Olive Oil Cake with summer fruit salad

Cracker Recipe

Crackers:

4 Liters Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

¾ Liter Shortening

1 1/3 Liter Milk

Mix flour, baking powder and shortening

Add milk

Roll out to ¼ inch thickness

Season with salt and pepper

Prick with fork

Cut to size with knife

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes

Chowder Recipe

Clam Chowder:

Render ¼ slab of bacon

Add 2 stalks leeks

Add 4 stalks celery

Add 2 Onions, chopped

Add 1 head garlic, chopped

Add 2 cups White Wine

Reduce

Add 2 Liters cream

Add 2 Liters milk

Add 1 Liter clam juice

Reduce

Blend

Add to Order:

Parsley

Chives

Potato Rounds (boiled fingerlings, peeled and cut to dime sized portions)

Bacon, rendered

Herbapalooza!

A wonderful list of herbs we used during Sunday's herbology class:

Lavender
Parts Used: Flowers
A wonderful plant for the nervous system, lavender helps alleviate stress, nervousness,
insomnia, muscle tension, headaches and depression. It has the ability to relieve muscle
spasms, thus helpful in treated muscle aches and cramps, both menstrual and abdominal.
When applied externally, it helps relieve sunburns, inflammation and wounds, such as
insect bites.

Rosemary
Parts Used: Leaves
Rosemary is one of the plants most praised for its effect on the circulatory system. It
helps stimulate circulation, which is beneficial to the entire body. Helping the body stay
warm, rosemary is an ideal plant to take in the winter months, especially for those who
often have cold extremities or are suffering from respiratory congestion. It helps the
mind stay focused and helps the memory because it increases circulation to the brain. It
stimulates hair growth and helps relieve muscle pain.

Peppermint
Parts Used: Leaves and flowers
Peppermint has a beautifully refreshing effect and is typically used to treat the digestive
system. It also has a wonderful effect on the respiratory system and is used in cases of
colds, bronchitis, sinusitis or asthma. Peppermint, as well as other members of the mint
family, is rich in vitamin C, beta-carotene and chlorophyll. The oil can be used to relieve
sore muscles and skin disorders, such as rashes.

Lemon balm
Parts Used: Leaves and flowers
Lemon balm is a plant that helps balance moods and emotions. It helps people go with
the flow, bringing a positive outlook on life. Lemon balm is often used to treat tension,
stress, depression, anxiety, mental fatigue, PMS and insomnia. As a member of the mint
family, lemon balm also helps in treating digestive disorders.

Basil
Parts Used: Leaves, stems and flowers
Basil is a popular herb to use in the kitchen but many don’t know that it has strong
antispasmodic properties, making it a great remedy for digestive disorders. It has a
particular affinity to both the digestive and nervous system, especially when there are
digestive problems caused by stress or headaches/migraines caused by digestive issues.

Fennel
Parts Used: Primarily the seeds, but the root can be used as well.

A wonderful digestive aid, fennel treats abdominal cramps, indigestion, nausea,
flatulence and helps stimulate the appetite. It helps increase breast milk for nursing
mothers and is an excellent remedy to relieve colic in babies.

Thyme
Parts Used: Leaves, stems and flowers
Thyme helps boost the immune system by stimulating the thymus gland. It is extremely
helpful in treating lung problems and convulsive coughs because of its antispasmodic
properties. Its antiseptic and antibacterial properties make it a good choice for treating
sore throats and head colds. It also helps the digestive system in cases of gas and bloating
due to poor absorption of foods.

Nasturtiums
Parts Used: Flowers, leaves and seeds
Nasturtium has fantastic antiseptic properties, making it an effective herb for treating
infections. It has such strong antibacterial actions that it can be qualified as a natural
antibiotic. Nasturtium helps stimulate circulation and has a particular affinity with the
respiratory system and is useful in treating allergies colds, bronchitis and pneumonia. The
flowers and leaves help digestion and the seeds can be used to treat constipation.

Oregano
Parts Used: Leaves and stems
Because of its antiviral and antibacterial properties, oregano has the ability to fight
infections, whether they are related to the respiratory system (bronchitis, laryngitis
and sinusitis) or the skin. Oil of oregano is particularly effective in treating infections.
Oregano also helps treat digestive and muscle spasms.

Chives
Parts Used: Stems
Chives have similar properties as garlic but are less potent. They have antiseptic
properties and help digestion and help treat the respiratory system.

Cumin seeds
Parts Used: Seeds
Cumin seeds help improve digestion by stimulating digestive enzymes. Its carminative
properties help treat and prevent abdominal gas. The seeds can be chewed after meals to
promote digestion.

Hot peppers (Cayenne)
Parts Used: The fruit
Cayenne is a powerful stimulant for the circulatory system and a wonderful tonic for
the heart. It also improves digestion and treats the respiratory system due to its antiviral
and antibacterial properties. Cayenne has the ability to stop bleeding both internally
and externally. It helps stimulate the immune system and can be used externally to treat
arthritis and muscle pains.

Parsley
Parts Used: Whole plant
Parsley is a very nourishing herb as it is high in iron, beta-carotene and chlorophyll. It
is a diuretic (increases urination) therefore it is a crucial herb for treating bladder and
kidney problems. Because parsley is high in iron, it’s great for treating anemia and
fatigue.

Down on the farm...

It's been pure chaos recently, and the best kind of friends to have when things get tough...farm friends.  Turkey Hill Farm is a beautiful piece of land, complete with alpacas, an attack duck, rows and rows of vegetables and a wood fired oven.
Sharing delicious beer, home made pizza dough and garden fresh toppings, it was beautiful, relaxing and inspiring.
I'm thinking that sometime this autumn would be a wonderful time to teach a cooking class at the farm...you would be hard pressed to do better than that!  Take that farm to table movement...we're bringing our table to the farm!

Herbology Menu!

Variety of Flavored Waters to Start
cucumber peppermint, lavender lime, and rosemary peach

Herbal Booze
Gin, Lavender Mead

Each table can get two herbal oils and a compound butter, served with seeded fougasse
basil, thyme, rosemary and oregano oil
fennel seed olive oil
cilantro butter
chive butter

Each table can get marinated cheese:
feta in rosemary, thyme and hot peppers

Two salads will be served:
rocket, tomato, mint, fennel with a lemon vinaigrette
rocket, spinach, spring onion, and nasturtium with "green godess" buttermilk dressing

Two appetizers:
Shrimp with basil pesto
Herb crusted pork tenderloin served cold with tapenade

Main Courses:
Goat cheese and herb stuffed calamari with lentils in a tomato vinaigrette
Herb Roasted Chicken with Rosemary potatoes

Each table will get an After Dinner Seed Chew
sesame seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds

Dessert:
Lavender fruit salad with peaches, nectarines, blueberries
and
Olive oil cake with mint honey and sweetened yogurt

These are the emails I love to wake up to...

Hi Cole, As we were talking about how awesome pork is, I made some lo mai gai (lotus leaf wraps) tonight. They're basically Chinese tamales--glutinous rice, mung beans, chestnuts, Chinese sausage, hard boiled egg, pork belly braised in garlic, ginger, and oyster sauce with some soy sauce and sugar, and shittake mushrooms, all wrapped up in lotus leaves and steamed. Mmmmm.....porky pork. L2 P.S. Ironically, except for the pork belly, all other ingredients came from me trying to clean out my pantry/fridge!