backyard

Ode to the Strawberry

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In our household, it is always a big day when the first red, ripe strawberry can be picked and enjoyed.  And it seems that after a long year’s wait, we have finally reached that time of year again!

Each day the girls peer into the strawberry patch looking for any signs of red beneath the green mass of leaves and vines.  Their little fingers are just the right size to weave in there and snatch up any berry goodness they can locate.

This week I sat outside, looking at our first full bowl of strawberries of the season and I knew I had to make something that would showcase these little jewels.  While I was thinking, I also remembered that I had a dozen eggs from our farm visit on Saturday, freshly collected by our girls and all.  And that sparked it…I would make a strawberry custard pie.

With pen and paper in hand, I got to work.  I worked assiduously all afternoon, checking out a variety of recipes, making my own tweaks, measuring and mixing and tasting.  After a bit of time, and a little help from my always helpful sous chef (Who has now advanced to age three…she is getting so mature 🙂 ), I ended up with what looked like, and tasted like, a yummy pie.

Here is what I did:

Crust (This crust recipe makes a lot, but I have found that it is easier to make a bit more crust, so that it is less likely to break while transferring to the pie plate.  I just use the extra crust to make a quick cream and sugar pie for the girls to snack on.  See the note at the bottom of the recipe for this super easy recipe idea.)

~Mix 2 1/4 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.

~Add 2/3 cup coconut oil (in its solid state).  Mix the coconut oil into the flour using a pastry blender until it resembles crumbs.

~Then add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency for the crust.  (I normally end up with about 10 tablespoons of water.)

~Roll out your crust and transfer it to a pie plate.  Cut off the excess crust and make your desired edge for the pie.

~Blind bake the crust in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes.

~Allow to cool completely.

(*Note:  I take any extra crust, roll it out and place it in a baking dish.  I then add a few pads of butter, a few tablespoons of sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon to the top of the crust.  I then drizzle a bit of cream or milk on top of it all and bake it at 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.  This will give you a yummy little snack to enjoy while you are making the rest of the pie.  I especially love it because it keeps the little ones occupied while momma works on the other parts of the pie.)

Custard

~Mix 2 cups whole milk, 2 cups heavy cream, 4 tablespoons sugar and one vanilla bean (with seeds removed…you add the seeds as well) in a saucepan.

~Bring the milk mixture close to a boil over medium heat.  Stir often to avoid scorching.  Once the mixture is close to a boil, remove it from the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes.  After the 5 minutes, remove the vanilla bean.

~In a separate bowl, mix 8 egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of sugar.

~Temper the eggs with the milk mixture.  Do this very slowly and with a whisk.  Once the eggs are tempered, slowly mix the egg mixture back into the remaining milk mixture using a whisk.

~Slowly whisk in 4 tablespoons of corn starch.

~Then place the saucepan back on low to medium heat and mix constantly with a wooden spoon.  The mixture will gradually begin to thicken.  This will take some time.  Once the custard reaches the desired consistency, remove it from the heat. (You do need to be careful while heating the mixture because if the heat is on too high, or if you cook it for too long, the eggs will begin to scramble.)

~Pour the custard into the prepared pie crust and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

~Once the pudding has set, place fresh, sliced strawberries on top of the pie and enjoy!

Tomato Time

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In our neck of the woods, Mother’s Day weekend marks our last frost date.  So now that momma’s day has come and gone, we have been “gettin’ out in it” and planting our tomatoes.

If you have been reading for awhile now, you may remember that back in February we had our family’s annual seed starting day.  Well, I’m sad to say that after three years of starting our tomato seeds inside, this year was a complete flop.  We are not sure of the cause:  old seeds (for the first time ever we used left over seed from the previous year instead of ordering new), bad light bulbs, not enough watering, too much watering or a little bit of each.  But whatever way you look at it, those tomato seeds never got beyond the tiniest sprout and then just kind of died.

