Well, folks, I better warn you up front- no photos today! We here at the farm just finished with our multi-day SEEDS program, an educational day program where large numbers of students (100+) experience as many elements of the farm as they possibly can! They eat a meal in the global village, learn about rotational grazing, milk goats, play children's games from other countries, romp through the garden, eat some delicious organic veggies...you name it, we've tried to figure out a way to get kids to experience it. Though it was incredibly busy and a bit stressful, in general, it was a lot of fun. It was a nice change of pace from our normal programming, but also a bit more chaotic than our normal programming simply because of the sheer numbers of people involved.
I am currently eating a delicious leek soup composed of excess leek pie filling (left over from a delicious leek pie experiment), some extra milk, potatoes, and a couple of spices. Tonight, I plan on undertaking a second leek pie experiment; this time, I plan on adding some salted meat (probably cubed bacon) as per a request by a fellow volunteer, and tossing in a potato or two. Also a possibility: the addition of parsley or black pepper. I dunno. I'm excited about it, though. We've got tons of organic leek from right here at the farm.
On that note, it's freezing up here. I've finally ordered my winter boots, hopefully they will come in soon and fit well. Shower time!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Turkey killin' time
Today I was feeling much better and decided to go to work. All in all, it went fairly well. We had the Seeds program today and I was conducting some simple games in the Education barn. The exciting/interesting part of the day was the turkey processing which myself and several other volunteers undertook. We were given a quick lesson on how to take a turkey from livin' to eaten', and then were left alone to get to it. I didn't have the courage the slit a turkey's neck myself, but I did do everything else, from degutting to gland removing to feather yanking. Two things about the entire affair were quite shocking; one, the incredible temperature of the turkey's core...it was hot, uncomfortably hot, and two, the deep rich red shade of the animal's blood. I mean wow. It's so red and real that it's surreal, so intense and in your face that it's like a cartoon. It was a very trippy experience, especially while half loopy with infection and half dizzy from a full day's work. I'm learning so much here.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Fun with a sugar pumpkin
Many hours later I am still feeling congested and worn out. I guess this means plenty of time to blog. I read a huge chunk of house of leaves today, about 130 more pages, and man, that book is getting intense. The literal confusion within the book itself, induced by ridiculous footnotes, bizzare formatting, and a lack of an identifiable author, dramatically contributes to the terror of the house present in the novel.
Last fall and winter, when I was studying abroad in Graz, Austria, I discovered the magic of cooking with pumpkins. In Graz, pumpkins are a great fall staple, and a wide variety of edible gourds are sold in grocery stores all over the place (by contrast, generally only sugar pumpkins are sold in AR as edible pumpkins, and the rest are sold as decorative). I learned to cook a wide variety of pumpkins that I had never even seen in the United States in an assortment of ways, ranging from simple stir frying, to mashing, to delicious hearty sweet and savory pumpkin soups. I still, however, encounter difficulties cooking with this unfamiliar ingredient, as my only prior knowledge of pumpkin cooking was making pumpkin pie from a can. However! Last week I baked a sweet pumpkin bread (but I didn't bake it long enough, it was doughy in the middle and has condensed down to thick pumpkin pudding of sorts), and I had about three cups of leftover pumpkin puree that was about the consistency of applesauce.
And I was hungry.
So, after a little time researching uses for pumpkin puree and pilfering through my kitchen, I concocted this great pumpkin sauce. It's based on a recipe that called for several ingredients that I simply didn't have on hand, so I did some improvising, and it turned out so well that I want to post it here so the world can enjoy it. It's a pumpkin cream sauce that should be served over pasta.
Directions: Boil a sugar pumpkin in as little water as possible. The pumpkin should be peeled and cut into small triangles, then water should be boiled and poured over it. Once the pumpkin is soft, blend the water and the pumpkin together to make a nice soft applesaucy puree. Should definitely not use water any higher than the pumpkin, which should be as low as possible in the pot. Measure out about three cups of it for this pasta sauce. Take the rest and eat it, or boil it with maple syrup, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and about three apples to make a wicked good apple butter.
Pour that pumpkin into a pot, put it on the stove, then turn the stove on to medium low. Keep that stuff warm! Add black pepper, salt, cloves, and sage to taste. Also add one bullion cube. I used veggie bullion, enough to make six ounces. Worked out perfectly. In the meantime, dice three cloves of garlic and one medium sized onion. Sautee the suckers in some olive oil, butter, or your oil of choice. Once they are nice and soft, put them into the pumpkin mixture. Stir it all pretty well, and keep stirring. Once you are comfortable with the consistency of this sauce, turn the stove off, and add about half a cup of heavy cream. Stir well, and serve immediately over nice warm delicious pasta. Shave some white cheddar or other mild-ish cheese over the top of the pumpkin sauce.
Better than from a box, I swear!
Alright, back to reading.
