More photos coming soon. Sheep shearing day is always a little exhausting, even if you aren't doing the actual shearing—or getting sheared. But thankfully it went really well. And now we're all busy recovering.
Okay, we don't actually call this sweet little girl (who you can see as a smiling one-day-old baby here and an accessorizing teenager here) Spot anymore, since her cute brown spot faded away a while ago, but I couldn't resist that title. We now call this guy Spot instead, because his spot is definitely not going anywhere.
This young ewe may be nearly grown up, but she hasn't lost all of her cute—and because it somehow slipped passed us on docking days, she also still has her long tail. Now if she only had an 'F' name as sweet as she is (all the 2009 babies born on the farm get names that begin with F, 2008 was 'E' names, etc.). Any suggestions? (Freida, Franny, and Friendly are already taken.)
Sunshine
Temps in the 40s
A colorful new vintage quilt (for just $20)
Wooly sheep in the background
Golden afternoon light
Chipping away at the giant laundry mountain A homemade chocolate cake
A bowl of raw cruciferous vegetables for Valentine's Day? Considering this is a holiday that traditionally revolves around champagne, candy, and sinfully rich chocolate desserts, I realize it may not sound all that romantic. But if you're planning on keeping your sweetheart around for the long haul, a healthy serving of this crunchy winter slaw might be just what the love doctor ordered. (I can't believe I just wrote love doctor—and didn't delete it.)
Besides being scrumptious and good for you, this slaw isn't super filling, which means you'll still have plenty of room for that chocolate dessert (some of my favorites are listed below). And it even goes well with champagne. Of course I think pretty much everything goes well with champagne, but I'm a hopeless romantic—who also happens to adore her vegetables.
Most of the time, I'm pretty low tech in the kitchen. I enjoy kneading bread dough by hand, I haven't used my two 5-quart commercial mixers in a decade, my Osterizer Deluxe chrome blender is from the 1940's, and it took me over a year before I worked up enough courage to take my big new food processor out of the box (and immediately fall in love with it).
It just seems like I can usually prep whatever I need by hand in a fraction of the time it takes to lug some machine out of the pantry, set it up, use it, wash it, and lug it back. My one exception, as many of you know, is my beloved KitchenAid hand blender, which I believe is one of the greatest inventions on the planet (and which cleans up in a flash and doesn't require any lugging).
I find that the act of chopping vegetables can often be rather meditative. And besides, who doesn't enjoy wielding a sharp knife? But while I was reading through the long paragraph of cutting and slicing instructions on the original recipe, I had an epiphany: I could just cram all this stuff through my new food processor! And so I did. And it was fun.
Say I love you with a big helping of antioxidants!
I skipped the celery in the original version and added some zippy and colorful radishes (which are really easy to grow) to the mix instead, so I got to use the slicing disk and the shredding disk. I then tried shredding some of the Napa cabbage just to see what happened. Don't try this. I also added some yogurt to the mayonnaise dressing for more tang and fewer calories.
After I took these photos, I mixed a handful of raisins and chopped roasted almonds into some of the slaw. Do try this. A couple of shredded carrots would be nice in here, too, and next time I might toss in some chopped scallions.
As always, I urge you to seek out local and organic ingredients whenever you can; they really do make a difference. A digital kitchen scale for weighing ingredients is a worthwhile investment that will last for years; I love my Oxo 11-pound scale and often use it several times a day (it's great for weighing postage, too!).
For the dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I'm a Hellman's/Best Foods girl)
1/2 cup yogurt (I use lowfat—homemade yogurt is wonderful stuff)
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 Tablespoons rice vinegar (I use seasoned)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
For the slaw:
1 pound Napa cabbage (about 1/2 smallish head)
1 pound broccoli (about 1 medium head or 2 smallish crowns)
1/2 pound brussels sprouts (about 12 small), outer leaves removed, ends trimmed
1/2 pound radishes (about 7 large), ends trimmed
Optional additions:
A couple of shredded carrots
Chopped scallions (green onions)
Chopped roasted and salted almonds
Raisins or dried cranberries (craisins)
Make the dressing:
Combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, and rice wine vinegar in a small dish. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Make the slaw:
Cut the Napa cabbage and broccoli into pieces that will fit through your food processor's chute and process using the slicing disk, along with the brussels sprouts. Switch to the shredding disk and process the radishes (and carrots, if using). Alternatively, use a knife to thinly slice the cabbage, brussels sprouts, and radishes, and cut the broccoli into bite size pieces.
Place all the vegetables in a large bowl and toss with the dressing, along with any of the desired optional additions. Salt and pepper to taste.
Chickens Not Included in the Count (our newest chicks, hatched September 2009)
Bird and nature fans throughout North America are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, which started yesterday and continues through Monday, February 15, 2010.
A joint project between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, and (new this year) Bird Studies Canada (BSC), this free event is an opportunity for families, students, and people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards, schoolyards, and local parks, and, at the same time, make an important contribution to conservation.
Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org. The data helps researchers understand bird population trends across the continent, information that is critical for effective conservation.
Last year, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.
All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many other great birding products.
You'll find lots more info about this neat event on the Great Backyard Bird Count website, and you can learn more about birds in general at All About Birds. In addition, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have just created WeLoveBirds.org, a space for bird enthusiasts to meet each other, interact, and share stories in the Community Blog and the Bird Sightings sections.
