from the kitchen

Hello!

I'm not sure anyone if anyone is still checking on this little space. The longer one is away the harder it feels to break the ice. Why does time fly by so quickly these days?

But we won't harp on that.

I thought I'd show you a few snaps taken in the kitchen. My camera too, has been sorely neglected of late.

Nothing fancy in the kitchen these days. I tend to make the same things over and over. If something works and you don't need a recipe, just intuition of substituting what you have on hand, then that is something worth coming back to. Which is about as fast food as it gets around here. I rarely try new recipes these days, but for awhile there I made a point of trying a new one every week. Goodness knows I have far too many recipe books. May as well use them.

Now this is an old shot from months ago. The mushrooms are long gone around here, but I couldn't not show you, it was the best season I have seen since I was a kid. These are from my in-law's property down the road. Found tucked away in the bush behind the paddocks. I will be back next year to try my luck.

Which is best cooked simply with butter and parsley.

Experimenting with spelt flour and potato gnocchi. (Though next time I may stick to ordinary flour as these were a little too soft). I always get extra "help" making gnocchi these days. The discovery of a long ago purchased potato ricer made the whole process much easier.

 A suckling pig, bought from a local free range farm for a big family feast. Stuffed and rubbed with fennel seeds, garlic, rosemary, olive oil and salt courtesy of Nonna. All day on the spit roast and several days worth of meat. Food really does bring family together.

Apple cake.


***


It feels good to be back. I missed my little outlet into the world of like minded souls.

ordinary days

I hadn't meant to be away for long. School holidays came and went. Although I was home, and it was both enjoyable and busy, unfortunately any well meaning intentions to blog flew out the window. Then I lost the internet for a week. Strangely enough I think it was what I really needed. I started and finished a novel. The house looked tidier than it had in years. I did some sewing. I started a new knitting project. I felt so productive. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt from that week.

 I think the hardest part about coming back to a blog when you've been away is breaking the ice again.

So I'll let the pictures do the talking today, just so that I can ease myself back into it.

The fire is on and a white fog envelopes everything outside. Ugg boots and an op shopped polyester fleece dressing gown are keeping me nice and cosy as I type. Dirty floors and extra washing are inevitable after the weekend. Which reminds me that the flannel sheets need to go on the bed today. It looks like today will be an ordinary day of cleaning up after the weekend. Ordinary, but good, I hope.

 I found this little assortment outside. The girls must have picked them and left them there.

Valley view.

School holiday soup lunch.

Painting with cut potatoes.

Pretty compost.

Holiday reading from my own childhood books.

From the garden.

Baking.

 
As above.




May your day be an ordinarily good one too. See you soon.

the weekly update

I don't know about you, but my goodness, the weeks are flying by right now. Let us not even mention 'christmas' at this stage.  It's been busy around here. Fortunately a good type of busy for the main part. I am not one to like being busy just for the sake of it, but when that busy involves the usual daily life (admittedly with all it's ups and downs), cow milking, manure hauling, new seed beds in the garden, lots of interesting reading and future projects to plan, well, then that is not so bad.

Unfortunately this little space here has been suffering a little for it, and I will try to put aside a little more time for some more frequent posts with you. So where to start?

 

Family : all good. Just lots of extra activities that always comes at the end of the year. Two birthdays are coming up this month.

Bessie the Jersey (and calf) : both very well. Munching through lots of hay, making a nice and creamy 4 litres every morning, and getting quite shiny with her summer coat. I'm becoming much quicker and more efficient with the milking. We did have a bucket kicked over episode last week (I wasn't paying attention and she kicked it with the untied foot), and I now know the true meaning of not crying over spilt milk. Live and learn. Did I tell you I'm really enjoying it?

The vegie garden : I am hoping for a bumper season (well, at least better than last year), with a full ute load of garden "gold" just added to the entire vegie garden. Cow manure mixed with manure and wee soaked straw from the stables. I've got radishes, peas, cabbage and lettuce in, but over the next few days I will be trying to get a lot more in. We're forecast for more rain so now is the time. It's a little too early to get the tomatoes in, as we're still getting early frosts a few times a week.

In the kitchen: I've been making my favourite new cake (though I replace the sugar with rapadura sugar)  and lots of simple meat and vegie meals. I'm still brewing kombucha and kefir, and I'm hoping to make a little more sauerkraut this week.

