A Sunday Meandering

On Sundays, Joe and I love to take drives along these beautiful country roads.  A couple of weeks ago, we happened upon this old cemetery on a hill and we were intrigued.  We decided to do a little exploring.

I later learned it's called Weed Cemetery.

There were some really old headstones.  Most were from the 1800s.  And we realized they all also have footstones.  AND... the inscription is on the back sides of the headstone.  We decided it must be out of respect for the deceased, so that when we're reading who was put to rest in this spot, we're not stepping where their body lay.  Could be, right?  Anyone know for sure if that's why the stones are engraved on the backside?

 

 

But then we saw this VERY old headstone. It's that of Moses Currier who died March 20, 1791 at age 77.  It appears he was a soldier in the Revolutionary War (there's a Revolutionary War flag holder beside his grave).  Such rich history.

 

Then we continued on and came upon this pretty river.  Joe stopped on the bridge so I could take a picture (from both sides, of course!).

And finally, we stopped to pet my favorite horses; Kingford, Slick and Willy.  I don't know what was up with Kingford.  He just laid there in the hay the whole time we were at the fence... just relaxing and taking in the sunshine.

Slick, however, couldn't wait to come see us.  He stopped grazing and started heading our way as soon as the car stopped. 

I got plenty of Slick-hugs (his nose nuzzled in my chest) and nibble-kisses on my shoulder.  He even grabbed my pocket flap and wouldn't let go.  Sweetie!

And this... they make me happy.  Forest-floor flowers.  They are such delicate little things... but tenacious. Look how they push through that thick blanket of fallen leaves.

My Favorite Finds - 4/27/13

I actually don't have any this week!  I'm not sure how that happened - usually I accumulate them as the week goes by, but not this week.  I just have this:

Truth.

It's a beautiful, sunny day here today.  I'm going to go put more blisters on my hands... uh. I mean. I'm going to go do some more prep work on that new little garden bed.


Hope it's sunny where you are... go out and soak up some Vitamin D!

Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From?

When I was an Urbanite Floridian, I didn't think too much about where my food came from beyond "the grocery store" and that they get it from farms... somewhere... out there...

I was aware that you want to be sure to wash your produce really well because they may have had to use some pesticides to reap a good harvest.  And every now and then I'd hear that there might be wicked handlers on large "processing plants" that are mistreating animals.  But I didn't want to listen too closely.  With a sigh and a sadness, I looked away hoping that someday they would get their just due.  I mean, what else can I do?

My opinion and my awareness from those days has, unfortunately, been a slow evolution.  But, evolve, it has.

Since moving to the uber-rural state of Vermont (which, I'm happy to report, has taken the top spot in the 2013 Locavore Indcx, a ranking of the best and worst states for eating locally.  I'm sorry, my Florida friends, you came in second to last.  Don't let that discourage you, though... let it serve to make you more proactive.)  ...anyway... since moving to Vermont, my awareness has heightened dramatically.  Would it have if I weren't here? Probably. But maybe not as swiftly.

We've been getting our beef from this farm.  Here, the snow had JUST melted and these beauties,
like all Vermonters, are having to contend with mud season!

Ah, now it's starting to green up.  This farm is on my regular route to get anywhere.  They're typically sheep farmers,
with only 10, or so, cows.  I'll bet they're raising them for personal use (and maybe a couple of friends...)

I watched FRESH again last night.  It's streaming for free until April 30th, which is why I bring this up.  i want to share and encourage you to watch it, too.  It's so important to be aware (no more turning my face away!).


Click here to watch:

FRESH the movie

From their website:

FRESH Synopsis

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.
Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

The movie is about 70 minutes... so make yourself comfortable and settle in for awhile.  It's so worth your time.  We need to be informed if we're going to make a difference.   And I gotta tell ya... that Joel Salatin, he's my farmer-hero.  What a brilliant and conscientious man.

I know I'm just one, but we're all just one... and together, we're the masses.  Let's stand together, then.  Please watch, and explore their site... and go poke around at the sites of the characters highlighted.  