Last fall and winter, when I was studying abroad in Graz, Austria, I discovered the magic of cooking with pumpkins. In Graz, pumpkins are a great fall staple, and a wide variety of edible gourds are sold in grocery stores all over the place (by contrast, generally only sugar pumpkins are sold in AR as edible pumpkins, and the rest are sold as decorative). I learned to cook a wide variety of pumpkins that I had never even seen in the United States in an assortment of ways, ranging from simple stir frying, to mashing, to delicious hearty sweet and savory pumpkin soups. I still, however, encounter difficulties cooking with this unfamiliar ingredient, as my only prior knowledge of pumpkin cooking was making pumpkin pie from a can. However! Last week I baked a sweet pumpkin bread (but I didn't bake it long enough, it was doughy in the middle and has condensed down to thick pumpkin pudding of sorts), and I had about three cups of leftover pumpkin puree that was about the consistency of applesauce.
And I was hungry.
So, after a little time researching uses for pumpkin puree and pilfering through my kitchen, I concocted this great pumpkin sauce. It's based on a recipe that called for several ingredients that I simply didn't have on hand, so I did some improvising, and it turned out so well that I want to post it here so the world can enjoy it. It's a pumpkin cream sauce that should be served over pasta.
Directions: Boil a sugar pumpkin in as little water as possible. The pumpkin should be peeled and cut into small triangles, then water should be boiled and poured over it. Once the pumpkin is soft, blend the water and the pumpkin together to make a nice soft applesaucy puree. Should definitely not use water any higher than the pumpkin, which should be as low as possible in the pot. Measure out about three cups of it for this pasta sauce. Take the rest and eat it, or boil it with maple syrup, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and about three apples to make a wicked good apple butter.
Pour that pumpkin into a pot, put it on the stove, then turn the stove on to medium low. Keep that stuff warm! Add black pepper, salt, cloves, and sage to taste. Also add one bullion cube. I used veggie bullion, enough to make six ounces. Worked out perfectly. In the meantime, dice three cloves of garlic and one medium sized onion. Sautee the suckers in some olive oil, butter, or your oil of choice. Once they are nice and soft, put them into the pumpkin mixture. Stir it all pretty well, and keep stirring. Once you are comfortable with the consistency of this sauce, turn the stove off, and add about half a cup of heavy cream. Stir well, and serve immediately over nice warm delicious pasta. Shave some white cheddar or other mild-ish cheese over the top of the pumpkin sauce.
Better than from a box, I swear!
Alright, back to reading.
Well, I'm sick. For the first time here in MA. I was scheduled to have a group today, but I will not be with them. I feel terrible! One sure sign of illness for me is the sudden ability to really feel gravity. My arms are heavy; my muscles like butter, unable to drag my body from place to place. My spine, pulled into a solid arch, can no longer win the epic battle with the spin of the earth for the right to hold up my bowling ball skull. My throat is full of pain, my face is full of snot, and my stomach is full of nothing (soon to be full of hot tea). Lordy lordy. Today, I spend the day wrapped in blankets, reading horror novels, and writing in my journal. Tomorrow, I will hopefully have regained enough strength to hold my head up, flail my arms wildly, and guffaw at the scum that thought it could take me over.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Wool festival and SNOW!!!!
Hey ya'll! Last night I returned from a busy and exciting day at the RHINEBECK SHEEP AND WOOL FESTIVAL IN NEW YORK! I learned/saw so many awesome things. This, of course, will be explained in photo. In addition, it's snowing like mad here in Rutland! It's cozy and nice. All of the animals are huddled together with the exception of two goats, Ren and Stimpy, who have taken advantage of the lack of peeps policing the farm and were eating carrots from the Peru gardens in the snow.
There were tons of tiny felt animals that people had made from wool and then sold as either toys or sculptures. They were adorable, but quite a bit more expensive than I could afford. I would love to one day be able to make these, or at least be able to afford purchasing them as gifts. These things leaned towards the toy side.
Yarn galore! There was so much beautiful hand spun yarn, sold in big hanks, balls, or skeins, in a wide variety of color. I bought myself one hank of chunky colorful yarn to make a big scarf for the winter.
A fine example of the many variations in yarn available.
An overview of one of the many many buildings that were filled with yarn, wool, spindles, etc etc etc.
Since I am not a highly educated knitter, I attended this festival primarily for the sheep, which I ended up learning a lot about. The entire experience encouraged creativity on so many different levels, as wool is extremely diverse and useful. I shouldn't take for granted the raw wool that I have available to me right here on the farm. I would eventually like to learn to clean and spin (using a drop spindle) raw dirty wool so that it can become something practical and beautiful, like a sweater or socks.
OH MY GOD! There were so many cute animals, like this tiny square bear-esque sheep.
And this very sly sheep.
There was a 1-classroom school building that was on the fairgrounds that was built in the late 1800s. We were allowed to enter the school and check out all of the old decorations and flags. Notice the old halloween decoration!
Here I am knitting on the world's longest scarf project. I knitted a total of 4 stitches, hardly a contribution, but one none the less. The world's longest scarf project was sponsored by the Keep the Fleece program, which is attempting to raise 250,000 dollars for the Heifer project.
Here is their information card sitting on top of several sections of the world's longest scarf.
Here are some more felt animals.
This was an amazing hat made out of felt. This same booth at the festival had all kinds of gorgeous creative hand-felted hats. I would have worn most of them. I wish I would have had the money to purchase this gorgeous crazy head decoration.