The block : we're looking into biting the bullet and investing in a water bore. Purely rain water is just not cutting it. We also need to paint the chook house and make some fences.

Craft : I've been doing knitting rows here and there. I'm on the final hood of Luca's jumper. As for sewing, I tried to start a dress, got halfway through and realised the sizing was way off. Not fun. Project discarded and I haven't had the time or motivation to start anything else. Goodness knows I need the motivation, as my cupboard is full of "nothing-to-wear" right now.

Reading : Folks, This Ain't Normal : A Farmers Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People and a Better World. Joel Salatin doesn't hold back, and you can't help thinking that this guy really does have it all figured out. Highly entertaining and thought provoking.

The Weed Foragers Handbook : An Australian guide to weeds that you can eat. Clear pictures make the weeds pretty easy to identify, and I recognized many of them. It feels comforting to know which weeds you can eat, should the need ever arise. I am looking forward to a little experimenting.

So what are your "updates" lately? I feel a little out of step with the blogging world right now, so please fill me in with your latest projects and doings.

another food update

saurkraut

As I have previously shared our food journey with you before, I thought there might be some of you wondering how that was going. So I thought a little, or not so little update as the case may be, would be on the cards today.

We have continued to exclude wheat from our diet (though the kids still eat some when out and about), and we have now found that for us adults occasionally eating it has some pretty negative effects. I know now that that is because my body is just not used to wheat anymore. Even spelt flour (though the kids are fine with spelt). It will give me stomach aches, insomnia and leave me hungrier for several days. Which is strange when I have eaten the stuff all my life. But I know how much better I feel without it.

Wheat Belly bread with butter, strained yoghurt and maple syrup

Fortunately a properly fermented wholemeal rye, spelt or kamut sourdough does not have the same effect, and so I think I will soon (budget permitting) look into buying a flour grinder to make our own fresh sourdough. This heavy bread tastes very wholesome and doesn't leave you hungry like I find ordinary bread does. The ancient way usually proves best.

We don't eat a lot of grain these days, but we occasionally have some such as rice or porridge made from oats. I try to follow the Nourishing Traditions way of soaking grains and serving it with plenty of butter or cream. The kids eat homemade popcorn, cooked in coconut oil, quite regularly. It is a favourite lunchbox filler.

I can't say it is not difficult finding snacks for kids when you don't buy anything processed. Apart from popcorn, I also make activated nuts, chickpea bombs, crackers (all three recipes from Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar) or slice up some cheese. There was initially some "teething" problems, but for the most part the kids are now used to it. It has been a tricky and sometimes emotional process though. It is not easy when most of your peers are eating out of packets.

As for meat, we have a full freezer of it right now. Buying meat week to week was proving far too expensive for us, so we bought a quarter side of grass fed beef from a local organic farmer, of which he had butchered (or minced or made sausages) to our specifications. I was also given all the bones, which I make stock/broth with about twice a week. We also bought a whole lamb from him, and another lamb from a farmer down the road. We managed to pack it all into our freezer in the fridge and our freezer in the garage. I think it will last us at least six months, but it is too early yet to say.

Another big change here has been the now weekly arrival of our organic box. We order a seasonal fruit and veg box, cream in little glass bottles and a few bottles of raw "bathing only" milk. I was so happy to finally find a way to include a little raw milk in our diet, though budget only allows a few bottles a week. This milk is almost double the price of premium full cream milk. The taste though is a revelation of how real milk should be. It is beautifully creamy and yellow. Definitely worth seeking out.

The garden is a little dormant right now, but I regularly use the prolifically growing kale (both Russian and Tuscan) and rocket. The cabbages, broad beans, parsnip, and beetroot are slowly growing, but are still not ready.

Chocolate nut balls - though I sweeten mine with maple syprup

For the last few months we have been taking fermented cod liver oil along with butter oil. Every night I melt the butter down and add it with the cod liver oil to a a little orange juice. The additional flavouring in the cod liver oil makes it a little easier to take.