After getting beyond the feelings of defeat, we went on to plan number two:  the farmer’s market.  I started chatting with a few different venders and found a woman whom I immediately knew I wanted to buy tomato plants from.  She genuinely cared about the plants that she had tended to since seed stage, and I knew with that much tender loving care I was bound to get some great tomatoes out of these plants.  From this kind woman I ended up with:

~18 Viva Italia plants (She claims they make the best tomato sauce and cans beautifully…yes please!)

~2 Juliet plants (These plants produce small, oblong tomatoes that are sweet in flavor and are perfect for garden snacking.)

I then ventured to another farmer’s market where I ran across our favorite local mushroom growers.  They told us that their tomato seeds they started indoors for their home garden didn’t grow past seedling stage either (I must say, this did make me feel a touch less like the worst green thumb on earth.)  They told me they were going to purchase some tomato plants from the vendor whose booth was neighboring theirs, so I too bought a few plants from them.  I ended up with an additional 6 Roma plants.

Finally, I went back to The Seed Savers Exchange, where we buy all of our seeds, and looked at their transplant options.  I ended up ordering a few of our favorite heirloom varieties from them:

~2 Green Zebra plants (A sight for the eyes as well as the taste buds!  Tart yet sweet in taste…delicious.)

~2 Mexician Midget plants (For more garden-side snacking)

~1 Amish Paste (A great paste tomato we had great success with last year.)

~1 Speckled Roman (Also a great paste tomato we loved in past years.)

***A great natural gardening tip I obtained from the lovely woman I mentioned from the first farmer’s market:  When you plant your tomato transplant, put one tablespoon of epsom salt in the hole before you plant.  Then once a month, sprinkle one tablespoon of epsom salt around the base of the plant and water.  She said she has been doing this for years, and the epsom salt acts as a natural fertilizer for the plant.

I tried it out.  I dug my hole, put down a thin layer of compost, then added the one tablespoon of epsom salt.  I then planted the tomato plant as I normally would.

We shall see.

Farm Fresh

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This weekend, the littlest of our clan turned three.  In order to celebrate this day, our entire family gathered in our backyard for some farm fresh eggs and local bacon cooked up over the campfire by my hubby.  We also devoured birthday cake at nine in the morning, which was my favorite part of the early morning eating festivities.

After everyone was well fed and revved up with a bit of coffee in their systems, we loaded up into a few vehicles and headed to Krusen Grass Farms.  We have been ordering organic grass fed, grass finished beef from Sue and Altfrid Krusenbaum  for three years now.  We have spoken with them via phone and email many times over the course of the past few years, but had yet to visit their farm.

I spoke with Sue several months ago about a visit and since we have small children, she suggested we come and visit in May because that is when their cows are calving, and the girls would get to see a bunch of calves.  And see calves we did…over 80 of them!  And of these eighty young calves, we were even lucky enough to have timed our visit as such that we were able to see, touch, and snuggle two calves that were just a day old.

I’m telling you, I could have plopped myself right down in that barn and stayed there all day long.  Those little ones were the most friendly, lovely animals I have ever come across.  It was just amazing for the girls (and the adults for that matter) to experience.

But that was not the end of our visit, in fact it was only the beginning.  Sue was so incredibly kind and gave up over two hours of her day to show us her family’s absolutely gorgeous land, animals, and explain to us their sustainable farming practices that make the farm an absolute wonder to behold!  Our next stop was the egg mobile, where the girls were able to gather the day’s eggs.

I think the egg gathering was my oldest daughter’s favorite part of the day.  As she climbed down the steps of the egg mobile, she looked at me and said, “Mom, I think I want to start my own business.  I want to buy chickens of my own and have them lay eggs and then I’ll sell them.”  Love her.

Following the egg extravaganza, we made our way out into the pasture to visit with some of the other cattle.  After growing acclimated to our large group, these beautiful animals meandered our way and we were again able to “visit” with them for a bit.  Such fun!

Of all things I’ve done in my life, including our recent visit to Growing Power, which I touted as one of the greatest days in recent memory, this day now also tops my list.  We were once again able to forge relationships with the people that raise the food our family consumes, see the magnificent landscape on which this food is grown, and also witness a family acting as true stewards of the land.  We had such a fabulous day, and we thank you very much Krusenbaum family for a wonderful visit!

