Crack Pizza

At Shelburne Farms they even put people in pens.

Hail!!!

My dinner for the past two nights...recipe in previous post.

Remember when you were little, you and your friends used to say that thunder was God going bowling?  Or that rain was God crying?  Well, if that's true, then the Vermont weather God is a bipolar toddler who has frequent tantrums.  Today it was warm and sunny (I think...I was in a cave, so I can't be sure) and then all the sudden it was cloudy, and then it thundered, and then it POURED SHEETS OF WATER AND HAIL THE SIZE OF MARBLES, and then it was bright and sunny and warm again.  In a matter of maybe...30 minutes.  

Our sourdough starter is ready to make bread!  Yay!  Greg made some test loaves earlier this week, and I got to have two of them...and uh...they're basically gone now.  I like bread.  Especially this bread.  I'm pretty sure it's the best bread I've ever had.

Anyway, today we made 7 batches of dough, each one enough to make 4 loaves.  We then shaped them into baguettes and rounds, scored them, and popped them into the oven.  Now there are lots and lots of loaves sitting in a big cloth bag, ready to be sold at the market tomorrow!  Excitement.

Greg made pizza with some of the dough.  I'm pretty sure he should open a restaurant.  It was deeeee-licious.  Yes, I fail as a vegan.  Shut up.

I'm milking tomorrow morning, so I am heading off to bed.  Bed time for Big Bird.  Nighty night.

Quiche Puff

Sorry that I've been an inconsistent blogger lately...but I've been really busy!!!  Sometimes I'm just lazy...like Monday night...and Wednesday...but listen to my Tuesday schedule, and maybe you'll understand why I wanted to go to sleep instead of blahg.  Wake up at 4:30AM.  Milk 5:00-7:00.  Feed pigs and non-milkers 7:00-7:30.  Cheese house, wrapping and packing orders 8:00-4:00PM.  Get in car, drive to Williston 5:00-6:15.  Gymnastics 6:15-8:15.  Drive home 8:15-9:30.  Eat a snack, shower, and sleep!  My Thursday schedule is the same, but I wake up at 7:00.  So maybe now you can sympathize. 

Since today is a Thursday, that means yesterday was a Wednesday, and it was my day off.  I didn't have anything planned except food shopping, but Hannah kindly invited me to go strawberry/cherry picking with her and Livia and Hayden!  If you have ever seen me in the months of June, July, August, September, and October, you know how obsessed I am with picking edible things.  Especially apples and pumpkins and blueberries, but you know, strawberries and cherries are fun too.  In Pennsylvania, especially at Linvilla Orchard, I'm pretty sure that it's cheaper to buy apples in a store than to pick them yourself.  But in good ol' Vermont, I could get tons of strawberries and cherries for only $7 something.  And Linvilla certainly doesn't have a view of mountains and Lake Champlain.  

I wasn't quite sure what to do with all of the fruit that I had collected, but I found a recipe for strawberry bread...like banana bread, but with strawberries.  Of course, my version substituted every ingredient besides the strawberries...whole wheat instead of white flour, agave nectar instead of sugar, egg replacer, Earth Balance instead of butter...oh, and I didn't use measuring cups or spoons.  You can imagine how it tasted.  Like shiit-ake mushrooms.  Actually, it's not that bad, just a bit floury.  I'm obviously not including the recipe for that, mostly because I have no idea what I did.  I really need to start following recipes again.

So exciting news!  I mentioned it in paragraph #1...I am doing gymnastics again!  I go twice a week to a gym in Williston called Green Mountain Gymnastics, and I'm part of an open gym program for middle school/high schoolers, neither of which I am.  The coach is going to be a senior in college, though, and she's really nice, so I feel fine.  Woooo for getting back in shape!  Yeah, about that...I feel like I've been run over by a tractor.  It's been more than I year since I've done gymnastics, and my body is protesting, loudly and painfully.  But it's ok!  It feels great to be back in the gym.

This is what I've been eating for dinner recently, because of my strawberry surplus.

