Last night's dinner

Well sorry its been a few days. But I was busy living..lol!
I did make a skirt this weekend, but I have to do a few alterations before I take a pic of it.
I have been doing more than my fair share of work around here. I push mowed the front and part of the backyard, did weeding, and my usual bug squashing 2X a day.
I made a fantastic dinner the other night:

Roasted stuffed yellow squash
corn on the cob and roasted beets.
Roasted yellow squash:
5 yellow squash cut lenghtwise and middles scraped out
1 cup cook jasmine or basmati rice
1 onion sliced and sauteed
2 cloves garlic sauteed
1 cup mushrooms sauteed
salt and pepper to taste
butter
1 cup crumbled homemade cheese(feta or any goat cheese would be a nice sub)
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
Heat oven to 375. Combine all ingredients and place inside squash, top each squash with a tiny amount of butter, bake for about 30-45 min or until squash is fork tender.
Note: I would have added tomatoes if I had any, but it was fine without them.

I also had a new adventure with my dehydrator. A house warming present from my buddy in MASS. (THANKS SHARON!)

Apples dipped in honey water.

Onto the drying rack

The dehydrator running.
Also there is no final pic of the dryed apples, we promptly ate them! So much for saving them for snacks.

Been quiet around these parts

Well nothing really much to write about. I have been busy babysitting for a friend these past few days. The girl baby I have been watching is 13 months old and soo sweet. She is in that blowing kisses, learning to talk stage and says "thank you" and "NO". She is so cute and when I put her down for a nap today she wanted to be held...she is the kind of baby that makes you want more babies...ahhh some day. Right now I want me some chicken...bock! As soon as Gene gets his shed put up, he told me we can start building the coop...soon I hope cause he has been working like crazy, and has not been home much lately.

Dinner was delish!

Man oh man was dinner good. Here is what I made:
1 yellow squash diced (from our garden)
1 zucchini diced (from our garden)
1 cup shredded red cabbage (farmers market)
1/4 onion diced (farmers market)
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 cups diced/shredded beet greens (from our garden beets, that we picked)
1 can organic diced toms (ours are not ready yet)
Sauteed everything together in pan with some olive oil, adding the tomatoes towards the end of all the veggies softening. I served it over warm linguine and sprinkle my homemade cheese over it. OMG! So good. Even the boy ate it, well the pasta cheese and tomatoes only, but he ate it!

Nothing too exciting just a little farming/gardening

We did a lot of weed pulling last night and Zach got to harvest the beets, which he was so excited to do.

I actually sewed this weekend

Yup, it really does still happen! I bought these cute tye-dyed pants for Zach at the League, and since they were way too long I had to hem them. He is super in love with and promptly gat the butt on the pants filthy so they are in the wash again!
here are the pants:

Cute huh?
I also wanted to post my other machine..yes I have two now. When we were moving one of the other neighbors was moving too. They threw this machine away! The bobbin case included..I just bought one recently so I know they cost at least $15. No plug, but since I already have a brother machine, my plug fits, and this machine seems to work alright, based on a quick use. I need to play with it some more, but it appears to be pretty nice.

My work space..losts of light:

And finally dinner, I know its only 10 AM but since its going to be hot I am baking it now.
Clay Pot chicken, I am using my clay pot cooker.
Items needed:
One whole chicken(I am using a Smart Chicken)
1 medium onion diced
2 cloves of garlic diced
fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon minced stems removed
dried parsley
1 lemon half sliced, the rest diced. Peel included.
2 tablespoons butter
olive oil
paprika
salt and pepper

Soak the clay cooker for at least 10 minutes in warm water.
Rinse and pat dry chicken. Mix 1 tablespoon diced butter with onion, garlic, parsley, rosemary and diced lemon. Salt and pepper outside of chicken, then the cavity. Place the lemon sliced in the bottom of clay cooker, and remaining butter.
Place chicken on top. Fill the chicken cavity with mixture. Sprinkle olive oil over top of chicken. Then sprinkle with paprika. Place lid on cooker. Do not preheat over. Place cooker in oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours -2 hours at 450 degrees or until done, removing lid the last 10 minutes of cooking to brown the top.
Mixture:

Chicken ready to go into oven:

I will serve this with quinoa and some squash from the garden. There will be leftovers, and we can have chicken salad for dinner tommorow night, provided we don't eat the leftovers at lunch. :) Chow Evie

100th post!

Well here it is ladies and gents! My 100th post, and its about the fruit of my labor! My first garden produce a zucchini! Here it is:

It's a rather nice looking one eh?? Just as nice as any I could get from a store or farmers market! But mine, and no chemicals used either!
It's on the dinner menu..along with super processed baked cheesesticks and popcorn shrimp, hey its Sat night right? And my 5 year anniversary at that.

