Autumn/Fall has arrived

It has taken its time - but it's here.

Sunday afternoon on the farm

A beautiful warm day and 8 friends for the afternoon and evening. Time to let WFO mentor Steve Adams try some Pizza from our WFO, time to introduce Penne and John to some of our friends, time to play some boules, drink some wine and eat outside. Our quintessential autumn farm afternoon.

Three pizzas to start, then moroccan/indian inspired grilled OZ lamb, caponata, spinach and sweet and potato salad - courtesy of Penne and couscous with pistachios and pomengranate. Dessert was a hazelnut and chocolate torte. Enough said from me- it is great to see how our friends blogged the lunch http://penneandjohnstravels.blogspot.com/ and http://blog.steveadamsstudio.com/ Thanks for coming!

Making Bread

I have been making bread on the farm now for a number of years. Have made lots of loaves and most have turned out to be tasty and good to eat fresh - but better toasted. They were always somewhat heavy. I always enjoy the process - so keep persisting. This trip I have mastered a loaf I am happy with. What happened? I finally read the Il Fornaio baking book by Franco Galli (which, by the way, we have owned for 5 years). I made a 'biga"- starter dough - which became the base of my bread making. The starter can sit in the fridge for up to two weeks - you use some each time you bake a loaf. It worked. My loaves were crusty outside, soft inside, fresh and flavoursome. I made the round country bread (pagnotta) and italian baguette (sfilatino).

The house smells great- yeasty and warm and comforting.

Farmhouse with Friends

This time it was dinner at our farmhouse with Walt and Marcia Carpenter. They arrived with an appetite around 4pm having biked the Madison County bike path (25 miles!) We started with pork rillettes that I had made early in the week. This is cubed shoulder (butt) of pork cooked slowly in chicken stock and lard with secret spices. Served with sweet/sour onions and toasted bread , and a Trimbach 1992 Gewurtztraminer.

Walt and Marcia brought a penne pasta to start with italian sausage in a wine sauce. Delicious. Main course were quails that Mark had hunted last fall - grilled over coals in the WFO, and served with a fennel and apple salad. Dessert was a fig, hazelnut and yoghurt tart. Wish I had biked 25 miles. A great night.

Farmhaus with Friends

We have been keen to try a restaurant in St Louis called "Farmhaus." Known for using fresh and locally grown produce, the owner and chef Kevin Willman grew up in Greenville - 10 miles from our farmhouse. We met up with Steve and Barb Adams for dinner last night and we all really enjoyed the food and atmosphere. Helped along by the quality and quantity of wines - Pinon 2002 Vouvray, Roulot 1998 Mersault, Pegau 1099 CdP, Breton 1997 Senechal Bourgueil.

Barbs blog /www.barbaraadamswebstergroves.com has more detail of what we ate and some great photos - my camera stayed in my bag. These photos courtesy of Barb Adams

Pasta by Hand

When Mum visited here nearly 9 years ago she gave us a pasta maker - it has unfortunately only been used a couple of times - it is too humid in summer here to make a good batch. Cooler temps today got me thinking about fresh papardelle with a wild mushroom sauce. Fresh egg pasta dough is really easy to pull together but it needs to rest for an hour. I dragged the machine out, attached it to the kitchen island , and started the kneading process. This is truly a great reward for little effort. The pasta sheets I rolled very thinly , left them to dry for 15 minutes before cutting into strips by hand. I made a wild mushroom sauce with dried and fresh mushrooms and it was so good we forgot to take a photo for the blog! Again!

Olive Oil Taste Test

A lazy, wet Sunday afternoon - what else to do - but taste the five bottles of olive oil that Mark has managed to accumulate while I have been in Sydney. All Italian, all EVOO, all various price points. We were in agreement! Our favourite was Colli Etruschi, Lazio Italy - it had the longest finish and was the most peppery and greenest of the five. It was also the most expensive. A close second was Borgo de' Medici, Tuscany. Both of these we will drizzle on salads, vegetables and grilled steak from the WFO. For everyday cooking and salad dressings- Whole Foods 365 100% Italian had the greatest depth of flavour. Trader Joe's Premium was not too bad, Sur la Table's Marca de Verde il Classico was lacking in flavour and length. Of course we had a glass of wine to accompany - Schmid 07 Kremstel Gruner Veltliner.

Saturday night on the porch

Dinner on the porch. The rain had stopped and it was a warm enough to eat outside. Our favourite - roast chicken (this one a locally reared and slaughtered bird from Ty and Lisa) and vegetables from our garden - potatoes, leeks, onions, green beans. Holdridge Maizie Rose Russian River 2006 Pinot. A perfect end to a very relaxing weekend.

