“If I had a Hammer, …”

I’m certain that Peter, Paul, and Mary weren’t singing about my ice sledge hammer in their 1961 recording, but maybe they should have been.  I do “hammer in the morning” and “hammer in the evening” around the clock when the temperatures outside hover in the range they have been lately!! We have a water heater that we rotate among the six water troughs outside. However, as soon as the heater leaves one trough, the ice creeps back in at an alarming rate! If we plug another heater in, it inevitably blows a fuse.

So, armed with the faithful 10 pound sledge, we take shifts for cracking the ice to help the heater work its magic even faster. (And to think people pay for sledge hammer workouts!!) The last shift for cracking ice is around midnight and we begin again at dawn. In those few hours when we are NOT diligently watching over the water, all our work during the previous the daylight is easily erased as the ice reclaims the troughs!!

Kentucky does have cold spells, but usually they don’t last too long. Or, if we do, the sun still shines and that helps with the ice. This time of year, our average temperatures are in the 40s and we don’t worry about the water troughs; however, this past week the temperatures have been brutal, dipping into the single digits (and below) and we are doing the best we can to stay on top of things. All horses have their blankets on. Even the horses that don’t usually “keep” their blankets on are welcoming the inconvenience and their displeasure of them.  All the llamas are bedded down in a shelter loaded with hay.

And the sheep… well, let’s just say the sheep are fine. They don’t seem to notice it’s even  cold!! Fact is, for once they aren’t panting!! (smiles)

I will certainly be thankful when this snap of frigid weather blows out of here, but until that time, I have my hammer—and I know how to share!   (smiles)

 

“Do you wanna build a snowman?”

As the holiday rush of orders for felted wool blankets and llama ornaments begins to  slow, the interest in our felted wool snow buddies begins to ignite. Using clean, beautiful, sheep wool, we needle-felt snuggly snow buddies of all sizes in various matching hat and scarf sets to help them ward off the winter winds.

I’m never sure who loves the amazing-to-hold snow buddies more: the adults: or, the children!! When we are at the fall festivals with our woolen snow buddies, passers-by can’t resist entering the booth to touch, hug, snuggle, and beg whoever is holding the  money for one!  (smiles)

The smallest snow buddy is 3″ and just the right size to be an ornament for the Christmas tree. Our largest is almost the size of a small child (smiles) and stands 24″ tall.

It is without a doubt the wool that makes these creations so wonderful to touch. Unlike their icy doppelgangers, which are cool and sharp on the hands, these snow buddies are incredibly soft and delightful to hold. I have had several customers who have bought them for themselves, but their children have claimed them for their own.  When they have thought them to be “lost”, they have later “found” them tucked into bed! It’s heart-warming stories like these which compels me to continue creating.

So, while the real snowflakes continue to fall outside and I work inside, I ask again, “Do you wanna build a snowman?”  (smiles – for those of you who had to endure listening to FROZEN played a few times!)

Taste of Sun-Dried Summer

Last summer, in the height of tomato season, when we had long since satiated our craving for tomatoes (yes, that is possible!), we knew we needed to find ways to preserve the taste of summer for the winter months ahead. So we set about canning plain diced tomatoes,  canning simple tomato sauce,  canning spaghetti sauce, canning tomato salsa, and dehydrating tomatoes, all in the hopes that on a bleak winter’s day, we would be able to “taste” the harvest of summer past (smiles)!

We have been doing a great job incorporating all the produce that we put up last summer into our daily meals, but until yesterday, I had forgotten about the dehydrated tomatoes.

Both daughters were making recipes that called for sun-dried tomatoes and asked if we had any! I was happy to reach into the pantry and pull out the canister filled with dehydrated tomatoes. Amidst the oohs and aahs, were also the groans when we all remembered how many tomatoes we had harvested, eaten, given away, and preserved!! (UGH!) At one point last summer, I remember thinking that I wouldn’t even mind if some were plagued by bugs! But, that never happened–thank goodness, really.

The kids strive to make enough food at one of their cooking times to serve as left-overs another time later in the week. They both work crazy hours and take meals to work with them. So my younger daughter was making a Risotto and my older daughter was making a vegan-GF Bolognese.

For the Risotto, my younger daughter chopped asparagus, zucchini, broccoli, tomatoes  and sautéed them in the pan before adding the rice that had been cooked with pureed tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and vegetable broth.

