Cooking can be like that, a thing I do not want to do, but need to. In the doing, I find myself enjoying it and wanting to do more. Losing the self in the process, and finding myself anew.

So, what has happened that weighs so heavy? That makes me just want to slowly sip a martini and watch a story Margaret Atwood started? I am plotting out a monthly podcast segment with Dr. Kevin Mahoney on his Raging Chicken Press podcast. We are calling it 'Free Range,' and will begin broadcasting in June. We will be talking about the intersection of food policies, land use, and social justice. From there, I will be starting to write a monthly piece for the Landerholmestead in Washington state, looking for issues that we share in common, and opening up conversations across this country about food policies, land use, and social justice. I am also finally starting up my monthly dinners.

On the last Monday of each month, I will bring people around my table, feeding them with food I make from local providers, and introducing them to the names and places that sustain our lives and impact our shared environment. I will be documenting the process and the event, so look for changes to my posts starting in June. The first dinner will be my Farmers Dinner, and I will have 5 farms at my table. I will finally get to introduce them all to one another, both in the person and through their my dishes. Each dish will be created from materials from the farms. I am very excited.

I am also launching a Patreon page on 1 June, in the hopes of gaining enough patron financial support to allow me to spend my time documenting the farmers and makers of this area through images, stories, and dishes. Don't worry. You will hear a lot about that when it launches.

I give much thanks to my friends Pete Fleming and John Burns for the amazing table I have been dreaming of for 2 years. John had a bunch of old poplar wood in one of his barns, and Pete transformed it into a most beautiful 10'x42" farm table for me. It has changed my life. Cheers, Friends! We definitely need to plan an evening with food and bevvies at it.

And, On with the show:

I offer you 2 different recipes for Pound Cake. It is a comforting sweet, quickly made. Warm, cold, toasted, or topped with cream or sauce, it is always a favorite. It can stand alone or act as a foundation for something composed. The first is from Michael Ruhlman's Ratio . If you have read some of my past posts, you know that I am working my way through this book as I work my way from cook to chef. If you have not read any of my past posts, I highly recommend this book.

The second is from the 13th edition of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham. If you have read some of my past posts, you know that I think this is the best cooks primer. If you are a new reader, make sure you have a copy in your home.

Pound cake freezes well, and if you know you are going to have a lot of guests, this is something you could make one at a time, every day or every few days, and freeze until needed. A way to cut down on some stress for a big party. At serving time, all you need is some whipped cream and sweet sauces, and people can serve themselves exactly what they want.

I hope you try them both, and find a favorite.

From Ratio by Michael Ruhlman

Lemon-Lime Pound Cake

8 ounces Butter, room temperature

8 ounces Blonde Sugar*

1 tsp Fine Salt

8 ounces Eggs (4 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, room temperature), Lightly Whipped to Combine

Juice & Zest of 1 Lemon

Juice & Zest of 1 Lime

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

8 ounces Flour (about 1 3/4 c)

Citrus Glaze

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

1 tbsp Lime Juice

1/4 c Blonde Sugar*

*Ingredient note: Blonde Sugar is evaporated cane sugar.

Useful Items: Stand Mixer, 9-inch loaf pan, Parchment Paper

Oven to 325F. Line a 9-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

In standing mixer using paddle attachment, on medium-high: Beat Butter until creamy, then add Sugar and Salt. Beat until the mixture becomes a very pale yellow, and has increased about a third in volume (2-3 minutes).

Add Eggs slowly, to fully incorporate (about another minute).

Add: 1 tbsp each Lemon & Lime juice, Zest of both, and Vanilla.

Reduce mixer speed to medium-low: Add Flour, mixing only long enough to incorporate.

Pour batter into pan, bake for 1 Hour. Test with a pairing knife or toothpick. Cake is done when blade comes out clean.

Let rest in pan for 5 mInutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

Glaze

Combine Juices and Sugar in a small saucepan. Over medium-high heat, heat and stir the sugar until it is dissolved. Taste, and adjust sweet-sour balance if necessary. I find that 3 tbsp of juice produces a well balanced syrup.

Brush Pound Cake on all sides with glaze.

From the 13th Edition of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham

Pound Cake

8 ounces Butter, room temperature

1 c Blonde Sugar* (The printed version calls for 1 1/2 c, but I find that much too sweet.)

5 Eggs, room temperature

2 c Cake Flour

1/2 tsp Fine Salt

1 tsp Vanilla Extract or Mace

*Ingredient note: Blonde Sugar is evaporated cane sugar.

Useful Items: Stand Mixer, 9-inch loaf pan, Parchment Paper

Oven to 325F. Line a 9-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

Cream Butter, and slowly add Sugar, and beat until light.

Add Eggs, one at a time, beating each well.

Add Vanilla and Salt, combine, then add Flour until combined.

Spoon into pan, and bake for 1 1/4- 1 1/2 hours, or until a toothpick or pairing knife blade comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 Minutes before turning out onto rack. Serve in very thin slices.

One interesting thing about the Lemon-Lime Pound Cake is that it can also yield a much appreciated Sidecar.

Cheers, until next week.

It was a year ago that my life was about to be thrown in turmoil, and I would play catch up, until now. Now, I finally feel like I have some agency back. It feels good.

I was not sure I would be able to get this post out tonight. So much has happened in the last few days, my head is swimming. But, it is all good stuff. Things falling away that I do not need, and things coming together for something new. Like a beautiful homemade stock. There is quite a bit of frenetic activity to bring all the ingredients to the moment they are before you, then there is a long simmer, and then there is a beautiful and rich base.

The Traditional Chicken Stock, the Everyday Chicken Stock, and the Vegetable Stock are from Michael Ruhlman's Ratio . If you do not yet own this book, go out and get it from your local bookstore. I present the basics of his recipes, but you should read his writing on stocks. As he states, "Stock is important.", and when you read the chapter, you fully understand why.

You can find my recipe for Decadent Roast Chicken here . It makes a jus and seasoned carcass that make a wonderful Everyday Chicken Stock. Nobody's chicken is finer than Kreeky Tree Farm chicken. I will never forget the first time I prepared and ate one of Allan's chickens. I tasted chicken for the first time. 

The Scrap Stock is mine. It is a wonderful way to use veg scrap. You reduce your waste, and you enrich your future cooking. I put everything into bags in the freezer, including potato and apple peels. It all works.  

Traditional Chicken Stock

2 pounds Raw Chicken Bones (Heads, Backs, Necks, Feet)

3 pounds (6 c) Cold Water 

1/2 lb Onions, Chopped

1/4 lb Carrots, Chopped

1/4 lb Celery, Chopped

1 Bay Leaf

1 tsp Peppercorns, Crushed

2-3 Stems Thyme

2-3 Stems Parsley

2-3 Garlic Cloves

2 tbls Tomato Paste

Cover bones with water. Pot on high heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain simmer, and skim foam and congealed protein off surface. (Do not skip this step.)

Reduce heat to low, or place in a pre-heated oven to 180-190F. Cook for 4 hours.

Add remaining ingredients, they will cool the stock, so place on high heat to bring it back up to just below simmer. Cook at 180F for an additional hour.

Strain the stock, then pass through cheese cloth.

Everyday Chicken Stock

Bones from a Roasted 3-4 pound Chicken, along with any Meat still left on the Carcass (or any Baked Chicken Bones totaling 1-1.25 pounds)

2 Carrots, Chopped

1 Onion, Chopped

Kosher Salt to taste

Optional: A teaspoon Black Peppercorns, Bay Leaf, Some Parsley Sprigs, Stems of Thyme, a few Garlic Cloves, Leek Tops, if available. Any of these will enhance the finished stock.

Cut or Pull the Chicken Carcass into pieces so that it fits in a 2 Quart Pot. Cover the bones with cold water.

Put on very low heat for 2-6 hours, just enough to keep the water to just below simmer. Or, place in oven pre-heated to 180F.

Add remaining ingredients and cook for an additional hour.

Strain the stock into clean container.

Alternatively, begin the stock in evening. Cook for 1-2 hours, turn off heat, and allow to cool on stovetop until the following evening. Add vegetables and cook the stock for 1 hour. Strain into clean container. I do this with almost all stocks made from dinner scraps.