Salad is Cruise Control for Awesome

Salad:

Any type of mild lettuce you like, washed and torn into pieces

ARUGULA....mmmm

Sliced strawberries

Small pieces, crumbles, of goat cheese (I used our herbal chévre)

Diced avocado

Sunflower seeds

Dressing:

2 parts Good olive oil

1 part Good balsamic vinegar

Maple syrup

Salt

Garlic scapes

For salad:  Combine everything in a bowl.  Duh.

For dressing:  Whisk together olive oil and vinegar.  Add a little maple syrup and salt to taste.  Slice garlic scapes into tiny thin disks and add to mixture. 

Pour dressing over salad, grab a fork and a good book, and head on outside.

Weekend with the Parents

Sorry for not posting when I said I would.  I'm a bad bad blogger.  Oh well.  Who reads this thing anyway?  

I was a bit too busy to post over the weekend because my parents collected me on Friday and we set off for a whirlwind tour of Burlington and the surrounding area.  The first day was really amazing...we stopped off to look at Shelburne Farms.  It's this GARGANTUAN estate built by a man who had married into Vanderbilt money (you know, the family with the railroads).  You walk into the Farm Barn and it feels like you're entering the courtyard of a medieval castle, complete with turrets and a bell tower.  It was utterly gorgeous.  The first thing we did was get a snack...a veggie platter with fresh little carrots, baby beets, and radishes from their garden, homemade hummus, their fresh baked bread, and Shelburne farms' cheddar.  "Wow," is all I can say about that.  After we finished, we went and looked at the animals, including a colossal brown swiss cow.  I could have sworn she was part elephant.  I am going to have pictures of lots of these things, but I haven't received them yet.  

We drove around some of the property and saw this Hummer:

Which made us laugh.  

For dinner that night we ate at American Flatbread in Burlington...it was delicious.  They use all local and organic ingredients whenever possible, so I felt good about throwing my veganism to the winds.  We buy their pizza at Whole Foods, and it was really exciting to eat at the actual restaurant.

  

Saturday was the Burlington Farmer's Market, and it was AMAZING.  There was a ton of produce, especially strawberries and lovely greens.  I bought some rainbow chard and garlic hummus (from a vendor called "Chick Peace").  Then we met this guy, Dylan, who is a sort of family friend type dude...it's complicated.  Anyway, we know him, and he has an organic vegetable farm called "Digger's Mirth."  Isn't that a great name?  Doesn't that just invoke images of the earth laughing up vegetables?  I like it.  Dylan took us to the farm and gave us a little tour.  It was beautiful, and really interesting.  And he gave me some adorable little carrots!  I took some pictures...

  

We had reservations for Black Sheep Bistro in Vegennes, because it was highly recommended by Hannah and Greg.  It was far away but worth it.  There was a lot to see on the way down and the town of Vegennes is very quaint.  I got curried asparagus soup and a spinach beet salad.  Mmmm.  Oh, and Ben and Jerry's for dessert!  Cinnamon Buns ice cream in a kid cone.

For breakfast today we went to a crepe place called The Skinny Pancake.  The place was very cute, and had the potential to be delicious, had I not ordered something vegan.  Who orders something uncheesy in a crepe place?  That was dumb.  Ah, well.  I'll know for next time.  

And then it was time to go!  

And now I'm watching the Olympic Trials, angry that I'm not at home in the stands.  Grrrr.

One of the Girls

Picture: My drawing!  I have the artistic skills of an very talented toddler!  It looks a bit better in person, but not much.

Because Hannah and Greg are artists, they have a studio on the 2nd floor of the New Barn.  It's beautiful and bright and stocked with easels and brushes and pastels and the like.  Today I felt like doing something vaguely artistic, so I climbed past the eagerly bleating goats on the first floor and up into the studio.  And then I looked around, feeling very much out of my element.  I grabbed a pencil, paper, and chair, and sat down by the window to sketch what I saw.  I tried my very best and STILL ended up with a drawing that could have come from my 2nd grade portfolio.  I like it though.  I actually put a lot of thought into it, successfully captured some things.  Like how the sky looked before a recent storm, and the way the fields sometimes look like a patchwork quilt, and the different layers of the mountains.  I gave no thought to perspective...the goats are as big as the trees.  Ah, well.  I showed it to Hannah and Greg and they managed, admirably, to make positive comments without laughing.  Quite impressive on their part, I think.

