Fluffy Rooster

Watch out, he may look cute but he hates red! If you wear red clothing, he will chase you down and fly at you with his talons high. He's usually very sweet to me because I feed them every morning. But if the guys are out in the farm yard or anyone wears red, he's a crazed maniac! Today I am working from home, went to the kitchen for a cup of tea, turned around to the back door and Mr. Rooster was at the door, looking in (full paned glass) and checking out the kitchen. Ha! He actually had to come up on the deck, cross the 15 feet or so to the back door. Crazy little dude!

This one is a Crested Polish Hen. I call her Phyllis Diller. She has a huge mop of feathers on the top of her head, just like the feathery hats Phyllis Diller used to wear. I am showing my age!

75 degrees and sunny!

Another week of Indian Summer. I picked the last two eggplants and a couple of poblano peppers. Greens and brussel sprouts are still thriving. Beets, carrots and lettuce are doing well too. Dinner was the cover recipe of Cooking Light, mac & cheese. It was awesome. Instead of bechamel sauce, you make a puree of butternut squash cooked in milk and herbs.
It was one of the best Mac & Cheese recipes I've tried!
To go with it I made a green bean salad that will defintiely become a regular side at our table:

1lb fresh green beans, blanched and cooled
1 large beefsteak tomato, fresh from the garden, cut in chunks
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1TBSP capers with 1 TBSP juice of capers
1 TBSP red wine vinegar
1/4 cup french vinaigrette

Place sliced shallot, capers, caper juice and vinegar in small bowl. Marinate the shallots for 30 minutes.
Place cooled beans and tomato chuncks in salad bowl. Add marinated shallots and juices. Add French vinaigrette and toss to coat. Serve with fresh ground black pepper. Yummy!

Burrrr! Time To Cover Up!

What a shock! A week in Palm Springs with over 100 degree temps each day and coming home to 32 degrees at night! I headed out to my garden with my harvest baskets. I picked 32 peppers (sweetgreen, poblano and hunan)two cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, green onions, swiss chard, collard greens and radishes and green beans. Enough to last me a month!
Now it's time to cover all the plants with plastic, especially my herbs, swiss chard and lettuce. I want to keep them growing for as long as I can.
The chickens are doing fine. Time to set up their heater in the coop though. I want them nice and warm so they will keep laying those lovely eggs.

Melt-in-your-mouth Oriental Pot Roast

I had to try my new Presto 23 quart Pressure Cooker. I couldn't wait. I had fresh pak choy picked from my garden so I decided to try an Oriental pot roast. Melt in your mouth, soak up the last of the juice, yummy, in just 45 total minutes! I'm in comfort food heaven!

Lori's Oriental Pot Roast
4lb chuck roast
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 tbsp hoison sauce
1 cup teryaki sauce (I made my own)
1/2 cup mushroom broth
1/4 cup beef broth
2 bunches pak choy, cleaned, separated but left leaves whole
1/2 lb carrots (I picked mine from the garden)
Optional :1 hunan dried chile, crumbled

Heat oil in clean pressure cooker, add roast and sear until each side is brown. Remove roast and set aside. Add Garlic and onions and saute for 1 minute. Place roast back in cooker, pile onions ginger, carrots and pak choy on top of roast.
In small bowl add rest of ingredients and wisk to combine. Add to cooker, seal with lid and heat to 15 PSI. Cook at 15 PSI for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let pressure reduce on it's own. When it is finished, open lid and serve on a bed of udon noodles. Finger licking good!
I served a Syrah wine with it and a green salad.
Now I am in Palm Springs enjoying light fish meals! But I can't wait to come up with more recipes for my new cooker when I get back. Rabbit stew I think! I just have to get Derek out there to bag a few for me!

Summer is not over yet!

It's 80 degrees, unseasonably warm for October and my tomatoes are coming back. I had one tomato plant that got so heavy with fruit, I had to pick 3 of the tomatoes to keep the rest from lying on the ground. I've wrapped them to ripen and set them aside. Sunshine, warmth and worm castings have really kept my garden going this fall. I just planted radishes again and I have several beds of new shoots: beets, beans, carrots and italian kale! I even picked 3 pickling cucumbers and have a volunteer pumpkin plant with 5 mini pumpkins growing.

So, yesterday I get a call from one of my Foodie Friends,Bruce. We get in a discussion about preserving all my goodies for the winter and asks me if I have a canning pressure cooker. Well I certainly remmber my Mom making the BEST pot roast and beef stew in her pressure cooker. I used to wash dishes and the thing was so heavy I could barely lift it, okay, I was young! Well if Bruce sells realestate as well as he sells pressure cookers, he must be very successful.

I decided on the 23 quart Presto Pressure Cooker. it has only one psi setting of 15, but being a canner and a carnivore, I won't worry about cooking delicate fish in mine, I'll stick to canning and Beef!!!! I can't wait to make my first pot roast on a cool evening and Steve won't have to wait until 9:00PM to eat dinner.
Thanks Bruce, I'll let you know how it goes!