Vegetable Stock

1/2 pound Onions, Chopped

1/2 pound Leeks, Chopped

1/2 pound Carrots, Chopped

1/4 pound Fennel, Chopped

1/4 pound Mushrooms, Chopped

2 tbls Tomato Paste or 2 Plum Tomatoes, Chopped

3 pounds (6c) Cold Water

1 Small Bunch Parsley

1 Small Bunch Thyme

1 Bay Leaf

Kosher Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients except salt and bring the water to just below a simmer, about 180F, and cook for 1 hour. Add a small amount of salt, and taste - it should taste lightly seasoned. Pass stock through a strainer, then through cheese cloth.

You may also :

> Sweat veg in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat, just until they soften and begin to release moisture, then add water. Add herbs and salt after adding water. Season with salt after straining.

> Roast veg or brown them in a hot pan. Add herbs and salt after adding water. Season with salt after straining.

Scrap Stock

Save vegetable scraps from cooking in the freezer until you have 2 pounds.

For every 2 pounds you will use 3 pounds (6c) water. (1 pound material to 1.5 pound (3c) water)

Place frozen Vegetable Scraps in large bowl and coat with vegetable oil, lightly season with Coarse Salt & Cracked Pepper. Roast in oven pre-heated to 450F for 10-15 minutes.

Put roasted veg scrap in pan, add cold water and cook on low heat, just below simmer, for 1 hour. Alternately, place pan in oven pre-heated to 180F and cook for 1 hour.

Strain stock, then pass through cheese cloth.

That's it! Go and make stock. You will use it in beans, noodles, rice, and even for just a cuppa. I've got veg to prep to finish my Traditional Chicken Stock.

Cheers.

Soups are one of those dishes that you don't really need a recipe to make well. You can start with a good stock, or just use water. Aromatics, spices, seasonings; legumes, nuts, seeds; vegetables, meats. Creamy or clear. Hot in cool months, cold in hot months. The possibilities are almost endless.

The following recipes for Cream Soups are the first recipes I made from Michael Ruhlman's Ratio . They have changed the way I think about and approach making soup because they changed the way I see the ingredients I have on hand.

Make each of the recipes a few times before you start to improvise. It is a process that needs to be performed a few times, not because it is difficult, but because it is foundational. As Ruhlman writes, "Once you know the method, you can really begin to cook."

I used asparagus and mushrooms for my first go. I love asparagus, and am plotting a Cream of Asparagus & Avocado Soup. I am able to easily obtain Primordia Farm mushrooms, of many varieties, and look forward to making my first traditional Chicken Pot Pie using a Cream of Mushroom base. I just need to learn how to make proper Puff Pastry, to make that happen. 

Cream Soup Using Any Green Vegetable

Consider the following: Classics such as asparagus or broccoli, or snap peas, spinach, celery, or english peas.

1.5 oz (3 tbls) Butter

1 oz (3 tbls) Flour

1/3 c Chopped Onions

Salt to Taste 

3 c Chicken Stock

1 pound chopped vegetables, upper stems included; 4 ounces (florets of broccoli or tips of asparagus) reserved to use as garnish (see below).

Fresh lemon juice to taste

3 oz Cream

4 tbls Crème Fraîche (optional)

Melt butter over medium heat, cooking off some of the water (a half minute or so, but not brown). Add flour and cook until the flour just begins to brown, with a nice toasted aroma.

Add onions and a pinch of salt, and cook for a minute or two to sweat the onions.

Add stock and bring to simmer, stirring and continually scraping the bottom. You do not want the flour to stick and scorch. Pull the pot to the edge of the burner for simmer, skimming any foam or skin that may collect on the cooler side of the pot.

Add 3/4 pound of chopped veg, cooking until tender, and stirring occasionally to keep the four from scorching.

Puree the soup in a blender on high for 2 to 3 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt if needed. Add 1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice, reblend, taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Strain soup into clean pan or serving dish, add the cream, and garnish with reserved vegetables and crème fraîche, or chill immediately

Garnish

In a large pot of boiling, well salted water: Cook veg slightly al dente (blanche). Strain and place in ice water to halt cooking (shock). Drain on paper towels until ready to use.

Cream Soup Using Any Nongreen Vegetable

Consider the following: beet, cauliflower, celery root, parsnip, potato, mushroom, sweet bell pepper

1 oz (3 tbls) Flour

1.5 oz (3 tbls) Butter

1/3 c Chopped Onions

3 c Milk

Salt to taste

1 pound chopped vegetables; 4 oz cooked until tender, cooled, and reserved for garnish (see below).

3 oz Cream

Fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar

Lightly cook Flour and Butter over medium heat. Add onions, and cook for another minute or two.

Add milk and simmer until thickened, skimming any film that may gather on the surface.

Salt to taste.

Add the uncooked vegetables to the béchamel and cook until tender.

Puree the soup in a blender, taste for seasoning. Add more salt if needed. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean pan or serving dish. Add cream and season with lemon juice as needed.

Reheat the garnish. Divide among bowls, then pour in the soup.

Garnish

Vegetable garnish can be cooked and cooled ahead of time, or while soup is cooking. Most veg can be roasted of boiled. Mushrooms and sweet bell peppers can be roasted or sautéed.

So, there you go. I hope you give these recipes a try. They are very useful. I also recommend purchasing a copy of Ratio. I will be writing more from what I learn from that book.

The thing I love most about soups is that there is almost always an opportunity to make a good one. You can make a very satisfying and soulful meal from just a little bit of rice, good water, some split peas, and an onion or two. If you add some aromatics you can have Split Peas w Veg and Ginger-Lemon Rice.

Cheers.

In May of 2015 I successfully completed my MPA. Commencement ran about 3 hours, and my mind wandered as I sat beneath my mortarboard, robe, and nerd bling. I thought of all the pages I had written for others over the years. Theses in Philosophy and English Literature, scores of term papers, piles of short papers, and finally a Capstone for Public Administration. Sitting there, I decided I wanted to write something for me. I decided I wanted to write a book. I had never tried that before, so why not? 

I fell in love with the land in this corner of the world, and have come to know several of the growers and makers who care for it and us. I decided, my book will be about the land and the growers and makers of this land. A book about our terrior, and the people who cultivate it. What could be the best form to reach the broadest audience? A cookbook. Sitting there, under the litany of names, the layout of the book revealed itself, and the whole plan developed.   

I decided to take my cooking seriously* and I started this site. I have been learning how to write for myself, and how to pay attention to what I do when I cook. That might sound odd, but I do most of my cooking without recipes. I read recipes, but usually just let the colors and scents direct me as I try to create balance between elements and textures. Baking is the exception.

I am a Tart person, but there are 2 cakes that I do love to make. Pound Cake and Angel Food Cake. Both are perfectly delicious on their own, but can also stand under glazes, sauces, and frosting. 

Cake flour is not something I always have in the house, nor have I been able to find a reliable source for an organic cake flour, so I usually use King Arthurs organic all-purpose flour . The following Angel Food cake is a modified version of the Angel Food Cake recipe from the 13th Edition of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook . Years ago, my mother told me that you can substitute 1 c of Cake Flour with 1 c-2 tbls All-Purpose Flour, but that you must sift the AP Flour before adding to batter. I have used that formula for decades, and so far, it has always worked.

The eggs used in the cakes pictured came from Kreeky Tree Farm . You should visit their site and order some of their goodies!

Angel Food Cake

2 c Egg Whites

Dash Real Salt

1 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

1 tsp Almond Extract

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 1/4 c Blonde Sugar**

1 c minus 2 tbls (3.5 oz) All-Purpose Flour

Useful Items: Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer, Kitchen Scale, 10 in Tube Pan, Sifter or Fine Mesh Strainer

Oven at 325F

Beat Egg Whites until foamy. Add Salt and Cream of Tartar and beat until soft peaks form. 

Add the Almond and Vanilla Extracts. Gradually add Sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.

Sift the Flour over the Egg Whites and gently fold in.

Bake in an ungreased 10 inch Tube Pan for 50-60 minutes, until a chop stick comes out clean.

Invert pan and let cool for at least 1 hour, until completely cool, and then remove from pan.

**Note on Ingredients: I know Blonde Sugar as an evaporated cane sugar. It is a richer and more subtle sweetener than refined white sugar. The term often refers to a form of evaporated cane juice, but I have also seen it refer to palm sugar.

*I strongly recommend Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman if you are an untrained cook and want to level up. It changed the way I comprehend recipes and look at cooking.

Here are 2 of our favorite ways to dress an Angel Food Cake: Citrus Snow Cake and Wild Blueberry-Lemon Curd Angel Food Cake

Citrus Snow Cake

While cake is cooling, prepare a simple lemon glaze. Warm about 4 oz (1/2 c) of lemon, then gradually add the warm lemon juice to some confectioners sugar. I use just enough to thicken the juice so it will not drench the cake when poured on, but sit on top for a little. When cake is cool, brush or pour the glaze on the top. I brush it on with a pastry brush, making sure to put a little on the outside of the cake.

