It’s not all black clouds and Eeyore-like over here. Mike and I are pulling ourselves off of our niche internet keyword researching to have a little fun. I start thinking about Valentine’s Day the week after Christmas! I KNoW! CrAZy, huh?!
I’m so crazy about Valentine’s Day we will be having a GIVEAWAY! See the bottom of the post for details… » » »
Having a large vegetable garden is great. One problem that arises though is what to do with all that food. It tends to come in all at once and as much as we love to eat our veggies we can’t eat them all. We blanch and freeze our greens but who doesn’t love a shelf full of pickles? Last week Mike shared his recipe for his scrumptious green tomato chutney. You can freeze it but we chose to can it. Today we will show you how to can the green tomato chutney and how to pickle cucumbers. » » »
Last week I showed you all how I made my own ravioli press. Molly’s childhood friend requested we share how we made the lobster ravioli for Pistol’s birthday. It only made sense!
Ravioli are one of those foods that are much cheaper to make at home than to buy from the store. Plus there is no substitute for fresh, so unless you live near an Italian market this is the way to go.
First, you must start with the dough:
Ravioli dough
For the past few years we have a fall ritual of buying a cow. We have it butchered and split it with friends. It’s not a new idea but it’s getting more and more popular. Here in New Mexico finding a rancher that raises cattle is not difficult. New Mexico is filled with wide open spaces with maybe not lush pasture grass but it’s grass. (we grow scrappy cows around here) The rancher we purchase our cow from is in Abiquiu, NM. If we want we can go up in the spring and pick a calf. They put it out to pasture on public land and let it grow. In the fall they call and tell us the cow is ready. Mike does the whole deal over the internet. We don’t really want to get to know our cow.
Mike: One year I decided to buy a live cow from a friend who had a small ranch. I wanted to experience the entire process so I went up watched them kill the cow. I helped skin, gut and quarter it. I drove it back to Santa Fe. The friend we were cow sharing with talked the butcher (who he was acquainted with) into letting us help him cut up the cow. We woke up at 3am (because I guess that’s when it is done), went to the butcher’s shop and cut it up. It was a lot of work. » » »
Today’s post is dedicated to Marla. Marla is Niki’s (from Debt Free by Thirty) new Kitchen Aid mixer. Here’s to some real good mixin’ girlfriend!!
Stay tuned to the end of this post to find out who our giveaway winner is from last week!!
A few weeks back it was Pistol’s birthday. Now we have two 13 year olds in the home-YIKES!
Mike: Talking about that one is about six posts worth of content.
She asked for a lemon cake with a whipped cream cheese icing for her birthday cake.
Molly: Yummy! How did you get her steered onto the lemon flavor?
Mike: Even though she’s a picky eater sometimes she responds to novelty. I just took a shot and threw it out there.
Molly: Genius sweetie! » » »
It’s our first giveaway of the year! To see how you can win a bottle of Molly’s homemade vanilla extract see the bottom of the post!
Every year we make our gifts for friends and family. In theory it’s a fantastic idea. Come December our brains go on overdrive with what we want to accomplish. I spent two weeks before the holidays practically chained to my sewing machine only getting up to stir a pot of soup or pull cookies out of the oven. About half of our ideas make it out as an actual gift but what does make it feels pretty special and an accomplishment. I know it’s a bit after the fact but I couldn’t post this before Christmas! All my family would know what they were getting- work with me here!
Last year I really wanted to make vanilla extract for everyone. I didn’t pull it off in time so I figured I was way ahead of the game for this year. This is a great gift for anytime of year. My favorite part is that you can make a big batch of vanilla, put it in the closet and pull one out whenever you need that quick gift. » » »
I may not be a Bond Girl but I sure can drink like one. OK, that’s really not true. I can’t drink more than a glass of wine or one margarita without feeling like a truck hit me the next day. With my Scott-Irish genetics you would think I’d be a better performer in the drinking arena. I really love the taste of most alcohol and have a dream that one day I could drink like a fish without its ramifications. Thanksgiving signals the start of martini season for me; a particular type of martini that screams holiday goodness. It’s a recipe that I found online years ago called the Mayflower martini. I’ve tweeked it for my own needs and taste. I also renamed it: Molly’s Merry Martini. » » »
It just sounds delicious doesn’t it?
It is
You can make it
It’s easy
Here’s how:
Get two duck breasts. In my case that involved buying ducklings in the spring and raising them all summer. You might want to just go to the store. It’s OK, I understand. » » »
This summer we had an abundance of tomatoes. When we had the threat of our first freeze Mike and I spent the evening out in the cold, cold rain picking tomatoes. Bags and bag and bags. What to do, oh, what to do with all these tomatoes?! We canned, stewed and diced them. A meal did not go by without a few tomatoes in it. In an act of tomato inspiration this super fresh salsa came to fruition. » » »
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