Locavore logic

Eating locally can be a challenge and it can also be more expensive. It isn't for everyone, and it is important to me to respect other's circumstances and choices. But Dan and I are choosing to buy locally when we can, because we like our neighbors and I'd rather support them than some California mega-farm. (That said, however, I'm not giving up exotic spices, olive oil, or citrus fruit, etc.)

Kim at Yankee Food over in NH recently had a great post about eating locally. She really articulates many of my feelings about eating locally. What it all comes down to, however, is this: I'd rather give my food dollars to my neighbors, and in so doing, support them and their farms, and thus preserving the Maine I know and love.

Backyard gardeners rock

There was an interesting article in the NY Times today about the role of European backyard gardeners in protecting genetic diversity. Long live the backyard gardener! We're saving humanity from supermarket tomatoes, one garden at a time.

What was lost is now found: Double Chocolate Pound Cake

I was beginning to panic --my chocolate pound cake recipe had gone astray. It was based on one of my mother's recipes, but I'd made several changes to it, tweaking it here and there to better accommodate my taste and including new techniques I've learned along the way. It would take me many tries to recreate my changes, even if I could find the cake recipe again.

And then Holly called and said she'd found a pad of paper. She laughed, saying she knew it was mine because it contained many lists. She didn't realize the cake recipe was in the middle of the lists. I was so very glad to lay my hands on this recipe again!

Double Chocolate Pound Cake
1 ¾ c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 ½ sticks butter, divided
1 ¾ c light brown sugar
1 T vanilla
5 eggs
¾ c cocoa
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
¾ boiling water
1 c sour cream

Pre-heat oven to 350º F Grease bundt pan with a mix of 1 T each of melted butter and baking cocoa, blended into a paste. Heat ¾ c water to a boil. Add cocoa and stir together. Add ½ stick of butter and chocolate and stir until melted. Allow to cool slightly, then stir in sour cream. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour baking soda and salt. Beat 1 stick butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about four minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and chocolate mixture alternately. Bake until just pulling away from the pan, about 60 minutes.

This is a very adaptable cake. For Holly's wedding, I used organic dark chocolate with orange, added the zest of a large, organic orange, and made an orange sauce from the juice of the orange to use as a glaze. It was a terrific combination of chocolate and orange. I had hoped to make candied orange peel for a garnish, but ran out of time. This summer for Dan's and Michelle's silver birthday celebration, I flavored the cake with cherry liquer and made a cherry glaze for the top. I am so glad Holly found the recipe!

A tale of two turkeys

We had a marvelous visit to Dan's parent's in NY over the Thanksgiving holiday, with time to cook, to chat, for me to get a crochet refresher from Mom, and do a few chores for Mom and Dad, too.

We drove over on Tuesday, departing just as the snow started here in Maine -- fortunately just a dusting but enough to make me wish I'd purchased new windshield wipers before the trip. Traffic was not terrible, but busy enough on the Mass Pike to make me really glad we were driving over early.

Instead of driving west with a zillion other crazy Mass drivers, on Wednesday we did a few chores and in the afternoon, I made pie --pumpkin, pumpkin pecan, and apple. It went pretty quickly as I had made the dough ahead of time -- which also made the dough a little easier to work with, I think. Whatever the reason, these pies turned out pretty well, the bottom crust was crisp and they were beautifully flaky and tender.

We did have a pie tragedy. A piping hot pumpkin pie was knocked off the counter, did a mid-air flip and landed right-side up on the floor, but with much of the filling jolted out of the crust onto the floor. Fortunately, the pie plate did not break, but chaos ensued as we scurried to get the hot pie filling off the floor before the dog ate the filling, or the hot plate burned the linoleum. It was heartbreaking, (all those Henbogle eggs gone to waste!) but no one was hurt, we got to a sample the filling and crust without guilt, (see the before sampling photo, below left) and we have a new anecdote for the family stories archive. Perfect!

There was plenty of pumpkin puree left, and I had enough dough left for another crust, so I whipped together another pumpkin pie. I am just glad it wasn't the pumpkin pecan pie that crashed, as that would have been one sticky mess!

Making the pies the day ahead made cooking the actual dinner go pretty smoothly, even with the disadvantage of being in a different kitchen and using an unfamiliar smooth-top electric stove. It is crucial to plan backwards from the time dinner will be served, and make as much ahead as possible. I like roasted vegetables, so I usually try and make as much in the oven as possible, which also leaves the burners free for gravy and mashed potatoes, etc. Things were a bit tight in Mom's oven (note the oven rack mark across the turkey breast on the above photo), but I managed by cooking the squash ahead of time and reheating while the turkey rested. Of course, kitchen staff makes life easier, too.

