The turkey is on. The pies are baked, and the side dishes are ready to put in the oven.
Queen Barktifah is settling in to guard the turkey.
It looks like QB is looking forward to clean up duty tonight.
I hope everyone is having a FABULOUS Thanksgiving Day!
Here’s what we got this week in our CSA boxes:
Basil
Red potatoes
Chard
Kale
Green beans
Peppers
Radishes
Beets
Winter Squash
1 lb. Ground beef
Roasting Chicken
3 lb. Bottom Round Roast
For the dogs I got pork neck bones. I think I didn’t get one of the bags I was supposed to. I also ordered chicken necks, pig ears, and pork skins. I called the pick up site to ask if they were there. If not, I’ll contact the farm tomorrow and see what happened. I’m kind of disappointed about the pig ears. I was looking forward to that experiment.
Tomorrow I will do the roast in a crock-pot with the potatoes and some other stew-like pot roast things. The radishes may end up in the crock-pot too. I plan to season with rosemary from the yard. I will serve with a side of sautéed greens.
TMOTH has not yet decided what he will do Wednesday night. I’m lobbying for something with the chicken. He’s not thrilled with poultry that close to Thanksgiving. We’re having our dinner Friday, so if we have beef again on Thursday we’ll be alternating poultry and beef.
I’ll utilize the peppers in my omelets. The other veggies will get used as we eat our way through all the leftovers we will have from the roast, the turkey and the roasting chicken. This menu is not particularly inspired. However, that’s how Thanksgiving week tends to be. The focus is on the feast.
Tonight I’ll be picking up our first CSA boxes from Tara Firma Farms. Tomorrow I’ll have a post showing what was in the boxes along with the Paleo menu TMOTH and I develop to use everything.
I’ve been doing some research on how to dry pig ears to make dog treats. I’ve got two methods I’m going to try: an oven method and a dehydrator method. The Airedale Terrierists love these, but it’s an expensive treat. They are $0.75/each at Cost-Co. If this works out pig ears will be back in the dog treat rotation.
I’m not sure if I’ll get to the pork skins (rinds) until after the Thanksgiving feast. But stay tuned and see how that goes.
Today’s video is another presentation from The Ancestral Health Symposium 2011. The presenter, Boyd Eaton MD first published on this topic in 1985. Dr. Eaton has remained active in his research and interest in this area and has influenced many of the people currently working in this field.
His presentation provides a nice overview of the Ancestral Health Movement. It also provides Dr. Eaton’s vision of where he thinks the movement needs to go, which is addressing some of the problems currently present in our biome. I found this presentation interesting and thought-provoking.
“Ancestral Health: Past, Present, and Future” by Boyd Eaton, MD from Ancestry on Vimeo.
TMOTH (The Man of the House) and I have finalized the menu for our Thanksgiving Feast next Friday (We have celebrated on Friday ever since the year my parents were stuck in a traffic jam for 8 hours and my father refused to drive on Thanksgiving again). The meal will be primarily Paleo. We will use local foods wherever possible.
This is the first holiday that we are celebrating since I have started following a Paleo lifestyle and diet. This made menu planning a bit of a challenge. On one hand, I don’t want to be THAT person inflicting my dietary regimen on my entire family, but on the other hand I want to serve healthy, nutritious foods to my loved ones (I also don’t want to spend hours preparing a meal that I can’t eat). I am also trying to avoid gluten exposure and contamination. This is important to me, but not to the other people who will be there. With a holiday meal there is also the consideration of traditional favorite foods.
I think we have come up with a menu for a feast that everyone will enjoy. Here’s the final cut:
We went to the Farmer’s Market this morning to get a few ingredients. We purchased a beautiful bunch of celery from Tierra Vegetables and some star thistle honey (for the pies) from Hector Alvarez of Hector’s Honey Farm. While we were there we ran into MO (Middle offspring), DIL and OG (Oldest Grandchild). We discussed the menu with them. MO seemed a bit relieved when TMOTH mentioned that he was going to bake a traditional Apple Pie, in addition to the gluten-free pies. The Offspring have eaten pumpkin pies with nut crusts before. My dad has celiac disease and that’s what I made for him when he was still able to travel and join us. No one seemed to have an issue with them at that time. I don’t expect one this year.
The traditional Thanksgiving menu is already fairly Paleo. It only took a few tweaks to make it almost entirely Paleo. The meal is quite a bit higher in carbs than what I typically eat, but it’s a feast day so there’s nothing wrong with that.
The Feast Nearby: How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, and eating locally (all on $40 a week) by Robin Mather
Ms. Mather is a food editor and writer who experienced a major change in her lifestyle as a result of a series of unfortunate circumstances. The author simplified her life, retreated to a cottage in Michigan with her pets and a very limited budget.
The author states in the introduction that eating well had become a habit that she was unwilling to compromise on. Ms. Mather also had a commitment to spend as much of her limited food dollars as possible directly with the food producers. She decided to meet these goals by spending her $40/week food budget on locally produced foods.
This book chronicles the author’s first year following this regimen in a collection of essays, recipes and food preservation tips. It can be read as a memoir interspersed with recipes or as a cookbook with background material about each of the recipes.
The author’s essays were well-written and interesting. I found them to be both humorous and poignant. I found the seasonal flow of the food particularly interesting. Ms. Mather was eating locally produced foods while living in Michigan. As a result, the available foods vary dramatically depending on the season. It is also necessary to think ahead to the winter and preserve the bounty of the summer and fall.
