by Krista | Sep 4, 2014 | Winter
“In the silence,
I could hear the distinct sound of goats maa-ing in the barn.
Lying there listening to them made me smile, too.
I’d always loved goats – every one of them different from every other one,
and all of them goofy and playful.”
Steve Watkins
After a two-day glimpse of Spring, Winter returned with frosty mornings and icy winds. Brrr. Winter’s arrival heralded another arrival: this sweet little chap who was born yesterday. He is dark brown with one white foot and has a powerful set of lungs. I can hear him bleating above the entire herd. We are smitten with him.
Bear spotted him after we returned home from a day out running errands and hurried up to the house to tell me. I quickly bundled up in Bear’s flannels and trackies and spent a happy 30 minutes in the goat pen, cuddling the new baby and snapping pictures of the other littles whose curiosity had them cantering over for a visit.
Their little faces delight me no end. Especially this fellow with one ear up and one ear down, his nose still wrinkled like a pug dog because he hasn’t grown into it yet.
This girl is one of my favorites. She is so tiny and has such a dainty face yet she’s the bravest of the bunch, always coming right up to me to inspect my wellies and peer into my camera.
It was a gorgeous afternoon: sunshine, cute little kids, warm spots out of the wind. All too soon it was time to head up to the plum orchard to work on fences with Bear.
We worked until after dark, digging post holes, fitting posts, stringing wire, hanging fencing. Luna trotted along with us, happily gnawing on a huge kangaroo bone she found somewhere. It was as big as her! We were cold and hungry by the time we finished, but so pleased to get the first phase done. We walked back to the house and snuggled in for roast chicken dinner and an early night. It was a good day.
Do you have any projects you’re tackling at your house? xo
by Krista | Aug 3, 2014 | Winter
Knowing I had a busy week ahead of me, I set aside this weekend for much-needed naps, reading, watching new-to-me episodes of Poirot, Miss Marple, and New Tricks, working in my garden, and spending time with good friends.
It was just what I needed and I’m ready to face this crazy week of finishing manuscripts, doing Australian and American taxes, and scurrying around collecting paperwork, fingerprints, police checks and character references for Phase Two of my Australian Immigration.
It was such a good weekend, cold but beautiful. Our friends, Shaun and Stacey, drove in from out of town to spend the day with us and we had so much fun.
Bear and Shaun hauled out their medieval swords, shields, and armor and had a marvelous time bashing each other, later regaling Stacey and I with animated play-by-plays of their best moves.
Stacey and I talked about planting tea gardens with real tea bushes and other plants that make wonderful additions to tea such as jasmine, bergamot, and hibiscus. Bear was on the phone to the nursery the very next day to order Camellia sinensis bushes – the plant that produces all of the world’s commercial teas, including white, green, oolong and black teas. We are so excited to grow and harvest our own tea!!
When we weren’t swapping stories and touring gardens and chook pens, we were out in the goat pen laughing and sighing happily over our 15 Kalahari kids.
They are so soft and cuddly at this age, and so adorable it hurts. I love watching their curious selves toddle bravely towards us for a sniff and an inspection before galloping off to join their mates in playing king of the castle on a fallen log.
Their cute little faces just kill me and their antics had us laughing so hard. Stacey warned us that she’d purposely left the car window open in hopes of one or two of our babies leaping in to go home with them.
Alas, none of them fell prey to her scheme, so she had to content herself with cuddles.
On cold winter days you have to take lots of breaks for cuppas and treats. The guys moved a table out into the sunshine and we clustered round, chatting up a storm as we warmed our hands around hot mugs of tea and coffee and noshed on Cranberry Pecan Cinnamon Rolls slathered with salted butter.
Cinnamon Rolls are pure Canadian comfort food to me. The smell of butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar makes me think of sunny Saturday mornings with everyone still in their pjs. Traditionally they’re stuffed with raisins and brown sugar, but I wanted to jazz mine up a bit so I used Dark Muscovado sugar mixed with tart dried cranberries and crunchy toasted pecans. I may never go back to the original.
What is your favorite comfort food for a Saturday morning breakfast with good friends?
Cranberry Pecan Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 12
Ingredients:
1 batch bread dough of your choice (I add 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp allspice, and 1/2 cup dried cranberries to my favorite bread dough recipe)
1 cup Dark Muscovado Sugar
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F (200 C).