So I guess you might be asking the question is all this effort really worth it? Has it made a difference in our health? I can say for the most part yes, though it has been up and down, as we figure out what foods we react with. We found that once you take out all processed food you suddenly become very sensitive to wheat, white sugar, certain oils, some alcohol and additives. If weight is anything to go by, we have both lost some, and I fit back into my pre-Violet clothes. Daniel is back to the size he was before we were married. But the bigger indicator, I think, is the disappearance of niggling little health problems, the extra energy and clearer skin.

Some days I have questioned whether all the food preparation is worth it, the loss of fitting into society and being able to eat anything without apparent consequence when you are out and about.

The way you eat could be likened to a journey. Along the way you try to figure things out, and you might change or adapt as you go along. You might stumble many times. But there are always new things to learn. New recipes to try or books to read. Real food to enjoy. Above all it is really hope that keeps you going. The hope for good health.

 

Links to previous posts on this topic :

on food
the follow up food post
fermented

another school holiday day

Hello! How are you all?

Thank you for your kind and supportive words in my last post. I had been feeling a little guilty that I hadn't been posting as often, but your comments were encouraging, and led me to realise that it is okay to slow down sometimes. Some of you also talked about the feeling of needing to slow down in this colder season, and more than one of you mentioned the book The Way of the Happy Woman. It will now be on my reading list for this season. So, thank you.

As we have entered the second and final week of the school holidays, things have continued to be quiet here. The past two days it has been just the girls and I, as the boys have been whisked away to help build a fence. While I have been cleaning out the pantry (Just how many jars containing the dregs of flour could there be? A lot apparently.), the girls have been reading, putting on entertaining puppet shows and playing dress-ups. With a whole lot of Peppa Pig in there too. It seems our youngest is a huge fan.

I always enjoy the slower, dare I say, lazier pace, during the school holidays. The constant whirr of the washing machine makes me feel more productive than I really am. And now? Well, there will soon be washing to hang out, a toddler to put down for her nap (though that is no sure thing these days), a dirty floor to sweep and an extra blanket to add to each bed (it's been so cold). But all in good time.

I hope your day treats you well.

fermented

I think one of the biggest changes we've made here, as regards to how we eat, was the introduction of fermented food and drink into our diet.  I was always put off by the whole lacto-fermented and cultured thing. It always seemed so time consuming and just a little bit scary.

But really, it's not. A batch of sauerkraut is really as simple as rubbing cabbage and salt together for ten minutes and packing it into a jar. (I used these instructions) Just a few spoonfuls a day can greatly improve digestive health, and we try to have some daily in our attempt to adopt a more traditional diet. I have been making a batch about every three weeks or so from locally grown cabbage. We eat it in varying degrees of sourness, though I must say that I am the only sour flavour fan in the house. So if you don't like the taste it is easy to stir into a vegie mash or something similar to subdue the flavour. It is actually quite nice with a bacon and egg weekend breakfast.

Sauerkraut made from cabbage and kale

Those of us that have spent most of our lives on the standard white flour and sugar fare, often topped off with margarine or vegetable oil, as most processed food is, or the occasional dose of antibiotics, will have some digestive issues. Often it is hidden, but may manifest itself in seemingly unrelated ways and is often subtle. I believe this to be true of myself, my family and I suspect in most people I know. Fermented foods are one of the best ways to re-introduce healthy bacteria and improve our gut flora.

Yoghurt, I had already been making for some time using the slow cooker method.  But I allow it to ferment for a full 24 hours now so as to ensure that most of the lactose has been consumed by the culture, making it easier to digest. It seems to make it a lot thicker too.

Speaking of dairy, we've also begun to drink fermented kefir daily (I bought my kefir grains from here). I make a new batch every morning in a few large glass jars. I use organic unhomogenised milk or A2 milk which I simply pour over the strained grains from the previous batch. Raw milk is impossible to find here and I have heard that kefir is the next best thing. It is like putting the life back into the milk that pasteurisation takes out. If you like the sour taste of yoghurt, as I do, then you will have no problem with this. I really enjoy it as a snack. For others (like Daniel) it can be an acquired taste. I also know someone that adds a touch of honey. Unfortunately I've had no luck getting the kids to drink it.

