New Year, New Baby

I didn't write about this event before as I've been bouncing from project to project and before I know it, time has run out or I can't seem to write anything. Sometimes the words aren't there to be composed and sometimes the words are there but the time isn't!

Our first calf of the year has been born and is a heifer. Dotty, from our short-legged Angus cow Dolly, appeared on 2 January, a few days after JoJo died. She is adorable, as all babies tend to be. We named her "Dotty" because of the white spots on her head (she also has one on her chest and under a leg). She is a cross between Dolly and our Highland bull, Gunner. She is fuzzier than "regular" calves, but the spots are definitely all from Dolly because Highlands don't have spots. It honestly looked as though a bird had deposited droppings on this little girl's head...and I wasn't about to name her "Shatupon". harhar! Maybe her Native American name can be "Pooped On By Bird" (nearly all the critters on the farm/in the house have Native American names...'cause hubby is part Native American and partly because we have unusual senses of humor).

Anyway, as you can see by her photos, she is a lovely thing and is very lively, nurses enthusiastically, runs and jumps and plays, and is "well put together" according to a neighbor and long-time cattle rancher. Even the young bull Tater is gentle with her and she can sometimes get him to play a little. She is figuring out that she will see us every day and that those things we are giving her mom are something her mom likes but she isn't convinced as of yet (range cubes).

I am looking forward to seeing how she grows and whether her coat will change at all. She seems pretty friendly so far although she hasn't let us touch her yet. She is a pretty girl and we are glad to start off our new year with a new baby.

Oh Saladmaster, how I love thee! Now, can I have a Saladmaster machine please?!!

Let me clarify a few points from the beginning: I do not sell Saladmaster; I am not endorsing it for anyone but me and my family I am merely relaying our experience. If you are interested in trying Saladmaster, I know folks who can show you how to get it. And yes, this means you attend a sales demonstration in which you get to eat the best tasting food you've ever tried for FREE--you do not have to buy anything. However, after the eating and discussion, you will want this cookware and especially this Saladmaster machine. And I want the Saladmaster machine BAD!

If you've read our farm website page "On Your Table", you know why we came to the Ozarks and that we are growing/raising our own food. We aren't at the point of self-sufficiency in that regard, but we're getting there. It is a process, it takes time and experimentation to find the best way (for us) to work this all out. What I didn't realize was that I was missing a critical piece of the freezer/pantry-to-usable nutrition puzzle.

I understand growing, raising and butchering humanely, cleanly, and with as little stress as possible. This, in my opinion, is good for the animal which passes on that good to me. What I didn't think about was how and in what I was cooking that "good". In walks a product brand I'd never heard of, although a few years ago I had attended a demonstration for a similar (but not the same!) product type. We have great friends who have a Saladmaster business; they called one day and asked to demo and cook a dinner for us. We enjoy supporting small business people like ourselves, so we said "yes'em, we'll take a look and enjoy having you visit the farm".

We had a great time with our friends, we had a lot of fun participating in the demonstration, we got to taste how good the food was when cooked in Saladmaster, and I didn't have to cook that afternoon (bonus!). What was the clincher for me? It was the pot test...your pots (teflon coated, cast iron, aluminum, "green" cookware...) against Saladmaster. Wow. My pots, especially the brand new ones I bought 2 years ago, were an Epic Fail against Saladmaster. Then I got scared, thinking there was no way we'd be able to get this cooler than cool cookware.

I was wrong--there, I typed it. It doesn't happen often, but that day I was wrong for a brief moment. Whew, glad it passed quickly.  

We are now the proud owners of a set of Saladmaster cookware and I am constantly amazed at how GOOD our meals taste. I am in learning mode and there are times when I read a recipe and think there is NO WAY I can have dinner ready in 20 minutes tops. But I do and it all tastes fan-freakin'-tastic!

One thing is missing though from my nearly perfect kitchen...the Saladmaster machine! You can get a free Saladmaster machine when you have three couples (who own their own homes) attend a dinner. Well, we aren't hugely social, so we don't know very many married folks who own their own home. We know some couples who do, but they say they "can't afford it", even though they don't know how much any of this costs and after I have forbidden them to bring check books or credit cards.