My older daughter has stayed away from pasta, even GF, because she prefers heartier meals with more protein. She was thrilled when she found a Spaghetti Bolognese recipe that fit her needs. She diced carrots, red onion, celery, garlic and sautéed in pan. Next she added balsamic vinegar to the dehydrated tomatoes and mashed them a bit. She also cooked the lentils and cooked the GF pasta.

When everything was cooked, she combined it all together in one pot on the stove. The aroma was amazing. Although completely vegan for both dishes, the garden spices and produce were what made these recipes taste like Italia!

Brunch Guest

The below normal temperatures and my variety of backyard feeders have beckoned to a larger than usual assortment of creatures. Mid-morning as I was heading outside to move water trough heaters yet again, I saw a bird dangling from the feeder.—- During the summer, I have occasionally rescued birds that have somehow Houdini-ed INTO the feeders!!! So, when I saw this one hanging there, I thought it had somehow gotten its head stuck in the feeder. But, at second glance, I realized all was okay and ran to grab the camera.

It’s not that I haven’t seen or heard a Red-Bellied woodpecker on the farm before, but they aren’t usually at the feeders. However, this morning, the yard was a rainbow of color as cardinals, blue jays, and so many others fluttered about!

And, I was happy to host a new guest for brunch!

It’s a sauna in there!

This morning, as I pulled out my seeds and potting supplies, I glanced at the reading from the outside thermometer and groaned. It was 18 degrees Fahrenheit! We had already been outside to feed hay and move trough heaters, so I knew it was cold, but still, I was hopeful. Everything that I have been reading has told me to begin my seeds now!

I know whenever I have been harvesting greens from within the hoop tunnels, it is warm inside. But, still, I wanted to be sure it would be a hospitable temperature for the young seedlings. So, I hurried to the porch and moved the outdoor thermometer into the hoop tunnel, then hurried back inside to watch what would happen(smiles). HA! The arrow pointed upward almost instantly and I watched as the numbers began climbing.

55 degrees and still climbing!! (As I am typing this, it is already 59* inside the hoop) I began to feel a bit more confident that if I start the seeds now they would be ready to transplant into the hoop tunnels in six weeks. I know it may seem early, but this is a year of experimentation!  The soil is already/still (?) warm, which will also be a factor. And, for right now, I will stick to the greens and root vegetables. Nothing that needs help with pollination!

In six weeks when I transplant into the hoops, the daylight hours will be greater than TEN, so the growing WILL begin and I cannot wait!  (smiles)

On the Road to Bethlehem

As I was brainstorming what to serve for Christmas Eve supper this year, I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be special to serve a meal that those travelers of long ago might have encountered on their way to Bethlehem?” The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. I began looking up recipes, harvesting ingredients, and gathering SPICES!

Clockwise in the above photo of our plate: Homemade Matzo, Red Quinoa Tabouleh, Mujadarra, Falafel, Mango chutney, Shawarma, and Hummus (in center).

To make the Matzo, we used gluten free flour. A simple recipe using flour, water, olive oil, and salt. With a rolling pin, I tried to roll out as thinly as I could. I pricked it with a fork and baked in the oven at 500 degrees for just about 2 minutes!

For the Tabouleh, this usually calls for couscous, but since we were going gluten free, we used red quinoa. We diced the tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and garlic. I gathered about one cup of parsley from the garden to add. It does also call for mint, but since that wasn’t looking too great, I harvested extra parsley. We cooked the quinoa ahead of time and let it cool. Then we added to the garden mixture and tossed with oil and lemon juice!

For the Mujadarra, I cooked brown jasmine rice and green lentils separately. I  also cooked large slices of onions until they caramelized. We mixed the rice and lentils together in a bowl and topped with the onions.

For the Falafel, I used a mix. (sorry!) I had wanted to make the Falafel, but our grocer didn’t carry raw chick peas and the canned peas weren’t going to work. For most things they do, but not this time. I had planned on cooking them as balls in the oven, but at the last minute decided to cook on the stove top in an enamel pan. Even though the box  recommends frying in oil, I haven’t found it necessary to do so if you use the right pan.

Most of these tastes were savory, so we had thought that perhaps a “sweet” side would be a nice addition. I made a Mango Chutney to have with the tofu.

