Rabbit Pie Recipe

If you had leftovers from this dish, you can use them in this recipe, if you baked off the front legs, you can use the meat and the bottom and top of dates/onion for this dish and if you are buying rabbit and the cost is high and you just want to stretch it to serve more folks, this is a great way.

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Recipe – One pie dough for top and bottom

Filling

2 large rabbit hind legs with thighs, baked and meat pulled and diced, or two rabbits front legs, or the whole front of the rabbit baked off and meat pulled,

one cup of baked mixed dates/white onions, plus juice

half a cup of any color peppers you would like

one cup of cooked diced potato’s can be added if you want a bit more filling pie..

half a cup of sheep milk basic white cheese, you can use paneer, or mozza or any other firmer white cheese.

Salt, pepper, Basil, or horseradish dried greens with a sprickle on top.

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Baked Rabbit on a bed of Dates and Onion..

Looking for a interesting way to use up a nice big old rabbit leg with thigh attached, this is a lovely way to do so, serve with a side of mashed, or green salad or mixed fresh veggies..

This is as easy as it gets, take a baking dish just as big as needed to fit your rabbit legs, put a layer of dried dates down, lay your thawed or fresh but aged rabbit legs over top of them, peel and slice big thick onion and layer it one top, add enough water to cover the dates, salt and pepper the dish, cover and bake till the meat is well done, take out and mash the dates/onion together, leaving the liquid in the baking dish, or about half of it anyway.. serve as the bed, and then put your rabbit leg on top, drizzle with the liquid on top and serve with your choosen side dish..

Not raising your own rabbits, just a touch to costly for you given the size of your family? No worries, I got you covered, how to take two legs and feed alot more folks coming up next!

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Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged , | 6 Comments

My first Bettles are hatching-Mealworms

Well, if I was a buyer that had these turning from worms into beetles in under a week, I might be unhappy but for me, I am so excited, in my Group 1, the nice big active ones, I have a number (I have counted five so far) that have hatched from worm to beetle, they are so new that they have not turned black yet but its coming!.

I was doing a routine check on if I needed to replace the carrot ends with some banana peel and was shocked to see this little guy, and then more of them.. but very pleased as well.. that means that within the next six weeks, I would have thousands of new eggs being laid for the coming crop, which should be ready at the same time as my planned chicks and wee tiny keets..

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Posted in Critters | 3 Comments

Where o where is my Girls swirl??

http://matronofhusbandry.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/a-sure-sign-that-spring-is-just-around-the-corner/

Do you read Matron, she rocks and when it comes to cows, she is a amazing, and yes, you can bet that I have emailed her a comment asking about this very question but I read her post and while I know we are certainly still more into winter, i could not resist going out with Dh and trying to take photos of my own girl..sigh.. now I am very torn, as we appear to be eithe unable to find or she is lacking a very important swirl..

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this is my personal favorite swirl of all, she has a huge one that takes up most of the front of her head, its adorable, she also has one just over the knot on the top of her head, its about half the size.

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This is her back swirl and it looked better in real life then in this photo and yes, her coat needed to be brushed, she has bits of bedding in it..

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I am pleased with her happy lines, its worth noting that she is half limousin, which has a very different coat then most dairy cows., see that dark spot, that’s about as close as she gets to her missing swirl?!

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Pleased with her coat on the flank, well filled out, smooth and thick, she is not shedding yet but neither is anyone else, its winter still here, but if you bush her, she does have loose hairs to come out.

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Now this one was almost impossable for me to get but I assure you when you are almost under your cow, in there, she has a very tight small swirl for the one in front of her bag..

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and I don’t have one for the spot that is missing it, because there was nothing to take, we checked both sides, and even under, nothing with a swirl on it.. very odd.. if I get a answer back and make a change and it does appear after the shed out, I will let you know..

http://dairystar.com/m/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=7037

Now she is showing just a touch of discharge today, its the first day she has shown this but its still interesting to me..

