Well, if you go back there, you may see this new contraption attached to their coop.  Big, white, and much like a spider web, our new fence keeps the chickens in and everything else out.  And do you know how it does this my friends?  Electricity.  That’s right, our fence goes, “Zap!”

A fence such as this one deserves respect, but not fear.  If you’re wearing shoes (which I recommend… or even boots… which you can find in the greenhouse), it’s not possible for enough electricity to pass through you to really hurt.  Mind you, you still get a shock, like a big one from static electricity, so it isn’t fun, but it’s OK.

Note: If you allow all of the current to pass through you, you can hurt yourself.  Not that I’ve done this before (ahem, uh, well, maybe, twice), but if you hold the fence in one hand and the alligator clip in another, all of the current passes through you and you are prone to make involuntary noises of pain.  I do not recommend this.

So, if you would like to enter the fenced area, I recommend that you disable the fence first.  Do you see the black box in this picture?  It’s on the west side of the coop (the right side from the front).  If you see a little red light flashing on the black box, the fence is on.  Typically, you can actually hear the fence clicking, too, if you listen for it.

To disable the fence, simply unplug the black power box from the orange extension tail.  It’s just like unplugging your toaster.  Then, confirm that the light isn’t flashing, and you can feel comfortable about going into the chickens’ run.  We do this by moving the white post away from the coop and stepping through.  Be sure to put the post back while you’re in the run, because there are a few adventurous chickens out there.

And when you leave the run, be sure to plug everything back in and go back to listen to the fence and make sure it’s clicking.  (Also, be sure that the fence isn’t touching the metal of the coop and sending all of its power that way.  If it is, you’ll hear the clicking right by your feet instead off down the fence somewhere.)

Meanwhile, over in the 4-H & Youth sugar cookie contest, Aspen won 3rd place for these.

What have the girls done with their winnings? They’ve started a seed fund – literally!

Yes, we realize that not all of these are ripe. But when your 10, 8, and 5 year olds are willingly working in the garden…

Lou is the creator and namer of the “blookberry.”  She takes one blueberry and one blackberry and stacks them on top of each other as she pops them into her mouth. She repeats until her tummy is full or she runs out of berries – whichever comes first.

Tim’s 1st gig as a hand model. Not bad, huh?

Tim’s 1st garlic harvest. Again, not bad, huh?

Tim’s 1st time curing garlic. If he forgets to bring it when it rains, now that would be bad.

Know what else is bad? Taking photos without cleaning your cutting board. Oops – can you tell we had the last of the strawberries for lunch?

The little prince went away, to look again at the roses.

“You are not at all like my rose,” he said.  ”As yet you are nothing.  No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one.  You are like my fox when I first knew him.  He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes.  But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world.

And the roses were very much embarrassed.

“You are beautiful, but you are empty,” he went on.  ”One could not die for you.  To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you–the rose that belongs to me.  But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the scree; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to be come butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing.  Because she is my rose.”

——

And he went back to meet the fox.

“Goodbye,” he said.

“Goodbye,” said the fox. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

“What is essential is invisible to the eye,” the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

“It is the time I have wasted for my rose–” said the little prince, so that he would be sure to remember.

“Men have forgotten this truth,” said the fox.  ”But you must not forget it.  You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.  You are responsible for your rose…”

“I am responsible for my rose,” the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

From “The Little Prince”, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

And so there it is, simply.  That’s why the food we grow, even it isn’t the best in a blind taste test, well, it’s still the best because it’s ours.

And so, while our tomatoes might be suffering a severe case of blight, and we’ve stripped most of the leaves off, they’re still our tomatoes.  So we’re gonna go waste some more time on them, in hopes that we get to eat them someday.

No, the shock on Lou’s face isn’t from learning about the imminent wedding. It’s from a different discovery, made possible with Goatgirl’s tutelage and Morgan the goat’s patience. If you squeeze it, milk will come.

Last fall my girls milked Morgan. Winter and spring, Goatgirl and Goatboy cared for her and all her friends. This summer we ate their cheese spread on crackers and topped with blueberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers. So simple. So good.

So, thanks Goatgirl and Goatboy. You are real-life superheroes to us. Now, about those capes…

Goat Cheese and Crackers with Blueberries, Tomatoes, and Cucumbers

This really isn’t much of a recipe, now is it? Still, it’s a fun appetizer or light lunch, but don’t make it too far in advance as the chevre will soften the crackers.

