Devorguilla, The Original Baying Hound {Obituary}

Devorguilla, a.k.a. Devie, our blue tick coon hound mix, died today, December 29, 2013. She was approximately thirteen years old, having been adopted as a young adult at the Capital Area Humane Society in January 2002. She is survived by little hound Hawise, cats Moonshine and Nightshade and people Alex, Lillian, and Rachel.

Despite our attempts at training, Devie was a headstrong troublemaker. She bayed at everyone who entered, stopping only when she was ready. Barking was how she related to other dogs and while we understood her noise to be playful, most other hounds cowered away from her. She surfed counters, scavenged floors, and ate anything possibly food-like. In her twelve years with the Tayse Baillieuls, she consumed the following in addition to regular meals: human birthday cakes, six packages of raisins to include packaging in one sitting, several bronze ring nails and the plywood they were attached to, boozy fruitcakes, chocolate truffles, a sheet pan of cookies, compost, a bag of flour, trash, and countless breakfasts, lunches, and dinners left unattended for a few seconds. Devie's stomach of steel allowed that these indiscretions were uncomfortable for her but didn't results in messes for her family beyond the missing food.

While she was difficult to live with, Devie was easy to love. Friends and neighbors who understand hounds carried on howling conversations with her. Many admired Dev's unflagging devotion to food, annoying as it was.

She was extremely gentle, especially around Lillian. Devie not only tolerated but seemed to enjoy being dressed up and always won 'cuteness contests', Lil's habit of dressing up pets and stuffed animals for fashion shows. Devie's coloring was beautiful and inspired our first business name, the Baying Hound. After losing an eye to persistent infection in 2010 she became even more striking.

We noticed Devie slowing down this autumn. When she stopped enjoying food, her one true love, this week, it was our signal that organ degeneration or cancer had progressed enough to severely affect her quality of life. We made the difficult choice of euthanasia. She was buried at home.

Rest in peace, Devorguilla. You will be missed.

On Gift Giving

Our family often touts homesteading as a way to experience an authentic life, one filled with real food and real work. We like to spend our time making and doing, not accumulating. But this time of year, the winter holiday season, we struggle the most with balancing thriftiness with giftiness, like so many people. Even though we don't subscribe to cable TV, newspapers, or magazines, we feel inundated with the advertising message to 'buy, buy, buy'. Lil, who only knows TV shows on Netflix and PBS, can still somehow sing a dozen current advertising jingles at any moment.

Consumer Counter Culture

Alex and I see through the commercials that equate stuff to happiness and we help Lil investigate ads. We talk with her about how a house filled with stuff is not necessarily a house of fulfilled people. We evaluate our own desires carefully - do we want new clothes because everyone else has them or because there's something ill-fitting or worn with our current clothes? Do we need a particular item or do we just want it because we heard about it somewhere?

Choosing to surround ourselves with good folks who share our anti-consumer ideals is the biggest threat to the Consume More Monster. We exchange, borrow, and barter with friends who do more with less. We frequently allow our kids to hear about what we're saving for and our tirades about inappropriate and ineffective advertising.

Gift Giving Alternatives

We could opt out of gift giving entirely, but that's not our family's way. We cherish the opportunity to think about what a person would really love. So how do we build our gift giving list?  We focus on what a gift recipient might use and appreciate in their day to day life. According to a recent survey by Kenmore,  '79% of Americans prefer a practical gift that they could use in their home over a trendy novelty gift'.

Most of our gifts this year are homemade and will be eaten, drunk, or otherwise used until they disappear in a few weeks or months. Does that mean the recipient will forget about our appreciation of them? We hope just the opposite - they will think of us every time they use spice rub or cocoa mix until the jar is empty. If all goes according to plan, we'll reconnect over a meal to exchange the empty jar for a full one, a true 'gift that keeps on giving'. Handmade gifts say "I thought about you while making this."

Another focus of our gift giving is experiential gifts - paper promises, games, trips to a special place, and memberships. The Kenmore survey also found that '85% of Americans have avoided making a certain food because of the cleanup associated with it' - maybe a gift certificate for party cleanup would fit someone on your list? Experiential gifts communicate "I want to spend time with you, not spend money on you".

