that's out front looking at stracchan's brook, and here's out back looking at our river.
the river is making it's strange river sounds with the ice breaking up. even "the rats" approved (btw, that's his happy face - you don't want him to turn "the stink eye" on you!!!)
folks around these parts have a name for such a glorious day (and by "folks" i mean me and jabaloney and "around these parts" means Framboise Manor in all of it's glory. those folks call it "Hottub Day" - woohoo!
isn't she a beaut?
we were in and out all day and will be in and out all evening!
we went for a walkabout and checked out the greenhouses - oregano made it through the winter and is coming back fast!
the rosemary also made it through the winter as did the parsley which is also coming in strong!
our sage plant, i should say tree, also made it through!
i would show you the 5 catnip plants that made it through the winter but if i even type that word - 5 cats will come screaming from every direction!!!
our kale and swiss chard is trying to make a comeback. no worries - more will be planted soon.
the alpine strawberries thrived during the winter and are already sending out shoots!
and here is our scraggly pond and Ted's bench that we love!
the other day i started a beef bone and meat broth - all scraps and bones that we save to make our broths from.
i usually cook mine for 5 or 6 days by spending the day bringing it to a boil for 15 mins and then simmering it. i do this 5 or 6 times a day adding water as needed. this is going to be a very strong broth!
i also made some croutons.
deelish! we put them in salads but mostly just eat a handful watching netflix. they are soooo deelishous and we love them!
some interesting stuff going on around the house - we overwinter our best pepper producers and every winter we get a little surprise. peppers actually growing in the house over winter?
here's another.
and another.
which end up in jambaloney's never-ending jar of hot pickled peppers. these will last for a short while and then i will start a whole new jar for him when the summer comes and we are getting loads of peppers.
i strained some of the beef broth and made a heavenly beef and kidney and veg stew with doughboys (Rain will probably be the only one that knows what a doughboy is!). they are kind of like dumplings but not really, and they are kinda like tea biscuits but not really. you drop spoonfuls of the dough on top of your stew to cook the doughboys.
the stew was deevine and gave me a chance to see how strong the broth is (it's super strong and delicious!). whenever i make stew i make a big giant pot, some for jambaloney's work lunches but mostly to make this:
steak and kidney and veg meat pie!
it was absolutely deelish! i use the same pate brissee crust all the time and it is always so flaky and buttery!
so back to today march 1, 2018. i had my normal yoghurt with berries (rasberries and blueberries that we pick and freeze immedietely! jambaloney had his cereal and berries. we ran out of our blackberries a while back but we ate a whole bunch on the days we were picking them. we had re-heated meat pie for our dinner.
such a gorgeous march 1 deserved a gorgeous meal of jambaloney's fresh striped bass that he caught in november and he cleaned and filleted them and then we put them in vaccuum-sealed bags. it tasted like he caught it today.
we also had some wild rice blend and a stirfry with bok choi, broccoli and asparagus. it was soooo good!
now it's nighttime and the moon looked so beautiful and lit up the hottub area in "bathing" light (pun intended!).
we welcome you march 1 - thank you for being such a glorious day! now it's hottub time!
