Minty’s true spirit was unleashed during the Halloween celebration of 2013.
She was to be a devil. No problem. Oh, sorry, did you need a costume?
She is loud-quiet-loud our Mint Mint.
Month: October 2013
Brown Cow Dots
The kiddies are on vacation so I can’t get out there with Brent and the girls. I sit by the water and electricity in case we need to adjust things from the main house. On this day, Brent and Kevin moved the herd from Nebraska to Yukon. The weather has been amazing so we’ve been able to graze the paddocks without hay.
After the new section is ready, Brent calls the brown dots.
They drool at the sound of his voice ( as do I ) and they calmly walk to the gate.
The grass is aceptable, silly spoiled cows, they move along and munch instantly. I love it when they do this.
The little ones push them along and a square of Yukon is explored.
They make their way to the oak trees. Oak trees are cow crack. They also provide wonderful shade and wind block.
After a tree munch, the brown dots are still, enjoying their afternoon tea.
Weekly Meal Plan As Described By My Two-Year-Old
No Peggy Meatballs!
No Tatoe Tease!
No Soop!
No Fah Gah!
No Fee Mee Yawn!
No Chocy Keem With Arm-yak!
No Poke Top!
More Beef!
No Teasey Poof!
Where my Teasey Poof?!
Spaghetti with Meatball, Says Minty
Yummy Spag Balls!
Minty uses her Jedi mind tricks to do many things like buy Cadbury Dairy Milk, dried sausage and choose what we eat for dinner. Well, technically, fettucini or linguine or very flat noodles with meatballs. No matter, you make, you boil, you eat with sauce and stuff, ’nuff said.
I didn’t think to write up Spag with Meatballs until I was well on my way. Mostly because I’m sick. I feel like resting as this old dog would do.
or sun bathing like this young barn cat.
Yet people need food and our kitchen needs to keep on keeping on.
Noodles ready. I made them with spelt. In French it’s called “épeautre.”
- 1 1/2 cups of spelt
- two eggs
mix and knead. roll in a pasta roller
Sauce on. Very simple. For kids, I try to avoid too many notes.
- 1 small onion
- a bit of garlic
- tomato paste
- big…
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Bavette, Gets ’em Wet
Flank Steak! Tasty. I might try it braised next time :).
A simple cut for a fry pan. I’ve sizzled up many a bavette and each time I wonder if maybe I could have finished up in a hot oven. Yet each time, after a quick hot fry, it comes out juicy and tasty.
This is before:
It’s a Bavette. 100% grass-fed beef bavette from our farm. In English, we call it a flank steak.
Hot pan a go-go. A minute or so on one side,
Then introduce the other with the hot heat and some gros sel.
The hot duck fat gets that beef to be yum with a few flips.
After a rest, some pepper and a pat of butter, dig in. I had no veg with this guy because I’m preparing Bambi.
Bambi is soaking. The kids had manchons de canard or Gascon Buffalo Wings as I like to call them.
Kevin fell victim to the…
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Veal T-bone
That was a tasty t-bone!
We recently sold out our veal boxes. Thankfully, we managed to grab a t-bone to assess our quality. Every time we sell meat, the fry pan goes on and we sample to make sure the work put in for tasty meat is going along smoothly. Tasting a veal t-bone is a perk of farming grass-fed beef.
In France, it’s called a “cotes/filet a griller.”
In any language, it looks delicious.
I fried in a fat that can take heat. Grass-fed tallow was ready to go.
After a gros sel, in to the hot pan for a right browning.
Then a flip. And another flip and another flip. I don’t eat veal rare, but I suppose you can.
Onions, shallots and garlic are ready to mop up the fond.
As the t-bone is resting, butter goes in for a meltdown.
The OSG absorb the butter as they mail-it-in as sauce…
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Hot Chocolate for Late Night
Hot Chocolate!
We live in the heart of Gascony. This means duck, wine, beef!, floc and Armagnac. I love Armagnac. These farmhouses get cold in the winter and nothing warms your body like a hot, hot chocolate with a splash of Armagnac. It’s a bit chilly now, but not that bad. Though we like to practice and prepare our winter habits in advance especially after a long day and especially when Die Hard 2 is up for viewing.
- Cacao Powder, 3 soup spoons
- Suger, five soup spoons then taste
- Milk, 1 litre
- Cream, 1 cup
- Armagnac, shot per cup or less
We have a big jug of Armagnac. I pour it into something that will pour it into something smaller as to not lose any along the way with silly overpours. The cup on the right is for the cook. I have my Gascon Hot Chocolate neat, hold the chocolate.
But for…
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All Kids Love A Digger
Kevin is flattening some surfaces. He’s getting a little help from some friends. 
If you look closely and cross your eyes, you’ll see a Kevin in this picture. 
“The Pelle Wuz Here” 
Kevin showed Otto how the controls work. 
This took his Minecraft brain and added gravity, controls with feedback and a splash of reality. 
Oh look! He delivered a rake!
P++ Plus Happy Cows and Generous Offerings
Our friendly farmer friends popped over for a visit. A spot of tea and some amazing gifts from the garden, they wondered off to say, “hello,” to the girls.
They brought some hot hot peppers. Substance P has an iteration. Brent named it “P++.” Hotter and more dangerous than Substance P. P++ is the guy in the ‘R’ rated movie.
And then the tomatoes. Green ones, red ones, yellow ones, lovely ones. They brought tomatoes for the whole farm! … and some not so hot peppers.
The boys did our annual driveway-pothole fixin’ and grabbed some gravel to help things along. These are the moments when you say to yourself, ” I need gravel. I wish I had a … wait! I have a truck!” We love our truck. White Toyota Hilux. Reliable. Strong. Fun to drive. Not many features. A number one pick by off-roading homeboys and the Taliban.
Another load is needed to finish the job.
The tomatoes were processed quickly. Kevin sharpened the knives.
The time for fresh basil is over. It was 2C today and it’s time to prepare for that cold weather deal.
My garlic has come to an end. I’m going to quadruple the garlic this year. We go through a lot of garlic, this family.
Basil in. Tomatoes surrendering to yummy tomato sauce no doubt topping some yummy beef.
Rye bread and Spelt ready for the Rye bread Spelt bread taste off. It’s been a steady day. A great day. A cold day. Another day that feels like two days. Bon Weekend!
Five Ducks Prepared By Friend
Five ducks from the local yummy duck farm – La Ferme de Roussa – Kevin works out my sketchy teaching on how to carve out all the good parts. Thankfully, he knows a surgeon or two for inspiration.
