Pic of the Day

Milk jugs used when milk production is up! (hopefully in February!)

Picture of the Day

We are expecting rain this week so we filled the wood bin in preparation!

A Full Wood Bin

Project of the day! Ach the Toilet is leaking!

Our toilet in the front bath was leaking. So off to the hardware store to get seals. Once he removed the toilet he found that the bolts were broken. Fortunately, foresight had him pick up a couple new bolts at the hardware when he bought the seals! After removing the toilet, he put in the new seals and bolts and replaced the toilet.

Well, all was in place and there was water on the floor again! Dad began looking for more leaks and found that the water in-line was leaking so he tightened the fittings and TADA! That was it! Well, I guess the bolts and seals needed to be fixed, too, but it was a lot of work for a loose fitting!

Picture of the Day

Barbed wire stored on the roof of an out building

Co-op order closing Sunday Jan 30 and Fruit...

Hi Everyone!
Our dry goods order from Harvest Time will close tomorrow, please get your orders to me ASAP.

Also, there is another group ordering oranges, grapefruits and limes... they are a bit short on the order so I thought I would see if any of you wanted to order some. Here are the prices before shipping (last year shipping was about $4/box). I need to know if you want some and how much by Sunday at 3:00pm. These are coming from a farm in TX. They are Organic.


Ruby red rio star grapefruit 40ct/40#  24.75
Naval oranges 40# 24.75
Persian limes 40# 47.75

Picture of the Day

Shabbat Shalom!

Wood Pile

Well, we have to keep wood in our house and back porch ready for using in the stove at all times... Right now our wood is wet from the wet weather we have had this winter. Here is our wood pile (not all stacked neatly).

A lot of our wood is from a local pallet company. It is white oak cut into square or rectangle pieces. Athough this size would work great directly in a wood stove or fire place, it is too big for cooking with and needs to be split up into 2"X2" pieces. We do keep some larger pieces than 2" for overnight keeping the house warm, but for cooking we need specific sizes.

We haul the wood to the back porch where it is kept to dry for a few days.

We put the wood into a wood box (this was our whelping box, we decided to use it for a wood box since we will not have any more puppies, as you can see it works great!). 

We have the wood divided into wet and dry wood. The wood on the left is still wet (we just brought it in). You can tell by the darker color.

The wood on the right side is dry and ready to split down to a smaller size or burn as is.

Then we bring the wood into the house to dry a bit more.

The wood on the side of the stove is drying and waiting to be used. We also have baskets with wood ready to use.

Two baskets will get us through a day of cooking, one basket will last a day if we just want to keep the fire going. This system of moving the wood may not be as efficient as I would like, but it is the best we can do right now without a wood shed. I hope to build a lean-to off the back of the house for that at some future date.

Now I have all I need for the next two days! Ready for Sabbath!

Jew-balaya (a kosher dish)

I have two similar recipes that I combine or mix and match to make what we affectionately call Jewbalaya. We use beef or turkey keilbasa (Check the ingredients list, many of them are made with pork casings and msg, both of which we don't eat!) I'll combine the two recipes here for you, but remember to play with the recipe a bit for your tastes. Also, the amounts below will not fit into a large crockpot... They will fit in a large stock pot or 2 crockpots. You can also cut the recipe in half or move to a stock pot before adding the rice and extra stock.

Jewbalaya

      2-4 tablespoons olive or safflower oil (for cooking onions, peppers and garlic) 

1 3 1/2-to 4-pound chicken

2 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped green bell peppers

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic, chopped

 2 pounds kielbasa or other fully cooked smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices on the bias 

1 quart jar of tomatoes blended (options: diced fresh tomatoes,  combination of diced and sauce/paste, or omit all together)

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1-2 tsp oregano

1 ½ tsp celery salt

3/4 teaspoon (or more) cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1-2 tsp black pepper (to taste)

1 ½ tsp kosher salt

3 cups long-grain white rice

6-8 cups chicken broth (start with 6 add more liquid for the rice)

Boil the chicken until very tender (I boil with a whole onion, salt, pepper and other seasonings for flavor). Remove chicken from pot and put both in the fridge overnight. 

Remove meat from bones and fat from broth. Chop chicken into pieces.

From this point the recipes are very different... I will share the crockpot versions I have come up with first.

Option 1 (my preferred way): When I have time I saute' the onions, peppers and garlic and brown the chicken before putting them in the pot. Add all ingredients except the rice. I put the rice in about an hour or so before serving, so it isn't mushy. Add additional broth if needed.

Option 2: On crazy days I just dump it all in the crockpot and turn it on (omit the oil)... cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4. The rice will get mushy using this option, but it is edible. 