Dan was a big help, doing dishes, washing the turkey and prepping the squash. He even julienned the carrots for me. I was trying to make life easy for Dan's mom, but needed her help with a few things, readying the potatoes and especially with finding the various dishes needed to cook everything.

I only swore twice, once when I turned off the wrong burner, causing the gravy to boil over, burning on the stove, and again during the emergency response that followed, when the roux for the gravy hit the floor, arghh. I'm getting better at producing these dinners, but by this point, with dinner mere moments away, I was on the edge.

Lucky for me, Dan's sister Jean was on hand to help out, she made a flour-water paste to thicken the gravy, and with that, dinner was served. Of course, this means that I was so wigged out I forgot to take the group photo I had planned, but we all enjoyed dinner and good company, and that is, after all, what it is all about.

Capping off the holiday was a flying visit to my friend Mrs. Holly to see her and get a taste of a second Thanksgiving feast. We had my favorite, little turkey sandwiches made on Holly's fabulous homemade dinner rolls. Holly is still enjoying her newlywed status, and we got to ooh and ah over photos and wedding gifts. The visit was far too short, but I hope we'll see her again soon for a visit here at Henbogle. Maybe for a solstice celebration? I can hope....

Turkey Time

In addition to getting all the fall chores done, we are getting ready for a visit to NY with Dan's family over Thanksgiving. It will be a real harvest meal, featuring our carrots, potatoes, pumpkins, herbs and some locally grown squash and onions from Carlson's Farm just across the river.

I'm going to be doing much of the cooking, and have been busily preparing here at home, making turkey stock and roasting pumpkins for the pies. I used two medium sized "Winter Luxury" pumpkins, (seeds from FEDCO) roasting them in a 425 degree oven until very tender. I'm curious about whether they live up to the catalog hype.

I'm planning on an apple pie, a pumpkin pie, and for Dan, a reprise of the Pumpkin Pecan Pie from last year. In addition to dessert, roast turkey, sausage apple stuffing, roasted squash, baked stuffed Brussells sprouts, and more. I'm looking forward to dinner already!

Hen Dome v.2

Whew, it has been busy here at Henbogle, and I've been a blog slacker. I need to get back in the groove of an almost daily post. I don't know where the time goes, but I sure don't feel like there's enough to go around.

This weekend was cold but clear after a particularly rainy week --perfect weather to try and finish up some outdoor chores and the pressing fall chores, like storm windows and preparing the hen dome for the winter.

The hen dome is basically our simple, portable hoop house set up in the chicken yard for the hens to use during the winter. It gives them a covered place to hang out that is free of snow and out of the rain. We set one up last year and it worked great until the big April snow storm
collapsed it and tore the plastic.

We made some modifications this year, making the sides more vertical and banking the sides with straw bales to (we hope) prevent the plastic from blowing out in the wind, and maybe even providing a little insulation for the chooks.

Naturally, we had a team of hengineers consulting on every aspect of construction.

Create a cookbook

I'm so excited I just have to write about this (and no, I'm not getting a kickback from the company). There's a new website, Tastebook,which provides a template for self-publishing a cookbook!

I long ago promised a friend a cookbook as a wedding gift, and did give her a crude pile of pages from the laser printer, but have yet to get the book formatted to go to Kinkos for printing.

Now, I don't have to. It is so easy to upload recipes, that I'm halfway finished (54 recipes) uploading all my recipes from my book. In addition to uploading your own, you can import favorites from Epicurious as well.

Finally, no more frantic shuffling through the clutter to find a recipe drafted on the back of an envelope. They will all be neatly bound in an organized manner. Now if I could just find the recipe for the chocolate pound cake....

More wedding photos

Gold lame socks for the bride -- to match the gold lame sneakers!


Sarah, Holly and Mom


Holly and Pop


Holly and I


Mom & Pop escort Holly

Congratulations Holly & Dave!

A lovely bride with Mom & Pop, Esther & Bill

A done deal!


Dancing with Pop


A little bridal exultation


Cutting the delicious chocolate orange wedding cake, (Dave's flavorite) made with love by me and the hens. I made sure to keep a chunk for freezing to share on their first anniversary.


There was a lot of hairspray involved in that hairdo.

The stage crew rejoices, our friends are wedded.

My best friend is getting hitched tomorrow!

