The Things We Did Before Thanksgiving

Clara polished the silver. Bella picked up the forgotten groceries.

I made the cranberry sauce and cornbread for the dressing. 

We all cleaned the house.

This Year's Birthday Feast: Italian Farmhouse

Our annual feast to celebrate the Composer's father--this year it was all Italian farmhouse-style (inspired by a library book). 

Food centerpiece was a beef tenderloin roast. I patted it with chopped garlic and rosemary, laid on bay leaves, wrapped the whole thing in bacon, and (thanks to Daisy for the smart suggestion) pinned it all together with rosemary sticks.

Clara made an incredible arrangement of herbs for the center of the table.

Let's talk about this mad polenta. I used "Dixie Lily" cornmeal because the name is so charming. Made it up into mush, stirred in an unconscionable amount of butter in which I had sauteed garlic, then stirred in fontina cheese. After in cooled in a pan, we turned it out and Bella faithfully fried it up in some olive oil. I do not exaggerate when I say that Felix took a bite, then started crying.

Salad was farmer's market lettuce with tomato, hard-boiled egg, prosciutto, and Parmesan,

Here's the menu . . . 

And here's the family.

Good Work

We hosted a long-planned weekend that started Friday, and included an extended cast of young adult friends of the family. Some slept here, some at the Stone House, some at The Meadows with Molly and Felix. We ate together, prayed together, worshipped together, and worked together (painting, gardening, mulching, etc.) And talked together!

From Friday dinner to this morning's brunch, I calculated that I served 140 meals. Fortunately, this evening, when we were on our own, there were plenty of leftovers.

Sunday Dinner: Carnitas

Fed a crowd after church Sunday with:

Pork carnitas

Corn tortillas

Guacamole, cilantro, salsa, sour cream

Sliced peaches

Fried okra

Green salad

To prepare the carnitas before church, right after breakfast I diced a good-sized pork loin into stew-meat sized chunks. Put them in the pressure cooker in a single layer with plenty of salt, pepper, and cumin, and browned them. Added a little water and sealed it up. About ten minutes at 15 pounds, and they were deliciously tender, and still had their brown crust on them. These went into the fridge until after church, and were reheated at lunchtime.

The Cobbler of Deep Summer

Cobbler for our Sunday dinner crowd this week was peaches and blackberries. Biscuit topping was added moments after this photo was taken.

Always remember: heat your fruit on the stovetop (with a little sugar and a little flour) until it starts to release its juices and the juice starts to thicken. *Then* you can put it in the baking pan and put the biscuits on top, ready to go in the oven.

It's Hydrangeas and Hospitality

We are in between houseguests for a few days--I don't think I mentioned we just finished hosting a friend from Taiwan who stayed with us twenty years ago and was brave enough to come back :)

We had a great time showing her the ins and outs of our daily life--from organ practice to Sunday dinner to tattooing the rabbits' ears to picking blueberries.

Tonight we celebrated Felix's birthday, a joy. The Composer suggested gifts inspired by things Felix had borrowed recently, so he got a cat carrier and an ice chest. I guess he's a grown-up now.

Little Bit of Barn, Lots of People

Our barn-raising weekend started the night before with plenty of hot tea and love from Sister.

Then it was up early to build a barn for these Dutch rabbits! Jonathan is halfway through vet school but will never know enough about rabbits to satisfy Daisy . . . .

The guys broke ground behind the fig tree. 

Measure twice, strip the sod once.

Meanwhile, Jonathan and Arthur and Daisy dealt with a little backlog of manure in the barns. Goats and chickens needed some housecleaning.

Molly and Tia were assigned to the Universal Assistants crew. Apparently no one needed any help.

Until they did. Bella ran the kitchen. Girls, there's pimento cheese to make.

Emma ran back to the stone house for forgotten tools.

I have no idea what is happening here. 

It took almost all day to get the frame in, cement poured, and everything square. When they quit for dinner, the rafters were also in place. There was so much trigonometry going on in the yard.

By late afternoon some people needed a break . . .

  . . . and some had actually earned one :)

Sunday Dinner: Chicken Curry

Our Young Adult Lunch this week was for 17 people after church, and I fed them all chicken curry using this favorite recipe. I used one package of chicken breasts (about 5 large pieces), two bags of mirepoix mix, five zucchinis, a handful of asparagus from the garden,  two red bell peppers, and two heads of bok choy.