Frost with Orange Seven-Minute Frosting and sprinkle zest on top, for prettypretty. The Seven-Minute Frosting is directly from the 13th Edition of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook.

Orange Seven-Minute Frosting

1 1/2 c sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/8 tsp fine salt

2 egg whites

1/4 c orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

Combine sugar, cream of tartar, salt, egg whites, and lemon in bowl over a pot of simmering (not boiling) water. Using a hand mixer, beat steadily until the frosting stands in peaks, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat, continuing to beat until thick enough to spread. Fold in Zest before spreading on cake.

Wild Blueberry-Lemon Curd Angel Food Cake

Lemon curd should be prepared at least a day before filling the cake. If you do not already have a favorite recipe, you can find 3 different recipes for Lemon Curd on my site here .

While cake is cooling, make a simple Berry Compote. I used frozen Organic Wild Blueberries from Echo Hill . I use about 1/4 c (just under 2 oz) Blonde Sugar to each cup of frozen berries, about a teaspoon of lemon juice, and a little zest. You only need a cup and a half of berries to top the cake. 

To fill: Cut cake in half, so you have a top half and a bottom half. Run a very sharp knife about an inch in from edge of cake and about 1/4-inch deep. In between the 2 lines you just cut, use finger tips to gently pull up and pry out a thin layer of cake, creating a narrow channel within the center of the cake. Fill the channel, and spread filling along the top of the bottom half.

Place top half of cake back on, and spoon cooled Berry Compote on top of cake. I like to pour some juice along the outside edge, so that it drips down along the wall of the cake. I also spoon a little juice into the center, so that it pools out onto the plate as you cut slices.

I think this version is best if you let it sit overnight. The structure of the cake changes, and the flavors of the curd and the berries seep into the body of the cake. It is quite good.

Please let me know how everything turns out if you use one of my recipes!

Cheers.

There is something magical about fresh biscuits.

It starts with the process, the very beginning, when the fats start to mingle with the dry, and the milk binds everything together. The scent begins to develop, from the leavening agent and the liquid, and the butter as it breaks down. Your hands warm the dough, and you see the solids and the fats lace together and apart with the rolling of a wooden pin.

Chill and warmth, opening up little molecules of water and fat that surround dry ingredients, and then chemistry takes over. Into a hot oven, about 10 minutes in the scent develops and moves from hot box to kitchen, then makes it's way into the air we breathe, around corners, up stairs.

And then, the moment everyone has been waiting for, the first bite. With or without a piece of curled butter topped with a dollop of honey, or a thick slice of sharp cheese, the first bite closes eyes with the burst of flavor and a flood of memories. So many different points in time, yet each moment the same, the first bite of a fresh, hot biscuit.

There is something magical about fresh biscuits.

Here are two versions, the Basic Baking Powder, and the Buttermilk, and included Our Favorite variation of the Basic. I have lived my life with these biscuits, and raised my sons on them. I modified a basic recipe from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (after checking two different editions), which I think does not get enough recognition in the food world. So many people reference The Joy of Cooking, but I do not think there is a better First Cookbook than The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Even if they did eliminate Denver Chocolate Pudding.

Ingredient notes: I only buy and use Spectrum Organic Shortening. It is unsurpassed in texture and flavor. I also keep it in my fridge. I like my shortening very cold, unless it needs to be melted. Use a Dinner Fork to flake it out of the container for weighing. To cube Stick Butter: cut in half lengthwise. Give one quarter turn on side lengthwise, two cuts into thirds, then cut in tablespoon measures. This will give you 6 pieces per tablespoon. This is my preferred size for cubed butter. I also only use organic ingredients, and we have been living off raw milk for well over a decade. Sometimes the milk can have more or less fat, and the flour can require more or less liquid, for various reasons, so you may need to add more, or require a little less, depending on your milk and flour. There are a lot of variables to working with flour, so use your best judgement.

Equipment notes: Buy a kitchen scale and use it. It is a game changer.

Basic Baking Powder Biscuits

4 c (20 oz/560g) All-Purpose Flour*

1 tsp (.2oz/6g) Salt

8 tsp (1.2oz/32g) Baking Powder

2 tbl (1oz/27g) Sugar

½ c (4 oz) Shortening, Flaked

½ c (4 oz) Butter, Cubed

1 ½ c (12oz) Milk

Buttermilk Biscuits

20 oz/560 g All-Purpose Flour*

.2 oz/6 g Salt

.6 oz/16 g Baking Powder

.2 oz/6 g Baking Soda

1 oz/30g Sugar

4 oz Shortening, Flaked

4 oz Butter, Cubed

12 oz Buttermilk

Our Favorite Baking Powder Biscuits

*Use 16 oz All-Purpose Flour and 4 oz Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. All other ingredients are, and process is, the same as written for Basic and Buttermilk.  

Optional

Egg Wash

1 Egg

1 tsp water

or

2 tbls Clarified Butter

Coarse Salt or Raw Sugar to finish

Useful Items: Kitchen Scale, Pastry Blender, Pastry Fork, Plastic Wrap or Coated Butcher Paper, Parchment Paper

Oven at 425F

Combine Dry Ingredients, Flour, Salt, Baking Powder, and Sugar in large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. Add Shortening and Butter to dry ingredients. Cut in with two knives or pastry blender until the fats are chickpea size and well distributed. I keep my fats in larger pieces than most recipes call for. I like the larger pockets that the larger pieces create.

You can mix in a stand mixer, if you like. I have used my hands, a squiggly masher*, a pastry blender, and my Kitchenaid stand mixer to see what happens. My personal preference is my squiggly masher, or pastry blender. Use whichever method you prefer to mix, but you must follow the directions below for turns.

Add milk all at once and stir with Pastry Fork, or other large sturdy fork, just until the dough forms a ball around the fork. Turn dough out onto lightly floured board, bring together in a mound, then form into a rectangle. You are not going to knead the dough, because the rolling process replaces the kneading process. Wrap in plastic wrap or coated butcher paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes in the coolest part of your fridge.

Remove dough from fridge. Unwrap and roll dough out in a rectangle. Fold in thirds, give dough ¼ turn, roll out again. Fold in thirds again, press it down firmly, wrap in plastic wrap or coated butcher paper, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Repeat: roll, fold, roll, fold, wrap, refrigerate. This will be a total of 4 folds or turns. You can repeat this procedure one more time, if you like, for a total of 6 folds or turns.

Remove dough from fridge and roll out to ¾ inch thick. Many recipes state ½ inch, but I like mine a little higher.

Cut out biscuits with a very sharp knife for squares, or a ring cutter for rounds. I prefer squares, because there is less trim, and I prefer the square shape to the round. Cut the edges of the large rectangle of dough before cutting out individual biscuits. Roll trim into biscuits.** Place on parchment lined baking sheet and apply egg wash or clarified butter with pastry brush, then lightly sprinkle with coarse salt and/or raw sugar. I prefer the egg wash to the clarified butter. I much prefer the color and texture from the egg wash to that of butter, but this is a very personal preference. You may also omit the sprinkling of coarse salt and/or raw sugar, but give it a try. At least once.

Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes, until the scent has moved throughout your home, and the biscuits are a beautiful golden brown.

*Pretty certain it is a Potato Masher, but I like referring to it as the Squiggly Masher. Everyone immediately knows which one it is.

**Note on cutting out biscuits: Roll dough out into a rectangle about 14-inches long by 6.5-inches wide. You should have a thickness of ¾ inch with these dimensions. After trimming, you should have a clean rectangle 13.5-inches long by 6-inches wide. I have found this to be a good size to work with. For smaller biscuits, cut in (5) 2.75-inch increments lengthwise, and (3) 1.5-inch increments widthwise. This will produce 24 small biscuits. Roll trim up into little swirls, and you will get an additional 4-6 super cute biscuits. I like smaller portions of food, so I really like the smaller biscuits on the regular.The trim can be rolled into little rounds, and then baked as regular biscuits. These are pretty cute, too.

This Biscuit can be savory or sweet. Play around with salts and sugars to taste how the flavor changes. Add dried herbs and seasonings, or grated cheese. This is a very sturdy biscuit, open to almost any idea you can think of. You could even:

Fill one with Bittersweet Ganache and blanket it with a Strawberry-Tarragon Sauce. Mmmmmm. I think I finally figured out my 'Strawberry Shortcake' recipe. Bug approved.

