Books I Love
Show Season the Sequel
6:48 AM | 
Posted by
Jen Pietsch |
The show season continued to be a challenge. The competition was fierce. It is hard to compete with farms that have 50+ babies to choose from each year. I brought everything that I had and was delighted to take home more than my fare share of ribbons.
Northwest Alpaca Showcase:
Cimarron, Autumn Diva (aka Munchin Martian), and Sage Prince (aka Buddy) all took home some hardware. Kahana and I were lucky enough to have Jeff's aunt along from Sun Valley to help with all of the animals and making sure we made it to the ring on time.
Columbia Alpaca Breeder Association:
Our best show, in my most humble opinion was the Columbia Alpacas Breeder Association the CABA Classic. Interestingly this show last year proved to be our toughest for us. Funny huh? Cimarron, Buddy, Diva and Summer all came away with ribbons. I was most delighted with Summers performance. White is notoriously the most difficult classes and we were able to pull off a fourth!!!! (White is challenging because there are a large number of breeders that breed only white. White fleece is most useful as it can be dyed any color.)
This was Luke's (my eight year olds) first show and he was amazingly helpful and a fine showman in the ring too!
Show Season 2010 Part One
Okay so we went to our first show of the year- Alpaca Western Extravaganza! My goodness it was very competitive!!!
We brought home the following awards:
- Autumn Diva: Our munchkin took a fourth in a very competitive class of 15. I was sooo proud. Thank you Kahana for showing her
- Wolf Den Cimmaron: Ahhh I haven't told you about him have I? He is a new boy I bought with Krystal Acres for stud. (He deserves and will get his own entire entry) He took a fourth also.
- Orcas Moon's Sage Prince: He took a fantastic 5th place in a tough field of 10. What a great result. Again thanks Kahana for showing 'Buddy'
Next weekend we are off to scenic (yeah right) Pasco, Washington for the Northwest Alpaca Showcase. This was a great show last year. We are again helping with color check of all the animals for the show. It is such a great opportunity to see, touch and look over a diverse bunch of animals from all over the West. I can't wait!
And yes I do have pictures to post!!
Happy Easter to All
The girls and I decided that we were spending waaaaaay too much time training those pesky babies and that they needed a 'day of beauty' Maybe a new color for spring?
A Blessed and Happy Easter!
Lamb Jam!
My girlfriend Maria and her family have a wonderful farm, Warm Valley Orchard. Right now they are smack in the middle of lambing.
Warm Valley Orchard is located just past the ferry landing. Anyone coming to the island passes it on the way to town. This time of year Maria and her family call Lamb-Jam season. Cars pull off the road just to see the newest members of her flock and cause quite the back up. I love alpaca cria but think the cutest newborn animal must be a lamb.
Snuggling with Mom
The waiting is the hardest part
Bread Baking with Third Graders
Every Friday I spend part of the afternoon in my son Luke's classroom usually working on helping the children with developing methods of conflict resolution and the like.
This past Friday we really cut loose and baked bread instead. To honor Saint Patrick's day we made traditional Irish brown bread and Irish soda bread.
These are both super easy and delicious recipes. Don't be tempted to leave out the caraway seeds in the soda bread they are what make it yummy!
Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
makes 1 loaf
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
2 cups golden or dark raisins
1 1/2 scant cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and caraway seeds until well combined.
2. Using a pastry cutter or two knives in scissor fashion, cut in butter until the mixture feels like coarse meal. Stir in raisins until evenly distributed.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and baking soda until well combined. Pour buttermilk mixture into the flour-and-butter mixture all at once, and stir with a fork until all the liquid is absorbed and the mixture begins to hold together. It should resemble a rough biscuit dough. Using your hands, press the dough into a round, dome-shaped loaf about 8 inches in diameter. Lift the loaf from the bowl, and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.
In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream together. With a pastry brush, brush the egg wash over the loaf. With a sharp knife or razor, incise a cross, about 1/2 inch deep, into the top of the loaf. Transfer to the oven. Bake, rotating halfway through, until it is deep golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center, about 70 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer bread from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool.
Tasty but not as Tasty as the soda bread but probably a whole lot better for you.
Irish Brown Bread
Ingredients
makes 1 loaf
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cold butter
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup regular or quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups plain nonfat yogurt
Milk
Directions
1. In a bowl, mix all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture forms fine crumbs. Stir in whole-wheat flour and oats.
2. Add yogurt; stir gently. If mixture is too dry to hold together, stir in milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, just until dough holds together; it should not be sticky.
3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead gently 5 times to make a ball. Set on a lightly greased baking sheet. Pat into a 7-inch circle. With a floured knife, cut a large X on top of loaf.
4. Bake in a 375° oven until well browned, about 40 minutes. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or cool.
Please Fence Me In
If you recall from an earlier post I received fencing for my birthday...it is still not up all the way. Fencing, as Jeff and I learned is a big project. We are getting good at it though and as an added bonus we are still married. (just kidding)
First we had to measure and decide how much space we could dedicate to the new pasture, the shape and proximity to the existing run in. Our property is on a slope, one side of it is wet from late November until April. This is of course the side we chose.
