Tuesday August 17, 2010
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
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
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.
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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!!
Wednesday August 11, 2010
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
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."
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The Beauties From Afar |
As I got closer, they turned...
...and jumped out of the "pool" as if I were the pond warden....
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"RUN....she caught us in the act!!" |
I love our animals.