Cheers.

A good curd can be spread on biscuits, or toasted apple bread, as a filling for tarts, as a swirl in ice cream, or as a layer in cakes. Combine it with whipped cream, and you have a lovely mousse. I am certain you will find many other applications for this beautiful sauce.

I am providing three variations on a basic lemon curd. The recipes can easily be halved, increased by 50%, or doubled because it is a basic ratio. Each produces a slightly different texture and flavor. I hope you find a favorite here.

Our Favorite Lemon Curd

This curd is tart and creamy. Combining the yolks and sugar and allowing to rest starts to melt the sugar before cooking. Whisking together the yolks and sugar until light and pale in color, and vigorously whisking in the butter will produce a very light, almost airy texture. 

1 c Blonde Sugar

8 Egg Yolks

1 c Lemon Juice

1 tsp Lemon Zest

Dash Salt

8 tbls  Butter, Cubed

Useful Items: 2qt. Saucepan, Whisk, Microplane, Juicer

Mise en place

Combine Sugar and Yolks in mixing bowl and whisk until pale yellow. Let rest for 5 minutes. Add Juice and Zest to Egg&Sugar mixture. Whisk together and pour into saucepan.

Over medium heat: Whisk continuously until thick, making sure you press the whisk into the corner of the pan, to fully incorporate all the sauce, and avoid clumps. You will be able to feel the mixture thickening as you are stirring it. You want the mixture to hold form when moving the whisk through the sauce, and stream off your whisk when you lift it. This can take anywhere between 12-18 minutes.

Do not be afraid to turn the heat down if it looks like it is getting to hot (too much steam coming off the sauce, you can feel a layer developing on the bottom of the pan), or slide your pan partially off the heat. Your biggest concern is overheating the eggs and scrambling them. My tendency is to remove sauces too early, because I actually tear up when they break. It gives me The Bad Feels. The curd will not set up as firmly if removed early, but the flavor will still be there.

After curd has thickened: Remove pan from heat. While whisking continually: Add dash of salt, and cubes of butter, fully incorporating bits of butter before adding new ones. I like to cube my butter into 6 per tablespoon: Cut in half lengthwise, Quarter turn, Cut in thirds lengthwise. This produces 6 cubes per tablespoon of stick butter. I use this for all sauces and baking. I like the size of the cubes for the way it incorporates in recipes. It seems that I generally toss in three small cubes, one after another, during this stage, until all is incorporated.

Pour finished curd mixture into container(s), and cover surface with wrap until chilled, then pop on container cover. Using the wrap until chilled eliminates evaporating moisture from collecting on the surface of the curd. You can also just leave the cover cracked to allow evaporation to occur. There will just be some condensation on the lid, and possibly a thin film on the curd, but this will not affect flavor, and if you skim off the surface, will not affect texture. It is best if you let it chill overnight, but your first batch probably won't last that long. If this is your first time making curd, it really is very exciting to taste the variances at different stages of the cooling process.

Variations: Substitute 2/3 c Orange Juice + 1/3 c Lemon Juice and mixture of Orange/Lemon Zest for a delicious Orange Curd. Mix any combination of citrus juices and zests together for 1 cup to create a Citrus Curd. This can be applied to the following recipes. 

Tart Lemon Curd

This curd is tarter than Our Favorite, and the texture is 'coarser', from the additional zest. The use of the whole egg, and combining all ingredients in saucepan produces a noticeably richer feeling curd than Our Favorite. This variation works well as a filling for sponge cakes and cupcakes, or anywhere you want a bold flavor curd.

1 c Sugar

6 Eggs

1 c Lemon Juice

Lemon Zest from all lemons juiced

Dash Salt

8 tbls Butter, Cubed

Useful Items: 2qt. Saucepan, Whisk, Microplane, Juicer

Mise en place

Combine Sugar, Eggs, Juice and Zest in saucepan.

Over medium heat, after mixture has fully warmed, while whisking continually: Add dash of salt, and cubes of butter, fully incorporating bits of butter before adding new ones. I like to cube my butter into 6 per tablespoon: Cut in half lengthwise, Quarter turn, Cut in thirds lengthwise. This produces 6 cubes per tablespoon of stick butter. I use this for all sauces and baking. I like the size of the cubes for the way it incorporates in recipes.

Make sure you press the whisk into the corner of the pan while cooking, to fully incorporate all the sauce and avoid clumps. You will be able to feel the mixture thickening as you are stirring it. You want the mixture to hold form when moving the whisk through the sauce, and stream off your whisk when you lift it. This can take anywhere between 12-20 minutes.

Do not be afraid to turn the heat down if it looks like it is getting to hot (too much steam coming off the sauce, you can feel a layer developing on the bottom of the pan), or slide your pan partially off the heat. Your biggest concern is overheating the eggs and scrambling them.

Pour finished curd mixture into container(s), and cover surface with wrap until chilled, then pop on container cover. Using the wrap until chilled eliminates evaporating moisture from collecting on the surface of the curd from the underside of the container lid. You can also just leave the cover cracked to allow evaporation to occur. There will just be some condensation on the lid, and possibly a thin film on the curd, but this will not affect flavor, and if you skim off the surface, will not affect texture. It is best if you let it chill overnight.

Silky Lemon Curd

This curd is very silky, and a little 'eggy', with a rich lemon taste. There is no zest added to this curd. This is very good as a sauce, as a custard with a little whipped cream, or as a swirl in an ice cream before setting to freeze.

1 c Blonde Sugar

8 Eggs

1 c Lemon Juice

8 tbls Butter, Cubed

Useful Items: 2qt. Saucepan, Whisk, Microplane, Juicer

Mise en place

Combine Sugar and Yolks in mixing bowl and whisk until pale yellow. Let rest for 5 minutes. Add Juice to Egg&Sugar mixture. Whisk together and pour into saucepan.

Over medium heat, after mixture has fully warmed, while whisking continually: Add cubes of butter, fully incorporating bits of butter before adding new ones. I like to cube my butter into 6 per tablespoon: Cut in half lengthwise, Quarter turn, Cut in thirds lengthwise. This produces 6 cubes per tablespoon of stick butter. I use this for all sauces and baking. I like the size of the cubes for the way it incorporates in recipes.

Make sure you press the whisk into the corner of the pan while cooking, to fully incorporate all the sauce and avoid clumps. You will be able to feel the mixture thickening as you are stirring it. You want the mixture to hold form when moving the whisk through the sauce, and stream off your whisk when you lift it. This can take anywhere between 12-20 minutes.

Do not be afraid to turn the heat down if it looks like it is getting to hot (too much steam coming off the sauce, you can feel a layer developing on the bottom of the pan), or slide your pan partially off the heat. Your biggest concern is overheating the eggs and scrambling them.

Pour finished curd mixture into container(s), and cover surface with wrap until chilled, then pop on container cover. Using the wrap until chilled eliminates evaporating moisture from collecting on the surface of the curd from the underside of the container lid. You can also just leave the cover cracked to allow evaporation to occur. There will just be some condensation on the lid, and possibly a thin film on the curd, but this will not affect flavor, and if you skim off the surface, will not affect texture. It is best if you let it chill overnight.

That's it! It is a simple little recipe that will absolutely bring you joy. I will soon be posting recipes for tarts and Angel Food Cake, which include lemon curd.

Cheers.

I hate waking up late. I never seem to catch up, even when it is just the first 30 minutes. Allan agreed to teach me how to milk, making it very clear that I needed to be on site and ready to go at 6:45am. The night before, I set my alarm clock. The morning of, I awake with a start. It seems just a little too bright out. I turn to my clock to see that it was well past time for me to still be in bed. Great. Late on the first day of a new assignment.

Milking at Kreeky Tree begins at 6:45am. The goats are milked twice a day on a 12 hour cycle. This is what is best for the goats. Millie is the first to go in. Next comes Maggie, and last is Pippa. They have a regular schedule, and they have a regular order. 

I race up to Kreeky Tree as the sky continues to lighten, half asleep and drinking my coffee as quickly as possible down winding roads in a stick shift. I find Allan already in the milking room, after he calls out my name. I was going to Target's barn. Not enough coffee. My brain is still trying to catch up to my body.

Dragonfly, The Billy Goat, is still at Kreeky Tree for breeding, and Allan shouts a warning to avoid contact. Dragonfly is quite fragrant, and his scent on me will affect not just the does, but the milk as well.