YUP 5 Freaking years! 7 almost eight if you count the few we were together before Zach!
We did actually have a nice night out, complete with a babysitter.
A trip to a local restuarant: Pachamamas, they use local seasonal food.
http://pachamamas.com/menu/dinner
And boy its not cheap either, I was pretty impressed that Gene did not complain!
I don't think he has ever spent that much on a meal in his life.
We rounded out the evening to the place where it all began:
The Replay Lounge, a fine local watering hole complete with hippies and punks.
http://www.replaylounge.com/
After a few drinks we thought we had better rescue our son who was having a pleasant evening with two cute blondes and some strawberry milk(his treat for them).
We got home by 10 pm wow..I know soo late huh? Ahh the life of a parent.

Garden Pics

The garden is thriving, please excuse the grass, we have gotten tired of pulling it out and now Gene has started mowing it now in desperation.
tomatoes: we have 6 big variety and 6 cherry toms

Beets: for Gene not me!

A sideways view of the row of carrots

Zach's watermelon here's hoping it actually produces!

Peppers: 6 bell peppers, 6 japs

Corn cause man the price is going up and I am going to try to freeze some for later

We have about 8 assorted yellow squash and zucchini plants

Pumpkin, again like the watermelon we are hoping we get at least one!

And no pic for the 3 butternut squash plants I planted, I am hoping to get at least 5 of them for winter dinners.
I am picking the first zucchini tomorrow or sunday cause its growing about 2 inches a night!

Cheese oh cheese

Okay I completed my cheese, it was still a little soft when i removed it from the press, so it cracked. I did smoosh it together, but it still looks funny. The taste is outta this world, and if I don't stop nibbling on it, there won't be any to share. It's been salted and rewrapped and is now hanging out in the fridge. YUMMMY!

It's falafel night here tonight. Complete with pita, hummus, salad, cuke sauce, and feta. DH will be excited.

Cheese making day part 2.

Okay, so the goat cheese project was a total flop. What happened was that the recipe called for X amount of drops of liquid rennet(thickening agent), but the bottle of rennet revealed a different amount needed(like a lot more!) So what I ended up with is a kinda goopy soupy cheesy liquid, I salted it and it tasted good, but I am not sure what to do with it.. maybe bake some in a casserole? Put it over rice? I dunno.... I will prabably end up tossing it, but for right now its in the fridge.
The cows milk cheese is working out great. I followed the instruction on the bottle and it actually set well. :)
So will lay it out for you. I used 3 1/2 gallons of Organic Whole milk, 70 drops of rennet, and 2 tablespoons of cultured buttermilk(activator).
Milk:

What 3 1/2 gallons of slightly frozen milk looks like:



So you bring the milk to the right temp 68 F, and add the activator(buttermilk). Let it set overnight. Then check for clean break.

Then cut the "curds". Let them sit and then strain off whey(excess liquid). Save some whey if you want to make ricotta later.

Cook the curds till they resemble scrambled eggs and the curds sink to the bottom.

Then strain as much whey off as you can using a strainer or fine mesh strainer(reccommended). I had trouble using my regular strainer.

I assembled a makeshift press. Using a giant canner as a place to collect the excess whey, I placed a bowl in the bottom, and a plate on top of the bowl. Using a springform pan for a mold, I took the bottom out and lined the pan upsidedown, with a clean cotton cloth. (the pan in the open postition, so that the bottom part is free to move down as the whey is pressed out). I filled the "mold" with salted curds. (I used 1/4 cup)



I covered the pan with some of the remaining cloth and weighted it with jars of jam and a large can of tomatoes. This is roughly equal to about 10lbs of pressure. The recipe I used called for 25 lbs of pressure, so I will be getting a paver from our yard to place on top of these.

I removed all of the weight for a a quick taste since some of the cheese had squished above the weighted lid, and its super yummy, but not firm enough. It will have to sit for at least 10 more hours to be firm enough to be considered done. Once I remove it from the weighted pan I have to cover it with salt and place in clean dressing in the fridge and change the dressing everyday until it no longer puts out moisture. Then I have the option of eating it, or covering it with wax and letting it "age" but that prob won't happen! Bon appetit'

Tues Cheese Making day!