Last Minute Gift Ideas

There are still ten days until Christmas during which you could can some apple butter or craft a handmade stainless steel straw or even make a quick liqueur. But  holiday gatherings and work projects to wrap up can limit gift-making time. Instead of shopping for stuff, consider one of these experiential gifts, local to Columbus though your area may have similar options:

• Columbus Brew Adventures or Columbus Food Adventures tour - I still need to write about our Granville area beer tour in detail but in short it was crazy good times and I have fond memories of the several Columbus Food Adventures tours I've attended.
• Green BEAN delivery gift certificate - Weekly deliveries of organic produce are a true boon for people who have trouble getting out, a couple who car share, or anyone who appreciates cooking whole food. I wrote about our experience with Green BEAN a couple years ago.
• Cooking or Gardening Class - I love teaching friends or couples who come to my The Seasoned Farmhouse and City Folk's Farm Shop classes. I hear them murmuring plans to practice together the skills I introduce, a true gift of partnership.

How do you handle gift giving in our highly commercialized consumer culture? 

Scotch Eggs - Better Than Fair Food {Recipe}

The Ohio Poultry Association invited Lil and I to an eggstravagana at the Ohio State Fair this year. We learned how to make the perfect omelet, talked to poultry farmers, pet chickens, ate Ohio-farmed food for lunch, and indulged in Ohio ice cream while basking in the glow of the butter cow. My friend Kristin aka CbusMom has a great recap of the day including a picture of yours truly riding the giant slide.

There was only one problem with our visit. The Ohio Poultry Association fed us so well that we were too full to experience the deep-fried goodness of street fair food. The meals we ate in the Taste of Ohio center nutritious and filling but I left wanting some indulgence.

Fortunately our extended family was happy to appease this desire on our recent vacation to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Inspired by the Ohio Poultry Association and our abundance of backyard eggs, we made a British creation for the first time: Scotch eggs.

Scotch eggs are hard-boiled eggs nestled in sausage, rolled in a bread crumb coating, and deep fried. We used backyard eggs and homemade bulk breakfast sausage because even fried food can be locally sourced.

Hearty does not begin to describe this protein-packed treat. We gobbled up scotch eggs for dinner one night. Most of us couldn't finish more than one so we chilled leftovers overnight in the fridge. Cold scotch eggs are a familiar train stop food in Great Britain; Alex and others were happy to much on them for breakfast the next day.

Maybe next year we'll see Scotch eggs at the fair!

Scotch Eggs makes one dozen

13 fresh eggs, divided 1 pound bulk (not stuffed) sausage 1 cup all-purpose flour, divided 1/2 cup cornmeal 1/2 teaspoon salt 10 grinds fresh black pepper 1 teaspoon Old Bay or other spice mix, optional 1 gallon lard or peanut or other oil for frying

1. Hard-boil 12 eggs in your preferred manner. I cover mine in cold water in a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the pan until boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and time for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, fill pot with cold water and ice until eggs are chilled. This step may be done up to five days ahead. 2. Peel eggs. 3. Use approximately three tablespoons of fresh sausage to completely cover the eggs in an even layer. Set eggs in a single layer on a plate or tray and refrigerate until use. 4. Heat a pot of lard or oil to 375 degrees F for deep frying. Always use a tall, heavy-bottomed pan for deep frying and never fill more than half way. Keep a fire extinguisher and/or can of baking soda nearby in case of a fire. 5. Meanwhile, make a three-bowl breading station. In the first bowl, pour 1/2 cup flour. In the second bowl, mix one fresh egg with 2 tablespoons water. In the third bowl, mix 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1/2 cup flour, salt, pepper, and optional spice mix. 6. When oil is ready, retrieve sausage-covered eggs from the fridge. 7. Roll eggs in the breading bowls in this order: flour, eggs, cornmeal. 8. Using a slotted spoon, gently transfer eggs to the hot oil in small batches. Cook for approximately five minutes or until the breading browns. Drain on a towel-lined cooling rack. 9. Serve warm or cold with mustard.

Disclosure: The Ohio Poultry Association provided my family with Ohio State Fair tickets, parking passes, food vouchers, and ride wristbands. All opinions about the deliciousness of homemade fair food are our own.

Are You Ohio State Fair Award Winning?

A few decades ago, I entered a fair baking contest. I was eleven or twelve, the contest was baked goods, and my entry was a blueberry peach pie with lattice crust. My first place pie won the right to be auctioned off at the Franklin County Fair. Then-Sherrif Jim Kearnes bought my pie for somewhere around $75, the most money I had ever earned. The cash is long spent and ribbon lost, but I remain smitten by the idea of fair cooking contests.