Gratitude

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This week I am so very thankful for…

~working in the soil and getting all of our tomatoes planted.

~great new additions to our book shelf. (This one, this one and this one.)

~time to sip coffee and stand in the garden at day break.

~dance recital costumes with glitter, glitter and more glitter.

~two little ones playing catch with their dad and great grandmother in the backyard.

~an upcoming birthday celebration this weekend.

~only six more days of school…then “school’s out for summer”!

Whatever you are up to this weekend, I hope you enjoy yourself thoroughly!  Happy Friday!

Acquisitions

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In a few posts (here and here), I have mentioned my love of antiques and this past week I obtained a few new acquisitions that I am just thrilled to share with you.  I was on my way to pick up my eldest daughter from school when I saw a yard sale sign.  I don’t know what made me follow this particular sign, as opposed to any of the other twenty I had passed throughout the day, but I am so very glad that I did!  When I pulled up, the front yard was filled, literally brimming, with antiques.  Everything from a wooden four poster bed, to an iron cook stove, to a kid’s gardening table were strewn across the grass on this beautiful afternoon.

I immediately parked my car, grabbed my two-year old shopping partner and started perusing.  I have been looking for an antique work table for almost two years now.  I wanted to put it on my deck to use for a space to prep food outside since we entertain out there so often.  I had been unable to find a match to the picture in my mind…until now.  Sitting there beneath century old irons, crystal and tools was the table I had been envisioning.

Needless to say, I walked away with the table, and an awesome chair.  I made some repairs to the chair, added a coat of paint and now it is a bright new feature in our backyard.  The table of my dreams…Well, I just washed that baby down and left her as is.  I love the “oldness” of it. The cracks, the splatters of paint, the remnants of tape that can be found along the back edge.  Love it.

As you can see, we broke the “new” table in this past Friday on pizza night.  Yes, she will suit our needs just fine 🙂

Garden Party

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This Mother’s Day was one for the memory books. I rose early for some quiet time with my hubby.  I sipped coffee while he made homemade cinnamon rolls that he and the girls were planning to serve to me later. When the girls awoke, the wild rumpus started (Oh Maurice Sendak, you will forever be remembered.) There were cards, there was frosting, and there were the most precious video cards that the girls and Tyler had worked on the day before, complete with costumed princesses, fairies and singing. It was a wonderful start to a fabulous day!

When the noon hour arrived, so did our entire family for our first annual Mother’s Day Garden Party. The kids played the day away in the playhouse, entertained us with their musical instruments, and then rounded out the day in the kiddie pool. The adults enjoyed rhubarb bellinis (yet another favorite Jamie Oliver recipe of mine taken from this cookbook), some tasty food, and of course, great company.

On the food docket for the day was pulled pork that I slow roasted for fifteen hours the day before, served with two different barbeque sauces my hubby made that morning. We also enjoyed rhubarb squares (the recipe can be found in this post), a mojito cake made from a Pampered Chef recipe I love to bust out when the weather gets nice, and coconut macaroons that I found a recipe for in Taproot magazine. All of our guests also brought dishes to pass including salad made with home-grown lettuce, and mushroom crustini’s made with locally grown mushrooms and bread baked by nuns in an area convent.

I know I mentioned it yesterday, but again, I hope that all of the mothers out there had a wonderful day on Sunday. We are all so lucky to be able to tend to our children each and every day. Even though some days can be rough, and we may want to just take a momma’s time out, it is comforting to know there are a plethora of other moms out there giving it their all.  Thank you for reading this blog, for your comments, and your thoughts.  It is a true blessing.

Garden Update

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We at the Fagan abode have been out in the garden a great deal the past few weeks, and I must say it is starting to feel like we are actually getting somewhere!  My hubby got out a couple of weeks ago and planted our beets:  Chioggia and Early Blood Turnip.  Last week I planted the rest of our greens:  Lacinato Kale, Silverbeet Swiss Chard, and Georgia Southern Collards.  And my five year old planted carrots:  Dragon and St. Valery.

