Recipe: Apple Butter

Doesn't apple butter sound delicious?  Apple + Butter = Yum.  However, I recently found out that there is actually no butter in apple butter...it is just applesauce cooked right down until it becomes the consistency of butter.  Regardless, I was in the mood for apple butter and after a quick web search in which Ottawa foodies declare that all store bought apple butter in this area is simply inedible - I decided to buy a bag of apples and make my own.  Here's how I did it...

Ingredients:

6 gala apples
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1.5 cups sugar
small pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions:

1) Peel, core and slice the apples into chunks.  Cut out any damaged parts.  Feed peels and cores to chickens.

2) Put apple pieces into a large pot, add cider vinegar and water.  Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook until apples are soft (about 20 minutes).  Remove from heat.

3) Spoon cooked apples out of liquid and into a separate bowl.  Add 1/2 cup of sugar for each cup of cooked apples.  Mix to dissolve sugar.  Add a dash of salt and the cinnamon, cloves, allspice and lemon juice.

4) Mash apple and spice mixture with a potato masher.

5) Cook mixture uncovered in a large, wide pot on medium low heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning.  Scrape the bottom of the pot while you stir to make sure a crust is not forming.  Cook for 1 hour until thick and smooth (the consistency of butter).

Helpful Hints:

Apple butter is great on toast, pancakes, in oatmeal and on pizza as a substitute for tomato sauce (think Nonna Mela pizza from Woodenheads in Kingston).  Yum!

Source:

Recipe adapted from Elise Bauer's Apple Butter Recipe posted on September 20, 2005 on http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/apple_butter/

Kamikazi Honey Bees

Honey bees spend the vast majority of the winter season hibernating but that doesn't mean that there is nothing going on inside the hive.  During the winter months, the bees continue to eat honey, raise some brood and move around a bit in a cluster formation.

Bee hive in the winter, covered in snow.

On warmer, sunny days (when temperatures reach about 0 degrees C) some of the bees take cleansing flights outside the hive to get some fresh air into their lungs and some exercise.  However, bees can't fly very far until temperatures reach about 10 degrees C, so throughout the winter we find dead bees littered in the snow surrounding the hive.  These bees went for cleansing flights, got chilled and weren't able to make it back inside the hive alive.

Dead bees in the snow around the entrance of the hive.

Hive entrance after I removed the bee carcasses.

 Usually the bees that die outside on these flights are the oldest bees in the colony and would have died shortly anyway even if they had remained in the hive.  Often these bees are also sick with tracheal mites and have chosen to make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the colony by flying to somewhere outside the hive where the mites inside them can't infect any other bees upon their death.

To a new beekeeper the numerous bees found dead in the snow is initially somewhat shocking.  I remember thinking, "Are there any bees left alive inside the hive?"  But when you remember that a hive is composed of between 20,000 - 30,000 bees in the winter, a few hundred "Kamikazi" bees is put into perspective.

This Kamikazi bee made the ultimate sacrifice.

Narrowing the Gender Gap

It seems that we're preparing to buck the trend of acquiring only female dependents on Gael Glen Farm.  We had our 20 week ultrasound today and found out that we're expecting a baby boy!  I have had a strong feeling throughout my entire pregnancy that I am carrying a boy but today my feeling was validated by science!

It was easy to see during the scan why my tummy is growing so large and why I am feeling stronger kicks - the baby is much, much bigger than he was during our last munchkin viewing.  He takes up almost all the extra space in the uterus now and doesn't look at all like a baseball park peanut anymore.  During the scan we saw the baby's many parts (head, heart, eyes, stomach, lungs, limbs, spine etc.) and he showed off his many moves for us by rolling, spinning and flipping.  So far, everything looks healthy and normal.

At one point during the scan, Ian was looking up at the screen and whooped - "It's a boy!  And he's well endowed!"  The ultrasound technician chuckled and said, "I think you mean that your baby has an umbilical cord."  However, it seems Ian's delight was simply premature because five minutes later the ultrasound technician pointed out a very clear view of our baby's reproductive parts.  The baby is definitely a boy.  At this point Ian requested a photo as proof much to the technician's shock until he realized that Ian was joking.

So, it seems that this spring we will be narrowing the gender gap on the farm by adding one boy baby to the ranks of the male runner duck, male bees, male fish, male pear tree and Ian, of course.  While the girls will still outnumber the boys on the farm, we've always been supportive of the move towards gender equality (as long as it doesn't involve roosters)!

Our baby boy in a 20 week ultrasound photo.

Winter Trout Fishing Adventure

Ian here, for the last post in fish week.

