Finally......Spring is in the Air!

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”  ~ Henry David Thoreau

Front porch of the little house at Yellow Creek Farm

I ran across this picture recently of our front porch, freshly painted, purple pansy pots hung, and the first day lilies of the season beginning to bloom.  I've had a severe case of cabin/spring fever lately, and this photo made me really anxious to get outside, clean up flower and vegetable beds, and be done with all this dead, brown grass of winter.

Young daffodil shoots peeking through.

I know it's still early, but already I can feel something in the air.  Just yesterday I noticed that my miniature daffodils and hyacinths are starting to peek their little green heads up through last year's dreary pine straw mulch.  This year I will finally have to divide huge clumps of wild gladiolas and day lilies.  The monkey grass has started to multiply, too, and I suspect that some of it could benefit by my helping it to spread roots in a new spot.

Luke helping himself to a drink.

Our 12-1/2 cats enjoy the flower beds immensely.  During the heat of a long, hot Southern summer, the lush foliage of the lilies provide a cool spot for them to sleep away lazy afternoons.  Not to mention providing wonderful mazes for chasing down chipmunks and field mice, which they lovingly deposit on our front door mat!

Yellow Creek in late winter.

I stepped out on the back porch this morning to check on the water level in the creek.  Yes, it's up and running, as it always is this time of year due to the storms and heavy rains that come our way.  The creek runs along the back of our house at the bottom of a steep hill.  From the porch, I can see through the towering old oaks and pines that line the creek bank.  Soon the oaks will be greening up, and nature will provide me with a beautiful "painting" through my back kitchen window.  Another season is evolving here at Yellow Creek Farm, and I always feel a stirring inside.

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Yummy Corn Cookie Recipe

Finally, here’s the Corn Cookie recipe that I promised in my last post.  Sure wish I could take credit for it because these cookies are so incredibly delicious, but that honor goes to Christina Tosi, at Momofuku Milk Bar.  Although the recipe may seem somewhat involved and uses a few ingredients unfamiliar to some of us, I can guarantee that it is certainly worth the time and effort.  If you don’t have a Whole Foods or other natural foods store close by, we ordered our freeze-dried corn (Just Corn) on Amazon.

Corn Cookies

as printed in Lucky Peach - yields 18 cookies

2 sticks (225 grams) butter, warmed to room temperature (Tosi favors high-fat butter like Plugra)
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar 1 egg
1 1/3 cups (225 grams) flour
1/4 cup (45 grams) corn flour
2/3 cup (65 grams) freeze-dried corn powder (freeze-dried corn is available at Whole Foods or other natural food stores, and easily grinds to a powder in your blender)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt

Place the butter and sugar in a mixer (ideally fitted with a paddle attachment), and cream on medium-high until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides with a spatula, then begin blending on a medium-low speed and add the egg. Increase speed back to medium-high, and blend for a full 8 minutes. During this time, the sugar dissolves and the whole mixture becomes pale and nearly doubles in volume.

While the mixture is blending, sift together the flour, corn flour, corn powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

After the butter/sugar mixture has finished blending, reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until it just comes together (as ever,  it is better to under-mix than to over-mix).  Line a sheet pan with parchment, and scoop out 1/4 cup-sized cookies. Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a plastic bag, and refrigerate for at least an hour (or up to a week). If you don't have the fridge space for a sheet pan, you can use plates, and then transfer to a sheet tray before baking. This chilling step is critical for keeping the butter-heavy cookies from greasing all over the place, so don't skip it.

When your doughballs have chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Make sure the cookies are at least 3 inches apart on their parchment-lined sheets.  Bake 18 minutes, until very faintly browned on the edges, but still bright yellow in the center.

Let cool completely on the baking sheet, then transfer to a plate for serving or airtight container for storage. Corn cookies keep 5 days, or in the freezer for a month.

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We Personal Chef, Too!

