5:30 This Morning...

From the City...

(-photo credit: mama in law)

We found that if we give him enough toys, it gives us another 20 minutes of sleep time.  Mind you, the sleep time involves hair pulling, fingers in our nose and eyes and getting hit in the head with various plastic objects.  Its kindda like, extreme (parent) sleeping.   

-ab

Picnic at the Brickworks 2011

photo credit: Melissa Yu

photo credit: Melissa Yu

photo credit: Edward Pond

It is that time of year again when we clean up, put on the "good" plaid shirts and go to the Brickwork's Picnic.This a harvest celebration where local growers, ranchers, fishers and artisans are praised for their hard work. This year our farm will be featuring our own pulled heritage chicken served on a maple leaf (how Canadian, I know...). Mark has been dreaming up this one for awhile and as usual it will taste splendid!

This is a great day out in the big smoke (a.k.a.Toronto), were we meet and greet other foodies, farmers and chefs while literally eating our faces off (note to self: bring track pants for car ride home). I look forward to this picnic all year and this year it should be even better, Harvest Kitchen Sisters will be there in full swing promoting the blog, all the while stuffing our mouths. If you are in the Toronto area on Sunday and are looking for a great day full of food and festivities, this a great event! For those of you who are not, look for the after post of our take on the day!

Tickets are still available! For more information click here and/or here.

Fall Is...

From the City...

My beaten up Blundstones, worth every penny.

Soup, soup and more soup

Layers upon layers upon layers.  Yes, that is plaid on plaid.

Click on the pics for the recipe.

-ab

Sunday on the Farm

 From the Country...

 A trip to the FP salon (Front Porch).  Getting a buzz cut.  Picture day on Wednesday. 

Watching the vintage JC Penny Air Popping machine work its magic.  $3 well spent. 

This Month.

From the City...

On this cold rainy day, I'm feeling rather inspired.  My good friend is to blame for this.  I've been inspired by her to pause and be grateful for what I have going on in my life right now.  Our month of life in a small town is coming to an end and we are preparing ourselves for our little family to uproot (again) and move back home.  With this comes a lot of happiness, I miss my little home with its cozy bed, I miss watching my neighbours, I miss my city friends and our long walks, I miss our thin walls shaking as my partner plays his guitar too loud,  I miss the stares I get as I wash my dirty diapers in our apartment building laundry room and I really miss my market and my bakery.

On the other hand though, I am so incredibly grateful for my little life in this small town.  I have spent this month cooking and eating, laughing uncontrollably with my partners family, reconnecting with my own family, watching my sons expression when his grandma enters the room or when he plays with any one of his eight cousins,  going on dates with my partner (something we just don't do in Toronto), family baths in a tub that easily doubles our city tub in size and rehashing old high school memories and new adventures (think new boyfriends, new babies, toddlers and messy husbands) with my two best girlfriends.

Here's some more:

• My dad caught a 40lb salmon on a deep sea fishing trip in B.C last week.  A trip he's wanted to go on for forever.  He sent me the cutest text after it happened.  I am so grateful for my dad. 

• Theo's first tooth came in.  It is the cutest little tooth I have seen.  He doesn't like to show it off but I catch a glimpse of it when I really get him laughing.  I am so so grateful that my son is healthy and chubby and able to grow teeth.   

• A full pantry and a full freezer.  

Hope everyone else can get a little time to reflect and be grateful.  It's a pretty great feeling.  

-ab

Wild Grapes

Wild Grapes hot of the vine..

By the bushel

Working women hands, chapped and stained with dirt and grape juice.

From the country...

The wild grapes vines are full this year and we have been out harvesting them for the past couple of days. Now, this is a time to throw down the pitch fork and dance around because this doesn't happen every year. In fact, this happens when the moon and the stars align in the spring and I haven't seen a crop like this in years (hence my giddyness). And there is nothing better then wild edibles- something for nothing!

Nothing makes a pot of jelly better then wild grapes!

Fall on the farm

Cylindrical Beets

Carrot piles

Green onion crop in the greenhouse- getting some water

Rogue sweet pea flowers from the compost- before we ate them...

From the country...

