Satisfaction

A quick post just to announce how satisfied I was with last night’s first taste of beef. We decided to try the hamburger patties that came with the package on some homemade buns I made this weekend. With the first bite, I realized what I was eating, and it tasted great. Ladies and gentlemen, it tasted like beef. It was lean, strong, and beefy. To be honest, it reminded me more of a wild game taste than beef.  I’m going to let you in on a little secret: my husband is a supportive guy, but he’s not always willing to try anything that gets labeled “green”, “good for the environment”, or “animal friendly”. Actually, any use of those words with a product usually causes him to immediately be against it.  Yes, yes, I admit it, I married a Captain Planet villain of sorts (opposites attract, right?), so I have to be careful about what tangents I go off on and how I label something. But for him last night to make mention of how good it was, THAT means something! It’s a good change for us.

And as you’ve probably noticed, my blog appearance has changed, and I owe all that to my website guy. He made my header, and has spent many hours fiddling with the workings of annoying CSS programing that I don’t have the slightest idea about, all to create something unique for me. Thanks hun! Just goes to prove that Captain Planet villains aren’t all bad. 🙂

Winter Garden Planning

It’s the middle of winter, but I have spring greens on the brain. I can’t stop thinking about that newly tilled and expanded garden sitting under that layer of snow.

That fresh  upturned soil, I can’t wait to dig into it. Anyone want to share their choices for their garden this year? This is what we’re thinking of:
Veggies-
     String beans- “Provider” (new to us)
     Dry beans- “Jacob’s Cattle” (new to us)
     Carrots- “Danvers”
     Swiss Chard- “Ruby Red”
     Cucumbers- “National Pickling”
     Potatoes- “Red Norland” (new to us)
     Pumpkins- “New England Pie” (new to us)
     Turnip- “Joan Rutabaga”
Herbs-
     Basil
     Cilantro
     Oregano
Flowers-
     Purple Coneflower (new to us)
     Sunflowers

It looks like we’re trying a lot of new stuff this year, but we’re keeping all the successful crops from last year and replacing the not so lucky crops with the new guys. Plus, we have a lot more room than last year and look forward to working with more.

Team Violette-Giroux hard at work this past fall. I think they probably doubled the size of last year’s plot. You can see we don’t have a lot of space to work with (the large fields are not ours) but it’s more than what some people have, so we are working to make the best of it. Our first year was a rough one, but it hasn’t scared us away!

Local Beef

This weekend my husband and I made the change to local beef. We found Black Watch Farm, a local farm about 20 minutes down the road that raises Highland Cattle. We placed a mixed order of about 20 lbs. of beef, then went down to pick it up on Saturday.

So why did we decide to make the change?
1.) Dissatisfaction– I’m dissatisfied with our current food system. I am sick of having to worry about the food in my freezer  there is a nationwide beef recall and the fact there have been times where I had to throw away meat because of contamination risks. I’m dissatisfied with the way the beef gets to my table, with the hell beef cattle go through just so they can make it alive to the slaughterhouse. (I will not go into graphic detail here, but look into it and you’ll see what I am referring to.) I’m sick of not knowing where my food comes from, what it had to eat, how it lived, etc. Our whole system is messed up, and this is just one more tiny step I can take in the right direction.
2.) Health– I’m a meat eater, and although I know it’s healthier in many respects and better for the environment to be a vegetarian, I’m always going to eat meat. So, the least I can do is to make sure the meat I am eating is the best I can get. The beef we bought is leaner than store-bought beef (90%), lower in cholesterol, and the cows are grass-fed meaning more Omega-3 and more nutrition.
3.) Local Support– I’m supporting local business at it’s best. I’m not giving my hard-earned dollars to the supermarket which then allows that money to trickle down through stacks of middlemen, all taking their cut, leaving the actually producer with a ridiculously small and unfair part of what I originally paid. Instead, I’m giving a fair price directly to the producer, helping support our local economy and farmers. Where you spend your food dollars translates into a vote for what you support.
4.) Environmentally Friendly- Because I’m buying my beef locally, I’ve substantially reduced the food miles my beef consumed to get to my plate. I’ve cut out all the massive energy consumption of transportation from across the country. And it’s as animal friendly as you can get for eating meat- the animals no doubt live healthy and respectful lives.
5.) Economical– Although it may initially seem more expensive than what you might be able to get at the supermarket when it’s on sale, the more you buy, the less you pay. At $75 for 20 lbs. of beef, I was paying $3.75 a lb. That may seem high for ground beef, but consider I also got stew beef, several different steak cuts, burgers, nitrate-free hotdogs, and a beautiful roast. Try finding a tasty, safe, grass-fed cut for less in your supermarket. You wont. With the gift of our freezer chest for Christmas, we’re able to store the surplus with ease.