- Line baking tray with baking paper, set aside.
- In medium bowl, mix together Muscovado sugar, cranberries, pecans, cinnamon, and melted butter until crumbly. Set aside.
- On lightly floured surface, press or roll dough into rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
- Cover surface with cranberry and nut mixture. Spread to edges.
- At long end, carefully ease edge of dough off the counter and roll into a log, tucking in bits of fruit and nuts that escape. Seal log along long side.
- Using a sharp knife or piece of string, cut off rounds and place in baking tray, each round just touching the one next to it.
- Cover cinnamon rolls with dish cloth and leave in warm place 30-40 minutes until risen.
- Place in hot oven and bake 12-15 minutes until tops are golden brown.
- Serve warm (or room temperature) with plenty of salted butter.
by Krista | Jun 28, 2014 | Winter
It may be Winter here on our Queensland farm, but there is so much life and growth that in spite of the cold, it feels like Spring!
The gardens are now producing food that we can actually eat instead of just exclaim excitedly over: chicory, kale, alpine strawberries, and fresh herbs.
My kitchen garden is a sea of green seedlings as broad beans, celeriac, Hungarian peas, and Spanish onions push their way up through the soil.
After looking rather sad and parched during the Summer, the alyssum is flourishing and fragrant.
Late radishes are popping up and snow peas, purple-podded Dutch peas, and sugar snap peas are getting taller by the day. I think I may have gone a bit overboard in the pea department, but really, can you honestly ever have too many fresh peas?
The nasturtiums struggled through the summer too, but now their leaves are so big and hardy they look like lily pads!
And the hollyhocks continue to make me smile and remember my childhood in Canada. Aren’t they beauties?
Our most exciting additions started arriving yesterday: KIDS!!!
Mother McCree delivered twin girls yesterday and they’re achingly cute. This little one is the bravest so far, tottering about to inspect leaves and tree trunks and the neighboring geese.
Her big sister is happiest snoozing in a warm corner, occasionally getting up for a yawn and a feed.
And this sturdy little chap arrived this morning in a tangle of long legs with a white stripe on his tummy.
We are utterly smitten and keep looking for reasons to wander down and watch and cuddle them as they eat, sneeze, and totter around like jerky little puppets.
What happy things are in your life right now? xo
by Krista | May 19, 2014 | Autumn
It’s a busy time of year on our Australian goat farm, but thankfully we’ve had fantastic Autumn weather to work in, so it hasn’t been a hardship at all.
I’ve been gardening, reading about gardening, and talking to Aussie gardeners learning everything I can about how to grow things in this part of the world. Dear friends gave us cuttings from their quince and bush lemon trees, so Bear and I have been planting trees, cuttings of trees, seeds for trees, and innumerable veggies, herbs, and flowers. Phew! It’s heaps of work but so satisfying to see bare patches fill in and the first shoots of winter veg push through the dark brown earth. I’m still battling the dastardly cabbage moth, so if any of you brilliant gardeners out there have advice for me, I’d LOVE to hear it.
We’ve also been spending a lot of time with our goats, keeping a close eye on them since they will start delivering babies within the next couple of weeks. They’ve eaten down their normal paddocks, so we’ve started taking them on feeding walks through the bush for two hours every morning.
Bear and I take turns, an hour each, and we actually look forward to it every day. It’s a wonderful thing to “have” to wander in the bush. I find it really calming and a great start to my morning.
Although it’s late Autumn, I’ve been digging in to Spring Cleaning. It feels fantastic to be getting things tidy and organized, making new usable outdoor spaces that will be brilliant for the fun projects we both love to dig into.
This weekend I got back to making homemade medicines for my medieval medicine demonstrations. It is so fun, especially now that I’m growing nearly everything I need. I made a Sage Thyme treatment for sore throats (very handy this time of year), Lemon Balm oil for bringing deep wounds to the surface so they will heal quickly, and a Fennel eye wash and general tonic.
With all the outside work we’ve been doing, our menu has held a lot of crockpot meals, soup, and homemade bread. Good, nourishing, easy to make things that warm our bones and keep us going as we mend fences, drench goats, build cages, and whatever else comes along. Tonight I’m having Creamy Cauliflower and Parsnip while Bear is noshing on White Bean with Chorizo. Mmm.
