by Krista | Jun 11, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
Good morning! I am home again after a jolly weekend of medieval camping with dear friends.
I have heaps of stories and recipes and pictures to share with you over the next week or so, but today I’ll start with my favorite meal of the weekend: fire-roasted venison.
Our friends Greg and Steff are hunters and gave us a beautiful deer for our medieval camping trip. Part of the rules for participating in these gatherings is that everything, from utensils and clothing to recipes and menus, must be authentic to the medieval time period we represent. Since our group is 12th century, that means spit-roasted meats, hearty stews, flat breads, and all sorts of dried fruits and nuts.
At past encampments we’ve roasted goat or pork, so venison was a real treat.
We started by slicing up heaps of garlic, chunks of salty pork fat, and fragrant bundles of fresh rosemary. We made incisions all over the venison and inserted these flavorful little nuggets. Since venison is a wild meat, it can get quite tough, so tucking in bits of pork fat adds much-needed moisture with the added bonus of even more great flavor.
Once Neil got the venison prepared and on the spit, Ann, Stacey, and I set to chopping root veggies for a thick veggie stew. Turnips, parsnips, tubers, carrots – they all went in to a big cast iron pot to simmer over the fire.
Then came the hard bit – turning the spit. The venison takes about four hours to cook through and must be turned continuously to prevent charring or raw bits. No one can crank the spit for four solid hours, so we take turns.
It’s pleasant sort of work, not riveting or difficult, and you fall into a kind of peaceful, dozy trance as you turn, turn, turn. I loved watching the public as their eyes fell on the spit. They were entranced! Especially the little boy below. I don’t know how long he stood there, mesmerized by the roasting deer and the crackling flames.
Needless to say, the slow roasting meat smells AMAZING!! We never can wait until it’s completely finished before we start sneaking over with our medieval knives to slice off a piece of meat.
Oh my.
The roast venison surpassed all our expectations. It was tender, moist, and absolutely bursting with flavor. It was especially good when you bit down into chunks of roasted garlic and crispy rosemary. Yum!!
After the public went home, we gathered round the fire with Aussie beers, shooting the breeze while we waited for the venison to be well and truly done.
Then we gathered around the long wooden table and ate bowl after bowl of savory veggies and tender, smoky venison, washed down with earthenware cups of homemade mead.
Soon darkness fell and the stars came out and one by one we ambled off to our tents to sink into the deep sleep that only comes when you’ve worked hard, eaten well, and are sleeping in the fresh air.
What is your favorite memory from your weekend?
by Krista | Jun 7, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
“Mom, camping is not a date; it’s an endurance test.
If you can survive camping with someone, you should marry them on the way home.”
Yvonne Prinz
“It always rains on tents.
Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent.”
Dave Barry
We are going camping this weekend and I am jittery with excitement. Yes, it’s winter, the skies are full of dark clouds and the forecast is rain but I’m STILL excited, cuz, baby, we’re going camping!!!
I love camping. Nay, I adore it. Just the word camping makes me feel slightly giddy and my mind sparkles with images of pine forests and foggy mornings and sunbeams glittering across the water.
I know that in three days I will be willing to give nearly anything for a hot shower and a heater and a cooking implement that doesn’t billow smoke in my eyes, but today I am practically beaming with happiness and anticipation.
I can’t wait to make cheese in a cast iron pot over the fire, to sizzle up a pan of bacon and sausages and eggs first thing in the morning, to snuggle down under layers of quilts in the tent at night.
I can’t stop smiling when I think of sitting around the table with my dear friends munching on almonds and dried fruit, cookies and grapes, visiting happily with our hands wrapped tightly around mugs filled with hot tea and coffee.
Most of all I’m looking forward to the camp at nightfall, gathering around the fire to roast marshmallows or just gaze into the mesmerizing flames, swapping stories and jokes, sipping homemade mead that the bloke next to us brings every year.
Now it’s time to tuck in that last bag of marshmallows, grab my pillow, and make sure the camera is charged.
It’s going to be a great weekend.
What are you looking forward to? xo
by Krista | Jun 3, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
Winter arrived this weekend in a fury of fierce winds and pelting rain.
Before the rain arrived, I bundled up in layer upon layer to take the girl goats for a feed in the fields accompanied by Solar. He loved it, bounding through the tossing grasses before cozying down into a little nest out of the wind. I felt like a little kid again as I hunkered down there with him, sinking my fingers into his thick, white fur, laying back and watching the grass and tree branches being whipped above us.
After our rest we went exploring, finding all sorts of things hidden in the grass by the wood pile.
I love old, weathered wood, always have. My grandpa used to take us grandkids out for drives on the prairies of Alberta. We’d pile into the back of his station wagon and bounce along rutted tracks and even bumpier fields before clambering out to find abandoned homesteads and barns ready to be examined by a crew of curious blond-headed kids.