But the kids do enjoy drinking the kombucha tea I've been making. I had no luck with most of the first few batches of kombucha (it kept going mouldy), and almost gave up. So I took the plunge and bought a big kombucha jar designed for the continuous method of kombucha making. I also put calico over the tea now instead of cheesecloth. I have had no problems whatsoever with this new system and we are actually making more kombucha than we can use at this stage. I originally bought my kombucha "mushroom" from here and I also added a small bottle of commercial kombucha (from the local health food store) to the water, black tea and sugar mixture. Don't be scared of the sugar content as the sugar will be consumed by the fungus. If this all sounds very strange, it really does make a pleasant sour fizzy drink, becoming more sour over time. So before it gets too sour I draw off several litres worth into empty glass bottles and store it in the fridge. I then add a fresh batch of tea to the jar and know that it will be ready within a week.

So that is our version of the whole fermented business. It has been interesting, tasty and I could even say the process has been a bit of a fun adventure. My kitchen benches have never been so cluttered, but I don't think the bench space could be put to a better purpose than the nourishing of the family within these walls.


Suggested reading:


Books

Wild Fermentation : The Flavour, Nutrition and Craft of Live -Culture Foods
Nourishing Traditions
Kombucha : The Miracle Fungus
Kefir : For Pleasure, Beauty and Well-Being 


Online articles

Repairing the Gut
The Definitive Guide to Fermented Foods

little projects

The weekend marked the start of Luca's soccer season, as Julia continues her weekend sewing lessons. So we return to early and often chaotic mornings, despite my night before attempts to organize things. But once the rushing around is over we return home and usually won't go out again for the remainder of the weekend. Which tends to leave a nice chunk of time to start and sometimes finish those little projects. Brick borders for the Robinia's were completed, and I look forward to filling them with some flowers. Those old (free) barn bricks have come in so handy. A few magazines were culled over a coffee. The garden map with fruit tree varieties and dates has finally been completed.

A practical sewing project for myself has been started. We ate salad fresh from the garden and a soup from beef broth that simmered for two days. But I have to say that there is nothing as tasty or as satisfying as starting off the day with bacon and eggs (scrambled on the weekends instead of weekday fried). Even better with some extras like avocado, mushrooms and tomato.

Weekend food and weekend projects, things we often don't have time for during the week, and yet by slowing down on the weekend and pottering around, we often find the time to do these things we really want or need to do.

a tidy kitchen

I was recently asked by my brother in law (who built our now three year old kitchen) to snap a few photos for his joinery business. Our kitchen is rarely spotless, with three kids in the house, there is always something going on in there. You clean, and they get something else out. There are always assorted jars fermenting, dishes out and things on the stove. You know how it goes. So when I took these pictures I gave everything a good clean, added some flowers and snapped away. Although you've seen my kitchen before, I'm not sure if I've shown it in it's entirety. So here it is in a (rare) very tidy state. (Just don't mind the sheet still hanging in the window!)


Edited to add : For more on our house and how it came into being, check out this old post, our house.

busy season

 I had almost forgotten just how very busy this season of Autumn can be. Although it is only beginning, the slightly frosty mornings and fresh winds off the mountains are a hint of what is to come. The Summer vegetable garden, although not an especially good one this year, has been harvested, compost added and seeds all ready to go in today. There is a little window of time to get seeds in for the Winter, and this is just as the hot days seem to be behind us, but the heavy frosts are yet to start. We've had a light one already, and I'm afraid this window of time will be a pretty small one this year.

Oregano is hung out to dry, blanched silverbeet packed in the freezer, seeds ready to go and a kindly neighbour's basil and parsley have been turned into pesto. (I think I have greenhouse envy!)

This cooler weather has really made me feel like knitting again. A few little needed projects using wool from the stash has to be a good thing for the conscience. Especially after a holiday.

Yesterday I made Tarragon vinegar (so simple, it is just Tarragon leaves with vinegar added; I used apple cider vinegar, with time it will have a stronger flavour and apparently it is very good for the liver among other things). At the same time I lightly stewed a batch of rhubarb, preserved in honey (recipe here). I have a big pot of more rhubarb ready to go on the stove right now. I quite like the tang of rhubarb, and I think you either love it or you hate it. Unfortunately I am the only one who loves it in this house. But it will be a nice addition to cream for dessert or a dollop on porridge.


Have you found yourself just that little bit busier in the kitchen lately?
Busier in the garden?
Enjoying the change in season wherever you are?