I successfully avoid the musky male, and make my way into the milking barn. It is a high wood shed just on the other side of the stalls, with a fenced off entrance area. Shelves on the left, food bins in the back left. A small platform the goats stand upon is on my right when I enter. A feed bucket is at the front end of the platform, on the other side of a brace to hold the girls in place. Millie is munching her breakfast, and Allan is almost finished milking. I walk past the milking stool and say 'Good morning' to Millie. She stops munching long enough to give me a look that asks, "Why are you here if you cannot be on time?" Allan was more forgiving. He only made fun of my travel mug.

Allan talks to me of hand milking as he finishes Millie. At the heart of it is the bond and relationship you develop with the goats. You learn their moods, you smell their health. I learn about adding kelp to their feed, and mint balm after milking. Allan tells me of Dan who milks 30 does twice a day. Dan who milks two goats at a time. My brain pictures a caped Dan in a mask at milking time. Where is my coffee?

Finished with her morning meal, Millie is let out to run in the yard. Dragonfly is after her before she makes it past the gate. She wants nothing to do with him. Allan shoos them away from the stalls, so Maggie can be brought in for her turn.

My presence is more distracting than the billy, and Maggie is reluctant to come into the milk barn. Allan reassures her, and she makes her way past me to climb up for breakfast. She will be my first trainer. Allan explains the process: Wash, Dip, Clean, Clear, Milk, Dip, Balm. Wash the udders and teats; Dip the teats in antiseptic; Clean the teats of excess antiseptic; Clear the teats for milking; Milk; Dip the teats in antiseptic; Mint balm for the udder. Ok. 

Allan talks to me of the process of milking, and of the does. He tells me of motion and movement of hand and palm and fingers for good milking, and of the differences in temperament, udders, teats. If the udders are not emptied, and the teats are not cleared, mastitis can develop. The girls will let you know when they are done, both eating and milking. Maggie eats a lot. Pippa is always distracted and takes forever to eat. You have to watch their feet, because they will change their stance. You want to have your arms placed in such a way that your forearm can catch their back leg before they knock over the milking pail. You use your thumb to catch the milk at the top of the teat, and use your palm and fingers to push it out. You need to gently message the udders to get them ready for milking. You need to talk to them. They will warm up to you. Don't worry.

I watch as Allan begin the process: Wash, Dip, Clean, Clear. I see the placement of his thumb and fingers, and watch as he clears the teats. My brain is still trying to catch up to my body as I sit down at the milking stool. The bucket in place, and then my first try.

Understanding and doing are two different things. Maggie was very patient with me, but my first attempt was not successful. Allan takes his place on the milking stool, and I watch Allan make it look simple. Eventually, I am able to express a little milk from Maggie, but I will starve and she will be ill if I can't figure out how to do this properly. Allan finishes milking, and Maggie finishes her breakfast. 

Pippa is banging around in her stall. I am making everyone late, and that is not okay with Pippa. Maggie is out, and Pippa is in. Again, reluctantly, due to my presence. The chickens run away from me. The does make me feel bad for interrupting their life. 

The process repeats, but this time I actually get some regular streams. It's a beginning. Allan finishes milking Pippa, and then we wait for her to finish eating. We waited for Millie and Maggie, too, but Pippa really takes her time.

There is that, on a farm. Waiting during the time between things. The waiting between things provides a time for conversation or reflection, a time to clean up from the thing just past, a time for preparation for the thing to follow. I have so many questions that I fill any time between with conversation.

Time on a farm is not set by humans. It is set by the animals and the crops and the weather. It is a decidedly different time than that of the human world. This difference in time and action makes a life different in kind. This difference in time is one to follow and plan according to the needs of that time, not necessarily according to human desire. The best plan is to align human desire to the pace within the frame of the natural time.

The time is dawn and dusk, the cycle of the seasons, the fertility and birthing schedules. The actions are caretaking and stewardship. There is purpose behind everything, and consequences are great. Large scale industrial farming ignores these realities, imposing human desire on the natural world. Small scale sustainable farming requires the human to work with the non-human in the natural world. You listen and learn, paying attention to the smallest details while planning months in advance for the repetitions of cycle that are to come. Success or failure depends on wether you are ready or not. The animals live in their own time, the crops grow and propagate, the weather comes in and out. The human follows. 

Animals and crops do not care what our deadlines are. They do not care about economic trends, or wether or not you personally believe in climate change, the negative effects of industrial farming, of fracking. Nurturing the soil to create an environment where life can thrive, nurturing non-human lives to sustain the human is within a time nature owns and creates, not one humans own or create. It feels good to be immersed in that other time. My head feels clear, and my body feels good at the end of each farm day. 

I was late my first and second day of milking. I realized the next week that I set my clock for PM, not AM. Luckily, my internal clock is somewhat reliable. When I had a desk job, I would set my bedside clock and my phone, across the room, to make sure that I awoke on time. That is just what I did my second week milking, and I made it on time.

I was relatively successful milking my second week. I did not get any dirty looks from the does, and other than the initial clearing with Maggie, I was able to get the milk moving with only minor cramping in my hands. Allan had to finish each, however. I am a long way from being a competent goat milker, but everyone has to start somewhere.

Allan transforms the milk from Millie, Maggie and Pippa into beautiful cheeses, and a truly luxurious dulce de leche.   

I turned to cooking as therapy after completing my MA in Literature. Determined to learn how to host a formal dinner, I read cookbooks from the 60's and 70's and researched my area for local farmers and producers. The research and the process restored my belief in formal education, and the positive impact education can have on a life. What I took away from my time studying literature can not be diminished by others, but I had to learn that.

I turned to farming as therapy after leaving jobs in the human world that broke my heart and shattered my optimism. Finding the slipstream that is the time outside of human desire through those whose lives are within that has healed my heart, and restored my optimism.

I asked Allan if he ever missed his former life. Without hesitation, he said, "No." 

I give much thanks to Allan and Chris for sharing their home and life with me each week, and for teaching me more than they realize. 

Until next time, Peace.

It is almost Thanksgiving, and the weather is such that I expect to see Ichabod Crane on his horse as I drive down the winding roads to Eckerton Hill. Cold, damp, grey 9am. Coffee in hand, I make my way up to the sounds I hear in the packing barn. Mervin and Kurt are discussing the layout of the tables and pallets for the crops that will be packed. There are tables for the produce from the fields, and tables for the produce that will be coming back from the markets. 

I watch and try not to get in the way. Taking cues as to what needs to be done, I help move tables, and sweep away chili dust as decisions are made. 

The greens need to be in front of the sink. They will be washed, spun, and packaged. There are chilis. There are tomatoes. There are squash. Every item has an area, and planning includes sequencing of actions, motions of the workers, space they require. With basic layout decided, attention turns to the perimeter. 

The cardboard flats need to be moved, because of the way the truck will come in from market at the end of day. Before they can be moved, the back wall where they should go needs to be organized and cleaned out. And so we begin. I kinda feel like I am inside Tertris, as I move back and forth between the two walls, stacking flats almost higher than I can reach. Two rows in the back lengthwise, two rows in front widthwise to ensure stability. They are grouped by size and containers. All just preparation for events later in the day.

While I was inside a bright, heated space, two crews made their way out to pull tomato stakes so cover crops can be planted. Tim rotates his crops annually, replenishing the soil with rye, vetch and clover. These crops fix nitrogen in the soil, help with erosion, and contribute organic mass with their decomposing matter. This is important. 

At the end of WWII, the US was the world leader in nitrogen production, with 10 large-scale nitrate factories, and no foreign competition. The development and introduction of a new hybrid strain of corn dependent upon high fertilizer application encouraged the shift from production of munitions to production of fertilizer. As of 2012, the US was importing over 50% of demanded nitrogen fertilizer. I was unable to find more recent statistics because the USDA ERS site, which used to house ALL THE RAW DATA does not have it available to the public anymore. With a last update of December 23, 2016, the message reads: "Updates to this data product are suspended." 

Excess nitrogen fertilizer ends up in our waterways and is responsible for massive algae blooms. It is the cause behind increased nitrous oxide emissions in our atmosphere. It destroys organic matter. The production of nitrogen fertilizer is closely tied to the fracking industry for energy, for its 'cheap, natural gas'. And it is all unnecessary. 

Crop rotation and cover crops grant a degree of sovereignty unknown to farmers made intentionally reliant upon seed and fertilizer from multinational corporations. Regenerative farming practices are not, nor have they ever been, impractical or unattainable as common farming practices. They are impossible to monopolize. 