So it is that every year around this time, I browse and consider the Ohio State Fair culinary competitions. The fair offers awards (cash and ribbons) for winners in categories as diverse as jam and pickled beets, pumpkin breads and jerky. How cool would it be to list 'State Fair Award-Winning Jam Maker' on a resume?

Sponsored special competitions offer greater challenges and bigger prizes. This year, the granddaddy of Ohio State Fair contests is the Kenmore 100th Anniversary 'Greatest Generations of Grilling Cookoff', described on page 19 of the .pdf contest information packet. Entries are due June 20th. Celebrity Chef Bobby Dean will be judging for the top prize of a kitchen makeover and trip to New York City and available to meet guest goers on July 27. Mighty tempting!

With this summer being as busy as it is, I simply can't go after the blue ribbon this year. Perhaps you can? I'd love to see a Harmonious Homestead reader take first prize at the fair!

PS. A little internet sleuthing found that Kenmore is offering similiar prizes in an online contest. If you can't make the fair, maybe you want to enter online?

Warm Love / Hot Love

Valentine's Day 2013 was all about the temps.

I gave Alex a practical yet luxurious warm gift - a 100% wool duvet from Jorgensen Farms. Truly a gift for both of us, we expect the duvet to be warm yet breathable, hypo-allergenic, and easy to clean by hanging in the sun this summer. We're excited to have a piece of Val's beautiful Organic farm in our grown-up bedroom. You can have one too - buy through her online store or at the Worthington Farmers' Market.

Alex expressed his feelings with fire. He created a flaming heart on the driveway, captured on video while I was out of the house. The resultant singe on the driveway will likely last for months.

And we all shared warm sour cherry pie for late afternoon tea. This is our third annual Valentine's tea, a tradition I love for the simplicity and ritual.

What temperature was your Valentine's Day?

2013 Goals & Giveaway

Last year was a busy one, as always, for our family. We some of our 2012 goals by traveling to San Salvador Island, Bahamas and the Big Island of Hawaii with extended family and we finally moved to a new homestead-to-be. The stress of moving, an injury, a major summer storm, and some minor illnesses kept us from being as healthy as we would have liked. In my individual pursuits, I joyfully provided freelance web services for Watershed Distillery and City Folk's Farm Shop and represented Swainway Urban Farm at farmers' markets. The American Dairy Association Mideast and Pork Checkoff provided me with tours of farms and facroties to learn more about food production. I reached hundreds of people through classes at Franklin Park Conservatory and City Folk's Farm Shop and programs with Granville Homesteading group, Clintonville Farmers' Market, and the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association. I love this work because it provides me chances to exercise my educator muscles and interact with creative, smart, supportive people.

Alex, Lil and I are excited to turn over a new leaf (or, in more appropriate seasonal terms, shovel a new path) in 2013. We want to fulfill the potential of our new homestead and continue to grow strong bodies and minds. In 2013, we hope for and will work towards:

-a garden and hoophouse full of produce -a pantry full of preserved goods -eating meat we raise and slaughter on our property -collecting more eggs from more chickens -a way to offer unusual but important workshops on demystifying guns and meat animal slaughter -a more energy-efficient home -better health through lower stress and homestead exercise -travel to new places within our city and beyond -an updated name and website to more accurately reflect our new activities beyond the kitchen

City Folk's Farm Shop gave me three beautiful Igloo Letterpress 2013 wall calendar posters to ring in the new year for some lucky readers.

Enter to win by sharing one goal you have for 2013 in the comments. Be sure to leave an email address so that we may contact you if random.org picks you as a winner. The contest will be open until January 12, 2013. We will pay shipping to anywhere in the world, so enter away foreign friends.

From our homestead to yours, here's to a fulfilling new year!

Handmade Gifts On A Snow Day

Our Christmas wasn't white but the sky dumped a fine layer of sleet and five inches of snow on the homestead today. We decided not to take the travel risk and drive seventy miles to my aunt's house for a handmade gift exchange and dinner. Instead, we took a snow day.

We let the chickens out to exercise before the heaviest snow fell. They don't seem to mind the cold stuff on the ground but when visibility lessens they run for the coop.

