Backyard Farmgals

The best thing about the grill is that the mess and the heat stay outside the house, am I right?  I will admit that I have pulled out the grill in the dead of winter, brushed off 6-inches of snow, and grilled up a mid-winter storm!  I love grilling veggies and fruit, such unique flavors and ingenious culinary creations come from grilling things that are a little out of the ordinary. This is a super simple, easy and fast summer recipe, sure to spice up your grilling!  I use a 9 x 11-ish cake pan to grill small items like this.  Using the pan helps keep the little morsels moist and retains a lot of flavor.    The most time consuming step of this recipe is par-boiling the potatoes, but having them par-boiled makes them cook right along side your other veggies with perfect timing.  This is also a great use of all those early veggies in the garden or at the farmer's market.  You can throw whatever you like into the pan...it's as simple as that! G...

Really, what is more Fourth of July than a hot summer day with homemade ice cream to cool you off?  I took this marvelous stuff to a reunion last week and made several friends almost instantly.  What can I say, loads of cream and egg yolks make people happy! The best thing about this recipe is that it uses up several eggs.  If you are in a dilemma like me, with 60 chickens, using eggs suddenly becomes important!  The other appeal for me is that I get to use my 1960's ice cream maker that I picked up at a second-hand store for 5 dollars.  It's one of those old wood ones that you have to pack with ice and salt.  It does have a motor that is super finicky and I have been electrocuted once (luckily only once) while messing with it.  It's a fine piece of equipment (NOT) but it makes REALLY GOOD ice cream!!! One thing that I have found with homemade ice cream is that the better ingredients you use, the better ice cream you will have, so use the best eg...

Stamen of a poppy.  It's like modern art; the texture is amazing! (No tricks here - I just happened to have the right light and it did beautiful things with my camera!) A few pictures from the garden at my mom's house that I had to share.  Poppies fascinate me.  It is such a miracle that a structure such as this seems to come from almost nothing, just roots and dirt.  I am amazed at the complexity in the garden and the infinite differences between species that make each petal of each plant unique. Sun washed colors and amazing patterns all leading to the center of the flower.  Underside of the poppies.  Completely different texture and appeal. I love the dark purple pollen that stains the petals.  It feels like watercolor to me. Magnificent, aren't they? The petals are so delicate, almost transparent in the sun I am completely captivated by these!

Brioche Bread Pudding with Fresh Strawberry Sauce The Downtown Farmer's Market is packed with local vendors selling the most amazing produce, breads, pastries and other wonderful things.  Going down to elbow my way through the crowds and dive for local eats is my favorite Saturday morning activity.  It's true that the early bird gets the produce...and bragging rights to a vast world of culinary goodness! Fresh local strawberries from Day Farms - Layton, Utah Baked pudding, right out of the oven My favorite bread vendor at the market is The Crumb Brothers from Logan, Utah.  They have some of the most delicious pastries and some fantastic breads.  They recently started making Brioche which is a rich bread made with eggs and milk. Brioche makes fantastic croutons, French Toast, and of course, BREAD PUDDING!  The Crumb Brothers gave me a recipe that I modified to make a custardy pan of goodness, sure to shorten your life span by at least three years, de...

My personal "Backyard Farm" - my favorite morning spot! We Farmgals have been so busy the past month, I have completely forgotten about technology.  I sat down to the computer tonight and I have 135 e-mails to sort through.  135...that's absurd and time consuming...so I highlighted and pushed delete!!!  The farm is taking up the majority of my time.  Finally we are feeling a little warmth and the plants are shooting up, including tons of weeds.  My hands are calloused and sore from weeding and raking over and over again, but the hard work is paying off.  Things are looking beautiful.  I love watching the little pieces of green coming up through the soil, stretching out and then shooting up to the sun. Forellenschluss We have been enjoying the most amazing spring salads from the garden.  The lettuces that I planted have completely captured my heart.  Each one is so different, with unique texture and color.  I love picking a beaut...