Cooking in My Farm Kitchen

So what did I make in my farm kitchen this weekend? First of all: Made a fire. . . .

“Put another log on the fire.”

. . . and then: Made chocolate chip cookies. Actually froze them ahead and just thawed them.

The weather seemed just right for soup, soooo. . . Made a pot of minestrone.

Next: Made Vietnamese bahn mi sandwiches with pickled veggies and homemade mayo, and fried bananas for dessert. I learned how to make those recipes at a Schnuck’s cooking class recently and needed to replicate them while they were still fresh in my mind.

Like people, not all foods are photogenic, but sandwiches are. The bad part about food photography is that your camera gets sticky.

Pork bahn mi on French baguette with pickled carrots and scallions and homemade mayonnaise.

Also on the list of things I made this weekend, I made a mess! I botched my first try at homemade mayonnaise. The mayo “broke!” That’s the culinary term used when the oil and egg separate and refuse to blend smoothly. But my top-notch kitchen crew of family and friends came to the rescue and together we blended a tasty mayo. I have since read that using an immersion blender is better than using a Cuisinart or a whisk (a quick route to carpal tunnel syndrome). I’ll check it out and report back on any improvement.

Made a tour of the farm fields and inspected the herd. . . .

The baby calves are always fun to watch. . .

. . . but mama’s are always suspicious.

Next: Made a trip to the old pear tree, the final one for the season. There were exactly five pears left within reach, so that’s all the fruit until next fall.

The old pear tree now seems so forlorn without fruit. Here’s what it looked like several weeks ago.

Most important of all: Made plans for Thanksgiving. The holiday celebrated at the farm is pretty traditional and includes everone bringing a favorite vegetable or dessert. We cooked a heritage turkey last year and I liked it well enough to do that again. You’ll see me blogging a lot about turkey in the coming weeks. My family says I obsess over the purchase, cooking, and serving of the bird. Could be. Thanksgiving is more than three weeks away and I’m on it already.