moving to word press

I'm studying up on moving this blog to word press, as blogger is doing some annoying things. If I do it correctly, this one will remain with a pointer to the new location.

Souvenir from the farm

Well, I don't usually take pictures of everything I cook, like a jackass food blogger.  I just wanted to share that I've come up with a new seasoning mix that I quite like.  Previously, the herbs I would use for poultry or chicken soup would be rosemary, sage, and thyme, with maybe one or two others thrown in, or not.
I came up with a new blend the last time I cooked chicken.  Skipped the sage altogether, and added celery seed, which I think really brought a nice somethin-somethin to the mix.
Rosemary
Thyme
Celery seed (first three herbs smashed together in the mortar and pestle)
Dill
Oregano
Onion powder
Fresh ground pepper

Way good! Try it!

Romaine lettuce

First off, let's be honest. Speaking as a Carrow here, who eats salad on Thanksgiving???

Oh sure, we'll have a few cooked veggies on the table this holiday, but salad?

Meat, carbs, and lots of deserts. For as long as I can remember.

Has the Romaine scare ruined any of your Thanksgiving plans? I didn't think so.

Really, just one more example that we should all be growing more of our own food.

organic meat

I am not the most experienced, or skilled, or even serious hunter. I don't use trail cams, I don't like field dressing, I don't care about smell reduction, and I only sight in my gun every couple years.
I only put up one stand, less than 50 yards from the house in our woods.

I've shot a couple does since we moved here, and aren't particularly desirous of getting a buck, since doe meat is better, but I get restless in the tree, so just decided to take this guy. He was no fun dragging up out of the ravine.

I get very bored and restless ( and cold!) sitting in a tree, so am thinking of building a regular stand next year. Maybe something like this:

In the mean time, I only stay in the tree for a couple hours in the morning, then a couple hours before dusk. The area I live in has too many deer, and CWD is spreading, so it's kind of our duty to help thin  the heard, since we killed all the wolves. My deer tag allows me to take four does in addition to the one buck. Maybe I'll get back out in the tree before the season ends.

 Because of timing and not quite feeling ready to do the full butchering, I am having a nearby guy skin and debone, then we will grind with some fat from our pigs to make a mess of ground venison.

I'll keep you posted.

Test post- hogs eating

Podcast

I recently started listening to this podcast, and thought it may be of interest to some of you:

http://nnf.foundation/of-two-minds/

cream

The neighbors with the small dairy operation gave us a half gallon of cream the other day in trade for eggs. So, this called for a quick google search for recipes that use a lot of cream.

We also have a glut of butternut squash from the garden. Butternut squash pudding uses two cups of cream, and is yummy. Garlicy pasta and squash casserole uses a cup and a half. Butternut squash pie uses a lot and is also yummy ( I forget how much, that pie is long gone). Still a bit more to go.

We also got a three pound lump of fresh butter. So far I've made my first batch of shortbread cookies, which used 3/4 lb. We go through butter quickly, so it will disappear without much change in our weekly menu.

I should also mention the half gallon of (real) buttermilk.

Pancakes. Lots of pancakes.

First caramel apples

The boys had their first ever caramel apples today.  We picked these up at James's school fall harvest festival.  I assume it was a fundraiser? Anyway they had never had one before.  I had one too, for the first time since.... middle school? I think our middle school used to sell Affy Tapple as a fundraiser? Anyway somewhere around 6th or 7th grade I ate one and found the apple inside was nasty, and I haven't had one since.  Besides, it's not like grownups just go around eating caramel apples, right? So I guess it was maybe 23 years, give or take, since the last time I had one. It was good!

 Another "first" which isn't particularly noteworthy: last night it just happened that we had some little 5 oz cans of apple juice so we let the boys each have one with dinner and watching them drink out of these little cans was kind of hilarious.  James was pretty excited, like he was Mr. Big Shot. Walter was nursing his very slowly and solemnly.  He looked ridiculous with that can.  We had to tell James not to stick his finger in that can hole, it's sharp in there! Trust us, we know.  He didn't believe us. We were like, how does he not know this? Oh, right, because he has NEVER had a beverage out of a can before.  First time for everything, right? 

one hen

See my post over at vivid views.

Test for today

having some issues with the blog, just seeing if this will post.

carry on.

84 to 38

Weird fall weather- It got up to 84 today, and very humid. All the concrete in the garage, barn started sweating, and the pigs headed back to the waller.

Forecast is for 38 degrees tonight.

Rumbly storms scudding through Wisconsin this evening with all the energy and moisture, but the heavy stuff is a bit north of us.

The bigger trees are turning ( sumacs don't count, they start turning before the end of August) , as we have had cool weather the last couple weeks, and our first light frost three days a go.

Time to plant the garlic!

there is a joke here somewhere

Anyone? Anyone?
Ferris........


https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/02/us/axe-truck-explosion-texas/?iid=ob_article_footer_expansion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRcUFvbcWCw

changing of the guard

This spring, we bought ten Buff Orpington chicks to reinforce or laying hen flock. The old hens are starting to slow down, and we've lost a few over time.

Also, Orpingtons are supposed to be a broody breed, meaning they tend to try set and hatch out chicks, which tendency has been bred out of most other breeds. This way we won't have to keep buying chicks each spring.

