Update on premies, food, and film

The baby goats are improving quickly. At 24 hours of age, the bigger one started taking her first steps, and the little one finally stood. Now that she can stand, she looks even bonier and tinier. The bigger one is trying to stand on her hind legs and look over the top of the laundry basket, but every time she tries, she falls down. Still, we'll have to find another place for them to stay, since it doesn't look like it will be long before she can jump out of the basket.

As you might have imagined, we haven't been following my menu very closely for the past couple days, because things have gotten kind of crazy. I really want to tell you how we've handled it, but I don't have time right now. I did remember to take a turkey out of the freezer, so we can have roast turkey breast for dinner Sunday.

We're getting ready for our screening of "Fresh" tonight at 7:00. We've cleaned out the smaller barn and will be watching it in there. Last night, we went to see "Food, Inc," and I am really excited to tell you about it, but that will have to wait too.

Contest: Guess the littlest doe's weight

As I said in my earlier post, this doeling is the smallest kid ever to be born on Antiquity Oaks, and I thought it would be fun to have a little contest. You get to guess her weight in pounds, ounces and tenths of an ounce. For example, 2 pounds, 8.9 ounces would be a decent weight for a Nigerian dwarf kid, but this little girl is quite a bit less than that. So, tell me what you think she weighs! The winner gets three bars of my goat milk soap, shipped to you at no charge. Also, be sure to include what you think her sister weighs. (Sister's pictures are in the post below.) In the case of a tie, the sister's weight will be used as the tie breaker. So, before midnight central time Sunday, post your guess in the comment section, and I'll let you know the winner on Monday. Good luck!

P.S. If you're reading this through Facebook, be sure to put your guess in the comment section of the blog, not Facebook.

Premature kids and a clueless mama

It's been an exciting morning here at Antiquity Oaks. Jonathan came inside around 9:30 and said that Scarlet was in labor. I was happy for a split second until I realized she wasn't due until August 10. Although she was pen bred, I saw her get bred and marked the calendar for August 10 as her due date. And it's not like the buck sneaked up on her and just got lucky once. She was definitely in heat and was bred multiple times. Of course, there is the occasional goat that has false heats, and goats that have weird cycles, but the only thing I could think about this morning was how we have never had a kid survive that was born any earlier than about 140 days. These kids would be around 136 days.

Jonathan grabbed three towels to take out to Katherine, who was with Scarlet, and I quickly followed. Katherine looked unhappy. She sighed and said, "She pushes, the nose comes out, and then as soon as she stops pushing, the nose goes back in. She's not making any progress, and she's been doing this for 10 minutes."

"Great," I said sarcastically. I stood outside the stall and watched. A minute later, she had a contraction. As Katherine said, Scarlet pushed a little, the nose came out, and as soon as she stopped pushing, the nose disappeared again. The thing that really struck me was that she made no noise and didn't seem as if she was trying very hard. I don't like to intervene in animal's births, and I especially don't like to intervene when they seem so happy. But I couldn't deny that she was making zero progress. I watched a couple more contractions and thought about what to do.

You can't pull a kid out by its nose -- too slippery. I'd heard of people pulling by the lower jaw but didn't want to risk dislocating the kid's jaw if other options were available. I figured I should be able to find the front feet, grab them and pull the kid out, so I went to get the gloves, iodine, lube, kid puller, and other kidding supplies that are so rarely used around here. I hoped that when I returned, Katherine would be drying off a kid.

When I returned with the kidding box, Katherine was sitting on one end of the stall, and Scarlet was walking around as if she were having a lovely day at the park. I would never know that she was in labor if I only looked at her from the front. But there was no denying that she was past the point of no return. The kid had to be born. Scarlet's water had broken, and a nose kept presenting itself.

