Additional Grounds

Silo

Front Driveway

From Level 2 porch above Arbor - Zen Garden to the right

From Level 2 porch to the left - tent will go in the open space between Arbor and picnic tables

Bull Barn and picnic tables

Picnic Tables and Arbor - Tables seat 18 and have large umbrellas

Fire pit behind picnic tables

Arbor, Barn, and the Creamery (small white building to the right of barn)

Creamery and Owner's Cabin/Painter's Studio

Driveway and Parking

 

 

 

 

Milk Barn Interior

Rustic Oak Room (Level 1)

Kitchen

Entryway

Restrooms (Handicap Accessible)

Front Door

King Size Bedroom (Level 2)

View of Level 2 gathering space from dorm loft

Level 2 Gathering Space (Dorm loft through hayloft windows)

Where the Tent Goes

Bull Barn, Fire Pit, Koi Pond (w/ fountain), Arbor

Would like to put the tent right here

Owner's Cabin

Zen Garden from porch on Level 2

Grounds

View of the Main Milking Barn

Barn, Arbor, Full Moon Gate

Arbor, Moon Gate, Bull Bar

Zen Garden

Garden and Half Moon Gate

Quinoa Salad with Roasted Chickpeas, Broccoli, and Cauliflower

After over a month of neglecting my blog and slacking on my healthy
quest (let's blame the GRE), it feels very nice to get back to fresh
veggies and pretty photographs. I threw this together last night as my
easy grab-and-go lunch for the week. It only took about half an hour
to get everything together, and now I have lunch for the whole week!

This is a great salad because it is flavorful, filling, and it
provides lots of iron and protein. The quinoa and chickpeas are both
fantastic protein sources and will keep you feeling full. To round out
my lunch I've been munching on baby carrots and enjoying a steaming
cup of Constant Comment, my favorite tea. Constant Comment always
reminds me of my grandmother. We always had some in the pantry ready
for her visits.

Salad:
Toss broccoli, cauliflower, and chickpeas with garlic, cayenne pepper, and salt
Roast them for 20 minutes at 375.

Toast quinoa lightly in a dry skillet until slightly fragrant.
Bring to a boil with 2 cups water for every 1 cup quinoa for 15 to 20
minutes or until the little "tail" unspools from each grain.

When everything is ready, toss to combine with the juice of one lemon
and refrigerated over night.

All American Snacks

Here are some delish treats I've made in the last few months. I figured thinking about snacks would be a good way to pass the time until my flight. When I travel I like to be early, really early. It's turned out very important in the past. Like the time I got on the train to North Trento instead of the airport. That was exciting. Anyway, we've had a fun year so far and I'm looking forward to ending 2011 with family and friends. But first! Homemade Graham crackers, cookie dough dip, and homemade root beer syrup.

Adventures with Pork Belly

A few weeks ago, we started thinking about Christmas Eve. Actually, what we were going to make for Christmas Eve. Something festive and unique. Comforting, but non-traditional. We came up with pork belly. We both love pork belly. It's pretty much eating huge cubes of crisped, delicious bacon. So, with our dinner plans in mind we had some shopping to do. But first, we had to make the rounds at an Ugly Sweater Christmas party. I love this sweater, it has bedazzled Christmas kitties, a giant sparkly tree, and a rocking horse with a yarn mane. Fantastic!

 

My first attempt to hunt down the elusive slab of uncured pork belly went badly... VERY badly. We headed to Reading Terminal Market and stopped by a butcher stand that will remain nameless. I asked if they had any pork belly. The butcher looked at me a little funny, fished around in the case for a moment, then plopped a big frozen bags of something roughly the right size and shape down in front of me. He rang the frozen pile up and it only came to about $3.00. I was so excited as I had expected pork belly to cost a small fortune.

 

I took my prize home and prepared the curing mixture while the meat thawed. I jiggled the bag and the "pork belly" fell into my perfectly prepared roasting pan with a loud "splech." Instead of a beautiful, fatty, chunk of bacon, this is what I got:

 

A stomach. A pork maw. Menudo. I'm all up for trying unique foods and recipes, but when you want bacon, you want BACON. After taking some pictures, looking up a thousand menudo or stomach taco recipes, I gave up. The next day I headed to Chinatown and came home with a perfect pink slab of pork belly. I covered it entirely in my pickling/curing spice and shoved it in the fridge for 36 hours.

 

After curing for a day and a half, the meat was roasted at about 250 F for 3 hours with leeks, carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves and some chicken stock. Then, you compress the meat (I used old law school text books) in the fridge for another 36 hours. Finally, when you are ready to eat, crisp the skin and fat in a skillet.

 

We enjoyed our belly with a brandy cherry glaze, mashed potatoes and some coleslaw. Merry Christmas!