North Ridge Farm

Enjoying Autumn & Pumpkin Spice Maple Syrup

In my corner of the world, autumn arrived many weeks ago and is near its righteous peak this very moment. Skies so deeply blue, catching the scent of overly ripe grapes and blackberries as I go about chores. Geese overhead in the afternoon, departing for winter, one flock at a time. Rose hips plump, sweet and frost-kissed. They are ready to be dried for a winter supply of Vitamin C, and some will be sampled fresh, too. Persimmon of the north. 

The seasons here feel like theatre to me. Every aspect elevated beyond my limited imaginings, each with its own dramatic flair. A production so grand even the finest Broadway directors could not begin to duplicate it. Here, the premium box seats are found on the edge of the garden as I watch my flock cluck and purr their way through the garden for fall cleanup; beneath a crimson maple tree as the sun dips below the western ridge; on the water, enjoying a late day paddle, listening to the chatter of loons as a bald eagle swoops down, talons extended, snatching a plump fish straight from the water’s surface for their dinner. Immediately knowing you might never bear witness to a scene like that that again. 

Inside, surfaces overflow with the fruits of the season. Herbs drying, seeds accumulating, vegetables ripening and awaiting my attention. My two hands can only do so much and this year more than any other, I think they have reached capacity. I am ready to be done with food preservation, but there is much to do still. Kale, cabbage, apples, pears, carrots, tomatoes, onions, leeks. Give the cold room shelves a fresh wipe down with vinegar and water before filling them up with the winter squash that’s been curing in the greenhouse for weeks, bushels of potatoes, onions, carrots, and garlic. Make tomato sauce. Clean out the catch-all freezer so that we have room for the chickens in a few weeks, and hopefully venison a few weeks after that. 

Last week I made a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Simple Syrup that was circulating on Instagram and it was delicious! The idea is to use it in your coffee, which I did with great autumnal pleasure. I went ahead and made a second batch this weekend and tweaked the recipe enough that it no longer resembles the original at all, so I am going to share it here in case you’d like to make some. 

 

Pumpkin Spice Maple Syrup

• 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 (slightly rounded) tsp pumpkin pie spice

In a small over medium-high heat, bring mixture just to a boiling point, while whisking. Turn heat down to medium-low and continue whisking for 2-3 minutes, until everything is combined. Watch carefully so it does not boil over. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Shake or stir before use. Will keep for 7-10 days. Use in coffee or stir into steel cut oatmeal. 

Even though our harvest and preservation tasks continue to stretch out before us, it’ll all end soon enough. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise anyone around here if we see our first snow in a few weeks. Another summer has passed us by, and this one for the record books; I will give a proper end of season garden and harvest synopsis soon. For now, there is nesting to do and September to enjoy. 

They Continued Walking, Close Again {Plus, Homemade Macaroni & Cheese}

On Sunday I took the long way to my destination, choosing a winding drive around the lake over a straight shot through heavier traffic. Beside the lake, two older women walked closely together, but quickly put some distance between them as my vehicle came into sight. Driving closer, they switched to single file. I couldn’t give my usual wide girth, moving entirely to the opposite side of the road, as their position was just near the top of a hill I was about to crest and no telling what was coming from the other side. But I gave them all the room I could, and slowed my pace considerably. As I passed we exchanged a wave, one of the women decked in comfortable L.L.Bean-type attire, earthy heathered colors, properly bundled in layers for the brisk October day. The other, walking closest to oncoming traffic, wore a blaze orange safety vest with yellow reflective stripes. Both women were dressed far more sensibly than me; I didn’t even have socks on, reluctant that I am to give up my sockless feet of summer. 

Past them, I glance at their increasingly distant reflection in the rearview mirror. Then, with me safely down the road, the silver haired woman reached for the hand of her partner, and they continued walking, close again, holding hands. With me, safely long gone. My stomach tightened as I thought how painful it must be for two mature, consenting humans to not trust that their love is allowed. How so many feel that way. Do I rage or do I weep? Both. I thought of them for the rest of the day, and still am, four days later.