A textbook presentation for a kid is the nose lying on top of the two front hooves. The hooves come out first, then a nose, then a head, and voila, a kid! I knew the feet were not where they should be, but I didn't think they were very far back. Wrong! Finding the feet was impossible, because the nose was slipping back inside Scarlet about two inches, which meant its shoulders were several inches inside, and the feet and legs were even farther away -- and my fingers are not that long.

By this time, Mike had arrived and I said that I might need to use the extra-long gloves because I was going to have to have my entire hand inside her to be able to find the front legs. I decided to try to find the front legs one more time with my fingers during her next contraction. Well, she finally decided to push like a real mama goat. (Maybe she understood what I said?) She gave one good push, and the kid practically plopped onto the towel!

I started cleaning off its nose, amazed that it was alive. It was so tiny. I didn't even notice that Scarlet was still pushing and a second kid was emerging. Katherine alerted me to this obvious event that was occurring only inches from my hands. I caught the second kid (pictured) and was trying to clean the noses off both kids. I grabbed a clean towel and put it in front of Scarlet's face and quickly placed both kids in front of her, assuming she would help me clean them up.

Nothing. Scarlet did nothing. She looked at me. She looked at the kids as if they were a pair of sneakers. No sniffing. No licking. No little noises welcoming the kids. Nothing. After a minute, she stood up and walked to the other side of the stall.

"What?" I shrieked, wide-eyed, in disbelief. Scarlet laid down. We finished toweling off the kids and trying to resist calling Scarlet a bad name. We sat in the straw chatting and admiring the kids for 15 minutes, and Scarlet never moved from her spot on the other side of the stall. It was obvious she wanted nothing to do with her kids.

I'm assuming her lack of maternal instincts are because the kids were early, and she doesn't have the requisite hormones helping her to bond with them. Her udder is also ridiculously tiny and looks like a goat who might give birth in a week or two. Katherine couldn't even get enough colostrum to cover the bottom of the milk bucket. (See photo.) The second time she tried, she got about a teaspoon, so maybe it's a good thing Scarlet isn't in love with her babies.

What's the rest of the story? Well, I think the kid's small size is what caused Scarlet to not push very hard. It's the smallest kid we've ever had born here. If her big sister had been first in line, it might have actually been easier for Scarlet. As for her giving birth so early, I'm wondering if her place at the bottom of the pecking order is to blame. We've all felt sorry for Scarlet as it seems she is the whipping boy of the herd. Katherine has been feeding her separately for a while because she realized the other goats wouldn't let her have her grain. And when Katherine first saw the nose sticking out of Scarlet's back end, there was another goat slamming into her belly.

We brought the kids into the house, and they are staying in a laundry basket for now. They can hardly stand, so there's no danger in them getting out of there. Kids are normally bouncing around after 20 minutes or an hour at the latest, so these little girls are facing some challenges. We had some colostrum in the freezer, which we're using. They are eating well, and the bigger one has stood up several times, but has yet to take her first steps. The bigger one also has figured out the bottle and eagerly grabs it when she sees it, so she's doing very well considering she could have benefited from another week inside her mama.

Mexican casserole with black beans

If you're going to make this from scratch, now is the time to get started, since the beans will cook faster if they can soak overnight. If you've reading this on Thursday morning though, don't panic. Black beans are small enough that they can cook after a two-hour hot soak.

So, sort and rinse two pounds of beans, then soak them overnight in room-temp water, or for two hours Thursday morning or early afternoon in hot water. Cook until done, which will probably be a couple hours. Drain liquid from pot and add the following:

a large jar of salsa (16 to 20 ounces)
1/4 cup chili powder (more if you like it spicy)
2 T. cumin
1 T. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder

Oil a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Crush enough tortilla chips to cover bottom of dish, and pour HALF of bean mixture over it. The other half of the bean mixture can be put in a storage container, covered, and refrigerated for up to five days or frozen for a few months. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes if beans are still hot, OR 30 minutes if the beans came from the refrigerator. Remove from oven and sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese. Serve with sour cream and green onions as garnish.