The Shawarma is usually cooked with chicken, but I used tofu. The evening before (Dec 23), I sliced the refrigerated tofu into long strips and arranged them in a pan. I made a marinade from olive oil,  grated ginger, grated garlic, and at least TWELVE other spices! The aroma was amazing!! I poured that over the tofu, covered, and put in the fridge. (Early the next morning, Dec 24, I flipped them each once to make sure they were coated well.) At suppertime, I cooked them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

The meal was wonderful and conversation as always lasted long after we were finished eating. We enjoyed talking about the spice trade, the Silk Road, and how very different cuisines can be even when using many of the same ingredients.  My meal was a success…and it earned me the privilege of getting out of doing dishes!!  (smiles)

 

 

 

 

Lebkuchenhaus

A few weeks ago, I had baked this year’s gingerbread house. And, even though I thought I’d find the time to assemble it, the days kept passing me by. Last night, I finally decorated it and this afternoon, I did a fast job of assembling it, too! USUALLY, I decorate it with chocolates, cookies, and special candies, but this year I decided to decorate it as if it were a Lebkuchen cookie–just gingerbread and frosting—wish I’d had almonds!!

It’s my magical house…summer on one half and winter on the other (smiles). I would’ve liked a bit more color, but it’s fun to change things up a bit. I certainly do NOT usually do them in just white. In the past, I have used Necco candy wafers to be the tiles for the roof and a wafer conical ice cream cone for my trees. I would ice them green and decorate with tiny ball candy. Also, I usually assemble and THEN decorate. This time, I decorated the pieces and then assembled.

I decorated last night and let the icing set. I used royal icing. Decorator’s icing would’ve been too soft when assembling.

I used a dollop of icing to hold each piece in place. I had to use “things” to help hold everything in its position (smiles) until the icing firmed up!

Roof panels and chimney already on.

I used mini shredded wheat for the “hay”.

The side of the house. This was the fastest decorating job, but it’s cute. At first I was going to do ivy, but I couldn’t find the green dye I was looking for, so this is an imaginary flowering vine.  LOL!

I was going to have a candle burn inside it this year, but the gingerbread is too soft from the humidity in the air and the heat hardly being turned on. Then I was going to put a battery light inside so the light would flicker in the windows. But, I can’t get my hand in and out of the door that easily!! I also thought of cutting a hole in the bottom of the cardboard and inserting a lightbulb, alas…another year!!

 

 

Solstice Celebration

Sometimes a change of plans can turn out to be a wonderful thing! Yesterday we had been planning to attend a holiday ballet, but a glitch in logistics called for some fast thinking and a quick change of plans. It was December the 21st, so we put together a Solstice Celebration! Yes, also known as the first day of winter, the Winter Solstice has been celebrated through millennia. Although it marks our longest point of darkness, it also promises that the daylight hours will continue to lengthen for the next six months, or until we reach the Summer Solstice, first day of summer.

We hastily pulled together a few ingredients from the garden, but ashamedly many from the grocers. We had decided to have a favorite meal from our camping days–“knights in shining armor” (foil pouches filled with veggies), shish kebabs, and a spectacular ‘on the embers’ dessert. We chopped the veggies in chunks to be used on the skewers and slivered or diced to be put in the foil pouches.

sweet potato, peppers, zucchini, squash, red onion for the veggie pouches

We used our skewers that I had bought in Morocco years ago. Many, many years ago!! We selected our animal or character. We must all be more mature…no one fought over which to have (teasing).

We used extra firm tofu for our protein on the kebabs, so we needed to squeeze out the extra liquid before dicing.

As all this was happening inside, I headed outside to start the fire and light candles. I knew that as soon as it was dusk, it would be difficult to see without some lights. Turning on the outdoor flood lights didn’t seem to be the mood we were hoping to achieve(smiles).

A far cry from what it looks like during the summer, our patio was still welcoming. I put candles in the bird baths, on the cement benches, and in our seating area. (As the evening progressed, we gathered ALL the candles and put them on our eating tables!!  LOL!)

We loaded up the skewers, knowing that even if we didn’t eat them tonight, we could heat them up as left-overs tomorrow. Tomatoes, zucchini, pineapple, tofu, onion, peppers, and squash got wedged onto the skewers.

As the evening progressed, we enjoyed the smell of the grill, conversations, and the night’s air. We couldn’t have chosen a better evening. The cloud coverage moving in provided warmer temperatures than usual. And it helped that we didn’t dress for a gala, but rather a night outside at the farm— We wore our barn jackets, boots, and warm pants (smiles).

We ate in courses. The kebabs were finished before the veggie pouches. Well, that’s not entirely true, but we wanted everything to stay as hot as possible, so we left everything on the coals until we were ready to eat it.

