Posts Tagged ‘La Dolce Vita Farm’
Turkey Tracks: April 2017 Quilty Update
Turkey Tracks: April 3, 2017
April 2017 Quilty Update
It snowed all Saturday.
Didn’t amount to much, was beautiful coming down, and provided a quiet sewing day to enjoy.
We all just hunker down on these sorts of days, providing we can.
I don’t feed the turkeys unless we have packed snow on the ground–which we did up to a few days ago. (Though we have more snow coming in tomorrow, but maybe we will have rain here on the coast.) The turkeys know I’ll throw out food when it snows, so they begin to assemble early morning, and when I let Penny out, they come running and talking. They are more vocal now than ever before. Anyway, I have had a lot of feed bags this winter. I used to throw these bags away. The feed bags from the chickens too. But now everyone is making very nice bags from them–for the grocery store, for recycling, for anything that needs a bag. I have been giving mine away, but everyone is “full up” now. So, rather than throw one away, I tried to make a bag.
SUPER easy and very fun. There are MANY tutorials online. Here’s a good one: Source: Feed Bag Tote Bag
I took the bag to the garage where it is storing newspapers to recycle at the dump.
The last of the amaryllis are blooming now. The white one is from Rose Lowell (La Dolce Vita Farm). It bloomed before and I put pics up. Then it sent up a whole new stalk and bloomed three blooms again. The gift that keeps on giving…
My leader/ender project got sewn into a quilt top. More on that later as it will be a gift. I got backing/binding for it today. So my NEW leader/ender project seems to be a 10 1/2-inch log cabin block made from 1 1/2 inch strips. I forgot (AGAIN!!!) how demanding log cabin blocks can be and spent most of yesterday resewing blocks. Each section has to measure right or the whole thing goes awry.
How to set them???
It’s time to do 8 or 9 more Tula Pink blocks. What a treat! I’d probably rip through the whole book if I were not so busy with other projects as well. Pics to follow soon I’m sure.
I spent a lot of time ironing fabric yesterday–getting ready to cut for the “Bits and Pieces” quilt made with Carol Friedlander “Doe” collection fabrics. I’ve loved this quilt and this fabric for ages and ages. I first saw it at Alewives Fabric Store in Damariscotta, Maine.
I wash fabrics first because the chemicals and dyes don’t agree with me. If they didn’t, I probably wouldn’t.
The fat quarters go into making the “bits.”
I found this fabric in Friedlander’s recent collection. It’s perfect for the neutral strips. Or so I think. I like the texture.
Here’s the whole array. I’m thinking I’ll have enough for two quilts maybe…
The backing is a white/black Friedlander. It’s perfect.
So, En Provence is still in pieces and ready to be sewn together. Millifiori is getting BIG. More on that later. And the selvage star quilt is waiting patiently.
Turkey Tracks: Rose Cooks For the Weekend
Turkey Tracks: April 26, 2015
Rose Cooks For the Weekend
Stephen Pennoyer and Mark White moved the chicken coop to Rose Thomas’s La Dolce Vita Farm Saturday morning.
It took two trips (bless their souls), but the coop is so happy to be on flat ground once again. (It’s made by Roots and Coops.)
And see the coop wheels all pumped up? Stephen got some product you spray inside flat wheels that pumps them up AND coats the inside so that the tire STAYS pumped up.
I came over after I went to the dump–and after Stephen and Mark’s second run–to show Rose the ins and outs of the coop.
Rose bakes and cooks for Saturday morning, and her customer line was slowing down when I came:
Here’s her Facebook post for today–Il Forno (The Oven) at Dolce Vita Farm:
Good Morning Everyone! Today I am opening with fresh hot Bacon and Egg cups, Morning Glory muffins, Hot coffee from Green Tree and loads of fresh breads to include: Pain di mais (sourdough cornbread), Semolina, Whole wheat sourdough, Lt Wheat pecan/raisin, and regular cornbread with corn and bacon. There is also ricotta/cheese cakes with almond biscotti crusts and my fab Oatmeal everything cookie. Todays entree is Seafood Chowdha with shrimp, scallops and haddock.
Have a great day everyone!
Dolce Vita Farm and Bakery
488 Beach Road
Lincolnville, Maine
207-323-1052
Oh my. You should see Rose’s beautiful food:
Hot Bacon and Egg cups:
Ricotta cheese cake:
BIG Morning Glory muffins and very interesting corn cakes:
Here’s Rose with puppy Ivy–whose face looks like a Teddy Bear’s:
I got a cup of coffee and we walked about.
My chickens are still staying close to each other, and they still recognize my voice. They also recognized their old coop:
Pumpkin is VERY happy at Rose’s:
I’ll be getting these at Rose’s now:
She’s going to use the coop first to pen Pumpkin with her three remaining Blue Wheaten hens and “Baby” her best broody hen to see if she can get more of this wonderful breed.
I went home with a bacon/egg cup, a quart of DELICIOUS chowder, and two of the corn cakes.
And I’ll be back next Saturday morning for sure.
Turkey Tracks: Rose Thomas and La Dolce Vita Farm
Turkey Tracks: July 19, 2014
Rose Thomas and La Dolce Vita Farm
Rose Thomas is an amazing baker and an amazing friend.
Rose bakes in a wood-fired oven (and in other ovens too) and her commercial kitchen is almost finished.
