Keeping Warm

ETA link to cookbook.

Frieda, Frieda, how do I love thee...



Let me count the ways...

Is it for your polka-dots?



The way you take your medicine so well?



Is it because you look like George Washington...



and Worf?



No... I love you best for the .6 ounces of cashmere I combed off of you this week!



Yee-ha! I'm spinning it on my Tabachek Tibetan spindle and it's gorgeous. Good girl!

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Jeff made up a fantastic recipe and I had to share it with you.



Chef Jeff's Cinnamon Shrimp

1 Tbs ghee
1 tsp black mustard seeds
½ of a 3” stick cinnamon (simply split lengthwise)
7 cloves
5 green cardamom pods (crack pod shells gently, but keep intact, for flavor)
3 cloves garlic sliced
1 Tbs ginger chopped
½ tsp turmeric
1 bunch scallions cut into 1” pieces
1-2 serrano peppers sliced (we prefer 2 – use 1 if afraid of heat)
salt to taste
¾ lb medium shrimp
¼ cup cilantro, chopped

Heat the ghee over medium high heat. Add the mustard seeds, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom pods to the ghee until the mustard seeds turn gray and begin to “pop.” Add the ginger and garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes until the garlic barely begins to brown. Add the peppers, scallions, turmeric and salt and stir for about 15 seconds. Immediately add the shrimp and sauté until just cooked through. Serve over fragrant rice (recipe below) and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Fragrant Rice

1 c basmati rice
1½ c water
5 green cardamom pods
1 3” stick cinnamon (or use the other half of the split stick from above)
5 cloves
1 Indian bay leaf

Rinse the rice well, add water and soak for 20 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, turn down to very low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit for 20 minutes covered. Fluff with a fork and serve.

The above recipes go very well with Bean Poriyal (excellent recipe in Dakshin Vegetarian Cuisine from South India – Chandra Padmanabhan – Periplus, 1992).

Chef Jeff recommends a King Estate 2006 Pinot Gris (Oregon) with this dish.

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In fiberarts... I've been on hold with Jeff's sweater. (Argh! No more non-seamless items!!! No more man sweaters!) I had to do a test swatch for my steek because I wanted to see if I could crochet it, rather than machine-sew it.







Nope. Stinky steek. In doing further research, it seems you can only crochet steeks in very sticky, very fine, Fair Isle-patterned garments. Poo.

So I got out my machine, sewed the steeks, promptly had a renewed urge to quilt, and avoided any additional progress on the sweater by shopping for fabric online and perusing blogs of talented quilters. Sigh.

I really must get past this project and on to some fun (read: colorful) knitting. However, I have developed a sad condition known as "trigger finger" whereby the ring finger of my left hand gets stuck in a bent position hundreds of times a day. I have to wear a metal brace on it at night to keep it from getting stuck while I sleep. Very inconvenient for crafting, not to mention blogging. :(

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At the farm... we have had a bit of snow:



One day we found that we were missing some sheep. They were in the road. Jeff called them back in to the paddock and dug a trench to prevent any further escapes (they just stepped over the wire!) Hobby farm mistake number 732: calculate snow and/or bedding build-up in your fence plans... Pippin (seen above, next to Frieda) has been escaping from the goat paddock due to a mound of hay that grew beneath the goats' feeders. When he sees me come out the front door, he nonchalantly jumps back in to avoid scolding.



The whitetail does, now pregnant, are getting very hungry and venturing closer and closer to the pastures every day:



I can't blame them - it's been very, very cold. But we seem to be collecting quite a few!



The donks had their bi-monthly pedicure and did very well. We, however, froze while the farrier was here. Thank goodness he works quickly (and gently... he's an advocate of the natural hoof care method and does a great job.)

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Mr. Boris is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed now that he's cured of Lyme disease and the other problems he had when we found him.



And I think Molly has finally stopped growing - she's almost as big as Dobie Emma.

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Hope you are well and warm! Please say hi if you've stopped in today!