A Day at the Farm

This post was supposed to be about Blue and Luci, but I came upon some pics from a couple of weeks ago and I just couldn't pass them up. My favorite red-heads were visiting the farm, which always makes for a good time and great photo opportunities. This day, bubbles were the theme...

N provides the bait

Z goes in for the bite

and as the boy does, so does the dog!

Luci was somewhat baffled by the bubbles and preferred to keep her distance.

In other news, Blue and Luci continue to be the best of dog buddies, though Blue takes very seriously her responsibility of teaching Luci the rules. If Luci jumps up on something and we scold her, Blue will grab Luci by the leg and pull her down, which is pretty entertaining and generally leads to some serious wrestling on their part.

However last week Blue demonstrated some rather impressive corrective behavior. The farm crew was in the garlic patch, weeding. The dogs had been keeping a supervisory eye on our activities while playing around the perimeter of the garden. Luci has been struggling a little with the idea that the white electrical tape the surrounds the garden is a "barrier" that she must not cross, after all it is several inches over her head and the gate opening is just that...wide open. So as we were working, Luci walked through that gate opening and was standing several feet inside the garden (strictly forbidden here), when I looked up and noticed her. I pointed outside the garden and said firmly, "Luci, OUT!" As is common when receiving a command, Luci froze and stood there staring at me. Blue however had no hesitation, she ran through the gate into the garden, grabbed Luci by the neck and dragged her outside of the garden. When they had cleared the fenceline, she dropped the puppy and laid down as though nothing had happened. Upon being released, Luci hopped up, tackled Blue and a full-out wrestling match ensued.

The farm crew saw the whole thing and just stood there staring at the dogs. One of our crew members said, in an incredulous voice, "Did I just see what I saw?" That was a pretty good summation of the scene.

You just never know...

Saturday as the mad rush that was the opening farmers market was winding down, I grabbed my hat (those of you in the know, know which hat) and ducked across the street to show off my fine chapeau to our friends at Vanderploeg's Bakery. As I was donning my hand-knit finery and entertaining Marcie, a customer walked up and asked to take my picture. Um well, why not..."sure, go ahead."
And then the day proceeded as normally (for us) and we packed up and went home. Got to spend some quality time with my sister and nephews, went to bed at 9pm. It was a good, though exhausting day.

Then Sunday evening, after my sister had returned home, she sent me an email saying a friend had forwarded her a blog link and it was "Too Funny!"

So always up for a good laugh, I clicked on the link. Ohhhhh....well, um...here, see for yourself:
Opening Day

What fun, a blog about the market and and local foods.
So of course I left a comment, and the author sent me a very kind email, from which we have started up a conversation. Its a small world out there, it was true back in our theatre lives and is certainly true in the Local Foods scene. What fun to find another like-minded person who enjoys locally grown foods, supports the farmers market and has a sense of humor!

Oh, and the fun continued on the follow-up posting as well:
be careful what you post

Too funny indeed! Thanks Amy, for the shared laugh!

Pinched Hummus

No, I didn't steal hummus from Gateway Market or anything. Though I've recently been craving it just about enough to do so.

Sometime during our "All-Out-Bash-Opening-Farmers-Market" on Saturday, Sean stepped out of the booth for 2 minutes and grabbed a couple loaves of bread from our favorite bakery at the market...ah sweet mystery of life, I do love that bread! I know, I know, I can make my own bread, only theirs is so damn good and I don't have to bake it. And at this time of the year that is critical.

So I had good bread, I wanted hummus...good hummus.

Then today I was pinching back trays and trays of basil starts and it hit me...hummus with basil. Oh yeah, that's exactly what I want!
I grabbed a few different recipes from the internet, plugged in my food processor and away we went.
Needless to say, tonight's supper was bread and hummus...period. Sometimes life is very, very good!

BGF Hummus

5 garlic cloves, minced and then mashed
1 cup basil trimmings (or leaves)
2 15-oz cans of chickpeas, drained
2/3 cup of tahini
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil, plus a bit more
1/2 teaspoon of salt

In a food processor, combine the mashed garlic, basil and a shot of olive oil.
Process until it looks like a loose pesto.
Add garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, water and remaining olive oil.
Process until smooth. Add salt, starting at a half a teaspoon, to taste.

Delicious with good bread, fresh veggies or chips.
Freezes well.
Makes about 3 cups.