DARK DAYS CHALLENGE - VEGETARIAN!

If anyone knows me they know that a meal without meat is, well, a meal that is lacking in one of the most important things in life ( I live by Basset mentality).  But I was challenged this week by our team at the Dark Days Challenge: to produce a fully SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) meal that was VEGETARIAN, one that  lacked that all important ingredient - MEAT!  Ask Louisa, my hound dog, and she will tell you - no meal is complete without ~ meat! (She prays every day that meat will fall from the sky - she does!)

So  I did it.  I went and looked at what I had in that there cupboard and found some sweet potatoes (our fav!), some salad greens and homemade herbed goat cheese and local walnuts.  What to make, what to make?!?!?

Well, here ya go - I did it!  I made a vegetarian meal that was to die for!

SWEET POTATO LATKES WITH GARLIC AIOLI AND A CRISP MIXED  GREEN SALAD

Oh baby!

 I took a couple sweet potatoes and shredded them, added some seasoning, egg, flour and mixed it all together, placing them on a cookie sheet and coking them in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Next I made some homemade aioli with garlic to top off the latkes.

Next I took the greens I got from the Farmer's Market a week and a half ago and topped it off with some home made herbed chevre, some local walnuts and added a bit of balsamic vinegar.

Add a slice of homemade bread and life is good!

Yeah, you wish you would've thought of this one yourself, didn't you?

DARK DAYS CHALLENGE

Last week I went simple, because I was tired and really all I wanted to do was eat something quick and delicious, local and good for you.  Well, what do ya know?  That's exactly what I had in my freezer/fridge.

This is our version of a simple, down-home, meat and potatoes dinner: Grilled Bison steaks topped with sautéed mushrooms and onions (ok the mushrooms were bought locally but not organic), green beans and sweet potatoes from White Water Gardens.

I took this with my cell phone after a glass of wine - so forgive me, it doesn't look as good as it tasted.

This week's challenge is vegetarian.  How am I gonna do that???

PLUG SPAWN AND ME

I'm having a lazy day today, thinking about the upcoming spring, the impending snow storm tonight and all the things I should be doing like finishing up the taxes: I find myself sitting here on the computer wasting time, dozing off and enjoying every minute of it.

So yesterday I was in the kitchen and remembered the Plug Spawn in the fridge.  I got out the directions and started figuring out what one needs to do to produce a plethora of mushrooms!

It seems complicated, a little, well no, not complicated but time consuming just like any other farm project but it will be fun!  there's a lot of paying attention to detail like watering for several days, then not, then waiting, then drilling holes into wood, then waiting, then watering, then waiting, then putting the logs in buckets of sand to stand upright, then waiting.  And each mushroom is a little different of course, so each requires a different set of rules.  Oh well, I am looking forward to the harvest!  I guess that's like anything in gardening;  you know it's a lot of difficult, time consuming, back breaking labor - but the rewards of the harvest are definitely worth it!

Then as I was going through the directions, I started thinking to myself that most people would not get it, not understand or misconstrue this in some weird way, but in my life - this question and answer is perfectly normal:

"Honey, why is there plug spawn in the fridge?"

"I'm gonna inoculate it in wood this spring."

Perfectly normal, really.

DEATH IS ALL AROUND A FARM

I was out enjoying the beautiful weather the other day with my camera in tow (of course!), and looked up to notice something on the side of the barn.  Luckily I had my 70-200mm lens on my camera so I could take a better look at what it was.  Sadly it was a bird who apparently had went to enter a hole in the side of the barn and it's foot got caught in a crack under the hole.  I looked and looked and couldn't determine if it was alive or not.

I thought for a moment, " If it is alive, I can't just leave it there to suffer!"  So I walked out to the pole barn looking for the long ladder.  Then I thought to myself, "If it's dead, I would have just carried a 100 lb ladder over to the barn for nothing."  So I thought maybe I would go get my 300mm lens and see if I could tell if it was alive or not before I did something like that.  It didn't look like it was moving but sometimes you just can't tell with the wind and such.

