Intense. Like camping.

Picture 1 : All the things I got at the market today...organic garlic greens (I don't know what they are, that's what I'm calling them), organic microgreens, and lamb's quarters.  

Picture 2 : My chili.  It was intense.

Check out this blog, entitled "Orangette."  It puts mine completely to shame.  I will persevere, however, and continue to update my inferior blog.  NOTE (20 minutes later):  I just found out that this Orangette woman, Molly Wizenberg (she's Jewish!), is a published writer.  I no longer feel like a sad excuse for a blogger.

It was a Saturday, a market day, a morning milking day.  I was out of bed by 3:30...I woke up for some reason.  It happened to be a good thing, though, because I put some rice and water in the rice cooker and then went back to sleep.  When my alarm rang at 4:30, the rice was done.  I mixed it with some rice milk and maple syrup for a breakfast porridge.  Pretty yummy!  Milking was easy, although we had to continue recording the amount of milk each girl was giving.  Then Hannah and I walked the goats out to the woods and I fed the piggly wigglies.  One of the big sows is pregnant, and when I walk out there I keep expecting to see a jumble of piglets lying somewhere.  But it hasn't happened yet!  I'm having daydreams about Charlotte's Web.  

I helped out in the cheese house pouring chévre for a little bit, and then Hannah dropped me off at the Middlebury market to bring reinforcements to her dad (her parents do market duty...her dad goes to the Middlebury market and her mom to the Rutland market).  The market slowed down a lot once I got there, and we didn't sell as well as we had been.  I talked to some pretty cool people though...one guy, Casey, was coming to the Middlebury College language school from Wisconsin.  He didn't come to our tent to buy cheese...he came for our competitively priced Blue Ledge Farm t-shirts.  He left all of his shirts on the train.  I felt a bit used...but he was going to be learning Russian, and I, being of Russian ancestry, was charmed.  Tucker also came by, with some of his family.  They all seem really sweet.

I had $4 left to spend in my wallet...I spend ALL of my money on food.  I just can't help it.  The co-op is so enticing.  I spent $3.50 at the market and was able to buy a bag of organic micro greens and...well, I'm not sure quite what they are...they look like chives/onion grass/scallions, but they're not hollow.  Anyway, they are amazing and taste like mild garlic.  We traded cheese with this adorable old lady and she gave us bags of Lamb's Quarters.  It's commonly considered a weed, but it's actually very nutritious and tastes like spinach.  I can't wait for the market to really pick up and more produce to become available.  

So I went to the co-op in the afternoon because I was DETERMINED to make chili.  I'd seen Hannah and Greg and the kids eating chili and I was like...I WANT IT.  But it had meat in it.  So I made my own!  It is probably has the most ingredients of any chili ever made.

Barn Swallows

Chili con EVERYTHING (but carne, of course)

Minced Garlic

Diced Onion

Diced Red bell pepper

Diced Carrot

Diced Potato

Diced Fresh tomato

Pearled barley

Black beans

Crumbled tempeh

Canned diced tomatoes, squished up a bit.

Frozen corn

Frozen peas

Sliced Button mushrooms

Cumin

Cayenne pepper

...I think that's it.

So, don't do what I did, and use dried black beans that have been soaked.  Cheat and used canned black beans, and your stomach will thank you for not making it wait to eat for an hour or two.  The recipe is pretty simple.  Saute onions, garlic, and bell pepper for about 3 minutes or so.  Season with cayenne pepper and cumin.  Add carrots and potatoes.  Saute for a few minutes.  Add barley, tempeh and canned tomatoes.   Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cover.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  In the last 5 minutes of those 30, saute mushrooms, corn, and peas, and fresh tomato until hot.  Add to chili.  Simmer for another minute, then serve.  Garnish with chopped scallions and cheese of your choice...I used some crottina.  Mmmm.  It was totally worth the 2 hours it took for me to make.  

Whew!  This was a long one.