And now, with all the beef, a huge local turkey, two hams, extra chicken, and a basket full of summer strawberries, our freezer is half full. With the thought of my husband’s “Furlough Fridays” of this past summer still fresh in my mind, that we have so much at hand is a huge relief.

A New Year

I’ve never really been one for New Year resolutions (I tend to break them in a matter of weeks) but every year a look forward to trying to do something. As always, in the middle of winter,  it’s hard to eat as many fresh fruit and veggies as in summer, so healthier eating gets squeezed in every year, usually lasting well into Spring. But this year’s “try harder” is based on a single quote I found in my Real Simple magazine. 
                                              
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants.”
      -Esther de Waal, Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict

How beautifully put. I am going to try hard to remember this every time I get stressed or frustrated with issues regarding finances. That, and maybe when I get really annoyed with the
“rich” and nasty out-of-staters who think they own the area. 😉 We’ve got a beautiful little frugal life going on here, and it works for us. So, I hope this year finds all of us “Healthy, Wealthy, and Well”.

We had a wonderful Christmas visit with all of our families back in Maine. As always, we were showered in love and gifts. This year, the favorites were an impossible to find old bean pot for making New England baked beans, overly generous donations to our favorite vacation spot, a cute and quirky candle melter, and a small freezer chest. After some heavy head scratching, my husband and I have decided to try to break into the attic space we have available to store some seasonal boxes and “not in use” art supplies in order to shuffle things around and get the freezer into the art studio. And after we get the mini-beast up and running, we have much to move into it and I’m considering a visit to a local farmer to purchase a large portion of grass-fed, humanely raised, beef. It would be a lie to say that I haven’t been dreaming about the increased amount of fresh fruit and produce we’ll be able to freeze and store this summer.

So far, it sounds like our homemade jams were a big hit this year. We’ve had tons of notes and emails regarding how great they were and how fast they disappear which thrills me! There’s nothing like sharing a sweet shimmer of summer deep in the cold winter months. I think I’m going to do more with the experimented peace doves next year. And the art that my husband gifted was warmly received.

*A hand-stitched felt peace dove*

*”Rooster With Landscape” – A very large oil on canvas for my Mom and Tom. There was a large empty space above their washer & dryer in the kitchen that my Mom was wanting to fill. She made the comment to my husband this past summer that she wanted something there, something country and similar colors to what she has in her kitchen. It was a perfect fit and a perfect color match. The small photo doesn’t do it justice.

*”Portrait of Man and Woman” – Oil on small canvas board done in the “Caravaggio” style. My husband had started it late spring as an experiment in this new style or portrait making, never intending to give it away, but rather lock it away with all the others (artists can be so finicky). So when he approved of how it came out, he decided he felt comfortable gifting it to my Dad and Jamie. I’m impressed beyond words how impressed I am with his abilities. I think there will be more portraits in the future because his new technique is so successful.

Holiday Rush

As soon as Christmas is over, I’ll be right back on my blog. It’s just been so busy around here. My husband and I have been working hard on making our own Christmas cards and finishing up our handmade gifts. ***Generalized Spoiler Alert*** There are paintings to be given, I’m trying out some Peace Doves on some people, tea towels, jams, homemade dog biscuits, Swedish weavings, felt work, and cookies. I just had to share how nice my jam window cookies came out that are being given to my co-workers as gifts today! They even taste pretty gosh darn good. They’ll be something I’ll be putting in my recipe box and might work on this winter.

