Not Just For Breakfast

Fresh and comfortingly warm!

     The warm days are a delight and a tease this time of year.  Could mother nature just forget that it is still not yet officially spring?  Hopefully.  But the nights are cold and frequently below freezing.  The warm reminders of the previous day create the hope for a new day dawning with warmth, but frankly, it's not going to happen. 
     So now, look forward to what?  Surely, not lugging a 5 gallon water jug (1 gallon water = 7 lb Who really needs to think about this?) and a bucket of grain down to the chicken house with ungloved, by now, incredibly cold hands. No gloves this morning - yesterday afternoon was wonderfully warm, remember?  If ever there was a remote possiblility to think today would be different, it is quickly erased by freezing fingers which help to remind that it is not warm, not spring, and not likely to be warm any time real soon.
      However, if lucky though, there will be a freshly laid egg or eggs all delightfully warm to carry back to the barn.  Comfort and warmth straight from mother nature - how neat is that?

Warm comfort food dessert - low in calories, too! YUM
White Chocolate-Cherry Rice Pudding

3 ½ cup 1% low-fat milk, divided

1/3 cup dried cherries (or craisins)

2  Tbs light brown sugar

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

1 Tbs butter

1/8 tsp salt

1cup instant rice

1 (1-ounce) pkg. sugar-free white chocolate instant pudding mix

   Cinnamon sticks (optional)

1. Bring 1 ½ c milk, cherries, and next 4 ingredients to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in rice; cover, and reduce heat to low.  Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. While rice mixture cooks, prepare pudding mix according to package directions using remaining 2 cups milk.  Stir prepared pudding into rice mixture.  Serve. Garnish with cinnamon sticks, if desired.

  Adapted from the book Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast - my new favorite book of recipes to cook.

And Then There Were Seven

     For almost two years the count was always the same - one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.  A very nice number.

     Then about one and a half weeks ago the geese were not found safely locked in their house in the early morning.  How could this be?   Closer inspection revealed that the people door was not locked. Memory of checking for eggs quickly came to mind - the door was not secured when it was closed. Now sometimes the interaction of human and nature leads to something beneficial.  Not so this time.  Mother Nature did her part.  The brisk wind blew open the people door that allowed the geese to get out.

     A different night would have been a different outcome.  The wind would not have blown through the screened window and opening the door, or the door would have been secured tightly as it had always been before. A bad luck intersection of events. 

     Evidently, this was very advantageous to a local fox and bad luck for one of my geese.  It is hard to accept to the loss of one them even after all this time.  Getting used to the loss of the animals on the farm is just something that needs to be accepted, but not without deep regret.

     On the upnote, the weather was in the high 50s today.  The sound of the Canada geese brought eyes upward searching for the "v" shape line of travel on their way north.  Some were flying in the traditional shape, others had a single diagonal line, one was only four traveling in the familiar flight pattern.  Hopefully, they are correct and it's OK to give a serious look at spring activities.   Beautiful sign of the weather change to come - just don't stop here!

The Frozen Side of Farm Life

Rhododendron leaves- curled up tightly-
bundle up.

     One look at the rhododendron leaves says it all without any words.  A true sign to be ready for cold - very, very, very cold - no thermometer or weather.com needed. 

     Buckets will be frozen, metal will sting, splashed water will freeze immediately on clothes.  The horse buckets will have progressively lower rings of ice as the horses had to break through the ice to drink.



So cold the buckets in the barn freeze.

 On with the chores.

First, a check on the kitties.  They have fallen in a partially frozen pond before and were rescued.  Hopefully, they don't have to make the same mistake over before they learn.

The magic of frozen water!

But, what could possibly be good about 6 AM on a dark, cold, 22 degree morning?  It makes 32 degrees feel downright balmy.






Today's recipe - company worthy, weeknight easy!