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I prefer to wrap up tender posts with a silver lining. It's more comfortable for everyone. But sometimes I can't think of a way to do that. So how about some comforting food if I cannot find a comforting sentiment?

I haven’t made this in a couple of years, though I thought of it yesterday as it’s been a traditional Halloween meal for Emily and friends many times. Even though I can't seem to justify a pan of such tasty gluttony for two middle aged empty nesters, you should definitely make it. This recipe is unapologetically filled with dairy and carbohydrates and if we’re being really honest, it is also the gateway to heaven. 

 

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese 

Inspired by Tasha Tudor’s Recipe

Serves 4 to 6. Can be doubled to make a large pan. 

• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 cup Gruyere, grated
• 1/2 cup crumbled buttery crackers, for topping

 

1. Preheat oven to 350º F and butter a shallow 2 quart baking dish.

2. Cook macaroni in boiling salted water until just tender.  Drain and prepare cream sauce (you could also prepare sauce while pasta is cooking).

3. In a large saucepan, melt 4 tbsp of butter, then whisk in the flour and slowly add the milk, keep whisking.  Whisk mixture until it thickens, then add the both cheeses and stir it in until it melts.  Season well with salt and pepper. 

4. Place the drained macaroni in the prepared baking dish, pour the cheese sauce over it, and stir gently to mix. Sprinkle the crumbled buttery crackers over the top, and dot with the remaining butter.  Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until browned and bubbly.

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See? If you’re not sure how to end on a high note, offer carbs and dairy. 

A Little Effort in August

Awake at 4:00 seems reasonable when you go to bed at 8:00. It is true what our elders tell young parents, that the day will come when sleep returns. Days and nights all our own, and just to emphasize the cliche further: yes, you will miss those little buggers and their pointy-elbows-jammed-into-your-neck-snuggles. At the same time, you’ll revel in sleeping all starfish-like in your very own spacious bed. Writing by 5:20 and it’s still dark outside. Summer has felt relentless this year with oppressive humidity and rain, heat too, but that’s not the challenging part. It’s the humidity that’ll do you in. These last few days we’ve been blessed with a taste of autumn. Nothing committal, but enough to make having the canner running for most of the day a pleasant experience. Forty quarts later, we’ve got plenty of peaches to fill our wintry days and nights. I was hoping for fifty quarts, maybe next year. In the meantime, forty isn’t something to complain about. And we’re still on track for one hundred quarts of fruit overall, which was the main goal. 

I always take the time to peel peaches when canning or freezing, which seems terribly laborious, but given yesterday’s cool breeze and the fact that I’d set the day aside for the job, was not something I minded. Plus, peach skin in your yogurt or cobbler is not pleasant. The skins have to go. The trick to easy-ish peach processing is to make sure you have freestone peaches, that they are of perfect ripeness (underripe peaches do not peel well, overripe peaches can turn mushy), and to score a large “x” on the bottom of each peach with your knife before dropping it in the blanching water. By "large" I mean let the “x” go up the sides of the peach a third of the way. Score it like you mean it. Then, after blanching and after they’ve sat in the ice water bath for a couple of minutes, you just peel up each corner from where you made the “x” and the skin slips off in four easy sheets. Truly, not troublesome. Sure, it takes some time to get through a large quantity, but it’s not a frustrating task when done this way. Those score marks combined with the perfect ripeness are everything. Once peeled, just slice wedges of peach right off the pit with your paring knife. They pop right off when using freestones. I actually do this right over the jar when canning, as I try to handle the delicate slices as little as possible. Place a wide mouth funnel in the jar to direct your aim. To be sure, preserving peaches - no matter how efficiently you come at it - is still a sticky mess, but that’s nothing a little soap and hot water can’t take care of. Cracking open a jar of summer peaches on a wintry day to make cinnamon scented crisp, sure makes a little effort in August seem worth it. 

Strawberries, Food Storage, and Jam

It’s still June, so I’m still thinking and dreaming and talking about strawberries. 

When I brought home all of those strawberries recently, it was a hot stretch of days and things were pretty busy in the garden, so I did what most of us do with the fast pace of summer fruit: I quickly cleaned it up and stuck it in the freezer to be dealt with another day. 

