Friday, December 18, 2009

Gingerbread House Contest


Chloe gets Second place at Mary's Marvelous with her amazingly decorated house!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Getting the turkey


Looks like this guy is safe for another year (or maybe just till Christmas).

Thursday, November 5, 2009

October - Ham Hock Meet Soy Sauce

When you google "Ham hock and Asian Soup recipes" you don't find anything. Maybe after this posting that will change, it should. Ham hocks had been on my mind and bok choi from thefarm was taking over my fridge, so I decided to incorporate a ham hock into my asian sticky rice soup.

I took a couple ham hocks and simmered them in water with cut carrots, celery, onion and ginger along with a smashed lemon grass stalk for a few hours. When the ham was starting to fall off the bone, I strained the stock and put it back on the stove with probably a pound of bok choi cut into thin strips. Then I cut the meat into bite size pieces. I put the sushi rice on the stove next. While it was cooking I sliced radishes (I also currently have every type of radish busting out of my top refrigerator door at the moment) and then squeezed the juice of a few limes and chopped up some shiitake mushrooms (but I ended up using them in a stir fry with bok choi as a side dish) and got out my slew of asian condiments soy sauce, sake, red chili sauce, rice wine vinegar and that other soy like sauce they serve with dumplings - a splash of each went into the soup along with the lime juice. Then I got out the bowls - put in the rice - meat from the hocks and ladled in the broth with bok choi and topped with the radishes. The mushrooms, ginger and extra bok choi was sauteed and splashed with a few of the above asian condiments and served on the side.


The dinner turned out quite nice.





Sunday, November 1, 2009

Here Comes Winter - Yummy Parsnip Soup




Just parsnips, broth, salt and pepper

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Chloe Turns 3



Getting ready for the big day tomorrow we prepare the cake and cupcakes!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Iacono Farms Ducks are ready - yea!



I didn't have the heart to tell Chloe and Mae we were having a duck for dinner...told them it was a chicken! Chloe told me it looked like a frog.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

October - The End of the Raspberries


Chloe and Nezi - picking and eating

The last picking of the raspberries broke my heart. I wanted to cry in the fields. This was the beginning of my first winter in the country. The bounty of the summer harvest gave me energy, made me happy, gave me hope...could the long cold winter with 2 greenhouses and a root cellar really compare?

Go out in style raspberries - go in a tart.





Monday, October 12, 2009