Category: Turkey Tracks: My Life in Maine

Our Life in Maine, My Craft Projects, Quilting, Recipes, Book and Media Reviews

Turkey Tracks: Delvino’s in Belfast

Turkey Tracks:  January 26, 2012

Delvino’s

Belfast, Maine

I didn’t know there was a new Italian restaurant in Belfast, Maine.  Neither did my book club whom I told late yesterday afternoon.  My lunch partner yesterday, the legendary long-arm quilter in our area, Joan Herrick, introduced me.  Delvino’s has been open for a year now.  Who knew?

Delvino’s is at 52 Main in Belfast.  For locals, it’s on lower Main, on the right as you go downhill to the water, near the inn, the kitchen store, and Coyote Moon.   The telephone number is 338-4565.  It’s open as follows:

Sunday 11-8:30 p.m.

Monday to Thursday 11:30-8:30 p.m.

Friday/Saturday 11:30-9 p.m.

Joan and I had a lovely lunch, complete with dessert and coffee.  All the food is fresh, homemade, and is quite good.  We shared bruchetta (I don’t think this is spelled right, but I’m in a hurry this morning) that came with lovely toasted baguette slices.  I had spinach and ham-stuffed ravioli with a roasted garlic cream sauce; Joan had gnocchi (ditto) in a cream pesto sauce.  Salad and nice bread came with the meal.  I had a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce that was as rich as fudge.  And Joan had tiramisu that was as light as can be.  The coffee was great, and they even found me some honey with which to sweeten it.  The waitress was terrific, and we felt quite welcomed and spoiled.

The menu read really well–there were lots of non-pasta choices and a daily soup selection.

I highly recommend it.  I meant to take a picture, but it was—brrrr–cold with the wind off the water, and we rushed to the car afterwards.

Turkey Tracks: Ice Houses and An Eagle

Turkey Tracks:  January 26, 2012

Ice Houses and An Eagle

In deep winter, ice houses start appearing on our ponds.  Here’s Hosmer Pond, over by the Snow Bowl.  There are more ice houses on it than I remember in recent years.  What’s special about this picture, though, is the large lump to the right of the ice house in the middle of this picture.  It’s an eagle, who was eating something, probably some discarded bait.

We couldn’t quite believe it when we first passed.  My brain was saying “no, it’s some sort of big gull.”  I was driving, so I turned around and doubled back.  John got out of the car with his phone camera, and maybe he got better pictures.  I realized that I had my small camera in my purse (what good is a camera if it’s never with you?), so I held it out to him.  But, our presence began to spook the eagle, and it flew.  John tried to get those pics, but they didn’t come out.  The eagle’s white tail and huge wing span were spectacular up so close.

This snow has melted with our recent warm temps (50 degrees yesterday), so the whole pond is as shiny and smooth as glass–which the ice skaters love.

xxx

Turkey Tracks: Blue Hubbard Squash

Turkey Tracks:  January 23, 2012

Blue Hubbard Squash

I bought a Blue Hubbard squash in the late fall to roast for the winter.

Blue Hubbards are HUGE.  And they are legendary for being really, really delicious.

I tried to grow them last year, but it just wasn’t a good squash year in my garden.  I’ve already ordered the seeds to try again next year.

I put the squash next to other items in the kitchen so you could tell how big it it.  John had to take it to the garage and slice it into two parts with a saw.  The seeds are also supposed to be terrific, and I love to roast squash and pumpkin seeds, but I didn’t this time around.  Too much going on with everyone here for Christmas.  A missed opportunity I now regret.

Here it is cut in half.  It has beautifully orange flesh.

I put each half cut side down in a large pan coated lightly with coconut oil or olive oil and roasted about an hour.  You can tell from the smell when they are done.  And, you can check for sure by piercing with a sharp knife.

I scooped out the flesh and froze it in serving sizes for us.  And, of course we ate it that night.  I put it in a pot, heated it, mashed it, and added some cream, some butter, some maple syrup, some salt, and some cinnamon and nutmeg.  Delicious!

