September is for zucchini recipes… there are a billion of them floating around out there and they basically are all the same… until now… this one – I am telling you – is my all-time favourite…
I do not lie… this one is so yummy – I’m not pretending it is healthy – but it is delicious and I found it pairs well with morning coffee, morning tea, afternoon coffee, afternoon tea… (yes, I doubled the recipe and made three loaves and ended up having basically an entire loaf for myself)
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini, dried on paper towel 1 1/4 cups sugar zest of 2 lemons 1/2 cup canola oil 2 eggs 2/3 cup buttermilk 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 2 tbsp cornstarch 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp kosher salt Glaze: 1 cup icing sugar 1 1/2 tbsp buttermilk 1 tbsp lemon juice
Directions: preheat oven to 325 degrees grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with non stick cooking spray in a mixing bowl, add sugar and lemon zest add canola oil and eggs and beat add buttermilk and lemon juice in another bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt add the flour mixture and zucchini to the mixing bowl in stages don’t overmix pour into the loaf pan bake for 50-55 minutes using a toothpick see if it is cooked through let sit and then take out of the pan and cool on a rack mix up the glaze and pour over when the loaf is cooled down
this week I was in need of some simple recipes as I am training my dogs with their new and improved GPS collars to keep them in my yard… I needed to simplify the meals that were going to the field so I had time to monitor how my dogs were doing with these collars and go for walks with them around the boundary…
and let’s be honest – after a month or whatever of harvest – I would be looking for simple meals anyways…
hello Costco – I grab a few of their pre-made salads and I think to myself, if I add one fresh ingredient to them (cauliflower, tomatoes etc) then it is basically my homemade salad!
this main course I did is my daughter’s and son’s favourite… I used boneless chicken thighs, mushroom ravioli, mushrooms and then made an easy cream sauce
it can be tricky cooking with these little foil containers… they do tend to burn on the bottom and you need to grease them up so everything doesn’t just stick…
easiest thing is to have everything pre-cooked… so I bbq’d the chicken thighs (I used my favourite chicken bbq spice but just use whatever you love) and chopped them up…
then for the mushrooms, sliced them and sauted them to get the moisture out and seasoned them as well…
this left the noodles and sauce… I made up the sauce (your basic butter with flour and then add milk, salt and pepper and parmesan cheese or whatever cheese you like in a white sauce) and poured it into a large measuring cup so I could easily pour it over each dish…
having all of this ready, you then can boil the noodles, they don’t take long, and I just use a strainer and put directly on top of the first layer of chicken… I used 6 raviolis per container…
the order I assembled in was chicken, raviolis, mushrooms, chicken and then sauce…
we did put some parmesan cheese on top and cover and into a 350 degree oven for roughly 20-25 minutes until bubbling and warmed through… if you are using cold ingredients or they have had to sit for awhile, you might need to lengthen the cooking time…
at this point in harvest I am employing not only a 12 year old girl but a 7 year old cat… I make the cat count forks to make sure we aren’t missing any… this cat runs a pretty tight ship and doesn’t miss a thing…
city people vs farmers… I can talk about both of these varieties of humans because I was a city girl and now I’m a farmer… so I am well versed in both worlds (according to myself)…
city people think they are smarter than farmers… farmers think city people have no common sense… city people like to tell farmers how to farm… farmers like to tell city people how to vote… city people have unions… farmers have no union… city people get to go to restaurants and theatres… farmers get to hide from the wind in their homes…
my farmer was recently talking to a ‘policy maker’ who is in charge of telling high school kids when they are allowed to resume playing sports… particularly football… I know the conversation took 30 minutes, while the farmer was driving a combine, and I know the farmer didn’t get the answers he was looking for…
here is the ‘Coles Notes’ of the conversation… legal disclaimer: this is the farmer’s rendition of said events… not entirely accurate… possibly made up portions of it for effect
to start things off, the farmer told her that he wasn’t ‘one of those farmers that has a low opinion of teachers’... I think that’s a real great ice-breaker to ease into a conversation… he went on to say ‘I married into a family of teachers and I can see things from both sides’...
there you go dear… start with an insult and then compliment yourself…
Ingredients: Dressing: 2 tbsp fresh lime juice 2 tbsp fresh orange juice zest if you like 1 clove garlic, minced 2 tsp finely chopped white onion 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp minced fresh cilantro 3 tbsp olive oil salt and pepper to taste Salad: 2 red bell peppers, chopped 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn 1 large ripe mango, diced 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro 2 large avocados, diced 2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
Directions: I used a Vitamix to make the dressing so it go nicely blended – you can shake it in a container as well for the salad, chop everything and add it to a bowl except the avocado and tomato I set the tomatoes to the side on paper towel to get the moisture out for the corn, you can use cobs from the garden and boil for a few minutes and then plunge in cold water in the sink and dry cut off the cob and use in the salad (or use frozen) add the dressing and let sit in the fridge for a few hours when you go to serve, add the tomatoes and avocado and serve
then the conversation started to get into the ‘nitty-gritty’... the ‘meat of it’ as you would say…
farmer: “it says here that the start of football is delayed because these teenagers have done nothing for 5-6 months are not in good enough shape ‘mentally or physically’ to come back to sports and competition… I would argue that delaying the start of football and waiting until the weather gets worse would cause more injuries”
policy maker lady: “we are very concerned that these kids are behind in their studies and want them to concentrate solely on schoolwork right now… sports can come later”
farmer: “we practice football at 7 am… and not a single boy on my team would be doing homework at 7 am… also, I have two boys and I can tell you they are not spending 5-6 hours a day doing homework”
farmer: “SHSAA says we can start practicing in September and have a ‘mini-league’ in October… now you are saying you don’t think that’s a good idea… care to elaborate?”
policy maker lady: “we don’t want kids from your town playing football against kids from a different town”
farmer: “you do know that they are playing hockey together and going to parties together… but you would rather them occupy their time by unsupervised parties as opposed to supervised football games?”
policy maker lady: “oh and we aren’t going to allow community coaches”
farmer: “you do know my daughter goes to school? and every teacher is a community member? and every bus driver and custodian lives in this community?”
