So warm in the sunshine!

While I was taking photos, this mom-cat just plunked down and went to sleep. She has a kitten hidden in a hole in the wall of the pony pen.  I've seen it poke it's head out once.

Cleo has a year-old kitten that is completely feral, it lives in the barn with the pony, too.

Today's hailstorm: the video

I had less than a minute of warning to shut all the windows in the house; the rain came sideways before it started hailing.

11:41 today

Almost finished with those signs

(Old sign)

Every sign at our booth has two sides, I finished the backside first.  Now, on to the front! 

(New sign)

(Old sign)

(New sign).   All that's left is re-painting the frames.  I may return to the old color scheme if I can't read these across the park on saturday.  See you at market!

It's that time of year, again

After manure has been spread in the fields (we contract that particular task out to professionals) it needs to be worked in.  So that's what Dan did last Sunday morning after breakfast at the diner - and Monday between rainstorms, and Tuesday between rainstorms - in addition to the twice-daily milking chores.

The ground was a little wet from precipitation, but not enough to get the tractor stuck.  The manure truck, however, bogged down and needed a tow out.

Getting ready for market

(The simpler, plainer signs are the new ones.)

Only I could take 10-year old water-damaged signs, resurface, repaint them - and after two days of hard work, wind up with them still appearing as signage with a lot of mileage.  At least it's a different look for farmer's market 2010.  Four more days til I find out if it all comes together or not.

Monday Menu: Shanks, Shoulders and Beans

This was absolutely lambilicious, and there was no added salt or sugar, other than the tomato puree and Tomate vinegar base.

A half pound of Arethusa cranberry beans were soaked overnight, drained, and added to a heavy pot with a sliced onion and 5 whole cloves of garlic.  Then, two lamb shanks and two lamb shoulder steaks from Willow Hill Farm were added.

One half bottle of Tomate, and...

...one whole bottled of strained tomatoes went in.  300f oven for one hour, then turned down to 250f for 4 more hours, until the beans are cooked through and the meat falls off the bones.

(Those are lamb shoulder steaks pictured under all that sauce.)

This was rich, balanced, and the result tasted as though more effort was put into it.  I love that.

Potatoes and Peas in the Free Press

I've had another story and recipe printed in the Free Press, the link to it is here.

This is my mother's recipe.

Weekend Cook: Skirt Steak with Asparagus

Finally, grilling in good weather instead of wind and snow!  Beef skirt and fresh asparagus.

I trimmed up a skirt, cut it in half (because the gas grill heats unevenly) and marinated it for three hours in Newman's own lime vinaigrette (cheetah marinade).

The asparagus was coated in EVOO and sprinkled with salt.  Both went on to a preheated grill set on high for about 3-4 minutes a side.

After a 10-minute rest under foil and a heavy towel, the skirt was perfectly pink, and the asparagus was not overdone.   Eight more days until farmer's market, where I can load up on more veggies!