Farm Life City Life: A new chapter

Farm Life City Life: A new chapter: Today is the first day of my "gap 6 months" from my business and work. For the first time in over thirty five years I will ...

A new blog

If by chance you have found your way here- thank you!

I loved writing and posting on farmlifeusa - but realised how hard that is to do when most of the year I am in Sydney!

Join me at my new blog farmlifecitylife.blogspot.com

Weeds or wildflowers?

Suddenly bright orange flowers have started blossoming along the side of the roads nearby. Some people call them weeds- I prefer to call them wildflowers and happily pick a bunch to brighten our living room. I was told they are day lillies and they do only last a day - but there's plenty more where they came from for now. I'll pick them daily.

Mid week WFO dinner

Steve and Barb joined us last night for the first firing up of the WFO (wood fired oven) for pizza this summer. Mark was keen to get some dough tips from his mentor Steve - and we had a delicious thin crust margarita. This followed some stuffed zucchini blossoms, asparagus and sage leaves. It is such a short blossom season, we can't resist frying them up whenever we find a few on the vine. A great starter, with a glass of champagne- Michel Turgy Blanc de Blanc. Finally lamb kofta grilled in the WFO , with a greek style salad and tsatsiki. Lots of great wine including a Bandol Tempier Rose 2009, Vieux Telegraphe 1995. Sat outside until well into the night.

Steve Adams, oven mentor and our official photographer took all of these photos.

A golden wheat field

This year we have wheat planted on two sides of the farmhouse. Right now it is looking spectacular. Shimmering gold stalks move gently with breeze - and contrast beautifully with the bright green fields surrounding it. Harvest is soon.

A Busy weekend

We always look forward to catching up with friends on the farm. It's very relaxed - and as it's always a long time between seeing each other there is lots to talk about. Friday night we had Stan and Nanci (below) and Dennis and Pam for our WFO chicken caesar salad. Plans to eat outside changed due to the storms that hit , so we were inside - not quite the same- but a fun night - lots of good wine as usual. So much so , I nearly forgot the dessert.

Too much fun!

Saturday we headed into St Louis to stock the pantry and stay overnight with Steve and Barb Adams. Costco, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's were on our list - and we managed to fill the car with supplies that should take us through the next few weeks.

We had an early dinner outside - grazing on lots of delicious treats to start- grilled bread, olives and italian sausage and salami, olive confiture - a sweet olive jam from the Adam's trip to Provence and pork rillettes from a local producer, followed by poached salmon and a fresh tomato and mozzarella salad. Perfect summer dining. We headed off to a very exclusive concert - in the basement of Barb's brother's house. Rob is a passionate trumpet player and has created an intimate show space for his friends - inviting local musicians to play. We were lucky enough to hear Javier Mendoza and his band - what a fantastic night. Rob took to the stage for a couple of tunes - and we all had a blast. St Louis has a very strong and active music scene - some great performers and small bar venues- however this was a truly unique experience. Thanks Rob!

On our way to self-sufficiency?

Mark puts in a vege garden (his potager) every year- and every year it gets bigger and bigger. This year we will have peas, beans, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, carrots, peppers, beets, lettuce and rocket to feast on over the coming months.

After a week of high temps, last nights storm and heavy rain was welcome. Everything looked a bit fresher this morning -

Love those blossoms

Although Mark had managed to plant our vege garden in early May - we were still surprised to see on our return from France that the zucchini plants were already blossoming. Enough blooms to make an appetiser of - stuffed with goat cheese and basil, supplemented with sage leaves and my first go at dipping asparagus in the light batter and shallow frying. Sea salt and a squeeze of lemon completed the dish. Eaten on our porch and accompanied by a glass or two of 1999 Mayacamas Chardonnay from the Napa Valley, we were in heaven.

It's a new day

Woke early the first morning on the Farm, to a beautiful sunrise over our wheat field. It's great to be back again.

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.