policy maker lady: “we aren’t allowing volunteers to read to grade 2 students so obviously the next step is to not allow farmers to coach football… I’m sure that some teacher at your school will be able to step in and do it… on top of her teaching duties…. we are looking for more ways to make teachers have panic attacks”
policy maker lady: “instead of allowing a mini-league, we have renamed this time to ‘skill development’“
farmer: “no one is concerned with skill development … they come to 7 am practices in the cold and dark so they can win the game on the Thursday night… this school division has put maybe 1-2 boys into football programs beyond high school… the overwhelming majority play football just for high school and this is the grade 12 boy’s only chance to play in their senior year”
policy maker lady: “yes but now that we took away the games and the coaches, I’m sure they will love developing their skills”
policy maker lady: “for every call I get from a person like you that wants these high school students to have their sports back, I get a call from someone who is afraid we are moving too fast”
farmer: “I don’t believe that… I haven’t spoken to or seen one person that wouldn’t want their kids playing sports again” (in her defence, he hasn’t been off the farm since the start of August)
*** side note: I used salsa instead of enchilada sauce because I was lazy… go ahead and be lazy too
so there is the ‘farmers notes’ on how the conversation went… slightly biased to his side to be sure… and he also commented that he would not want her job right now… but he would make different decisions if he had her job…
we are very grateful for all of the brave teachers heading back to work and having to completely change how they are teaching and handle all the emotions that come from 6 months of ‘flattening the curve’… it is so much we are asking of them… I love teachers… I don’t have any skills to homeschool… heck, when schools shut down in March I made my retired teacher parents homeschool Sienna…
which makes me wonder why the powers that be would think they should heap sports on top of teachers as well? small towns have always used parents or community members to coach teams… it is what makes it all work…
I know you are limiting the amount of people in the schools, and rightly so… the days of me wandering the school hallways and spying on my kids are sadly over… it was good while it lasted… but you are not supporting your teachers by saying no community coaches… you are handicapping your teachers…
keeping ‘helicopter moms’ out of the hallways is one thing… keeping the football coaches off of the football field is another…
Ingredients: 2 tbsp avocado oil 1 cup diced onion 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp ground pepper 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp paprika 1/4 tsp cumin 1 cup uncooked white long-grain rice 1 tbsp tomato paste 2 cups chicken broth 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with liquid
Directions: in a large saucepan heat up oil add onion and garlic add the salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, paprika and cumin add the rice, paste and chicken broth add the diced tomatoes (I ground up the tomatoes in a Vitamix) bring to a boil, reduce and cook for roughly 25 minutes until the rice is done
side note: had to show a picture of the rice bag that I am almost done… the farmer bought 6 of these at the beginning of quarantine… pretty sure that we were going to have to survive on rice like they do on Survivor… I’m finally on the last bag…
second side note: due to a suggestion from super farm lady Laura – I found these condiment containers at the Dollar Store… sweet
Directions: for the sauce, in a saucepan melt the butter add the arrowroot and whisk add chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, onion powder, oregano, and cayenne pepper whisk for two minutes add tomato paste and 1 1/2 cups of the broth whisk until the sauce thickens remove from heat and add the remaining broth and salt set aside for the enchiladas, brown the beef in the oil (strain if the beef is too fatty) add the chilies, onions and pepper and fry to assemble the enchiladas, heat the shells up in the microwave in a wet dish cloth to assemble, place some sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish dip the tortilla in shallow bowl that has some sauce in it (both sides) and then place ingredients into the shell roll up and set into the baking dish repeat until all 8 are done and pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas spread some cheese over top bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes at 325 degrees serve with whatever toppings you choose
I will give city people this on farmers… no farmer is going to come up with a vaccine… we need a city person to do that… so, farm and city people, let’s agree to listen to each other, take suggestions and look for the common sense in each other’s way of thinking, and push forwards to a better future for our teenagers, our communities, our schools and ultimately so we can all go back to Hawaii at some point…
to all the teachers right now – who are being so brave – we support you and we will follow all the rules so you feel comfortable teaching our kids… because heaven knows I’m not gonna do it!!!
Ingredients: Cake: 1 1/2 cups crisco oil 2 cups white sugar 4 eggs 2 cups flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups grated carrots 2 tsp vanilla Frosting: 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp 4 oz cream cheese, room temp (I use a bit more) 2 cups icing sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla Topping: pecans
Directions: beat oil and egg together very well stir in dry ingredients fold in carrots and vanilla pour into a greased 9×13 or until greased muffin cups (should make close to 24) bake for 45-55 minutes for the cake and 24 minutes for the cupcakes, or until done in the middle for the frosting, whip up and frost when the cake has completely cooled top with pecans
back to school today and harvest is chugging along… although it froze to minus 4 last night and probably ended most of my garden that I’ve worked so hard on all year… it’s 2020 – that’s not going to make me cry… (hoping the farmer covered my tomatoes like I reminded him to about 7 times)
this greek salad dressing is my absolute favourite and I’ve shared it I believe around 6 times but I just love it… this year we let the tomatoes sit on paper towel (replacing it a few times) so they wouldn’t water down the salad and then put them on top so we could have it sit in the fridge all afternoon without getting watery…
Ingredients: 1/2 cup Crisco oil 4 tsp lemon juice 4 tsp red wine vinegar 1 tsp dry mustard 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar 1/4 tsp pepper 1 tsp oregano 1/2 tbsp parsley 2 tbsp minced red onions 1 tbsp minced garlic clove 2 tbsp minced red pepper
Directions: in a shaker, mix ingredients and shake until completely combined pour over red, yellow and orange peppers, red onion, feta cheese, romaine lettuce and tomatoes
I’ve been excited to try this out for the farmers and it is a little finicky to get them all made up (notably if your farmer tells you supper for 14), but again you can do these up a few hours early if need be and let them sit in the fridge…