Well, I am truly sorry to say but the little thing was dead, caught in the side of a barn by it's leg.  It must've flapped and flapped it's wings until it just passed out.  Do animals that go through something like that, just admit defeat and die?  OR do they stay there until they starve to death?  I think they admit defeat and die, the way it should be, without too much suffering.

I wish people had such options as that.  Makes me think that we hang on to things longer then we should in life, if something isn't working, let it go.  If we aren't in the right position, let it go.  If we are dying, let us go.  Why hang on? I like to live my life to the fullest every day, linger in the moment and know that each day is a blessing because who knows how much time we have?  Animals do that, they live in the moment, why as humans do we let our selves suffer and run the rat race in hopes that someday we can retire?  I'm already retired: retired to a lovely little farm, with great animals, friends and beautiful gifts of life.  I actually worked on the computer for 8 hours yesterday; I felt like I had one of those real jobs, ya know the 9-5 jobs most people have?  And I got down on my knees and thanked the dear Lord that I will never have to have one of those!  I couldn't possible do that!  I'd die, just like that little bird did, flapping my wings repeatedly hoping someone would notice me dying and then, just give up.

No siree!  I am meant to be a farm girl!

"HON, WHY IS THEIR PLUG SPAWN IN OUR REFRIGERATOR?"

Yes, I placed my order for seeds for the garden last month and they are starting to arrive!  Yay!  I now am storing plug spawn in my refrigerator and the seeds continue to arrive every day, it seems.  Very excited about this year's plantings! I've got some new items like totally purple carrots that are purple inside and out!  A hop vine, grapes, a cherry tree, Yin Yang Beans and of course the plug spawn, which is to grow mushrooms!  Yay!  Mushrooms!  I've got a ton of old logs laying around and thought that, because we love mushrooms and only one person really sells them at market, it would be a good investment to make and product to sell.

I decided to go with seedlings this year for the tomatoes, peppers and other crops instead of growing them myself.  Much easier and they arrive when they need to be planted and all I have to do is put them in the ground. Easy, schmeezy! I like the easy button.

PIG, ROASTING BY AN OPEN FIRE

SCORE! WHY WOULD YOU SHOP ANYWHERE ELSE????

This is my score of items from my last two trips to farmer's market.  Tell me - if you can get this great, locally grown, no pesticides, hormones, nastiness and know the farmers who grew/raised it?  Why the heck would you go to a supermarket???

The other week I even went into the local co-op/health food store, with all it's organic items, I thought I could find items more organic and local for the Dark Days Challenge I am doing.  I was looking for similar things I could buy at market but couldn't even find what the market had to offer, not even close! and it was considerably more expensive. I bought just a few things and it came out to $40!  not to mention only about $15 was from a local farmer.  Not good enough for me!  So look at this score:

Jan 2012:
1 lb beef, mushroom and swiss brats
4 lbs bacon
5 onions
2 tomatoes (yes - TOMATOES in Jan, in MN)
1 very large cucumber
2 lbs sweet potatoes
1 lb beets
3 lb pork chops
6 beef sticks
2 lbs carrots

all for - are you ready for this???     $52!  yes, I said $52!

Feb 2012:
2 lb carrots
3 tomatoes
1 lb green beans (yes - green beans in Feb - in MN)
1 1/4 lb beets
2 lbs sweet potatoes
2 lbs onions
2 cucumbers
1/2 lb salad greens
1 1/2 lb grass-fed beef steaks
2 1/2 lb bacon
1 lb ground grass-fed beef
1 lb hamburger patties
1 lb free-range lamb for kabobs
1 lb beef, mushroom, swiss cheese brats (they were soooo good last month I had to buy them again)
4 lbs pork chops
1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs
1 lb summer sausage
6 beef sticks

all for - are you ready???   $83!  yes, $83!  Now why - I mean why??? would you buy from a grocery store?  Soon, i am going to the store and try to purchase all these same items, albeit they will be nasty, factory farm meat and veggies, which is NOT the same, but see if they all cost about the same or cheaper.  I'm on a mission…. from farmers.