Then I had an urge.  I had an urge to know what it's like to be a goat.  I went downstairs, climbed the fence, and sat down in the middle of the pasture.  I picked a blade of grass, I put it in my mouth, I chewed it thoughtfully.  Then, suddenly, I was surrounded by a small herd of young goats, who seem to think that everything is edible.  Everything.  My shirt, the ties on my pants, my fingers, my hair, my ears, my nose.  I'm surprised that all the features are left on my face.  If the goats had their way, I would be a naked, earless, noseless, fingerless, bald young woman.  Eventually their nibbling tickled too much and I had to stand up.  I discovered that being a goat mostly consists of standing around eating grass, baahhhhh-ing at everything that moves, and running in and out of the barn for no particular reason.  It's an action packed life.

Remember when I made those soba noodles with almond butter sauce a few weeks ago?  I found an interesting recipe on Orangette for soba with a peanut lime sauce.  I've adapted it below:

Soba with EXCITING Sauce

Organic, All Natural Peanut butter

Lime juice (I didn't have limes, so I used lemons)

Olive oil

Soy sauce

Cayenne pepper

Powdered ginger

Chopped Garlic 

Nutritional yeast, obviously

Water, to thin it

Soba noodles

Daikon or regular radishes, sliced thin

Lamb's quarters, spinach, or bak choi, sliced thin

Carrots, sliced thin

Whisk together all ingredients for sauce until it turns into something sauce-like.  It'll be lumpy for a while, but keep stirring and it'll become smooth.

Boil soba noodles for about 2 minutes, until al dente.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  Put in bowl, mix with veggies and sauce.  Enjoy!

I have felt entirely uninspired for the past few days.  You may have noticed that.  I think that I am going to make this a Monday-Wednesday-Friday blog, that you can stop by on your way to check xkcd.  If you don't know from xkcd...that would sadden, but not surprise me.  I wouldn't have the faintest idea of what those four letters represented if I hadn't met Susanna and her posse of webcomics.  You'll have to do the research yourself, though.  I don't want to make it too easy to discover.  

Just...Don't Drop The Soap

I worked from 5 AM until 4 PM today.  That's 11 hours.  The great thing is, it barely feels like I'm working.  It's amazing.  Who else has a job like that?  Only me.  

Tomorrow is my day off, and then my parents are coming up to visit from Thursday to Sunday.  Very exciting!  

I'm not quite sure why, but I am happy to an extreme degree.  Which is nice.

For dinner, I had tempeh tacos.  I made some more tortillas from the leftover dough I had, and then made a filling.

Barn Swallows

Tempeh Tacos

Tempeh, cut into 1/4 inch strips

Sliced red bell pepper

Sliced onion

Sliced mushrooms

Spinach

Red pepper

Curry powder

Nutritional yeast

Soy sauce

Sesame oil

Avocado slices

Heat oil and add peppers and onions to pan.  Saute until onions are softened.  Add tempeh and mushrooms, cook until tempeh is golden brown.  Add spinach, heat until wilted, season with soy sauce, red pepper, curry powder, and nutritional yeast.  Fill half a tortilla, top with avocado, fold in half and eat!

I'm going to have a midnight (midnight = 9:00) snack of whole wheat tortilla + maple syrup + peanut butter + banana.  Goodnight!

Short But Sweet

I am trying to think if something especially notable happened today...

Can't think of anything.  

Actually yes!  Milking went REALLY well today.  I finished in a very reasonable amount of time...it probably took me about 1.5 hours.  