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hmmm.. looks like I will be adding a bit more kelp to her mix..

Here is the reply I got back on her site to my questions and by her answer, I do believe that she came over and looked at my photos.. Thanks as always for the impute! and I can’t tell you how much of a sigh of relief I got at this reply, not just that its that spot, so I can keep track of it, but to get a she looks good means alot to me! I know, I think she looks good, but its so nice to hear it from someone that I admire so much!

JADONTF, that’s what I hoped that readers would look at their cows :)   I think that dark spot on her neck is where the Thymic swirl is, she looks good! It may be that it won’t be as clear until shed gets her summer coat.  My beef cows are have such long hair it’s hard to tell their swirls and whorls very clearly until they start really slicking off.  Herefords are a curly lot :)   If you read Gearld Fry, the adrenal swirl needs to be in front of the shoulders for really high butterfat (translates to good marbling also) or closer to the shoulders.  Also on the udder the back quarters on a high butterfat cow will have butter whorls, in addition to very fine hair on her udder.looked at my photos 🙂

 

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Frugal PorkChops Bone Soup Recipe

So if you are buying your porkchops all trimmed out and in the quick fry area of the supermarket, this recipes is not going to be help you at all but if you are buying porkchops with bone in at your local butcher or you are buy half or a whole pig, then this little recipe is going to be awesome.. This is made of three things, plus spices.. Self trimmed Pork Chops at home, Quick Noodles, and something fresh, be it greens, sprouts, brocolli, or pea, or green onions.

Its not super fast but its not long to make either.. So after you trim off the main part of your chop to use for a different meal, you should be left with something much like these as the uncooked version.. now as you can see these are lovely meaty bones, but they also have a good amount of fat and some fairly good amount of bone in there, put a little bit of water in the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 350 till well done

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this is what the cooked version will look like..See all that yum brown bits on the bottom of the pan, that is what is going to make our flavour and our color base on the soup, without it, it will be very bland, so while you can make this faster by frying the bones, you will not get the true depth of flavour without roasting them, consider doing them at the same time as the oven is one for baking bread, or baking beans or something else to make it more economal in that way.

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Then we are going to pull the meat off the bones, and in a pot with about 4 cups of simmering water, you are going to pour two of those cups into the baking dish and use a whisk to bring up all that lovely color and bits and fat into your broth.. and then pour it all back into the pot, if needed repeat once again with a bit more of the hot broth out of your pot to get all the bits up.

Those bones gave me just right around a full cup of cut up bites of pork, think about the meat lost if that was just throw out and not used over the whole of all those chops, this is part of why you should always ask for your meat with bone in and then debone it yourself at home, so that you can get the most bang for your buck.

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Now add in some noodles, fine soup noodles are good, or egg noodles or whatever kind you want  as long as they are small, and when they are half way done, add in half a cup of greens, or pea’s or brocolli, or green onion diced etc, at the same time add back the cooked, diced meat and allow to simmer just till the noodles are done and the veggies and pork are hot, you want those three textures, soft noodle, crunchy veg,and chewy meat bits..

Check your broth for salt or pepper to be added, if you want to add a kick to it, a tiny bit of keens mustard will do the trick there..

Here is the finished soup, and yes that is the amazing color of that o so healthy for you pork bone broth..

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Posted in Food Production and Recipes | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The newest Lambs..

They range in color, sex and size, and temperment.. some are outgoing, some are shy and some are spooky still.. but all know their momma..

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Posted in Critters | 8 Comments

Farmgal version of Sour Mizithra Cheese..

This is a sheep milk cheese made with whole milk, cream included, salted, dried and aged at least 60 days(for the store bought 1 and half pound sizes) as I made mine smaller, they dried faster and I just had to try it.. I also herbed mine, so when grated it was a herbed mizithra dried grated cheese.