When we had finished the meal, we cleared the table and head inside to prepare the dessert–banana boats–a favorite from camping, and definitely NOT from the garden.

With the peel still on the banana, make a slice in it and wedge it open. Add nuts, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallow, etc. Then, wrap it in foil and place on the embers. Everything will soften and melt. We didn’t add the marshmallows, but instead added a scoop of vegan ice cream when they came off the fire. Oh, my goodness! It was so much fun and even more delicious than I had remembered!

Although we see each other every day, our meal and conversations were beyond  special. One hour led to two, which led to three, and finally after over four hours of sitting outside around our campfire, we called it a night. All the animals, including the horses who had been standing at the fence the whole time snorting and watching us, needed feeding.

The ballet would have been nice, but our winter solstice celebration was wonderful!

 

 

 

“Fleece” Navidad!

A flashback to the mid 1980s when I was in Spain and a good friend had a “Fleece” Navidad sweatshirt, depicting sheep in Santa hats, to wear during the Christmas season. I had a “Five Goldens Ring” sweatshirt with five golden retrievers on the front ringing a doorbell and caroling (of course). But, today when I post “Fleece” Navidad, what I really am saying is that I have been making soft WOOL Christmas blankets for orders!

The front of a favorite sweatshirt that a friend stitched for me years ago to wear during the holiday season.

But to get to the finished product, I have to start at the very beginning (a very good place to start…anyone else want to join in singing?)! Our precious sheep grow their wool all year long. That really means that it is out in the elements with them. So, when they play on the haystack, bounce through puddles, roll in the thistle patch, and dance in the wind, their wool goes with them  🙂  I think they only do the previous antics to test my ability to get their wool clean.  I beg them to keep clean, but it doesn’t help.    🙂

The shearing is done by hand and takes almost an hour for each sheep. They never seem to mind too much. They like of the sound of the hand shearers much better than of the noise and tickle of the electric ones.   🙂  This way they feel pampered longer. We tell them it’s a spa day: haircut and manicure.

After it’s shorn off of them, first I “skirt” it. That means I discard the neck and rump area wool for starters. Then it heads to the machine and endures several washes. After it is rinsed and air-dried, I pick it. That means “fluff” up the fibers.

Next, it is either combed or carded in an attempt to get all the fibers going in the same direction. Later when I felt the wool, I have to lay some fibers going vertical and others horizontal, so that when they are felted together, the fibers blend/meld to make a fabric.

The work ratio between manual and automatic is probably 50/50. I wish it weren’t so labor intensive, but I also enjoy inspecting the wool as the process unfolds.

After all this, I am finally able to start the blankets!

The blankets come in natural colors and are so cozy and soft.  🙂   Some are 100% sheep wool and others have been blended with llama or alpaca fiber for custom orders; however, I still remain true to my stance that nothing beats WOOL.   🙂

The last of my holiday rush orders shipped today. Whew! So, as the next few days unfold, and you are saying holiday wishes, if you happen to say Feliz Navidad, I hope you’ll think (just for a second) of the story behind the Woolen Christmas blankets, too!

 

 

Gnocchi & the Garden

My younger daughter recently returned from a lovely visit to Florence, Italy, and while there she had tried several new dishes. Believe it or not, she’d never had gnocchi before (pasta filled with potato)! So, today at lunch time, she asked, “Mom, what herbs do we still have ALIVE in our garden?” Ha! Ye of little faith!! I proudly began to list them all– I guess she had thought that they’d died in the freezing temperatures that we had had while she was gone.  She was thrilled to hear what we still had, and announced that she was making a fresh garden gnocchi.

She headed outside and snipped some rosemary, oregano, and parsley. Then we pulled up an onion.

It’s absolutely so exciting and rewarding to see that even in the freezing temperatures, the onions are staying cozy and alive beneath the surface.

After sautéing the herbs in olive oil to have the favor absorbed, she had planned to toss out the herbs, but instead kept them and added the diced onion and garlic and sautéed them in the olive oil. Next, she added a small jar of our diced tomatoes from the garden. So far, everything was from the garden–how exciting!

After boiling the gnocchi in a pot of water for just 2 minutes, she added the pasta to the pot with the herbs/diced tomatoes and then let them simmer together for about 5 minutes.

Freshly grated “formaggio Parmigiano” was a perfect addition. This portion may look small, but that only means that there was enough for seconds!  (smiles)

Buon Appetito!