self, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
self
Monday, May 14, 2012
6 chicks
They are growing so much every day and are gaining strength. I covered up their pen with hardware cloth so they can't fly into the utility room. Everyone is named now, and we have Scout, Henrietta, Susan, Flower, Puffy, and Clarisse.
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
chickens
Our chicks arrived today. We have two barred rocks, two golden laced wyandottes, and two light brown leghorns. They'll be living in the utiltity room for a few weeks, and the children can't believe their own good fortune. They are hilarious to watch, and tonight one even fell asleep in my hand.
Monday, May 07, 2012
wheels
We moved into this house with a lawnmower fit to mow a postage stamp, and being quite naive we bought a small twenty inch electric pushmower. After a long spring of charging and mowing and charging and mowing our two and a quarter acres we finally invested in the right machine for the job.
We've set aside part of a field for a meadow, and the goldfinches are going wild on the wavering stems of grass seeds.
Saturday, May 05, 2012
eye
eye, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.
I am starting another photography course with the lovely Vivienne McMaster this month. May is such a full month, but I'm going to dive in anyway. Each time I sign up for the class I'm very excited, and then the trepidation sets it. What am I doing? I'm taking a class about how to do my least favorite thing--take pictures of myself? It is so much more than that. When I think about Vivienne's classes I am reminded of the line by Mary Oliver, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Well, I'm going to romp around in fields of flowers this month. I'm going to build a chicken run and take pictures of an abandoned house in my neighborhood before it gets torn down. I might even use all those dials and menus on my camera. I am turning 46 this month. I'm yarnbombing a tree with a group of elementary school kids. I'm going to take the kids to the pond to see the baby geese. I'll paint my picnic table blue, smell the peonies, plant herbs, till, mow, and plant tomatoes. I bought enough seeds to plant three hundred and forty feet of basil plants. That's a lot of pesto.
What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
biscuits and gravy
I wanted to link to this month's Vegetarian Times and share the recipe for their gluten free biscuits and chickpea gravy. We aren't gluten free, so I might make my regular old biscuits and top it with the gravy, but I'm going to post the whole thing for my gluten free friends.
Biscuits.
1 cup white rice flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1.5 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 oz or 1/2 stick of butter
3/4 cup fat free buttermilk
Gravy
1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
2.5 tsp paprika
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
3 tbs veg oil
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup chickpea flour
4 cups warmed milk
Biscuits. Preheat oven to 375. Butter baking sheet
Whisk dry ingredients. Cut butter into flour until no big lumps remain. Stir in buttermilk.
Roll and cut 16.
Gravy. Pulse chickpeas, paprika, poultry seasoning, onion powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne until crumbly.
Heat oil in the skillet and add chickpeas and saute until fragrant and crisp. Transfer to a plate. Add butter to the skillet and melt. Whisk in potato starch and chickpea flour and cook one to two minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and cook one to two minutes or until sauce is thick. Stir in chickpeas and season with salt and pepper.
Biscuits.
1 cup white rice flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1.5 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 oz or 1/2 stick of butter
3/4 cup fat free buttermilk
Gravy
1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
2.5 tsp paprika
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
3 tbs veg oil
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup chickpea flour
4 cups warmed milk
Biscuits. Preheat oven to 375. Butter baking sheet
Whisk dry ingredients. Cut butter into flour until no big lumps remain. Stir in buttermilk.
Roll and cut 16.
Gravy. Pulse chickpeas, paprika, poultry seasoning, onion powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne until crumbly.
Heat oil in the skillet and add chickpeas and saute until fragrant and crisp. Transfer to a plate. Add butter to the skillet and melt. Whisk in potato starch and chickpea flour and cook one to two minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and cook one to two minutes or until sauce is thick. Stir in chickpeas and season with salt and pepper.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
the little white turnips
John went out to the market yesterday morning and came home with lots of vegetables and plants. These little white turnips are one of my very favorites. We ate all of them for lunch, just raw and sliced on a plate. I cooked the tender tops in a pot of lentil soup for dinner with carrots, celery, onion, tomato, and fennel.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
fly
I miss the little folks so much. I am, however, enjoying the quiet, cooking, and the whole book I read yesterday.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
april
Today it snowed. No, it really wasn't all that bad. I don't even think it froze, but it was decidedly unfriendly for mamas wearing sandals.
I'm headed for Richmond tomorrow for a few days. My mama has a new hip, and I'm going to go make her something to eat. The wildest part is that I'm going absolutely alone. I don't ever do anything alone.
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Sunday, April 01, 2012
a door closed
We closed on our old house yesterday. I know. We took a huge risk, found out it was an even bigger risk, and then some very brave people bought our house. They first looked at our house on October 8. They are taking on a big project, but it is one that they will probably turn a profit on, and I wish them godspeed, but we are blissfully done.
I haven't even wanted to talk about it just in case it didn't happen. But it did. Today we finished the first mowing of our little 2.25 acres. It seems much bigger when you are mowing it. Hopefully we will get a bigger lawnmower soon, but this is building muscles and character.
I ordered a chicken coop that will arrive next week. It is big enough for ten chickens. The kids have a list on names on the refridgerator. Ella wants to have a rooster named Ra, but we are hoping for just hens. I think we will have chicks by the end of the week.