Here are a few pictures that we took along the way.
Garett, myself and one of my favorite tools...the Brush Hog post hole digger. Garett and I butted heads a couple of times...ouch.
Even with the post hole digger sometimes the darn thing didn't want to drill.
I am a Walking Yes Siree!!!
Well good news on the training front, all of the newbies are now walking on the lead. They aren't all pretty walkers...yet.
Show Time...Again?
Didn't it just seem like I was training for the last show season? Well here it is again!
Three Generations
Grandma Trina- She pretty much rules the herd.
Carmen- a beauty in her own right- always hungry and not shy about letting you know!
Autumn Diva- a.k.a. Munchkin Martian- she is ready for a great show season!
Back and Better Than Ever
Okay so stop with the nagging emails I am back on the blogging wagon. I am back. To give you more background on my life. I also have a great half time teaching job aon another island even smaller than Orcas. It has been a busy couple of months there so I have been not keeping up with you. Your loss because it has been just crazy interesting and fun here. I have so much to share about the farm. You should see how the babies have grown.
All of the alpaca on our farm have registered names and then we also usually create their farm name. You know, what we call them because of their true personalities and idiosyncratic behaviors. The babies are showing their true colors and earning their farm names.
Orcas Moon’s Summer Thyme: Ahhh Summer. She has been dubbed Angelina Ballerina. As I mentioned I teach-prekindergarten. Angelina is a character from a book that we often read. Summer is a dainty little ballerina.
Orcas Moon’s Sage Prince: Oh Please! Way too much name for him. We call this guy Buddy. He is an all around nice guy, my eight year olds favorite, and HUGE! Interestingly enough he is proving to be the slowest learner. He is a ‘dropper’ I ask him to walk and he drops to the ground like he is headed for shots. Which don't even hurt that much. I know this because last time I was giving shots I missed and hit my thigh. I sleep better at night knowing that I am vaccinated against clostridium perfringens type C, D, and C tetani.
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Orcas Moon’s Sargent Pepper- a.k.a. The Red Devil- If there is trouble in the cria field I know who is at the root of it. Itsy bitsy Red Devil. We have had a little trouble getting the Devil to walk on the lead. Luke was head butted by the Devil. Both looked stunned when they got up. Now he is getting the picture- he doesn’t go exactly where I want him to but we WILL get there.
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Orcas Moon’s Rocky Cilantro- This is the only animal that I picked the name for. He is a Rocky. Although we do often call him Tinker’s boy and dreamer. Rocky is a character. Hay is his thing. He doesn’t eat grain…at all (except once when my mother was here just to prove me wrong in front of an audience). His training is going better…not good but he has stopped leaping up in the air and throwing himself on the ground and acting dead. This was kinda scary the first few times but once Kahana and I realized that he wasn’t injured or dead it was funny.
That is the brief update. More tomorrow…yes tomorrow…I promise. It might only be a picture or something but something will get up here.
New Chicks!
They immediately pointed out, and were frankly kinda mad, that I had neglected to post another chicken update introducing our three newest hens. The three were adopted in September from some friends on Shaw island.
Scrawny Greta is a Lakenvelder. She is all you could want in a hen. She has spurs and a comb like a rooster but lays great eggs! She loves to spend most of her time hunting for bugs and foraging around the yard. Brave Heart and Pearl are both Black Australorps and lay the beautiful brown eggs.
So without further delay here are the three hens that round out our dozen chickens.
Scrawny Greta (foreground) and Pearl (background)
Scrawny Greta strutting her stuff!
Shy Pearl hiding behind the bushes.
Ever broody Brave Heart (and Henrietta's bottom.)Here are a couple of links to find out more about Lakenvelders and Black Australorps they are both wonderful breeds.
Pineapple-Upside-Down-Cake
Pineapple Topping
1 medium fresh pineapple
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cake
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), softened but still cool
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 egg white at room temperature
1/3 cup whole milk at room temperature
Instructions
1. I use a 10-inch cast-iron pan but if you don't have one...lightly spray 9-inch round, 2-inch deep cake pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. For the pineapple topping: Combine pineapple and brown sugar in 10-inch skillet; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally during first 5 minutes, until pineapple is translucent and is light brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Empty fruit and juices into a colander set over medium bowl. Return juices to skillet, leaving pineapple in strainer (you should have about 2 cups cooked fruit).
Simmer juices over medium heat until thickened, beginning to darken, and mixture forms large bubbles, 6 to 8 minutes, adding any more juices released by fruit to skillet after about 4 minutes.
Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla; pour caramel mixture into prepared cake pan. Set aside while preparing cake. (Pineapple will continue to release liquid as it sits; do not add this liquid to already-reduced juice mixture.)
3. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl; set aside.
4. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with flat beater, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, add vanilla, and beat to combine; one at a time, add whole eggs then egg white, beating well and scraping down bowl after each addition.
