November: A Certain Loveliness

Sunday morning, the sky was a flat, steel-gray, the grass frozen and crunchy underneath our boots, the mid-November arctic blast making our fingers icy, while tiny snowflakes brushed our faces as we walked to the gray barn. 

"Oh, I wish we would have had a nice sunset last night or a pretty sunrise this morning," said Rett wistfully; she loves her brilliantly hued orange-and-pink skies at Merry Mount. "I know," I said, gazing across the barren countryside where harvested fields of corn lay flat and brown, and the gray horizon stretched forever, "but every sky down here on the farm is pretty in its own way." 

John Updike put it this way:

"The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The ghosts of her
Departed leaves.

The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown.

And yet the world,
In its distress,
Displays a certain
Loveliness"

Not all was gray and bleak, however, at Merry Mount when Piper and I headed down on Saturday, where a cozy fire flickered in the fireplace, happy dogs (for the most part) traipsed around the house and yard, and college football teams gave it their best shot on the TV. Old friends (me and Rett and Pat) gathered for dinner, a cocktail perhaps, and a chance to see the adorable farm animals. . . and meet the newest addition, a cute, feisty rescue Jack Russell named Minnie.

While Jackpot and Piper are old pals, Minnie-Mouse wasn't too sure about this big, furry visitor. So we walked the 3 dogs on leashes around the farm about 4 times to see if Minnie would get a little more comfortable. Not so much, at first, so the dogs had to hang out inside on their leashes that evening.

But I got to visit the farm animals in their cozy indoor pens.

Then the three of  us had a lovely dinner of roast chicken with lemon and rosemary, roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, and a salad with grapefruit and avocado.

By the next morning, the three dogs were united against a common enemy -- the cat!

 

While the Jack Russells barked their little tails off at the feline foe, Piper and I headed back to the barn for morning chores.

A little chicken scratch.

A chance to check out the feathered friends.

A nose kiss from the girl goats.

And the boys.

Another wonderful visit to Merry Mount! Goodbye til next time, all of our farm friends!

Recipes:
Roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes
3 lbs small, Yukon gold potatoes, halved (or quartered if they're larger)
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into pieces about the same size as the Yukons
Place potatoes in large bowl. Toss with 1 T good olive oil and place on cookie sheet (I like to line the cookie sheet with non-stick foil). Sprinkle with 1 garlic clove, minced, salt and pepper, and a little fresh rosemary.

Roast at 400 degrees for 45 min to 1 hour until tender and starting to brown. (We ended with a few minutes under the broiler to get a little browner.) Serve with roast chicken and salad.

Hint: We made extra and the next morning, heated them in an iron skillet with a little bit of bacon drippings. Excellent with scrambled eggs from the resident chickens!

Bourbon-soaked cherry and chocolate chunk ice cream
We did not try this recipe (yet) but I had brought a book to the farm called "Bourbon Desserts" and Rett and I thought this sounded amazing. We'll try it one of these days!

1/4 cup dried cherries
3/4 cup bourbon, for soaking cherries
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup cream
1 cup vanilla sugar (or granulated sugar plus 1/2 t vanilla extract)
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks (like Ghirardelli)

At least 1 day and up to 2 weeks in advance, combine dried cherries and bourbon in a tightly lidded jar. Shake briskly from time to time to infuse.

When you're ready to make the ice cream, combine the half and half, cream, vanilla sugar (or sugar and vanilla) and salt in a large saucepan over med-high heat.  Stirring constantly bring to 170 degrees F. on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat.

Drain the cherries, reserving liquid to sip straight or use in cocktails.

Allow milk mixture to cool for 15 min. Stir in soaked cherries. Stir to combine and transfer mixture to a tightly lidded container; chill overnight in fridge. The next day, stir in the chocolate chunks and freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker. Because of the alcohol, the ice cream will not freeze hard in the  machine but will become aerated, and the texture will change ot that of a semifreddo.

Transfer the mixture back to the tightly lidded container and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.

The Moon over Merry Mount

Ahh, 'twas the perfect weekend to escape to Merry Mount for a much-needed "farm fix"! It's been a trying summer, and Rett and Pat welcomed me down to the farm for an unbelievably beautiful weekend, where I got to see all the progress, changes and additions at the little farm in Madison County! Best of all, that night there was a "super moon" that was so bright (see pic above, though you can't take a photo of a moon that does it justice) that we blew out the torches after dinner and turned out all of the lights and it seemed almost like daylight. Moon shadows were everywhere!

But back to the beautiful daytime.

The boy goats were enjoying their time in their new pasture. 

 

The colorful flock of chickens, when not giving me the evil eye, were starting to lay their eggs! Hooray for Eloise!

The adorable barn kittens were stalking prey (bugs?) in the soybean field.

And I met the new members of the "herd" -- Clara and Ella!

They are absolutely adorable and are hanging around in their barn stall before getting comfy enough to head out to the pasture (separated by a double fence from the dudes). A little skittish in their new digs, Rett was pleased to see that Clara let me pet her for a little while.

I also got a chance to check out the beautiful flowers Rett has been tending.

 Have a cocktail on a country afternoon.

 And take a mosey through the garden for gobs of luscious produce.

 We watched a glorious sunset over the soybean field.

And their brand-new patio was the perfect spot for a lovely dinner of summer pasta, home-made ice cream, and Ohio blueberry sauce (dessert recipes below).

I always feel super welcome at Merry Mount!

 Slept in the "girlfriend" room full of photos of our gal pals from the past, oh,
16 years or so.

All in all, a perfect summer weekend at Merry Mount, just past Rett and Pat's one-year anniversary at the farm!

Check out the easy recipes for home-made ice cream and Ohio blueberry sauce.
 

Easy Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups whipping cream, chilled
1 cup milk (may be low fat)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with a hand mixer. Pour into the freezer bowl of an electric ice cream maker, turn on the machine and let it mix until thickened, about 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a container. Place in freezer until firm.

Ohio Blueberry Sauce

One pint basket of fresh, Ohio blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all in a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Simmer until reduced and slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Let cool. Store in fridge; warm up to serve over the ice cream.


Always miss my Rio when I go to Merry Mount; she loved the farm as much as I do. But next time I go, I will have a new travelin' pal to bring along -- my just-rescued collie, 3 year old Piper:

Merry Mount Muted

(Rio and I go for our first sleepover)