Add some eggs, and you’d have a great pie filling.

xxx

Turkey Tracks: Some Favorite Pictures

Turkey Tracks:  January 20, 2012

Some Favorite Pictures

Bryan took this picture on their visit in September.  It took me a while to pry it out of his camera, but it arrived not too long ago.

We had our house trim painted in September–thus the ladders next to the rock wall.   And you can see how social our chickens are.  They’ll come get in your lap if you let them–which Ailey is clearing worrying about.  Chickens are especially friendly if you’re eating anything.  In this pic they’re after the millet treat next to us.

Here’s another favorite picture–taken over Christmas when Mike, Tami, and the four kiddos were with us.

Talula and I were making stuffed green peppers–using the meatloaf recipe that’s already on this blog.  Here’s another view:

Here’s a pic of the stuffed green peppers ready to go into the oven.  They are topped with the roasted tomatoes I made last August and September and froze in mason jars.  That recipe is on the blog as well.  It takes about 45 minutes at 350 degrees to cook them.

Tami or Mike took this pic of John and Penny, who is the most affectionate dog.

Maryann came over Christmas and spent hours and hours playing with the children, who truly love her and her gentle ways with them:

Kelly came to us with a VERY loose tooth.  It took days and days with all of us periodically checking “how loose is it now,” but eventually it came out.  To our surprise, he lost the OTHER ONE the next day.  The tooth fairy only had a $5 bill found late at night after everyone else was in bed and, so, was completely broke after two nights of lost teeth.

Here are the kiddos at the Snow Bowl, which is walking distance from our house.  We signed them up for a week of ski lessons while they were here, and to our amazement, by Friday, the boys were riding the T-Bar lift alone and Talula had mastered the Mighty Might Lift and the beginning slope in fine fashion.  Wilhelmina made progress, but kept running out of energy and would fall and lie down in the snow.  (Skiing is hard work.)  Her teacher told Tami the following:  “This little girl won’t come up out of the snow.  She told me she’d get up if I gave her chocolate.”

And, of course we got a Christmas tree.  And of course it’s Maine grown.

We put it outside on the upper porch and decorated it with white lights and pine cones.  We never did slow down enough to string popcorn and cranberries for it.

Turkey Tracks: Chicken Feed Recipe Posting

Turkey Tracks:  January 20, 2012

Chicken Feed Recipe Posting

The chicken feed recipe is one of the most popular posts on this blog.  For over a year now it ranks second in the number of hits.  The first are the essays on the most recent science about the dangers of adding fluoride to our water.

I’ve had a request to repost the recipe.  But, how about if I tell you how to get to it on the blog?

On the right sidebar, below the comments, is a search tab.  The title of the exact post is “Chicken Feed Recipe”–and the recipe is at the end of that post.   There is a picture of a jar of mung bean sprouts up front.  The posting date is February 9, 2011.

You can also search the blog by putting in one of the categories:  chickens, craft projects, quilting, recipes.

Now, as to the chicken feed recipe.  I’ve found a local place where I can buy organic whole wheat and organic cracked corn in large sacks.  (I’m forgetting the poundage and am not going out to the garage right now to check–they’re probably 25-pounders.)  So I’ve been buying a sack of each of those and using about 3 parts each of the wheat and corn–then add  in the other grains and peas in one-part increments.  I’ve got a used big yogurt container and a lot of those BIG ziplock plastic bags, and I put all the bags of grains/peas/grit in a circle on the garage floor–the wheat and corn first as I use more of those–and fill a bag at a ziplock bag at a time with each ingredient in its proportion.  I put the filled separate bags into a big plastic garbage can, and I’m good for several months.  (I’ve got 8 chickens right now, and I last did this mixing before Thanksgiving.  I think I pulled the last mixed bag out this week.)

Remember though that I also give my chickens a big bowl of torn bread, whole raw milk, and raw meat (hamburger usually) every morning.  I add in whatever fat I’ve got from frying bacon or a meat roast and, sometimes, leftovers I think they’ll like.  (They have to compete with the dogs for tasty leftovers.)  In our currently frigid weather, I warm the milk for them, and they LOVE that.  They purr and talk and thank me quite nicely.  We’ve got frozen ground and snow, so I’m also supplementing with whatever greens I can find for them–they love kale–and I will start some mung bean sprouts for them today.

