WORKING WEEKEND.
Jesse is away again, back at Bugtussle, getting a lot of work done. He is installing electrical stuff (for the distant, distant future when we can go solar), as well as putting in insulation and a stove pipe. I am still in Nashville, taking care of our high-maintenance dog.I haven't been to Bugtussle in months and I am missing it terribly. I miss our little cabin and our chickens and the children and the woods. I am hoping that the next time I go, it will be for good.Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!- Hannah.
image source
WINE AND (SHEEP) CHEESE.
Jesse and I went to a dinner party of sorts last night. Our friends Willie and Erin got a "Cheese of the Month" subscription for Christmas, which basically means that a box full of crazy cheeses comes in the mail each month. We were lucky enough to taste the latest delivery, along with some wine and sherry and homemade bread and figs and olives and blood orange truffle oil and all sorts of amazing treats.Besides hanging out with Oliver (the cat), my favorite part of the meal was surely the sheep milk cheese.....which has me curious once again about milking sheep. We have researched this topic before, and sort of forgot about the idea when we saw how expensive the milking breeds were. But man, that cheese was so delicious....- Hannah.
photos from Willie's IPhone....thanks Willie!
WENDELL WEDNESDAY.
Thank you for all the kind words for Wendell this week. He is feeling much, much better! The vet confirmed that it was indeed a food allergy, but it had flared into a bacterial infection - with one especially bad spot near the top of his tailbone. Poor guy! He came home from the vet with some medicine and a shaved butt, and the improvement was almost immediate. Wendell has his energy back and has been running us ragged around the neighborhood, chewing up all of my knitting yarn, and generally being a puppy again. It is such a relief to see the light back in his eyes.That being said, we cannot recommend a raw diet highly enough. We fed Wendell pretty much nothing but meat and eggs his whole life, and these problems started the day we switched him to kibble (an expensive, organic brand nonetheless!) Do some research about what is in your dog food....just like with people, the higher expense for the food is justified in less trips to the vet/doctor.- Hannah.
RUSTIC ENGLISH MUFFINS.
Excluding my trip to Bugtussle, every day of the new year I've baked something: so far, it's been either biscuits, bagels or english muffins. The english muffins were a recommendation from our friends over at Bootjack Cabin and the english muffins, by far, have been our favorite of my baking experiments.
THE RECIPE:
What you'll need (use organic where you can):
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups sifted unbleached flour
- 1 packet of yeast
- 1 tablespoon of Lard or Butter
- Sugar
- Salt
- Water
In a sauce pan warm your cup of milk on low heat with 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of lard or butter. Stir until sugar and salt dissolve and lard or butter is melted. Remove from heat. In a mixing bowl, combine one 1/3 cup of warm water with a packet of yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Once the yeast dissolves, add the milk mixture to the yeast and water mixture. Then sift and add your 2 cups of flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until all flour is incorporated. Let rise for 30 minutes.After 30 minutes, add another 1/2 teaspoon of salt and beat for additional 30 seconds with wooden spoon. Heat cast iron pan, griddle, or sauté pan to roughly 300 degrees or medium-high heat. Lightly coat with lard or butter.We don't own rings, and don't really care about having perfectly round muffins, but if you own metal rings, or a tuna can (with the bottom cut out) you could make the classic round muffins by placing them on the griddle or pan and pouring the mixture inside. We don't worry much about it, though, thus the "rustic" part of this recipe.This is a sticky dough. It helps to take a regular spoon from your drawer and, out of the batter, draw a large spoonful. Using your wooden spoon, scrape the dough from your regular spoon and let it drop into the hot pan. Cook on first side––it will slowly puff up as it cooks––for 4-6 minutes then flip. Press the muffin lightly (at which point you'll recognize the classic muffin look) and let cook for additional 4-6 minutes. Once done, remove and set on cooling rack or something similar.Once cooled, split with fork and serve (or toast and serve––your call)!- Jesse.