Peonies and poppies are getting taller, and the weeds are running rampant.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
growing
I'm currently involved in a race against growing grass. The moment that I win I have to start weeding furiously. Next week I'm going to try to stay at home as much as possible.
Lilies of the valley are coming up next to the front porch.
I need tools. A post hole digger, a saw that works, and a string trimmer.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
grapes
Not so long ago it was stlil winter. Back before the daffadils popped out and the grass started growing wildly I pruned our grape vines. I read a few articles on the internet, and then just went out and did it. I felt like a was cutting away a lot, but that it what you are supposed to do. I don't think anyone has pruned them in many years.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
the force that through the green fuse drives the flower
The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.
The force that drives the water through the rocks
Drives my red blood; that dries the mouthing streams
Turns mine to wax.
And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins
How at the mountain spring the same mouth sucks.
The hand that whirls the water in the pool
Stirs the quicksand; that ropes the blowing wind
Hauls my shroud sail.
And I am dumb to tell the hanging man
How of my clay is made the hangman's lime.
The lips of time leech to the fountain head;
Love drips and gathers, but the fallen blood
Shall calm her sores.
And I am dumb to tell a weather's wind
How time has ticked a heaven round the stars.
And I am dumb to tell the lover's tomb
How at my sheet goes the same crooked worm.
Dylan Thomas 1934
Monday, March 19, 2012
spring reveals
We moved into this house in the middle of winter. We could see the shape of the vegetable garden and some flower borders, but now March reveals borders from many years ago. Across the front of the front yard is a long row of daffadils, tulips, and bluebells coming up and blooming in the grass. In the side yard is a wide patch of grape hyacinths. The girls can't stay out of them, and I have several bouquets in the my kitchen window. I think there are peonies coming up in the front yard.
The man down the road at the Christmas tree farm told me that a woman named Lake used to live here and that she was a wonderful gardener who grew all kinds of flowers and vegetables. Maybe there are Lake's hyacinths, and she planted them in front of the root cellar at the house her grandfather built in 1876.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
filling the raised beds
I'm going to have these raised beds filled with dirt in a few days, but I'm starting some seeds on the back porch. I thought I'd start off with greens, onions, and some herbs in here. I need chives, dill, parsley, and cilantro. It looks like the lavender made it through the winter.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Monday, March 05, 2012
meatless pecorino meatballs
Meatless Pecorino Meatballs
8 large eggs
3 cups fine dry breadcrumbs
1 cup freshly grated pecorino ( or half pecorino and half Grana Padano or Parmesan Reggiano for a milder flavor)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 T. finely chopped basil, about 20 large leaves ( out of season, use pesto)
2 plump garlic cloves, minced
1 cup vegetable oil
2 batches (6-7 cups) Tomato Sauce
Fresh basil for garnish
Beat eggs well in a large bowl. Heap the bread crumbs, grated cheese, salt, chopped basil, and garlic on top of the eggs, and mix everything together well, first with a big spoon or spatula and then with your hands. The dough should come together in s soft mass, leaving the sides of the bowl. If it is very sticky, work in more bread crumbs a bit at a time.
Break off tablespoon pieces of dough and one by one roll them in your palms into a smooth ball. Place the polpettine on a board or tray covered with waxed paper or parchment – you should get about 60 balls.
Bring 1/8” oil in a heavy skillet and set over medium flame. When the oil is hot enough that a test ball starts sizzling on contact, lay in as many polpettine as will fill the pan with clear space around them. Turn balls to brown on all sides. When they are evenly browned on all sides, lift them form the pan, let the oil drip back into the pan, and then lay them on paper towels to drain.
Fry all the polpettine this way, adding more oil as needed. As a snack of hors d’oeuve, serve each freshly fried batch while hot and crispy. Keep warm in a warmed oven.
To finish and serve the polpettine, heat 6 cups of the sauce to a simmer; Drop in the balls and return the sauce to a simmer, gently turning the polpettine so all are submerged and coated. Simmer about 5 minutes. Serve atop pasta with more cheese. The longer the balls stay in the sauce they will absorb it and become more delicate, so serve as soon as heated.
Enjoy!
Monday, February 27, 2012
time
Ella is getting artsy and philosophical with her science fair project his year. Even better, she is doing this on her own for the most part.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
May 19, 1920
We found this inscription in the concrete beside our well. Was this the year that they got indoor plumbing? Beside the well is a small outbuilding with a trough, obviously the old pump house. In 1920 this house was thirty four years old. I know the man that built it was named Smith and that he was the local blacksmith. So, slowly the house reveals itself to us. bulbs are coming up through the grass in the shape of long gone flower borders. Daffadils, apparently, can not be stopped. Soon, I'm going to walk up the road to the old cemetery and see who I can find.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 02, 2012
lost another front tooth today
This little person swallowed his tooth today. He lost it in a seaweed rice cake with peanut butter. Never felt it go. He told his teacher he thought he used to have a tooth, but it might be gone. His friends were so supportive in the sweetest way, telling him that all he had to do for the tooth fairy was sleep with his mouth open.
rainbow morning
What a great way to start off the 100th day of school. The kindergarten had 100 flags, popped 100 balloons, ate a 100 piece hiyuku mix snack, put 100 stickers on party hats, did 100 piece puzzles, had 100 seconds of silence, and ate celery and pineapple rings served in the shape 100.
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