For more posts on food, check out Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday.

Pineapple pork roast

This is a great recipe for busy days, because you can put it all together the night before and stick it in the frig to wait. In fact, I like to put it in the frig the night before so it can marinate. About 90 minutes before you want to have dinner, just pop it in the oven at 350 degrees F.

Put the following in a 9X9 baking dish in this order:
pork roast
sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar on roast
pour 1/4 cup vinegar over sugar and roast
spread a can of unsweetened, crushed pineapple on roast and in pan
sprinkle with salt
cover with foil

That's it! Keep it covered when you put it in the oven. After an hour, check it with a meat thermometer, and continue to cook until it's cooked to your desired level of "doneness."

You're on your own with the zucchini casserole, as I am still working to find one that I really love. If you have a good one, please feel free to post it in the comment section.

For more blog posts on real food check out Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Potato salad -- a lost art?

When I read Garrison Keilor's It's time to stand up for homemade potato salad, I thought that people were just lazy sometimes. However, after a friend posted the article on her Facebook page, one of her friends commented that she had never made potato salad in her life. Okay, maybe I'm naive. But as Keilor says, "It is not that hard to make potato salad, people." Never made a souffle or a pate? Okay, I can handle that. But seriously, making potato salad involves boiling water (with potatoes in it) and mixing up a few things. So, Garrison Keilor, wherever you are, this is my contribution to saving the American way of life. Here's my simple potato salad recipe.

The beauty of making your own potato salad is that you can add or omit anything you don't like. I'm not a big fan of raw celery, so I leave it out. But if you like it, go ahead, chop a couple of stalks and toss it in there. This is one of those things that I make flying by the seat of my pants, so you don't even have to dirty your measuring spoons and cups.

I figure about 1/2 pound of potatoes per person or a medium-size potato per person. Peel the potatoes, chop into one-inch cubes, and boil in water until a fork can easily pierce a piece. You don't want to boil them too long though, or you'll have mashed potatoes. Drain the potatoes. (I pour the water into a quart canning jar and save it in the frig for making bread. Potato water does amazing things for bread!)

Put the potatoes in a large mixing bowl and add a large blop of mayonnaise, a little squirt of mustard, a couple cloves of fresh, crushed garlic, a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Depending on what's in the garden, I'll chop some red onions or snip some fresh parsley or green onions to add some color. Depending upon my mood, I might boil an egg, mash it, and add it to the mix. If you work away from home, you can make this up the night before, cover it, and put it in the frig.

So, there you go -- potato salad. That wasn't so hard now, was it?

As for the burgers on tomorrow's menu, we'll be using some of our ground pork and homemade buns. We have also used ground turkey in the past. Since we only eat the meat that we raise ourselves, we haven't had a beef burger in a couple years, and it'll be several more years (~2013) before we have it again -- and that's only if Bridget or Molly has a little bull calf in 2011.

Raw veggies make a nice side dish since so many of us have been conditioned to want something crunchy with our burgers.

Veggies from the garden & tomorrow's recipes

These are the vegetables that we picked from the garden today. Guess what we've having with our chicken tonight? Maybe a few green beans. Looks like we'll be canning beans sooner than we thought. That's okay, though, because Katherine loves dilly beans. I can never make enough to last for very long, so we always have to ration them out over the winter.

We're having pancakes for breakfast tomorrow, so here's our recipe, which we have worked on and tweaked for years:

Buttermilk Pancakes
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 cup flour (whole wheat preferred)
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 T. sugar
1/3 cup chocolate chips, if desired

Mix all ingredients together. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Flip after bubbles have started to pop. Time-saving note: Dry ingredients can be mixed up the night before, so you only need to add the egg and buttermilk in the morning.