* goat cheese
* lemon zest or juice
* crackers
* toppings: blueberries, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers
* kosher salt

Soften goat cheese and mix in lemon to taste. Spread on crackers and add toppings. Sprinkle salt over tomatoes and cucumbers. Eat and repeat as needed.

Or so I thought. My 4 year old had spied sugar cookies decorated like sunflowers. Just like the ones in our garden. She asked if we could buy some. She even included the magic word. On her own – without my prompting.

My response? I said no. No to the polite angel smiling up at me. No to the colorful cookies staring at me. No, because storytime was about to begin, and the puppets wait for no one. As a way to soften the “no”, I explained that while we wouldn’t buy any, we would make some for our Fun Friday baking project.

And so 48 hours later we did, and what a Fun Friday it was! We mixed, chilled, rolled, rechilled, cut out, and baked cookies all morning long. After letting them cool during lunch, the real fun began – the decorating!

While I’m not usually a big fan of rolled out cookies, I must admit these actually taste as good as they look. The inclusion of cream cheese in the dough and glaze gives the cookies some much needed “oomph!” to accompany the “awes” inspired by my preschooler’s “painting” and sprinkling skills. Look out Monet – there’s a new sunflower artist in town!

So, when she asked for one for dessert on Friday night, I said – wait for it – yes! Turns out that she liked them all the more after waiting and then making them herself. This all goes to show that sometimes when you say “please” you don’t get what you ask for. Sometimes you get something even better.

Sunflower Cookies (Glazed Butter Cookies)

adapted from The New Best Recipe by Cook’s Illustrated

makes about 38 2-inch cookies

Cookie Dough

* 2½ cups (12½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
* ¾ cup (5½ ounces) superfine sugar*
* ½ teaspoon salt
* 16 tablespoons (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into sixteen pieces, slightly softened
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature

Glaze and Decorations

* 1 tablespoon cream cheese, at room temperature
* 3 tablespoons milk, divided
* 1½ cups (6 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
* pinch of salt
* yellow and red food coloring
* 2 ounces milk chocolate or chocolate chips
* 1 cup chocolate chips
* coarse sugar, such as turbinado or sugar in the raw

*Since I was too lazy to go to the store for superfine sugar, I processed an equal amount of granulated sugar in the food processor for 30 seconds. Worked just fine.

For Cookies:

Mix: Using a stand mixer on low speed, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter 1 piece at a time; continue to mix until mixture looks crumbly and slightly wet. Add vanilla and cream cheese and continue to mix on low until dough just begins to form large clumps.

Chill: Knead dough by hand in bowl for 2-3 turns to form large cohesive mass. Divide dough in half, flatten into disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until they begin to firm up, 20-30 minutes. (Can be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 weeks; defrost in refrigerator before using.)

Roll and Rechill: Preheat oven to 375°F. Place one dough disk onto large piece of parchment paper. Roll out to even thickness, about 1/8-¼ inch thick. Place rolled dough (still on parchment) onto baking sheet and chill until firm, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, repeat with second disk.

Cut Out: Working with first portion of rolled dough, cut out sunflowers using cookie cutter and place cookies on parchment-lined baking sheet. If needed, return to refrigerator to chill dough again or briefly pop into freezer.

Bake: Bake until light golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking time. Repeat with second portion of rolled dough. (Dough scraps can be patted together, chilled, and re-rolled once.) Cool cookies on wire rack to room temperature.

For Decorating:

Whisk cream cheese and 2 tablespoons milk until it’s lump free. Whisk in confectioners’ sugar and salt until smooth, adding remaining milk as needed until glaze is thin enough to spread easily. Add several drops of yellow food coloring and one drop of red until desired color is achieved (remember it will dry lighter).

Place plain cookies on rack set into sheet pan so that excess glaze, sugar, and chocolate from decorating will fall between wires onto sheet pan below. Using small silicone basting brush, “paint” sunflower petals with glaze. Immediately sprinkle with coarse sugar.

While glaze is drying, melt milk chocolate. Spoon dollop of chocolate into center of sunflower and spread with back of spoon to fill in center circle. Add chocolate chips to represent sunflower seeds. Let dry and then enjoy!

Variations:

* Add lemon or orange zest to the dough.
* Add or substitute almond extract.

A “pee-mergency”!

And, if you go in the bathroom American and you come out American, what are you while you are in there?

You’re a pee-ing! (European)

Hahaha. Good ol’ potty humor. It never gets old, does it? Or then again, does it? Maybe, just maybe, these jokes are only funny coming from the mouths of my 4, 7, and 9 year old kids. Ok, let’s be honest – and my 35 year old kid, er, I mean husband, as well. (This is why when people ask me, “Don’t you want to ‘try’ for a boy?” I can honestly answer, “No way – I already have one!”)