Feel like counting some chickens first? You'll find links to lots of chick pics here.
Just in case you're still deciding what to make for the Big Game tomorrow, I thought I'd toss out some easy favorite recipes that are always crowd pleasers. Go eat! Oops, I mean Go team!
Are you one of those people who swoons over phrases like buttermilk pancakes and buttermilk biscuits but never actually buys buttermilk because there's nothing to do with the other 3½ cups in the carton after you've used the half cup you needed? Behold the solution.
Pour it on! This simple, healthy salad dressing is flavored with onion, garlic, and dill. To make a thicker dip for veggies or chips, simply add less buttermilk.
I love salad. I eat it nearly every day, sometimes even for breakfast. I also love salad dressing. A two tablespoon 'serving' is something I simply cannot fathom, probably due to the size of my salads.
For years, I always tossed my greens with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a little granulated onion and garlic, salt and freshly ground pepper. If I was feeling especially energetic, I would blend the dressing together first in a small Pyrex measuring cup with a fork, adding a dollop of dijon mustard or maybe some chopped fresh herbs.
When I moved to the country and started growing my own lettuce from seed (it's easier than you think!) and eating salads out of a giant green vintage Pyrex mixing bowl, I realized that I was probably consuming as many extra-virgin olive oil calories as were in a large piece of pie.
Rather than give up dessert—or my waistline—I started making a lowfat yogurt-based concoction I dubbed Farm Dressing, since I lived on a farm and not a ranch. In summer it was full of chopped fresh basil, in winter lots of parsley. Variations abounded, and I lived on the stuff for years. The thought of buying bottled salad dressing never crossed my mind.
Then one day I crossed over. I accepted a taste of Trader Joe's Lowfat Parmesan Ranch Dressing from that dangerous sample counter in the back of the store, and immediately became addicted. So tasty! So easy! So few calories! So expensive, since it didn't take me long to go through a $3.49 bottle—and I bought a lot of bottles.
The good news is that last summer I crossed back over. I quit my Lowfat Parmesan Ranch Dressing addiction cold turkey. I'm also eating more fresh veggie snacks than ever before.
The bad news is that I'm now addicted to homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. I eat it on a whole lot more than just salad and can easily suck down a cup of the stuff in a day or two. My only saving grace? It doesn't taste good on pie.
Do you have any ranch dressing memories, stories, or recipes to share?
It's so easy to eat your veggies (garden goodness from last summer)
Lowfat Buttermilk Ranch Dressing / Dip Makes 3 to 4 cups
The beauty of ranch dressing is that there are about a zillion different ways to make it. My version was inspired by Cookiecrumb (she of the amazingly simple Pear Butter Recipe) by way of this moving post on Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.
I'm calling it lowfat because compared to some versions—like the one I saw that was half mayonnaise—it is lowfat, and I didn't want anybody to shy away from the recipe thinking they'd have to give up dessert in order to enjoy it.
You can dress up this basic version in all sorts of ways, but what's nice is that you don't have to. I actually like it best plain. It comes together so quickly you'll even have enough energy left to mix some up when you get home at one in the morning after a 400-mile day of driving and enjoy it with your I survived the big city! bag of potato chips and bottle of chilled champagne.
Or when a salad craving hits and the steaks are already on the grill—just drizzle some over a few handfuls of fresh spinach or arugula (so easy to grow) and you're good to go.
That said, the flavors of this dressing definitely improve after sitting in the fridge for a day or two. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that the last dregs of the previous batch didn't always taste better than the new one because I'd done something differently, but simply because they'd been allowed to mellow.
Homemade buttermilk ranch dressing just might be the most versatile Superbowl party food: drizzle it over nachos or quesadillas; dunk your Buffalo wings, fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, or fried zucchini and mushrooms in it; use it in coleslaw; slap some on a burger; or even put in on pizza (something I learned from Lisa the Homesick Texan, who makes her dressing with cilantro, serranos, and lime juice).
And of course it's a great all around dip for vegetables and chips.
This recipe makes 3 to 4 cups of dressing, which might seem like a lot. It's not.
3/4 cup sour cream (I use lowfat) 3/4 cup yogurt (I use lowfat—homemade yogurt is wonderful)
1/3 cup mayonnaise (I'm a Hellman's/Best Foods girl)
1 teaspoon granulated garlic (or garlic powder)
1 teaspoon granulated onion (or onion powder)
1 slightly heaping teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon salt (my organic mineral salt is pink)
Freshly ground pepper
1 to 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (I like white)
1 to 2 cups cultured buttermilk (I use lowfat)
Optional additions:
Fresh dill rather than dried
Chopped fresh parsley
Chopped chives
Chopped scallions
Minced shallots
Minced garlic
Fresh basil
Fresh or dried oregano
Other fresh herbs
Fresh lemon juice
A little lemon zest
A dash of Worcestershire sauce
A smidge of dijon mustard
A pinch of cayenne or paprika
Finely shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese
In a small bowl or large measuring cup, combine the sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, granulated garlic, granulated onion, dill weed, salt, and several grinds of pepper. Mix well.
Stir in the balsamic vinegar and then 1 cup of the buttermilk. Add up to 1 cup more of buttermilk, depending on whether you want a thicker dip or a thinner dressing.
Adjust the seasonings to taste, adding another tablespoon of balsamic vinegar if desired, along with any of the optional additions. Keep in mind that the flavors will become bolder over time.