Congratulations to Holly and Dave on their upcoming nuptials. They have been together many years and are finally going to celebrate their togetherness with family and friends.

I've known Holly since 1983, when we met in Professor Ronald Koperski's public speaking class at Bradley University. Until that moment, I had been questioning my sanity in departing Maine for Peoria, Illinois, but once I met Holly, I realized why fate had sent me to Bradley.

We've been through good times and better times together, and I'm looking forward to many more years of laughter.

Best wishes to both of my friends on this happy day.

A wee little egg

There's another hen in the coop! (I think it is Pippi but can't say for sure.)

Dan came home from work Friday and found this cute little egg, seen here next to an egg from Sophie and an egg from one of the experienced hens. This egg is much tinier than even Sophie's first egg, which was smaller than Hyacinth's first egg. I think now that Ayla is the only one who has yet to lay an egg, she's a late bloomer that one! Maybe she's waiting for a cute rooster name Jondalar....

The girls are getting along better these days. All 8 are roosting together, there seems to be less harassment from Iris and Hyacinth over treats, and the new girls are becoming more savvy. This morning from the breakfast window I saw a hawk after a delicious meal of tender free-range chicken. I ran out and startled the hawk, which at first settled on a nearby tree, then flew begrudgingly off as I approached. Six of the hens were hiding in the shrubbery, and Iris and Poppy were in the coop. They are learning how and where to hide. I'm glad I chased the hawk off, though, he can find some other food-source than my girls, and maybe he'll give up if he continues to be unsuccessful.

Not much other news here at Henbogle. It was a super busy week at work with a lecture by Madeleine Albright on Thursday, and another big panel discussion looming on Monday on a hot development topic here in Maine. I've also been getting ready for a trip to Massachusetts for my best friend Holly's wedding next Saturday. I am working on a longer post about the new garden bed and a review of the flower gardens, when I get to it.

No wonder they died young....

The home-preserved tally thus far:
* 16 pints of Dilly Beans, + ? lbs. processed wax & green beans in the freezer
* 28 quarts of grape juice
*13 1/2 pints grape jelly
* 5 pints pickled pepper rings
* 7 pints of roasted tomato sauce
*8 quarts of roasted tomato sauce

Frankly, I'm pooped. It's no wonder earlier generations of Americans died early. If they did not succumb from childbirth or improperly processed tomatoes, no doubt they died of exhaustion.

Still on my list: 2 batches of pepper jelly with my gorgeous lemon drop peppers. I have a sinking feeling I'll see that hope flash by given the speed of events these days. Over the weekend, I processed another 5 quarts of roasted tomato sauce. I roasted the tomatoes Friday evening, then refrigerated them until this morning, when Dan helped me run them through the tomato mill to remove seeds and skins, then put it on the stove to simmer for the day while we attended to other items on the list.
The above tally does not include the large tubs of potatoes, carrots, and (yikes!) a few more tomatoes in the barn, nor the remaining leeks in the garden.

I picked the last of the Swiss Chard early last week, after realizing the hens love Swiss Chard, and any left in the garden would be reprocessed into eggs. The few remaining heads of broccoli are already eggs, sigh. I need to remember that next year. Still, the girls are doing a wonderful job cleaning up the garden, and they are so happy while they do it, what a treat to watch them at work.


As the sauce gently bubbled away, we loaded the truck with the mildew-riddled squash and pumpkin vines, and trundled off to the town transfer/composting station. As we pulled in to the yard waste area, we gleefully spied a fresh load of pine needles --just the thing for mulching the blueberry hedge, which Dan had weeded last week. I hope the pine needles are less conducive to the insidious creeping Charlie, (aka ground ivy, gill-over-the-ground and one hundred other names), since it thrives in compost and doesn't blink at shredded bark mulch.

Once we dumped the squash plants, we loaded the truck up with armloads of gorgeous pine needles and headed home. Within a matter of minutes the blueberries were mulched for the winter. I hope that in addition to the preventing charlie encroachment, the pine needles will add to the acidity of the soil as they break down, making our blueberries happy and productive. I still need to add 2 plants to the row, I've got to remember to look up the variety I need. All told, it was a pleasant and productive day in the garden.

The glorious maple

It was a perfect fall day today, clear blue skies, a slight breeze, warm enough for shirtsleeves.



The unseasonably warm fall has delayed the peak of foliage season statewide, and in my opinion, mid-coast Maine peaked this weekend.









Our lovely maple is breathtaking, even though a gusty rainstorm Friday stripped lots of leaves.