Talk about the weather is not small talk with a farmer. Hail, heavy rains, drought, and sudden cold snaps are perennial concerns for people who work the land. With so much out of their control, it is easy to understand a willingness to believe a person who comes to them and says, "I have this seed that will guarantee you yield, and if you use it with this fertilizer, you just can't lose. Just two crops will guarantee an income, and, you help feed the world." Unfortunately, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Talk about soil is not small talk with a farmer. Everything that goes in gives and takes in unequal measure. Diversity and balance of crops, and clean water keep the soil healthy. This is not something that can be replicated with terminator seeds and strain specific fertilizer, and water contaminated by industrial waste.

Systems theory is a term to describe "the interdependence of relationships created in organization." I am a systems thinker, and recognize and understand interdependent structures of dynamic systems. My interests have always been synax and human structures. The brief time I have spent on two local farms has made me realize that farmers are the original systems thinkers. Their world is a lot bigger than just the man made one.

Monday at Eckerton Hill started in the packing barn and ended in the fields.

I am in the barn, listening as the plotting of space and planning of day is discussed. I learn a little bit more about the wood burner that Tim has to heat the farmhouse and packing barn. This thing is bananas. One high efficiency wood burner with heavily insulated underground pipes carries heat to the farmhouse and the packing barn blowers, with a plan to run water tubing through the soil of the longest greenhouse and heat the water running through it. I will learn more about it this Monday next.

I am with Anna's crew out in the field, collecting twine and pulling up stakes. A second crew can be seen on the other side of the farm, engaged in the same work. With first frost already here, it is a push to get the rows cleaned up and the rye planted. 

I again need to leave an hour early for Bug's lesson. There is a holiday concert coming up, and the kids are diligently working to bring it all together every Monday until showtime. I apologize to Eva for ditching early. She smiles, and says it is fine. I work too hard, anyway. I make the walk down from the fields and see Mervin operating a piece of small farm equipment. He is trying to find the electric lines before they start laying a drainage pipe. 

The farmers I know are all independent growers who take great pride in their self-reliance and creativity to produce healthy produce through sustainable practices. They may never be famous, and many people who live around them may not know their names, but they have a positive impact on their surrounding communities and the lives they nourish. They are one of the reasons I fell in love with this area in Pennsylvania.

My siblings are all musicians. To this day, I feel like I see them for who they really are when I get to see them play. I feel the same with my friends, the academics, artists, growers and makers. It is an honor to see people doing what they love, seeing them for who they are. I hope my writing does justice to the lives I see. Somedays it will be better than others, but it is always a great pleasure to bring them to you.

I have a person behind each animal I bring to our table who I can talk to about plans and preparations. We speak about particulars in cut and texture, and talk about when something special will be back in stock. Meat is seasonal. Fresh calves, lambs and sucklings are not all year round. They must be put up, cured, or frozen to be available out of season, just as vegetables and fruits are. Many people have either forgotten this, or never learned it.

Our culture of immediacy and entitlement has made everything available at all times, and at a terrible cost. Industrial farming and husbandry depletes resources, destroys environments, and diminishes life. Monoculture destroys habitats. Good soil requires the complexity of predators and prey, death and decay for growth of life. 

The ecosystem of a farm is a complex environment, and, like a person, it can be healthy or unwell. Kreeky Tree is a very healthy farm. Chris and Allan nurture and grow all elements with care to detail, and intention of act. 

I can write, with no hesitation, that the chicken you eat from Kreeky Tree will be one of the best you ever, or will ever have. Not just the stately Bresse, but any chicken from the farm. It is not just one thing that makes this true, but the complexity of life that starts in the egg and ends in the abattoir, all on the ground of Kreeky Tree Farm. 

Allan and Chris raise their birds in a cozy and warm room. Chris and Allan talk to them daily as they check their feed and monitor their growth. When they are at the proper stage of growth they are moved outside, into the Greater Chicken Lands. While the meat birds are separated from the layers and their roosters, they are sheltered in comfortable hoop coops that are moved throughout the area. As he enters their coops with feed and water, Allan speaks to the birds who cluck and coo back.

When they reach the proper size, it is time for the butchering.

My regular Tuesday post from Kreeky Tree was rain delayed last week, but it was a fortunate delay for me. When Allan asked if I would be available another day, I replied that Thursday would be good if he could use me. He told me that was the butcher day, and I almost jumped through my phone. I had been hoping I would have the opportunity to learn about this.

Knowing of a thing and seeing a thing are entirely different. Before Thursday last, I knew of ways a chicken could be butchered, the process of evisceration and final preparations before it went into a bag for purchase. I had never actually seen it done, however.

Allan gathered the hens from the back of the hoop coop, two at a time. He handed them to me one by one to place in the cage on the back of the runaround used to transport them over to the abattoir. With 15 in the cage, we were ready to motor over to the other side of the property. I turned around to give the girls a quick check, and there was one I swear knew what was coming. She was hunkered down and stared me square in the eyes. I turned back around as Allan got in the driver's seat.

The interior of the abattoir is bright and clean and shiny. White walls, pale blue trim, and stainless items around the edges. One window looks out to the mountain side, one looks out to the patio and the brick oven. There is one door to outside, and one door to the shop.

The kill stand is comprised of four cones in a pipe frame with catch containers below the cones. If you add .5c of vinegar to the catch container, you will be able to make blood pudding. Facing the stand, the scalding pot is to the immediate left, the EzPlucker to the left of that. The stainless table is opposite the kill stand, to the left of the EzPlucker, just above the floor drain. Allan has a rubber mat he places on the stone floor in front of the table the chickens will be cleaned out on. There are white lidded cans to hold water and ice, next to the incubator, against the wall opposite the kill stand.

I had no idea what to expect. I had little idea what would happen.

Allan brings the birds in, two by two, placing them head down in the cones. They immediately fall quiet. At the left end of the stand, there is a container with cold water in it that holds a newly sharpened knife.

Allan knells down in front of the first bird, and gently coaxes her head from inside the cone, hushing her nervous clucks until she calms down. He eases her head back, using the flat edge of the blade to show me where the jawline is. He quietly and evenly explains that you want to cut just below the jaw, on either side, the quills of the feathers are not as tough that high on the neck, you want to cut on either side to hit the jugular vein and the carotid artery, and then he makes the first cut.

A quiet descends as Allan knells and speaks evenly of the process that is very difficult to explain in words. My elbows on the stainless table, the fingers of my hands entwined, I lean forward and witness the draining of the blood as Allan holds the head back for the few moments it takes for the kicking to cease. It is a somber process, and although Allan contested the use of the word, there is a sacredness in the actions I witnessed, the actions Allan takes each butcher day.  

By the time he reaches the last in the stand, the first two are ready to be scalded and placed in the plucker. It takes less than a minute for the birds to be spun free of feathers in what still seems to be the weirdest cotton candy machine I have ever seen. The clean chickens are placed in the container of water and ice, to cool down before evisceration.

After the first group of four, I help bring the remaining chickens by twos, placing them gently in the cones. Allan repeats his motions for each of the chickens, and each feels as significant as the one before it. The repetition does not diminish the significance of the act.  

After the last kill, it is time to move on to the cleaning and parting out of the internal organs. The process has a different feel than what happens to get you here. It is clinical. The glands are cut away from just above the tail, and two small incisions are made by the legs with care not to cut too deeply. A sliced curve at bottom and top, and Allan begins to remove the interior organs. The heart remains up under the breast, with the rest coming out, hopefully, in one group. Fat, kidneys, liver and gizzard are cleaned and placed in containers. The fat can be rendered for confit, a method to be used for the gizzards. The kidneys can be pan seared or used for pâté, the gizzards can be fried. The blood can be composted, or used for pudding. The heads and feet can be used for stock. So much that is not considered as useful, but rather as waste. 

Allan spoke of the ways so many send out their birds for processing, and why it is so important for him to do this himself. He can see the health of the birds he has raised from egg and as chicks. Each moment of the process is done with respect to the animal, and respect for the process. This matters. When you buy a Kreeky Tree chicken, you buy it from where they lived under great care and attention to health and well-being, from the beginning of life to the end. 

I have long been fascinated with Utopia by Thomas More, 1516. It is a very particular class perspective on the best ways to organize a society. I had a bit of Utopia rolling around in my head since just after Allan told me that I would be able to be on the farm for the butcher day. In Book Two, More writes, "The slaughtering of livestock and cleaning of carcasses are done by slaves. They don't let ordinary people get used to cutting up animals, because they think it tends to destroy one's natural feelings of humanity." This is a most dangerous opinion, as dangerous as the persistent belief in the mind/body divide. It could not be any further from the reality of the process and actions I witnessed. It is much more true to state that the disconnect from the process of bringing food to the table will 'destroy one's natural feelings of humanity' because there is no connection to the people who grow your food and prepare it so you can bring it to the table. Allan refutes More's claim with his lived life.

