Life is going along here on the farm. Garden beds are mostly at rest, thirteen hens are laying about 6 eggs PER WEEK- need to work on that. I had to actually buy a dozen at the store- ouch. We are working on breeding Shirley our yearling goat. I’m so not getting any idea of when she’s in heat despite numerous youtube videos on said subject- followed by actual mating. wow. I seriously just want to get our own buck… hint hint:) I mean a critical point of having these darlings was to get milk if I remember correctly. And we can’t do that without babies!
But let’s move on…I’m not so chatty today.
I served this salad with a meal of slow cooked lamb and red rice. It’s similar to a fall salad from 2012 with feta and I used the same maple vinaigrette.
We have several brussel sprout plants with varying sizes of sprouts. I’ve been enjoying cutting them up finely and frying in a little olive oil. Less cooking time and more flavor.
We also had a good harvest of sugar pumpkins and they are making regular appearances in breads, muffins, cakes and smoothies AND salads.
I’ll bake one up for 45 minutes or so at 375°, peel it, cut it and store it in the fridge and use it for all the aforementioned. I also rinse the seeds, salt them and stick them in the oven too. Then I basically nibble on like all of them in one sitting. They are tasty enough but mostly orally addictive.
I’ll also interchange it with this red kuri squash- I got turned onto it in Germany. It’s like their pumpkin from what I could tell- as you can see we are enjoying delicata’s and spaghetti squash as well as a few sucrine du berry at the forefront of the photo below
It was a nice starter and easy if you have your mise on place set up ahead of time.
I fried the cubed pumpkin up in coconut oil on a crepe pan (sort of non stick). Had my sprouts ready, some pumpkin seeds (bought and roasted) and a splash of corn salad (mache) from the garden… wish I had more. And of course those sweet, juicy ruby beauties. LOVE pomegranates.
And for your smiling pleasure- Otis has a couple new friends. One very big and one very small.
Otis is hoping these two four leggers will be moving in with their people to our rental cabin:)
Happy continuing Fall…
You have such a busy life with your cooking and the farm and your animal babies. I think what a wonderful existence and then I think about the work and I get tired. 🙂
This salad would suit me fine. I love pumpkin and brussels sprouts in a salad.
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And I am so grateful for this existence! We are definitely taking on a little more each year with the animals but at least trying to do it wisely and slowly. I follow a lot of farmers and I actually know what we are getting into but once you start down the road of hobby farm there’s no looking back- first it’s chickens, then goats and sheep, and believe it or not our hearts melt at the sight of a cow….
Have a lovely weekend Maureen!
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Beautiful photographs! The fall salad looks fantastic!
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You have a beautiful place Tonya- I’m envious of all your outbuildings! How great you’ve got that level 1 Sommelier under your belt. I did that in Seattle about 8 years ago and despite loving it I’ve not kept up on it and lost a lot of the vocabulary and feel for it. So keep drinking! cheers… wendy
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Wendy, thank you for reading my post & for your kind comments. My husband & I really enjoyed the wine class; I think we may actually take another one in the future. We love our outbuildings! My great-grandfather built a couple of them, & my dad did the restoration. We feel very fortunate to have my family’s homeplace. Thanks for stopping by my blog! Tonya
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I made somethings similar the other week, love the combination of thinly sliced Brussels sprouts and pumpkin.
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Me too… I’ve always liked brussels sprouts but do find them more versatile sliced up. Oh and thanks for reminding me how to spell brusselS sprouts. Now I’ll go back through and change it all over!! 🙂
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What a beautiful post Wendy. Love the salad and what a pumpkin/squash harvest! Sounds like you are having a lovely time. Sweet photo’s of the happy dogs.
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I love brussels sprouts! This looks great 🙂
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Hey Wendy! Yummo .. Oh that looks so good! I have never used pomegranate before, do you grow it? I love pumpkin ..what a great crop! 🙂 love those pooches ..
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That would be sweet. They grow a little farther south like CA. I think they like sub-tropical. Maybe you could grow them! They are just such little bursts of flavor and can garnish the savory and the sweet. I love that.
We’ll see if we get through all these winter squash/pumpkins. There’s a good chance I’d say.
And the dogs… well they speak for themselves really. xx
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Otis is so cute! I am very intimidated by all those squash – I am not so adventurous when it comes to cooking that stuff up – I made some great roasted cauliflower the other night that even my teenager ate so I am thrilled about that – I am thinking of trying to roast some brussel sprouts next – I hated those when I was a kid but I am sure there must be a decent way to cook them that gets rid of the bitterness – perhaps bacon is the trick LOL
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Bacon always does the trick. You might like this slicing method. It sort of overrides the old I hate brussels sprouts taboo. I think often people just ate them over cooked and mushy or undercooked and crunchy and cabbagy.
As for the squash- try picking up a couple at the store and try them. They are really great to grow in parts where you are trying to make new beds. I just threw some topsoil over the grass and planted them. Now I’ve got a nice new row.
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I have to try it – I am attempting to eat fewer carbs and more veggies
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Well this is a good way to go about it. Just throw in some bacon and you won’t feel a bit cheated!
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Wow, farmy life is busy! There is always something going on. Wonderful fall harvest of pumpkins and squash and this fall salad really celebrates all of the autumn finest produce and fruits. So colorful and beautiful. Happy weekend to you!
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Thanks- it’s a great kind of busy. Today was more apples- drying and saucing. And sauerkraut. I really can’t ever complain!
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Reblogged this on Chef Ceaser.
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I’ve always said you live the sort of life I would dream of. I can’t imagine having the ability to grow those sorts of veggies. I’m stuck buying a sugar pumpkin for way too much here in the city. That salad looks fantastic. Nothing makes me happier than watching dogs play together too!
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This is such a stunning post Wendy. I’m another one of those who wants to have a mini-farm one day, or at the very least a vege patch and some chickens. Your photos are stunning and… what can I say? I adore brussels sprouts and seeing a new recipe for them makes me quite excited! I’m loving coconut oil at the moment, I’m mostly using it raw rather than for frying but you’re making me change my mind. The pomegranate arils add such a lovely pop of colour (and flavour!).
P.S love the photos of your pups! We are loving the addition of Loki to our household (one week at the moment) and I’m excited to see him grow and develop over the next few years. He is such a cuddly little thing. I’ll include some photos in my next post xx
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I love coconut oil- hot or cold. Sometimes even a TB in a smoothie when my skin feels totally dried out.
Farms? I’m stalking them all the time. I’d love a barn.
Looking forward to seeing your new guy. How old? Good luck with the potty training- gives you a teeny weeny insight to babies:)
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What a yummy salad! the pomegranate is a very neat idea, as I like citrus dressings on my salads.
Did Otis get his wish, and did his doggy friends move into the cabin?
Never saw dogs having so much fun together.
Wonderful post, Wendy! xoxo
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He did. He will have 2 new buds on the property! I think a little more normal interaction than him “playing” with Helen the sheep.
Go pomegranates!
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Love the looks of those colours in your salad. Perfect for the nippy weather you’re having & tasty to boot. Every time is see a pic of your dog Otis, I remember your post about the Apple cider clippings and his sour tummy from going to town on them 😉 So adorable!
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Thanks Alice- I’ve got to get over your way. It’s been too long. Real life is full these days.
He was at it again this year but not as much. Did he actually learn his lesson?
Happy holidays. x
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That’s adorable 😉 I suspect he might have!
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Love it! And love the friends!
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