The frost came a little earlier this year then expected. And with that we said goodbye to the basil and the beans. Sweaters are coming out of the closet and the rubbers with the liners are being worn. Chores are done in the dark and meals are getting a little hardier around here. Welcome Autumn, I have been waiting for you. I love the seasons, don't get me wrong but I love the somewhat slower pace fall brings us here on the farm. Where the dark brings you into the house at night and the warmth of a pot of soup brings your tired soul comfort.

It is a time to reflect on the season and to list the work that still needs to be done to close the farm down(collecting wood, planting garlic,closing down gardens/field). It is a time when I begin to look at the inside of the house and think up a mental list of chores to be done (how long have those cobwebs been dangling from the living room ceiling?) for the winter months.

That is not to say that we have packed it in, no we are still on our toes tending to the fall crops to harvest before the snow flies. The turkeys are still keeping us busy with their daily shenanigans, breaking through the fencing daily and flying up to the barn roof where I swat them down with a broken kayak paddle and then we proceed to chase them around the farm. It is a job that Nate and I do everyday and he has sure grown into a fine turkey wrangler and he is proud to say that he can catch them faster then anyone here- kind of a farm boy hobby I guess.

My Cup, er, Freezer Runneth Over...

From the City...

Currently in my freezer, I have:

9 bags of pureed peaches

7 bags of tomato sauce

3 bags of applesauce

2 giant bags of blueberries

2 giant bags of corn 

2 bags of basil 

and a whack of fresh pork from Mark

I visited the market near our place and bought, 1/2 bushel of tomatoes, a basket of onions, garlic and basil and rainbow swiss chard.  All of this cost me a total of $18 which is good for me but not so great for farmers.  I blanched the tomatoes, processed the basil, chard and onions and garlic and then went ahead and made a ton of tomato sauce.  I left the seeds in because I didn't have the patience to mill them out plus the italian recipe that I was following said to leave them in so that is exactly what I did.

I then ladle in ziplock bags increments of about 3 to 4 cups.  Roughly enough for a dinner and a lunch the next day or a medium sized lasagna. I then lay them flat on a baking sheet so they freeze nice and thin making them defrost faster and take up less space in my freezer.  Stacked for picture sack.  

Labeled.  

I'm heading back to the market again this weekend cause it looks like I'm gonna need to sauce some more.  Seven bags just isn't enough for our little family.

If we had a ladder, we'd be rich.

From the City...

These are just a few of the pics from our wild apple harvest last week.  The picking was incredibly easy.  We were able to fill a crate in about 20 minutes with just the apples we could reach from the ground.  We used the apples for the canning bee and we were able to make about 17 bags of sauce for the freezer. 

 Lovely.

 These red ones are good and sweet.  Perfect for saucing or just snacking on.

 As you can see, I was more focused on picture taking then apple picking.  

 Laura could pick out a full apple tree a mile away.  I had to pretty much drag her from this one.  I swear, she could have picked all day.  

Mother nature is pretty darn good to us.  Road side free apples, who would have thought??

Corny Relish Recipe

From the City...

We made this relish at the canning bee on Sunday and I'm not gonna lie to you, it turned out really really.  So well, that I felt it necessary to crack into mine early and slather my black bean burger with it not just for dinner but also for lunch the next day.  Here's the recipe and you better jump on it and get cracking cause corn is good and ready right now.

• 1 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded, roughly chopped
• 2 cups of chopped onions
• 1 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
• 4 cups corn kernels (cut from 4-6 ears, depending on how big the ears are)
• 2 plum or Roma tomatoes, diced the size of a corn kernel
• 1 red or green serano chile peppers, seeded and minced
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Working in batches if necessary, pulse the cucumbers, onions, and bell peppers in a food processor just 3 or 4 pulses, so they are still distinguishable from each other, not puréed.

Place mixture in a medium-sizedpot. Add the corn, tomatoes, serano chiles, sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar, turmeric, mustard seed, and ground cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 25 minutes.

Spoon the corn relish into clean jars and seal. Will last for 4-6 weeks refrigerated.

**We tripled the recipe and ended up with 7 500ml jars.  

 So here's a recipe for my black bean burgers.  They are so easy to make and freeze really well.  I used fresh black beans from the farm so if you can get your hands on 'em, I highly suggest you use those.  Canned will definitely work out for you too though.

