Chicken Liver Pate

This post may not be pretty but I promise it is yummy.  Clara was completely straight faced as she watched me handle the livers, here she is mashing together a bit of cloves, fresh nutmeg, all spice and cinnamon for the recipe.   

Last Spring I enrolled in an online cooking course for reversing food allergies and chicken liver pate is now one of my favorite dishes.  Cooking with liver was definitely outside my comfort zone so it was nice to have the online support of the cooking class, I may have never otherwise tried it.  I'm glad I tried it because it was simple to make, is dense with nutrients and tasted delicious.

So if you have the guts.....start with 1 lb. chicken livers.  I get my from our cow share farmer who pasture raises her chickens and does not feed them GMO feed.  I probably wouldn't make this with just any chicken liver, find a good source, in the near future I hope to be raising our own.  Here's what they look like:

  

Be sure to rinse them, pat them dry and cut off any veins or extra fat.  After that put them in a food processor with 1 large egg and process for about 30 seconds.  Meanwhile melt 1/2 cup butter in the food processor (good pastured butter), let it cool a bit then add it to the mix along with 2 tsp Celtic sea salt, a bit of pepper and a pinch of the spice mixture mentioned above.  Pour into well greased ramekins and place in a baking dish filled half way up with warm water (like baking a flan).  Bake at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes or until firm.

Let cool and chill over night or serve at room temperature with crackers.  I did not have crackers on hand so I used a romaine leaf and it tasted great!  

George ate it by the spoonful and finished off half a ramekin, this growing boy probably needed it.

Not everyone was eager to try it though.  When I consulted with Eva's mother about making this she gave me some really good advice.  She said make it as a very special dish just for yourself and when the kids see how much you are enjoying it they may ask for a taste........but only give them a little taste and remind them it is a special treat you made for yourself.  Eventually they may actually beg for it and you will eliminate the step of having to beg them to eat it.

Revenge of the mosquitoes

Our lovely days of napping outside, running through fields, fishing and hanging laundry came to a halt last Saturday as huge swarms of mosquitoes hatched and forced us indoors.  Above is a giant one that made its way inside and met its fate face to face with an orange fly swatter.  These are called gallinipper mosquitoes and were featured in the local news this week. 

I don't know how to explain how bad its been.  Just getting (running) the kids into the van they each suffered at least 10 bites on their faces.  Paul stopped by a neighbors to chat about the problem and found she was cutting her grass bundled in a hooded windbreaker for protection.

Even staying inside we are getting bit.  This is worse than Bear Lake and even worse than my days in southern China.

But we are fighting back with the fly swatter.  I use to train my children to carefully carry insects outside and let them live, but since moving to the farm my ways have quickly changed.  A few weeks ago I was commanding the boy to squash Japanese beetles with their bare fingers and this week it is swatting as many mosquitoes as visible.  Peter has gotten quite good at the swatting and even George is takes a few turns.

Paul was lucky to have spent last week in Phoenix were there was not one in site.  This week he will be experimenting with a garlic oil spray that is suppose to help tame mosquitoes.  

As for the kids and I, we took a trip "into town" to escape from the mosquitoes and enjoyed a  giant banana split.

I'm also upping their vitamin B and experimenting with different remedies like emu oil and purification oil for the itchy bites.........and as for the walls?  They are covered in squashed mosquito guts so I'm going to have to paint soon.  

Boys on Adventure

We had a road trip planned to Utah this week but the slow settling in convinced us to postpone it. We had already arranged for the boys to once again ride the California Zephyr out west with Nanny and Poppy, and after all their hard work moving they certainly deserved the trip so they are off on their very own adventure.  

My heart felt very heavy as I took this picture of them, I can't imagine how it must feel to send a child off to college or on a mission, but I suppose my heart would feel even heavier if I held them back.

William spent the day giddy with excitement saying it felt like Christmas Eve waiting for Nanny and Poppy to pick him up.  He waited ready at the gate for over an hour.

James was a bit more torn and spent the day by my side offering any assistance he could.  He questioned how I was going to get by without him, my most able helper.  I assured him he'd be missed dearly but all would be well for both of us.

When Nanny and Poppy arrived they seemed as giddy as the boys, what a joy and treasure this tradition has become.

The boys promised to carry their own luggage (the matching vintage Orvis bags were a steal at a yard sale for $2 a piece, even with a $30 zipper replacement).  The boys also promised to write in their journals everyday, take or draw lots of pictures and come home with a full report.  I talked to them last night and all is well.  They'll soon be dropped off at Oma and Opa's in Salt Lake City and have a chance to spend time with cousins before they head back home  on the train with Nanny and Poppy.

Meanwhile Peter is stepping up as the most able helper here at home.  This is good for him and I warned him of the risk of getting totally spoiled while the older boys were gone.  He said he didn't mind so we'll be off on our adventure searching for series 5 Lego mini figs.

Setting up the family library

It always takes me awhile to settle into a new home, probably even a year.  Settling into a farm may even take longer.  I have two running lists to help me along the way, To Buy: and To Do: and I'm not sure which one is longer.  I don't expect to clear them all this year but at least they'll keep me focused.