Alex and I shoveled the ice from part of the driveway. Our lengthy drive allows us some privacy but we're realizing that our responsibility to clear it is a bit of a downside. And we're wishing that just one of the three garage bays was organized enough so the car wouldn't be out in this weather. Soon we will get around to unpacking the garage.

Inside, we are enjoying generous gifts from our family. Alex received this clever army guy bowl from one of my sisters and the handmade leather bolas from another. I unwrapped this painstakingly painted birdhouse by Lil.

We also received a dedicated meat grinder, Le Crueset (our first!), books, toys, earrings, food, drinks, and more. Lil's big present was a trip to Disneyland in early January! We'll be accompanying Alex on a business trip and make a trip to the mouse while we're there.

We're discussing where to hang our new handmade artwork. I crafted the bacon and eggs piece from remnant wood in our garage and egg tempra from the yolk of a backyard chicken egg and Alex's home made charcoal. My sister made the Ohio nail art - she says it's not nearly as time consuming as it looks.

While we miss extended family, this day to decompress and enjoy each other was most welcome. How were your holidays?

P.S. I just realized that my comment spam filter was marking all comments as spam. I approved about a week's worth of real comments this afternoon. There could be more that the filter deleted before I could approve them and if this happened to your comment I sincerely apologize. I do appreciate discussion and will be more attentive to the spam filter from here on out!

Gingerbread: House for the Kids,Crisp Cookies for Adults {Recipe}

A few days ago, I shared some of our holiday crafts. I told you that my pastry-chef sister Heather baked gingerbread house pieces for Lil to decorate. Our kitchen remains sticky from the amount of frosting and candy used on that house. What I didn't reveal are the ridiculously good spoils from the house-making: Heather gave us all the trimmings from the gingerbread walls. Rough in shape, but generally slender, these perfectly crisp cookies beg to be dunked in coffee or tea. I eat a few pieces a day for a mildly sweet, spicy, crispy snack.

Sugar-coated house for kids and refined cookies for the adults - what a sweet holiday tradition!

Crisp Gingerbread

Yield: 1 # 12 oz (enough for a good-sized gingerbread house or approximately 4 dozen cookies)

4 oz (1 stick or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter

4 oz (~ 1/2 cup) brown sugar

6 fl oz ( 1/2 cup) molasses

1 whole egg

12 oz (~2 2/3 cup) all purpose flour

1 teaspon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

parchment paper

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Add molasses and egg, beat to combine well
3. Stir together remaining ingredients in a separate bowl
4. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet, beating until just blended (Dough will be very wet.  If making for a gingerbread house, you may want to add extra flour to enable an easier roll out)
5. Gather into a disk, wrap with plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour (for easier rolling, freeze dough and then roll out as soon as pulling from the freezer. It will still be a wet dough, but easier to roll out)
6. Roll out to ¼ inch, using as much flour as necessary for easier rolling
7. Cut with floured cutter, or bake for gingerbread house **see note
8. Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet at 350 until lightly browned and feels barely firm when touched

**To get clean lines for gingerbread houses:

•  First make a template out of cardboard or firm paper.  After freezing and rolling, bake before cutting out the pieces (this will work well if you roll the dough between pieces of parchment.  You can then just pick up the parchment paper, rather than trying to move the fragile dough).
• Bake partially, until the gingerbread is golden, but still slightly soft to the tough.  Pull from the oven and let cool for 3-5 minutes, or until you can cut the dough without tearing it.  Place the template on top of the dough and deeply score the desired shape with a very sharp knife (I like using an exacto knife).
• Let the dough cool entirely, then remove the excess gingerbread from the shape you cut out (wall, roof, etc.), you may have to cut the lines again, but it should be fairly easy to remove the excess gingerbread.
• After removing any excess, return the shape to the oven to dry out one more time.  You will want the gingerbread to be very firm before taking out of the oven.
• Let cool entirely and then assemble the house with a very thick royal icing (1 egg white whipped with enough powdered sugar to make a thick spread; add a splash of vinegar, or lemon juice, to help it to harden easier).  Decorate as desired.

PS. If you want to see some professional creations, I recommend the gingerbread house display at Easton Center on the second story of the mall near the AMC theater. Heather worked on The Pearl recreation with the Cameron Mitchell Catering group, pictured above.

PPS. I finally have a new laptop! After two months of scavenging time on shared computers, I have one of my own! It's taking a little time to set up all my preferences, but my first impressions of the Lenovo Twist are excellent.