Cute little chick

I don't want to get too serious here, but I had a conversation last night that got me thinking.

My grandparents live on a farm about an hour from me. Growing up, we would go down to visit and help out. I remember driving the Farmall tractor with Mommom and sitting on the piles of hay bales while Poppop and Dad  loaded them from the baler onto the wagon. We'd bring lemonade out to Poppop when it was super hot. I loved exploring the barn and searching out the newborn kittens when the mommy cats hid them away safely. We'd ride the bale elevator to the upper level to store the hay and straw for the winter. Poppop and I would go outside after dinner and let the sheep into the barn for the night. That's an amazing sight - all the sheep running like crazy for the open doors of the barn!

Mommom would take me into the chicken coop and show me how to gather the eggs. I'd go out to the steer pens and feed the babies out of my hand. One year, a friend and I named the two steers Peaches and Cream. Of course, being a farm, these steers were being raised for one reason - food. That was the first time I really remember truly knowing what beef was: Oh! I'm eating Peaches and Cream. Mom!!!!! How could you let them do that to them? 

(Disclaimer: The next paragraph might be a little gory.)

We went down on several occasions to harvest the chickens. Poppop got them in as baby chicks that he'd keep in the incubator and then he raised them for food. I was too young to be much help, but I vividly remember the process. Poppop would use an ax to swiftly cut off the heads and then the chickens would be left free to roam the yard. Headless. The chickens weren't in pain. They weren't scared before they died. They lived happy lives, pecking away the barnyard like chickens were born to do. But the truth was, they were being raised for slaughter. After they died, Mommom and Mom would hang them up to drain out the blood and then dip them in scalding water and pick out all the feathers. It was a full day's worth of work, but rewarding, too. Fresh, humanely raised, free range chicken! 

I think that was when I decided chicken is gross. Since then I've gone back and forth between eating and not eating chicken. Now I'm at the stage where I don't eat it. I disagree with the inhumane treatment of chickens in factory farms. I don't want those pesticides and antibiotics and whatever else in me. 

The conversation last night was with Mommom and Mom. Dad made chicken cacciatore for dinner and I asked whether they got the chicken from the Amish farm stand. They had, thankfully! Mommom remarked that no matter what brand she buys in the grocery store, there's always blood around the bones. She was upset because that means that they didn't properly drain the chicken before packaging it up. For a woman used to eating her own farm-raised chickens, this was the ultimate insult. I suggested that she try buying free range, organic chickens and see if it made a different. I'm anxious to see if it does!

Since you made it through this super long post, I thought I'd share a funny picture of the Bup and Dad loading bags with sheep manure to bring home for our gardens. Aren't they cute? :-)

Hummus and Sandwiches

It is entirely possible that nothing is better than homemade bread.

Except maybe when you toast it and add tomato sauce, lettuce & avocado.

And pair it with Up In Smoke Hummus from Gena at Choosing Raw! This stuff is addictive.

Hummus is mostly chickpeas and tahini, so it's full of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Check out this source for more details!

I liked it best with the celery but the Bup liked it with carrots and Trader Joe's baked blue chips.

We had a little leftover Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup. I think I stretched my stomach last night eating this soup. I was stuffed but it was sooooooooo good! Tonight the Bup decided it was good as a dip, too, and starting dipping veggies and chips into it. I could've made it thinner but really, there's something about eating dip by the spoonful and not feeling guilty cause you know it's healthy. :-)

This loaf of bread looks innocent enough, but it's actually so huge that we had to cut it in half just to fit it into a bag. Even then, I had to use a grocery bag because the gallon size baggie was too small. The recipe was for Crusty Wheat Bread from Food and Wine magazine. It took 24 hours to make and it was worth every minute.

Does anyone else like avocado on their sandwiches? I think it's way better than cheese!

I was born for the woods

We took another weekend trip to the cabin.

I just can't get enough of that place. It's in my blood. For awhile, growing up, I dreaded going there because I wanted to spend time with my friends. Now I understand why Mom and Dad would have gone every weekend if they could have.

There's something so peaceful about being in the woods. When you look out the windows, all you see are trees.  And I don't mean the windows on that one side of the house that doesn't face the street. Every window has trees.

It's so refreshing to spend the morning taking a walk in the woods. Even if it is more like alternating between sliding on ice and knee deep snow stomping.

My favorite part of hiking is the crazy stuff, like climbing a really steep cliff-like mountain and crossing creeks on fallen trees. Mom went around...she's not so big on creek crossings.

Being there even makes me quit taking pictures of food. The gorgeous views of nature are too distracting! We did have some yummy treats including:

• leftover cake balls from Valentine's Day (they might be a week old but they still taste good!)
• Sloppy Josephines (I've been looking for a good vegetarian sloppy joe recipe. This is it. Thanks Mama Pea!)
• Roasted sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts
• Mom's whole wheat blueberry pancakes (a cabin staple)
• Samoa Blondies (I used less butter than the recipe called for and still had to use 6 paper towels to blot out the excess. Yikes! Next time I'm trusting my instincts and using about 3 T. That should be plenty. There will be a next time, though, because the coconut chocolate flavor was super tasty!)
• Homemade pizzas! One with BBQ sauce mixed with leftover sloppy josephines, onions & mushrooms. The other with roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, spring onions, & brussel sprouts. 
• Pumpkin Muffin Buckwheat Bake from Ashley. I love her recipes using yummy grains. 
• Gourmet raviolis from Vermont

 

Poor Dad thinks I'm crazy, trying all these new recipes! He's always a little skeptical when Mom and I get in the kitchen together. :-)

Of course, having spent an afternoon on a wine tasting tour helped make the weekend even better!  We went to Eagle Rock Winery, Winterland Winery, Laddsburg Winery, and Birdsong Winery - all Endless Mountain wineries. Two weekends of wine tours in a row! For the record, this is unusual for us. Unusual but fun!

There's a case in the basement waiting for girl time. :-)