News from the Homestead

I haven't sent an update to my Kickstarter followers in awhile.  As I interact in the community, surfing, going to events, it's amazing how often people ask me how things are going with the beehives or with the chickens.  It's like another unexpected effect, the parade of families or folks walking dogs who make it part of their journey to give the chickens a visit.  I see children talking to the chickens every day!  So to my community of readers on the internet...whomever you may be...here's the update.

Topbar Hive inspection with friends from the Bee Society

The bees have proven to be a complicated and slow endeavor with much wonder and exploration but very little honey.  You can catch up on my bee chronicles by reading this post and this post and this post and this post and this post.  Where we stand today is total loss of Hive #1.  It has been dismantled and awaits a new colony next Spring.  Hive #2, the topbar hive, is thriving.  The bees have built out several new frames of comb and the Queen is busy laying eggs.  There doesn't seem to be a lot of honey, so I haven't harvested any comb and have basically left this hive untouched.  My plan is to give these bees this first season to establish themselves and then next year I'll probably be able to harvest honey twice, once early in the season and a second time towards the end of the season.  There is a little bit of a mothy, sticky insect laying eggs with little white worm larvae.  I am encountering them in the spaces between the wooden bars, the area where the bees fill in with propolis.  I seem to split the little larvae's bodies open when I use my hive tool to pry the bars apart.  But it is so far only a minor infestation and I have left the bees to deal with the problem themselves.  This weekend I will be getting some much needed training.  A topbar hive specialist, Les Crowder is coming to San Diego to offer a two day workshop for members of the San Diego Bee Society.  So I will spend the weekend immersed in all things bee and I will have a lot more to say about my own hive next week after an inspection with all my new bee knowledge.

The chickens are doing great.  With the weather getting colder and the days shorter two ladies have stopped laying eggs, but two are laying daily.  My babies have grown up so much.  They are almost 5 months old and so far it looks like they will both be keepers, I think they are both hens and not roosters.

Here's my Yellow Baby

And here's my Grey Baby

Eating fresh grass makes for deep yellow yolks rich in beta carotene.

Goldie is joining in the Fall Spirit with some pumpkin scraps.

A proud mom with her best egg layer, Goldie!

Pumpkin Pie

It's been about two months now since we joined a friends CSA program for his small farm.  It has been really opening up my creativity in the kitchen, challenging to cook with ingredients I might not normally pick out.  The last two weeks I have been delivered butternut squash, and last week I got a sugar pumpkin.  When I was a kid my mom would bake butternut squash and eat it out of the shell with some butter.  I hated the vegetable and she wouldn't force it upon me and just split the lovely gourd with my father.  I have tried baking them, as my mother would do, but they always seem to turn out a bit hard and dry and cooking them seems to take forever.  So when searching on the internet for recipes on making pumpkin pie from scratch and not from canned pumpkin pie filling, I stumbled upon this informative Pumpkin Pie Recipe that explained several different ways to cook pumpkin, one of which was steaming.  So I thought I'd give that technique a try.  I also read on that website that most canned pumpkin products are made of butternut squash and not pumpkin, so I went ahead and cooked one of each and decided to use a combination of the two.  

The first step to prepare my pumpkin and butternut squash was to slice them open with a serrated knife and scrape out the seeds and stringing fascia that coats the meat of the vegetable.  I separated that pulpy goop from the seeds and fed it to my happy chickens and soaked the seeds in some water to further rinse them.  Later I rinsed those seeds off, salted them and roasted them for about 10 minutes at 350.  I sliced the squash and pumpkin up into smaller chunks and steamed each separately for thirty minutes.  I was really happy with how they turned out, moist, well cooked, and not taking too much time!

My jungle fowl, Penny, snacking on some pumpkin scraps.

Butternut Squash cleaned and cut up and into the steamer for 30 minutes.

When finished cooking I allowed the squash to cool and then I removed the skin.  Next I mashed up the flesh with a heavy duty whisk.  You could use a hand mixer or blender instead.  I could see why butternut squash is used in canned pie filling instead of actual pumpkin.  It created a much smoother pulp with a more vibrant orange color.

Removing the skin from the pumpkin, let it cool first!

Mashing up the pumpkin with a heavy duty whisk.

