keeping the homefire burning

I am sorry to have disappointed everyone eagerly awaiting thanksgiving recipes. In the hustle & bustle of the season, that fell to the wayside as I have been tending the fire...filling love tanks. And since Nana hadn't been here in over two years, we decided to savor every bit of the three weeks we had her. So, I beg your forgiveness.

And speaking of fire...I came across a gem of a book. Hearthside Cooking by Nancy Carter Crump has had my attention of late in those brief moments of leisurely reading while nursing the baby. Having learned about the finer points of radiant heat (wishing for that four-oven Aga) and the joys of using cast iron and our woodstove, I thought it may be prudent and interesting to add open hearth to my growing repertoire. We are all about doing (some)things the old fashioned way around here. That just fits right in with our Slow Food concept of farming. The cover hints at recipes of traditional Southern, specifically Virginian, cuisine for hearthside cooking and modern interpretations thereof. What I did not expect is the wealth of historical context, thoroughly researched and presented in an enlightening manner. Before we moved to Providence Farm, I would say I'd like to live along Duke of Gloucester Street and have our whole family of interpreters in our Colonial attire, cooking at a grand hearth like the one at the Governor's Palace, with our Heritage breed animals and abundant kitchen garden and smokehouse, etc. (Aside: in these frigid hours, I am thankful to have a furnace that will kick on when the woodstove fire dies out around midnight!) Anyway, since our grill bit the dust on Christmas Day (literally, blew off the back porch just as we were cutting our steaks at the dinnertable), I've had a notion (actually my Dear and Loving Husband had it first & I concurred...before the grill bit the dust but doom was imminent) to design and build a hearth out back. That is a project that may not come to fruition in the very near term, but we do need to replace the grill before summer. What else for cooking all that fabulous, grass-fed beef growing in the back forty? I'm thinking a spit & andirons may be in order...I am reminiscing of Spiesbraten and Bratwurst. Thinking ahead to hot dogs and steaks. Why wait for warm weather? We need fire now!

Feast Preparations

Yesterday, Daddy did some grocery shopping and I ordered the Pepper Jack Cheese from September Farm for the Spinach Madeline. Today's work may include making cranberry sauce (done this morning), roasting pumpkins and butternut squash, cracking pecans. Tomorrow is a day out for the family, so more shopping errands. Friday is tidy up, once-over-lightly, before Nana arrives on Saturday. Sunday is worship and fellowship, so the preparations will resume on Monday.

Farmstead Fresh Holiday

I was working on the menu for our Thanksgiving Feast and realized that we are really having a made-from-scratch, grown by us or friends dinner! Not everything we are having has been raised on Providence Farm, but a goodly portion is. And some things come to us from other special farming friends. Over the next few days, I will try to post photos and recipes as we prepare for the monumental Providence Farm Thanksgiving Feast. In the meantime, you can drool over the menu and get ideas for your own Feast. And, of course, all these dishes are from scratch...some recipes from dear friends...new and old holiday traditions for our family. No premade, processed gobbledy gook here!

Fresh Turkey from Full Quiver Farm (thank you, Scott & Alison Wilson)

Cornbread Dressing with Andouille (thank you, Margaret Doskey)

Sweet Potato~Apple Casserole (thank you, Julie Heverin)

Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce (thank you, Susan Post)

Spinach Madeline (thank you, Amber Prigge)

Creamed Silver Queen Corn (thanks Nana)

Butternut Bisque (thank you Sara Hemmeke)

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

Rolls & Biscuits

and of course, iced tea

That is the plan so far. It is, naturally, subject to last minute insertions, alterations or substitutions. But that is the least we'll do...Providentially.

So, what did WE grow? Sweet potatoes, pumpkin and pecans. Organic, Naturally. Good, Providentially. And the other farms with ingredients we can be thankful for?

Full Quiver Farm, September Farm, Adams Acres.