Option 3 (stove top): Heat oil over high heat. Working in batches, add chicken and cook until brown on all sides. Transfer chicken to platter. Reduce heat to medium-high; add onion, bell peppers, parsley and garlic to pot. Sauté until onions are tender. Add sausage, bay leaves, and spices; sauté until spices are fragrant and flavors blend. Add rice; stir to coat.

Pour broth over rice mixture in pot. Add chicken; press to submerge in liquid. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove bay leaves. Season with more cayenne pepper, if desired. Serve hot. 

Picture of the Day

Shelly has been making hats and scarves on her knitting loom. This one was supposed to be a snood, but she got it a bit too long! So we folded it up and tacked it... now it is a stocking cap!

Shelly's newest hat!

Foods on the cook stove...

So far this week we have made Sweet Potato Chowder, boiled chicken, made veggie stock, fried eggs, boiled eggs, oatmeal, spaghetti sauce and noodles.

The chowder, chicken, stock and spaghetti sauce worked great. I started them all early in the day and cooked them slowly. The flavors really had a chance to mingle and the tastes were wonderful. Frying eggs and cooking oatmeal turned out great. The boiled eggs and noodles were a bit different than cooking on an electric or gas. I had to get the water to a boil which was difficult. I didn't get the water for the eggs to boil very well, so I left them on for about an hour on the hottest part of the stove. I didn't get the water for the noodles to boil, but they did cook, it just took a little longer. Everything takes a bit longer. So, I sat in front of the stove and mended my daughter's dress. 

Tomorrow I will make Easy Lasagna (in the crockpot) so we can move cabinets. For Sabbath I will make Jumbalaya (we affectionately call it Jewbalaya). I'll post the recipe and pics Friday! :)

Picture of the Day

This is an antique sewing rocker that I love so much! It is in desperate need of some tightening but it is wonderful. It sits close to the floor (which makes all the tall people fall into it when they try to use it, hehe.) It fits me really well! It has a little drawer under the seat to hold thread, needles, scissors or anything else small you want to put in there. It is also really nice to use in front of the wood stove while you are cooking!

Picture of the Day

Last night we went to the knitting group gathering in town. I had purchased a little plastic table top loom to try out and have available for our farm visitors to use when we have farm days, but I hadn't put it together yet, nor had I used it. So I took it to the gathering and asked the resident weaving expert to help me out. Here it is! I've done about an inch.

Project of the week... Wood cook stove is in!

Here is the update on last week's project of the week. The wood stove has been installed and we are cooking on it. Here are the pics. The project of the week is cooking on the wood stove! I have completed our first successful day cooking exclusively on the wood cook stove! Yay!

I hope it doesn't rain!

"Hand me that part!"

On the roof

Finishing off the chimney

The stove is in!

Yesterday we put up green peppers and celery. Today we put up onions and tomatoes.

Today's meals and cooking included:

Breakfast:

Fried eggs and warmed biscuits (left over from Sabbath)

Chicken stock and chicken for Jambalaya for Sabbath.

Vegetable stock from the cuttings of the onions, peppers, etc during cooking today to put in the freezer.

Sweet potato chowder for dinner.

Warmed pecan pie for desert.

And, of course, a teapot of water for tea this afternoon with mom! 

My busy stove

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Cooking onions, peppers, garlic and turkey bacon on the wood stove!

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Our Havdallah commitment for the week. Good Week!

Let the work of our hands reflect your light this week!

Shabbat Shalom Mishpachah!

Our Shabbat Table!

Picture of the Day

My daily routine includes making Kefir! Just a couple of things fermenting on my counter!

Water Kefir, Tibetin Milk Kefir, and Meade

Picture of the Day

I need more cookbooks!

Picture of the Day

Fruit Basket: apples, oranges, grapefruit, bananas, pomegranates 

Picture of the Day

My little baby pomegranate plants are starting to bud!

Project of the week... wood stove and gas stove

So, the plan was to install the wood cook stove and the LP stove this 'long' weekend... however, it is now Monday night and it is not done. The stopping point was determined by the fact that it is supposed to rain and we are at the place that the roof is supposed to be cut... so the installers decided to stop and wait for a clear day.

Here is a picture story of the happenings so far.

parts and a messy kitchen

Cutting a hole in the attick/ceiling

Not much space up here.. will have to do things a little bit different

Bringing in the LP stove

I have to cook here?

Here's another view

Gas stove is in

Oops!

 Now we have to patch a hole in the roof... but not until we finish the job.. that hole has come in handy!

They closed it off to keep the chill off and we will work on it again when the rain stops. I kinda organized the kitchen so we could function and wait patiently for the rest of the installation... crockpot meals all week!