Her baking is…delicious…and her other cooking is…inspired.
Take a look at her Facebook page if you can, and you’ll see what I mean.
Rose has been to Italy many, many times over the years and worked in farm/resort kitchens there as well. One place she goes is to the Tuscan kitchen and farm Spannocchia.
Her La Dolce Vita Farm is a really fun place to be, and I go over about once a week on Wednesdays to pick up milk and yogurt that arrives. This week, though, I got there on Thursday, and Rose was baking for the Isleboro Island farmer’s market on Friday.
Here’s Rose on this big baking day–the oven is behind her and she’s already loaded about 15 loaves of this bread into the oven’s maw–with more to go.
She uses Tartine bread–from the famous bakery in California–as her ultimate model for her loaves. She will cut the tops of these loaves with a razor before she puts them in the oven.
Here’s a pic of the inside of the oven, which is, unfortunately, blurry, but it gives you some idea:
Earlier this spring, Rose knew that I was down to three hens with two of them not laying and that I’ve talked about getting Buckeye chickens for some years (they’re hard to find in Maine). So, she surprised me with some Buckeye chicks that she is raising, and I’ve been visiting them when I go to the farm.
The Buckeyes are the brown chicks, and the Cockoo Marans are the speckled ones. The latter will lay a big chocolate brown egg, and the Buckeyes will lay a lighter colored brown. Both of these breeds are big hens and are very cold tolerant of our Maine winter.
The chicks are almost big enough to be released to the freedom of the yard. They have to be big enough to handle the other hens in the hen house.
And I can’t wait to bring some of both breeds home. When I do, I’ll return two of my more…territorial…hens to her flock so they won’t beat the new chicks to death.
Rose is also raising four pigs. They’ve doubled in size over the last week.
Here they are:
And, here’s a picture of the heavenly milk and yogurt I’m getting from MilkHouse–who drops off at Rose’s farm. Can you see that the cream on the milk bottle reaches all the way to the bottom of the jug handle? That’s Jersey cows for you…
I am so spoiled up here in Maine…
And I know it.
Turkey Tracks: Summer Salad
Turkey Tracks: September 3, 2013
Summer Salad
August is not a great month for tender leaf lettuce. It’s not a great month for any lettuce for that matter. It’s too hot. This year has been a bit different–with all the coolness and rain, some of the leaf lettuce has survived.
The wonderful Melody Pendleton came and bailed me out with painting tasks–which I hate and which she likes to do. She does such beautiful work. She brought me this gorgeous lettuce from her garden one day. (I’ve replanted and my new crop is coming along.)
I made a gorgeous salad with her lettuce one day for lunch. I’ve been so hungry for sautéed zucchini all summer. So I sautéed some for this salad–and broke a fresh, soy-free egg into it at the end. I didn’t add cheese as to the pan as I had some fresh goat cheese. The last of the grated carrot/kohlrabi/corn/mustardy and garlicky dressing went on the side. And, some of the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes from the garden. And I had a very quick feast. Thanks to Melody! And the garden and the earth and the summer…
The garden is steadily producing. Here’s a morning’s offering:
And look at the cherry tomatoes I’ve amassed. I have enough to start a flat to dehydrate, though I’ll let them get a little riper on the counter first:
See those saladette tomatoes at the back of the cherries? I got those from Hope’s Edge CSA. And Melody brought me some, too. They are TERRIFIC roasted in the agro/dolce style. I learned that from Skye Gyngell’s book A Year in My Kitchen. Skye takes the notion of having “assets” around the kitchen to whole new levels. Thanks to Tara Derr Webb, of the Farmbar and Deux Peuces Farm in Charleston, SC, and Awendaw, SC, I have this book in my kitchen.
Here’s a very bad picture of the saladettes roasted. Agro-dolce means sweet/salty. So, basically, you sprinkle a bit of sugar, a bit of salt, grind over some pepper, and SLOW, SLOW roast at your oven’s lowest heat–which can take 3 or so hours. OK, if you get in a hurry, you can roast them quicker, and they are still delicious. They’re good hot or cold. Rose Thomas, La Dolce Vita Farm, roasts these guys in her wood-fired oven, and oh my gosh–the smoky taste from the wood fire is heavenly. I’m planting more of these guys next year.
With all the vegetables needing to be used, I made a “deep summer soup” one day. I had some frozen bone broth as a base, so I just sautéed veggies and lots of garlic–some ginger as I had a Bok Choy cabbage–and added some dehydrated mushrooms from a year or two ago. I threw a handful or two of short-grain brown rice into it as well. Once it’s cooked, or reheated, I spoon some of my sauerkraut into it and add a dollap of fermented piima cream. It’s delicious and so good for you with the rich bone broth as a base.
I know summer is over, but I can still feel the summer love.
Turkey Tracks: The Wood Pile
Turkey Tracks: April 24, 2012
The Wood Pile
Stopped by Pete and Rose Thomas’s last week.
Look what’s lining their driveway.
Pete is hoping this woodpile will take them through next winter. Their wood use is heavier these days–due to the wood-burning oven where Rose is making the most delicious pizzas and all kinds of baked breads. She also uses the oven to cook all kinds of foods: meats, roasted tomatoes, and so forth.
Pete’s making progress on cutting the timber into firewood lengths, but it’s a HUGE job!
Go Rose! Go Pete!
