As with favorite books and family photo albums, this time of year it's fun to go back and look at a few of the old ones. Favorite posts this week are:
Baby Bunnies (click here), Little Big Guy (click here), Christmas Memories with Recipes: Sugar Cookies (click here), and Noel Balls, Mexican Wedding Cookies... (click here). And Home Made French Fries (click here).
New twin boy lambs born today. I spotted a lone sheep in the middle of the pasture coming home from work today (luckily it was early and still light) and when I slowed to observe her (a lone sheep is not normal) I spotted a cream colored unmoving thing. I was sure that it was a dead lamb. By the time I parked and trotted out to her to check, there was also a black unmoving thing -two lambs just born! They are now all three in the barn moving about and making the bleating and nickering noises of newborn lambs and their mother bonding. It is one of my favorite things about having sheep.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Ciopinno and Coconut Cake
Every year for my birthday, I bake a cake and make the Italian seafood stew, Ciopinno. This year was no different, except that this year it wasn't actually on my birthday day (work schedules and all) that I made this to celebrate with my family. It was the very best stew I have ever made and I had to share.
Ciopinno
Adapted from: The Best of Sunset
Saute:
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
Add:
1/2 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
2 T. dried parsley, minced
28 oz. can tomato sauce
3 -15 oz. cans Italian diced tomatoes
1 glass red wine
2 t. Italian seasoning
Simmer 20 minutes.
Add:
1-2 lbs. true cod, halibut or salmon, cut into 1 inch chunks
1-2 cooked Dungeness crabs, add crab legs in the shell and meat from body
1-2 lbs. live Manila clams, scrubbed
1 lb. live mussels, scrubbed
1 lb. shrimp, shelled
1 lb. scallops
1 lb. squid, cut into rings
Cover and simmer medium-low taking great care not to scorch. Clam and mussel shells should open and fish flake easily.
This is better the following day. And the day after that, if one is lucky enough to still have any left in the fridge, which often is the case and one of the reasons for this continuing birthday tradition.
I made this cake found in The Complete Southern Cookbook by Tammy Algood (click here) for my husband's birthday last April but never got around to sharing the recipe. This is the author's grandmother's recipe and her daddy's favorite cake. That I took as a serious endorsement. I made it again last weekend for my birthday (notice the trend here?) and simply had to share it. The first time I made it I wasn't sure how it would turn out. It it put together rather oddly compared to the usual way cakes are made but it's fabulous! The original recipe is a Four-Layer Coconut Cake and when I made it in April I baked the full recipe in three pans (because that's what I have). Last weekend when I made it, I halved the recipe for this Two-Layer Coconut Cake -a more modest approach that means I'm eating cake for breakfast only once rather than all week!
Two-Layer Coconut Cake
Adapted from: The Complete Southern Cookbook by Tammy Algood
Yields 6 southern-style servings (or 8 moderate servings)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease and flour two non-stick 9 inch cake pans.
Combine with mixer, mixing well:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. cream tartar
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. solid vegetable shortening
1/4 c. butter, softened
Add:
1/2 c. coconut milk
1 t. coconut extract
1/2 t. vanilla extract
Add 3 eggs, one at a time and mixing well after each addition.
Stir in 1 c. shredded coconut.
Divide batter between two pans and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and turn onto racks and cool completely. Frost with Coconut Milk Frosting then sprinkle with shredded coconut. Candles are optional.
Coconut Milk Frosting
Beat with mixer until fluffy:
1/2 c. butter, softened
two pinches salt
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. coconut extract
Add alternately:
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/3 c. coconut milk
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Dirt And The Dirty Life
"I had never in my life been so dirty. The work was always dirty, beyond what I'd previously defined as dirty, and it took too much energy to keep oneself out of it. I had daily intimacy not just with dirt dirt but with blood, manure, milk, pus, my own sweat and the sweat of other creatures, with the grease of engines and the grease of animals, with innards, with all the stages of decomposition. Slowly, the boundary of what I found disgusting pushed outward." -The Dirty Life On Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball
How could I not want to read a book with this title? And it is better written and even more interesting than I was expecting it to be -I highly recommend it for a perspective on what it takes to grow food. I grew up living in this dirty dirt. It takes A LOT of yuck to alarm me and I forget that the rest of the world doesn't think that way -that animal butchering is not an favorite or acceptable topic of conversation with most people. Too often I am babbling along on the topic of barn to table eating before I notice the incredulous look on the face of the person I'm babbling to. I've recently returned to working full-time and living more and more of my life OUTSIDE of the dirty life with people who are far removed from the source of their daily sustenance. The other day I came home from work and my daughter actually expressed approval for how I was dressed, rather than her more usual dismay at my farmer-fashion-style and "You're not actually going out in public like that are you?" question. Aside from acknowledging my ability to dress myself in a way that is socially acceptable, she says she isn't used to seeing me so clean and it's taking some getting used to!
Today, is a red letter day for us: it's pig butchering day! This morning, I cleaned rabbit trays, then dug out the entrance to the pigpen and separated two lambs from the flock -both in anticipation of the butcher's visit. I've been missing my dirty life lately, but I smell like rabbit pee, pig poo, and sheep grease now -which makes me feel much better. And the day has just begun. I'll probably be involved with some pig blood and innards! It is the smell of life and where our sustenance comes from.