for these rollups, it worked out perfectly to use 1 package of Costco chicken thighs, one package of Costco prosciutto and one bag of Costco asparagus… (this is not a paid sponsorship from Costco… but I am open to offers)
the mix of all these good flavours with the dijon mustard is fabulous
I did these on my bbq – but you have an option to fry them as well… if you are bbq’ing them, keep an eye out so you don’t burn the asparagus ends
I think that the sage would taste better fried so if you are just doing this for your family, I might try that option… our sage this year was fantastic and I couldn’t wait to use it for this
Ingredients: Rollups: 1 pkg boneless chicken thighs from Costco 1 pkg prosciutto from Costco Dijon mustard kosher salt ground black pepper 1 bag asparagus from Costco 22 sage leaves (or however many you need for the rollups) Sauce: 1/4 cup olive oil 4 garlic cloves, chopped 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/4 cup white wine (or more chicken broth) 2 tbsp lemon juice
Directions: if doing on the bbq, preheat the bbq if frying and then putting in oven, preheat oven to 400 degrees have the ingredients out so you can assemble place chicken thigh out and season lightly with salt and pepper using a spoon, put a dollop of dijon on the chicken and then with another spoon spread over the thigh place 2-3 asparagus on the chicken and then roll up around the asparagus roll once slice of proscuitto around the chicken and place a sage leaf on it secure with a toothpick set aside in a dish and continue until you have rolled all of the chicken thighs place, covered, in fridge until you are ready to cook if on the bbq, place on grill and flip once… check to see if they are cooked through for the sauce, in saucepan roast the garlic cloves, add the broth and wine and cook down add the lemon juice at the end and serve over the chicken rollups after they are bbq’d if you are frying and then putting in oven, place chicken in frying pan with the olive oil (don’t overcrowd) and fry on both sides, placing in a dish when done after frying all of them up, add garlic cloves, broth and wine to the pan and cook down add the sauce to the pan and place in oven until cooked through add the lemon juice at the end before serving remove the toothpicks if you are a nice person before serving – or serve like I did and have your son stab himself twice with the hidden toothpicks
I like to use chicken thighs for this as opposed to chicken breasts because the flavour is just so much ‘more better’… I think I need to go back to school as well…
this recipe was inspired by the classic goose recipe everyone uses… and I recently used on the boys geese breasts they brought home… it’s the goose breast with flavoured cream cheese if you have it and jalapeño slices wrapped in bacon… I now add dijon mustard to these as well because I am obsessed with that flavour…
my family is now going to think the only way to eat anything is to wrap it in proscuitto or bacon…
I served the chicken rollups with some mashed potatoes I had made up earlier and these garden carrots my daughter did up…
which leads me to thinking she should only go to school in the mornings and help me cook in the afternoons… she’d love that idea
for dessert – I used some of the peaches my mom had just brought out for me, but fresh peaches is also great for cobbler… I actually didn’t have a recipe for this and just “winged it”… so I have no recipe to show you…
I know I made a bit of a sauce with the peach juice from the cans, adding some tapioca starch to it… and I used oats, almond flour and whatever else was in my freezer along with butter to make the cobbler topping…
my daughter thought it was awful that would couldn’t send out ice cream with the cobbler… it is essential to have with a cobbler but the farmers had to go without…
happy happy back to school everyone and happy freezing cold harvest!!!
this farmer bought his first quarter section in 1997… I’ve been farming with him now since 1999… and he is still smiling when I go for a ride with him in the combine… maybe he’s laughing to himself thinking that I am still asking him the same questions as I did back in 1999…
I can remember meeting him and asking him all about the farm… then he brought me home to show me the farm and I told his Dad I had ridden a ‘cultivator’, trying to impress him… his Dad told me he hoped I hadn’t and then the farmer told me I meant a ‘combine’…
if I had known back in 1999 when I was bragging about riding a cultivator that in 2020 I would have two sons and a daughter working on the farm with us, I don’t think I could have imagined what that would even look like…
and now comes the part where we are sad and happy… because we only get one more week of the boys working on the farm before one of them heads to College and the other off to High School… this year it won’t just be mom missing this boys… the farmer is really going to miss them...
we had a bit of a rain last week so it took a day to get back out in the field, but this allowed me to prep the pulled pork which was nice… I have to tell you, this is my family’s favourite pulled pork recipe and you are not wasting your time making this…
this looks like basically an entire pig and it felt like it when I was cooking it!
citrus with pork for the win… I use a heavy pan to brown the pork on all sides before placing it in the Instant Pot… don’t skip this browning step as it is what give it all the flavour with the rub…
my Instant Pot can hold the entire Pork Shoulder Roast and using a pressure cooker really cuts back on the total time… if you don’t have one a slow cooker is fine as well, you just need to plan farther ahead…
making this a day ahead, I shredded the pork and added the liquid and onions and garlic and stored this overnight in the fridge… (for the liquid I did the same as I would do with gravy, I let it sit and then poured the juice liquid without the fat on the top going back in)
the trick to getting it crispy is to put the shredded pork onto a baking sheet with a little bit of the juice and place under a broiler for a few minutes… toss, add more juice and broil again… this gets it crispy and the liquid keeps it moist (there I go with that awful word again)
now you can serve this pork with tacos (or even over some nachos would be so good), but for the field I chose to put it on some homemade buns…
my boys did tell me that they could have eaten 8 of these, opposed to the three I gave them… I told them I didn’t want to wrap up 8 pork buns for each farmer out there…
Ingredients: For the Rub: 8 tsp kosher salt 4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 4 tsp ground cumin 4 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp chili powder 2 tsp garlic powder For the Pork: 1 cup chicken broth 1 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed) 1/2 cup lime juice (freshly squeezed) 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 2 heads garlic, thinly sliced 2.6 kg pork shoulder blade roast boneless (Costco) 2 medium yellow onions, sliced 4 bay leaves To Serve: fresh cilantro leaves (optional) cheese for topping buns