                                       Roasted Shrimp with Feta 5*
4 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups  medium-diced fennel
1 Tbs minced garlic ( 3 cloves)
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 (14 1/2 oz ) can diced tomatoes
2 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbs Pernod
1  tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/4 lb(16 to 20 per pound) peeled shrimp with tails on
5 oz feta cheese, coarsely crumbled
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
3 Tbs minced fresh parsley
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 lemons
 400 Oven
1. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in 10- or12-inch heavy ovenproof skillet over
medium-low heat.  Add the fennel and saute for 8 to 10 minutes, until the
fennel is tender.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add the wine and
bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits.  Cook for 2 to 3 minutes,
until the liquid is reduced by half.  Add the tomatoes with the liquid, tomato paste, oregano, Pernot, salt, and pepper to the skillet.  Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Arrange the shrimp, tails up, in one layer over the tomato mixture in the skillet.  Sprinkle feta over shrimp. Combine bread crumbs, parsley, and lemon zest with the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle over shrimp.
3. Bake for 15 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked and bread crumbs are golden brown.  Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the shrimp.
4. Serve with the remaining lemon cut into wedges.
 Adapted from (the always reliable) Ina Garten

It's Monday and Maggie Day

      Maggie has continued to show small signs of adjusting to home and farm life. Maggie had been staying away from the kitchen counters so she was gaining trust in this area.      

       But let's digress a little here. Dogs like eggs. Dogs like eggs in a shell as well. Eggs in a shell make a nice crunch. This was known from previous dog encounters.   So why were goose eggs left on the kitchen counter of a known counter-surfing dog?

     Goose eggs, about 20, were on the counter waiting to be blown out.  Now these eggs were old, quite possibly turning rotten, but there was a chance to save hopefully at least ten. 

     Picture a peaceful evening, a fire glowing, faithful dog guarding the home,  a foul order wafting through the room. A slight crunch sound heard.  No, it couldn't be.  Well, yes it could.  Maggie had found the eggs.  Could she have chosen one that was not rotten?  That would have been a 50 percent chance.  Apparently not.  

     Now there are many things with a farm and animals that can just creep you out, but a new limit was reached.  Maggie had an egg, slightly cracked in her mouth.  What is known about a really rotten egg?  There is not just the smell.  This is everything a really rotten egg is not. It is no longer a soft, yellow sphere floating in clear liquid. Nor is it any bit partially solid.  Picture thick, yet fluid, slimy, yellow and gray black swirls.  How do I know this? Maggie did not want to give up her prize possession and she had to be stopped.  Not stopping her would have the rotten egg all over.  No time to do anything but snatch the foul fowl prize bare handed from her mouth. Do rotten eggs make a dog sick? Oh, the potential for an even worse mess. (Luckily they do not.)

 Lesson learned - don't leave anything within her reach. 

It is a lesson that should have been learned from a previous Maggie

adventure, but now it has really been learned.  

Luckily, Maggie is a good companion and fun to play ball with -
she still has a home.

    

Tortellini with Italian Sausage, Fennel, and Mushrooms  5*

1 Tbs olive oil

1 large fennel bulb, trimmed, halved through core, thinly sliced lengthwise

         (about 3 cups), fronds chopped

1 lb spicy Italian sausages, casings removed, coarsely crumbled

1 8-ounce package sliced fresh crimini baby bella) mushrooms

4 large garlic cloves, pressed

1 Tbs fennel seeds, coarsely crushed

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup or more) low-salt chicken broth

1 16-ounce package dried tortellini with pesto filling or fresh tortellini

        with 3-cheese filling

1   5-ounce package fresh baby spinach leaves

 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese plus additional (for serving)

1. Crush the fennel seeds in a plastic bag and pound with meat mallet (or heavy skillet)

2. Heat oil in  skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced

fennel bulb, sausage, and mushrooms; sauté until sausage is brown and cooked

through and fennel is almost tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Add garlic and fennel

seeds; stir 1 minute. Stir in cream, then 1 cup broth; boil until liquid is

reduced and very slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cook tortellini in large pot of boiling salted water until

just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain tortellini;

return to same pot.

4. Add sausage mixture to tortellini in pot. Toss over medium heat until

blended. Add spinach; toss gently until spinach wilts. Stir in 1/2 cup

cheese; add more broth by 1/4 cupfuls to moisten if dry. Season with salt

and pepper, sprinkle with chopped fennel fronds, and serve, passing

additional cheese.