Is this a puff ball?

On our walk this morning , we spotted a large white mushroom standing alone on the side of the levee. We took it home to check in our new book- Missouri's Wild Mushrooms (by Maxine Stone).

It looked like a puff ball - a huge, white, smooth ball with a completely white interior that becomes brown with age. Check! They grow single or many in open pastures, woods or lawns. Check! We did what the book suggested and cut it open from top to bottom to confirm that it was pure white inside , like a marshmallow. Check!

We made plans to saute it to have with our leftover fillet steak tonight.

Just to make sure we emailed photos to the mushroom foragers we know.

One response "I found the shape curious for puffballs that I've seen in the books and the few I have had myself. I would hesitate to eat something that I wasn't quite sure of"

When we went back to the book we did read more closely that they are usually 8-20 inches tall, (ours was 6 ") with no sign of a cap or stem ( looks like ours has a cap or stem). Next time we will read the whole description. Mushrooms are off the menu tonight.

Family Farmlife

The Sheridans and Netherys have just left - and the farmhouse is too quiet. We had a wonderful week on the farm with my brother and sister and their families. How lucky we are to have had this time together. The only one missing was Mum - who is at home keeping an eye on things at Mosman. We celebrated my birthday, we ate well, we drank great wine, we shopped - Super Walmart must have had record sales that day. Nathan and Lachlan learnt to shoot, Liam and Matt perfected their aim. Liam finished on a high - hitting 5 clay birds in a row. He was beaming. Olympics 2016? Golf - don't ask about the cart, Baseball, boules, combine harvester and tractor rides, swimming in the lake, all you can eat chicken at Cross Roads, pizza from the WFO, time to talk and play. Lots of laughter. Lots of special memories made.

Things I'll Miss

I'm heading back to Sydney today - these are some of the things I'll miss from my farmlife.

The new crop of yellow peaches - the tree is laden

The mass of raspberries that are just coming on (again)

Riding my bike on the flat and quiet roads

Walking early in the morning

Our farmhouse

Blogging

Drinking a glass of cold wine after a "hard" days work

Sunset over the fields

and most of all my gorgeous (sometimes sweaty) husband.

I'll be back in 7 and a bit weeks. Until then Mark will continue blogging on farmlifeusa so that I can see what he is up to. Keep watching.

A bit of decorating

Always decorating things to do around the farmhouse while I am here. I am a bit obsessive. Somethings on the list we never seem get around to - like putting the mirror up in the bathroom. Today was the day.... It took us a while to find the 140lb hook. How much do I weigh? Will it hold the mirror? Why didn't we do it before? The room looks twice as big - or 10 times bigger than our Sydney bathroom.

Other things are simpler. We have a lot of colourful quilts that Mark's grandmother and mother made, which are hidden in drawers and cupboards - I found a new place to store them where we can see them all the time.

Digging for dinner

Our potatoes are ready to harvest! I love doing this. It is a great feeling when you push the fork into the soil where the vine has died to the ground, give it a turn and up pops a crop of spuds. Tonight we will steam these, to eat with a rib eye grilled in the WFO, green beans and a tomato salad. All from our garden - except the beef. Maybe one day. Mark has opened a bottle of Brusset Cuvee Hommage , a 1999 Cairanne, which we bought at the cave in France. Only a few meals left here before I head back to Sydney. We are having our favourites.

Clinton County Fair Parade

A beautiful evening after the storm, so we headed into Carlyle for a bit of local culture - the County Fair parade. Hundreds of people were lining the streets in their folding chairs, and kids were ready to catch the candy. Some highlights - the county fire brigades, Miss Illinois, the future Miss Illinois' and the Mater Dei Marching band.

It looks like rain

We get storms here very quickly and often they look worse than they actually are. These photos were taken from our bedroom window this afternoon at 2pm - it was over in 30 minutes. It went very black, the wind started to blow through, followed by rain. Not enough rain, according to Mark.

Sunday at home

A quiet Sunday and we needed it. An early walk on the levee, a trip to Carlyle to see David, the rest of a DVD, and a simple dinner outside with Miss Kitty. She ate the vole she caught, we ate the slow cooked pork butt (shoulder) that Mark slid into the WFO last night. Nearly 18 hours of slow cooking later it was moistly tender and pulled easily away from the bone. We ate it with a corn, tomato and feta salad. It tasted better than it looks in my photo. A cold Mountford New Zealand Chardonnay 06 went down very well.