Directions: make the rub by combining the rub ingredients cut the pork into four chunks rub each side of the pork chunks in the rub in avocado oil (or oil of your choice), brown the sides of the pork place the browned pork, broth, orange and lime juice, cider vinegar, garlic, onion and bay leaves in a pressure cooker on manual, set timer for 45 minutes (if you are using a slow cooker, this will take on high 4-6 hours) when done, shred the pork and spread in an even layer on a baking sheet broil until pieces are crispy, around 3 minutes remove from oven and pour 1 cup or so of the reserved cooking liquid all over the pork use tongs to toss and return to the oven for around 3 minutes under the broiler pour more reserved liquid over the pork and give one last toss serve on fresh buns with cheese or whatever toppings you enjoy
the farmer likes coleslaw on his pork buns, but I thought it would make them too soggy, so we sent them some coleslaw with a label saying they could add this to their buns… my guess is the farmer is the only one who took the time to do so…
cake time… and with peaches on the brain we decided this peach layer cake was going to be perfect… I also had my helper with me for this so was willing to attempt a ‘bigger project’ dessert…
this cake is a four layer cake, cutting the two 8 inch round cakes in half… for a stacked cake like this, it is really important to have everything cool while icing it or the whole thing could slide like the Tower of Pisa…
Sienna and I thought this looked like a giant cookie… the cake itself is rich and tasty and the peach jam is sweet and adds a burst of flavour
the buttercream icing has a step involved with it that is browning some of the butter before whipping it up… this adds a very distinct nutty flavour to the icing which I enjoyed but Sienna didn’t really… still fun to try out to see if you like it… I really like the nutty flavour with the sweetness of the cake and jam…
peach layer cake with brown butter icing
Ingredients: Cake: 1 cup canola oil 1 cup ricotta cheese 3 large eggs, room temp 2 cups sugar 1 tbsp vanilla 1 cup buttermilk 3 3/4 cup all purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp kosher salt Peach Jam: 6 cups fresh peaches, chopped 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2 tbsp bourbon (or replace with apple juice) 1/3 cup raspberry jam Brown Butter Buttercream: 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups)salted butter, room temp 4 oz cream cheese, room temp 3 cups powdered sugar 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions: preheat oven to 350 and grease 2 (8 inch) round cake pans, line with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper, coat with flour in a standing mixture beat canola oil, ricotta, eggs, sugar, vanilla and buttermilk add the flour mixture pour batter evenly into the two pans and bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the cake set on cooling rack in pan once cooled a bit, turn out onto cooling rack, cover and let cakes completely cool for the jam, cook the peaches, brown sugar, bourbon and raspberry jam until mixture is thick… let cool completely for the buttercream, add 1 cup (2 sticks) butter to a saucepan and let brown until you can smell that it is toasty… remove from heat and add to mixing bowl until cool… when cool, whip up the toasted butter with the remained 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter and the icing sugar and vanilla cut the two cakes in half ice a layer of the cake and add jam, then repeat with the next layer ice the cake chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before you cut into it store in fridge overnight if you have time and cut the next day for good results
we were able to put the cake in the fridge overnight and that really helped with cutting it the next morning… then I just left it on the counter and it was room temperature by the time we took suppers out…
another fun part of ‘family farming’ this year has been hearing the boys reaction to the food I take out… mostly the reaction that they could have ate two suppers… for sure with this cake they could not have handled more than one slice…
I also enjoying riding with the farmer and hearing the boys voices on the radio… although teenagers these days really need to work on their phone voice I think… they all sound like they are in the throws of a terrible depression and upset that anyone made them speak…
one more week of laughing, farming stories, making lunches, mounds of dirty jeans and socks in the laundry… and I am going to enjoy every moment of it! the farmer did mention to me that mom’s are never happy… during Covid here I just wanted my kids to have their life back and now that they are getting it back I just want them home forever…
garden carrots – is there anything better? in my opinion only tomatoes… this salad is all about the dressing… and it is a strange dressing so I was nervous to send it out but I wanted to try it myself… this dressing is so delicious… not exactly sure what the farmers thought but I could put this dressing on just about anything…
Ingredients: Dressing: 2 large carrots, roughly chopped (1 1/2 cups) 1/4 cup finely diced white onion 1 (1 1/2 inch) piece fresh ginger, roughly chopped (about 2 tbsp) 1/2 cup olive oil 1/4 cup soya sauce 2 tbsp rice vinegar 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp sesame oil 1 tbsp fish sauce 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper Salad: arugula spinach grated carrot roasted beet, cooled and sliced pumpkin seeds, toasted (from Costco)
Directions: in a Vitamix or any high-powered blender, combine the carrots, onion and ginger and process until very finely blended add the olive oil, soya sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, fish sauce, salt and pepper blend until very smooth mix up salad and pour dressing over right before serving
as you can see, it is a thick dressing and I was wishing I had little condiment containers to put it in so the farmers could just add it to their salads when they were ready to eat… I need to buy some of those…
I am not alone in the farm cooking world… I get a lot of inspiration from some very young (now that I am old) farm ladies out there and this is one of them… she had posted about using her Instant Pot for potatoes and it sure saved me dishes and time and headache…
I still think the texture and taste of a boiled potato is preferable to in the Instant Pot but the convenience won the day… I loaded the Instant Pot up (using the trivet as per Laura’s instructions) and added 2 cups of water and set manual for 8 minutes… you strain this and then what I do is put cream cheese, butter, garlic powder, salt and milk in the bottom of my mixer bowl… then add the potatoes and mix… pour these out into a greased baking dish and sprinkle with seasoning salt… when ready to cook, place in the oven covered with tin foil
this could not be easier to get some garden potatoes all creamed up and ready to use for the meal
on to the chicken part of the main dish!
you will see in the picture that I am using Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour… I have enjoyed using this lately instead of cornstarch but you can also use arrowroot powder… for doing big batches I pound the chicken and then sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper and the tapioca flour… this crisps up nicely in butter and olive oil…
I really need to come up with a better idea for browning meat before putting it in pans because this is so time consuming… easy if you are just doing it up for your family but in big batches this just takes so long… I’m open to ideas!!!!