Well since my friend who is holding milk in her freezer for cheese making, maybe moving soon. I am now making cheese alone, but hey I get to keep most of the cheese I make for moi! Since there are a few quarts of Goat's milk, and since said friend has now been determined unable to drink cows milk, the first batch is going to be Feta cheese. here is the link I am using:
http://www.grannymillerblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/making-yogurt-cheese-feta-cheese.html
I started it about a half an hour ago, and will post all the pics when its done. Tonight I start on the 3 1/2 gallons of milk, and my attempt to make a hard cheese, wish me luck! Even if I screw it up, it will prob be an edible soft cheese. And besides that the milk was free. Since today is going to be a bit labor intensive I popped dinner into the crockpot.
I call it German hotpot.
1 lb local ground pork
1 lb local smocked sausages cut into rounds
1 head of local red and green cabbage each
1 onion diced
2 cloves minced garlic
lotsa salt and pepper
1 can sauerkraut
1/2 stick butter minced up to diperse
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shredded carrots
Dump all ingredients into crockpot mix and cook on low 6-8 hours and stir once in awhile. Serve over hot mashed potatoes.
Its very pretty it looks like this:

Chicken Piccata Anyone?

I am quite sure I have already posted this recipe, somewhere? I can't find the link, but tonight is chicken piccata night..yummy...
Poor Gene has to work in Junction City today, so he won't be home til later. And I am quite sure he will be crabby when he returns so its a good night to make something special.
He did a very nice job on the bathroom. I even let him pick out a color too!
Its sorta like a very creamy coffe color. Here are the pics, he did a good job with the tile too.



Have a super day everyone.

Sunday Nite Dinner

Our dear friend Clayton has been making some homemade tempeh, so we have traded jam for tempeh. Tonight I am making BBQ tempeh.
BBQ tempeh on buns
sauteed zucchini and yellow squash with tomatoes and bacon(yeah..I am not a vegetarian yet!)
maybe some pasta salad to go with.
To cook tempeh:
cut into desired pieces, steam on veggie steamer basket for 15 minutes.
Marinate at least one hour, for us its the BBQ sauce.
cook when desired, just browning it. Serve warm. Has the taste and texture of pork..to me anyways.
Its a cheap easy meal, and no heating up the oven or grill.

Cause I'm easy like Sunday morning...

yep, its Sunday. I made a spectacular breakfast of local eggs, homemade buttermilk biscuts, and buttermilk gravy made with local ground pork sausage. YUM!
I spent a half an hour in the garden already picking cucumber beetles. Those fuckers are determined to destroy my cucurbit plants. For those of you you who don't know, those are things in the cuke family: cucumbers, squash, zucchini, pumpkin, watermelon, and cantalope. If I don't want to use a bad chemical I am reduced to picking them off the plants and squishing them and spraying tha plants with a homemade castille soap spray. I have to search for them 2x a day. One in the evening and once in the morning. Unfortunatly I have both the stripes and spotted variety, the later often being misstaken for yellow lady bugs. I squealed with delight when I first saw one, not realizing it was really a cuke beetle. I now have a shiny red sunburn since I have been chasing these little buggies outta my garden.
Menu tonight is undetermined since I have not really though about it. Maybe later folks.
If I am lucky today may be the day I set up my crafting area, HOOOORAYYY. Love and lettuce to all, Evie

Happy 4th Everybody!

Well nothing too exciting here. I had the pleasant surprise of a phone call from my friend in Germany yesterday. And that was fun.
I spent the morning making bagels and biscuits. I tried a new recipe for bagels, but I did not trust it, so I modified it a little, and added ground flax meal and bee pollen to it. Although they did not risethey way I would like the taste is astounding, the texture is perfect! Made almost 3 dozen biscuits too keep unbaked in the freezer, these always make for quick and easy breakfasts or mid-morning snacks.
Zach and I picked wild black raspberries from our neighbors yard(with his permission), he told to go ahead and take whatever we want, he is not really into his yard as the people who owned the house before him were.
We got about a cup of berries and they are delicious and sweet and we are considering digging up the vines to put them in our yard.

Since we are not going to be with friends until 7:30 we are eating at home, and then bringing a salad for sharing later.
Link for the salad:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Barbecued-Bean-Salad/Detail.aspx?prop31=3
Dinner tonight:
Crockpot chicken legs and thighs, seasoned with dried tarragon(thanks grace!), salt, fresh ground black pepper, onion adn garlic powder, and sprinkled with a little extra virgin olive oil. I made these maybe a month or so ago and they were delish


I will probably just make some rice and some steamed green beans with this.

MOVED!

We are officially moved, I turned in our apt. keys today. We still have to pay rent for another month, unless our landlord finds someone who wants to move in right now, but we are outta there!
Here is my new baby:

The fridge that I blogged about our good fortune in price, I love it!
My other babies:


Well Gene is not really a baby he just thrown tantrums like one..haha
And my Dinner Menu for this evening:
Baked (wild caught) Salmon
Steamed snow peas(picked by moi)
Cheese and onion pierogies (made by moi)
A healthy meal with local/homemade connections, minus the unlocal salmon. OH Well a gal can only do so much!

This is a super easy supper, and I may even cook the salmon on the stovetop to avoid using the oven altogether. Have a great afternoon friends, I am off to make bagels and biscuits, darn I guess I will be using the oven after all....