Some years, that other day does not arrive until autumn, and even winter is a wise time for jam-making, but somehow I made time for it today. It was probably not the wisest decision, it is only 74º outside with cloud cover, and I’ve got a hundred things to do in the garden, but here I am, in the cool-ish kitchen with sticky jam on every imaginable surface and a canner humming away. As I wait for the timer to go off, and in between pulling pints of ruby red treasure from the pot, I thought I’d come here and share our basic strawberry jam recipe. I already have a strawberry jam recipe somewhere on this blog, but in recent years I’ve switched from using honey to maple sugar, which has a more neutral flavor (to us anyway). 

For years I made jam because it felt like the thing to do, and it was tasty for sure, but the jars often lingered from one year to the next because as yummy as the jam was, we don’t actually eat much in the way of toast or sandwiches. On occasion, sure, but it felt like a chore to get through a jar before it turned moldy. Even smaller jars. I guess I’m slow with some things, because even though we don’t eat much toast, we do eat tons of yogurt. We make it plain, so a little window dressing goes a long way in terms of flavor and interest. Sometimes we have it with a drizzle of maple syrup and sprinkle of cinnamon, but whenever possible, we like our yogurt with some fruit. Prior to putting two and two together (yogurt + jam), we usually added frozen berries  (hopefully after a few minutes to thaw), and called it good. And yes, nutritionally speaking, frozen fruit does come out ahead of canned fruit, but a couple of years ago I decided to let go of being hyper-vigilant about this sort of thing. Not to toss out reasonable information, but to make myself less crazy with food decisions day after day. Because as I’ve said before, in January, we want easy to eat sweet and tasty fruit, and we don’t buy much fruit out of season, so, frozen or canned it is. We keep both on hand, and when it’s three in the afternoon and I’m looking for a sweet bite (with a punch of protein and fat) to carry me through, yogurt with a scoop of home-canned jam sure beats a Skittles bender. 

As far as the quantity of fruit that I can, it’s a simple formula. I just think about how much we eat in a year, aim for that as a minimum goal, round up generously for gift giving, helping out with Emily’s pantry at school, and having some on reserve for the promise of a rainy day. 

For instance, we eat about 30-50 quarts of applesauce per year, so I aim for 50-75 quarts. I usually get to 50 no problem, reaching 75 makes me feel all kinds of prepper-ish, but it rarely happens. As for other canned fruits (whole fruit or jam), our yogurt habit puts us at about 1-2 pints per week, so I figure if I’ve got a solid 100 pints of fruit (all types - strawberries, raspberries, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, spiced apples...), we’ve got our needs covered as well as some buffer. Sliced fruits I can in quarts, applesauce is in quarts, jams and butters are in pints or half pints. Sometimes I’ll use four ounce jars for specialty things that I want to use up in one meal, like our peach cardamom butter that I use as a glaze for pork, or pear ginger jam that is so good on a charcuterie board. 

Gosh, that’s a lot of jam talk. Not sure if this sort of thing interests others, but this is where my head is at this time of year. What we eat, how much we need, how much we’d like to set aside for sharing, and how I’m going to produce, source, and store it all. Riveting stuff. 

One final thought: I use Pomona’s Pectin, which allows me to use very little sugar (or honey, etc.). I’d like to someday play around with no-pectin recipes. Maybe next year. 

Okay, let's get to the recipe for strawberry jam. Enjoy!

 

Strawberry Jam

Makes about 4-5 half pint jars. Multiply the recipe for larger quantities. 

We make maple sugar so it is something we have one hand, regular sugar or honey may be substituted. When you purchase Pomona's pectin, the box includes info on using honey (or maple syrup). 