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, made into cutlets and pounded till flat 1 tsp kosher salt fresh ground black pepper tapioca starch (or arrowroot starch or cornstarch) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp butter or ghee 4 garlic cloves, minced 2 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed 1 cup chicken broth 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice lemon slices 1 tbsp fresh parsley for garnish
Directions: cut chicken breasts so they lay flat and place parchment over them and pound (not too hard) until an even thickness sprinkle with salt and pepper sprinkle both sides with starch in a medium/high heat pan, melt butter and olive oil place chicken in pan and brown on both sides transfer to a baking dish when chicken is all browned, add the garlic, capers and chicken broth to the pan pour this over the chicken in the baking dish and add the lemon juice and lemon slices place in oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through serve with potatoes or whatever side you would like
finally got all the chicken browned and in the pans and in the oven… I was feeling bad for myself because my trusty 12 year old helper was gone and I had to do all of this on my own… I was one hour late getting suppers to the field… horribly embarrassing rolling in at 7 pm…
if you don’t enjoy capers – just omit from the recipe – it is still a great recipe for lemony fried chicken
the farmer loves himself some cheesecake so I knew it was time to get that out to them (enough chocolate cake with some sort of vegetable in it) I combined these two cookies for the crust… but use whatever you can find in the cookie aisle and blend it into a fine crumb like mixture…
lining the dish with tin foil makes it easy to work with once cooked and chilled… this is the cup I use to stamp down the butter/cookie crust mixture…
I was hoping to get fresh cherries but didn’t have that luck at the grocery store (not sure how I missed that season)... so I resorted to canned cherries… for this I strained them to removed most of the goo…
cheesecake making is simple… get out your ingredients and go do some other jobs that morning while they get to room temperature… once the cream cheese, eggs, sour cream are all at room temperature, they make a creamy (not lumpy) cheesecake mixture for you… I dropped the cherries on and then covered with a streusel topping before baking…
Ingredients: Streusel Topping: 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes 2 tbsp sugar pinch of kosher salt Cookie Crust: 3 cups finely processed cookie crumbs 6 tbsp melted unsalted butter pinch of kosher salt Cherry Cheesecake Filling: 3 pkgs cream cheese (24 oz), room temperature 1 cup sugar 4 large eggs, room temperature 1 cup sour cream, room temperature 2 (540 mL) Eddie Light and Fruity cherry pie filling, straining (not rinsed, just set in a strainer)
Directions: Streusel: combine ingredients and using a pastry blender or your fingers, crumble place in fridge to keep cold Crust: preheat oven to 350 degrees I use a Vitamix and crush the cookies in batches… if you have a food processor it would work better to do it in there mix until cookie crumbs are basically powder add the butter and salt for the 9×13 dish, line with foil both ways so that you can pull it out when cooled press the cookie mixture into the bottom of the pan, using a cup to push it down bake for 10 minutes Cheescake Filling:
set oven at 325 degrees in a electric mixer, whip up the cream cheese… scrape down with a spatula and whip again add sugar and whip add eggs one at a time, using spatula to scrape down add sour cream pour into the pan with the the cookie crust top with streusel bake for 50-60 minutes the outside should be set and the middle will jiggle a bit place on a wire rack for 30 minutes cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for a few hours before you cut and serve
I loved cooking this up for the farmers but found myself talking to thin air as my lovely assistant was not with me… I certainly will miss her dearly when school starts!!!
it is 10:15 pm… my daughter just went to bed and I am faced with folding laundry that I put on my bed to sabotage myself before I go to sleep… I’m not expecting the farmer(s) to be home until midnight and the house is quiet… I have ran out of things to watch on Youtube so I open up my Netflix… everything is in Arabic or some language similar to that and my first thought is ‘I’ve been hacked’...
not the logical thought ‘maybe one of my kids is playing a joke on me’... nope – straight to hacking…
to preface my distrust of everything right now – Garmin (the running watch I use) was actually hacked by a Russian hacker last month… none of my run workouts were being uploaded for almost two weeks… so hacking does still happen… (unless the unlikely event that Facebook was wrong about that story)
*** side note: blanched the beans… this means you boil for 2-3 minutes and then straight into ice cold water***
back to the hacking… I quickly dial up a help line for Netflix and proceed to tell the lady my issue… she needs verification that this is my Netflix account… reasonable… she wants to send a code to my email… it is not coming through, so she goes to her next option… texting the code… but the problem is the number on the Netflix account is the farmer’s number and I tell her he doesn’t want to be bothered with my Netflix issues while he is combining…
understandable she says… third option is she is going to ‘patch me through to the finance department and I am going to give my VISA to them’… huh???
Ingredients: 4 cups green beans, blanched and cut (ends trimmed) 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, shaved 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves 1/4 cup sliced red onion 3 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon) 1 tbsp golden balsamic vinegar (or champagne vinegar) 1 tsp honey 1 clove garlic, minced freshly ground salt and pepper
Directions: blanch the beans boil water, add the beans for 2-3 minutes and then place in ice cold water in the sink drain and dry add the tomatoes, cheese, basil, onion place all the dressing ingredients in a vitamix and blend if you don’t have that – shake in a jar cover the salad with dressing and toss put in fridge until ready to serve, preferably for a few hours
‘easy there, slow down’ I say… and then I start giggling and I say to her ‘you are in on this aren’t you??? are you all in the same room??? are you just going to pretend to patch me over to finance and then hand your phone to your friend that hacked my account and get my VISA number? how do I know you even work for Netflix?’
it was all becoming crystal clear to me… what a scam… well I informed her that I wasn’t born yesterday and they would have to come up with a better sceme than this to hook me…
*** side note: on these hot days on the farm I’ve been including watermelon or some sort of melon… I think it’s been a hit***
I truly expected her to be shocked I figured it out and perhaps hang up on me… but she quickly backtracked and said she did actually work for Netflix and no longer required my VISA… we could maybe figure it out some other way…
I said ‘now we are talking… how about I tell you how this is going to work… if you truly work there, you can just go ahead and turn my language preference to English, no VISA numbers need to be given and we are set’…
I call this the art of negotiation… I watched three episodes of it on Masterclass and was feeling pretty great about myself…
*** side note: these have to be my two favourite toppings on anything really… mozza and basil… unreal… also this deer sausage is incredibly tasty***
she keeps insisting that she truly does work for Netflix and I keep saying ‘yes and I live next door to Oprah’...