We never knew what we’d find: old iron bedsteads, weathered window frames with tattered curtains still flapping in the prairie wind, dusty bottles that whistled eerily when rogue breezes blew across their tops.
We always wished for treasure, of course, and I suppose we found it through the stories we imagined of the people who used to live in these empty buildings.
My thoughts would run wild wondering who had rocked on these rickety front porches, what did they eat, wear, dream of, and why had they dropped everything and just left?
I will never know, but I think that was part of the magic of those adventures, making up our own stories about who the residents were and what had happened.
I loved wandering about finding old wood piles that had been chopped by hand but would never be used, looking inside old tins and wondering if they had once been filled with cookies or flour or perhaps, carefully collected rocks, feathers, and bits of wire from an imaginative child.
I loved opening creaky cupboard, closet, and cellar doors, hoping against hope that I would find a hidden diary or photo album that would reveal everything I yearned to know.
I treasure those adventures and it makes me smile to be able to relive them a bit here on our Aussie farm, finding remnants of abandoned projects, an unexplained pile of rock that looks very, very much like a grave, and the detritus of generations living off the land.
After such meanderings it is lovely to come in out of the cold, casting off layers of wool and flannel, and sit down to a dish of roasted macadamia nuts tossed with salty crisp bits of rosemary and thyme.
These savory little morsels make stormy winter days an absolute pleasure.
What do you think of when you see old, weathered wood?
Roasted Macadamia Nuts with Thyme and Rosemary
Ingredients:
2 cups raw macadamia nuts
olive oil
fine sea salt
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 300 F (150 C).
- Place all ingredients in medium bowl. Toss well until nuts are evenly coated.
- Cover baking sheet with baking paper and spread nuts in single layer.
- Roast for 30 minutes until nuts are golden brown.
- Cool 10-15 minutes and eat warm. Store leftovers in sealed container.
by Krista | May 31, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
Rain is falling softly as I alternate sips of red wine and Earl Grey tea and rest on this stormy afternoon.
I’m in the “worse before better” stage of my treatment and it’s been a rough week. A really rough week. Yet somehow, even during these awful days, little things happen that make this worse-ness so much better.
One such thing happened for me.
I was in my little country home town waiting for my doctor’s appointment. I had packed a picnic lunch for myself – tomato salad with fresh buffalo mozzarella, a homemade brownie for dessert – and I carried my bags to a nearby picnic table so I could sit in the winter sunshine and soak up delicious warmth.
I pulled out my journal because, well, it was just one of those days. A day when you feel so utterly miserable that normally manageable things become quite intolerable and it takes a fair bit of effort not to mire down in loneliness and sadness and a rather murky puddle of woe-is-me-ness.
So there I sat hiding my tear-filled eyes behind large sunglasses, writing down soul-invigorating truths in fierce strokes:
You are loved.
You are OK.
You’re going to be OK.
And suddenly a black and white kitten hopped up beside me, sat down on his haunches, and stared at me long and earnestly.
He was so serious that I felt like was being analyzed and it made me laugh. Nothing like a strange cat staring into your soul to jolt you out of sadness.
Finally, appearing to have assured himself that this strange human wasn’t going to lose it after all, he curled up beside me and stayed there until my doctor’s appointment.
It was the loveliest thing.
And I didn’t realize how lovely until a man appeared and asked, “Is he bothering you?” I assured him the cat was most welcome, but the man remained there for a moment or two longer, a puzzled look on his face.
He then explained that the cat was his and that he normally spends all day every day snoozing by the sun-drenched fence at their house.
Neither of us knew why he chose this day to break his routine and spend an hour with a weepy, sick girl on a park bench, but I’m so glad he did.
He made a bad day so much better.
Now I get to look forward to a beautiful weekend with my Bear. We’ve got movies and brownies and stove top popcorn and coffee all the way from dear friends in Germany.
What are you looking forward to?
by Krista | May 26, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
There are only a few days left until Winter officially arrives in Australia. We can feel it in the cold mist and icy winds that sneak around the corner and chill you to the bone.
I finally get to pull out all my Canadian-esque sweaters, wool socks, and scarves, snuggling into their warmth as I down copious amounts of piping hot tea.
As the days get shorter, I savor my afternoon strolls around the farm, capturing the last beauties of Autumn.
Living in a new country makes each season an adventure. I’m used to seeing the ground carpeted with pine needles, maple leaves, and piles of pine cones, but the ground looks completely different here in Queensland, Australia.
Here the wood floor is covered with scrolls of crimson bark and long narrow leaves in violet and sage that have fallen from the gum trees.