• 5 cups crushed, hulled strawberries
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 - 1 1/4 cups maple sugar (start with less and add more if needed. You can sub regular sugar, maple syrup, or honey)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp Pomona’s pectin
• 2 tsp calcium water (this comes with the pectin)

Directions:

1. In very hot water, wash and rinse canning jars. Do this right before ready to use so jars are still hot. Alternatively, you can place clean jars on a rimmed baking sheet and pop them in a 150º oven about ten minutes before you’re ready to fill them. 
2. Add lids and rings to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a strong simmer but do not boil. Keep lids and rings in hot water as you prepare jam.
3. In a large pot combine mashed strawberries, lemon juice, and calcium water. Bring to a boil. Stirring often to prevent fruit from sticking to the pan. 
4. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine (lesser amount of) maple sugar and pectin. Mix well. A small whisk works does a nice job of this.
5. Add sugar/pectin mixture to the boiling fruit. Continue to stir and boil for 2 minutes or so, until jam begins to thicken. Stir in vanilla. Taste. Add more sugar if needed. Skim off any foam that forms on the surface of jam.  
6. Jam thickens upon cooling, so to best test your jam's doneness, put a teaspoonful on a saucer and refrigerate for a few minutes. Check for “jam” consistency. Cook another minute or so  if not thick enough.
7. Using a wide mouth funnel and small measuring cup as a scoop, fill hot/clean jars leaving 1/4" head space at the top. Wipe rim of jars with clean damp towel. Place lids on the top and screw on bands, not too tightly.
8. Process jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. (Add one minute more for every 1,000 feet of elevation.) After the ten minutes, turn off heat, remove cover, and let jars sit in water for five minutes. 
9. Using a jar lifter, remove from water. Allow to sit in one spot and cool completely. Remove rings , wipe jars with a damp cloth to be sure they are clean,  and add to your pantry!

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Final thought: If you'd like to make a nice, thick strawberry syrup/sauce, go ahead and halve the pectin and calcium water and you'll achieve just that. Not that I'd know anything about it. And if I did, it would only be because I did it on purpose and not because I can't seem to multiply correctly when producing large batches. Either way, yum. 

Sourdough: Soft Sandwich Loaf

I worked in an Italian restaurant for six years in the early 2000s. In that span of time, a grand total of one person came in with special culinary instructions related to gluten. Ina Garten recently commented that it was once easier, and in ways more pleasurable, to cook for friends. She did not say this resentfully, but honestly. My friend is a grassfed raw milk farmer and a while back was at one of her stockists offering free milk samples to their patrons, she listened as person after person politely declined her samples, only to walk down the aisle and collect shelf stable nut, oat, and soy milk shipped in from across the country or further. Anthony Bourdain, gifted writer, masterful storyteller, and iconic chef, felt the best way to learn about people is to step into their life, sit at their table, and enjoy their food. 

I think about our food culture a lot, and write on it very little. I figure we're bombarded enough. Who needs one more voice in the mix. Still, I relate to the mother in the restaurant wanting the best for her child; I commiserate with my farmer friend who is just trying to bring food to her community; I've been in Ina's shoes more times than I can count. As for Anthony, I could only hope to relate to a man who's life and work so fully embodied the most ancient of human tenets: Gather intimately, listen carefully, and share food.

It seems the more complicated the food world gets, the simpler my own kitchen becomes. Roast some meat, stew some vegetables. Add butter. What's fermenting? Scoop some of that. If it's the weekend, how about dessert. Rustic fruit tart, please. And if it's a Sunday drive in the country (yes, we do this), you're going to need sandwiches. Don't forget to stop by the farm for a fresh wedge of Dutch Farmstead. If you're lucky enough to take such a drive in September, maybe you'll find a few wild apples to go with that cheese.

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Today I’d like to share a recipe for soft sourdough sandwich bread. I love a good hole-filled crusty boule, but isn’t it nice to put your egg salad on something that will hold the filling in place and feel soft to the bite? Or what about a soft piece of buttery toast smothered in strawberry jam? Or french toast? This loaf is made with a traditional slow rise, giving plenty of time for fermentation, resulting in a perfect soft canvas to slather some PB&J onto. 

This recipe is going to assume you have or know how to make a good sourdough starter. I’ve taught this in one of my classes before, but do not have time to share that whole process today. I was asked to get the sandwich bread recipe to you, so that’s what I’ll focus on. Through trial and error, and by combining favorite elements from a few different recipes, this soft sourdough sandwich loaf was born.
 

 

Soft Sourdough Sandwich Loaf 

Makes one loaf. 