Turkey Tracks: Blue Tango Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  January 18, 2012

Blue Tango Quilt

To continue my scrappy quilting saga and the using up of cut scraps…

At least four years ago, for a Coastal Quilters’ program, I made a set of blocks to illustrate “how to make” and the versatility of half-square triangle blocks.  On the “how to make” side, I can tell you I learned early on from my Virginia quilting buddies to cut the light/dark squares you’re going to layer a bit bigger–as much as a half-inch bigger–layer the blocks, draw a line down the center diagonal, sew a quarter-inch from the center line on each side, and cut apart your blocks on the center line, press, and trim them to exact size.

At the meeting, people could place the blocks into a design on the portable design wall we had set up.  There are, literally, dozens of beautiful combinations.  I took those blocks, added to them, and made one of my favorite designs:

I called this quilt Blue Tango.

I had a large piece of fabric that has been in the stash for years and years that worked perfectly for both the border and the backing.  I really like the very lively movement it brings to the quilt.  And, here’s another light binding–something different for me as I tend toward dark bindings.

I quilted Blue Tango with the “Chocolate Feather” pantograph.  I’m getting slightly better, but learning to have complete control with the machine while using a pantograph is still hard, and it’s been nice to have all these quilts to practice on.

I’m going out today to get backings for four quilt tops that are finished or nearly finished.  How fun is that?

Turkey Tracks: Rose’s Pretty Eggs

Turkey Tracks:  January 17, 2012

Rose’s Pretty Eggs

Rose Thomas has the prettiest eggs in the whole world.

I got some over Christmas as our own flock was mostly resting and as Mike, Tami, and the four kiddos were coming.

Here’s what one sees when one opens one of Rose’s egg cartons:

The really dark brown egg is from a Copper Black Maran.  The white egg on the far left is from a Barbanter.  The blue eggs are from Americaunas.  The rosy tan eggs are from Red Sex-Links or Freedom Rangers.  I’m not sure what the other darker brown eggs are from–maybe Marans who are not painting so dark.  And, that little olive egg on the far lower right is from a Cooper Black Maran and Americauna cross.

They’re like Easter Eggs, right?

And the yolk color is a deep, amazing orange.

Rose feeds organic feed grown and sold in Maine–which has some soy–since she has a big flock–but she supplements with milk when she can get it, seaweed, whole grains, greens from her hoop houses, and household leftovers, including meat and fat.  On cold winter mornings, she takes her flock some warm mash–made from grains.

Please Maine farmers, grow and mix us some feed that is SOY FREE!

With a small flock, I can mix my own whole grains–and there is a good recipe elsewhere on this blog–but those with larger flocks cannot afford to do that.

Turkey Tracks: Pearl’s First Egg

Turkey Tracks:  January 17, 2010

Pearl’s First Egg

Pearl was born in early May.  Rose Thomas hatched about 40 “blue egg” chickens in incubators.  Among the batch were some pure Wheaten Americaunas, and Pearl was one of those.  Rose gave her to me in late summer when we decided she was big enough to leave home.  She was part of the young flock–including the Copper Black Marans from Georgia that Rose raised for both of us–I put together in late summer and early fall.

 Pearl became the “low man on the totem pole” in the flock.  She was the most timid and the last to meld with the group.  She was very attached to me, and whenever I came outside–once I let the flock free range for the fall and winter–she found me and stayed right with me, talking away all the while.  Here’s a picture of Pearl–she’s the tan chicken standing in front of the raspberries next to Rosie, a Copper Black Maran, and Pierre, the new, young rooster, also a CBM:

By early December Pearl was at least seven months old and had not yet layed an egg.  Our two other Wheatens were molting, so we had had no pretty blue eggs for some months.

One early morning a day or so before Mike, Tami, and the four kiddos came for two weeks in mid-December, Pearl flew up from the ground and landed on my shoulder as I was standing in front of the coop.  I picked her up, loved on her a bit, and put her down.  Later that day she laid her first egg–on the mat in front of the back, kitchen door.

Here it is:

Pearl is laying regularly now, still comes to greet me in these cold mornings, and seems more comfortable with the whole flock.