More people need to know what it takes to bring food to our tables. Rather than destroying a feeling of humanity, it would increase it.

Go out and find your farmers. You will be a better person for it.

For Tim, this is a time of transition from open fields of tomatoes and chilis, greens and herbs to seedlings of hardy greens and beets that will grow throughout the winter months inside heated greenhouses.

Eckerton Hill Farm is located in an area of rolling hills and narrow valleys in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. Tim Stark is the force behind this 58 acre farm in the Oley Valley, and it all stated in the mid 1990's on a rooftop in Brooklyn. You can read his story, in his own words, in Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Farmer. Today, over 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables are grown annually. Tim's focus on plant diversity and optimization of the nutrient composition of the soil has created a model for sustainable agriculture on a large scale. 

I have known Tim for a few years, but have known of Eckerton Hill Farm longer. Tim does not just grow fruits and vegetables on his farm, he grows farmers and makers, several of whom are friends.

Last Monday I met with Tim to discuss my coming to work and learn on the farm, once a week during his winter garden season. I described my project and we spoke of my goals as he drove me around the property of his farm. Even though I knew he had a large farm, I had not before seen the rows of tomatoes, greens, herbs, chilis, and all the rows resting in rotation. It is remarkable.

Morning is grey, and everything is damp from the full day of rain we had yesterday. The rain finally stopped sometime last night. Today is my first Monday. The fields are soon going to be done, and the greenhouses will start up, but now is the inbetween.  

There is a skeleton crew on the farm. I counted 9 in total, 10 including myself. Today felt like a test day. I wondered if Tim was waiting to see if I would actually show up in the cold wet of 9am, and I know I was wondering if I would actually be able to do the work. I have a wild garden and some feral hens, but Eckerton Hill is serious business.

We started in the pack barn, filling clear boxes with nasturtium flowers and leaves. The brilliant yellows, golds, magentas and greens seemed to make the space a little warmer with memories of summer. The last box packed and closed with a snap, and just like that, it was fall again. Flats of quart baskets are loaded on to the back of a trailer, and it is time to go back out into the grey of the end of October. 

I went out in the field and helped pick clean the last of the remaining tomatoes with 5 of the crew. The sun had not yet come out, while the wind varied intensity and never seemed to stop. We walked up and down the rows pulling the last of summer off their vines. Green, orange, yellow, purple, some variegated, some with color rising from the bottom to reach the green and pale yellow around the stem, some with purple pooled by the stem and dripping down into the green on the bottom. My face brushed curling leaves and insanely optimistic flowers as I reached to grab those spied in between the supports, and I breath in the scent released. Sharp and sweet and earthy, and woman's laughter caught in the wind, and music from the small blue speaker on the one man's belt.

The tomatoes roll between my fingers as I look for blemishes and cracks that may have been on the other side of what I thought looked healthy before a drop into a wood basket, or on the ground if bad. When the baskets are full enough to be heavy for me to carry and pick, it is back to the trailer for sorting. The repetition of movement, the constant push of the wind, and the human sounds of voice and song made it difficult to keep track of time. 

I weeded an herb patch for the best part of the day. Chives, rosemary, and thyme eventually saw full light. While the weeds were not small, the ground was soft from yesterday's rain and I was able to wrest most of the roots out while leaving the herbs intact. I was struck by the quiet around me, knowing that is only because it is the end of the main growing season.

The last thing I do is help the farm manager, Mervin, and a crew man cap the end of a long hoop building with plastic to extend the regular season a few weeks past frost. It is 25 feet high. Yeah. Big. I almost got blown off my feet as I was holding the sheeting up as high as I could while the farm manager secured it to the frame with clips. It was pretty funny. I guiltily left them with the last two ends, and said goodbye until next week.

I had forgotten my lunch and my water bottle, so by 3pm I was getting a little uncertain of my actions, and Bug had a group lesson at 5, so I called it a day. I had wanted to push it to 4, but I really needed to get a shower before seeing other parents in an enclosed area, and I needed to eat.

There is always work to do on a farm. While most farms in our area are getting ready for a much needed rest, Eckerton Hill is simply changing gears. I'll make it to 4pm next week. 

15 months ago, I started this site. It is a mirror and a window for me. It lets me see myself and my obsessions in a new way. Last week, I accepted the road it reveals. I embraced the elements of the journey. 

That night, Jim and I sit in weathered wooden adirondacks on concrete porch, one remaining fall night warm enough to do so. He is backlit, and it is easy to say, "I feel like I have finally stopped fighting." Either from sheer frustration or exhaustion, not sure which, yet. Probably both. I decided: I am going all in with what I know best. Networking, Curating, Cooking, Writing. I am indulging my Fan Girl, learning all I can about the Interesting and Amazing, and then telling everyone and anyone all about it. I am moving out of an institution that has seen me through 2 marriages-2 children-2 businesses-3 degrees-2 jobs, and into a world of start-up, experimentation, and best laid plans. 

If you are unfamiliar with Snuzzles, you should change that. It is a unique restaurant. Family owned and run, it has been around for over 30 years, has never advertised and does not even have a sign. It is an unassuming wood building set back from the road on a hilltop in Mertztown. You open a heavy wooden door to terra cotta tiles under foot, thick oak panels on the walls, and grand stone fireplaces. Skylights and six foot windows fill the dining room with light. The bar has custom captain chairs that can make it very difficult to leave, especially if you have a seat in front of the fire in the winter. The kitchen is one of the cleanest, best laid out, and efficient you will ever come across. The beer is large, the prices fair, and the food comforting.

El taught The Girls that 'quality and consistency' are the basics, but that 'made with love' is the special. It is a lesson that I learned, and, It Is True. I have watched families grow, and see children now come in with their own children. People have watched me as I have grown in my adult life. We know each others stories, and ask about new chapters. All are welcome, and everyone is treated equally. It is a local institution.

El, Linda, Brandy, Shera and Holly have always left the door open for me to fly away, and kept it open for me to come back to shelter when I need it. They have helped me become me, and they have always accepted me as that. 

At months end I will be moving on to a local southern BBQ and craft beer joint on Main Street in Kutztown. The K'town Pub is genuine, and Jeromy, Zack and Jen manage to meet the needs of a clientele that runs from families to professionals to college students. All BBQ is smoked on site with local wood, and toppings & sides created from scratch in house. Jeromy and Zack decided the time was right to expand hours, opening for lunch service, and that is where I get to come in. I have been a fan of what they do from the very beginning. All I truly know of their future plans, is that they have 'Very Big Ideas.' That is my happy place. I am very excited to come in and help them build on all they have accomplished.

My new weekly 'Tuesday at Kreeky Tree' is the beginning of something I hope I am able to do with other local farmers and producers I admire. Spending a day in a space, helping with chores, and feeling the pace, the sounds, and the smell over a period of time will enable me to write from that place of 'what I know,' not just 'what I see.' From there, I can better introduce you to the remarkable and dedicated people whose passion we bring to our table, and whose commitment nourishes us. 

I am also moving into a venture with someone I trust completely. I think this one is really going to stick. I am at work on a 3 phase, 7 year business plan for a project that will let me fully engage all my obsessions. It combines food, music, and art with networking and cultural exchange. We are taking our first steps on a long road, but it is going to be an interesting journey.

All of this has happened in the last two weeks. My head is still swimming, but I think I have my feet under me. Readying for another leap.

O! Garan and I recorded 5 of my poems when he was here! I have 5 new audio files to play around with just in time for the cold weather. I very much look forward to the first night Jim and I can get out to The Cave and start messing around with guitar and multiple vocal tracks. You can hear two pieces that we did in the past, Click, and A Metaphor. Polyrythmia on Bandcamp. The others will go out through there as we finish them up. 

So, here I go! Officially starting a new book, not just a new chapter. I am planning a big Sunday Dinner while the family is all here, so Thursday recipes will start up again next week.

Passion and beauty. Commitment and bravery. Sometimes the thing you need is the thing that was always there. The thing that was always around you, waiting to be embraced.

Allons-y!

Gallery contains shots from the past two weeks. Books, Food, Spontaneous Late Night Mischief, Birthday, and Recording. Good stuff.