 

1/2 - 3/4 cup sourdough starter (if starter is runny, add less, thick, add more)

2 tbsp maple syrup (this contributes to the softness of finished loaf)

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil or melted butter

1 cup water

3 – 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (King Arthur or White Whole Wheat from Champlain Valley Milling work great)

 

1. Mix starter, maple syrup, salt, olive oil and water together in a stand mixer with dough hook (my preference) or by hand.  Add flour until dough does not stick to side of mixer bowl (or hands if hand mixing/kneading). Knead dough for about 30 seconds on a floured surface, place in a large oiled bowl, then cover with a damp towel.

2. Allow to rise until at least doubled in size:

• Winter - first rise 12-18 hours/second rise 2-3 hours
• Summer - first rise 6-8 hours/second rise 1-2 hours

3. After the first rise, it's time to shape your loaf. Dump dough onto floured surface. Gently press into a 6x8” rectangle, fold into thirds (like a letter) with long sides in, turn so it is seam side down on the floured board and let sit about 10 minutes. This step is called bench rest and makes your loaf taller.

4. Prep loaf pan. I do this by lightly oiling the pan and adding a piece of parchment that fits just in the bottom and over the long sides (see photo).  After the bench rest, turn dough seam side up, press into rectangle again, but this time roll it up, and tuck sides under to make a tidy loaf, then place dough into the loaf pan. 

5. Set aside for a second rise (see seasonal times above). Preheat oven to 350ºF. Using your sharpest knife or razor, slash the loaf by slicing a 1" deep line down the length of the bread. This allows for a better rise in the oven. 

6. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown and hollow sounding when the loaf is thumped. Remove bread from oven and put on a cooling rack. Brush with melted butter. After a couple of minutes, remove bread from pan, discarding parchment, and let cool until room temp or slightly warm. It’s tempting to cut into the loaf fresh from the oven, but it is still cooking as it cools. Give it some time. Enjoy!

Dinner Roll Variation: If you'd like to skip the loaf and make small rolls instead, follow the direction through Step 3, then divide dough into 9-12 round balls. Arranging on a parchment lined baking sheet as you go. Continue with second rise, and bake at 350ºF for about 20-25 minutes. Brush with melted butter once they come out of the oven. Cool slightly before serving.

One More Use for All Those Tomatoes

Picked another bushel and a half of tomatoes on Saturday, which puts us at a grand seasonal total of more than we can count. I aspire to keep better track of these things, but so far it hasn’t been my way. I do keep general garden notes and maps from season to season, but weighing each little thing? Not so much. I did weigh potatoes this year though and so far (few more rows to dig), we’re over 300 pounds. We like to share potatoes.

Those tomatoes though. we’ve dehydrated a bunch already, eaten plenty fresh, made tomato pies, tomato sandwiches, tomato omelettes, tomato salads, gifted pounds and pounds, and have frozen gallon upon gallon for a big sauce making day coming up soon. Have to time that right so we do it before temps dip and we lose our basil. Made one batch of salsa, too. More of that to come.

Playing around in the kitchen a few weeks ago yielded yet another use for tomatoes, a quick sauce of sorts, served with pan-fried white fish that we keep stocked in the freezer as part of our annual fish share (think of it as a CSA with an Alaskan fisherman instead of a farmer). I made the dish again over the weekend and paid careful attention so I could share the details with you. If you too are experiencing that very good September problem of tomatoes covering every surface in your home, you can at least put a few to use in this recipe. That's the key though, it's got to be fresh tomatoes. From your garden or another local garden, it just won't be the same otherwise.

This recipe looks simple, and it is, but packs incredible flavor due to cooking technique and fresh in season ingredients. Reminds me of rustic Mediterranean cookery. 

 

Pan-Seared Cod with Fresh Skillet Tomato Sauce 

Have ingredients chopped and ready to go before you begin, this comes together quickly. 