I tell you, there’s always something keeping us busy here at Yellow Creek Farm.  Keeps it interesting, though.  Our daughter, Lauren, is a chef by trade and keeps a pretty rigorous schedule working in the restaurant business.  Lately she’s picked up a couple of personal chef jobs on the side, and I get to be her built-in sous chef.  I have to say that she’s very tolerant considering my limited professional culinary abilities and less than perfect knife skills! 

So we got up very early this morning to prepare for a dinner she’s doing tonight.  Did a sort of mini photo shoot while we were prepping beef tenderloins and baking corn cookies (Delicious!  I’ll get that recipe up on the blog soon.) 

This is a picture of yours truly chopping parsley.  I was talking to Hubby, Don, and trying to direct him on how to use the camera!  We limp along here with this technology stuff :-))Here’s a batch of the Corn Cookies after they had  chilled in the fridge and were ready to go in the oven.  Look just like big ‘ol scoops of ice cream, don’t they?

The tenderloins smelled soooooo good while she was searing them off.  Sometimes it’s really hard to keep on working and not stop to nibble!

Quite honestly, I have to say that my hat is off to all of the chefs in the world.  That job is not for sissies, that’s for sure.  I was worn out by the time Lauren was cleaned up, packed up, and ready to head out the door at 2:00.  We put in about 6 straight hours of prep & cooking time for one dinner.  I couldn’t imagine being under the pressure of doing a dinner service in a busy restaurant!  So imagine how happy I was when Hubby Don announced that he would cook supper tonight for the two of us.  Well, I was all for that!  Here’s a picture of MY personal chef  and his specialty, Pepper Steak with Rice!  :-) 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that’s what I’M talking about!!  Along with a nice glass of chardonnay, I was really glad to kick back and relax after a long day of cooking.  It’s so nice to be pampered! 

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Home Again…..Memories of Yellow Creek

Every day, I thank the good Lord for bring us to this place.  Or, should I say, back to this place.  

In 2003, my husband, Don, and I made the decision to leave well-paying jobs in the Washington, DC area, vowing to do whatever it took to get ourselves out of the corporate rat race. At the time, we weren’t exactly sure where this choice would take us, but we were sure that we wanted a much simpler and quieter life, wherever that might be. The stress of city life was taking its toll and, thankfully, we were both in complete agreement that big changes had to be made.

Eventually, our journey brought us back to my hometown of Wetumpka, a small town that sits on the banks of the Coosa River in central Alabama. This area is extremely rich in Indian history. Translated, Wetumpka means “Tumbling Waters”. There, I spent endless summer days playing in the woods, fields, and pastures with my sister and three brothers. It was a wonderful time……..free to roam about as we pleased with no danger of harm coming to us. Every day, we would start out on great adventures right after breakfast and chores, usually coming inside only for a quick lunch before Mom called us back late that afternoon for supper and baths.

One of our favorite places was Yellow Creek which ran through the pasture of my Grandfather’s farm. There we would spend hours on end wading, catching minnows, seining for bass (which we lucked up on once in a while), or eating picnic lunches that Mom had packed for us. But the best place of all was as far back as you could go, through the pasture, over the hill with the big cedar tree (we all agreed it would make a perfect Christmas tree someday) and down the other side of the hill to where giant oak trees lined the banks of Yellow Creek and the water ran a little deeper…….perfect for cooling off on hot summer days.

A Blank Page

Happy New Year!! And with that greeting comes a whole new list of plans and possibilities.  A blank page waiting to be filled with whatever I choose, because we are the masters of our own destiny…..right??  Well, every once in a while someone likes to step in and throw you a curve ball, but I suppose it’s all in how you choose to handle those things that determines their outcome. 

As for me, my only resolution for the new year is that I choose to live simply and deliberately here at Yellow Creek Farm.  One of my favorite quotes from Thoreau is, “Our life is frittered away by detail.  Simplify, simplify.”   Why, I would stay here forever and never leave if the forces that drive our existence wouldn’t give me such a hard time about it!!  For instance, they keep telling me that I need a new pair of shoes when I’m quite happy with the ones I’ve got.  :-)) 

I’ll just end this post with that……..Have a wonderful day!

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