Left: Butternut Squash, Right: Pumpkin

Once I finished my two squash pulps I got started on my pie crusts.  Pie crusts are made of pastry dough with is a rich but simple combination of mainly flour and butter.  Here is a recipe for Pastry Dough from Martha Stewart that I consulted.  I start by dicing up butter into little pieces and then place that chopped butter into the freezer for a few minutes to make it firm.  I used about:

1 2/3 stick of butter

2 cups flour, I sifted my flour for smooth consistency

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of sugar

Once the butter is firm begin to work the pieces through the flour mixture, flattening and crumbling the butter and flour together.  You are looking for a bread crumb consistency.  Once you reach that add in 3-5 tablespoons of cold water, working the dough with your hands until a smooth even texture is reached but don't over mix.  Separate the dough in two pieces, form into round disks and wrap in saran wrap.  Let rest for thirty minutes.  If you won't use it all you can refrigerate and use in the next week or freeze and use in the next few months.  Just defrost or remove from the fridge and allow some time to soften before working the dough.  From this batch of dough I made four pies, two open topped pumpkin pies and two covered chicken pies.  

Once the pie crusts are ready, it's time to mix the filling I made a variation on the recipe listed at the top of this post.  I whisked together:

2 cup pumpkin pulp
1 cup butternut squash pulp
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 eggs
12 ounces whipped coconut milk

And then I poured it into my pie crusts.  I made two small pies.  I baked them for 15 minutes at 400 and 30 minutes at 325.  We ate the pie with vanilla ice cream.  Delicious!  I made the two pies I second time the next week (because my farmer kept delivering pumpkins!).  I skipped mashing the pumpkin up into a pulp and instead I just placed the skinned pumpkin chunks in the blender with all of the other ingredients for the filling and gave it a whirl!  So easy!

Here's the roasted pumpkin seeds, I snacked on them as I finished the pie.

Showing off a pretty braid for a wedding...

Here's the technique for this lovely up-do.  I parted my hair in two and did two french braids with each section all the way down to the tips of my hair, binding the ends with little plastic rubber bands I buy at the horse tackle shop!  Then I tied the two long ends of my braids in a big knot (you need long hair to make this happen).  There was still a lot of braid left after I tied the knot and I continued the momentum of the braids, tucking the hair into a figure eight.  Then I secured all over with bobby pins and secured a big rhinestone brooch that my sister gave me years ago.  Hopefully the braid will be a blessing on the newlyweds, infinite love, infinite blessings. 

Vanilla Extract

Here's how it looked after only a few minutes.

Everything you need: vanilla bean, alcohol, & jar.

Some simple to do.  All you need is some vodka and some vanilla beans.  You can ouse other forms of alcohol, but vodka will give you a very clear flavor.  My mind is beginning to jump to the other flavor possibilities and I am imagining a tequila based flavoring extract I might be making later in the day!  Anyway, for this vanilla extract the quality and flavor of your vanilla beans is the key ingredient.  I use a whole vanilla bean, organically grown in India.  It has a glossy fresh look and when I slice them open the seeds form a dense moist paste inside.  I used ten vanilla beans, sliced open, and 16 ounces of vodka.  I let it sit for a week and then pulled the beans out.

Chocolate bars

Success on the first try, Raw Cacao Truffles!

In my year of DIY, of eliminating that which I purchase prepared and replace it with that which I can make for myself from scratch, I have tackled bread, pasta, nut and grain milks, sauerkraut, Kombucha, raising chickens, tending honeybees, goat cheese, veggie gardening, whew!  It's nice to reflect, gives me a feeling of accomplishment!  As I look into my pantry and refrigerator, I seek out more opportunities by simplifying by increasing my repertoire of skills.  My husband loves chocolate, especially dark chocolate.  I'll buy three packs of chocolate bars every time I shop at Trader Joes to satisfy him, and he'll always let me know when the supply has run out.  Looking on the Internet it seems that true chocolate is a complex matter involving some equipment I do not possess.  But my taking my search a little deeper I began to find some recipes that would fit my kitchen.  What I ended up making was more of a raw cacao truffle than a true dark chocolate bar.  Here's the recipe I used homemade-chocolate.

1/4 cup sugar
1 cup cacao powder or nibs
1/8 cup coconut oil
1/8 cup cacao butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of Himalayan salt
Pinch if cinnamon

I have a small coffee grinder I use for espresso.  I gave it a good cleaning and then ground up the sugar for 15 seconds or so to a fine powder.  Then I added some of the cacao and blended it up some more.  That's all the capacity of my grinder so I dumped that powder out and ground up the rest of the cacao.  Next I added the salt and cinnamon.