I also cooked up five cups of basmati rice (best to split a batch this large into two pots for better texture), cut up two canteloupes, and made a large green salad. Lime wedges, shredded coconut, and soy sauce on the table.

The curry and rice take less than an hour to prepare--done before church with the girls helping. The curry went in the crockpot to stay warm, and the rice stayed out on the stove in a heavy pot.

Doable. And one young lady looked up at me almost in tears during lunch and said she had been dreaming of chicken curry. It's almost finals week.

Clara's Sunday Tea for the Other Grad Assistants

 Coffee-Walnut Sponge Cake
Deviled Eggs
Cucumber Sandwiches
Scones with Crushed Raspberries and Thick Cream
Chocolate Macaroons
Decaff PG Tips Tea
Cream Earl Grey Tea

Easter 2017

"[While reading the Magician's book, Lucy] came to a spell 'for the refreshment of the spirit.' The pictures were fewer here but very beautiful. And what Lucy found herself reading was more like a story than a spell. . . When she had got to the third page and come to the end, she said, 'That is the loveliest story I've ever read or ever shall read in my whole life. Oh, I wish I could have gone on reading it for ten years. At least I'll read it over again.'

But here part of the magic of the Book came into play. You couldn't turn back. The right-hand pages, the ones ahead, could be turned; the left-hand pages could not . . . . and it was all fading away. 'How can I have forgotten? It was about a cup and a sword and a tree and a green hill, I know that much.'

'Shall I ever be able to read that story again; the one I couldn't remember? Will you tell it to me, Aslan? Oh do, do, do.'

'Indeed, yes, I will tell it to you for years and years. But now, come . . . .'"

C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Sunday Dinner: Pork Shoulder

We continue our Young Adult Dinners, which happen once a month after church (and more often, on a less-formal basis). Here's a recent favorite menu:

Slow-roasted pork shoulder

Baked sweet potatoes, whole or in pieces

Cole slaw

The pork shoulder is awesome--it feeds everyone for less than a dollar a piece, and it's effortless to make. Buy a nice big one, and put it in *the night before*. Believe me here. You want to put it in the oven fat side up, in a covered roasting pan, with plenty of salt and pepper, and a couple of cups of water. Turn your oven on as low as it will go--mine goes to 200. Cook it for 8-10 hours.

So I put mine in at bedtime, and in the morning I check on it. At this point it can be cooled to serve later, left at room temperature for a bit (not forever though--there's the whole food safety issue), or served immediately. It will be falling apart tender, and should be shredded with a fork and knife.

Sunday Table with Tulips and a Menu

For Sunday's lunch crowd I used a very large pan, and laid two whole chickens on a bed of vegetables--several pounds of chopped potatoes, and three leeks (white parts sliced thin). All of it drizzled with olive oil, salted and peppered. A celery stalk in the chicken, and the uncovered pan in the oven on 350 for three hours.

Also a side dish of green beans (from frozen, in the Crock-Pot), and a big batch of biscuits made before church, and a green salad.

Rara Avis

We seldom bake cakes around here anymore, but when we have a weekend houseful, we bake two.

Hospitality: Yes, You Should

Two years ago we instituted Young Adults Dinner once a month after church. On this day, any young adults we can find at church, and anyone the girls have invited from their networks of school friends, are encouraged to come for Sunday dinner.

I've really grown to love this time. I gave up on trying to present Interesting and Varied meals, and instead just go for really tasty, and plenty of food. Generally featuring chicken. But the best part, of course, is the young adults gathered around our table.

You know, you could do this too. Or you could do something really small. Just once. Or more. You could, and you should.

Christmas Eve Dinner

A small group this year as the boys are already in the Northeast preparing for Felix's wedding. We sat down with the grandparents for Christmas Eve dinner.

***

Tasting menu of assorted sausages

Mushrooms stuffed with crab and cream cheese

Smoked oysters on crackers

Grapefruit, avocado, and romaine salad

Cheese tortellini 

Dark roasted asparagus

Cheese log, grapes

Waldorf salad