Kitchen Week 1 - I Survived

Actually the week was pretty good. I didn't say too much the first day, just did what I was told. Which it turns out was to prep a bunch of onions, do dishes, serve breakfast and lunch, clean up and that was Day 1 done.

Day 2 was little better. I prepped onions, peppers, asparagus and carrots, then got the egg plant ready for Egg Plant Parm. More dishes and more serving. Here is a Veal Roast I carved and served (but didn't cook). It did taste great though.

Working the serving line helped me understand how those heat lamps kill otherwise great food. For the last 24 years I just figured military cooks were best at drying out great food. Oops, I owe the entire trade an apology I guess.

Day 3 started to get much better. I did still do a lot of dishes, and prepped more onions and peppers, but I also got to make a giant pot of Seafood Chowder, which the shift supervisor let me season and adjust for consistency as I saw fit. Not bad for day 3, but I think it is because I work non-stop, never complain and am fairly mature (could be also because I am still officially a Warrant Officer in a military kitchen).








I mentioned earlier I had splurged on a new knife before I started in the kitchen. Here is my new Shun beauty along with my old Global work horse. Both amazing, but look at that Shun!

Happy St Paddies Day! 

Although I love the food, refreshments and spirit of the modern celebration, I am conflicted as some speculate (and I believe) that the "snakes" St Patrick drove from Ireland were actually the Druids in the name of stamping out the Celtic way of life in favor of Romes Christianity. 

Here is my favorite way to drink Irish Brew

Guinness and Harp Black and Tan (Yum)

Exerpt From Wikipedia:

Both Shakespeare and Samuel Ireland identify Herne as a real historical individual, the latter saying that he died an unholy death of the type that might have given rise to tales of hauntings by his unquiet spirit. The fact that Herne is apparently a purely local figure supports this theory. One possibility is that Herne is supposed to be the ghost of Richard Horne, a yeoman during the reign of Henry VIII who was caught poaching in the wood. This suggestion was first made by James Halliwell-Phillipps, who identified a document listing Horne as a "hunter" who had confessed to poaching.^[17] The earliest edition of The Merry Wives of Windsor spells the name "Horne".^[18]

For me this is the most believable and likely origin of the name "Herne the Hunter", although I suspect as do many today that the legend of Herne has grown and fused so closely to Cernunnos that the 2 are indeed one and the same.

End of an Era, and Moving On

           I have officially been accepted into the NSCC Culinary Arts Program that begins on September 3rd , 2014. On top of that I have been "hired" to do some OJT at the Local Public House a Bridgewater Restaurant. Its a great deal for me and the restaurant since I get some valuable kitchen experience and they get a somewhat responsible employee for 4 months, without having to worry about paying me a cent.

          On that note I celebrated by buying myself a sweet Shun Premier 6" Chef Knife and a Chefs Chefs Choice 1520 for European and Asian style knives. Yes I am spoiled, but I figure I will soon be a starving student, after which I will be a not so starving, but very poor Cook.

         So, I am pretty stoked. 25 years in one career is a long time and I am ready to get out of the green uniform and into Cooks garb. Really another uniform but doing something I have some passion left for. Unfortunately after all those years that is something I am missing in my military career. It was great, but its time to move on.

        With that said, The Hearth portion of this blog will be completely dedicated to my school and other culinary adventures. We still have the hobby farm and all the work and responsibility that goes with it, but I will try to dedicate more time to documenting our life here.

       

We had a wonderful time meeting some new neighbors who have move to the area from Wales on the Winter Solstice. It was a Yule potluck, and fire. Of course Mother Nature always has her own plans and it it has been raining so much that the fire didn't cooperate. Nothing lost though as we ate, drank and celebrated indoors.

Each year we agree, no presents and each year I break the rules. It is as they say better to give than receive. This year in an attempt to be practical I put together a mini survival kit for Laura to take on her  Becoming and Outdoors Woman winter trip to Cape Breton. Always better to be prepared than wishing you were....

Full time homesteaders........?