And another thing!  I bought these amazing looking, perfectly ripe strawberries at the co-op.  I ate them, and then decided to call them "S.O. Strawberries."  S.O. standing for "Spontaneous Orgasm."  That's how good they are.  I started to eat them just by themselves, but then I remembered the bar of Lake Champlain dark chocolate that I had also purchased at the co-op.  I melted it in a makeshift double boiler and dunked the strawberries.  A few of them got a sprinkling of spicy pumpkin seeds.  Yummy.  

Also, it was the most gorgeous day, 78 and breezy.  

Happy Monday.

Father's Day

I'd like to dedicate this post to fathers everywhere, especially my father.  And, of course, my brothers, Andrew and Dan.  Oh, and Greg!  Happy Father's Day to all (for whom it is applicable).

In other news, the piglets have arrived!  I found out this morning, but I think they were born last night.  There are eight, of all different colors.  Some spotted, some orange, some pink, all adorable.    

So this morning I woke up, which I took to be a promising start to the day.  I fed my starter, because from days 10 - 14 of growing a starter you feed it three times a day.  Feeding just consists of adding certain amounts of flour and water and stirring.  It's quite smelodious (to quote my father on Father's Day).  Is that a positive statement?  I'm not sure, but it's meant to be one.  It smells pretty good, like apple cider vinegar. 

Then I had breakfast...obviously, I ate chili on a piece of bread with cheese.  Because I'm too cool for cereal.  I worked in the cheese house from about 8 - 12, flipping chévre and pouring crottina/Lake's Edge.  And then I was free!  I fed my starter again, and then started to think about feeding myself.  I had a plan, and that plan involved homemade flour tortillas.  I'd just read, on Orangette (see previous post), about making your own tortillas.  It just so happened I had all THREE ingredients required to make it.  Well, she said to use white flour, but I only have whole wheat.  So they were whole wheat tortillas.  And they were DELICIOUS.  Here is the recipe, adapted from Orangette (Molly Wizenberg), who adapted it from Saveur Cooks Authentic American.

Barn Swallows I

Whole Wheat Tortillas

4 cups organic whole wheat flour
6 Tbs vegetable shortening (Earth Balance)
1 1/2 tsp salt, if shortening is unsalted

In a small saucepan, bring about 2 cups of water to a boil.

Mix together flour and salt in a large bowl.  With there being a dearth of large bowls in my apartment, I used a stock pot.  Mix in the shortening with your fingers until the flour mixtures is a coarse meal.  Add about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of water (enough so that the dough holds together), and start by mixing with a spoon.  Once it is cool enough, bring it all together with your hands.  

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 2-5 minutes, but no more.  

Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 min.
Heat a 9" cast iron skillet over medium heat, with a tiny bit of canola oil.

Cut ball of dough into 6 wedges.  Cut wedges into 3 to make 18 wedges in all.  Take 1 wedge and roll it into a VERY thin circle about 8 inches in diameter.  Put dough in pan and cook for about 20-30 seconds, until puffed.  Flip and do another 20-30 seconds until golden brown.  Cool on rack, and repeat with remaining wedges.  Don't stack until wedges are completely cool.
Yield: 18 tortillas

I ate these tortillas as part of soft tacos made with more chili (can you overdose on chili?  I hope not), avocado slices, and crottina leftover from the farmer's market.  I am still so full from lunch that I'm skipping dinner altogether.

I lazed about all afternoon...except for the hour I exercised, and the half hour I weeded the garden.  The rest of it was spent reading Orangette and The Paupered Chef (another food blog, check it out.  One of the writers visited our farm yesterday)...and, I confess, on ConnColl Confessional and Facebook.  

The writer of The Paupered Chef has kindly identified those mysterious garlic greens from last post!  They are called "Garlic Scapes," and they are the first young tendrils of garlic plants.  I found a lovely looking recipe for Garlic Scape Pesto from A Mighty Appetite, which I would most certainly make, had I in my possession a food processor.  Someone else must make it and tell me how it is...assuming you could get your hands on garlic scapes, which, come to think of it, is rather unlikely.  Keep an eye out though!  Stop by farmer's markets.

Barn Swallows II

Garlic Scape Pesto

1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup walnuts
¾ cup olive oil
¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano 
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator