Just Call Me the Kitchen Clean Up Expert

One of the challenges with cooking most of our meals from scratch is the mess I make doing it.

I am told that I take after my paternal grandma in this regard.  She is known as an exceptional cook and baker but also as a hurricane in the kitchen leaving destruction in her wake.  I think Ian nearly died when he exited his office this afternoon and laid eyes on the disaster Seamus and I had made of the kitchen.  Luckily it was not anything that some dish soap and elbow grease could not fix and the dinner we made was worth the clean up.

We had garlic prime rib soup.  I started the beef broth this morning with the bones and later added chucks of prime rib, pork tenderloin, Brussels sprouts, red cabbage, kale, red potato, sweet potato, carrots, fried onion, basil, oregano, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and half a dried cayenne pepper.  It was great.

We also had Johnny Cake made with Grandpa Ed's recipe but using homemade buttermilk and very coarse ground corn meal.  This corn bread received rave reviews and both boys had a second helping.

Seamus and I also made a batch of veggie muffins to put in the freezer.  These are one of our go-to after school snacks.   We cleaned out the fridge for this batch using grated carrot and zucchini and left over cranberry sauce, whole cranberries and an overripe banana.  We added just enough honey to make the cranberries bearable but these muffins are tart and oh so delicious.

Despite our busy afternoon in the kitchen, we still had time for some Halloween fun.  This too was messy but by this point I was an expert in efficient kitchen clean up.

The beginning.

The guts.

The concept.

The execution.

The lighting ceremony.

Prepare to be scared!  The boys named him Mr. Jack Beanstalk and are
convinced that he is the scariest Jack O' Lantern ever to experience Halloween.

My Constant Canine Companion

Emily has been my constant sidekick lately.

She loitered at our feet all morning while Seamus and I baked bread.

And she seems to have a nap time radar.

I typically enjoy her companionship - who wouldn't love a dog who is a grump to everyone but you - but I have to admit that her new habit of sleeping as close to my stomach as possible is getting a bit annoying.  Last night I woke from a dead sleep and was halfway out of bed thinking that I heard one of the boys calling me for help before I realized that it was Emily snoring - very, very loudly.  She has been subsequently relegated to the end of the bed.  Hopefully my own delightful pregnancy snoring will drown out her toddler-mimicry snores from there.

Time to Get My Bread Baking Groove Back

With the sudden arrival of winter, my interest in bread baking has returned.

Lambs' first experience with snow.

Ducks on the go.

Chickens: "No, no, no!"

This morning I baked my first loaf in months.  My sourdough starter bit the dust during my baking hiatus so I am experimenting with yeast breads instead of naturally leavened ones.  While baking this morning's bread, I forgot to add the salt.  And we were out of butter.  #breadfail  It seems that I am out of practice.

Perhaps I need to rely on recipes until I get my bread baking groove back?  I pulled out one of my dad's bread books and started the process for making pain de l'ancienne - a back to basics, traditional Parisian baguette.

The dough is all mixed and kneaded but must sit in the fridge all night.  It is then sliced and baked into loaves in the morning.  I will post on the outcome of this experiment tomorrow.  Oh yes, and I bought butter - just in case everything goes to plan.

A Complex Identity

I especially love the days when I get to wear a variety of different (metaphorical) hats.  For example, yesterday I spent the morning mucking the barns and baking homemade cinnamon buns and then the afternoon at the spa before caring for Liam after school and arranging his very first family movie night (we watched Transformers #boymom).   Or today, when I spent much of the day in mama mode (at the doctor's office dealing with Liam's mysterious face rash, watching Liam climb straw bales, and reading him many, many library books) but was also able to care for the animals and spend the evening out on a concert date with Ian.  I love that I have the opportunity be a farmer, mother, partner, baker, homesteader, academic, beekeeper (and much more) all in the same day!

Icin' Them Sprouts

With Seamus on Shay-cation at the cottage with Grandma for a few days, I was able to putter around the farm this morning.  I pruned back some apple tree branches that have been in my way, tidied up the area of the garden where Ian wants to till and plant the garlic, helped Ian finish installing the last few pieces of trim on the donkey barn, and harvested about a third of our brussels sprouts crop.

These sprouts have been planted outside since way back in April.  Talk about a crop that needs a long growing season - almost six months outside and at least a month inside before that!  Lucky that they are frost hardy.  I am happy to report that our sprouts are finally big and beautiful.

Brussels sprout on the plant.

All picked off.

Put 'em in the bowl.

They washed up nicely, got portioned out and went into the freezer in six small ziplock bags.

In my travels this morning I also came across two forgotten squash.  Looks like squash and sprouts will be on the menu some time in the coming weeks.

Moving at a Turtle's Pace

As much as I am loath to admit it, I am slowing down.  I am exhausted - all the time.  My beach ball sized stomach is weighing me down and I still have months to go!  Today, Grandma and Seamus took pity on me and helped out by planting some spring flower bulbs that I purchased during a spurt of ambitiousness (that later dissipated).  The bulbs have been sitting (alongside the planting garlic) on my counter for weeks.  Today they finally got planted in my front flower beds (which I admit are sorely in need of weeding that I am simply not feeling up to doing).

I did, however, manage to inventory our freezers (though it took three days) .  With the possibility of a deer's worth of meat to freeze in the coming months, this is a necessary autumn chore.

Needless to say, we are going on a (partial) boycott of the grocery store.  We have so much food stored up - both pre-made meals like soups, stews, chillis, etc. and raw ingredients like meats, bone broth, breads, pastry, vegetables, etc. - to last us through the winter, if not longer.  From today forward my grocery lists will only include milk, fresh fruit and veggies that are not currently in our garden, and flour.  I am sure there will be exceptions but with all the food that I went through over the past few days they should be few and far between.

All right Winter - I am ready for you, though I may be very slow to answer the door if you knock.

Brew By Everyone

This weekend Ian hosted several of his beer brewing buddies for a brew day at the farm.  The boys and I helped with the preparations, brewing and clean up.

It was a busy Saturday followed by a quiet day of recovery on Sunday.  I need a weekend to recover from my weekend.

Greek-Lebanese Fusion Anyone?

Our garden is still producing heaps of delicious flat leaf parsley.  It survived the -4 degrees C temperatures and our first snowfall!

Liam and I got creative for dinner by preparing pitas stuffed with pork tenderloin, tabbouleh and tzatziki.

In spite (or perhaps because?) of the mix of food origins, the result was fantastic!

Best of all, we have leftovers for an easy lunch tomorrow!

All Signs Point to Autumn

You know autumn has officially arrived when:

Your sugar maple trees look like they are on fire.

Your car refuses to start in the cold.  It is now in the shop.
You find a layer of snow on the bottom of your wheel barrow.
You find a new use for your goats as leaf collectors.

Honey, oatmeal, date cookies warm out of the oven seem like the best thing in the world.

A Little Neighbourly Inspiration

Our next door neighbour Alan dropped by this morning to share a container of his homemade hot sauce and a paper bag filled with mushrooms from his garden.  Yes, the very same wine cap mushrooms that I am trying (so far unsuccessfully) to grow.  He casually mentioned that he has gotten so many that he has tried frying them, mushroom soup, etc.  He had me at mushroom soup.  Divine.

I paired the cream of mushroom soup with basmati rice and homemade buttermilk cheddar cheese biscuits.

I think this might have been one of the most delicious meals I have ever made from scratch.  Ian and I both thought it was fantastic.  The boys, on the other hand, hated it.  The only reason they choked it down was to obtain permission to eat the lemon meringue pudding I made for dessert.  There is no accounting for taste.

Thank you Alan for both the mushrooms and the inspiration!

When a Nap Evades You

I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a mild fever.  With a longing look at my comfy bed, I willed myself out of it and counted myself lucky that I was the only one feeling ill.  I dragged myself through the morning of getting Liam off to school, the animals' morning routine, meal prep, and entertaining a healthy and energetic Seamus.

I was just finishing the final tuck for Seamus' nap when Ian stuck his head in the room to inform me that Liam's school had called.  As fate would have it, Liam had presented with a fever and sore throat and needed to be picked up.  After a slightly longer longing look at my bed, I scooted down to Liam's school to bring back a sick looking little boy.

I apple juiced and jammied Liam up and got him to sleep.  I had made one tiny tip toe towards my own bed when Seamus woke up - ready to play!  My longing look at my bed may have been accompanied by a small sob this time.

I managed to keep Seamus occupied and somewhat quiet until Liam woke at 4 pm.  I then admitted defeat and sat them in front of the TV for an hour while I made dinner.  Then it was Papa and Seamus off to ice skating class, Liam off to bath and bed, and the animals' night time routine.  Now, Ian is putting the finishing touches on Seamus' bedtime, I am typing this and my feet are once again inching towards my bed.

Here's hoping for 10 hours of mostly uninterrupted sleep and maybe, just maybe, I will wake up tomorrow feeling healthy.

A 5 Month Delay

There is nothing like a hobo-style drum fire to celebrate the end to a productive autumn day.

Our fall chore list may be a mile long but today we found ourselves with some free time and really doubled down on trying to make a dent in it.  I checked off numerous little items such as grooming the dogs, watering the indoor plants, mucking the barns, and feeding the bees.  I even dealt with my kombucha after a five month hiatus.  Really, it was ready on May 14th and I finally got around to dumping what was now strong kombucha vinegar and making a fresh batch on October 14th.  Oops!

Ian checked off many tasks today as well.  Most notably, he finished installing the interior walls in the barn.  Woohoo!  He also began burning some of the bits of lumber and cardboard we have laying around outside that need to be dealt with before it snows.  This doubled as a cheery, though slightly ghetto, evening bonfire.  A nice way to end a busy day.

Good Weather, Good Friends & Good Food

This was the most relaxing Saturday we have had in a while.   The kids and I kicked off the day with an invigorating hike through the forest in the crisp morning air.  The changing colours and falling leaves were a huge hit.

We played outside for most of the day.  After goose hunting, Uncle Brian and Ian finished the trim on the barn.  All that is left are the inside walls.  Always the multi-tasker, Ian also treated us to a delicious pulled pork dinner.  After being on the smoker for 13 hours, it was delectable.

For dessert, I tried out a new recipe for healthy honey, oat, cocoa muffins made in the blender.  The blender part was gimmicky and not very efficient but anything topped with chocolate chips is a hit with kids.  The muffins made a sweet end to a relaxing day.

Good weather, good friends and good food - I would not complain if more days were like this one.