Me and Nibs

My friend KC always wants to see more pix of me... so here you go. An exclusive self portrait of me and Nibs...

Me and Nibs. This is as snugly as it gets. You can see in the shadow that I'm patting her.

She was really rockin' that woodpile this morning. I think she is imagining that she has a glorious mane and was shaking it all around.

Here is Nibbles looking majestic as f....um... "all get out."

Lookin' good, Nibs.... keep up the great work.

This is her happy face.

And to you, who's birthday it is today (you know who you are) .... Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Friday everyone!

How to Make an Adjustable Soap Mold - FREE Ebook today!

Does everyone know my friend Boyd? Not only is a real can-do, get it done kind of guy - he's also an author. For today and (and I believe tomorrow, Friday) you can download his latest ebook on Amazon for FREE.

You can download a Kindle version of Adjustable Soap Mold Plans now!

The plans are easy and straightforward. If you make soap you won't believe you didn't think of doing this yourself sooner. Boyd provides simple instructions and tips, like having the home improvement store make some of the cuts for you. He also provides approximate costs - which really shows how much money you can save by doing this easy project yourself.

But quick - this promotion is only going to be available for a couple days.

You can read more about Boyd on his website here.  He also has some other ebooks available including money making projects and his Dead at Last fiction series.

I got to know Boyd a while ago on a chicken forum that I ... ahem... no longer frequent.  What struck me most - aside from he and his wife really have had about a million kids come thru their lives - was that he is the real deal. Some folks talk about self-sufficiency... but Boyd really does it. He's smart and has good strategies with real world know-how.

He will never remember this but one of the first times Boyd and I chatted was over dogs. Someone on the forum had some ridiculous story about how their dog got loose and it ended up at a neighbors. When the guy went to get his dog back the neighbor said the guy had to pay him for the "vet visit." I'm not sure if the neighbor just decided to take the dog to the vet or what but it sounded a lot to me like that neighbor was holding that guy's dog hostage!

There are two kinds of people in this world - folks like me and Boyd who would have returned home with our dog WITHOUT paying that neighbor a cent.... and the rest of the folks who went home and asked strangers on the internet what to do about it. Suffice it to say Boyd and I had a really good laugh about what would happen if someone tried to get ahold of one of our dogs.  Just so's ya know, with my crew it would be "beware of the dog AND the owner."

Quick! If you make soap, are thinking about it, or know someone who does.. run right over and grab Adjustable Soap Mold Plans while it's free! Thanks, Boyd!

Candied Jalapenos

Stop the presses! Hold the phone! Shut the front door and get clean out of town! Immediately stop what you are doing, go out into your garden or to your nearest farmer's market, and get some jalapenos... then make these - Candied Jalapenos, or Cowboy Candy. I am not kidding.

 Yay peppers! The ones that weren't perfect were just chopped and put in the freezer.

Normally I'm abivelent about spicy peppers and usually I'm a "one star" or at the most, "two star" girl. So I'm not interested in mean food that makes your eyes water. Thankfully these candied jalapenos aren't that. They are like ... like... I dunno... the best combination of spicy sweet that you could ever imagine.

I love when the jalapenos get to the red stage.

I first saw this recipe over on my friend, D's website, The Gastronomic Gardener. He has some great recipes but I shrugged this one off because I didn't think it was my thing. But then I ended up with way too many jalapenos this year so I thought I'd give it a try. Holy guacamole. I am not kidding - don't even bother to process them. I finished off half pint of them before the recommended "wait a couple days to a week." Yesterday I made my second batch.

The recipe D uses is located here. 

I tell you the truth. I was very skeptical at first. And I nearly didn't make them when I saw how much sugar is used. In fact, I didn't have that much sugar in the house and was going to have to get more.  But then I heard my friend, Bourbon Red's voice admonishing me "Do NOT cut the sugar! You always cut the sugar and don't do that!" Because.. I do..and he always tells me not to (sometimes I listen). So against all my better judgement I pressed on.

It was so worth it.

Wear gloves!

A couple things. First, make sure you wear heavy kitchen gloves when you go and pick the peppers and while you are handling them And for heavens sakes, if you have bouncy dogs don't poke anyone in the eye with the hotsy-totsy peppers. You might want to put that cutting board, with your gloves still on, directly into the dishwasher so you don't use it later and get pepper transfer onto whatever you are chopping up next. And don't touch your face with the gloves.

Lean back!

Also, open all the windows.  Once you have the vinegar-sugar syrup going and you are to the point where you put all the peppers into the pot - LEAN BACK. Don't be sticking your face over that boiling cauldron of pepper spray. Word to the wise.

Then, once you have all that peppery sweet goodness in jars.... what do you use it for? You mean aside from standing over the sink eating them with a fork out of the jar? So many things:

* On crackers with goat cheese (or cream cheese).
* On sandwiches, burgers, or sausages (like these Bahama Mamas)
* Stir a few peppers and some syrup into your chicken and pepper filling for quesadillas.
* As a dipping sauce for eggrolls or potstickers (you could jazz it up with some soy sauce).
* As part of your sauce for a spicy sweet riff on General Tso's chicken (or pork).
* Brushed on just about any kind of meat for grilling
* Anything else that needs a little spice.

