Jerky

We've been busy around these parts, we had a week off of working in the kitchen, so we headed back in for some food fun centered around the dehydrator. This is our first ever batch of beef jerky.What a rewarding easy thing to do. Ben through together a marinade for some top sirloin and rump roast based in soy sauce. We let it sit for 30 minutes.

Layed it out on the dehydrator trays.

And woke up to the sweet/spicy smell and this amazing product.

We made a full jar of it. Oh is is soo sooooo soo so good! A little spicy for Asher, but we'll just make some more for him.

Organic, locally raised Beef Jerky with no preservatives or artificial crap. Good meat dried and preserved. This is what dried meat at it's roots is, not some unhealthy meaty snack from the gas station.

River:: 9 Months!!

Our little R, whose not so little passed the 9 month mark and is edging in on 10 months now. We don't go in for the weigh in until the 17th of this month but I am pretty sure he has exceeded 25lbs. Atleast that is what my new buff mama arms are telling me.And oh the fun this one has. He is pure sunshine, and a bit of fire. He has given Asher a few pushes now and is letting him know that he is part of the family and will not be forgotten.

He is quite proud of his new skill set. Climbing stairs, free hand standing (steps are right on the way), making music with his hand, signing more, up, still grunting to poop every day in the potty, greeting his PaPa, with just a bit of a "B" sound.Every day just keeps getting more fun. I love the boys interacting, they are such a hoot. you can already tell they are brothers and I can foresee all the trouble they will get into and hopefully all the love and cuddles.

To Market

We are so lucky to have so many creative people in our lives. As we try to avoid all things plastic and embrace homemade when it comes to play things for the boys, it is great to get wonderful woolen knitted goodness. The mama sow and piglets have been a staple in Asher's play thanks to mama Kellie. Asher got the sow for his first birthday and the piglets for his second- they were called luca and leo for some time.I of course wondered if I could also knit some and over the course of the year have given my own sets out as gifts for little ones. I have to say though mama sow turned me off as she really was a lot of stitches and I felt the need for an in between pig- you know one of good market weight.And so I altered the pig pattern to create the Market Pig. A quick knit, with some finishing work. Finishing work is not my strength, but I think I have this dude pretty well figured out at this point so I thought I would share my pattern.

The Market Pig:
Cast on 24 stitches
knit 8 rows
Bind off 4 at beginning of next two rows
knit 8 rows
Cast on 4 stitches at beginning of next two rows
Knit 8 rows
Cast off 5 at beginning of next 2 rows
Knit one row, begin head decrease (you should have 14 stitches on the needle)
The decrease will be on either side of the center stitch for the remaining rows until 4 stitches are left to bind off.
Knit 5 knit the next two stitches together from the front, knit the next 2 stiches together from the back, knit to end (12 stitches)
Knit 4 knit the next two stitches together from the front, knit the next 2 stiches together from the back, knit to end (10 stitches)
Repeat until 4 remain and bind off, loop last stitch through to secure and cut a long tail to sew up the pig.
It should look something like this. Sew him up as is. don't try to match right sides or anything like that just sew the seams the best way you like and stuff firmly as you go. I prefer to use wool to stuff them and wool for the knitting, but then they aren't machine washable. Sew him up using that long tail of wool you left when you finished knitting. Should look like this, a little scary, no worries this pig is all about the ears. I have attached ears numerous ways and this is the most secure. With yarn needle and a length of wool your arm span go in through the rump. You will be bringing in the yarn to the ear spot securing it in the rear so you don't have to worry about winding in any loose ends.Pick up 4 stitches and knit four rows with the lenth of wool. Decrease on next rows until one remains and tie it through.Repeat for other ear, then take the ends and go back to the tail.

With all your ends at the bootie, braid them up and tie a know to secure them all and make a tail. Give it to your favorite kid and make another.

Broiler Update: Freezer

Our chicken for the year has been harvested. Good thing as we ran out of last years on Rosh Hoshanah, a beautiful and tasty bird she was. I am so happy that we will be able to have roast chicken again soon.These girls joined us in August and we give thanks to them to nourish us for the rest of the year.

Meat eating is a very serious thing for us. This is the sixth year that we have raised and butchered chickens. We do it for a couple reasons. 1: you can't get a tastier bird anywhere. These birds are bred in Pennsylvania by an Amish man, Ben found them for his research. If you are lucky to live near Iowa City, you could have a chance to buy them from our friend Eric of Salt Fork Farms as he raises the same breed. 2: We still feel that we need to put some of the slaughtering into our own hands. As a meat eater, you are taking the life of an animal. For us not acknowledging this fact becomes part of unethical meat consumption. So each year we take the lives of some animals, thanking them for their gift to us and feel that this still allows us to indulge in eating other animals that have all been raised ethically, locally and organically. This day symbolizes such a huge portion of our diet. While we eat vegetarian meals on most days, animal protein is a staple for us.If I can't do it myself, I shouldn't ignore the process and ask someone else to do it for me. I think that meat eating the right way can be a healthy part of everyones diet, healthy for the world and sustainable for local farms. It is hard to make a living on vegetable farming alone. Not that raising animals makes the job easy! But for a farm to be self sustaining animals fit in to the system. Their manures can't be topped, they can do a lot of good for composting and turning over spent vegetable and weeds, and really you can't top the taste for the family working so hard or the fuel their meat can provide for farming families.Plus they are amazing creatures. The way animals are treated in conventional farming traditions in this country is appalling. It is all about the buck. I am happy that as a family we don't contribute to that system, that we support what farming and animal husbandry originated as, a relationship between man and animal, a respect, gratefulness and awareness. Be it vegetable or meat though, this amount of thought should go into all of it. Food is our life, without it we could do nothing else. Cherish it, be thankful and know where it comes from.