Personally, the re-watch has made me even more determined not to purchase my food from stores who are supplied by Big Ag... whether produce or meat.  Their product is not healthy; it's slowly killing us.  And the animals... well, besides being detrimental for our consumption, it's criminally inhumane.

My first choice is to buy directly from the farmer, and I'm so very thankful that we have numerous meat farmers within 30 minutes of us.  Those whose cattle graze happily in the meadows with the sun on their backs.  And the vegetable and fruit farmers are abundant as well.  We'll be joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) at a farm that's just 10 minutes away.  While I like to grow my own and tend my own little garden, I can't possibly work full time and still grow enough to feed us till the next growing season (eating through winter means taking the time to can all those garden treasures, too).

My second choice, when direct access is not so readily available, is to seek out merchants who carry products from reasonably local farmers; meaning you could get in your car and go visit their farm in person, if you wanted to... within 3 or 4 hours drive.

If you're having trouble locating a good source, you can do some research online.  Local Harvest and  Eat Wild, for example, have a state by state (and even abroad) directory of grass-fed/pasture raised animal and produce farms.  Read about them, their policies and their location... give the farms a call directly and find out what merchants they supply near you.

Be purposeful... be healthy!

Pam

Linking up with: NotYourOrdianryRecipes, WeekendWonders, FoodieFriendsFriday, FarmgirlBlogFest, RattlebridgeFarm,FridayFavorites, #FoodieFriday, JustWingingIt, Chicken Chick, Homestead Barn Hop

Romans 8:1-2

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Chocolate Syrup (for Chocolate Milk) and Chocolate Squares!

My hubby, particularly, loves chocolate - in all forms.  Since we've started trying to be purposeful in selecting real, nutritious food, we've had to make many modifications and find substitutes for our old stand-bys.

Among the favorites is chocolate syrup for making chocolate milk.  We (he) used to use Hershey's.  Yikes!  The ingredients list will make you shudder once you become educated about frankenfood vs. real food.

So, I dumped that pseudo chocolate (brown-syrup poison) down the drain, washed the squeeze bottle out real good, and filled it with this:

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (or raw cacao)*
1/2 cup filtered water from the fridge
3/4 cup sucanat
1/4 teaspoon real vanilla extract
sea salt - slight sprinkle

Warm the water on the stove and add the cocoa, whisking until incorporated.  Add the sucanat and stir until dissolved.  Bring it to a rolling boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt.  Cool and store in the refrigerator.

Thankfully, it met with approval by the chocolate milk critic. I tried some, too.  I think it's every bit as good as anything you can buy off a grocery store shelf, except even better because it's not bad for you!

* This cocoa powder is what I had available.  You could kick up the health benefits of this chocolate syrup A LOT if you use raw cacao, instead. (source)

This post, from Preserving Abundance, is where I got the idea.  I just cut the recipe in half since it was a trial run,  used sea salt instead of table salt, and substituted sucanat in place of sugar (trying diligently to avoid the refined whites).  I think it was a successful makeover.


So - that's great when you want to drink your chocolate.  But sometimes you just wanna bite into a hunk of it.

For those times, there is this...

The ingredients you need to make chocolate squares.

Except I meant to take the picture with raw honey, not sucanat.  We've made it with sucanat before, but tend to like it with the honey better.

1 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or raw cacao)*
1/3 cup raw honey
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup chopped, dried coconut (optional)
1 T (add'l) coconut oil (optional)

* This cocoa powder is what I had available.  You could kick up the health benefits of this chocolate bar A LOT if you use raw cacao, instead. (source)

Put the nuts and coconut on a cookie sheet and drizzle with the 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and toss.  Toast in the oven at 300 for about 15 minutes, turning once.

Meanwhile,

Heat the coconut oil and cocoa powder in a double boiler (or a makeshift version of one, like I did).  Stir till the cocoa powder is dissolved and add the honey.  Stir well to combine.  (I know... that's not a true tablespoon measure.  It's a long iced tea spoon so I wouldn't get my hand sticky on the sides of the honey jar.  I think I eye-balled it pretty well!)

Let it simmer on a very low heat for a long time.  The low and slow method will help the coconut oil to fully absorb the cocoa powder and the honey to fully incorporate.