Adapted from Bon Appétit Test Kitchen

Farm Life - Seeking the Flip Side

     There is no question about it.  Getting up and out early to be enveloped in the cold, darkness of  winter months can be downright discouraging.  However, the animals need care and the longer that they are inside the more work there will be.  But, it is dark.  It is cold.  The water frequently is frozen and metal locks are stinging cold to the touch on bare hands.  If water spills on clothing aside from the awful feeling it creates, there is an immediate freeze and dread. Wet, freezing clothes end the chores until after a trip inside to change.  Freezing temps mean that water has to be carried rather than using a hose.  Animals need to be released to the outside and they don't seem to care if it is cold.  Stalls need to be cleaned. Everybody is hungry.

     Is there any joy to all of this? Well, no, if one faces the mundane chores in a state of semiconsciousness.  But here is where the flip side comes in.   For every seemingly routine day is filled with wonder if you simply look for the flip side; just be aware of your surroundings  .

     The flip of the dark early morning hours is the singing of birds that are silenced by the sunrise. The moon is still floating in the sky and even the dark cold can't diminish the awe of an orb that circles the earth.  

     A cloudy, dark sky can't stop the sun from carving out its

arc on the treeline revealing that the sun is on the way. Once the sun is up, the magic is gone as all the trees have sunlight on them.

     And of course, at the sound of the gates, the animals respond with their own sounds.  Not to be missed is the unmistakable screechlike crowing sound from the smallest, but loudest of all the animals - the bantam rooster that lives with the turkeys.

     Even cleaning stalls which is not exactly fun, except for young girls who are known to do anything just to be near a horse, has a flip side. Aside from the exercise and a sense of job accomplishment, the reward is that nothing hinders a mind from planning the rest of the day, dreaming of ideas, or enjoying the peaceful silence and swish of a pitchfork. The flip side is the escape, the understanding, the introspective thoughts that help make it easier to accept what is and facing whatever comes our way.

Recipe to enjoy - Ham Casserole - easy comfort food.

                        Wild Rice and Ham Casserole

 1 pkg. (6 1/4 oz) quick-cooking long grain and wild rice mix ( does not

              need to be quick cooking)

 1 pkg (10 oz. frozen cut broccoli thawed and drained ( used fresh broccoli

             partially cooked in microwave)

  2 cups cubed fully cooked ham

  1 can (10 3/4 oz. ) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

  1 cup mayonnaise

  2 tsp prepared mustard

  1 cup( 4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese (used more)

1. oven 350

2. Prepare the rice according to package directions.  Spoon into an

ungreased 2 1/2 qu. baking dish.  Top with broccoli and ham.  Combine soup,

mayonnaise and mustard.  Spread over rice mixture and mix gently.  Cover and

bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Let stand 5

minutes before serving.

More Maggie on Monday

Black plastic? Don't remember a thing.

       Three weeks have passed since the last update on Maggie.  The first of those weeks Maggie only managed to chew up slippers and a moccasin (just one, lest she make a matching pair) of a guest.  Still, she was making improvements.  In the second week, it wasn't until the discovery of a chewed flashlight revealed that the strange unidentifiable, mangled thick black pieces of plastic previously found all over the floor belonged to it.  That still makes two weeks ago a good week since it was the discovery only, not the actual chewing. And whose fault is it anyway since  the flashlight was left in her reach in the first place? She  had to be given the benefit of the doubt, not 100% of the blame.

Nose at rest.

     Signals for going outside are still in the developmental stage.  Apparently Maggie finds her owners difficult to train. Sometimes it is the tear around grabbing anything in sight.  Sometimes a bark.  Many a trip outside finds her walking all over tempted by the wonderful smells on the ground that only she can sniff. Maggie does have a great nose.  On one trip just outside the door the nose immediately went to the ground, a pounce, and then the squeal of some creature that was just too slow to get away.   There is no fun standing in the cold watching a dog run around sniffing the ground. But nighttime is her fun time to pursue the creatures of the night - real or imagined. Gee, just go, get it over with, and get back into the warmth inside. 