Well not really. Laura ad I officially moved out of the city and are living at the farm full time, too bad we still have to work. Oh well maybe in a few years when we become more self sufficient.

Check the Fauna page for out chickens ducks and turkey's!

Good bye 2012 and to be honest, good ridance.

So, it has been quite some time since I have updated my little Blog. The summer came and went, hunting season rolled around and both Laura and I got skunked. It was her first year as a new hunter, so that was a bit disapponting but it was a fitting end to our more than rough year.

Now that 2013 is well on it's way I have been told by the Military that they are not quite done with uprooting my family and I, so ther eis a chance I may have to leave my little homestead and the never ending reno's for a posting to Ottawa Ontario. It is not for sure and I am doing everything I possibly can to avoid the move as the timing is terrible for us. However as any soldier knows, the military does what it does and thats what we signed up for.

So for the mean time, reno's continue. But fences and barn repairs might be on hold. Certainly the rest of the plan will have to wait until I can completely shed my green uniform and become a full time small holder.

Let's hope that comes soon. Having such a beautiful little homestead is hard when you can only use it as a cottage, and may have to leave it all together for a year or more.

Family Vacation Time

Laura and I had an awesome vacation with my family from Alberta, not only did they do some amazing work around the homestead (in the homestead tab), we got in some awesome touring done.

Halifax Citadel

 Liquid Gold Olive Oil Tasting

Peggy's Cove

Peggy`s Cove

Lunenberg`s Ironworks Distillery (amazing rum)

Halifax Ferry

Sea Sheppards Farely Mowat in Lunenberg

Laura sad that the visit in nearing an end

So, after much discussion with my neighbor on what was happening to his big turkeys, I think I have captured a picture of the culprit. This was taken in the mid afternoon as you can see, about 500 meters from my farmhouse.

Nice Kitty.

Trail Cam Pics

Black Cat

Sky view

Kiaser and the Bear

Friendly folks and meeting more neighbors

This is going back a couple weeks, but on Nov 11th, while Laura and I were in New Germany participating in the Remembrance Day ceremonies, following tradition we went to the local legion and were quickly embraced into the community. I have to say New Germany and area has some of the most welcoming and friendly folks I have met. We filled out or membership application, and will soon be the newest members of the New Germany Legion.

We are very happy we have decided to settle in this part of Nova Scotia.

Weekend wrap up

So, I tagged out last weekend and have some venison for the freezer, I won't post pictures of that, but I will say Laura was a champ. She helped track and blood spot, and once we found the deer, she held the leg for me while I did the gutting. It's a great start for her if she is going to take to the woods next fall and try for her own deer.

More importantly, I finally had some non raccoon action on my trail cam. So far the buggers have hauled of or eaten about 200 lbs of apples, yet finally a couple days before the big 1st snow fall, these little fellas showed up.

Good to see.

Have a great week.

Weekend Snapshots

Since Laura and I are pretty much only spending weekends at the Homestead, I won't have as much to post as if I was full time, had livestock or a big garden and greenhouse. However I will try to keep updates with some pics, hunting stories and etc. So, lets begin with a few of the animals. The cottage is a fun place for the animals, but it wipes them out and they always end up in the "crashed position".

Here is Laura's "Thirty Something" birthday present, ya that's right, its a Savage .243 for deer hunting next year!

Here she is mowing the lawn while I keep the dogs entertained and her beer cold.

And me and the beginning of my little orchard.

The Reno's Continue

So, we got the house barn and property for a song, BUT the house was built in the 20's, there is some odd old world German building design in the house. The roof has been reshingled, I fixed up the eaves, and the new windows and doors are in. I have to do the inside trim, and fix the brutal instal of the new back door.

Also, I had an electrician in, and got an amazing quote, if his work is a good as I expect it to be, I will not have any problem recommending him. 

After the electrical is done Laura and I can get on with the reno's we want to do, like making the wood burning oven more efficient. It only currently heats the tiny kitchen and I want it to heat the majority of the house so I can severely reduce the amount of oil we are burning each winter.

