The weather has been cool enough for baking. That’s unusual in July. I seized the chance and made some masa (corn) blueberry muffins Ken grew flint and dent corn and I make masa. Each batch I make some fresh tortillas and then freeze some one cup balls for batches of muffins. There are 1 c masa, 1 c kefir, 1 egg, 1 c flour (wheat or rolled buckwheat groats, 3T lard (mine), 1/2 t baking …
Monday I helped Loyal bottle the last of the maple syrup and the birch syrup. The maple was the settling of each batch. If one lets it settle and pour off the top, clear syrup then filtering and bottling goes quickly and smoothly as pictured in the last batches bottled a while back. Tuesday morning I bottled the small amount of maple syrup that had not gone through the filter. I can use this”sludge” for …
‘Tis the season! Nettles are popping up – fresh, green and nutritious! Yup. Stinging nettles. But after you pick them carefully, dump in a bowl of water and rinse, the sting recedes and disappears. First I made nettle soup. I sauteed onion, added to some cooked carrots and potatoes in soup stock. Herbs like thyme are nice, too Next I added the nettles to wilt and ran the soup through a blender. Just before serving …
There are always culls on a farm. Ken and I used to gorge ourselves on ripe melons that had a soft spot; they couldn’t go to market or a CSA box. And then my parents sent us an ice cream maker and I tried melon sorbet. It was a hit, so once we had eaten our fill, I cleaned, peeled, seeded and cubed the melons with a soft spot. Once cubed I packed for the …
What am I doing at 7:30 a.m. when I have an evening invitation and the forecast is for a blistering hot day? The story starts long ago when we had some rain as Ken was starting to harvest melons. First the bottoms got a bit soft, so Ken set the melons up on empty tuna cans so they would stay dry. But some got soft enough that picnic beetles bored into them. Once we cut …
I like liver. Ken, not so much. But when we butchered chickens and had 20 or more livers he would make his version of pate – LOTS of mustard. I am happy to have access to liver from healthy animals! Here is my recipe: brown some liver on both sides, remove from heat and cook some chopped onion in the pan. Deglaze with some sherry. Combine with mustard – to taste – and mayonnaise, salt …
I have been eating great greens from the farmers market. As the week ends, I look at what remains. When I get over enthusiastic about greens, I wilt them so I can finish them up. Here are some beet greens and a couple green onions Chop Here is a bit of sausage and the onions Add greens and wilt ; they will turn bright green and shrink – just a minute or two Add a …
Greetings from the Garden! This box has sprouts, onions, garlic, celery root, carrots, beets, black radishes, kohlrabi, and dried black beans Field Notes. This is our final box. After twenty – three years I think we can say it was a good run. We have delivered vegetables to people on time without fail for all those years. Each box had at least eight different varieties, and many had over twelve. Ken did a marvelous …
Ken used to teach people to make nori maki. This is sushi rolled in a sheet of nori – a sea weed that is pressed into a thin flat sheet. And the term sushi refers not to raw fish, but to the rice cooking process. Sushi is rice cooked with some rice vinegar to soften it so it can be carefully pressed into shapes or rolled. Sashimi was the term used for raw fish when …
Ken was an excellent cook; his last job was as a private chef to one of the Pillsbury family. When we first dated, Ken would get me a card and try to buy something or take me out for my birthday. In March egg season is in full swing, and one year I asked him to make me a souffle. He did and it became our habit. Each year he …