My family spans the globe, so it is always such a great amount of good feels when we can sit on a porch, listen to the life around us, and just be together. I have grown into a community that also provides those good feels, and believe me, that is no small feat for someone as guarded as me. One of my main hopes with this digital space is to introduce others to a few of the exceptional people who live in this area we all share as home. To expand the members of our community. To share experiences. I do this through a narrative of words and pictures. A narrative I control. For the most part. Sometimes, though, a story takes on a life of its own, and I just try to hang on.

Community is a most dangerous thing to an abuser. One of the first things an abusive partner does is restrict the abused partners access to friends, loved ones, and activities. The abusive partner isolates the abused, and maintains full control of the narrative of life around them. A quick Wiki search provides the following list of manipulative techniques abusers employ: Lying; Lying by omission; Denial; Rationalization; Minimization; Selective inattention or selective attention; Diversion; Evasion; Intimidation; Guilt trip; Shaming; Vilifying the abused; Playing the victim role; Playing the servant role; Seduction; Projecting the blame; Feigning innocence; Feigning confusion; Brandishing anger; Bandwagon effect. Any seem familiar? They should. These are techniques to control the individual. These are techniques to control the masses. The state and multi-nationals (those are still separate, right...?) can not terrorize everyone with physical violence and maintain a functioning empire. Neither can supervisors or administrators.

I always thought the scariest immediate effect of the election of George W. Bush was the squashing of positive public discourse, accomplished, in no small part, by the 24/7 vitriol of FOX "News." (I'll have to write more about that later. If you want homework, look up what happened to the investigative reporters on the FOX rBGH story, and into the history of FOX distribution in cable and satellite. Teaser: the reporters got fired, Ailes states that FOX is entertainment not news, FOX secured exclusivity rights to basic package tiers.) Without positive public discourse we can not maintain healthy community.

The people of this little blue ball are in a world of pain. That is not a metaphor. Despite that, today, people are changing the world for the better. Today, people are gaining control of narrative through wider and wider reaching waves. Thought is infectious. Belief is viral. Solidarity is a world changer. The digital age allows us to communicate at lighting speed, and brings the isolated into communities. I can't say this has all been positive, but it has not all been bad. 

Unions are a specific form of community. Some of the people that I admire most are members of the faculty union APSCUF in Pennsylvania. Some of the people that I admire most are currently fighting for the life of one of their most vulnerable. Long story short:

Two weeks into the Fall 2017 semester a temporary faculty member was told they needed an immediate life-saving procedure with a lengthy recovery. The faculty rallied around their most vulnerable member, and attempted to donate time to cover the obligations of the temporary faculty member. They sought a one time agreement with Administration to allow the time donations to save the life of another person, because, if terminated, the temporary faculty member would not just lose their job, but also their health care coverage.

The Kutztown University President, Kenneth Hawkinson, was directed by the state system, PASSHE, to terminate employment of the temporary faculty member. There was nothing he could do, he said. The cost was too great, he said. We can not set precedent with this case, he said. Raging Chicken Press has a great piece, Precarity or Solidarity: When lives are on the line, Which World Do You Want? if you would like to read more. You should.

The faculty members of APSCUF continue to support the terminated temporary faculty member. There is  a way to help financially , if you are able. This is the power of community: The story is shared. The vulnerable find care. Members stand in solidarity.

But, this is just one story. Crowdsourcing for medical bills is normal in America. Not everyone has the means to create a crowdsource campaign. They are our most vulnerable. We must act to ensure a single payer insurance system for everyone. Everyone in, No One left out. The only losers are the Insurance and Pharmaceutical Vampires. The only thing they lose is money, not their life.

Community is a most dangerous thing to an abuser. Solidarity is the most dangerous thing to an abuser. 

Soooooo, Back to my Baby Brother!

Tonight I have promised him a roast chicken that will make him taste chicken for the first time. It is a Kreeky Tree Farm chicken that I picked up from Allan on Saturday. I am going to cook with restraint this night, forgoing the dry vermouth and lemon. I want Garan to taste Chicken. My youngest son says the skin is 'Chicken Bacon' when I cook it this way.

Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots

(1) 4-5lb. Chicken

Coarse Salt & Cracked Pepper

4 medium potatoes

8-10 carrots

Olive Oil

Coarse Salt & Cracked Pepper

Useful Items: Cast Iron Skillet, Cooking twine, Baking sheets

Preheat oven to 475F

Place chicken in skillet. Liberally sprinkle inside of cavity. Truss up chicken. Coat chicken with coarse salt and cracked pepper.

Cook chicken at 475F for 15 minutes.

Thinly slice potatoes. Place in bowl and liberally coat with olive oil, coarse salt, and cracked pepper.

Slice carrots. Place in bowl and liberally coat with olive oil, coarse salt, and cracked pepper.

Reduce heat to 375F. Set timer for 15 minutes. Cook chicken for 15 minutes. 

Potatoes on one baking pan. Carrots on second baking pan.

When timer goes off, place potatoes on bottom rack, carrots on top rack next to chicken. Cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Remove potatoes and carrots and check internal temperature of chicken.

When done, let chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Enjoy!

It just sucks. I have this ever-present, under-lying feeling of disconnect. Like standing on the edge of the double jump ropes, trying to feel out the timing to jump in. I hated that feeling: a pit of acid in my stomach, every muscle in my body tense, hands balled into fists. Imagining the rope would decapitate me if I messed it up, or maybe praying it would. But, it was only ever three or four beats, and then a jump into a stream of rhythm. A jump into sing-song voices; the hypnotic crack of wound cotton on macadam; shouts-laughter-hard-soled-shoes-running across the lot, in the background.

My family moved frequently when I was growing up. I attended two different schools in first grade. I mark those past years with my siblings births, and tie events to the houses we lived in with the number of us alive at the time. I have memories from all the places: the feel of sunlight falling on my skin, the shadows from the sunlight on my toys, the sounds of traffic, the stream at the edge of the parking lot cutting along the apartment complex, the short cut, the stream under the fallen tree bridge. My memories do not have many people in them, though. I can feel being in places, and picture the spaces I breathed in. The world of artifacts is sensible and tangible. I cannot picture the adults, or feel the presence of other children I was not related to. The world of people is clouds and shadows.

Books, music, art. They were my traveling companions during the years I grew within my parents lives. People move in and out of life, but artifacts persist. People have become more solid as I have settled down, but I have yet to find stable ground.

I think that is why I have always been so fascinated by Community. I move within the infrastructure, the intricacies of social organization. A solid and tangible world. The inhabitants of the structure, however, frequently feel translucent, illusory. This despite the fact I know: inhabitants are creators of the infrastructure. I read their books. I see their art. I hear their music. I live within their walls.

The disconnect between human ideals and human reality astounds me. We walked on the moon. We are on Mars. Millions starve from famine. We use the term 'illegal aliens,' and ship people off to places where they fear for their lives. Places where they are killed. We wage war. We delineate have 'Haves' and 'Have Nots' through violence, and spin a narrative to justify the slaughter and inequity as morally proper, as only 'human nature.' We trace this narrative through documentation going back to a time when it had to be written on mud tablets, chiseled into stone. Across this blue globe, records from different 'civilizations' documenting and justifying violence and inequality, across thousands of years.

Yet, despite access to so much of the anthropocene documentation and the tools to decode it, as a species, we have been unable to stop this insensible history. Why? There is no good answer. Why did you allow the toddlers to burn down the village and salt the fields? There is no good answer. Why has violence and destruction been favored over beauty and cooperation? There is no good answer. 

We must come out of the cave before it becomes our tomb. The narrative must be dug out of fear, away from the justification of greed and avarice, out of the violence required to contain existence in restrictive privatization. The narrative must be rooted in an open place of joy, believed in, embodied, and repeated over and over again by more and more voices.

We have brought our habitat to the brink of unrecognizable change, and yet...And Yet: That Fact Is Still Being Denied. Warnings came out, in print, over a century ago. Insensible history. Narrative of violence. We must control the narrative.

Yep. This is what I think about while unemployed. Anyone have some job leads for a system thinker data geek who likes to throw epic parties? 

Anyhoo, let us return to essentials.

How about some whisky, or a nice mimosa?

Come now, time for apéro. O yeah, here we go:

Apéro

Ham, Turkey, 3 Salami, Provolone, Swiss, Parmasean, Prosciutto wrapped Cantalope & Honey Dew with Walnuts and Fresh Basil

Smoked Scottish Salmon, Cream Cheese w Capers, Red Onion, 2 Tomatoes, Cucumber, Pickles with Fresh Basil

Black Pepper Chips, Peppered Olive Oil and Dijon