I would like to make more of these, and see just how well they would keep as a dry hanging cheese once dried and cured and salt rubbed.

Now this is a listed as a very full bodied cheese, its lovely and reminds me very much of parm but of course was much faster to make.. Took a good while to grate it out, but I think it turned out lovely! Has anyone tried this cheese from the stores?

Almost temped to see if farmboy carries it and to buy just a little bit and try the version coming out of italy and compare it to mine 🙂

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Homesteading skills list

Bold the items that you know or have done. Add any that you can think of to the bottom of the list. Post it on your blog and link back here so that I can come visit

http://www.canadiandoomer.ca/2013/02/a-prodigious-list-of-homesteading-skills.html

Safely use an ax and hand saws.
Split firewood and kindling.
Stack and age firewood.
Grow a vegetable plant.
Plan, plant and grow a vegetable garden.
Sharpen any edge tool – knife, axe, hoe, chisel etc.
Basic firearm safety and gun proof your children and grandchildren.
Raise a chicken.
Shovel snow without putting out your back.
Read the weather.
Spin wool, cotton or flax into thread or yarn on a spinning wheel or with a drop spindle.
Use a garden shovel, spade or hoe without hurting your back.
Light a fire indoors or outdoors.
Go to a country auction and not get skinned.
Crochet.
Butcher small livestock like rabbits or chickens.
Hang clothes on a clothesline.
Basic tractor maintenance.
Know the difference between trees and the unique properties of various types of wood.
Cook 10 basic meals from scratch.
Pasteurize milk.
Divine/witch for water with a forked branch or a bent metal hanger.
Distinguish healthy plants and animals from unhealthy plants or animals.
Basic sewing skills.
Set an ear tag or tattoo for animal identification.
Determine an animal’s age by its teeth.
Cut and glaze glass.
Drive a standard transmission vehicle.
Thaw out frozen pipes without busting them.
Know how and when to use hybrid seeds.
Sew your own clothes with simple patterns.
Hand thresh and winnow wheat or oats and other small grains.
Train a working cattle or sheep dog.
Read the moon and stars.
Make soft or hard cheeses.
Live beneath your financial means.
Fillet and clean a fish.
Use a wash tub, hand-wringer and washboard.
Make soap from wood ashes and animal fat.
Lay basic brick or build a stone wall.
Basic home canning and food preservation.
Save open pollinated (non-hybrid) seeds.
De-horn livestock.
Use an awl and basic leather repair.
Make long-term plans for the future – plan an orchard, a livestock breeding program, or plan for stored energy sources. Jury rig anything with duct tape, baling twine and whatever is on hand.
Be comfortable with emergency/home birth.
Read an almanac.
Euthanize large livestock.
Use flat cloth diapers and wool soakers.
Cook on a cook stove.
Entertain yourself and live without electronic media.
Shear a sheep.
Manage human urine and feces without plumbing.
Swap, barter and network with like-minded people.
Generate electricity for home use.
Make a candle.
Dig and properly use a shallow well.
Refinish furniture.
Drive a draft animal.
Realistically deal with life, death and failure.
Use non-electric lighting.
Butcher a pig or goat.
Restrain large livestock.
Slaughter livestock.
Use a treadle sewing machine.
Give an injection.
Use a handsaw, hammer & nails, screw driver, wire cutters, and measuring tape.
Know when to ask for help.
Know how and when to prune grapes and fruit trees.
Hatch out chicken, duck or other poultry eggs.
Use a scythe.
Skin a furbearer and stretch the skin.
Tell the time of day by the sun.
Milk a goat, sheep or cow.
Use a smoke house.
Stomach tube a newborn animal.
Build basic homestead buildings (sheds, animal shelters, smoke house, ice house, etc.)
Break ground and plough.
Use a wood stove and bank a fire.
Make butter.
Knit.
Make and use a hot bed or cold frame.
Deliver a foal, calf, lamb or goat.
Know how to tell when winter is over.
Plant a tree.
Brood day-old chicks.
Dye yarn or cloth from plants.
Haggle like a horse trader.
Bake bread. U
se a pressure tank garden sprayer.
Halter break a horse or cow.
Graft baby animals onto a foster-mother.
Weave cloth.
Grow everyday kitchen herbs.
Make sausage.
Set and bait traps for unwanted vermin and predators.
Grind wheat into flour.
Make paper.
Make ink.
Know when it is more economical to buy something ready-made or when to make it yourself.
Castrate livestock.
Choose a location for a vegetable garden or orchard.
Catch and care for wild yeast for bread making.
Weave a basket.
Use electric netting or fencing.
Make fire starters from corn cobs or pinecones.
Use a pressure cooker.
Use a pressure canner to preserve meat and vegetables.
Correctly attach 3 point hitch implements to a tractor.
Trim the hooves of goats or sheep.
Sew your own underwear.
Make your own wine and beer.
Darn knitted or crocheted items.
Know basic plumbing and how to sweat copper pipes and joints.
Keep bees.
Change a spark plug.
Cook on an open fire
.Make vinegar.
Purify water.
Graft trees.
Make and use a bow and arrow.
Preserve meat by curing.
Erect a fence.
Hang a gate
.Make and use herbal tinctures, infusions and other herbal remedies.
Replace electrolytes in a battery.
Charge a battery.
Change a car tire.
Repair a tire.
Do an oil change in any vehicle.
Build an effective compost pile.
Correctly set spark plug spacings.
Change all light bulbs – household and vehicle.
Prime a well pump.
Fix water troughs around the paddocks.
Suture both animals and humans.
Posted in Life moves on daily | 29 Comments