1 1/4 lb cod fillet (or other white fish - ours comes in one large fillet that I cut into portions prior to cooking)
1 good sized onion (or a few small ones), sliced thinly into half rounds
4-6 cloves garlic, minced 
6 tbsp butter
4 cups diced ripe fresh tomatoes, remove pulp and seeds before dicing
2-3 tsp honey or maple syrup
1 tsp dried oregano or twice that if using fresh
handful of fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper

Instructions

1. In large stainless steel skillet (don't use cast iron with tomatoes, it can alter the flavor), sauté onions in 3 tbsp butter over medium heat for several minutes, until soft and tender. Add fresh garlic, cook for another minute.
2. Add tomatoes, season with a good pinch of salt and pepper, honey to taste, and oregano. Turn the heat to medium-high and let it bubble away uncovered, for 5-10 minutes, reducing and thickening the sauce a bit. Transfer sauce to a separate bowl.
3. Add remaining 3 tbsp butter to skillet. Season fish with salt and pepper, then sear for about two minutes on each side. Remove fish to a plate, add sauce back to the pan, let it mix with any juices left from the fish. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
4. Return fish to the pan, nesting pieces on top of the sauce, also add any juices left on the plate. Cover pan and cook on medium-low for a few minutes, until fish is cooked through (just a few minutes!). Remove lid, pile on some chopped fresh basil, and serve.

We like to serve this with grilled zucchini, thinly sliced roasted potatoes, or over rice. 

Print Recipe :: Pan-Seared Cod with Fresh Skillet Tomato Sauce

Late summer is all about tomatoes around here, and we’re always looking for one more way to utilize them. Hoping to squeeze this dish in at least one more time (or three!) before the month is up. Enjoy!

(Sorry if a recipe post feels a little boring, but this one is worth recording.)

If you have any must-make tomato recipes, please feel free to link them in the comments. 

Homemade Tortillas

It’s nice to be woken at 5:30 by birdsong and first light. I think I could go for that every day of the year. Each morning I feel compelled to pour a cup of coffee and head to the garden to walk the rows, tend a bed or two, but the only vegetable we have in the ground is garlic, planted last fall. It feels strange not to be growing much yet, things are normally well established at this point: potatoes, carrots, greens, peas, beets, onion and more would be planted by now. Inside, we’re surrounded by a couple hundred plant starts that I may have started sooner than necessary, given their northern destination. I’ll get the hang of gardening in such a drastically different zone, but I don’t think it’ll be this year. In the cool garage we’ve got 80 pounds of seed potato eager for planting. We are planning to go north this weekend and finish getting the beds ready, but it looks like a week straight of rain is on tap so it might have to wait. Meanwhile, we’re going crazy down here with wild leeks, dandelion greens and flowers, violets, lilac, garlic mustard, cleavers, morels, raspberry leaf... and as usual for our property, not a nettle in sight. I’m establishing a patch from seed this year but it takes time, patience is key when starting nettles from seed. 

We’ve used the last bit of salmon from our 2016 share, and are down to a few pounds of cod remaining. Last night we made fish tacos which were simply cod fillets cooked in a skillet with butter, cumin, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper for just a few minutes (maybe 6-8) then the fish was coarsely flaked for serving. Into the tortillas went sour cream, summer salsa, cod, and ramp pesto (recipe will be in Country Kitchen). Lettuce would have been nice, lime too, but we didn't have either. If you’ve never made homemade tortillas they are super easy, plus they are cheaper and tastier than anything you’ll find at the store. 

 

Homemade Tortillas

makes 8-10

 

2 cups flour (get creative with wheat, spelt, all-purpose, a combination)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup lard

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 - 3/4 cup warm water

 

1. Sift flour, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. 
2. Cut in lard with a fork or pastry blender, until combined and sort of crumbly. 
3. Add water, starting with 1/2 cup, working into the dough until a sticky ball forms. Add the extra 1/4 cup if needed. 
4. Wrap in plastic or bee's wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes. I leave it right on the counter. 
5. Divide dough into 8-10 balls, cover dough balls with damp towel. 
6. Lightly dust a counter or board with flour and roll each ball into circles. You’ll get the hang of your own preference for tortilla thickness and size; I roll them to about 8". We like them on the thin side, maybe 1/8” thick at best. This is flexible so don’t be afraid to experiment. Get the skillet heated while you are rolling out tortillas.
7. Heat a dry skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Cook the tortillas for 30-60 seconds on each side, until a few brown spots appear. Do not overcook or they will harden. As the cooked tortillas come off the skillet, stack them on a plate and cover with a damp (not wet) towel to keep warm and moist. 

