This basically sums up our week. Insanity. Ok, let me set the stage…..
Sunday morning: I realize after breakfast that I caught Lucy’s stomach flu. My Dr. Quinn-style home remedies kept me relatively comfortable, so it was basically a pass to spend the day in bed beginning (and ending) Season 1 of Poldark from Masterpiece Theatre.
Image source: BBC
It’s streaming on Amazon Prime. YOU’RE WELCOME. Definitely the best costume drama I’ve seen in ages. I am obsessed now.
Monday: We realize that our retail meat freezer thawed overnight. We can’t sell the meat if we refreeze it and we can’t just let it sit in the fridge until Saturday’s farmer’s market so…….
…this handsome guy decided to make a farm-to-table six-course meal happen. We capped it at 50 people and it sold out. Counting the farmies that helped out, Daniel cooked for 60 people. Three days after we decided to do the event. Completely insane.
And it turned out beautifully. We circled tables around the fire Daniel was cooking the meat over, the weather was perfect, and it couldn’t have gone better. Here was the menu:
- Homemade French bread (Pain a l’Ancienne) with Dill Kale Pesto
- Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Massaged Kale and Goat Cheese Salad
- Pan Seared Sirloin Steak with Herbed Chèvre over Arugula and Pea Shoots
- Pork Chops with Shredded Radish and Cilantro
- Pork Sausage with Swiss Chard and Caramelized Onion
- Molasses Cake with Caramelized Bacon and Caramel Sauce Topping
I prepared the (NINE!) chickens, one of the other interns made the cake, and Daniel did the rest. He was totally in his element and it was so fun to watch.
Then immediately after that late night we had homeschool co-op all morning followed by a bit to eat, errands, then in the evening I taught a class with my friend (and essential oils team member) Kaley on using essential oils in homemade household cleaning and self-care products and got home after 10pm. I’m too old for that kind of gallivanting! After a week of GOING constantly, I am ready to just lounge around all weekend, thank you very much.
Goat Update:
Baby goats are all you really want to hear about, right?! Oh my word, they’re so precious. Feeding them their bottles is madness because they all jump and climb and try to knock each other out of the way. But just adorable. One of our goats had FOUR kids! So now we have 11 and we just traded two of the bucks for some sheep. So sadly, my favorite goat, Thomas Shelby King of Birmingham is off to another farm.
Links:
We’ve been making these grain-free Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chip Streusel Topping from Against All Grain and loving them. I finally tried out Thrive Market and ordered a couple big bags of almond flour to get me through my grain-free Lent. (I was really happy with my experience ordering from Thrive so, I signed up for their affiliate program and the link above is my affiliate link.)
On the podcast, Christy and I interviewed the wonderful Rachel Balducci about having big kids, not parenting from a place of fear, and being Catholic moms who enjoy the occasional cigar.
Why America’s Obsession with STEM Education Is Dangerous: Washington Post
When Abortion Suddenly Stopped Making Sense: National Review
And because in my heart I’m a medievalist, I enjoyed King Arthur in the Lives of the Saints from Tom MacDonald for the NCRegister.
Wishing you weather as springy and lovely as we’re having today!
Lots of love,
Haley
P.S. You can follow me…
…on Bloglovin’, Feedly, subscribe to posts via email, or subscribe to my newsletter that goes out monthly with the buttons on the right sidebar. You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter (@haleycarrots), Pinterest (haleyofcarrots), and Instagram (haleycarrots).
This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
That menu sounds delicious! But please tell me, what is massaged kale??
Don’t you give your greens spa treatments? 😉 Massaged kale is just fresh kale that is tossed by hand in an oil ( we usually do olive oil and a little bit of ACV) until it soaks up the oil and changes consistency. It takes some of the bitterness out of the flavor!
It is very yummy! My favorite kind of kale. What is ACV?
Apple Cider Vinegar! 😉
The farm dinner menu sounds amazing! I kept thinking about the show on PBS “A Chef’s Life” as you were describing the food and setting. Baby #3 is due any day so late night Create TV cooking shows become a favorite 😉 (and binge watching seasons from the library).
Also, thank you for sharing the National Review article. It was so thought provoking and beautiful and heartbreaking all at once.
http://www.pbs.org/food/shows/a-chefs-life/
It turned out so well, Jill! And I’ll have to check out A Chef’s Life. Lately we’ve been into The Great British Baking Show and Chef’s Table on Netflix. 🙂
Hey, I hadn’t realised you were a closet medievalist! (Maybe I haven’t been reading for long enough…) I’m pretty much an ex-medievalist, I abandoned my Anglo-Norman monasteries in favour of getting married and having children, but I hope to go back to them one day (I don’t think they’re going anywhere in a hurry). All that to say… thanks for the King Arthur link! 😉
Happy weekend-lounging, it sounds like you need it 🙂
I love meeting other closet medievalists 🙂
Your week sounds like both insanity and a dream at the same time! Just started following your blog. Sounds so exciting what you and your family are doing.