Setting up the family library was high on the To Do list and the older boys were very helpful in accomplishing the task.  It wasn't the quickest of projects because we all fell subject to "bookland" (as my kids call it), getting lost in the pages of our favorite books.   

In our last home books where organized by owner, each child had their own sections and organized them as they wished.  With this move we decided to change that system and adopted a more traditional library system with non-fiction by subject and fiction alphabetically by author.

It took a bit of rearranging to get it right.  The very top shelf was reserved for Paul since none of us could even reach it on a chair.

The homeschool room's built in shelves hold most of the fiction and the non fiction is organized by cube on these Ikea Expedit bookcases.  There are two of them, one for technical stuff like science, math, DIY books, animals, etc. The other contains history, biographies, geography and poetry.  More than curriculum I rely on (and spend money on) a diversified library for my children's education.

Family photo albums, church books, scriptures, coffee table books, really old books and the kids journals are kept on the built in shelves in the living room.

The kitchen has a nice shelf for cook books and the younger kids have their own Ikea Expedit shelf (laying horizontally) full of board books and picture books their level.  There is no picture of this shelf since it is always a mix jumbled with toys, but after listening to Rachel and Oliver DeMille's Core and Love of Learning I just let it be. A tidy bookshelf may be too much to ask of little kids, I'd rather them just enjoy books.

Back to my To DO list, I still haven't set up my sewing station.  Before I do that we (actually just Paul) needs to finish off some stuff in the basement. In the meantime the older kids may have to share their cozy homeschool space with the clutter of my sewing.  Taking down wall paper and painting is also on my To Do list but it keeps getting pushed to the bottom.  

As for my To Buy list, I'm on the look out for some new (or very used) night stands that would hold a nice pile of bedtime reading material because our family library is one that typically extends to anywhere one finds a cozy spot. 

Kids keepin' busy

I can't believe it has only been two weeks that we have lived here, I can't believe how much our lives and daily routine have changed.  There is so much work but also so much fun.  For the most part it is the adults doing the work (which Paul is finding surprisingly satisfying) and the kids are off having their fun.  I need to find a large dinner bell to call them all back in.

The littlest ones are still by my side but wait at the gates for a chance to roam free with the big kids.  Here is George in just a diaper, breakfast soaked jammie top and probably bare feet.  He is quick and cheerful in pointing out toads and butterflies, and even quicker with his kicking and screaming as I carry him back to the fenced yard.

Clara is helpful but often distracted by anything that flowers. 

Here is Henry roaming free with his harmonica.

William's constant companion has been his North American Wildlife book.  He is quick to reference anything unfamiliar and quick to share proper identification (and size, and habitat, and diet, and life span....).  Here he has identified some raccoon tracks.  And come to think of it, I am just now identifying those shorts as the same shorts he's been wearing day after day after day, the boy must have been busy this week!

James has confirmed raccoon droppings with the scat guide.  There is talk of all sorts of predators in our area so the boys are always looking out for fresh droppings.

Peter is anxious to catch a fish.  We were told the pond was well stocked with perch and bass but so far we've only caught weeds, but just sitting by the water and waiting is still fun.  I promised I'd help him push out the row boat one of these days.  But I've been busy too.  I'm anxious to find my feet here and join in on all the fun.   

Good friends and good neighbors

There seems to be a lot of country know how in these parts, most our neighbors have been living the country life style for years.  I believe we stick out terribly as the "don't know hows".  Good thing they all are mostly retired and very generous with their knowledge, experience and produce.  

This basket was left on our door step this morning.  The kids took to it like a plate of cookies eating a nice dent into the fresh green beans.

Another neighbor handed over a bag of green peppers, cucumbers and zuchinnis while another walked me around our new home and told me what was a weed and what wasn't (I really don't know how).  She also urged me to prune the over grown fruit trees, pick off all the beetles from the grapes by hand and possibly transplant a peach tree.  This was all finished with a reminder not to get overwhelmed and realize we'll never be "done".

Paul was visited today by a "new friend" who offered to walk us through our first hay cutting.  We may need to find some more "friends" to help us bale it.

Another surprise this morning was our first FedEx package, the remote driver drove a big white van just like ours and handed over this gift from a friend across the country.

This book has been in my amazon basket for weeks along with all sorts of other farm help books that I never got around to ordering.  We are facing a huge learning curve.  I spent hours last night reading about chickens and browsing online hatcheries just like I use to browse fabric and shoes.  The Encyclopedia of Country Living is going to be a great resource and has already been passed around today from kids to me to Paul.  This information in this book is as informative as it is overwhelming. 

Time for us to clean the chicken coop and decide if we want to order a box of chicks to raise or trust Craigslist or an auction for pullets.......maybe I should call a good neighbor for advice.

Dog bliss

Archie has a new spring step since moving to our farm.  He is no longer an inside lounge dog, in fact he already seems to be shedding some of his extra pounds from all the out door exploring.   His favorite spot of course is the pond.

His second favorite spot is the sandbox, which is exactly why he will remain an outside dog until the snow comes.