Great idea – reusuable cloth Christmas gift bags
Here’s a fantastic idea and instructions to make cloth gift bags to wrap your Christmas gifts. I’ve already been thinking about making my own wrapping this year, and it’s helpful to have the instructions in this post.
I wish I could brew beer!
Urban Farm Online has an awesome tutorial on how to home brew beer in 10 steps. I absolutely love the idea of doing this myself. Maybe someday!
Happy Thanksgiving–We’re having homegrown turkey
As you know, Aaron and I raised two turkeys from chicks to adults. Last month, they were big enough, so Aaron slaughtered and processed them. We’re having them several ways: Aaron smoked the breasts of one turkey, and he ground the dark meat and mixed it with other ground meats to make sausage. The other turkey is still whole, and Aaron plans to fry it that way. We’re very excited! Here’s some photos to memorialize it.
Cool new store in our city
Join us for the Chicon Street Farm Tour!
Aaron and I are hosting a farm tour this Saturday, Nov. 5! Please join us. Click here to download a flyer with details.
Pumpkins are for more than Halloween
Photo by kconnors on MorgueFile
For the first time in my life, I bought a pumpkin to eat instead of to carve a Jack-O-Lantern. It was an interesting experience, because I didn’t even know how to break down the pumpkin to cook it for my recipe.
- Aaron and I decided we both wanted to make pumpkin soup, so I started out searching the Internet for a good recipe. I found a simple recipe on FoodNetwork.com courtesy FamilyFun Magazine (PDF).
- Next, I cut off the top of the pumpkin and scooped out the innards, a familiar process. I saved the seeds for roasting, and then I cut the pumpkin into four equal sections.
- I roasted it at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
- I let the pumpkin cool off, and then I peeled off the skin so I was left with all the flesh, which I chopped into equal pieces. At this point, I was surprised the color was yellowish instead of deep orange. It’s weird that canned pumpkin from the store is orange–Is that food dye?
- After that, I used a hand-immersion blender to puree the pumpkin, and I followed the rest of the recipe as written.
One regular-sized pumpkin made an enormous amount of soup, and it’s delicious. I definitely recommend eating pumpkins instead of just carving them up and putting a candle in them.
Anxiety about harvest time
Turkey chick
Sometime this week, Aaron will probably harvest our two turkeys. I hesitated to get turkeys because I was worried about killing time. Now it’s almost here, and I’m feeling uncomfortable. Processing turkeys is a multi-step process that includes bleeding them out, plucking their feathers, and removing their innards. As you can see from the video below, it’s pretty terrible. I hate the idea of the waste being around my home. I’ve decided not to be present when it’s time. Also, I look at the turkeys we’ve raised since the beginning of summer, and it just seems weird that I’ll be eating them for Thanksgiving. I know they’ll be delicious, but still.
Chicken industry in Texas
This article by Reporting Texas details the growth of the chicken industry in Texas, and the pitfalls and consequences of the industry.
Texas has opened its arms to Big Chicken, and Big Chicken has been good to Texas. In 2009, the industry contributed $2.1 billion to the state economy and had created 7,700 direct and indirect jobs, according to Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Program. The state is home to three of the four largest growers in the United States: Pilgrim’s Pride, Tyson and Sanderson Farms. While the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association lists Texas as the sixth-most productive state, slaughtering 684 million chickens in 2010, the United States is second to none.
…
The communities that seem to owe so much to chickens are also divided by their presence. It has driven once-friendly neighbors to silence and brought an influx of out-of-county (and country) entrepreneurs. Growers live behind guarded gates. Many have unlisted phone numbers. While some families opened their doors for this story, many more hung up the phone, asked to be left alone or suggested that journalists had no place looking into the poultry industry.
How do you feel about all this landing on your dinner plate?
Thought for today
“Happiness lies first of all in health.” — George William Curtis
Photo by Sean Venn on Flickr
Soapmaking tutorial
I’m thinking about making my own bar soap for my house and to give to people as gifts. Today I researched YouTube to figure out how hard it would be to make soap. Here’s a comprehensive tutorial I found.
Next Page »