Pork Fat: Question for you all?

Hello Folks,

This is one of those post that I am sharing cuz its interesting to me but i don’t have the answer, so if you do, I would love to hear it!

I raised Angelo on the same diet as the piglets and Miss Piggy, I try and stay away from soy, and corn, at least some fresh food daily and garden extra’s etc.

Now on the piglets I can’t say that I saw this but they had not real extra fats at that time, they were so young when done, and I don’t know if this is breed related (but that does not make sense to me as they are considered a lard pig)

My fat does not melt..  laugh if you will but when you need to add fat to a pan full of bacon, its just odd.. I need to add fat to the pork hamburger if I want it to not be dry, I didn’t have any left over to render of the back fat and the left lard was ground to go for sausage, I have lots of beef tallow so I didn’t much worry about it.

I have to admit that I find it very odd, now my research had told me that soy done improperly or even properly can cause the fat to change on the pigs, and effect the texture of the meat as well.

N.A. Pork is considered mushy when compared to pork in Europe, and they say that was related directly to the amount of corn in our pigs diet, I can’t disagree there, my pork is firmer and more flavoured then anything that I have had for years, even more so then the last time I raised my own pork, as they were feed corn at that time, and they were certainly better then store but not nearly as tracked and or carefully figured out as the current pigs diet..

I can’t help but wonder how finishing the current crop of piglets on cows milk will effect the flavour and the fat, I know that milk finished piglets are considered excellent, second only to pigs finished naturally on acrons/nuts down in the deep south, which are to be considered one of the best there is, but we take what we can get.

Now I really don’t mind, its just interesting to me, but I want to put it out there and ask, if you as a farm gate buyer got pork that the fat chops, bacon etc, didn’t melt out, and who’s mince was that lean, would you be happy and just work around it, or would you find it a issue?

Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Sheep Milk Soap “Baby” Version

Ok, So I have detailed this soap from start to finish and if it turns out to be as nice to cut, and use as it was to make, this will be a share recipe.. but for now, I give you a awesome wet soap photo..

I really hope that this soap will keep its amazing soft cream color, I like it, but it could darken.

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Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged , | 11 Comments