Irresistibly innocent Maggie face

     So far her best outside cue is to walk over and slap at you with her paw.  She is pretty good actually with a shot to the cheek.  Ah, working on this one - glad to know she wants to go out, not wet the floor, paired with can't discipline her to stop this since the swat is her best way of saying, "I gotta go now or you'll be cleaning up the floor." Not really pleasant, we're working on the fine tuning so it is just a nudge and run to the door with maybe a bark.  Still, her other attributes make her worth keeping - that Maggie face!

Easy comfort food, seafood style -
                             Shrimp Casserole

1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain rice (use wild rice)

1 1/2 lbs medium-size raw shrimp

1/2 cup butter

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 green onions, chopped

2 (10 3/4-oz.) cans cream of shrimp soup, undiluted*

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Cheddar-colby cheese blend

1/4 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs

350 oven

1. Prepare rice according to package directions.

2. Peel shrimp, and devein. Cut shrimp in half crosswise for more bites, if

desired.

3. Melt butter over medium heat; add bell pepper and next

4 ingredients, and sauté 10 to 12 minutes or until tender. Stir in soup,

shrimp, salt, and pepper; cook 3 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. (Do

not overcook.)

4. Combine shrimp mixture and rice. Pour into a lightly greased 13-

x 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup shredded cheese and 1/4 cup

breadcrumbs.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Adapted from Southern Living APRIL 2007

(Some) Lessons Learned

     The warm air, open window of opportunity came shortly after Thanksgiving.  It always does. Noncritical farm chores need to be put aside. So, to the top of the priority list went bulb planting and Christmas lights and garland. 

     The bags, arriving in October and carefully saved in the garage, revealed a mere 105 bulbs to plant plus the 8 graciously given as a complimentary gift. Thank you. Wasn't there a note to self from this time last year?  Ah, now I remember. Still fresh from the memories of beautiful daffodil arrays, the fall bulb catalogs arrive in late spring tempting with great offers and the promise of increasing the beautiful display from the harbingers of spring.  And heck, then fall was so far off why surely there would be plenty of free time on a warm day to get everything planted. 



Armed and not dangerous

     So here, armed with a new gadget, visions swirled through my head about how fast these bulbs could be planted on this day. Maybe it was December, but it was warm, and I was not going to be planting these darn bulbs on a freezing cold day in partially frozen ground.  My mind envisioned this giant drill digging perfectly round holes in rows where the quick and efficient process would be drop in bulbs, cover, and move on.  Not so fast. It didn't work the way a drill works in wood.  The drill went in, but had to be pulled up with the dirt, drilled again and repeated until the hole was deep enough.  No matter, it beats trying to dig a small hole or a big hole in rocky earth with a big shovel. 

     Ah, to be near the end 2 1/2 hours later, with only ten bulbs to go, (not including the free ones) who should appear, but Maggie, my faithful companion, with a bulb proudly in her mouth and just out of reach. She had her treasure, and I had my vision of my work being undone. For sure, at least 104 bulbs are in the ground, but maybe less.  Didn't check; didn't want to know.
     Lesson Two Learned.  Get the Christmas lights and garland put up on the very next warm day.  Shouldn't one check the two-year-old light sets to make sure they worked before putting them up? Note to self next year all three will work instead of just one.

Dessert - crust is tender, filling is perfect - only whip cream and a sliver of a slice needed
                           Caramel-Pecan Tart 5*

 3 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

 2 cups flour

 2/3 cup powdered sugar

 3/4 cup butter, cubed

 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

 1/2 cup honey

 2/3 cup butter

 3 Tbs whipping cream

Oven 350

1.  Bake pecans for 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes or until completely cool.

2. Pulse flour, powdered sugar, and 3/4 cup butter in a food processor 5 to

6 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pat mixture evenly on bottom

and up sides of a lightly greased 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom.

3. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a

wire rack 15 minutes or until completely cool.

4. Bring brown sugar, honey, 2/3 cup butter, and whipping cream to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in toasted pecans, and spoon hot filling into prepared crust.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Cool on a

wire rack 30 minutes or until completely cool.

Adapted from Southern Living NOVEMBER 2007