My favorite bread is this loaf that looks like an artisan bread but is easy-peasy to make. I mix up the dough in about two minutes before I go to bed, then pop it in the oven when I wake up in the morning. No kneading, no waiting around for rising, just simple, good, and gorgeous bread.
The recipe is based on this one by Le Creuset, but I make it even simpler with just four ingredients and an old cast iron pot.
What interesting projects are you working on these days? xo
Easy Artisan Bread
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
3/4 teaspoon yeast
1 3/4 cups water
Directions:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.
- Add water and mix until incorporated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set on counter (or in microwave) overnight.
- Place lidded cast iron pot in cold oven and heat to 450 degrees. Leave for 30 minutes.
- While it heats, scrape dough onto floured surface and shape into a ball. (Don’t knead)
- Carry dough to oven, remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake 15 minutes more.
- Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.
- Once cut, store in airtight container so it doesn’t dry out.
- NOTE: can be made with gluten-free flour as well, just be prepared for a much wetter dough to begin with.
by Krista | Sep 2, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
It’s a chilly Spring morning and I’m keeping warm with hot cups of dandelion mocha made with roasted dandelion root, real maple syrup, and raw cocoa. Delicious!
I love these cool mornings before the heat of the day sinks down and simmers a heady scent of alyssum, rosemary, and earth. The fields are filling with daisies and tiny purple and yellow flowers and it looks so beautiful when I’m out there with the goats.
Spring feels good.
It’s been a lovely weekend. Bear and I worked on all sorts of projects together: gardening, fence-building and mending, and putting together our new farm blog. Click here if you’d like to take a look. We’re so excited to start selling goats, ducks, and geese and share a deeper glimpse into life on our Aussie farm.
When we weren’t working or taking cuppa breaks on the sunny veranda, we were chuckling at the antics of the baby goats who have progressed from teetering to spirited gamboling over rocks and logs and each other.
Once moment they’ll be standing still like little goat dolls and then with a shiver they’ll be galloping and leaping like crazy marionettes while their mothers placidly munch away on grass and fallen leaves.
The best part is when you pick one up for a cuddle and within moments she falls fast asleep in your arms.
With the warmer weather we’re eating on the sun-drenched veranda again, basking in luscious warmth and scented breezes as we eat and chat.
For breakfast yesterday we had savory potatoes pancakes topped with a zesty sweet corn tomato salad. I don’t usually eat corn since it is genetically modified and difficult to digest, but once in a while I simply crave milky sweet corn and happily give in to that craving. Sweet corn is especially nice in a fresh salad like this with ripe Roma tomatoes and crunchy snow peas.
What did you do this weekend?
PS – The winner of the Wood-Burning Giveaway was Val from More Than Burnt Toast. Your parcel will be shipped this week, Val! 🙂
Potato Pancakes with Sweet Corn Tomato Salad
serves two
Ingredients:
6 potato pancakes (click here for recipe)
2 cobs sweet corn, corn removed with knife
2 Roma tomatoes, cored and diced
handful of snow peas, sliced
1 lemon, juiced, pips removed
2 Tbsp olive oil
small bunch fresh dill, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
sea salt and pepper
Directions:
- Keep pancakes warm while you prepare salad.
- In medium bowl add corn, tomatoes and snow peas.
- In small bowl whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, dill, garlic, salt and pepper until emulsified.
- Pour dressing over vegetables and stir gently until evenly coated.
- Arrange three pancakes on each plate and top with generous scoop of salad.
- Serve immediately.
Bear spotted him after we returned home from a day out running errands and hurried up to the house to tell me. I quickly bundled up in Bear’s flannels and trackies and spent a happy 30 minutes in the goat pen, cuddling the new baby and snapping pictures of the other littles whose curiosity had them cantering over for a visit.
This girl is one of my favorites. She is so tiny and has such a dainty face yet she’s the bravest of the bunch, always coming right up to me to inspect my wellies and peer into my camera.
It was a gorgeous afternoon: sunshine, cute little kids, warm spots out of the wind. All too soon it was time to head up to the plum orchard to work on fences with Bear.
We worked until after dark, digging post holes, fitting posts, stringing wire, hanging fencing. Luna trotted along with us, happily gnawing on a huge kangaroo bone she found somewhere. It was as big as her! We were cold and hungry by the time we finished, but so pleased to get the first phase done. We walked back to the house and snuggled in for roast chicken dinner and an early night. It was a good day.