This past weekend, while my husband had the girls up in Wisconsin fishing, I planted my annuals in my herb garden:  Grandma Einck’s Dill and Genovese Basil (this I had started indoors back in February).  I then added Amish Snap Peas and our beans:  Bountiful, Burpee’s Stringless, Dragon’s Tongue (my girls’ favorite because of the purple stripes), Pencil Pod Golden Wax and Royalty Purple Pod.  And while I was at it I threw in my Black Beauty Zucchini. (I’m hoping these will do alright since it is not quite past our last frost date.)

Then yesterday we escaped to the farmer’s market for a while, and the girls each bought a basil plant of their own with the money they have been saving since Christmas.  They were even lucky enough to get a planting lesson from the farmer who sold them the basil.  This is why I LOVE market…The direct interaction with the farmer.  So, so, so much can be learned!

Jerusalem Artichokes

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After reading an article in Mother Earth News a few weeks ago, I felt inspired to try a new veggie!  The article discussed a variety of perennial vegetables, in addition to asparagus and rhubarb which tend to be the perennial veggies that people are most familiar with, but the one that caught my eye was the Jerusalem artichoke.  I was very intrigued by these perennial tubers.  Jerusalem artichokes (also known as sunchokes because they produce beautiful yellow flowers similar to a sunflower) can prepared in much the same fashion as a potato.

I was thrilled when I walked into my natural foods store yesterday and found a giant basket of Jerusalem artichokes nestled in amongst the locally grown kale and spinach!  I grabbed a bag of these little guys and headed home with an idea in my mind to create some form of soup with them.

So yesterday, with a tiny two-year old sous chef by my side, I started my experimental run with Jerusalem artichoke soup.

I first put 4 tablespoons of butter in a stock pot.  After the butter was melted I threw in one diced yellow onion and 2 diced leeks.

I cooked these veggies down until tender.  Then I added 10 medium Jerusalem artichokes that I had diced (I left the peels on for added nutrition).  I then covered all of the veggies with about 2 quarts of pork stock that I had on hand.  I then covered the pot, and let the veggies simmer for about 20 minutes.

While the veggies simmered, I fried up a pound of bacon. (A note…my girls ate about 2 strips each, so it ended up being a bit less than a pound of bacon that I actually ended up putting in the soup 🙂 )  When the bacon was cool enough the handle, I chopped it up into bite-sized pieces.

Once the Jerusalem artichokes were tender, I ran an immersion blender through the soup.  Then I added 1/2 cup heavy cream and 8 oz Havarti cheese (shredded).  After the dairy was incorporated, I added the chopped bacon to the soup.  I flavored with salt and pepper from there are viola…Jersusalem artichoke soup!

I hope you enjoy this great little veggie that has gone unnoticed for so long here in our house.  The soup had a very similar texture to that of potato soup, but with a slightly sweeter taste.  I would say that this experiment turned out to be a success.

The Squirrel Whisperer

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When we peer out the windows of our home in northern Illinois we see cardinals, blue jays, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits and the occasional turkey, but every time we make the trek up to the Northwoods, the concentration of wildlife, only four short hours north of us, never ceases to amaze me.  The area is literally crawling with critters, and let me tell you…my girls LOVE it!

On this particular trip, my five year old became especially fond of the squirrels.  Any time we were indoors, I found her standing at the front entry way of my husband’s grandparent’s home.  She would settle into her post at the door and just wait.  As soon as she spotted a squirrel in the distance, she would tap on the door and make a little clicking sound with her tiny mouth.  This is when the magic happened:  A minimum of five squirrels would come running up the front steps, place their bitty hands on the iron frame of the door and wait.  Then my daughter would open the door just enough to slip a few peanuts through the gap, and the squirrels would grab the nut and scurry away with treasure in hand.  Amazing.

This went on for four days.  Morning.  Noon.  Night.

Love.