Ok, back to pee. Or better yet, the pea. I’m not kidding when I say that in early June our home seemed to be in a “state of pea-mergency” as we tried to harvest all the garden peas before the heat got too much for them (and us). We quickly learned that pea stands for pick every afternoon to keep the plants producing.

So, for a far too brief season (a mere 3 weeks!), we kept picking, the peas kept coming, and we kept eating, especially this dish of crispy gnocchi with fresh peas and bacon. Here gnocchi (or gnudi as they’re also called) are made with ricotta rather than the traditional potatoes. Rather than the usual boiling, they’re sauteed in brown butter until golden, brown, and delicious, and then tossed with a pea and bacon sauce. Kinda makes all the picking and shelling worthwhile – and then some.

You may find yourself in a “pea-mergency” when you use all your fresh peas and want, no, need to make this again. I think this will work with frozen ones but what’s the fun in that? No picking, no shelling. Ah, yes, the fun is the eating. And eating this doesn’t get old.

Crispy Gnocchi with Fresh Peas and Bacon

adapted from Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen by Michael Symon

Ricotta Gnocchi or Gnudi

• ¾ cup (3.5 ounces) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• grated zest of 1 lemon (save lemon to juice for sauce below)
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup whole-milk ricotta*, drained overnight
• 1 large egg

*Symon prefers sheep’s milk ricotta (more body and tang) but since I couldn’t find it around here, I used his suggestion to mix fresh goat chese into cow’s milk ricotta to give it more depth. I put it in a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl and let it sit overnight in the chill chest.

Fresh Pea and Bacon Sauce

The original recipe calls for mushrooms rather than bacon, and it’s good like that as well. To make this vegetarian, simply substitute morels or shiitakes for the pork. Saute them until soft (about 2 minutes) in 4 tablespoons of butter when you begin the sauce. Or live on the wild side and use both mushrooms and bacon! Just don’t forget the peas. I upped the pea quantity significantly because I like them and had fresh ones to use up. You can also substitute orange for the lemon in the both gnocchi and sauce.

• ¼ pound bacon or pancetta, diced (1 cup)
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cups shelled fresh peas (frozen works in a pinch)
• 12 fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (left whole)
• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan
• 2 tablespoons water

For the gnocchi dough, combine the flour, parmesan, lemon zest, and salt in a bowl. Add the ricotta and egg. Mix well with a wooden spoon or your fingers until the dough just comes together. Be careful not to overwork the dough or it’ll end up tough. Tough gnocchi = yucky!

Scrape the dough onto a well-floured work surface and pat into a rough square. Cut the dough into thirds using a bench scraper or knife. Gently roll each piece into a foot-long rope, about an inch in diameter, flouring as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface. Place the dough ropes onto a lightly floured plate or rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for 5 minutes and up to 2 hours.

After the dough has rested, return the ropes to a floured surface. Cut each rope into ½-inch pieces with a bench scraper or knife and set aside while you start the sauce.

For the sauce, cook the bacon bacon in a large saute pan over medium-low heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy, about 5 minutes. (Pour off some of the fat if your pork is especially greasy. You’ll want about 2 tablespoons of fat.) Add the shallot and garlic, sweat for 1 minute, and then add the lemon juice.

Increase the heat to medium, add the peas, and saute just until the peas brighten in color. Remove the pan from the heat and fold in the parsley and 2 tablespoons butter. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary, though you shouldn’t need much, if any, because the bacon adds a natural saltiness to the sauce. Turn off the heat and set aside while you saute the gnocchi.

To finish the gnocchi, heat 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat in a saute pan large enough to accomodate all of the gnocchi without crowding. When the butter becomes brown and fragrant, add the gnocchi to the pan and cook, turning as necessary, until they’re browned and crisp on all sides, 5 or 6 minutes.

Pour in the pea and bacon sauce, turning to coat. Add the remaining tablespoon butter, the parmesan, and the 2 tablespoons of water while turning the gnocchi. Allow the sauce ingredients to emulsify and form a silken coating, 1 to 2 minutes. The sauce should cling to the gnocchi. Spoon the gnocchi and sauce into shallow bowls and serve immediately. Feel free to lick the pan and serving spoon. We did.

While sugar snap peas really don’t need anything to taste delicious, sometimes we like to dress them up with goat cheese made locally by Noble Springs Dairy. Or dip them into hummus. Or steam or saute them (ever so slightly so that they don’t lose their satisfying snap) in butter, salt, and lemon juice.