I know it sounds weird to have both baking powder and baking soda, but trust me, the texture of the pancakes depends on it. I've tried using just one, and the texture is icky. Same goes for the buttermilk. You can use plain milk, but the flavor and texture are greatly improved by using buttermilk. We use whole wheat flour, but you can, of course, use unbleached or half of each or 1/3 whole wheat or whatever combination you prefer. If you don't tell your kids (or spouse) that there is whole wheat in them, there is a good chance they won't notice -- as long as you include the chocolate chips. Using chocolate chips also means they can be eaten on the run, since you don't need syrup.

And for tomorrow night's dinner:

Pasta Salad
Mix together the following ingredients in a large bowl:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 T fresh dill or 1/2 t. dried dill weed
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
Add:
1 pound uncooked rotini that has been cooked, drained, and rinsed in cold water
2-3 zucchinis, sliced
1 carrot, shredded
2 green onions, snipped into 1/4 inch pieces

Mix everything together, cover and refrigerate at least a couple hours before dinner. Can be done the night before. This is an easy recipe to cut in half if you're only cooking for one or two, but remember, it keeps in the frig for two or three days.

Feel free to invite friends to join us in our Cyber Celebration of Food, and don't be shy about commenting and letting us know about your challenges and successes.

This week's menu

As promised, here is my menu for the upcoming week. I don't have anything listed for lunches because we typically eat left-overs. I consciously make too much for dinner. For example, Monday night's dinner is quiche. I'll make two quiches, one broccoli-cheddar and one spinach-goat cheese. We'll eat the equivalent of one quiche, and the rest will go in the frig for Tuesday's lunch. We might also make an appetizer to go with the left-overs for lunch. Today, Katherine made spinach-artichoke dip. One day last week, I made zucchini fritters.

It's important to note that I look at my schedule as I'm making the menu, so I can make sure I don't list anything that would not work on any particular day. We normally have pizza every Friday night, but this week, we are screening Fresh, and we've told people they can start arriving at 5 p.m. for a tour of the farm. Instead of having our usual pizza, we'll have a typical British tea at 4 p.m. with sandwiches and sweets.

Side dishes for dinner will include whatever vegetables are ripe in the garden on that particular day. Green onions will garnish quite a few of the dishes, and we'll have salad with some of the meals.

We will also be making dessert to go with most meals. Pudding is a favorite, as well as brownies and cookies, but I don't usually plan them ahead of time. Since dessert isn't absolutely necessary, I just fix them as I have time.

Monday
Breakfast: buttermilk pancakes
Dinner: Quiche, pasta salad, bread

Tuesday
B: French toast
D: Burgers, potato salad, zucchini sticks (veggie burger for Katherine)

Wednesday
B: scrambled eggs, toast, and hash browns
D: Pineapple pork roast, zucchini casserole

Thursday
B: biscuits
D: black bean casserole

Friday
B: scones
D: goat cheese & portobello sandwiches

Saturday
B: muffins
D: pizza

Sunday
B: croissants
D: roast turkey breast, gazpacho soup (cold)


Shopping list

Produce

• potatoes (5# bag)
• broccoli and/or spinach for quiche (I'll be making one of each.)
• zucchini
• carrots
• portobello mushrooms (1/2 to 1 per person)
• pizza toppings (green peppers, pineapple, mushrooms, black olives)
• berries (for muffins unless you're planning to use chocolate chips)
• additional vegetables for side dishes (if you don't have a garden or if it's not producing enough)
• lettuce and other vegetables for salads

Dairy section

• eggs
• milk
• sour cream
• buttermilk (3 cups for biscuits and pancakes)
• goat cheese (1 to 2 ounces per person)
• cheddar cheese
• mozzarella cheese

Meat

• ground meat for burgers (we're using pork this time)
• pork roast
• turkey (I'm roasting the breast for Sunday dinner and will use the rest next week)

From the middle aisles of the store

• rotini pasta
• can crushed pineapple
• black beans (2 pounds)
• salsa (16 ounces)
• bread (if you're not baking your own)
• hamburger buns (if you're not baking your own)
• chocolate chips or berries (for muffins)
• tortilla chips (check label for artificial ingredients)
  

