenge this year hasn’t necessarily been the heat.  It’s true that the overly warm night time temperatures slowed production, but the plants all did, eventually bear fruit.

The lack of bees (remember I was supposed to have bees this year?  You can thank the uber slow progress of the landscaping for that not happening) didn’t seem to slow pollination any; there were bumblebees aplenty buzzing all around.

What really hurt this year was the epic number of pests.  Squash bugs.  Cucumber beetles. Blister beetles.  Caterpillars. Cabbage moths. Slugs.  You name it, we had it, and in hordes.  The blister beetles took my entire wisteria vine down to nothing OVERNIGHT.  Literally. One day it was there, the next, gone.

So, it was a disappointing growing season, but I am not letting it get to me too much.  I had enough tomatoes to make a batch of salsa.  We had so many summer squash and zucchini it felt like they were never stop.  The cucumbers even managed to hold their own long enough for us to put up dozens of jars of pickles.  Not to mention the mini sour gherkins – those tiny little garden workhorses.  They are still producing, seemingly invulnerable to the pestilence around them.

I have also formulated plans to improve things for next year – that’s the silver lining of garden failures. You learn from them.  Next year I’ll be buying plenty of Neem oil and organic and natural pest controls.  I will have bees.  I will also move the squash and pumpkins to their own garden – they overtook everything and drowned out my peppers and watermelon, killing them off.
And if I can find a way to eradicate my land of the blasted Virginia Creeper that invades everything, my beans and peas might stand a chance.

All in all, if I can manage a decent fall planting (beets, cabbages, greens, a few root veg) I’ll be pretty happy.

And speaking of fall, I made an early harvest that has everyone trying to fight off the autumn-y mood they create:

Bunches of sugar pie pumpkins, a Connecticut Field pumpkin or two, and some Jack Be Littles.

Check out this Jarrahdale Blue pumpkin!  Now if the two big Musquee de Provence pumpkins would hurry up and ripen before they fall prey to the zillions of squash bugs surrounding them, I will be happy!

 

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I May Have A Problem

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A Weck Jar problem.  As in, I can’t stop collecting them.

I have shelves full of them, both empty:

and full:

There’s plenty more of them full of good things in the fridge as well.

I just think they are so much better than regular old Ball Jars.  Not only are they prettier, but they are made to be obvious if your food has been compromised:  the clips are removed after processing, and if there is any spoilage along the way, the pressure it causes will force the seal open, thereby letting you know the food is bad.  The screw – on lids of Ball Jars don’t have such a fail – safe.

If only I had more garden bounty to fill them with!

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Tractor Vs. Tractor

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Around here when we are talking about “tractors” chances are good we are talking about portable chicken pens.  It’s a way to keep chickens safe and give them access to fresh grass.

Since we are raising chickens for meat right now Paul has been busy building new tractors for them to live in.  We wanted to feed them a combined diet of standard chicken feed and pasture.  We also wanted them to have plenty of space to move around and stretch their wings and play.  In other words, we wanted happy chickens, since they are going to be feeding us.  We can at least return the favor by making sure they are happy and healthy leading up to freezer camp.

Originally Paul was going to build 3 of these triangle – shaped tractors.  They are very basic, very sturdy, and light-weight enough for either me or the kids to move around easily.

Problem was, I didn’t think that they’d be big enough for fifty birds to have room to roam around.

When they were still fairly small we put them all in this one tractor.  It was roomy enough for them, but it wouldn’t be for long.

So Paul stepped outside the box and built them a new tractor.

From an old trampoline.

They now have a ton of room to move around and not be on top of each other.

As they reach their peak size we won’t have to worry about overcrowding.  We move it every two days or so – and they do quite a job mowing down all the grass in there.  They have a waterer that Paul put a float valve in so that they are never without water.  They get fresh air and shade.

As for the original tractor, there is a new family living in there for now.

Fleur and her babies have taken up residence there.  They’ll stay until the babies are old enough to be introduced to the flock at large (in other words, big enough to defend themselves from the inevitable bullying of the newbies).

 

 

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Finally Clear!

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Today we have some cause to celebrate –  the loggers officially finished clearing out the remaining trees to be felled.  This means that all that is left is for us to clean up a bit and fence it all in!

Paul and I walked all the way back to the very back edge of our property – something we have never been able to do in the summer before – and marveled at just how much more land we have than we thought we did and how nice it will be for the animals.  There’s plenty of trees left in the back portion for shade, and plenty of wide open space in the middle.  The landscaper expressed concern with all the underbrush that is left out there but I told him to leave it – the goats will make very short work of it.

This is standing at the back edge, looking toward the house.  See the grey in the very center of the photo?  That’s our roof.

I love that there are still some big old trees to provide shade on these hot days we’ve been getting, but there’s still enough sun filtering through that grass shouldn’t have any trouble growing.

Gully had fun running around like a mad dog and flying off the tree stumps.

The next step will be fencing, and hopefully that will go smoother than the clearing did!

To celebrate I made some peach jam from Marisa McClellans’ Food in Jars.

It tastes like the filling of a peach pie.

In other words, divine!

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In the Garden: Patty Pan Squash

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I think I’ve mentioned we’re trying to be more responsible about the meat we are eating.  We’re making a major effort to only eat organic grass – fed beef, organic chicken, etc.  It’s majorly more expensive and not as easy to come by, so it’s forcing us to eat less meat, and this is, of course a good thing.  It also means that when we do eat meat, it tastes sooooo much better and we enjoy it that much more.