However, our favorite way to eat them is the also the simplest – unadulterated and fresh off the vine. In fact, my three little pea-pickers blissfully snack on handfuls of them while “working” in the garden, making them sugar “snap, crackle, and pop” (‘em in your mouth) peas!

Well, this week, our love for Delvin led Jenn and Lindy to be featured on the Brentwood Homepage. [Click here for the original article.]

Since that article will cycle off of their pages at some point, I’ve included some screen captures of it here… enjoy.

Well, 2009 was our second year of big fun gardening in our little “4 raised bed” garden. It looked like this…

2010, however, is going to be an entirely new beast. With just a bit of preparation last weekend, and a pile of work this one, we went from…

Concept

to…

Reality

That’s right… we went from 4 beds to 21 beds over a single weekend. Yes, these are smaller in most cases (2 × 8 instead of 4 × 8). And yes, I still have fill them with dirt, but we’re thrilled to have them in place. And I’m thrilled to have made it out of bed this morning.

Tomato and Mozzarella Tart

From The New Best Recipe by Cook’s Illustrated
Serves 6 to 8 as an appetizer, about 4 as a main course

The baked tart is best eaten warm within 2 hours of baking. If you prefer to do some advance prep, the tart shell can be prebaked through step 1, cooled to room temp, wrapped in plastic wrap, and kept at room temp for up to 2 days before being topped and baked with mozzarella and tomatoes. Use low-moisture, shrink-wrapped supermarket cheese rather than fresh mozzarella. To keep the frozen pastry from cracking, let it thaw slowly in the refrigerator overnight.

• Flour for dusting work surface
• 1 (1.1 pound) box frozen puff pastry, thawed in box in refrigerator overnight
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (1/2 cup)
• 1 pound Roma tomatoes, cored and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (I used San Martino and Orange Banana tomatoes from our garden)
• Salt
• 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, shredded (2 cups)
• small handful of basil, chiffonaded

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425°. Dust work surface with flour and unfold both pieces puff pastry onto work surface. To form tart shell (1 large sheet with border), brush some of beaten egg along one short edge of one sheet of puff pastry.

Overlap with second sheet of dough by 1 inch and press to seal pieces together. With rolling pin, smooth out seam. Use pizza wheel or knife to trim edges straight and then cut a 1-inch strip from long side of dough. Cut another 1-inch strip from same side. Now cut a 1-inch strip from short side of dough. Cut another 1-inch strip from the same side.

Transfer large piece of dough to parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet and brush with more egg. Gently press long strips of dough onto each long edge of dough and brush with egg. Gently press short pieces of dough onto each short edge and brush with egg. With pizza wheel or knife, trim excess dough from corners.

Sprinkle Parmesan evenly over bottom of shell only (not border); using fork, uniformly and thoroughly poke holes in bottom.

Bake 13 to 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350°; continue to bake until golden brown and crisp, 13 to 15 minutes longer. Transfer to wire rack; increase oven temperature to 425°.

While shell bakes, place tomato slices in single layer on double layer of paper towels and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt; let stand 30 minutes. Place second double layer of paper towels on top of tomatoes and press firmly to dry tomatoes. Combine garlic, olive oil, and pinch each salt and pepper in small bowl; set aside.

Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over bottom of warm (or cool, if made ahead) baked shell. Shingle tomato slices widthwise on top of cheese (about 4 slices per row); brush tomatoes with garlic oil.

Bake until shell is deep golden brown and cheese is melted, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes, sprinkle with basil, slide onto cutting board or serving platter, cut into pieces, and serve.

Jenn got the award winning picture, today, though. So, without further adieu…

Personal thanks go out to the Kirks, the Hickmans, and the Garners. Really, we appreciate it a great deal.

Congratulations to my wife, who has, just this year, learned to take beautiful pictures. It’s a lot of fun for me to download pictures and find some great ones of our family and our lives… Beautiful pictures are no accident… they take work, and I appreciate that she’s doing the work!

Many families would run right out and buy some ant traps, or call in the exterminator. In fact, I had some ant traps in my hand at Target, but we decided to trust the “internet” on this one.

Jonathan Hatch provided the recipe, and I have to say, it’s worked for us!

• 1 cup hot tap water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons of Borax

Mix it up, soak some cotton balls in it, and throw the balls wherever you see the ant trails. They eat up the sugar, get a load of the Borax, and take it back home with them. Success (so far).

How great is that? A detergent as a pesticide…