Thanks for following, Rachel! I’m glad you’re here 🙂
Poldark. Oh my goodness. Absolutely the best. I was pretty upset to realize there are just eight episodes and that I have to wait till THE FALL to see the new season, but then again, I was becoming a bit obsessed. It’s probably good to have a break.
I’ve been telling everyone about it. I include a disclaimer: you really have to prepare yourself for how handsome the lead actor is. You must maintain custody of your senses, so to speak. I say this as a married woman very much in love with her husband! (And my husband watched the show with me and also loved it!) However, I still feel compelled to issue this gentle word of caution.
But don’t let me put anyone off by any means! Watch it!
How will we survive until the fall?! And I guess Aidan Turner isn’t my type or something. I mean, he’s definitely a good looking guy, but I think I’m more distracted by Demelza’s fantastic hair than I am by Ross’s good looks. I mean…HER HAIR!
Hah! To each their own, I suppose. 🙂
Yes, Demelza does have that elusive romance-heroine head of hair, the wild – yet elegant! – curls that I have always associated with costume dramas. My hair is straight as anything. Seriously, what did women in those days do if they had straight hair? No BBC/PBS/Masterpiece Classic production has ever satisfactorily answered this question for me.
Thanks for the link to the National Review article. Although I am pretty firmly pro-choice, I do wish there was more thoughtful discourse between the two sides on the subject. I do agree wholeheartedly that no woman “wants” an abortion. I appreciate that the article suggests looking at WHY women choose abortion – lack of support from fathers (I think men get off waaaaay too easy and the woman gets most of the “blame” or consequences from an unintended pregnancy, but that’s a whole other show :)), lack of
healthcare and childcare option, I could go on and on. There’s too much “hate the evil baby killers” and to little “why do women do this”.
Also, I had never considered that even the child conceived in rape is just as much the mother’s child as any other she’d ever have. I’d not presume that I could even begin to imagine a rape victim’s pain, but this particular viewpoint had just never crossed my mind, but it’s absolutely true. Definitely something to ponder.
Thanks for frequently linking articles that offer civil discourse and make us think!
I’m so glad you chimed in, Betsy. I do share, and sometimes write about, controversial topics and really strive to share thoughtful, respectful meaty pieces that aren’t just rah rah for people who already agree with the idea pieces that don’t add to the conversation or appreciate the complexity of some of these issues. So I REALLY appreciate your saying that!
I just have to remark how hilarious the above comment “You must maintain custody of your senses” is re: the Poldark leading man. I’m learning to immediately and oft give glory to God for all the lovely men in the world especially in series such as these, lol! It helps 🙂
And I wish I knew about those EO’s that are good for stomach flus. I was struck down a couple weekends ago thanks to my little guy. I did not deal very well at all!
Stomach flus are the worst! I’ll shoot you an email, Mary.
Mary, I’m glad someone else gets it! It’s true, God’s masterful creativity is cause for rejoicing. And sometimes, I think, we just have to laugh at ourselves about it!
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the STEM article. It is just so incredibly different from my personal exposure to STEM as a preschool teacher and as a parent of an elementary school child. Maybe it is just more child friendly at a young age, or perhaps it is because our school is Reggio inspired.
I love the line, “Is it a vital interest of the state to have more anthropologists?” – I always thought of Anthropology as a science, fitting into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
Another curious statement, “Americans should be careful before they try to mimic Asian educational systems, which are oriented around memorization and test-taking.”
I’m not a huge common core fan, but my understanding is that this is precisely the biggest concern about common core mathematics for early elementary – not enough opportunity to memorize math facts.
I’ve never thought of the STEM movement as a zero sum game (ie more STEM = less social sciences). My understanding is that the push for STEM is to develop creative thinkers, reevaluate the way STEM is taught and attempt to reduce some of the stigma around STEM (math is boring, science isn’t for girls, etc.).
In my daughter’s (public) elementary school STEM looks like more hands-on experiential learning, rather than text book learning. They do many science experiments. The school has a large garden and each class works in their plot. They cook, take music lessons and do other activities that are no longer traditionally part of elementary education, acknowledging the academic benefits that come from them. Tech is integrated into her class and the school as well and lots of art. Following the current trend, her school’s focus is STEAM (the A is for Arts).
I’m so thankful that that my daughter is not being exposed to STEM as it is portrayed in the article.
Do yourself a huge favor and read the Poldark books! It is a lovely LONGGGG series (12!), with one of the best written relationships ever. (Between Demelza and Ross). Winston Graham wrote a thoroughly good male hero in Ross. He is principled and good (mostly!) without being a pushover It stands up to my critical English Languages and Literature major brain and gets better with re reads. Literally just finished re- reading the last book of the series last night.
Have you read the Poldark series? I got sucked in during some illness (or a breakup?) many years ago. They’re SO GOOD.
I need to make it happen!
Poldark is AWESOME