There are wonderfully strange seed pods and odd-shaped greenery, but the lichen-covered rocks are very similar to ones I grew up with in the Northern Hemisphere, and they make me smile and feel at home.
I’ve been experimenting with nuts this Autumn, coating them with all sorts of seasonings before roasting them to burnished deliciousness. I’ve done hazelnuts with maple and spice and others with lemon zest and black pepper. Delectable!
Each time I think I’ve found my new favorite, but this week, I think I really have.
This week I tossed gorgeous raw Brazil nuts with olive oil, fresh rosemary, and sea salt and roasted them until the pale, creamy nuts were deep brown, the rosemary crispy and salty.
Oh my word. Bear and I could not stop eating them as we raced each other to find the darkest, most flavorsome ones. We finished the entire batch in less than a day. Swoon.
This week I’m tackling macadamia nuts. I can’t imagine how any nut could top the Roasted Rosemary Brazil Nuts, but I shall keep you posted.
What’s the weather like where you are? What is your favorite healthy snack at this time of year?
Roasted Rosemary Brazil Nuts
Ingredients:
2 cups raw Brazil nuts
1-2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
olive oil
sea salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F (200 C)
- Place Brazil nuts in bowl and add rosemary.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, tossing to coat evenly and completely.
- Cover baking sheet with baking paper. Pour nuts onto baking paper and spread evenly in a single layer.
- Place in oven and roast for 15-17 minutes until well-browned and starting to split. (We like ours very dark.)
- Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature before eating.
by Krista | May 24, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
I woke to a farm shrouded in heavy mist. Our neighbors disappeared in the fog making it seem like we were living on an island.
I love these kinds of mornings, especially when I’m not feeling so good. Yesterday was spent at the hospital undergoing tests, examinations, injections, etc. Down the road all these things will help get me better, but today they’ve left me in great pain, feeling weepy and exhausted.
It will get better, I know it, but on this eerily beautiful day, I need to rest and watch movies and take naps and drink homemade cocoa and stir Mexican black beans on the stove and simmer savory shredded chicken in the crock pot and take quiet walks through the dripping trees.
Mist is like sneaky rain. You can’t see it until it clings to feathery weeds, delicate branches, or your eyelashes.
But then it’s magical, like someone decided it would be a splendid idea to deck humble weeds with glittering diamonds.
Weather like this makes me want to read Russian novels or British murder mysteries and drink copious amounts of tea laced with maple syrup and coffee spiked with rum.
This may be my home, but today it feels like a fairyland I’m visiting, a place of safety and comfort and peace.
Even the animals are quiet today, goats hunkered down in their shed to keep warm, chooks ruffling their feathers until they look like little old ladies in enormous fur coats.
I feel hugged by the weather today, thankful for the mist obliterating even a glimpse of the outside world, helping me focus on all that is good and wonderful.
Like the crippled little runt duckling that survived against all odds and is now toddling about with his big brothers and sisters.
Pressies from dear friends overseas that remind me I am loved and cared for.
And just enough popcorn kernels left to make myself a bowl of salty, buttery goodness.
My other happy thing today is more Mexican food, specifically, carnitas.
How I love carnitas! That exquisite dish of slow-roasted pork so moist and tender it falls apart yet with crispy, caramelized edges that make you swoon.
There are numerous ways to make this delicious meat dish, but it boils down to this: seared pork simmered for hours in a savory broth then crisped in the oven until the broth evaporates and all you’re left with is flavorful shredded pork begging to be folded in tortillas and topped with pico de gallo, frijoles negros, and queso fresco.
I like to simmer mine with water, citrus of some kind (orange or lime are my favorites), and some whole milk (it helps to caramelize the carnitas).
What are some good things in your life today?
Homemade Carnitas
Ingredients:
1 large pork roast (shoulder)
1 orange or mandarin or clementine or lemon or lime
1.5 cups full cream milk
salt and pepper
water
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F (180 C)
- Cut roast into large chunks, season with salt and pepper and brown well on all sides in a lightly oiled saucepan.
- Remove pork to oven-proof pot, preferably cast iron, and pour over any drippings remaining in pan. (If they’re stuck to pan, add a bit of water, heat, and scrape until all the tasty bits are free).
- Halve and squeeze citrus fruit over meat, tuck in between meat chunks.
- Pour milk over meat.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add enough water to almost cover meat.
- Cover pot tightly with aluminum foil.
- Slow-roast for 2.5-3 hours until meat is fork tender.
- Remove from oven (but leave oven on!) and remove citrus rinds. Using two forks, shred pork meat.
- Return to oven uncovered and roast 30-40 minutes until edges are crispy and caramelized and cooking liquid has evaporated.
- Serve with Mexican black beans or tuck into tortillas and top with fresh pico de gallo.