Wild chickens

After crowing about our success in finally integrating the new chicks with the old, we have a few strange behaviors cropping up.

Roaming in the vegetable garden, the old hens have begun laying their eggs amidst the remaining plants, mostly herbs at this point since we had a killing frost on Tuesday night. Whichever new chick(s) is laying (2 eggs now) is using the nest boxes.

And to top off this weird behavior, now the old chickens have taken to sleeping in the rough in the vegetable garden. Last night three of them were in there, with Iris (Iris!) happily roosting with the new chicks.

How weird is that?!

Sunday's Harvest

As usual, I don't have time enough to accomplish all the things on my list, including a comprehensive post on the veggie garden. For now, here's what we harvested on Sunday:

Potatoes (Carola, Austrian Crescent, Rose Apple Finn, Red Norland), Carrots (Atomic Red, Mokum, and Rainbow Mix), some Beets, with more awaiting us (Detroit Dark Red and Burpee's Golden), Pole Beans for seed saving (Gold of Bacau and Michael's strain), and more Tomatoes for a final batch of sauce. I also cut large bunches of thyme, parsley, and catnip for drying. I have oregano and rosemary to cut and then once the ground is frozen, I'll heavily mulch the rosemary in hopes it will overwinter.

One of the Carola potatoes is the largest potato I've ever seen, it was huge, with many other 1-plus pound taters. We had some that night and they were yummy! The garden sink again proved its worth, providing a great spot to pre-wash all the taters and carrots.

Frost hardy plants still producing: Swiss Chard Bright Lights), Leeks (King Richard), and the aforementioned Beets.

With most everything harvested, we decided it was time to turn the chickens loose in the garden to help put it to bed. We were able to rig the gate into the chicken run in such a way that it could serve as the garden and chicken run gate and allow the hens free access to the garden.

The big girls were thrilled to get in, they made a beeline for the potato patch and went to town digging and worm hunting. In no time, they'll have done most of our weeding, cleaned up a lot of bugs, left some fertilizer, and scratched up the mulch, encouraging it to break down into the soil. They are like deluxe rototillers, but way better.

One of these eggs is not like the others...

It's smaller!

One of the new chicks laid an egg! Was it Dorothy, Pippi, Sophie, or Ayla? Based on her behavior of late, I think it was Sophie.

Over the past 2 weeks, we successfully integrated old and new chicks. We began by removing the fence that divided the chicken run in half. Iris and Hyacinth occasionally harassed the new chicks, but the little chicks had plenty of escape routes and spots to hide, so only a few squawks ensued.

At night the little chicks were secured in their baby pen. After two weeks of this, it was time to complete the integration process, so one night after dark, when all the chickens were sleepy and roosting, we removed the little chicks from their pen, and placed them in Henbogle coop. A few squawks were heard, but not many, and the next morning, there appeared to be little in the way of physical damage to the little chicks.

After 2 nights of the midnight transfers, we closed off the little coop, and at dusk, we went out to make sure they were in Henbogle Coop, and they were. The first few nights the little chicks huddled together in the nest boxes, but now seem to be making themselves comfortable on the roost. We managed the transition just in time, I'm sure more eggs will soon be following.

Our first Frost Advisory of the season

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
304 PM EDT TUE OCT 16 2007

...A FROSTY NIGHT IS ON TAP FOR SOUTHEAST NEW HAMPSHIRE AND
SOUTHERN MAINE...

.HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE REGION FROM QUEBEC WILL RESULT IN
CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS TONIGHT. THE COMBINATION WILL LEAD TO
THE DEVELOPMENT OF FROST OVER MUCH OF THE AREA LATE TONIGHT AND
EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING.

...FROST ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 8 AM EDT WEDNESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAY HAS ISSUED A FROST
ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 8 AM EDT WEDNESDAY.

LOWS IN THE LOWER TO MID 30S WILL RESULT IN AREAS OF FROST ACROSS
THE REGION LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING.

A FROST ADVISORY MEANS THAT FROST IS POSSIBLE. SENSITIVE OUTDOOR
PLANTS MAY BE KILLED IF LEFT UNCOVERED.

Garden porn

Check out the zinnias, still blooming like crazy!



We worked like dogs in the garden today, and I've got lots to write about, but I'm too pooped.
For now, I'll just share some home grown loving.


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Don't look if you're distressed by tubers!






A Red Norlands and a Rose Apple Finn potato. Apparently, inconsistent moisture causes knobbiness in potatoes. Whatever, we laughed and laughed and laughed.