Spices and other stuff you should have in the kitchen

• chili powder
• cumin
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• flour
• yeast
• mayonnaise
• maple syrup
• brown sugar
• vinegar
• butter
• cooking oil

What's happening for the next week? I'll post recipes at least 24 hours before you need them. Most of Monday night's dinner is accessible already. Just click on quiche and bread (above) for links to recipes. The quiche recipe is for spinach-goat cheese. If you want to make broccoli-cheddar, just follow the instructions and substitute broccoli and cheddar. Most blender jars are big enough to hold double the eggs and milk mixture, so you only have to mix once. I'll post the pasta salad soon, so if you work away from home, you can get that mixed up and in the frig tonight.

Tip for quick quiche: Buy cut broccoli florets and shredded cheddar, and you can have the quiche mixed up and in the oven within 10 minutes.

A new lamb

And now we take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to bring you the birth of our newest baby -- a ram from Nita! It's hard to tell from this picture, but he is brown.

I've been gone all week, and Katherine sent me these pictures Thursday after they discovered the little lamb in the pasture.

See you Sunday night when we'll be back to our celebration of food, and I'll post our menu for the upcoming week!

In Defense of Food

The title of Michael Pollan's latest book, In Defense of Food, might make a lot of people scratch their heads and ask why food needs to be defended. Pollan quickly makes the case that food does need to be defended, and he makes a great champion. Basically, since corporations have taken over food production, they've been selling us more and more edible food-like substances and less real food. (Don't believe me? Check out McDonald's website and see how many ingredients you recognize as food.) We need to eat real food. Actually, Pollan sums it up in seven words:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

In multiple interviews, Pollan has said that usually when you start researching something, it gets complicated. In the case of food, however, it got really simple. We don't need to be following a diet that's low fat or low carb or one that has lots of oat bran or the proper omega fats. We don't need to talk to dietitians and nutritionists. We just need to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

We don't need to read the nutrition labels on packages. If it has a label with lots of nutrition claims, it's probably not real food. When reading this book, I couldn't help but think of how much an average supermarket has grown since I was a child. As a little girl in the 1970s, I remember going to the two grocery stores in our small Texas town. They were only six or seven aisles, and the produce section made up about a fifth of each one. After you add the meat and dairy sections, only about half the store was left for processed foods. About 40 miles down the road in a small city, the Safeway was more than twice as big. And as I grew up, grocery stores turned into supermarkets and got bigger and bigger.

The sad thing is that they did not get bigger by offering us a dozen varieties of heirloom tomatoes or pork from several different breeds of pig. They grew because they had to keep up with the growing number of processed foods that were being developed. And as Pollan points out, our bodies don't know what to do with things that are hydrogenated and ethoxylated, because humans have never eaten such things -- not until the last 30 to 60 years, which is a tiny blip on the radar of human existence. And now we have rising numbers of diet-related diseases like heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

It was kind of fun as I neared the end of Pollan's book and discovered I was a subversive. Huh? Yeah! Who'd have thought that cooking would be subversive? He makes a very good point --

To reclaim this much control over one's food, to take it back from industry and science, is no small thing; indeed, in our time cooking from scratch and growing any of your own food qualify as subversive acts.

And what these acts subvert is nutritionism: the belief that food is foremost about nutrition and nutrition is so complex that only experts and industry can possibly supply it.

After reading a good chunk of diet books over the past two decades, I had already come to the same conclusion as Pollan. Our great grandmothers probably knew more about healthy eating than today's most learned scientists. Eat a variety of fresh foods while sitting around the dinner table with your family and friends. Take time to chew while listening to your loved ones. They're more important that whatever is on television right now. And since you're not supposed to talk with your mouth full, you'll be a better listener.

Stop worrying about nutrition and start enjoying food.