after a solid half hour of this back and forth, I begin to fade… the laundry is done and I certainly don’t want the farmer(s) to get home only to find me fighting with a fake Netflix person on my phone…
Ingredients: 1 pkg chicken and mozzarella ravioli, barely boiled 1 pkg deer sausasge, bbq’d 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 orange or yellow bell pepper, chopped 1 red onion, sliced 2 cups or more marinara sauce of your choice fresh mozzarella basil
Directions: preheat oven to 425 degrees in a boiling pot of water, drop the ravioli and let boil for 1-2 minutes and scoop out into your baking dish cover with marinara sauce bbq your deer sausage add the peppers and onion to the ravioli and bake for 15 minutes make sure there is enough sauce to cover everything cut up the sausage and add if you choose or serve it beside the ravioli stir the ravioli and pull chunks of mozzarella to place on top bake for 5 minutes or until the mozzarella is melted add the basil and let sit serve with a bbq’d deer sausage if you have not put this in the dish
I decide to compromise… I tell her that I believe her story and she tells me she switched the language back to English… (I never believed her story)
by the time I get off the call, I’m too exhausted to watch a show (which turns out she had switched it back to English) and I’m also to stimulated to fall asleep…
when the farmer(s) get home I immediately have to get up and tell everyone how I didn’t get scammed…
they all are super excited to hear my story at midnight… and then the farmer shows me some emails that Netflix had been sending the last week that I just had ignored and deleted…
here it was emails saying that our Netflix account had been signed into from Bangladesh and if this is not you to deny access… hmmmm… that would have been nice to know earlier…
and then I realize that my ‘spidy-sense’ might be on overdrive right now and I just don’t trust anyone… I phoned my local bank the other day and was just about to ask the teller how she could prove to me she is who she says she is…
the farmer told me I need to stop watching conspiracy movies and perhaps chat with real life people more… I told him that I don’t have that luxury because I was currently trying to figure out if Bill Gates is amazing like his Netflix documentary says he is or if he’s the Anti-Christ like the last Plandemic doc says he is…
Ingredients: Cake: 2 1/2 cups grated zucchini 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 1 1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup cocoa powder 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 3 large eggs 1 cup olive oil 1 tbsp vanilla extract Frosting: 8 oz cream cheese, room temp 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp 2 cups powdered sugar 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup sweetened coconut, toasted
Directions: preheat oven to 350 degrees spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray grate the zucchini in a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon whisk up eggs, add olive oil and and vanilla add the flour mix and then the zucchini spread batter in the greased 9×13 bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean let cool on a rack in the pan to room temp for the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy beat in sugar and cocoa powder add vanilla frost the cake in the pan when cooled add the toasted coconut on top cut and serve
so if you are thinking that absolutely everybody is lying to you right now, you are not alone…
I’m telling you the truth when I say that basil and mozza are the best topping on anything… ever…
oh my word, here we go… harvest 2020… some absolutely gorgeous hot weather (the farmer told me that it felt like the hottest day he has ever combined on… not fun to work in but great for drying out crops) has us able to get combining the peas
we truly feel like a ‘family farm’ for the first time this fall as we have all been stuck together for the last 5 months and are still stuck together but at least with some big jobs to do now! I shouldn’t be surprised why the farmer is able to function on at least 4 hours less sleep than me normally and can log big days when I realize now that he was doing this ever since he was 16… which is my youngest sons age who has been suddenly thrown into 16 hours days…
Ingredients: Salad: 1 lb ground beef (or turkey) 1 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp chili powder iceburg lettuce (1 head) 1 cup cooked quinoa 1 (14 oz) can pinto or black beans, drained and rinsed 2 bell peppers, diced 1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped 1 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 2 cups crushed nacho cheese tortilla chips (or as much as you like) for topping: chopped avocado and sour cream Dressing: 3 tbsp red wine vinegar 2 tbsp honey 2 tbsp ketchup 1 garlic clove minced 1/2 tsp smoked paprika salt and pepper to taste 1/3 cup olive oil
Directions: the taco meat and and quinoa can be made ahead season the taco meat with the cumin, garlic powder and chilli powder for the salad, mix everything in a big bowl without the tortilla chips for the dressing – I use a Nutribullet to whisk up the dressing… you can also shake it up add the tortilla chips and dressing right before serving
you would think not eating out once in a restaurant in 5 months and cooking for my family for that long that I would be less than excited to start taking meals out to a bunch of farmers… you would be wrong… this is far more exciting than cooking for my family… (which I had kind of given up on doing anyways)
part of the excitement was the pleasure of the season right now… some good farmer friends of ours delivered chickens and also parsnips from their pasture and I was able to use these to cook up a meal… I then got to deliver it to the field we were combining which we rent from these farmers… days like this make me truly feel like a farmer living off the land or a hippie in Seattle living in CHAZ… perhaps farmers were ‘autonomous’ before it was cool to be?
really interesting some of the things they have planted in their pastures this year and the parsnips were excellent!
I feel like this chicken looks similar to how I felt this summer in my bathing suit… even the farmer didn’t pretend that I hadn’t put on a few pounds… in college I called it the ‘freshman 20’(I think it was supposed to be 15)... now I’m calling it the ‘covid 20’... I find weight gain easier to deal with when you name it… kind of how all the Big Brother contestants have to ‘name’ their alliances…
in true autonomous farmer style – no part is wasted and these carcasses ended up in my freezer to later be boiled for broth… (life hack – use the word ‘autonomous’ as much as you want… if someone corrects you just tell them ‘you govern your own vocabulary’) I kept these other ‘do-dads’ I found as well… I’m not even going to guess what they are… I’m just hopeful the one thing is not a human thumb…
I was very worried this was not going to be enough chicken for the crew and I’m sure two pieces each perhaps was not enough for some (just my sons maybe), but it cooked up nicely with the yummiest seasoning on it…
what I have left out so far in describing this first meal to the field is that my daughter is now 12 and she actually basically made this meal… I just stand and take photos now… it’s really nice and I pay her ‘her age’ by the hour… so basically she’ll want to live with me till she is 40 and get $40 per hour to do my work for me…
Ingredients: 4 cups parsnips, peeled and cut into 1” cubes 2 cups chicken broth 1/4 cup full-fat coconut milk 2 garlic cloves 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Directions: in a medium saucepan over high heat, combine the parsnips and chicken broth bring to a boil and reduce heat simmer for 15 minutes or until parsnips are fork tender transfer the parsnips and remaining cooking broth to a blender add the coconut milk, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper blend until smooth
she does remind me of my Grandma Reed… loves cooking and not extremely interested in dishes… so I find myself doing a lot of the ‘grunt labour’ in the kitchen… guess who had to wash the potatoes?
