Rafe’s first win…
It was one of those times when third place feels just like first.
1 year ago:
I mentioned that last weekend I helped Matt get some hay home that he’d purchased.
First he had me pull the empty rack to the bales while he drove his tractor out there. Pulling an empty rack is not really a big deal. The only part that made me nervous was that I had to pull it through the middle of town. I was watching my mirrors closely so I didn’t swipe any parked cars!
Matt pumping up the tires for me
I waited in the truck while he loaded up the rack with bales, then I slid over to the passenger seat and let him pull the loaded rack home. I didn’t want to have all the fun myself…
This is what happens when you forget to chain a gate. And when I say “you”, I mean “Matt”. Because I think we all know I wasn’t the one out there doing the pig chores.
So we sent the nearest hired hand out to take care of it. But Ollie-the-boar doesn’t look very intimidated by Ollie-the-girl.
(And believe me, I’m going to hear it for calling her Ollie. Only Tim A. is allowed to call her Ollie.)
Sow 3 comes over to see what Ollie & Ollie are up to.
She doesn’t look very intimdated, either.
This might be the pig version of flipping her the bird.
At this point I had to leave to pick up daughter #1. But despite how these pictures make it look, Olivia actually had all 3 sows back in the pen by the time Matt finished filling the water softener with salt and came out to help. I was quite impressed!
1 year ago:
Cooking from the deep dark recesses of my cupboards, that is. Every so often I go through my cupboards & freezers and make a list (you know I love my lists!) of the mishmash of foods languishing there. Then I try to figure out things to make with them.
These are one of the items on that list:
These are Korean glass noodles. We brought 2 packages of these back from Texas with us when we were there for Christmas last year. Last year! Good thing they’re shelf stable. My sister-in-law made these really yummy wontons with them, and I had every intention of doing the same when we got home.
You can see how that worked out.
So I turned to my favorite recipe finder…Google. And it came up with a recipe from the Steamy Kitchen website for something called Jap Chae.
I have no idea how to pronounce that.
These noodles are also called starch noodles because they’re made from sweet potato starch. So they’re great if you’re looking for gluten free ingredients! They’re called glass noodles because once you cook them they look like this:
Just bring a pot of water to a boil, then add the noodles and boil for 5 minutes. (This was a 12-oz. package.) Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Get out your scissors and cut the noodles into pieces 6 to 8 inches long. I assigned this job to Madeline, and she reports that it’s quite fun! Then toss with 1-1/2 tsp. sesame oil (the noodles, not the daughter) and set them aside.
You’ll need the following veggies prepped before you begin stir frying:
3 carrots, peeled & cut into matchsticks
1 cup thin sliced yellow onion
5 green onions trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 package shiitake mushrooms, chopped (I think this was a 5 or 6 oz. package
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2# – 3/4# spinach, washed and drained
Also mix together 1 T. sugar and 3 T. soy sauce.
Heat 1-1/2 T. cooking oil in a wok. Add carrots and yellow onion, and fry 1 minute.
Add the green onions, mushrooms and garlic and fry 30 seconds.
Add spinach and fry until spinach is cooked down.
Add noodles and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until heated through, incorporating veggies throughout noodles. A large fork works well for this. Finally add 1-1/2 t. sesame oil and 1-1/2 T. sesame seeds and toss through.
They aren’t the kind of thing I’d usually make for a weeknight dinner because of the prep time, but I had bought the shiitake mushrooms for this and didn’t want them to go bad before I got it made.
The verdict? Everyone but the youngest, pickiest eater loved them! I also made Pioneer Woman’s steak bites and they paired up fabulously!
I promise to use the other bag of noodles before 2011.
Today we attended a Niman Ranch producers meeting…
Today I pulled a hay wagon for Matt from our farm to a field where we’ve purchased some round bales…
Today I took pictures of our feeder pigs (the most wonderful feeder pigs we’ve had for a while, but more on that later)…
Today I read a really nice comment from a blog reader (and there was another one here the other day in case you missed it)…
Today I was reminded that I really do love farming.
It’s been awhile.
1 year ago:
Sale barn disclaimer
There are gifts in change… the opportunity to re-imagine the possibilities, to create a new vision for the future, to engage your creativity… to hope.
1 year ago:
Pickup trucks & trailers line up at the salebarn to unload cattle for the next day’s sale.
1 year ago:
We loaded up 2 fat cattle that hadn’t sold, and 2 of our bred mama cows and took them to the sale barn tonight.
“Downsizing”, “rightsizing”, “reengineering”…call it what you will. It’s just hard to let go.
1 year ago:
Pigs in snow
Church, nursing home, shopping with the girls. Why do I let myself stay up and watch a scary movie right before bedtime?