Next, in a double boiler, which means a small pot floating in a larger pot of water over low heat, the cacao and sugar is slowly melted, stirring occasionally.  After a few minutes, add the oil and cacao butter and continue to stir until smooth and melted.  Next add the vanilla.  My chocolate got a little lumpy when I added the vanilla so I added another teaspoon of coconut oil and that helped smooth it out again.

Now pour this chocolate into a mold.  I have silicone molds I use for soap making, but you could just line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and make a big sheet.  I set the chocolate in the fridge and after maybe 45 minutes it had solidified and I popped the chocolates out.  It looked like it would melt if I left it out, so I stored them in the fridge.  They are really yummy, but a little grainy.  I would spend a little more time in the coffee grinder next time.  It would be yummy to experiment with coconut, rose petals, lavender, orange peel...stay tuned!

Just made these for the second time and had a lot of success using honey instead of sugar.  It made the consistency of the chocolates smoother and creamier here's my recipe for the honey chocolates.

Honey Pollen Chocolates with Blueberries

1/4 cup honey

3/4 cup cacao

1/4 cup mixture of coconut oil and cacao butter

pinch of himalayan salt

1 teaspoon bee pollen

1 tablespoon dried blueberries

I followed the same directions as above but I sprinkled the molds with the pollen and dried blueberries and poured the melted chocolate on top.

Sunflower Seed Truffles

Searching for new recipes on pinterest I discovered a food blog that promotes other food blogs and discovered this great recipe for a peanut butter cookie.  It was a flourless recipe, but the batter was so dense, it didn't make sense to me, so I added some flour.  I also thought it looked sweet enough and skipped the rolling in sugar and spices.  I used sunflower seed butter, which has been our home's substitute for peamut butter for years now.  they sell ot at trader joes, and its delicious!  They turned out so dense and delicious I decided they deserved the beautiful distinction of truffle instead of cookie.

1 cup Sunflower Seed butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup flour
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Mix it all up, roll into balls and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

Advice for Raising your Energy!

So here's my advice on transitioning from low-energy to high-energy. I think what you eat is more important than what you do, so although you asked me about activity, I'm starting my advice with food.

1. Keep a food journal for at least two weeks. Write down every single thing that you consume all day long, try not to leave anything out. When we can be honest with ourselves about what we are actually eating, we can begin to make positive changes. Once you've kept your food journal for awhile, you can start to look it over and notice where your patterns or weaknesses are and make positive plans to help prevent your mistakes.

2. Begin with one meal at a time and try to make improvements on the quality of your nutrition. Breakfast is a great place to start. If you can get that one meal right, you can set a positive tone for the rest of your day. I recommend fresh fruit smoothies, vegetable juice, home made oatmeal (not the instant kind), an egg with a side of steamed spinach, brown rice and some salad.

3. Begin with one weakness at a time and try to make some improvements. Don't over do it, or your body will revolt. Maybe you drink soda, start but cutting your portion sizes in half. Maybe your portion sizes at meals are too big, try using a smaller plate. Do you eat junk food with your kids, maybe you can have more healthy snacks readily available like chopped veggies. It will take awhile for your taste buds to get used to different flavors, so give yourself time.

4. Try to eliminate packaged food and fast food. Avoid diet foods and fat free foods and try to eat natural whole foods instead. Diet soda is not better than real soda, its worse! All this stuff is full of salt, chemicals and not a lot of nutrition. They make your body swell up, clinging to every calorie in the hopes of finding some nutrition.

5. Drink lots of water! First thing in the morning have a big glass of warm water with half a lemon squeezed in it. Before each meal drink a glass of water, this will help you eat less.

As for activity, I recommend walking. Walk anywhere you can. Is it possible to walk your kids to school? Can you walk to the store and carry your groceries home? Start with small amounts and increase your time as you feel up to it. Try to be active in different ways throughout the day. Wash your car, pick some weeds, make some bread from scratch. As far as stretching and getting limber, just do it! Put some music on, roll around on the floor and just put your body in different shapes. If you need inspiration of course there is tons of stuff on the internet and probably some free classes in your community you can find, but I don't have any specific recommendations on this.

You can read this post I wrote on yoga for some ideas. And you can read this post for lots of healthy food ideas from a 30 day cleanse I did last fall. And read this post to learn about an educational movie that will get you motivated to eat healthy.

Good luck, and let me know how you-re doing!