My new buddy Larry burns big logs in a home heating system and has offered me his ends. This is perfect because the logs I need are much much smaller than he can use. It's a great deal.

Summer turns to fall...

I have been extrordinarliy negligent of keep this fledgling Blog updated, but with the Autumn Equinox just around the corner, specifically summer ends on Spetember 23rd at 0914 HRS. Check The Hearth page for my planned Fall Equinox Menu.

So in the past few weeks we have installed a new roof, all new windows, a new back door, took down a wall upstairs to make the second floor one big bedroom, a small guest room and bathroom. Laura mowed the meadow several times, she loves the tractor especially if I bring her beer.

We planted our small orchard, just three tree's but we have an eating apple Trent a pie and cider apple Northern Spy and a supposedly hardy Sweet Stella Cherry Tree.

I caught several Bass in our small Creek, a couple very nice Brook Trout and I bought a gold panning kit. I have found lots of fools gold, but nothing valuable..............yet!

I decided to call the beaver "Justin" (I know very original Justin Beaver), but I had to name him something that would make me less likely to feel emotionally attached just on the off chance I have to go all Soprano's on him. He might end up "sleeping with the fishes" if he makes his dam any bigger.

I also bought an air compressor, Mig welder and a few other things to make my life easier around the homestead.

Oh, and I am picking up an awesome tow behind post hole auger with 6", 9" and 12" augers and a 5.5 HP Honda motor. It will be nice to get some fencing up next spring.

First night on the homestead

Well really it's just a cottage now, but it's ours! We got the keys yesterday afternoon, then proceeded to triple Bridgewaters economic gain as we "stocked up"! Now I Need to work another two years to make up for it before I retire! Not really, but we did spend a truck load of cash (not all of which was in the tackle section of Canadian Tire).

The little creek that runs along my property line has a lot of little fish, but nothing more than about six inches, good thing the Lahave is only a couple hundred yards away. I do think I am going to have issues with Mr. Beaver. I found a newly downed tree this morning and the culprit was certain if he kept slapping his tail on the water I would go away. It's a bit frustrating because I can't afford to lose any of my precious meadow, especially since we paid extra to get it added to the property. I guess I may have to deal with the problem before the creek has no trees left, and I have no meadow left. Sorry beaver. Why can't we all just get along? Maybe I will try reasoning with him.

I did clean the wood stove, it is a Fawcett Jett model 715 it is in great condition but filthy, so it was an hour of soot, ash and crud for me. All while Laura and her posse slept! Once I pry the kitchen windows open I will spark it up. Hopefully the chimney is not too fouled.

Anyways it's a day of messing about, and checking out local markets before our first guests arrive for a fire, fishing and maybe a couple beer. I wonder if they know I have plans to put them to work?

In the begining.....

......There was "The Salt Box" house.


The Salt Box, apparently the name of this style of house, tall and skinny (unlike me) like a salt box.

This was the nickname we gave the property so we had an easy way to remember and differentiate all the properties we looked at. There was The School House, The Sheep Farm, The Salt Box, and several others. The search turned out to be an often stressful and annoyance filled process of searching for, and purchasing what we hope will be our dream "retirement" home. I use the term retirement, because we plan on turning our little acreage into as true a homestead as possible, and become as self sufficient as possible.

Laura and I have not purchased a house in about 10 years, choosing to live in military housing since we moved so often, across several provinces and commonly with only a month or two notice. Now that my military career is nearing an end, we decided it was time to find a place to settle. We love Nova Scotia, and acreages are plentiful and inexpensive..........if you're willing, and are able to put in the time, effort and cash to do some reno's. For under $100k it's possible to find your paradise. Not to many places that can be said about.

So it begins, the first things to be done you may ask? PAINT! Although the colour of the house is somewhat fitting of the name we have chosen for our slice of paradise, the green has got to go. At least on the house.  We have chosen a vibrant, rich celestial yellow with white trim for the house, barn and future outbuildings. Also all the windows and roof will be replaced, after which I can get to doing the interior reno's. Should be fun!