garden potatoes are huge by this time of year and slice perfectly for these yummy greek wedges… I don’t know why I do this – but I like to slice them into the wedges, throw the wedges in cold water and then pat dry on a tea towel before putting them on a pan… perhaps I have seen this somewhere before?
Sienna once again got the glamorous job of harvesting the fresh herbs to place on the potatoes and chicken… it is a small miracle everything stayed alive this year! silver lining of Covid? I perhaps will refrain from telling the farmer’s poor Grandma who has been locked in her room for 5 months how well my parsley is doing…
Ingredients: Potatoes: 1 1/2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, halved and sliced into 1/4 inch wedges 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup chicken broth 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper Chicken: 2 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (I just cut up a whole chicken) 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Directions: Potatoes: preheat oven to 400 degrees place potato wedges in a 9×13 baking dish add the rest of ingredients mix and spread in an even layer, not touching bake for around 1 hour and toss every 20 minutes Chicken: line a large baking sheet with parchment paper arrange chicken thighs in a single layer, not touching pat dry the tops and drizzle each thigh with olive oil to coat mix together the seasoning sprinkle over the thighs bake until cooked through and skin is crispy and golden brown, 35-45 minutes (depending on size) at 400 degrees let cool for 10 minutes
to continue with the root veggie theme of the dinner… we made beet cake… I’ve posted this and made it a few times for previous harvests and it is still one of my absolute favourite cakes… Sienna struggles to see why I must put beets or zucchini in cakes, but even she was a believer after eating a piece… so moist… (also, realizing I hate that word but cannot think of a different way to describe how moist it is)
I roasted up way to many beets but actually love having these for leftovers to cut up and put on a salad or something… (or eat whole like I also did and then pee and quickly google to see if red pee was a Covid symptom) it appears I am fine and that one pees red after consuming large amounts of beets… Dwight Shrute would have been disappointed in me…
cake is easily my favourite thing to make… and then eat…
frosting is easily Sienna’s favourite thing to make… and then eat…
we are no pros at the icing of cakes… but we know you wait till the cake is cool and then you proceed to eat half the frosting while you ice it… this recipe is great because it makes way to much frosting for the cake so eat away while you ice!
root veggies for the win… (oh – cream and sugar as well)
#staysafe… this I mean to all my farmer friends… lots of big machinery and big hours… stay safe out there! happy harvesting!
Ingredients: For the Cake: – 2 medium beets, cleaned, unpeeled and cut in half – 2 tsp olive oil – 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed and room temperature – 1 cup packed brown sugar – 3/4 cup sugar – 2 large eggs, room temperature – 1 tsp vanilla – 2 cups all purpose flour – 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder – 1 tsp baking soda – 1 tsp baking powder – 1 tsp kosher salt – 1 1/4 cups buttermilk For the Frosting: (I only used half this frosting recipe) – 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature – 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature – 4 cups powdered sugar – 2 tbsp finely grated cooked beets – 1 tsp vanilla – 2 tsp milk – 1/2 tsp lemon juice – 1/2 tsp salt
Directions: – wash and cut beets into half… place in tin foil with olive oil, cover with more tin foil and bake on a cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 1 hour – remove from oven and open up tin foil and let cool – in a mixer, combine butter and sugar… add eggs one at a time and then vanilla – combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt – alternate flour mixture and buttermilk into the sugar mixture – finally, add 3/4 to 1 cup grated beets – put into two 9 inch cake pans that have been greased and parchment paper in the bottom of each – bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until centre of cake is done – let cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack and cool – for the frosting, combine all ingredients and whip – make sure the cake is room temperature and then spread frosting in-between the two cake layers and all around it and on top – to freeze, slice and put individual pieces in containers to freeze
new shoes… birthday shoes… these beauties might only ever see my treadmill… I’m not fast enough or pretty enough to be wearing them but here we are… what inspired you, Catherine, to make such a healthy meal and run in your fast shoes and shave your legs? was it the super sexy farmer you’ve been quarantined with for 2 straight months? (by the way… thanks for asking… it has been going really well) or is it that soft voice you hear every time your son, Ethan, opens his laptop to do his Math lesson and you get to hear the Voice…
Ingredients: 2 cups almond flour 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp kosher salt 3 eggs 1/3 cup blackstrap molasses 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted 1 cup grated, raw beet (peeled) 1 cup frozen blueberries Directions: preheat oven to 350 line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper muffin cups (spray if you usually do) in a large bowl, combine almond flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl, mix eggs, molasses, butter and add beets add the dry ingredients fold in frozen blueberries using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into the paper lined muffin tin bake for 25-30 minutes until the muffins are browned on top and a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean
at first I was laser focused on Ethan paying attention to what he was doing and making sure he gets a good grade in his Math class… but then something started to change… as I listened to this soft voice on the other side of the laptop, gently telling Ethan how to figure out the parallel line or the cosign or sum of ‘blah-bitty-blah’… it all started to run together for me and I could not get this voice out of my head… (ok – side bar – I know margarine is not healthy apparently… but this is a game changer on sweet potatoes in my eye… absolute heaven)(no recipe for this – it is baked sweet potato… wash the skins and bake for 45 minutes or until soft… let them rest and then cut open, squish down and put margarine, black beans and shredded cheese on and broil)back to McDreamy Voice… I found I was starting to plan my day around getting to hear this smoky voice discussing integers… I would make sure it was time to bake or clean out the dishwasher or stand in the kitchen with a coffee and stare off into the distance… don’t get too worried about my intentions with the Voice… or how invested I have become in Math Foundations 20… I should also mention that I was ‘pocket-dialed’ by Cabelas today (I did a phone-in, curb-side pickup yesterday) and I listened to this for over 7 minutes… they were chatting in the background about a co-worker not showing up on time and then getting orders wrong… I found it riveting …. and I would have been mortified if someone had suddenly said ‘hello?’ and figured out I had been listening for far too long…
to all the teachers out there… doing their online courses… just know that there could be a mom in the background… hiding in the kitchen… wondering what your hobbies are… (no recipe for this dish… it is just butter lettuce, rice noodles, steak in a soy/fish sauce with ginger and then cucumbers and carrots on it… it was delish)
I was walking with a friend the other evening… as we were saying our good-bye’s, a strange feeling came over me… I have been close friends with this person for over twenty years now and this was a new feeling I had never experienced around her… I found my arms raising, my heart pulling me towards her, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth… and then I almost did the unthinkable… I almost hugged her…
I shyly laughed and told her that I didn’t know what came over me… that I had these strange new feelings and I was overcome with the urge to give her a hug… is this how all the freaks that I’ve avoided hugging over the years feel???