My Retreat

For one glorious morning at Ben's parents I was able to fully endulge. Morning Tea, a book and my camera. I got to walk their amazing property and enjoy it in silence. Not that there weren't the sounds of the world, but there was no kiddo chatter and I was able to quiet most of my own inner chatter.

Walking this property I always think of how Ben grew up here and all the exploration of the natural world that was such a character shaper for him.I look forward to creating a summer camp here every year as the boys get older, playing in the woods, walking barefoot in the garden, meadering through the yard and splashing in the stream.On this visit I really began dreaming of art classes, (photography, drawing) as my mother in law really has set things up as a huge collection of still lives.As I took pictures I realized that this is what creating those still lives in the classroom was all about. Being able to capture the ones that are naturally occur that we glaze over typically in our everyday life. This yard is all about slowing down and enjoying all the smallest details.

Plus a huge buck walked through toward the end of my morning.And even though deer are incredibly overpopulated they still are wonderful, phenomenal, amazingly huge beings that co-exist with us, too often overlooked.

It is so refreshing to truly embrace and enjoy the world in which you stand.This is how Bucks County, PA won me over.

Ada Quest

We are home from our trip and this last trip post is for Regan, she may be the only one to really appreciate the pictures. Regan commented on my last Ada post as she used to spend summers there. Regan is a fellow blogger and the only person I have blog stalked (no comments) and then met in person. I had an option at a mutual friends wedding not to introduce myself but I did and we chatted and then we got to meet up in Madison again in October.... blah blah.

So I found myself in Ada with some time to kill on my birthday so I went to find the old house. Asher passed out prior to finding the street.

The two views from Regan's old street looking into the ONU stadium and student housing. Looking down the street, R's house is glowing there in the middle darkness.

And there it is.As someone who lived in a lot of different houses prior to her memory developing I would love to see a picture of my old house. I also loved driving past a childhood home of mine when we moved back to C-U, we lived in Champaign for 5 years of my early childhood. I would love someone to do this for me if they had the optionBut then I realized what I had really been meant to find on this Quest.A bright red Sweetgum leaf. I try to find one every fall, but for some reason all the sweetgums I regularily visit in Urbana haven't turned red at all this fall! But there in R's front yard was a young sweetgum that had turned red! Such a birthday present, thanks Regan!

Pants

I think it is quite apparent that River is a big boy. And as well as EC is going I am not venturing into diaper free outings quite yet. Big baby + cloth diapers= incredibly huge booty. Typical clothing just doesn't do for the boy. And impatient parents that need to dress said, "wants to move all the time, wiggly worm ginormous baby" need something to get on that big booty fast. It has been time for awhile, and we are going the way we did with Asher- the T-shirt pant. Stretchy, economical and so easy. Grab yourself a pile of old shirts- I am trying to rid all evidence of the park district from my wardrobe so I have lots on hand. Find a pair of pants that you love your kid in, turn them inside out and fold in half to get one leg.Cut shirt out into the two legs allowig at least a quarter inch for seams. I like to then cut the front of the leg in a bit in the leg as I like the way they fit this way, it tapers it a little. If you look closely to the picture you can see the top is smaller, don't do the same to the crotch, well you can but then lining things up may be a little more difficult (not much though)Sew right sides together of each leg. Turn one of them rightside out (in?). Anyway, place the rightside one inside the wrongside one. And here folks is the magic.I first sewed pants in highschool and I remember being amazed by their ease and the almost magical way that they came together. Line up the right sides touching crotches of each leg, I definitely recommend pins here. Sew it up and voila, pants... not quite, but now they look awesome already. I like to get a bunch of pairs to this stage before turning on the iron and proceeding. With a hot iron, fold the pants about half an inch and then another inch, iron and pin. I really recommend not stepping the pinning here if you are going to skip anything, skip the iron. I get all my pants pinned and then sew them all in a row. Make sure to leave about a one inch opening in the round to get the elastic in. Measure the kids waist, subtract an inch and cut your elastic. Thread it through with a safety pin and sew the elastic together. I don't know about you, but it drives me crazy when the elastic twists, so I use thicker elastic and am pretty meticulous about making sure it is all going in the same way. Oh and pin the elastic to sew it, maybe common sense but I am known to try it without and I always have to remind myself to pin it. you can then finish sewing that inch hole for the elastic casing or leave it open. I choose to leave it open as my kids grow fast and then I can easily let out or replace the elastic...depends on who you are, I for one suck at finishing things so it is nice that this can be functional and the finishing can be excused.
Pretty instant gratification and easy wardrobe for the kids. I am planning on freezer paper stenciling some as well to funk them up a bit.