Reduce speed to low; add about one-third of flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Add half of milk and beat until incorporated; repeat, adding half of remaining flour mixture and remaining milk, and finish with remaining flour. Give final stir with rubber spatula, scraping bottom and sides of bowl to ensure that batter is combined. Batter will be thick.
5. To bake: Work fast to put cooked pineapple in cake pan in even layer, gently pressing fruit into caramel. Using rubber spatula, drop mounds of batter over fruit, then spread batter over fruit and to sides of pan. Tap pan lightly against work surface to release any air bubbles.
Bake until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack, then place inverted serving platter over cake pan. Invert cake pan and platter together; lift off cake pan. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours; then cut into pieces and serve.
Easy Peasy Chop, Chop, Chop
Cutting the Pineapple:
1. Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple. Cut skin off from top to bottom.
2. Quarter the pineapple lengthwise. Put each quarter on it's side and cut out the core.
3. Cut each quarter in half lengthwise and then cut cross-wise into 1/2 inch chunks.
Dream Birthday!
Blimey It's Limey
Well it is that special time of year again. Lime time. Last spring I limed all but two of the fields and this past weekend it was time to finish the job. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have a tendency toward moss growth especially in heavily grazed pastures. In order to keep the moss in check in my pasture I sweeten the soil with lime. This discourages moss growth and allows hopefully grass to grow.
In addition to applying the lime I also did pasture repair in the poop piles and over seeding in all pastures to promote spring growth.
I think if I could only stop the herd from grazing for a week or two all of the pastures would look great. Not likely to happen.
Sorry about the boring picture. You and try to make Lime look fun. Just wait until you see the pasture in the spring!
Autum Diva- a.k.a. Munchkin Martian
I thought I would post this just because she was so insistent on getting her photo taken. I went out to get a couple of updated pictures of the crias and Munchkin Martian kept getting her mug in the shot. Every time I turned around there she was.
Don't you just love her?
Halloween!
Carving!
Lifting and laughing
Pug Pumpkin
Spooky! Scary Yeti!
A day of Beauty
extra hour of sleep to muster the energy to tackle a couple of my least favorite jobs. Nail trimming and medications. The weather was dry and these chores couldn't be put off any longer.My boys, Garett, Kahana and Luke were my able assistants. Garett was the holder, Kahana assistant holder, nurse and occasional trimmer, and Luke chief herder. We warmed up with the boys and then moved on to the girls.
All animals had their nails trimmed, bodies scored for weight and winter preparedness and all animals treated for mites. I decided because we had animals traveling here from different farms and because our girls went out for breeding to do a preemptive treatment for mites which can become more active in the winter. The Frontline treatment I am using for mites is fairly new and requires that the herd be treated four times. Each treatment is given three weeks apart. (I will try to get a post up about mites, pretty interesting stuff.)
Three hours later all the animals were happy as clams bathing in the sun. We were happy to have the job finished and it wasn't even lunch time. I love daylight savings time!
Pumpkin Pie Recipe
an ice cream scoop
a large microwaveable bowl or large pot
1 large (10 inch) deep-dish pie plate and pie crust
1.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
one half teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)
one half teaspoon salt (optional, I don't use any)
4 large eggs
3 cups pumpkin glop (ok... "sieved, cooked pumpkin") see below for how to prep this
1.5 cans (12oz each) of evaporated milk (I use the nonfat version)
Note: If you can't get evaporated milk, you can substitute nonfat dried milk - make it twice as concentrated as the directions on the box say to reconstitute it. It won't be the same as evaporated milk, but it ought to come close.
Bake at 425 F (210 C ) for the first 15 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 350 F ( 175 C ) and bake another 45 to 60 minutes, until a clean knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
I use a blunt table knife to test the pie. It comes out pretty clean, when the pie is done.
Note: there are many varieties of pumpkin and some make better pies that other (due to sugar content, flavor, texture and water content. Drier, sweeter, fine-grained pies; the small (8" across) ones called "pie pumpkins" are best.
Watery pumpkin?
If your pumpkin puree has standing, free water, you may want to let it sit for 30 minutes and then pour off any free water. That will help prevent you pie from being too watery! Beyond, that, I have not found that the water makes a difference - I wouldn't be TOO concerned about it!
Last of the Season Tomato Soup ala Bob Nutt
6 Tb butter
6 Tb virgin olive oil
2 medium onions chopped
8+ carrots chopped
4+ celery chopped
16 large tomatoes chopped
4 c chicken stock
1 c brown rice or barley or?
2 grindings black pepper
1 t dried basil
Pinch sugar
Melt butter and olive oil in stock pot.
Add onions, carrots, celery. Cover. Cook over medium heat until veggies partially cooked @ 10 minutes.
Add tomatoes, stock, rice. Bring to boil.
Reduce to simmer for @ 1 hour.
Add pepper and basil.
Add water/stock as needed.
Pumpkin Curing
The pumpkins are then ready for decorating, carving or eating.
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