Elly May has been on a mission to accomplish bagels. And I think she has.
From start.... to finish.
Beer braised short ribs . Mmmmmm. They were the best I've ever had . Home brew is definitely a good idea.
We haven't had hot dogs in .... a very, very, very long time. But wonder of wonders, they are now making grass fed, no nitrate hot dogs. A friend found them at some organic market and gave them to us for a treat. And what a treat it was! Not that we are going to be eating a lot of processed food .... but every once in awhile, these sure are good! And to be cooked over actual , wood burning flames... mmmmmm
Sandwiched between airy , nutritionless, white bread.... Divine.
We have FINALLY found a way to deal with all the gazillion pounds of hamburger that come with getting a whole beef. You see, certain menfolk around here aren't crazy about ground beef, be it in hamburgers or tacos or meatloaf... or in anything for that matter . But when you get a whole cow, most of it is ground beef. So you have to get creative. Elly May decided to try jerky . And it is great! And those picky "I won't eat ground beef " people will actually eat it! Yay!
As warm weather has set in, (well, mostly, it is kind of June gloomy out there right now) we have dug out the ice cream maker and started experimenting with various mixtures to freeze up into iced delights. First off... was chocolate. Because chocolate is the most important flavor there is. It just is. And I despise chocolate ice creams that have all the color but none of the flavor of chocolate. So we set out to make killer chocolate cream. And we did. But I don't have any pictures of that. Only the butter pecan . And it was good. Very good. But I still like my chocolate macadamia nut best.
Made with organic sugar and raw milk and cream from 100% pasture raised cows (Go Organic Pastures!!! we love you !!!) . Also fresh egg yolks from our chickens . So this is really a health food right?
Tomatoes are coming in!
That squash (a Galeux de Eysines from Baker Creek... which took me about 2o seeds to get 2 plants because I planted 3 different times until something finally came up...) is getting ginormous. I measured it and it grows about 6 inches in a 24 hr period. I think it will take over the upper garden. I'm so glad only 2 came up! If they all came up I'd be in deep trouble right about now.
This was a few days ago.. it is about twice the size now.
June garden... basil ready for pesto.... mmmmmm. And tomatoes... finally the tomatoes.
Summer is time for .... ice cream. And we've been experimenting with how cold we can get our chill water before we put the ice cream in the actually freezer thingy. Well, you're supposed to chill it in the fridge for 12 hours but who has that kind of patience. Elly May came racing in to tell me she got it down to 0 F and I told her to take a picture but when she tried again it had gone up to 8... still that is pretty darn cold. It takes a lot of salt to get there.
Chocolate macadamia nut .... mmmm. Our own recipe. It is very rich and the best tasting chocolate ice cream EVER and it is made with raw milk so it is healthy. ;-) Only this batch.... well... someone didn't sniff the cream first and it was a little teeny bit on the sour side. So.... well... it just tastes a little ... shall we say... off...
What a beaut!!
Father's Day... we had hamburgers but grilled steak for dad. Was it ever good. Grass fed beef from Chaffin Family Orchards (thanks Chris!!) .
The spread..
Sample plate.
Pesto time. 
Somehow it doesn't look as nice all chewed... I mean ground up.
Ever had pesto on a fried green tomato? You are missing out in life .
Yummy.
Makin' garlic braids with oversight from Jesse.
It is kind of fun once you get the hang of it.
Canning season is here! I accidentally deleted the pictures of the squash before it got this far but oh well. This is zucchini. Three kinds actually. A yellow, an Italian and a regular black beauty.. at least I think that is what it was. These are being pickled. 
All done. Pickles are surprisingly easy. Well, the vinegar ones anyway. I've done the fermented ones and they take a bit more time and labor. Soon we'll (hopefully ) be canning dilly beans and tomatoes. Thats all for now around the farm.