Bear sheep!
This woman made this huge distracting hat herself out of, guess what, wool!
There was a featured artist on at the festival who made tons of punny sheep paintings, like this one. Also included in her works: Sheep in the box, Silence of the lambs.
Baby alpacas! They made the same nervous sounds as adult alpacas, except they sound tiny and cute, which is the opposite of what these animals are trying to be when they are nervous. Poor alpacas.
And, the icing on our cake, overlook farm's own miniature goat, escaping the herd, to much on carrots. Have a good one, ya'll!
There were tons of tiny felt animals that people had made from wool and then sold as either toys or sculptures. They were adorable, but quite a bit more expensive than I could afford. I would love to one day be able to make these, or at least be able to afford purchasing them as gifts. These things leaned towards the toy side.
Yarn galore! There was so much beautiful hand spun yarn, sold in big hanks, balls, or skeins, in a wide variety of color. I bought myself one hank of chunky colorful yarn to make a big scarf for the winter.
A fine example of the many variations in yarn available.
An overview of one of the many many buildings that were filled with yarn, wool, spindles, etc etc etc.
Since I am not a highly educated knitter, I attended this festival primarily for the sheep, which I ended up learning a lot about. The entire experience encouraged creativity on so many different levels, as wool is extremely diverse and useful. I shouldn't take for granted the raw wool that I have available to me right here on the farm. I would eventually like to learn to clean and spin (using a drop spindle) raw dirty wool so that it can become something practical and beautiful, like a sweater or socks.
OH MY GOD! There were so many cute animals, like this tiny square bear-esque sheep.
And this very sly sheep.
There was a 1-classroom school building that was on the fairgrounds that was built in the late 1800s. We were allowed to enter the school and check out all of the old decorations and flags. Notice the old halloween decoration!
Here I am knitting on the world's longest scarf project. I knitted a total of 4 stitches, hardly a contribution, but one none the less. The world's longest scarf project was sponsored by the Keep the Fleece program, which is attempting to raise 250,000 dollars for the Heifer project.
Here is their information card sitting on top of several sections of the world's longest scarf.
Here are some more felt animals.
This was an amazing hat made out of felt. This same booth at the festival had all kinds of gorgeous creative hand-felted hats. I would have worn most of them. I wish I would have had the money to purchase this gorgeous crazy head decoration.
Bear sheep!
This woman made this huge distracting hat herself out of, guess what, wool!
There was a featured artist on at the festival who made tons of punny sheep paintings, like this one. Also included in her works: Sheep in the box, Silence of the lambs.
Baby alpacas! They made the same nervous sounds as adult alpacas, except they sound tiny and cute, which is the opposite of what these animals are trying to be when they are nervous. Poor alpacas.
And, the icing on our cake, overlook farm's own miniature goat, escaping the herd, to much on carrots. Have a good one, ya'll!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Finally had some time to update the photos! 
Here is Jen in the Guatemala house roasting coffee as part of the Harvest Festival. The Harvest Festival was a huge success; in the end we had over 700 people come.
Here is a kid checking out the Ghana site, which is Nic's adopted site.
This is my adopted site, Appalachia. It represents Kentucky.
Here are the raised bed gardens at my site.
And the pumpkin seeds roasting over a fire, cooked by myself and the awesome girl scouts!
This ugly deformed carrot came from the Appalachian garden. It grew as a result of overcrowding. It's a bit hard to tell in the photo, but it's actually three carrots that grew twisted together.
This is Emily at our Poland site donning Polish attire. The site represents the Carpathian mountain region of Poland.
Emily cooked us quesadillas one night, and when she cut open the bell peppers, discovered these smiley faces inside of the peppers. Too adorable not to share. Of course, the peppers were grown here at Overlook- I knew we had happy vegetables!
This is my favorite New England weed, the Touch-Me-Not. When you touch the seed pods, they explode.
This is a very curious goat!
Alright, that's it! Hope ya'll enjoyed these photos!
Here is Jen in the Guatemala house roasting coffee as part of the Harvest Festival. The Harvest Festival was a huge success; in the end we had over 700 people come.
Here is a kid checking out the Ghana site, which is Nic's adopted site. 
This is my adopted site, Appalachia. It represents Kentucky. 
Here are the raised bed gardens at my site. 
And the pumpkin seeds roasting over a fire, cooked by myself and the awesome girl scouts!
This ugly deformed carrot came from the Appalachian garden. It grew as a result of overcrowding. It's a bit hard to tell in the photo, but it's actually three carrots that grew twisted together. 
This is Emily at our Poland site donning Polish attire. The site represents the Carpathian mountain region of Poland. 
Emily cooked us quesadillas one night, and when she cut open the bell peppers, discovered these smiley faces inside of the peppers. Too adorable not to share. Of course, the peppers were grown here at Overlook- I knew we had happy vegetables!
This is my favorite New England weed, the Touch-Me-Not. When you touch the seed pods, they explode.
This is a very curious goat!Alright, that's it! Hope ya'll enjoyed these photos!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)