I found the different methods of food preservation interesting. The author also describes how the preserved foods are used. This was very helpful. Living in California, I have access to fresh produce year round. However, there are some things that I think I will preserve during the next year. Tomatoes are the first thing that comes to my mind. I make a lot of recipes that call for a can of diced tomatoes. I’d rather use a jar of heirloom tomatoes that I canned than a commercially canned tomato.
The memoir portion of the book is its primary feature. The recipes are a nice bonus. Most of the recipes in this book contain ingredients that I do not eat. If you are looking for Paleo or low carb recipes, this is not the book for you. If your diet allows for the consumption of grains, legumes and sugar there are a lot of interesting recipes that will help you utilize the bounty of your garden or the Farmer’s Market.
I loved this book. It made me want to retreat to a cabin with TMOTH and the Airedale Terrierists and just live there cooking and eating seasonal foods. I’m attracted to the Paleo lifestyle because I think the human psyche does benefit by being in synch with the cycles and the seasons of the world around us. Unfortunately the reality of supporting oneself in the modern world makes this difficult to do. I think one reason that I enjoyed this memoir was that it showed that with a little ingenuity and sacrifice it is possible to live a more organic life, in synch with the turning of the seasons.
As part of our Paleo diet and lifestyle, TMOTH (The Man of the House) and I have been shifting our food purchasing and consumption to locally produced items. Initially the reason for the shift was to obtain higher quality foods, particularly meats. As I began interacting with the farmers and people who grow food in my area my motivations for purchasing locally produced foods expanded to include sustainability of production, and support of the local economy and small farmer.
In an earlier blog post I mentioned that going to the Farmer’s Market every week was cutting into my play time. As a result, TMOTH and I started exploring CSA (community supported agriculture) options.
Last weekend we went out to Tara Firma Farms in Petaluma. The CSA options that they offered were attractive to me. I could get meats (beef, pork and chicken), pastured eggs, and organic vegetables delivered once a week to a location near my home.
Tara Firma Farms offers tours of their facility on Saturdays and Sundays on the hour between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM. The tour lasts about an hour and shows the husbandry of the livestock, as well as discussing the CSA options.
The farm is located on 300 acres on the outskirts of Petaluma. It has been in operation for 2 ½ years and is providing food to over 300 people. Beef, pork, chicken and turkeys are being raised in a humane and sustainable manner on open pasture. They have been raising organic vegetables, but meats are the primary focus. In order to meet the needs of the CSA shares, vegetables from other local growers are utilized.
TMOTH and I were impressed with the operation and the way the property is being managed. We have signed up to receive weekly eggs, meats and vegetables. I’ll be picking up our first box next Monday. I plan to start a weekly blog feature showing what we received in the CSA box along with the weekly paleo menu we plan based on the contents.
I also ordered a few unusual items this week in addition to our regular boxes. Next week I’ll be getting some chicken necks and pork bones for the Airedale Terrierists. They are raw fed, and I welcome the opportunity to improve the quality of their diet. I also ordered some pig ears and pork skins. TMOTH and I are going to see if we can make dog chewies in the dehydrator with the pig ears. I have a plan to make Chicharrons or Cracklins with the pork skin. I plan to subject all my loyal readers to the chronicles of our adventures with pork parts.
Ingredients
Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
Remove giblets from cavity of chicken. Wash chicken in cold water and pat dry.
Place the chicken in a roasting pan. Pour 1/2 cup of lime juice over chicken and in cavity. Mix salt and pepper together. Rub on outside of chicken and in cavity.
Roll 2-3 limes on counter to soften. Pierce each lime 3-4 times with a fork and insert into the cavity of the chicken.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 F and place chicken in the oven until done. Meat thermometer should register 180 F and juices sould run clear if thigh is pricked with a fork.
Note: Allow 18-20 minutes per pound, plus an additional 15 minutes for cooking time.
Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Here’s another video from The Ancestral Health Symposium 2011. Dr. Lynda Frassetto, a kidney specialist, discusses her research comparing the Paleo Diet with the DASH Diet. The study looks at kidney health markers.
“Should everyone eat a paleo diet?” by Lynda Frassetto, MD from Ancestry on Vimeo.
I changed my mind and decided not to inflict the visual reality of my Mom-Flesh on my loyal readers this month. Logistically it would be difficult for TMOTH and I to do the photos today. My nephew is staying with us for a few weeks and I don’t want to permanently scar him for life.
I haven’t lost as much weight as I would have liked to this month. I have lost some inches. In fact, all my clothing now fits perfectly again. I’m a bit heavier than I was when it last fit perfectly, so I’m assuming the strength training I do twice a week is working and that I have put on a bit of muscle. Still, things are moving in a positive direction. This is the size I tend to settle in to. I suspect it will take a bit of concerted effort to reduce further.
At this point, as the holidays approach, my goal is to stay where I am and not put on any holiday weight. In January, I’ll really look at my diet and exercise and see what I can do about getting rid of that menopot. I must note here that the gymnastics rings that TMOTH installed in the garage for me seem to be having a positive effect on the bat wings.
Without further ado, here are my stats compared with last month.
10/9 11/12 Change
We’re getting ready to hit the road to check out the farm today. I’ll post a report in my next blog.
Rancho Seabow Permaculture 