So a few days ago I bought some hamburger patties from Whole Foods Market that were grass – fed AND local, and was thrilled to grill them up and put them on some homemade buns.

Emily, on the other hand, was not enthused.  She is a vegetarian, and no amount of humane, environmentally responsible- ness will change her mind in that regard.  Occasionally I struggle to accommodate her.  Generally it is her responsibility to maker her own dinner if she chooses not to eat what we are having.  However, there are nights when I am cooking meat and I realize there is nothing that she can really cook for herself.  This recent hamburger night was one of those.

And that is when the garden came to the rescue.

We have a lot of over-sized pattypan squash right now begging to be useful.  It occurred to me that with it’s flat, round-ish shape, a sliced pattypan might fit nicely on a bun.

Emily was game for the experiment.  We sliced it thin – ish and brushed it with olive oil and A-1 sauce.

Next, we chucked it on the grill and let it brown for awhile.

Emily ate it with no condiments and pronounced it a success.  In the future, we are thinking we can grill it up, slather it with barbecue sauce, top it with coleslaw and eat it on a bun.  Healthy veggie alternative to meat, straight from the garden!

 

 

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In the Garden: Cucumbers

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Lately I am having a heck of a time keeping up with the tremendous output of cucumbers in the garden.  Somehow, despite the onslaught of squash bugs and cucumber beetles that have been plaguing us for weeks, the cukes have done pretty well.  Only now are they starting to show signs of the bacterial wilt transmitted by those pests, which all of my other squash plants have fallen prey to.

Growing an organic garden is a challenge. Even in a good year, when pests aren’t that awful, it is a chore.  Every evening you’ll find me out among the squash, smashing squash bug eggs and their adult counterparts in an effort to pare down the population.  Japanese beetles get collected in a mason jar every night, shaken well (to stun them so they don’t fly away) and fed to the chickens.

But this year.  This year has been something else.  I knew it would be bad; the warm winter we had meant that bugs would be numerous.  Even so, I was unprepared for the epidemic that we’ve suffered.

Basically, I’ve given up on the squash.  If I had known just how bad it was going to be I’d have invested in some Neem oil,
but I’ve had such success in past years by simply picking off eggs and bugs that I hadn’t bothered.  They are just so incredibly out of control, and it has been in the 100’s here for a few weeks so I was unable to spend as much time as I’d like to keeping them in check.

The good news is we’ve gotten quite a substantial crop of cucumbers despite the bugs.  We’ve also had a bumper crop of surprising little things called “Mexican Sour Gherkins”.  These are tiny sour – tasting cucumbers that look like mini watermelons.

They are terrific for snacking and for salads.  I may even pickle them, which is what I have been doing in mass batches with the bigger cukes.

My favorite pickles are refrigerator pickles, and my favorite recipe for them is adapted from Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it by Karen Solomon.

I slice up my cukes however I want them (I like to do some jars bread and butter style, some spears, some halves).  I stuff each jar with cukes, a spoonful of minced or crushed garlic, a dash of ground cinnamon (the recipe calls for one cinnamon stick per pint jar) , a teaspoon each of yellow mustard seeds and brown mustard seeds, a tablespoon or better of dill, a teaspoon or better of red pepper flakes (more if you like heat), a couple grinds of black pepper, and a few teaspoons of kosher salt.  Exact science, right?  You’ll get to know how to adjust these for taste after your first jar or two. Since you’re not canning it the recipe doesn’t have to be perfect.  It is more important that you end up with the taste you want.

 

Then I fill up half the jar with vinegar (generally you use white vinegar, but I’ve used apple cider vinegar to great success.  I imagine champagne vinegar works nicely as well) and the rest with water.  Then seal and let it sit in the fridge for 48 hours before eating.

They are supposed to last in the fridge for about a month – but let me tell you, we generally eat them all before that.  I’ve had a couple of stray jars hidden in the back of the fridge that go unnoticed for around three months and were still just fine.

 

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Chicks!

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Remember Fleur, the unfortunate hen I had to perform surgery on a few months ago?

Well, she’s doing great. Not only has she been back to scratching around and clucking about with her friends, she recently went broody (she began to sit on a nest of eggs).

This past week she has hatched three new chicks.  Emily has named them Widget, Butterbeer and Tsukiko.

Fleur is an excellent mama, and has proved herself to be more fierce when it comes to her babies than any previous mama hen we’ve had.  I am guessing her near death experience has something to do with it!

She’s more than ready to attack you if you try to grab those babies.

Fortunately Emily is pretty adept when it comes to chicken management, so we were able to check over all the babies and they are perfect!

Emily is pretty excited about the new babies she gets to care for.

I wasn’t actually planning on hatching out any more babies; the chances of getting more roosters is too high and we have far too many already.  But, I have 50 meat chicks I am currently caring for until they go to freezer camp in August and Emily hasn’t been too happy with me about it.  Having her own little babies to care for has been a nice distraction so she hasn’t been focused on the fate of the other chicks.  And with any luck they will all be hens, and help replenish the population of egg layers that we lost to predation in the spring.  And, since they were hatched out of blue eggs, hopefully they will lay fun – colored eggs as well.