 

Sky’s the limit when it comes to tortilla use. Fish tacos are great, but tortillas can be a vehicle for just about anything. Enjoy!

Point of Return

Five days a week I leave the house to take Emily to classes. I’ve been doing this for a full year and I’m not sure why, but I can’t get used to it. I wonder what it would feel like to comfortably exist within the pace of this world. Hustle, bustle, get 'er done. I could really use that superpower most days. Shuffle, drive, cook, clean, work, grow, facilitate, make, study (coupled with lots of internal dialogue about what I am studying and why), rinse and repeat. Life used to be quieter, and it will be again someday, just not today. For what it’s worth, even though things feel at their limit these days, my level of "busy" pales in comparison with our societal norm. Which to be honest adds to my frustration because it’s just another reminder of my inability to “deal.” I recently read something that suggested certain people "need large swaths of down time in order to protect their health." This makes sense to me. Our homeopath shared a nugget of wisdom years ago when we were trying to figure something out health-wise; he told us that “some people simply need to exist in a low stimulus environment.” Like, that’s the whole kit and caboodle. The Rx du jour. The 411. I was floored by how simple yet paramount his suggestion was. A most effective treatment that is absent from any healthcare plan that I know of.  His words gave permission for what has become a vital remedy in our home. I've recently slipped away from the prescribed low stimulus environment because I'm human and I have to exist in this world as an adult. More specifically, an adult who is responsible for raising another human and has to get out and about to do so. But that work is mostly done so I am beginning to look forward to a new way of living and Dr. Shevin's message is in the forefront again. A low stimulus environment. My point of return.



Unrelated.... about six months ago I began giving up caffeine. I say began because it took time. Now, after a long yet painless process, I no longer consume caffeine on a daily or even monthly basis. The reason I gave it up has nothing to do with caffeine being good or bad, I just feel better without it. A lot better. If your body is cool with caffeine, then by all means keep throwing it back, I am not here to suggest otherwise. If however, you feel like I did, that it was time to shake the habit so your nervous system and adrenals could function properly, then you might be interested in how I kicked caffeine. I still love coffee. Even though I go through spurts during the year in which I have herbal tea in the morning, for the most part I'm a coffee with the sunrise kind of girl. So I wasn't interested in letting go of coffee, just caffeine.

First, don’t even think about going cold turkey. You’ll most likely be back on caffeine by the end of the week if you try that. Instead, give yourself time. I took a full month to be 95% caffeine free, then another few months to let go of that remaining 5% - and really that was only because I was using up the last of my precious and delicious Mind, Body, and Soul. Waste not, want not.

 

Here is what I did:

• Week One - brew coffee with 3/4 regular, 1/4 decaf
• Week Two - brew coffee with 1/2 regular, 1/2 decaf
• Week Three - brew coffee with 1/4 regular, 3/4 decaf
• Week Four - brew coffee with mostly decaf, and a pinch of regular
• Week Five and beyond - straight up decaf, or, if you’re like me and have regular around still, keep doing week four until you run out of regular

 

And that’s about it.

Oh! If you’d like to skip the chemical solvents that are used to produce the majority of decaf coffee on the market, choose one that uses natural methods to decaffeinate beans. Equal Exchange is very upfront about their process, and local to us is a coffee roaster called Ben’s Beans; their decaf is free of chemical production.

Anyway, the caffeine removal process was simple enough, and I feel a lot better for it. Plus, its absence can only contribute to slowing down the pace of life. I hope.

Freezer Tour

Today I have something a little different to share. A fun mix-up for the middle of winter. During a recent workshop I included a tour of our freezer storage as part of a bigger video that was all about kitchen organization, particularly as it related to freezer cooking. I'm often asked about keeping things organized in the kitchen, so I thought it would be fun to rework a small section from the video, and share it here with you. 

There really isn't much narrative to add, the video is pretty self-explanatory. So, without further adieu, please enjoy this walk-through of our freezer storage.