When the nuts and coconut are done toasting, add the mix to the chocolate and stir well, again.

Carefully spoon into a silicon mold.  If you don't have a mold, you can use mini cupcake liners (but then you need a mini cupcake tin so they will hold their form...)

This recipe filled this one sheet mold perfectly with minimal finger-licking of the bowl required.

Refrigerate till firm... about 30 minutes, or so.

Mmmm, mmmm, good!

Two delicious chocolate, guilt-free pleasures.




Linking with Hearth and Soul, Tasty Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Tasty Traditions, Homeacre Hop

April in Vermont, Me in the Garden and Prayers for the Unlovely

I spent a beautiful weekend outdoors.  It was great to finally be able to enjoy yard work in preparation for gardening.


But first, before I went out into the yard on Friday, I (like the rest of the country) was captivated by the news unfolding regarding the Boston Marathon bombers.  By the time I sat down with my coffee, I learned that the older brother had already died, a police officer had been shot and killed, and the younger brother was at large.  I tuned in and out much of the rest of the day. 

While a mixed-up, where-did-things-go-wrong, nineteen year-old boy (call him a man, if you want to, but really...) fled wounded and desperate, hunkering down like the fugitive that he was, I was happily raking leaves long buried under last season's first snow fall and opportunistically making preparations for planting.  I was breathing in clean air and sunshine, relishing a new day with its fresh mercies and the hopeful potential for what will be. 

A stark contrast to the feelings of those involved in the massive manhunt and city under lock-down a mere two hours south of me. And, not oblivious to the grief, sorrow and fear those fellow citizens [practically neighbors] were experiencing, I was heart-sick in the midst of my joy.  Who didn't feel the same that day?  I'm sure the entire nation was feeling heart-sick and fearful.  I joined everyone in wanting him found and the madness to end.

I want justice to be served.  If the little boy that died were my grandson, the police officer my son; if the women were my daughters or sisters, I think I'd want him to suffer horribly.  I think, very possibly, I'd want to dispel every ounce of my anguish in causing him bodily harm with my own hands.  But that's not the case and, while I'm very sympathetic to those grieving their demise, I have a different perspective. 

There's something about the youthful innocence in the pictures they keep displaying, and in the testimony of his former classmates and teammates, that makes me sad for this kind and gentle soul, recently turned villain.  What happened to him and when did he make that fateful wrong turn?  Was there a sense of abandonment when his parents moved across the ocean while he was still at a tender, developing age?  Was it his esteem for his [misguided] older brother that caused him to follow his destructive path?  Could he have been steered in a different direction (or perhaps stay the course of his high school days) if he had proper adult influence?  It's the what-could-have-been that is making me sad for him.

So, this is my prayer; as I lift up the injured, and the surviving loved-ones of the deceased, for supernatural comfort and strength to carry on, I'm also praying for that wayward young man. 

I absolutely believe that he should be punished and suffer the consequences of his heinous crime, but I pray that it's filtered through God's grace, so that the outcome as it unfolds, will be according to His will and purpose.


And with that off my chest... on to my gardening adventures:

I learned that rain boots are not muck boots.  Those deeply grooved soles hang on to poo mightily!  (Yeah, my tidying-the-yard chores included raking the go-do-your-business area, too).

The crabapple tree is budding!

 

And so is the lilac tree!!

And the very best... the daffodils are finally blooming.  Oh. happy. day.

Sunshine on a stem.


 

 

It's like a radiant smile, isn't it?

 

 

 



There's going to be a new garden bed right here.  I'm going to see if I can do a lasagna garden method to prepare the soil in lieu of tilling... we'll see if I have time before our last frost date and planting time.


 

The hosta bullets are peeking their noses out.

 

And so are the peonies.  Spring holds such promise!


 

This one leaf comes up year after year, but never a bloom.  It resembles a tulip leaf to me, but not exactly.  I'm not sure what it is.  There are no others in the vicinity... or in the entire yard.  Does anyone know what it could be and whether I can offer it anything to encourage a bloom?


 

Today's work is done.


 

And I enjoyed lingering a while to take in the beauty already being protrayed and contemplate what's to come.



Happy Earth Day!!
Pam

 

Linking with Homestead Barn Hop, Clever Chicks, Playdates

My Favorite Finds - 4/20/13

Hello Sunshine!

For Your Soul ~

Simple Mom:  This is profound simplicity.  "One of my favorite definitions of prayer is that it is the practice of paying attention. Not merely that you must pay attention while you’re praying, but that prayer itself is the act of attending: to God, but also to the beauty – and ugliness – before us."



In the Kitchen ~

Homemade Mommy:  She makes homemade butter...  I wanted to do this when I bought raw milk this week (can I just tell you that raw milk is delicious!  Oh my.)  Anyway, I had a hard time skimming the cream (I went to four stores looking for a turkey baster and no one had one... weird).  I'll try again next time.


Divine Health:  Fermented Potatoes?!  I soaked my potatoes yesterday; to reduce the starch and sugars contained in them.  Soaked them for about 8 hours in salt water (you need to soak them longer than that for fermentation).  Then fried them in tallow.  Oh, yum!



For the Pets ~

Health Extremist:  "Since living in the Northeast, as soon as Spring comes around, I am on high alert watching out for not only ticks latching on to my pets but also myself. Especially since more than half of the ticks in my area carry Lyme disease, it becomes a serious concern."  Could have been me making that statement!

Quick and Easy Tomato Sauce

I made more mozzarella balls; this time fried in tallow.  That made a big difference.  I liked it much better than frying them in the coconut oil (remember... I don't like to mix sweet with savory).

But I needed a quick sauce to dip them in - so made this:

Ingredients:

1-2 tablespoons tallow (or another healthy fat)*
1 carrot, shredded (and then chopped even finer)**
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/3 - 1/2 cup)
sprinkle of sea salt
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes (or a quart jar canned from your summer garden, though may require more simmering time due to water content in tomatoes)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat tallow in a sauce pan and slowly saute the carrots and onions till soft and the onions are caramelized (about 15 minutes).  Add garlic and stir till aromatic (about 30 seconds).

Add the tomatoes and oregano and bring to soft boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the basil and olive oil.  Mix well and serve.  Easy, right?!

* If you don't have nutrient-dense tallow, my second choice would be butter (ideally from grass-fed, raw cream). My third choice would be refined coconut oil (refined so you don't get the strong coconut flavor you would get from unrefined. Sometimes that coconut flavor is awesome, but not in tomato sauce!)  Never use vegetable oils (corn, canola, etc.). Even the beloved (and healthy) olive oil is not good for sauteing. It has too low a smoke point and becomes unstable... rancid... when heated too much.  Save that for the salad dressings... or like in this recipe, after it's come off the heat.

**Rather than using sugar, like some people do, the carrots become slightly sweet when cooked slowly with the onions and helps to reduce the acidity from the tomatoes.  My darling Kristiina turned me on to that great idea.

Since the cooking time is so short (as opposed to simmering for hours and hours), it's a fresh tasting sauce and is so versatile.  You can serve it over spaghetti or angel hair pasta with a side salad and call it dinner. You can use it to make your lasagna or baked ziti. You can add ground meat (about a pound)... all beef, or a mixture of beef, pork, sausage... and call it a bolognese (a rather Americanized version.  Check out this link I found that describes,  and provides a recipe for, a traditional, authentic Bolognese Ragu.  Looks fantastic.)

We just ladled it into a bowl and dipped the amazingly delicious mozz balls in it.  As I said, now that I have tallow in the kitchen, I did a fresh batch of mozz balls to see what the outcome would be fried in it versus the coconut oil like I did last time.  It's awesome!

This recipe makes one quart jar and it would be easy to double up so you can fill an extra jar to have a convenient "just add pasta" meal ready to go for those oh-my-gosh-where-has-the-day-gone-what-are-we-going-to-have-for-dinner kind of days!
Cook once, serve twice!



Linking with Tasty Traditions, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Simple Living, Whole Foods Wednesday, Life in Bloom, Real Food Wednesday, Weekend Wonders, Weekend Potluck, Farm Girl Friday

Romans 1:31-32

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