Thursday, November 15, 2018

Frozen Turkey

Who would have guessed that we would have a day off from school before Thanksgiving? But here we are, enjoying the beauty of an ice storm outside.

Our turkeys are less than a week from becoming a delicious meal, but enjoying their best life eating the icicles off of their cage.

Everything looks so pretty encased in a lovely sheet of clear, glassy ice.

The last time we raised turkeys, we had a snow storm right before the holidays. Read about it here.

The chicken coop also looks festive with icicles. I had to buy eggs for the first time today, so I’m already looking forward to the return of warm weather for renewed laying potential. Although I am not complaining about wearing lots of warm hand knits these days!

Hope everyone is surviving the weather in your part of the world. Stay warm and cozy!

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

New Hobby: Acorn Adventures 

Last summer at Deep Creek Lake, I took my five-year-old niece on a little guided nature walk. The guide paper pointed out several oak trees, white and red varieties. It also mentioned that especially the white oak acorns were an important source of carbohydrates for Native Americans. Whoa! This information needed additional investigation!

Sure enough, the Internet (click on link) expanded my knowledge nicely. First, one has to leach the acorns to get rid of the bitter tannins. I used the cold leaching method, which takes several days. After cracking the shells off the acorns and cutting out any bad spots, I ground the nuts in a food processor with a little bit of water. Make sure not to use too much water, as it makes a mess. Also makes sure to grind the acorns as small as possible. The bigger chunks of acorn still had some bitterness after I dried the flour (picture above). I sorted quite a few of them out before grinding but the flavor was still a tiny bit bitter.

I made this acorn cake. It is delicious and was a great treat at the end of The Farmer’s birthday celebration yesterday evening!
Is anyone else feeling squirrel-y?! I’m ready to forage for more acorns!