Predator and Prey

We live with a domesticated wolf and fowl... traditionally, it has been a cooperative arrangement (except for that one time with the chickens).
While at a family wedding over the weekend, I got a call from our old friend and first time petsitter that Echo had attacked one of the geese, and that he (the friend) was on his way to the UW Vet Hospital in Madison with the goose, bleeding, in the back. I thanked him heartily but convinced him to turn around - Jake and I have a no vet policy with S4311's birds.
I'm embarassed to say that I was surprised about and disappointed in our dog's behavior, as if I were a parent scolding a child "old enough to know better." But he doesn't, because he's a dog, and there are some things you can't, and wouldn't want to, I suppose, train a dog out of. It was a good reminder for me about the pitfalls of anthropomorphism.
We arrived home on Sunday afternoon to a slightly limping goose and a mopey dog. I think both are going to be okay.

mushrooms and mold

A co-worker gave me a box of giant puffball mushrooms this week. Here's one of the small ones, about the size of a volleyball.

Here's the inside- sort of like firm tofu in texture.

We sliced it up and made egg in the hole with some of our new chickens' eggs. Roasted tomato, pesto, and sunflower bread toast on the side. Super rainy Sunday breakfast!

Puffball risotto with what's left for dinner. Some of the others were yellowing on the inside, so I had to throw them out. Hopefully their spores will make some puffballs grow near the compost pile next year.

I found this nasty mold lurking in some tomato sauce this morning... all the other jars seemed fine, though, and hopefully they'll stay that way. I'm going to keep this one in a drawer to see what happens in there, as a science experiment only. Some of my canning books say you can scoop off certain kinds of mold and eat the food underneath, but I'm not going there.

leek jam rhapsody

I love Laura Ingalls Wilder. I re-read the entire series every few years or so, and a few summers ago convinced a car full of obliging friends to detour markedly off our path to a winery to check out a recreation of Laura's "Little House in the Big Woods" near Pepin, WI.
I recalled with my oldest and most food-lovingest friend Maggie lately the section of the "Big Woods" book illustrated below.

"The attic was a lovely place to play. The large, round, colored pumpkins made beautiful chairs and tables. The red peppers and the onions dangled overhead. The hams and the venison hung in their paper wrappings, and all the bundles of dried herbs, the spicy herbs for cooking and the bitter herbs for medicine, gave the place a dusty-spicy smell.
Often the wind howled outside with a cold and lonesome sound. But in the attic Laura and Mary played house with the squashes and the pumpkins, and everything was snug and cozy."

I look forward to wintry days with a fire in the woodstove when everything will be "snug and cozy."

To that end, a day in the garden (yesterday) begot a day in the kitchen.

Blanching and freezing green beans and kale, baking zucchini quiches and zucchini bread, canning 5 quarts of carrots and 13 pints of roasted tomato sauce.

Most decadently, making leek jam. My friend Annie told me about about a leek jam she'd had in France last fall, and she made some when we cooked together last month. So. Good. I was glad I'd had a tutorial- I could rhapsodize on the wonders of this stuff.

To make: slice up great big bunches of leeks, and saute slowly in butter or olive oil (I used a bit of both), adding more as necessary, until soft and caramelized. Annie made it as a topping for smashed red potatoes and grilled salmon. I froze some to use as a base for soups and risotto in chillier weather, and am looking forward to spreading some on ciabatta toast to go with my quiche for dinner. I'm going to consult my books later to find out if ramps (wild leeks) can be harvested in the fall. Oh, let's hope!

Several Excellent Things About Today

1. This tomato rainbow:

2. This garden haul:

3. Ducklings' first swim: two of these littles have big city dreams- they're going to live out their days in a backyard on Victoria Street in St. Paul, MN!

4. Swinging.

5. Never leaving home today.
6. Knowing everything I ate for dinner as either a seed or a chick.
7. I can do this all again tomorrow.

Blessed be.

Bur Season

Another sign of fall.

I've resorted to roasting (canning later) what's left of my tomatoes. The house smells wonderful.

Autumnal

We spent the weekend at a great wedding in Vermont, swimming in Lake Champlain, celebrating with good friends.

Home again now, and looking forward to spending some long-awaited weekends here, soaking up the flavors of FALL. We never got above 70 degrees here today... and even the light seemed different. Sharper, brighter, autumnal. Sigh.

Pink sauerkraut is fermenting in our pantry. Pink because it is a mix of red and green cabbage. So simple- it processes itself! All we did is chop and sprinkle on some salt. In about a month we'll can it and enjoy its super duper health benefits all year long.

Also... our egg situation is officially diversified: first (quite small) chicken egg discovered yesterday!