I. Must. Have. A. Saladmaster machine!! So come on y'all, come for dinner. You don't have to buy anything, just savor the experience and have a good time with us. It's a win-win any way you look at it: you eat fabulous food and I get goodies!! ;-D

Mulefoot...It is NOT the Other White Meat

Mulefoot pork...you know you want some!

Last night, I opened a package of Mulefoot pork chops. I was taken aback by how pretty the meat was that I HAD to take a photo of it and put it in with this blog post. It looks like a photo of a few small steaks, doesn't it? RED meat with a beautiful layer of white clean fat along the edge. That fat is clean...it looks clean, smells clean, and tastes clean.

I know that meat (and other food products) don't taste good based solely on their breed type. How the animal is raised, what it is fed, what it drinks, if it gets sunshine and fresh air, and so forth all play a crucial role--and these factors always will. This isn't a rant against large farming corporations; they have supplied thousands of grocery stores with relatively inexpensive food. This has been good for folks who don't have a lot of money to spend on food, can't grow their own food (be it veggies and/or food animals), or don't have access to small independent farms. I simply don't want to feed myself or anyone else food that has been unnaturally enhanced to grow quickly and then processed in an assembly-line manner with less than zero regard for nutritional quality. I want and deserve better.

When the pork marketing gurus came out with their campaign that stated pork was "the other white meat", I thought it was brilliant. Seriously, how else could this campaign have influenced so many folks into buying (and liking! *koffkoff*) GREY meat that tastes like...nothing? If your doctor wants to know why you use so much salt on your food, you can probably say, with complete honesty, that it doesn't taste like anything unless you load it up with "seasonings". Those aren't seasonings to enhance the flavor, they're disguises to cover up the lack of flavor!

Let me put away my tiny soapbox and say this: do yourself a favor and try fresh, humanely grown food. It doesn't have to be Mulefoot, although I am wholly biased toward Mulefoot pork and the breed itself. Get a package of pork chops or beef steaks from your local organic or slow-grow farmer and cook them up along side a package of pork chops or beef steaks from the grocery store. Don't use salt or any other seasonings...just taste them side by side. Will the fresh meat taste differently? You bet! Will the fresh meat taste odd? Probably because your palate isn't used to what fresh food tastes like. Will you like it? Only one way to find out and that is to try it for yourself.

Looking for a local slow-grow farmer? Start at http://www.eatwild.com/ or http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ .

Wanna try Mulefoot pork, see a Mulefoot hog up close and personal, and you live near the Ozarks? Visit our farm site for more information at http://www.theheritagehills.com/

The New Next Door Neighbor

We are very lucky to have with us a new addition to the farm, a charming and woolly in the extreme fella named Stormy. Stormy comes to us from a local friend's farm; we picked him up on the morning of the first day of the new year. It took about 40 minutes or so to get him loaded. Mostly it is all in the set up and how to best move the animal forward. However, once I remembered how to walk backward and UP into a stock trailer with a bucket of oats, it didn't take too long that he jumped right up into the trailer with me. I love "Ta Da!" moments like these!

Stormy, in all his pre-felted glory!

Stormy is currently hanging out in the pasture next to where we have the ewes (and dogs). We wanted to give him some time to meet and greet through the fence. I know there are folks who would just dump him in with the group and let them figure it out on their own. Because it is all about me (harharhar!), I am not happy creating a stressful situation for the animal(s). We are not in a rush, we have plenty of pasture for everyone, and we have plenty of time to move him in with the girls and the dogs. We have found this pokey but easing-in approach to be the best course of action for our critters be they fuzzy, fluffy, furry or woolly.

Our male dog, Grizzie (14 months), has been fine with him, but our young female, Fiona (8 months), has been on high alert with the new next door neighbor. Stormy, however, lowers his head and lunges forward and the dogs jump waaaay back...as they should. Anatolians are to guard, not necessarily be in charge. Stormy has be flirting incessantly with Lensey and Lacey, showing them where the best leaves and grass are along the fence line and touching noses through the fence. I've never seen courting rituals between sheep, so it has been fun to watch.

As can be seen from the photo, Stormy has a big ole bunch of wool on him and it is literally felted. It looks like a carapace or crinoline it is so stiff! We have been joking that he is carrying his own house around with him like a snail or hermit crab! We debated about taking at least some of it off, but was advised to keep it on until April or May when he could be sheared of the whole thing. I can't wait to see what he looks like under all that wool!