Well, yesterday I had decided I would post when I got home from a fishing trip into the Lanark County highlands with tons of pictures of the lovely rainbow trout that I would be bringing home.

Alas.  This post will have no pictures taken yesterday.

It's disappointing when you KNOW there are fish in lake (because the ministry puts them there...) but they just won't bite.  When we got there, our prime target lake was inaccessible due to snow banks freezing up really high and not being able to get through with my friend's truck so we picked another lake that I'd been to before and had caught fish.  The only trouble with this one is accessibility is VERY easy and so it's fished pretty regularly.  When we got there, 2 other groups were already set-up (and this lake is very small).

We started by drilling 5-10 holes, all at different depths and then figured we'd move sideways and cover a good portion of the area.  Well....   By the end of the day, we had drilled about 50 holes and had only gotten one little nibble on a set line.  That fish let go pretty well right away and we went home with nothing.

We were using bare #6 hooks pulled down with split shot weights tipped with small minnows and worms in depths ranging from 15 to 50 feet.

I guess it just goes to show, as the famous saying goes, it's called fishing, not catching.

The day wasn't a total bust.  I managed to find a place that re-fills propane tanks in Arnprior and had a great breakfast at the Antrim Truck Stop for 5 bucks.

I'm taking a little break from fishing this week and next weekend I have other plans, so.... no fishing.

This is Ian signing off fish week.  Back to farm stuff Monday!

This is what a rainbow trout looks like on the ice.  I haven't seen this yet in 2013...

Walleye Fish Identification

Fish Week!  YEAH!

Today's post answers the age old question...  Walleye, Pickerel or Sauger?

You can imagine the fighting that happens online with this question, especially with the difference between pickerel and walleye.  The fact is this:

A real pickerel, scientifically, is not what we usually call a pickerel.  A real pickerel is more closely related to pike/musky and has a very particular patterning.

Pickerel

Our grandparents and in some cases parents call walleye pickerel because it has become a common name for walleye, especially in Northern Ontario (same way people call burbot ling!)

Here's a walleye, you can see it's quite different looking:

Walleye

It's interesting to note that the colouring on this fish will change slightly from darker to lighter depending on the habitat of the fish.  River fish are usually lighter, and deep fish in stained water are darker.  Important to note is the lack of obvious patching and the white tip of the tail.

Here's a sauger.  It's in the same family as walleye (and counts towards your walleye limits) but has subtle differences:

Sauger

You can see it has more "patchy" dark spots as well as a spotted dorsal fin and no white spot on the base of the tail.  The saugers are also much smaller fully grown

Here are some "real" pictures of fish I've caught this winter of walleye vs. sauger and you can try and see the differences.  Toodles!

A Cichlid Primer

Well, it's still fish week, and that means you still get Ian writing the blogs.

You're welcome.

Today's theme is on a fish that we prefer to keep alive and isn't really good eating unless you're an African fishing them, in Africa.

This fish is commonly known as a Cichlid.  It's a popular hobby fish as it's colourful, freshwater and fun to watch (territorial and can be aggressive).  I've been keeping these fish for a few years and find them fun to keep and watch, and not too much work.

There are a few family groups of cichlids.  I keep fish that are originally from Lake Malawi in South Eastern Africa. This is a lake that you should read about.  It's cool.

These are interesting fish because the females take care of their eggs and young in their mouths.  I can always tell when there is a fish holding because their mouths/chins are distended and the fish is breathing heavily.  I can also tell when I feed and there are a few fish that aren't interested in food...  that means they're ready for isolation and eventual delivery.

Here are some samples of the fish I keep.  This isn't all of them because I just have so many of a few of these and a few of that:

Peacock

Yellow Lab

Acei

Red Top Afra

Rusty

Blue Hap

Venustus

Cichlids are a territorial fish and so require quite a bit of space...   I have a 120 gallon aquarium that I keep the big guys in and a variety of smaller ones for the fry and juvenile fish. Come over and check them out!

The big aquarium.

The Day The Guppies Died

Today's question:
What happens when your filter's temp regulation mechanism breaks and causes your aquarium's temperature to skyrocket?

Answer:
The water goes very cloudy and your fish cook.

I know this from personal experience.  I recently lost a handful of guppies and a bushy nose pleco due to this sad occurance.  The tank water was VERY hot and the heater coils were glowing a very bright red colour.  No other possible explanation.  Time for burial at sea (flush) for the fish and a replacement heater.

Unfortunately the fish weren't cooked in such a way they could be eaten (like a ling!), so they were cleaned up and the tank is now circulating with fresh water until I can get a replacement heater.

Onwards and upwards!
Ian

A guppy.  Not mine.  Mine are dead.