And I probably wont get another chance before then, so a very Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it and Happy Holidays to everyone too! 🙂

Blessings

Happy Thanksgiving!

Whether you’re taking a long trip or a short one,  spending time with friends, family, or just quiet time to yourself, I hope you find time to count your blessings.  A happy and safe holiday to all!

Pumpkin Time of Year

Even though they adorn our homes as decorations this time of year, pumpkins are so much more than that- they’re food! My goal for this autumn was to learn how to cook and enjoy pumpkins, and I have. Although I have not done the obvious of making pumpkin pie from the real thing, we have been enjoying it as a side dish with suppers (add a little butter and brown sugar, yum) and I’ve made some amazing muffins! They are so good, I decided to share it here. The original recipe came from a co-op flyer last year and they said it came from Farmer’s Market Foods. I have since adjusted it to our liking and hopefully to yours too!

Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 20 regular muffins, but easily cut in half (which I do)

2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour (feel free to sub. your ratio of flour types to your liking so long as you get 2 1/2 cups)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3 eggs
2 c. pumpkin puree (2 cups of the real stuff = one can of pumpkin)
3/4 cup oil (or subs. with 3/4 c. unsweetened apple sauce)
1/2 c. walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift together all dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.  In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and then add pumpkin and stir until well combined. Add the oil gradually to the egg/pumpkin mixture, stirring well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix- but don’t over mix. Fold in your walnuts.

Grease and flour (or use paper liners if you want) your muffin tins then fill 3/4 full. Bake 30 minutes or until tops are firm.

 With all that delicious pumpkin, don’t forget about your seeds! Although they can be a pain to remove from the pile of slimy pumpkin guts, they are a highly nutritious (and really tasty and addictive) snack. Rinse and dry them thoroughly over night (sometimes it might take longer) then toss in olive oil and salt, spread on a baking sheet, and bake for one hour, tossing every 15-20 mins in a 250 degree F oven. We have made several different batches this year, experimenting with flavors. One we tossed in a little melted unsalted butter and sugar for something sweet, and another was a salt and crushed pepper mix (my husband favorite). We realized the sweet batch was a little blah, so we mixed it with the salted ones and I’ve really enjoyed the sweet and salty mix. After they have fully cooled, store them in an airtight container.

*Salt and pepper, salted, and sweet and salty mix*

Harvest & Preserving Totals- 2009

This year was the first time we’ve ever had a garden and it’s the first time we have ever tried canning. Both worked out pretty well and I thought I might encourage myself (and others) by listing what exactly we ended up harvesting and preserving this year. And what’s really exciting about all of this is that all of it came from our backyard or from local growers.

Garden:
*2 lbs. zucchini (not too successful)
*3 lbs. tomatoes (no thanks to the blight)
*4 lbs. cucumbers (very successful)
*3 lbs. carrots (most successful vegetable)
*5 lbs. turnips & greens (very successful)
*Handful of swiss chard
          Of those, the cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, and swiss chard were eaten fresh. Most of the carrots and turnips were as well, though we have blanched and frozen a good-sized bag of both to add into soups and stews. We realized the soil is lacking in nutrients, so we have had my father come expand and deepen it with his rototiller and in the process of getting the soil tested so we know what needs to be added next spring. We already have next season’s seed catalogue from High Mowing Organic Seeds and have already begun dreaming about next season. I’ll put the catalogue away until the end of January when I will be in need of warm season dreaming and figure out next year’s plot then. And as a side note, everything that we grew this year was done so “organically”.

