Heirloom Meals: Savoring Yesterday's Traditions Today

Tuesday August 17, 2010

Life at Boulderwood:
Buddy, the Bantam Rooster

Animal Tales from Boulderwood Farm.
Buddy, our bantam rooster gives me the "side-eye" glare as if saying, "whatcha lookin' at?"

He's quite tame for a rooster.  He does, however, suffer from the Napolean syndrome as he plays tough guy with our big white rooster, Whitey. Not sure why Whitey allows Buddy to bully him.  I guess I'll never know!!

Monday August 16, 2010

Ms Murky Mondays:
Peachy Keen Martinis

This week I am all about preparations for the Berkshire Grown fundraiser honoring Sarah Gray Miller of Country Living Magazine. I have my lists, my schedule and I am in motion.

I have contacted the farms and purveyors with my orders, rented tables and chairs, sewed my table runners and have begun the preparations.  It's a frenzy of activity around here!!

Yesterday I made peach nectar and lemon simple syrup for the cocktails.


 
 
Peach Nectar for our Peachy Keen Martini’s
 
I wanted to serve a “special” cocktail for this event.  With the gorgeous and delicious local peaches that are currently in season, I decided to concoct some peach nectar to be mixed with Berkshire Mountain Distillers Ice Glen Vodka. What better to way to celebrate local everything!!
 
10 Ripe Peaches from Maynard Farm
3 cups water
 
Boil a large pot of water and put the peaches in the water for about 5 minutes until the skin is ready to peel off. Remove the peaches into a cold water bath to stop the cooking process. The skin should easily peel off the peach.  Slice and remove pit.  In batches, put 2 cups of sliced peaches and 1 cup of water in a blender until smooth.  Strain and store in refrigerator until the PARTY!!
 
Simple Lemon Syrup
 
I am addicted to limonata.  But I just bought a Sodastream carbonator and thought, why not make limonata for vodka and limonatas or just limonata.  Here’s my recipe:
 
4 cups organic cane sugar
4 cups water
Zest of a couple of lemons
3 cups fresh lemon juice
 
Simple syrup is simple - it’s one part sugar to one part water. Cook sugar, water and lemon zest over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved and water boils. Remove and  let cool.  Add lemon juice and store in refrigerator until the PARTY!!  I tried about 1/2 cup  of syrup with the liter bottle that comes with the Sodastream and it seemed to do the trick - YUM!!

Friday August 13, 2010

Carole’s Concoctions:
Stuffed Zucchini

You guessed it....I am sharing my Stuffed Zucchini Concoction from last night.



4-5 medium-large zucchini
2-3 Tbsp Olive oil
3 leeks
4 ears corn
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
1 cup quinoa (I used Ancient Harvest Red Quinoa)
1/4 cup or so grated parmesan
A few sprigs of basil, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
For the "stuffing"
Cook corn and remove from cob. Prepare Quinoa according to the package instructions.  Saute over medium heat chopped leaks in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until soft, add corn and tomatoes, chopped garlic until golden, add quinoa, basil, salt and pepper.




Scored Zucchini Flesh

Clean zucchini, cut in half crosswise then lengthwise.  With the point of your knife, score the flesh into cubes and then scoop out and add to your stuffing mixture, continue to saute for a couple of minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.

Place zucchini shells in a baking dish with a little water, cover with tin foil and put in center of the oven for 10 minutes to "cook" the shells a little.  Remove from oven, and carefully add stuffing to each zucchini shell, pressing stuffing in with the back of a spoon.  Once stuffed, liberally sprinkle the top with cheese and return to oven for 15 minutes until cheese is melted and golden.


Serve with a side salad and Enjoy!!


Thursday August 12, 2010

Heirloom Breeds & Seeds:
Farmer “Carole” Thursdays

Thoughts on my own crops and Indian Line Farm....

Well...for whatever reason Farm Girl Farm's newsletter is not readily available to share and because today is the day dedicated to farming I thought I'd speak of my garden's bounty and introduce you to Indian Line Farm - the first CSA in the country.  Elizabeth Keen runs quite an efficient and beautiful farm. Every time I pick up my share I am just in AWE!!


Out of my patch of dirt this week I harvested potatoes, onions and will be picking some broccoli for dinner tonight.  This time of year is so fulfilling and healthy. I have become a veritable vegetarian.  Tonight I plan on concocting stuffed zucchini with quinoa, fresh corn, cherry tomatoes, leeks and basil. Served up with a side salad of delicate Indian Line Farm greens and we are in veggie HEAVEN!!


And now:   News From Indian Line Farm 
c/o Elizabeth Keen
What a great summer we have been having!  Warm sunny weather making it great for afternoon/early evening swims.  No need for the rain gear like last year when they never dried out between rain storms.  But wow has it been hot!  We always start out the mornings with rain pants just to keep the dew off our pants, but this year we can't get them off soon enough before it feels like we are sitting in a sauna.  And the sweat by midday is dripping down our backs with such vigor that we have decided Indian Line Farm should open a gym.  We can supply all the ingredients to good health:  cardiovascular workout; strengthening by regularly carrying 40 # bins and buckets; and stretching, bending and reaching for flexibility.  Honestly, today the heat got me down.  We need a big rain.  Everything is really dry.  I can't really irrigate everything that really needs it.  I noticed the leaves on the corn on route 23 curling to maintain moisture.  The HousatonicRiver is low enough that is some places we had to get out and push our canoe on Sunday. 

Heat makes me think of zucchini.  We have a lot right now as we are still harvesting from our 1st planing which is still going strong and our second planting is gorgeous and putting out green beauties.  On Friday alone, we harvested 308# of squash and zucchini.  In response I had an all zucchini dinner:  savory zucchini pancakes topped with sour cream and fresh tomatoes and for dessert a double chocolate zucchini cake.  Marvelous!  I was going to make a raw zucchini salad, but decided against it.  I have included several zucchini recipes for you too, to enjoy this week.  And watch out if you park too long in the lot, you might find an extra zucchini in your front seat!

Wednesday August 11, 2010

Heirloom Meals Radio:
Christine Lindemer

What do cow tales and food memories have in common? Well, actually quite a bit!! Host Carole Murko interviews Christine Lindemer, curator and editor of True Cow Tales, a book of authentic, heart-warming recollections written by the farmer’s themselves. Christine has helped save some of these stories from becoming extinct, much in the same way that Heirloom Meals is doing for recipes. Christine grew up on a Minnesota dairy farm within a few blocks of her Swedish and German grandmothers. In preparing for the interview she was reminded of her grandmother’s “swedish coffee” - an interesting concoction to be sure!! And now Christine and her husband have their own “connoisseur” apple farm where they also raise belted galloways. Christine’s story is what we aim to capture on Heirloom Meals Radio - one where the unexpected happens - where memories of food and family are dusted off or unleashed - and the keen appreciation of those memories is recognized.

Tuesday August 10, 2010

Life at Boulderwood:
The Bathing Beauties of Boulderwood

The Bathing Beauties of Boulderwood.....who knew cows love to wade?? Julia, Delilah and Mr. Johnson (who I guess is a bathing beast) ignore the fence and just step right in the "pool."


The Beauties From Afar



















As I got closer, they turned...


...and jumped out of the "pool" as if I were the pond warden....


"RUN....she caught us in the act!!"


















I love our animals.

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