Heirloom Recipes

As I was making cornbread last week with fresh corn and Aunt Barbara's recipe, I planned to take a picture of it to post with the recipe. Alas, we ate it too quickly. But, I will share the recipe nonetheless, as soup season is upon us and what goes better with soup than fresh cornbread? (Well, maybe a boule or biscuits fresh from the oven...a later post to be sure!) Anyway, that got me thinking about heirloom recipes. You know, the ones that are passed down from generation to generation. Or, maybe the ones coveted because they are not shared (like Aunt Zelma's Coconut Cake). The ones that when you make them, you are transported to another time and place by just the scent (like Memal's Black Walnut Cookies). Family treasures that last longer than the people. If you have one of those, share it here in the comments!

Aunt Barbara's Cornbread (with my notes in parenthesis)

1 cup self-rising cornmeal (white, preferably Patrick Henry or Dixie Lily)
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil)
2 eggs (fresh from Providence Farm, of course!)
8 oz. sour cream (Breakstone's is the only one I've found that is really all natural)
1 small can creamed corn (or freshly creamed off of a few cobs)

Mix well with a wooden spoon. Pour into a well-seasoned, hot, cast iron skillet. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes, or until golden...not brown. Serve immediately with hot soup that has simmered on the woodstove while the winds have whipped the leaves off the trees. If your family is the size of mine, you'll need to double it.

Please share your treasured recipes. Don't let future generations wonder just how Aunt So-and-So did that fabulous thing you do so well. Don't let your famed dish be missed more than you. Let the recipes live beyond you, and you will be remembered in the making and the feasting.
It is bound to be good, Providentially!

BEEF...

It's what's for dinner. Providence Farm beef shares are currently available, freshly arrived today!

Mama's Back in the Kitchen

My midwife said "one week, no cooking or cleaning." Daddy was on leave for three weeks. Church friends sent meals. What was I to do? Emily tearfully said "Mommy, it's so hard when you can't cook!" Well, time's up! Mama's back in the kitchen! Here is what three weeks without cooking does...

1 lb. Penne pasta (the small variety), cooked al dente
1 stick of butter (divided into halves)
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced (freshly harvested from our garden!)
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper
grated parmesan cheese (oh, about half a cup and then more to garnish)
lemon juice (TBS or so...maybe a whole lemon)
2 lbs. grilled shrimp (sprinkled with Old Bay and lemon juice)
2 lbs. sweet Italian sausage, grilled
1-1.5 cups milk (heavy with cream)


Half the butter goes into the drained pasta to keep it from sticking. The other half goes into a saucepan with the lemon juice, garlic, sea salt, pepper, milk, cheese, and just enough flour to bring it together into a creamy consistency (1-2 TBS). Whisk and simmer until ready to serve. Pour over pasta & shrimp...toss to coat. Serve sausage on the side.

I also grilled our veggies....drizzle olive oil and sprinkle sea salt over asparagus tips and sliced zucchini...grill until hot & tender. Only complaint was that there ought to have been more.

Now, what am I going to do tonight?

Chocolate Rendition

In the comments section of the last post, I asked our dear friend, NanaB, for her chocolate ice cream recipe. We shared this one pleasant evening after PapaB, Daddy and the children took turns at the hand crank. I thought you might want to have it, too...albeit with minor adjustments. All the lovelies say "thank you," NanaB! Tell PapaB that the wildebeasts crossing the Serengeti may look like cows, but the cows must have definitely NOT come home. ;-) We do love you!

2 packages chocolate pudding (I used dark chocolate fudge, instant, 3.9 oz each)
2 cups sugar (sorry NanaB, I cut the sugar a bit...and actually think I used 1.5 cups)
pinch of salt
1 TBS vanilla (ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby!)
milk (honestly, I used whole milk and just poured until it looked like enough...but, NanaB says to use 3 small containers of half and half and then enough milk to hit the fill line.)

I mix the dry ingredients first and then add the milk...and I actually forgot the vanilla yesterday. Blame it on the "after baby fog." It freezes remarkably quickly compared to other recipes...must be the pudding. It is also very yummy served chock full of almonds. And I am entirely surprised that a table full of little people passed it up yesterday for gummy lightning bugs (since the real ones are few and far between maybe?). (One young man was heard to say that we can have ice cream anytime!) That's ok with me, though. More for Daddy and Mama. ;-)