• 2 cups black beans
• 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tbsp oil or 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs or ground oats
• Some kind of herb, whatever you have on hand...I had basil and that worked out pretty well
• 1 tsp salt 
• Fresh ground black pepper

* Makes 4-5 patties

In a food processor, mix the herbs, onion and garlic together.  Then add your beans, cumin, crumbs or oats, salt and pepper.  Process.  Then add your oil or egg and pulse 3-4 times to combine.   Form your patties and fry in a tbsp of oil for about 5 -7 minutes on each side.  If baking in the oven, bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes flipping once.  

Enjoy!

Canning Bee Pics Cont'd...

From the City and the Country... 

 Laura and Lindsay at the salsa station 

 Laura and Millie Mae

 Deep in saucing conversation...

 Ms. Sunshine taking in the view...

Fresh Salsa: 

black beans
chopped romas/green zebra tomatoes
corn
red pepper
red onion,
cilantro
a splash of olive oil
salt and pepper  

A big ol' bucket of basil for freezing.  

Simply pick, rinse and bag in a ziplock, toss in your freezer and wait for winter.

Sauced wild apples 

Good day.

-hks

Like Bees to Honey. The Harvest Kitchen Sisters 1st Annual Canning Bee!

From the country...

the gals walking back to the garden to harvest the goods

Harvesting Basil

Two Harvest Kitchen Sister bums,

The set up.

An assortment of peppers

buckets and crates of wild apples.

This past Sunday was the Harvest Kitchen Sisters 1st annual canning bee! The event was held on the farm and the weather couldn't have been any better. The sun shone all day while we cooked and canned under the canopy of our silver maple tree. The day was spent chopping, picking, measuring, coring, milling,stirring and tasting. We also did a lot of gabbing, laughing, eating, and drinking tea. It is profound when women get together with a common goal, hands dirty while sharing stories. Aside from Millie Mae in the house, I am surrounded by men (big and little) so it was so refreshing to spend a breezy afternoon in the company of women and babies (Theo was the only little man- but I don't think he minded...).  Everyone parted with an amazing applesauce (which Amy and I picked early morning, racing around the back roads raiding apple trees), a jar of corn relish (which is sitting on the counter waiting to be delivered), zippy bags of basil for freezing, some roasted cherry tomatoes and some fresh black bean and corn salsa. What could be better then spending an afternoon in the company of fellow women preserving, sharing and going home with a bucketful of the harvest?

It was a good day....

photo credit: Meg Ward

Welcome to our Newest Little HKS

From the City...

One of my very nearest and dearest best friends had a incredibly special baby girl (Theo's future wife).  From dealing with bullies in the high school halls, to the best road trips in her parents car, to crying and laughing simultaneously (the only way girlfriends know how), 

you're pretty lucky Ms. Ella Grace because your mom is about one of the coolest people I know.  

Love, love, love and more love to the growing family.

xoxoab

Peachy Keen Jelly Bean

From the country...

So I will add to sister's last post with a few quick words. It is so GREAT to have farmers as friends! I received an email from my pal, Duncan Smith over at Two Century Farms who was looking for some direct sales. A little bit of logistics and 5 bushels later, I had peaches coming out of my ears. After a few late nights, I have jars upon jars of canned peaches in simple syrup, more frozen peaches that you can shake a stick at, an amazing peach butter and I am just finishing up the last bite of peach crisp.

Thanks for the peachy hook up, Duncan!

The amazing peach butter recipe is from here.

Ain't Life Just Peachy...

From the City...

Laura got a great deal on peaches from her farmer friend last week.  The day that she picked them up they were rock hard so we thought we wouldn't have to rush to get them done but little did we know that by the very next day, after 1 night of sitting in the van, they would be 100% ripe and ready to go.  So it was pretty much decided that the holiday monday would be spent peaching and peaching we did.   My sister Rosemary and I made 13 jars of canned peaches, 16 bags of puree for our babies and two freezer bags full for cobblers and pies.

1 bushel of ripe and ready to go peaches

Peach Puree for Babes

Trays of blanched peaches everywhere....

So good.