How could I not want to read a book with this title? And it is better written and even more interesting than I was expecting it to be -I highly recommend it for a perspective on what it takes to grow food. I grew up living in this dirty dirt. It takes A LOT of yuck to alarm me and I forget that the rest of the world doesn't think that way -that animal butchering is not an favorite or acceptable topic of conversation with most people. Too often I am babbling along on the topic of barn to table eating before I notice the incredulous look on the face of the person I'm babbling to. I've recently returned to working full-time and living more and more of my life OUTSIDE of the dirty life with people who are far removed from the source of their daily sustenance. The other day I came home from work and my daughter actually expressed approval for how I was dressed, rather than her more usual dismay at my farmer-fashion-style and "You're not actually going out in public like that are you?" question. Aside from acknowledging my ability to dress myself in a way that is socially acceptable, she says she isn't used to seeing me so clean and it's taking some getting used to!
Today, is a red letter day for us: it's pig butchering day! This morning, I cleaned rabbit trays, then dug out the entrance to the pigpen and separated two lambs from the flock -both in anticipation of the butcher's visit. I've been missing my dirty life lately, but I smell like rabbit pee, pig poo, and sheep grease now -which makes me feel much better. And the day has just begun. I'll probably be involved with some pig blood and innards! It is the smell of life and where our sustenance comes from.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Should
I read 'Growing a Farmer' by Kurt Timmermeister (click here) last week which had this quote in it I really liked:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein
I have not (yet) learned to conn (it means to steer or pilot -I had to look it up) a ship, and I'm not sure how gallantly I will die, but I agree with this thought. I would add to the list: knit or sew a garment, grow a garden, bake bread, and fix a car's engine -or at least live with someone who can.
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein
I have not (yet) learned to conn (it means to steer or pilot -I had to look it up) a ship, and I'm not sure how gallantly I will die, but I agree with this thought. I would add to the list: knit or sew a garment, grow a garden, bake bread, and fix a car's engine -or at least live with someone who can.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Grandmother's Summer
"She just don't got the time that she used to." -Justin Townes Earle
A woman I work with told me that in the Ukraine where she is from early fall -about September 20th to mid-November- is called Grandmother's Summer because it is so lovely and warm, the spiders go from place to place (like a grandmother visiting), and the bounty of mushrooms and fall produce is available then (as generous as a grandmother). Yes, I pretty much melted at this poetic description. This Sunday in celebration and anticipation of the Grandmother's Summer weather predicted for this week, I made a pot of Borscht -lamb and beet soup- to have for dinner tomorrow night. Beets from our garden and lamb stew meat reserved from the two lambs I spent the weekend packaging and putting into the freezer. There was an article in the paper today (click here) that reminded me of the long term value of my job -and the peril of programs like the one I work for being closed due to budget shortages. I'll hope for the best and plan for the worst -and make soup.
Russian Borscht
Adapted from Jeff Smith's On Our Immigrant Ancestors
2 T. olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. lamb stew meat
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 c. chopped cabbage
1/2-1 c. mushrooms, chopped (optional)
1/2 c. carrots, diced (optional)
1/2 c. diced canned tomatoes
3 large beets, peeled and diced WITH greens and stems added if possible
2 qts. stock
2-3 T. red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 t. lemon juice
1/2 - 3/4 t. salt
1/4-1/2 t. black pepper
Brown meat in oil. Add garlic and onion and saute until translucent. Add remaining ingredients and cook 2 hours. Can refrigerate and reheat the next day. Serve with sour cream and snipped fresh dill weed (if available).
A woman I work with told me that in the Ukraine where she is from early fall -about September 20th to mid-November- is called Grandmother's Summer because it is so lovely and warm, the spiders go from place to place (like a grandmother visiting), and the bounty of mushrooms and fall produce is available then (as generous as a grandmother). Yes, I pretty much melted at this poetic description. This Sunday in celebration and anticipation of the Grandmother's Summer weather predicted for this week, I made a pot of Borscht -lamb and beet soup- to have for dinner tomorrow night. Beets from our garden and lamb stew meat reserved from the two lambs I spent the weekend packaging and putting into the freezer. There was an article in the paper today (click here) that reminded me of the long term value of my job -and the peril of programs like the one I work for being closed due to budget shortages. I'll hope for the best and plan for the worst -and make soup.
Russian Borscht
Adapted from Jeff Smith's On Our Immigrant Ancestors
2 T. olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. lamb stew meat
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 c. chopped cabbage
1/2-1 c. mushrooms, chopped (optional)
1/2 c. carrots, diced (optional)
1/2 c. diced canned tomatoes
3 large beets, peeled and diced WITH greens and stems added if possible
2 qts. stock
2-3 T. red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 t. lemon juice
1/2 - 3/4 t. salt
1/4-1/2 t. black pepper
Brown meat in oil. Add garlic and onion and saute until translucent. Add remaining ingredients and cook 2 hours. Can refrigerate and reheat the next day. Serve with sour cream and snipped fresh dill weed (if available).
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Becoming
"There is hardly anything in the world more exciting than something which is on the verge of becoming.
When this something is a human being,
a human personality on the verge of declaring itself,
the excitement doubles." -Louise Bates Ames
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