my whole life I’ve avoided saying goodbye at get-togethers and just slipping out in order to forego the inevitable hugs that ensue… now, my body is betraying everything I know by drawing me towards her… this is when I know that Corona has cracked me… broken me down and spit me out…
she was kind about the awkwardness that ensued… I could tell she didn’t need to hug me as much as I was longing to wrap my arms around her… maybe she was worried that a hug that was 20 years in the making might be a let down… perhaps she thinks I am showing visible signs of losing my mind…. it could be the fact that showering once a week is not working out for me as well as I thought it was… whatever it was, she politely laughed as said ‘oh I sure wish we could hug too… darn Covid’
Ingredients: 4 russet potatoes (around 2 cups mashed) 1 tsp salt cracked black pepper 1 egg 1 cup all purpose flour (more if needed) Directions: boil potatoes – either peel first or pull peels off after boil them for 20-25 minutes and drain mash or use a potato ricer let cool a bit and then in a bowl, add the salt, pepper, egg and then the flour until you can form a ball on a floured surface, roll parts of it into a log and chop into small ‘pillows’ in batches, place in boiling water and as soon as they float, let them float for 30 more seconds and then remove put in a dish with a bit of olive oil so they don’t stick to each other use immediately or keep in the fridge to use later
I’m not sure what this isolation is doing to me but I’m worried that it’s turning me into one of the most annoying/inconsiderate types of human beings… a hugger… the meal I was making, as I mulled over these new urges I had been having as of late, is one of my absolute favourites… gnocchi… little pillowy mouthfuls of potato heaven… they are a bit laboursome, but so delightful and so much better than the store bought version…
I like to use the potato ricer to get really fluffy mashed potatoes for the dough… my daughter and I had a lovely little assembly line going of me rolling and cutting the dough and she was boiling and straining them…
the plan was to add a mushroom cream sauce on them with a parmesan topping and bake… but after all that work, I curdled the milk and ruined the entire sauce… my guess is the temperature was too high for adding the milk… so Sienna had to go dump it in the back trees in the yard and we settled for store bought pasta sauce and parmesan cheese and baked the gnocchi at 375 degrees until it was bubbling and gooey… we gave each other a hug and said we ‘can’t cry over curdled milk’this little girl’s schedule is full of school in the morning but then I can employ her for the afternoon in my kitchen… the salad we made is super simple and classic but we thought delicious with the homemade French dressing…
iceberg lettuce chopped salad with french dressing
Ingredients: Salad: 1 head iceberg lettuce, core removed and chopped 4 radishes, chopped 4 scallions or green onions, chopped 1 cucumber, chopped 1 cup shredded carrots Dressing: 3 tbsp white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar) 3 tbsp sugar 1/4 cup ketchup 1/4 cup olive oil 1 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste (not needed) Directions: put salad ingredients in a large bowl shake up dressing pour over and serve immediately
we finished the meal off with an easy peach cobbler…
and I have to say that I am mortified if I have made ‘spurned-huggers’ feel the way my lovely friend was ‘forced’ (we’ll say that) to make me feel the other night… all these years, I never knew the anguish I was causing so many by not just giving them a hug… however awful it used to feel for me to hug, the feeling of having an unrequited hug is worse!
I do have a suspicious feeling that this lure to hugging I am having right now is purely founded upon the fact that we are not allowed to hug and throughout the course of my life, I am generally only attracted to things I am not supposed to be doing… similar to the critically acclaimed Netflix show “Too Hot to Handle”, where couples are not allowed to kiss (etc.) and find themselves even more attracted to each other than if they could kiss… this was an old Bible School trick… one I fell for ‘hook, line and sinker’ and ended up marrying a farmer at the ripe old age of 20…
who knows – only time will tell if this pull to hugging is merely an act of rebellion or a step forward in becoming a nicer human being… after the pandemic, if you don’t get the open faced sandwich hug, the shoulder to the throat hug, the middle school dance hug or the burping the baby hug but instead it is replaced with a soft, delicious ‘hugging your grandmother’ type of hug, you will know something deep down has been switched in me… and you might want to read my old blog on how to avoid hugging – cuz I’m coming for ya…
Ingredients: 3 quarts canned peaches, strained (or 12 fresh peaches, sliced) 1 cup sugar 2 tbsp cornstarch 1 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp fresh lemon juice zest of one lemon 2 cups flour 2 tbsp sugar 3 tsp baking powder 1 tsp kosher salt 1/2 cup cold shortening, cut into small cubes 1 cup whole milk Directions: mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon juice and zest in a saucepan on medium/high heat add peaches and boil and gently stir for 1 minute pour into a 9×13 greased dish cut shortening into flour, sugar, baking powder and salt mixture add milk and mix until sticky spoon over the peaches and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes serve warm if possible
