Good morning,
Weather continues to dominate my thoughts this week. We had 3 more significant rain storms totaling more than 2” of rain and driving us inside after choosing to camp in a tent in the yard. To the relief of every animal on the farm, four legs and two legs alike, the thunderstorms brought with them a break in the heat. While our toes are still soggy from puddles in the fields, the sweat and humidity has abated.
We added a few extra seats to the dinner table this week. My cousin Beatty has been a huge help this summer, from kitchen cleaning, kid commuting, to our processing facility and we added one more cousin this week. Our mutual cousin Erety joined us this week by hopping an Amtrak train on short notice and arriving Sunday afternoon in time for dinner and our weekly chicken catching routine after sundown.
Thank you Erety for all your help catching chickens, playing with Lewis and Lovett, riding bikes, and making more chicken bacon burger with Beatty!
Favorite Recipe this Week
Pasta with red sauce and vegetables is a quick and easy dinner in our house. Now we’re bringing it to the next level with our chicken bacon burger to create our own version of Pasta Carbonara. Here’s what we did:
- Set pasta water to boil (approximately 6 quarts for every pound of pasta)
- Place 1 lb of Chicken Bacon Burger into large stainless steel sauce pan on medium-high heat.
- Dice 1 large union while chicken bacon burger is beginning to sizzle.
- Add diced onion to pan once chicken bacon burger has released some juices.
- Stir and break up chicken bacon burger to the “chunk size” you like in your pasta sauce.
- When the chicken bacon burger and the onions begin to brown add the pasta sauce, with care when adding cold sauce to hot pan.
- Salt pasta water when it comes to a boil (if desired) and cook pasta.
- Strain pasta and serve with sauce
We love to serve this dish with some sautéed vegetables as well. For extra flavor, try pouring off some of the juices after the onion and chicken bacon burger have cooked into a sauté pan. Then cook some garden fresh zucchinis in it. Serve with the pasta.
I just learned to use a cool recipe builder our website has. Share this recipe with your friends here.
Farm Happenings
Our Chicken Liver Pâté has been a real hit. We love hosting friends and family, especially during the warm summer months when we can eat and play outside without wearing too many layers. Fresh vegetables and humus are a staple starter for us and we have loved adding some crackers or toast with our Chicken Liver Pâté.
Our pâté expert Taylor developed the recipe this winter and this week Taylor taught our processing team how to make it.
If you haven’t tried some…our kids call it “meat peanut butter” which I’m not sure is worth much in the marketing department, but it does indicate how much they love it.
Lovett has been waiting for over a year to have her own ducks. Last year she brought home many chicks from the brooder and somehow she decided last year that she also wanted to raise baby ducks.
There are some things which stick in the mind of a 6 year old, and for this one the acquisition and care of baby ducklings is one of them. Throughout the last year she has intentionally demonstrated how she can help, take care of things, do her own chores all building a case for “see I am ready to take care of my own ducks…”
When summer vacation came we decided it was time for ducks. Lovett did some serious research looking at pictures of different duck breeds and we landed on Black Swedish and purchased 5 duck hens and 1 drake for our flock.
The post office called to announce their arrival this week one day after our weekly shipment of chicks and the excitement put any Christmas to shame. I have to admit, the ducks are pretty cute and very sociable. They have bonded with Lovett and her voice and are already following her around the yard.
Reber Rock Farm Blog 