Pizza with the Mioux

Saturday night and the Mioux family joined us for Pizza - Joe, Anna, Michael, Nick, Jennifer and Christina. I hadn't seen the kids for a while together - and except for Christina - they are no longer kids. Michael has just finished his first year of college at Joe and Mark's alma mater - University of Illinois. They all joined in the fun. Christina went first - although she wasn't too impressed with the artichoke and parmesan topping. Loving the WFO.

Halibut and the Henty

Friday afternoon we headed into St Louis for dinner with Walt and Marcia. Walt and Mark met over the internet, on a wine forum, nearly 15 years ago. We have had some great meals with them, including a memorable joint birthday dinner for Marcia and I involving foie gras, scallops and duck, cooked in their home by a local chef. They recently returned from a trip to Alaska, and we were to be served some halibut which Walt had caught.

First up, chilled rose in the garden with 2 dips - sate and eggplant, with fresh crudites and Walt's grain bread . The halibut was baked with julienned vegetables and topped with a sauce they discovered in Alaska- and was delicious - juicy and sweet. This was followed by bbq ribs in home grown blueberry sauce, with a corn and tomato salad. We managed to slip in a "blind" wine - an Aussie Shiraz. Walt is not a great fan of these, to say the least- but he did enjoy the Henty 06 from Victoria. We had found it in Sydney and knew we could get him on that one. Yahoo! A dessert cake, with fresh berries and we were off to bed. Another great meal, with great friends.

You say tomarto, I say tomayto

It's tomato time here - we are now picking several large ones each day along with a pile of sugar snap cherry or grape tomatoes. When they are eaten warm straight off the vine they explode in your mouth. A thick slice of beefsteak, big beef or early girl on toasted whole grain bread, with mozzarella and basil has been my lunch every day this week. It tastes like summer.

Yoga around the world.

When I was here in June last year I was very excited to find a yoga class nearby. I joined the group on a casual basis and I was made to feel very welcome. Classes are held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and led by an enthusiastic, creative "yogini" called Lindsay. This year, when I returned and saw all of the familiar faces again - I felt that I really belonged. I am no longer just a visitor. Lindsay's classes are fun, and chatty - which surprised me at first as I have been used to a more zen like yoga class - where the only words spoken are by the teacher. I now find myself talking as well. We talk about all sorts of things as we do our practice but we are all very quiet at savasana. Each class is different and really very strenuous. I love it. Namaste.

Retail Therapy

I have just discovered T.J. Maxx - which for non locals is a retail store with designer and brand name fashion with up to 60% off department store prices. At Sydney prices this means they are practically giving it away. (5 pairs of brand shoes cost as much as one pair in OZ, a calvin klein skirt for $7). I am not known for enjoying clothes shopping. Yesterday I spent three and half hours in the store, trawling through the racks of clothes, trying on about 50 items. You will be happy to know I did not buy them all, but you could say I maxxed out the credit card. TJ's - where have you been all my life?

Bicycling and the big question

I have a bike here - not a fancy one - but sturdy and comfortable to ride. I don't ride every day - but when I do, I have time to observe the world around me, to think, plan and imagine.

Perhaps it is the grid of flat country roads that I follow randomly, cycling past fields or along occasional tree-lined roads, without a destination in mind, seeing only an occasional deer or tractor - but most often my thoughts turn to ideas of what I can do to spend more time here. Any ideas?

Sunday with the St Louisians

Sunday afternoon, a beautiful day and our "wine" friends from St Louis arriving for a leisurely afternoon of food, wine and boules. A perfect day.
Walt and Marcia, Steve and Barb, Geff, Angela and Gwen made the trek east - to what has become a regular event. We started with some zucchini fritters and local cheese, with chilled french whites and rose. Lots to talk about - travel, wine, food, health, family. The WFO was fired up - not for pizza this time - we tried flatbread, ciabbata and roasted cherry tomatoes for a dish Mark and I invented/adapted- first a thick slice of fresh heirloom tomato on the plate, topped by a slice of fresh mozzarella, roasted cherry tomatoes and basil puree. Accompanied by a basil lime sorbet! This was followed by Jamie Oliver's WFO Chicken caesar - the chicken fat croutons are amazing. Dessert was Verna's peach cobbler, with fresh peaches and homemade peach icecream.

In between courses a couple of boules games to work up the appetite. Friends and times like these are my farmlife.