Entries under "Recipes"
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On Surprises and an Unlikely Recipe
Keeping a luxury inn on 42 acres of fields, forests, and vineyards is a lot of work. In addition to the regular duties and upkeep of the inn, there are a host of farm chores: chickens to keep, gardens to water and weed, gophers to trap, fields to mow, the vineyard to tend. How Karen and Neal have kept it up so tirelessly for ten years is beyond me. And on top of all the regular work, there are always surprises to deal with. Like the other day, when Neal noticed the unmistakable stink of skunk in the garage. He searched every corner of the garage, wondering if he would find a skunk in one of them. He didn’t, to his relief, but he soon found the culprit curled up in her usual spot on the bench outside the front door: Queen Bee. She had gotten herself properly skunked.
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Lavender Lemonade
This time of year, lavender is in its prime. The official Oregon Lavender Festival may be over, but the lovely herb continues to flourish and dots our property in patches of purple and white. One of my favorite uses for lavender is Lavender Lemonade – it’s sweet, tangy, floral, and it’s a perfect thirst-quencher on these hot summer afternoons. You can make regular old lemonade and just throw a handful of fresh lavender flowers in it to infuse, but I’ve found that the best method uses lavender simple syrup. Make sure to use culinary-grade lavender, meaning lavender that hasn’t been treated with any chemicals. Fun fact: If you use the variety of lavender called Hidcote, your lemonade will turn pink.
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Strawberry Jam
Grandpa showed up at the kitchen door yesterday with 4 giant flats of local strawberries -- time to make the annual batch of Utz family strawberry jam! I'd been looking forward to jam day for a while. I made my own jam for the first time last summer, and now I'm hooked. Homemade jam is so simple to make and so much better than the store-bought stuff that I'm surprised more people don't make it.