Turns out one was a rooster, but these things happen. Anyway, the pullets have just started laying.

I imagine the old biddies appreciate the help, but the youngsters are still a bit shy of full capabilities.

The mobil abattoir

Well, I had the best intentions of butchering our own two hogs this fall, but now that it is apparent that there is not enough experienced help able to come help, we have scheduled a butcher to do the deed.

There are a few lockers that maintain a mobile slaughter setup, which means less stress on the animals, and less stress on us, so that's what will happen on Dec. 18.

I didn't realize how quickly they book up, or it would have been sooner. These two porkers will be quite plump by then.

six weeks

Patsy's knee surgery seems to have been a success. They reattached the meniscus to the bone in her left knee on Tuesday. She will be on crutches with NO weight bearing for six weeks, and many weeks after that with further recovery.

Luckily, she had all the tomatoes canned before the surgery, and the remaining garden work is easy stuff for the root cellar or blanching and freezing.

You can just call me Jeeves.

too many tomatoes

I think Patsy and I have just this year felt like we have made up for all the years with out a garden. Our garden this past four years has been crazy big, with usually too  any tomatoes, but sometimes it's too many cabbages, or too many green beans.

So we are thinking that next year we might scale back a bit. Part of the plan is to plant winter wheat in one quarter of our garden this fall, thus making our own flour next year, but also reducing our veggie plantings by one fourth.

 Injury right at harvest time was a deciding factor. As was running out of freezer space.

Even with the Septoria leaf spot, our Romas are producing well, and we planted a crazy number of plants. I won't even discuss the grape tomatoes.

What part of your life have you gone too far with one realized you need to back off a bit?

favorite candy bar?

I'm eating a Dove promise ( dark, of course) and wondered what other folks favorite candy is. I eat two Promises every day with my coffee in the morning. The only other times I eat candy bars is as road food when traveling.

Favorites on the road: Mounds, KitKat dark, Ferrero Roche dark, and Little Debbie fudge rounds (I know those aren't candy bars, but they are an important source of road food enjoyment).

Hard to find, and a bit pricey, but I just recently ran in to Loacker dark chocolate hazelnut biscuits and like them a lot.

Do you see a pattern here?

the bounty of nature

Today I gathered eight five gallon buckets of apples from our trees. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain, so not a good day for outside work. We will grind and press the apples in the barn, and can some apple juice, and ferment some to make hard cider.

Yield from the apples is quite variable. Some varieties are just juicier than others, and some apples aren't fully ripe, but fall from the tree anyway. We'll be doing a blend from three trees, but I have no idea what the varieties are. A couple of our trees may well be feral, but the apples have been fine for making cider.

Hard cider is easy to make as long as you follow the guidelines, and the alcohol content comes in around 5% or so with the recipe I use. We will also charge the bottles with some dextrose to make sparkling cider. Regular hard cider like this is actually rather dry and crisp, not sweet like some commercial offerings.

I mow under the trees a couple times a year, prune them every other year or so ( still learning) but other than that, we just harvest each late summer/fall. What could be easier?

This photo is from last fall. I promise to take more pictures.

This is a batch fermenting in the utility room last fall. This step takes two or three weeks, then after bottling, wait two weeks to let the remnant yeast convert the dextrose to CO2.

Even if you don't want to mess with fermenting or canning, freezing cider for later use is super easy, and keeps a very fresh taste.

This is a test!

I'm here

Flagship blog post #1.

end of the dormancy?

So, just to see what might happen to this quiet little corner of cyberspace, thought I'd start posting here since I'm leaving facebook.  Others can add comments, new posts, have me add more authors to the group so they can post, or just let other relatives/friends know what's going on here.

In general, I'm hoping the direction this will take is one of newsy updates, general thoughts on what's happening in our lives, but trying to stay away from political and contentious stuff.

I guess some could even cross post here and facebook if they want to.

Here is an update of things on the farm in Wisconsin.

August 22, 2018- Very busy with harvest right now. Peas, sweet corn, green beans all already in the freezer. Today got the potatoes in the barn to cure a bit before going in the root cellar. Patsy has been processing tomatoes into pasta sauce, tomato sauce, ketchup, barbecue sauce, salsa, and whole tomatoes. We are going through the propane.

Carrots are all in the root cellar now, onions are all curing in the barn loft, will go into the root cellar after it cools down a bit more.

Apples are dropping on the early varieties, so we will do our first cider pressing soon, maybe Friday?

Got the champagne yeast and bottling sugar in the mail yesterday, so we are ready to roll.

Chickens are starting to slow down a bit on egg laying. Fall approaches, and I think I see signs of molting starting, plus two biddies decided to go broody this week, so no eggs from them. We are still getting enough for us, but our bartering might slow a bit.

The hazelnuts look like they will be ready to pick pretty soon. (On those precocious six year old bushes, not the lot of them)

Recent events: Took the train to Oakland to visit Joe, Kaitlyn, and our newest grandchild Agatha. Scenery and seeing fellow travelers was memorable.  Bri and the grandsons came down from the U.P. for a visit and they got to see and eat food coming straight from the garden to the kitchen. We did other stuff also, like a visit to the public pool, a park, legos, marble works, and lots of reading books.

I promise to try to take more pictures, and post them as well.