November Hill kitchen, 1

Recipes on camera-obscura?

Not really. But since I'm on an extended hiatus from Facebook I need somewhere to document the food stuff that happens in our modest little kitchen.

We eat good food here, most of the time. The best meals for me are the ones that are as close to 100% local as possible, and even better are the ones that are close to 100% November Hill produce.

I often share the local and home-grown meals on FB, sometimes with a photo, so here we go:

I'm in a "clear the cupboards and freezer" mode right now. The summer garden is mostly done and now we have a few fall plantings underway (sweet potatoes, garlic for next spring). Once the heat breaks for good we'll add a fall planting of greens. 

In these interim weeks we've been trying to base meals around the things that need to be used up. I love cooking from our garden, but I also really enjoy the challenge of taking a few scattered items and creating a meal out of them. This comes directly from my dad, who, during all of my childhood and teen years, got home from work earlier than my mom did, so he made our dinners.

His specialty was coming up with "on the fly" meals - good ones, but he loved bargains and would often stop by the small-town grocery store on his way home and pick up a few things that were on sale, combine that with something we already had, and end up with something unique and delicious. He never used a recipe. I think I must have soaked that in without even knowing it.

Last night I found a package of frozen Brussel sprouts that screamed to be eaten. I also found a quarter package of bulk hot bulk sausage from our favorite local meat producer. (Who is also our hay grower, and his farming practices are organic and humane and sustainable; his meats have been called the cleanest in Chatham County). Then I realized we had fresh mushrooms that needed using. These weren't local. The idea formed - brown the sausage, add the mushrooms, then the Brussel sprouts. 

And then I looked in the cupboard and found a quarter package of instant Miso soup mix and a little bag of millet. I put the millet on, added the Miso mix, and when all was said and done the meal, served in bowls, was the Brussel sprout/sausage/mushroom mixture over the Miso millet. It was yummy. It was easy. It was aesthetically pleasing in hand-thrown blue bowls (found for a dollar at the thrift store years back). And it was about 50% local. I'll make it again, if I have the ingredients on hand.

That's the beauty and sometimes the sadness of this kind of cooking. When you put things together based on little bits and pieces you have on hand it isn't always easy to recreate the meals later! But that makes them special. And I keep on doing it. 

November Hill farm journal, 17

This morning I spent an hour in the barn with a pocket full of peppermints, a medium-bristled grooming brush, and five handsome equines. 

They were in from night-time turnout, munching hay with the fans blowing. Apache Moon the painted pony and and his best friend and miniature donkey Rafer Johnson had two stalls on the far side of the barn but they were side by side with noses in the manger in one stall, sharing their hay. 

Keil Bay the big Hanoverian and Cody the big Quarter Horse were playing musical stalls between the three open to them, sometimes in one together, other times splitting up, sauntering the barn aisle, and little Redford donkey wandered in and out between them, happy to be with the big boys.

There was a little uproar as peppermints were unwrapped, but once they knew my pockets were empty they returned to eating.

I'm not sure there is anything better than being in the barn with busy munching horses and donkeys and pony. They were all fairly clean but appreciated the brushing. Summer coats are shedding and winter coats are growing in. I'm happy to see it. And to feel it, the cushiony thickness that wasn't there a couple of weeks ago. 

Keil Bay has not gotten enough attention lately and when I put the brush away and headed back to the house he followed me all the way to the gate, standing there waiting, as we have let them in to the back yard many times before but can't now because of the cat fencing. It was hard to leave him there, looking over the fence at me. 

Cool weather is coming, Big Bay, and when it does we'll have a ride. 

Back to travelogue, the road to Santa Barbara

From Santa Cruz we headed down the Pacific Highway to Santa Barbara. I got a scant few photographs of this lovely drive, but you get the sense of it from the few I took.

Eventually we turned slightly inland and were able to see the many fruit and vegetable farms that in some cases lie very close to the sea. We drove through orange and lemon and grapefruit groves as well. It's amazing how much food is grown in this area.

We had a date with an Apple MacBook Pro in Santa Barbara and I took this shot to remind me where I'd parked. I felt like my brain was in lockdown by that time! It was a long day.

Finally a cocktail when we got to the hotel. 

We were happy to be in Santa Barbara and ready to explore the campus the next day. 

A job half done...

Done:

Still to go:

When your day off is busier than the days "on"

It's been a busy week and I've been looking forward to today, Friday, because it was the one day on which I had nothing scheduled. A treasure of a day, right here on November Hill.

So I woke up and had coffee and worked on painting porch screens (finally, a dry stretch of days!) even though it was 96 out and I was dripping with sweat. Then I went out and gave Keil Bay his lunch tub and did some mucking and scrubbed troughs and water buckets and made sure all the waters were fresh and clean and cool straight from the well. Keil and Cody really only needed hosing but I decided to give them baths since it was so hot. 

Back inside, showered, ate lunch, and round two on the front porch. Scraped and sanded and then painted the porch rail so the newly-painted screen can go back later tonight.

I'm not sure how my day off has gone by so quickly! 

I need another one so I can get on to the next section of porch. I am hoping to finish this weekend before the rain comes back but we'll see.

Happy weekend!