Herbs:
*Oregano- fresh use all season long plus more dried and put away
*Basil- fresh use until it showed signs of bolting, then made a decent sized batch of pesto which lasted several meals
*Cilantro- fresh use until is showed signs of bolting, then made some salsa
*Chives- beastly things that are still being used fresh, though I have some frozen to experiment with this winter
          Having herbs around caused me to use more of them, teaching myself more about their flavors in certain dishes (especially how amazing fresh oregano is with eggs), and really appreciate having them around. They will be planted again next year.

Preserving:
*Jam:
     -12 (4oz.) jars blueberry jam- blueberries from the Blais Farm
     -12 (4oz.) and 2 (half pint) jars strawberry jam- strawberries from Wellwood Orchards
     -12 (4oz.) and 2 (half pint) jars black raspberry jam- black raspberries from Cherry Hill Farm
     -12 (4oz.) and 3 (half pint) jars red raspberry jam- red raspberries from Cherry Hill Farm
*3 (pint) jars of peaches- peaches from Wellwood Orchards
*7 (pints) frozen strawberries- strawberries from Wellwood Orchards
*9 (quarts) homemade spiced applesauce- apples from Wellwood Orchards
          After our first batch of strawberry jam, the jamming and canning bug had definitely bit us. Not only is it fun, but it will bring us much joy this winter as we yearn for warm days. The jam is better than anything you’d ever find in the store, and we’re very excited to share a large portion of it with our friends and family this holiday season.

A Soft Blanket of Snow

Despite many of us wanting autumn to stay with us forever, winter is fast approaching. We awoke this morning to find our world covered under a thin blanket of snow. As I’m sure most of it will melt away over the course of the afternoon, its a reminder to us that winter is knocking at our door and it will not be long until we’re buried in snow.

It’s been almost a week since we’ve turned our clocks back, and I’m starting to get use to driving home after the sun has set. It seems like only minutes after I get home and start supper, it’s pitch black out. No time for leisurely evening strolls, those will be kept for weekend afternoons. Nights are colder and after cocconing myself in the blankets last night, I’ve realized it’s time to put the thin cotton sheets away and pull out the heavy flannel ones in addition to an extra blanket. And, as Turkeycookies reminded me, I’ll dig out our microwavable rice bag that my Grandmother made for me and put that near the night stand for those really cold nights in need of a little extra warmth under the covers for your toes. Grudgingly, I’ll even force my husband to help me switch out our shorts and tank tops for pants and sweaters this weekend.

One more day of work at the lab until the weekend work of warmth, crafting, and baking arrives. What a busy work week it’s been, and interestingly enough, it’s due to the opening of hunting season in just over a week. I thought it unusual that all of our wastewater operators were coming in with their monthly samples all at the same time this week. So, after the third operator in a span of less than an hour showed up, I thought to ask. With hunting season is opening soon, and many of them have vacations coming up, it’s time to get it all done this week and next. The puzzle was solved, and now that I know exactly who’s hunting, I’ll be sure to follow up with them next month in hopes of scoring a free pound or two of venison. 😉

The Transition Time of November

The calendar tells us that it is still autumn until we reach the winter solstice, this year being December 21st. But I have always found the month of November to be not quite autumn, yet not quite almost winter. September and October really build up the joys of  autumn- colorful leaves, apples, pumpkins, the start of the cool nights, and Halloween. Then, in a blink of an eye, not much unlike Christmas, it’s over. All of the leaves have fallen and the colors on the hills have since changed to crisp browns of dead leaves, grays of exposed bark, and dark blotches of evergreens on the hills. The only bright colors I’ve seen this weekend are those of the falling needles of the tamarack trees at the higher elevations in Mt. Holly. All the apples and pumpkins have been sold and our beloved Wellwood Orchards is now closed for the season. Every night now is cold, with mornings full of frost. And sadly, the witching hour is over and nights are darker earlier, as we have all now turned our clocks back an hour. Quiet and dark, November wraps us in the coming cold, but can reward us with afternoons of fleeting sunshine.  

After reviewing my list of October goals, the only thing I didn’t quite fulfill was the “lots” of soups and breads, although we have begun eating our fair share. 🙂 Halloween was a blast, kind of out of this word really… 😉