Am I excited about granola? Really? Yes, absolutely (insert Birkenstock and Patchouli jokes here). Granola is a dish that, when done right, makes you wish you had it every day. It just needs to be good. And that means granola needs to be from a trusted source, or even better, homemade. Of course, our “trusted source” is Carolyn’s homemade granola. The boys and I are very happy that Carolyn makes this dish regularly. Carolyn’s homemade granola tastes great as breakfast, but also as a snack. We eat it out-of-hand, so the only problem is that the homemade granola does not last long. Continue reading
Author Archives: putneyfarm
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Ti’ Punch: This week’s cocktail
Ti' Punch
Since we did Meyer Lemon cocktails last week, let’s make this a weekly thing. This weekend, we will be drinking Ti Punch.
One of the themes of the blog is cooking and entertaining at home. And nothing entertains (or ends the work week) like a cocktail. And right now there is a lot of fantastic and inspiring (and perhaps, overwrought) mixlogy out there. But let’s face it, much of the best mixology these days is not easy to do at home. That does not mean we cannot drink great cocktails, we just need to focus on drinks that use ingredients we actually can find and don’t break the bank. The easiest way to make great cocktails at home is to use fresh juices. Last week it was Meyer Lemons. This week it is limes. And Ti’ Punch shows just how much you can do with a fresh ingredient and a good recipe. Continue reading
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Just OK, Fail, Epic Fail
Some days in the kitchen are like this..
While I am having a great, great time writing this blog and cooking for family and friends, it is also a bit of an education. And it is sometimes humbling. Part of my goal is to expand my cooking skills and overall understanding of how good dishes are made. It is easy to cook the same ten dishes all the time, it gets harder when we try new things. This means living with failure, sometimes epic, failure. Continue reading
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Daffodil, O’ Daffodillo…
A sign of spring and a nice view down the hillside
Spring is coming. Tom Bombadil (if you are savvy to such things) would be singing happily to his “Daffodillos”. I feel the same.
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White Bean, Smoked Ham and Kale Soup
For some reason, I have an occasional need to make a dish all in one pot. On a gastronomical level, it just seems that a traditional one-pot recipe is fully tested and “evolved”, so it is likely to be good. On a practical level, it means less clean up. Either way, one-pot cooking is a good way to go and you will see a lot of it at Putney Farm.The “one” pot we use for this kind of recipe is usually a cast-iron Dutch oven. We have large and small Le Creuset enameled Dutch ovens, and we use them almost every day. We use them for roasts, deep-frying, soups, stocks and more mundane tasks like boiling water for pasta. An enameled Dutch oven can be an investment (read: expensive), but one that is worth it. If you take care of it, the Dutch oven will last a lifetime. If you are “lucky” it will outlast you… Continue reading
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The garden is open for business! Here is a quick tour.
Our main garden area. Strawberries at near left. Those are artichokes on the far left, outside of the wire mesh.
It has been a mild winter (so far) and we are getting started with the garden. It feels good to be back in the garden and thinking about what we will grow this year. The photo shows our raised beds. We have a frame with wire mesh (above and below) to keep birds, squirrels, wood rats, gophers and moles away from many of the beds. Poles and nylon nets also work well, we just made it permanent with the frame and wire. We are not going anywhere. Continue reading
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