 

A Few Notes:

• Smart Source Seafood is where our salmon share came from. I really like their business model, and the salmon is top notch. If you do pay them a visit, tell Maddie I sent you!
• Baldwin Brook Farm is where our chicken, pork, and beef are from. Mavis is the nicest farmer you will ever meet and I wouldn't mind if my own living quarters were as lovely as that of the animals at Baldwin Brook.

 

As you can see, our set up is simple and I do not have fancy organizers (though there are plenty of choices to be found at department stores if that work's better for you). Cardboard boxes and wire baskets have served us well. There's no denying chest freezers are more difficult to keep organized, but if I just get in there for about 30 minutes, 3-4 times a year, that's enough to take stock and whip things back into shape.

I hope this was helpful to those of you who've asked about this topic, and I hope I didn't just encourage yet another chore for those of you who didn't know you're freezer needed organizing. It doesn't! If your system is working for you, keep things as they are. And ignore all Virgo bloggers and their crazy ways. xo

Staying Healthy, Loving Winter

It’s hard to believe that of all the years spent growing up in this house, not once do I recall noticing how pretty the wintertime sunset it. Our view is not a wide open vista overlooking a valley, but it has the ability to conjure deep gratitude at the end of each day just the same. On this particular day, I sat for a few minutes with a mug of soup, trying to draw a good dose of oxygen into my lungs as I am currently doing my best to stay healthy and not succumb to the sickness that seems to have entered our house.

It’s petri dish basketball season. Need I say more?

I’m not sure if there is a more “handsy” sport out there. A constant passing of balls and germs, followed by a hand to the face to wipe a sweaty brow... touching the eyes, nose and mouth without realizing. There is a pretty awful something going around at basketball and debate, and it finally made its way here. Based on the experience of others, it appears to be a respiratory illness which is turning into pneumonia for many. Not my idea of fun. So far it’s really just Emily that’s managing the cough and fever, but she’s upright today so hopefully things are moving in the right direction.


Whenever an illness of any kind enters our home, I immediately start behaving as if I am next. I take all of the precautionary and nourishing measures in hopes of preventing coming down with it, of course, but also to make an honest effort at shortening the severity and duration should I indeed become inflicted. For instance, if the stomach bug shows up here, I stop eating and begin fasting for a few days. I’ll sip on fresh pressed juices, herbal tea, and maybe clear broth soups. I figure why poke the beast. I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or otherwise, but I have not experienced any type of stomach bug in over 16 years. (Yes, I just knocked on wood.)

Likewise, when something such as this current yuck is hanging around, I jack myself up on almost everything that I would take if I actually came down with the infection - save for a couple of remedies that are reserved for when truly symptomatic. A couple of days ago I thought for sure I was feeling the first few twinges of what Emily was coming down with, the very afternoon that she was feeling it, too. And so began the Fire Cider, extra D3, elderberry zinc lozenges, ginger honey tea, green juices, fresh pressed apple and orange juice, homemade chicken soup, oregano oil on my feet, removal of any inflammatory foods, and so on. I believe I have officially pickled myself to the point of (hopefully) dodging this one. (Again, knocking on wood.) As for Emily, she is not interested in Fire Cider or green juice, but she’s a pretty good sport about most of the other medicinals. We’ll keep at it and continue to try and decrease the duration and severity of this infection for her, and do our best to prevent it from overtaking the rest of us as well. None of us have ever experienced pneumonia and it sure doesn’t sound like a good time.


To sum it up... basically, a few days ago I thought I was getting sick, and so I acted like I was sick (treating myself accordingly), and wouldn’t you know, whatever was lurking has yet to fully materialize. An ounce of prevention and all that. This has been my standard “mom” protocol for as long as I can remember. When someone is sick in the house, I power up on nourishment (or fast on green juice, depending on the illness that’s around), as if I am sick. Nine times out of ten I stay healthy, so I'd say this plan is a definite keeper for me.

That's about it from me right now, sorry it's been a little quiet. Seeing as we're laying low right now I had some time to flip open the laptop and visit the blog. I'm here, just kind of feeling quiet as I focus on staying healthy and loving winter.