in the kitchen

Today was a Big Day in the Kitchen.

Only by my standards, but still.

It started with a pot of farro, but since that is not a big deal (even by my standards) the day still seemed average. Farro doesn't even really count as cooking.

Then I realized that although the humidity was 98 percent during chores this morning, the temperature was only 86F, so, heck, almost cool! Maybe a good day to use the oven? It's been a while.

I pulled a couple of storebought pie shells out of the recently reactivated camouflage freezer (that's a story for another day) and set about preparing to bake.

Do you blind-bake pie crusts? And if so, do you have any idea why it is called that? Sort of an odd name. It's just poking a lot of holes in a raw pie crust then baking it for a short time to seal the inner surface of the crust a bit. The holes reduce the puffing up that can happen between the crust and the pie tin, and the sealing helps prevent a soggy crust later on.

I blind-baked both pie crusts, to make better use of the hot oven. One came out at 8 minutes, when it was just slightly lightly barely tinted brown - that's the quiche crust. The other stayed in for a few more minutes to really bake through. It may become a frozen dessert pie.

Not sure.
Never made one before.
Stay turned!

The quiche was my standard "recipe": toss in some of whatever is on hand. Today it was: 7 eggs, a big splash of cream from the top of a jug of raw milk, a couple of handfuls of chopped broccoli, a few spoonfuls of Rotel (canned chopped tomatoes and green chili peppers), and loads of shredded sharp cheddar.
Sound good?
Here's how it looked just out of the oven:

And unlike that rogue quiche of a few weeks ago, this one had more quiche-like topography:

(Oh look!  There's a big container of farro cooling in the background!  It did make it into a picture!)

And...

while the quiche was in the oven,

along came a crazy thought:

Wouldn't this be a fine time to try Tipper's cornbread recipe?

After all, the oven was already on, right?

So what's another 100 degrees?

The recipe was so very simple. Thank goodness. Because this was the third thing I cooked today (you'll notice I am now counting the farro). For me, that pushed this day right into a sort of Wild Cooking Marathon.

(I know. I'm not much of a cook. Fortunately, Piper does not care. Sometimes the goats seem to be muttering, though.)

Twenty minutes later:

I wish I had a better right-out-of-the-oven picture, but to be honest, I was in too much of a hurry to take a picture like this:

I meant to flip the cornbread out of the pan in one piece, but suddenly realized something: I don't own a plate as big as my skillet. No problem, though. Those first two wedges popped right out of the pan. With no trouble. At all.

This is not the first time I've tried to make cornbread, but it is without a doubt the first time I've made cornbread that tastes the way I think cornbread ought to taste.

And the texture!

I mean, do you see the size of that missing section? You would be amazed at the amount of butter that much properly-textured cornbread can hold on to!  My, my.

Thank you, Tipper, for sharing your recipe - and please thank The Deer Hunter for his more freewheeling method, too. Maybe next time!

There will certainly be a next time, and pretty soon, too.  Because this time, there won't be enough leftovers to try making cornbread salad!

~~~~~

quiche

Do you have a go-to dish?
One that you can throw together without even thinking?
One that can be varied using whatever you find in the fridge?

I sometimes have an abundance of eggs (thank you, hens!), so one of my favorite go-to dishes is quiche.

Never fails.

Never the same twice.

Never disappoints.


Erm....

?????

 Never say "never"?!!

~~~~~

HayMan and the Watchdog

HayMan came yesterday.  

It was the first time he has ever chosen not to attempt the plowed driveway, but to park at the first slope and carry three bales all the way up the driveway, past the house, into my barn.  

One bale per trip.  Back and forth.

Because Piper is such a phenomenal watchdog, she stood at the parlor window watching HayMan do this, and never uttered a peep.  My first indication that there was a human on the property was the loud knock on the back door which just about made me jump out of my skin.

Nice work, Piper.

"Sorry. Can't discuss this now. I am on Guard Duty."

If there had been a squirrel in sight during any of this?  

She would have barked the roof off.

~~~

For those who were interested in the structure of snow crystals the other day, here are some ice crystals on the edge of the goats' water bucket.

And for scale, here are my boots again.  The snow is packed down around the bucket, so you are seeing the cuffs of my Filson chaps.  

I love my Filsons, but this is the first time I have ever worn them "just" for snow.  They are wonderful for working in brush (especially thorny brush) but after my my first bootfuls of melting snow on Saturday, I retrieved the Filsons from their nail in the workshop and have been wearing them for chores, over my jeans and muck boots.

WHAT a difference.

I am intrepid.

I am invincible.

I am wearing dry jeans.

~~~
Because I think someone may ask, I bought my chaps and lots of my other fieldwork equipment years ago from an outfit called Forestry Suppliers.  These folks have always been a pleasure to do business with.  One of the most fun shopping experiences I've ever had was when I was replacing my snowshoes and had a lengthy phone conversation with two of the Forestry Supplier people regarding the angle of rise on the toes of two different snowshoe styles.  When I called them, I had not realized the company is located in Mississippi; a State which may be generally called "a snowshoe-free zone."  But those folks sure went out of their way to get an answer to my question!

My chaps (getting back to the subject) were made by an old US company, as was my orange timber-cruising vest.  In the interest of providing accurate information here, I just googled the company website.  Sadly, so very often, even products that have been made in the US for ages have been farmed out (usually to China) in the past 20 years or so.

I am SO glad I googled Filson!  Because, guess what:

Filson makes 276 products in the US.

Not everyone needs chaps (or a timber-cruising vest), but for those of us who appreciate well-made outdoor clothing, or even just rugged and practical gear (they have luggage! and laptop bags!) there are a lot of items on this website that may be welcome news indeed.  It is hard to find good, strong, functional stuff.  Stuff that looks like it will be working for as long as we will be working, and then perhaps be handed on to someone else who will be very pleased to have it.  I am not much of a shopper, but several Filson items made it to my wishlist today.

(I probably don't need to say this, but just in case: I have nothing to gain, personally, from recommending either Filson or Forestry Suppliers.  Neither company would know me if I walked through their door.  Well, there are a couple of employees from Mississippi who might remember me if I walked through their door and started talking about snowshoe toes, but that's about it.) 

~~~

And that's enough about snow for a while, isn't it?

Maybe it's time to make something nice to eat.  It's been soups and quiches lately...lovely comfort food that takes almost no effort and tastes like, well, comfort.

Here's hoping you have a lovely, comfort-filled day!

~~~

"Wait, did somebody say 'quiche'?  I'm pretty sure I  LOVE quiche."

~~~~~