Kittens & Keets, An Update

Kittens

The kittens now have names.

Sam

Sam does not like hands. He does not like to be petted nor picked up. He will, however, climb into our laps and purr, or sleep on our feet. He loves to play and has amazing stamina! He loves to lick and gives everyone excellent baths.

Katy

Katy. I know, I've already had a Katy and I still miss her dearly. But as much as I tried to come up with a new name for our new girl kitten, I kept calling her Katy, so Katy it is. Katy is friendly and affectionate. She loves to be petted and readily jumps into any available lap to purr. She loves to play too, but poops out more quickly than Sam.

Guinea Keets.

The keets are now almost 7 weeks old. They still "peep, peep," but on occasion sound like the rusty hinges on an old screen door. In order to imprint "home" on them (as in where to roost at night), they are still confined to the buck barn. It is so tempting to want to let them out. I find them congregating by the door, looking longingly at the great outdoors, knowing they have a mission out there. Yet, I'm heeding the advice of those who have gone before, and keeping them in their permanent quarters for at least six weeks. I fear that if I don't, they will never come in to roost, and considering that we recently lost a young chicken who was roosting at night in a cedar tree, I'm motivated to see this through. (We suspect the culprit was an opossum.)

They love their mirror

The keets love their mirror and also love their millet. I keep some handy in an old Parmesan cheese container. Our "training", at this point, consists of me shaking the container and calling  "guineaguineaguinea." I then shake a little on the ground and step back. I'm hoping that they will learn to come for their treat, so that I can get a head count at least once a day. If I sprinkle the millet inside the buck barn in the evening, then hopefully I can get them in for the night. Besides possums and raccoons, we have owls I'd like to keep them safe from.

I plan to start letting them out in about two weeks. They'll be 8 weeks old and will have spent 6 weeks in their permanent home. Hopefully, that will be enough.

Kittens & Keets, An Update © September 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Oven Fried Okra

Oven fried okra with grilled chevon burger and homegrown tomato

Last summer I shared a favorite okra recipe with you, sauteed okra. I don't fry much and this was my alternative for a close-to-fried texture and taste. This year, I had another idea for oven frying okra. We tried roasting it a few times and that was good, but fried okra is a staple southern treat. Here's one way to make it without the bother of actually frying.

Oven Fried Okra

• fresh okra, sliced
• olive oil
• cornmeal
• seasonings to taste (we like salt, pepper, and garlic)
• either more olive oil, or oil or melted fat of choice

In a bowl, mix sliced okra and enough olive oil to coat well. Sprinkle with cornmeal and seasonings, stirring and adding cornmeal until the "strings" are gone. Generously grease a cookie sheet with more olive oil, or whatever oil or fat you like. Spread okra out on pan and bake at 425° F / 220° C., stirring frequently, for about 20 - 25 minutes (or until golden brown). Enjoy hot out of the oven.

Oven Fried Okra © August 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Fig Fail

Never let it be said I'm too proud to admit my mistakes! What did I do? I forgot to add the citric acid to this batch of canned figs...

I realized it when I was cleaning up after a fig canning session. I didn't see my container of citric acid and realized I'd forgotten to add it! As a double check, I noted that the liquid in the jars was light brown. Citric acid turns it a purplish color.

Figs are a low acid fruit, which means they require either the addition of lemon juice of citric acid (such as Fruit Fresh) to be canned in a water bath canner. Alternatively, they could be pressure canned.

So what did I do? I remembered a post I recently read at Stephanie's. She made fig sauce out of some of her figs. Talk about providential!

I added both figs and fig liquid to the blender & whirred them
up. Looks like applesauce, doesn't it? But it tastes pretty bland.

I dumped the contents of the jars into my blender, liquefied it, and because it was pretty liquidy, decided to cook it down a bit in my crock pot. For seven pints of figs I added half a cup of lemon juice and a tablespoon of cinnamon.

Cinnamon is a good addition to figs

Because it looks like applesauce, I mentally was expecting it to taste like applesauce. It doesn't. Not quite satisfied, I remembered my plums.

First plums, frozen.

My Stanley plum tree had produced a first ever offering of 14 plums. I'd popped them into the freezer until I could decide what to do with them. I put a little of the fig sauce in a sauce pan, added the plums, and cooked until the plums were soft. I ran is all through my foley food mill.

Plummy Fig Sauce

The yield was 6 pints of plummy fig sauce; 5 pints for us and one for a Christmas gift. I processed this batch in a boiling water bath as for figs, 45 minutes for pints.

My initial taste test was while the sauce was still warm but I think I'd prefer it chilled. At any rate, it was a good experiment for my abundance of figs and my few plums. It will be another enjoyable treat this winter.

Fig Fail © August 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/