Seriously. It's hard to explain what is so captivating but give these a try. You'll probably have left over syrup but you can use that or lots of things too. Or just go and find every pepper you have the garden and make another batch. Today I'm going to go and find all of my hot Hungarian Wax peppers and make those with my leftover syrup.

Happy Wednesday everyone! Have you made candied jalapenos? Don't you love them?

Still Growing...

I want the record to show that I FINALLY grew a cucumber. Here it is:

Baby cuke. I'm calling it a victory.

OK so technically it's still a baby but I grew it. Whoot!  While my pal over at the Gastronomic Gardener grew several cubic tons of cucurbits....this is my last attempt to grow them. Bad planting, bad planning, squash bugs, or who knows what....but this whole summer my cuke harvest has been a bust. I'm holding out hope this little guy is going to make it.

These horticulture beans sprouted right up.

I also started an extremely late "rotten bean row" a week or so ago. Remember how this worked so well a couple summer ago? Totally worked again. I don't know if they will make it before our frost but it's worth a try.

They might just make it.

Today I'll be out there making sure I take up the last of the peppers. I'm going to make another round of candied jalapenos. "What's that?" You ask.... Stay tuned!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Turkey Progress

Remember these little guys? Well just look at them now!

Turks, now bigger than the buckets.

Our turks are really growing! They are spending most of the day up on the hill pecking around and doing turkey stuff. They are happy to be outside and so are we.

Turkeys love pecking at the grass.

The turkeys are also really entertaining. Probably the funnest part of our day is to take the turkeys up or down the hill. They don't have to go very far but they sure have fun getting there. So do we.

While I was recovering from my recent medical mayhem we might have had an incident known as The Drunk Turkey Drover.... but there is no proof that happened so we just won't talk about it. 

Of course we always have one "Wrong Way Wendell."  It doesn't matter if they are turks, chicks, or ducklings there is always that one guy who won't keep up with the group or who just flat out runs the other way. In this case its Wrong Way Wendellyn - she's a little hen who always panics and flees the other way only to walk in later pippin' and chirpin' like it was entirely normal - she's quite a gal.

As we get closer to the end of September our thoughts turn to the Great Turkey Harvest of 2013. It's going to be turk-i-licious. As usual we will do a rolling harvest. Meaning that we'll butcher a few at a time. By the end of November I fully expect to have a couple 50 pound gobblers out there. The battle will be glorious.

But in the meantime, these young turks are just gonna love being outside and doing turkey stuff.

Happy Sunday everyone!!

OFG on MEN!

WOW! Was I ever surprised when I found out that my humble blog was listed on Mother Earth News list of Star 2013 Modern Homesteaders!

I was so shocked and surprised I didn't even know what to say but WOW!

Mostly I want to thank my friend "A" for nominating me. I think the real reason MEN picked me for their list was her description of what we do here..... she wrote a very beautiful overview and I'm very flattered.

I started this blog mostly as a record keeping tool... but I also wanted to help other folks get started. We learned a lot and wanted to share our "how to's," what motivated us, kept us going, and how we learned to make our way on our funny little farm. We are just regular people with a willingness to do the work and I wanted everyone to know that you can do this farming thing too.

Thank you again, A, for nominating me and thank you, MEN, for including me on your list!

Happy Friday everyone!

Peach Tart! Take Two

I may be down but I'm not out - and I'm definitely not without a tasty snack. This peach tart is so easy even a limp-a-long like me could put it together in a just a few minutes.

This tart.. it's a vision.

Does everyone have a fluted tart pan? The kind with the removable bottom? I'm not sure what it is, but something about making the exact same tart as I made here in a tart pan takes it to a whole new level. It could be the ratio of filling to crust, I'm not sure... but this tart turned out spectacularly.

 I think it's the filling to crust ratio that make it special.

My theory is if you are going to make one pie crust, you might as well make two. So the other day I did. Then all I had to do was hobble out to the kitchen, put the pie crust into my fancy tart pan, pour in the filling (the exact same one as before), whip up a little crumble topping, and 35 minutes later (baked at 375*) I was in tart heaven. How easy is that?

The thing I like about these tart pans (like this Kaiser Bakeware Basic Tinplate 9-1/2 Inch Round Quiche Pan with Removable Bottom) is that you can use just about any recipe for a 9-ish inch pie and it will work beautifully. I even have made this stunning pumpkin pie in the tart pan and it turned out terrific. 

Guess who had the first piece?

If you really, really, really want to make a hit right out of the park, crank it up a little and go to the trouble of making a pate sucree - which is a sweet pastry crust. I did this one time with a simple apple tart and my favorite dinner guest exclaimed, "This crust! It's like a cookie!"

 

So that's what I know about fancy tarts - they aren't so fancy and all you really need is the right pan. I'm not a fan of nonstick bake ware and I'm a little suspicious of aluminum so I really like these tin types. They also come in different sizes and shapes.

Happy Thursday everyone! Are you making fancy tarts?

Editor's note: Look at me linking to my Amazon store.... but how else am I gonna tell you about my favorite finds? Plus I'm bracing for the sticker shock of my recent medical bills...those xrays aren't cheap! So yes if you order by clicking on these links - or anything else thru my Amazon store or from the Amazon search box on the right side of this page - I get a small percentage of the sale. It doesn't cost you one more cent and it helps support this blog.