Right out Straight...

That’s the message you receive if you happen to call my brother and he doesn’t answer the phone.  It’s been the same message for the last 10 years.  Since you haven’t heard from us for the last several weeks it’s safe to assume that we’ve been “Right out straight.”  Or for you non-New Englanders, “busy as hell”.

I had intended to write after the Spring snowstorm. Even took a picture.  Was going to write after the April Fool’s Storm.  Took a picture then too.  Then we’ve been getting ready for our two pregnant pigs to give birth.  This necessitated building what are called farrowing huts, which basically are a fairly narrow structure for the pig to give birth in and raise their piglets.  Female pigs are referred to as gilts until they have given birth, then they are called sows.  These “huts” took time since yours truly is not a carpenter and decided to use rough sawn hemlock and whatever wood we had lying around.  As a result neither house is square or plumb.  But they work.  Of course, it would have helped if I had bothered to measure Bungie, our large Tamworth gilt first.  Once we moved her into house #1 we discovered that when she stretched out she was longer than the house.  This necessitated building house #2 about 2 feet longer.

House #1 with Bungi

House # 2 Enroute Zubenelgenubi

House #2 was finished on Monday and we moved our other Red Wattle gilt, Zubenelgenubi into it as we expected Bungie to farrow first and didn’t want to risk moving her.  We were wrong.  Sometime around 6:00 on Tuesday Zubenel gave birth to 4 piglets.  Unfortunately we weren’t there to monitor the birth and as a result she lay on and crushed three of the four.  We were able to rescue the fourth but to further complicate matters she refused to allow it to nurse.  So now we (Christine) are bottle-feeding Uno, as we call her, in the living room.  She’s doing well and Tqa (the dog) helps in keeping her clean by licking her after she eats.  She sounds like a Mogwai from the 1984 movie Gremlins when she wakes up.  Which is every 2-4 hours.

Uno Day 1   2.26 lbs. (Notice the small wattle)

Uno Day 3   Approx. 3 lbs.

 After the negative birth experience with Zubenel I began monitoring Bungie around the clock.  At least every 2 hours I have been going out to check on her to make sure that she hasn’t gone into labor.  After 3 days she still hasn’t.  A pig will make a nest prior to giving birth and she will also start producing milk to feed the little ones.  While Bungie is as big as a house, she hasn’t done either yet.  So we decided to move her out of her house and into the larger one after evicting Zubenel and sending her back to our larger fenced in area.  We’ll see what happens.  Hopefully it hasn’t stressed her out too much.  She does appear to like her new home as she has decorated it with fir branches.

Zubenel Sleeping in front of House #2

Soooo, now we wait for Bungie to farrow and cross our fingers.  It’s a new experience for both her and us, and everyone you talk to or every book you read says something different.  At times I feel that we should just let her figure it out on her own and not interfere.  After all, pigs were having piglets for quite some time before we humans decided to get involved.  Anywho, we’ll keep you posted.

What's happening with the Spice business you ask?  Well, we’re wrapping up the Winter Market at Fort Andross tomorrow and would like to thank all of you for another great season.  Starting May 7^th we will once again be at the Crystal Spring Farmers Market on Pleasant Hill Road in Brunswick.  This is a great outdoor market with over 40 vendors, many of whom you'll be familiar with.  Beginning May 12^th we will be at the Boothbay Farmers Market from 09:00 – 12:00 every Thursday.  This year we are participating in a number of shows the following of which are confirmed:

April 30^th -         USM Craft Show in Gorham

May 13^th – 15^th Northern New England Home and Garden Show in Fryeburg

July 14^th – 17^th  Yarmouth Clam Festival

July 30^th –          Artisan Bread Fair & Kneading Conference in Skowhegan

As we receive confirmation of other shows we’ll be sure to let you know.

You can also find our products in a couple of new stores.  Browne Trading Market in Portland and Sawyer’s Market in Southwest Harbor are two new accounts that we’ve recently added.  If you have a chance please stop by and check them out.  Browne’s has fantastic fish and an excellent wine selection and Sawyer’s has been in business since 1946 and has an outstanding selection of specialty food items and many excellent Maine made products.

If you’ve made it this far then you deserve a recipe.  While I think he’s arrogant and I do get tired of all his “lovely” descriptors, Jamie Oliver does occasionally come up with something that sparks my interest.  So here’s a recipe that I kyped (stole) from him with a few minor changes.  This really is an outstanding dish and should be served with couscous and maybe some pita or other similar bread.

Beef Tagine with Ras el Hanout

For the spice rub

1 Tbsp. Ras el Hanout

1 Tbsp. Ground cumin

1 Tbsp. Cassia cinnamon

1 Tbsp. Ground ginger

1 Tbsp. Paprika

1 Tsp. Sea Salt

1 Tsp. Freshly ground Black pepper

1 1/2 lbs. Stewing Beef

Olive oil

1 Large Onion, peeled and finely chopped

A small bunch of fresh cilantro, leaves picked and stalks reserved

1 14 oz. Can Chickpeas, drained

1 14 oz. Can Diced Tomatoes

4 Cups Stock, Beef, Chicken, or Vegetable

1 1/2 lbs. Winter Squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1-inch chunks

4 oz. prunes, roughly torn

2 Tbsp. Sliced Almonds, toasted 

To make the spice rub:

Mix the Ras el Hanout, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, paprika, salt, and black pepper together in a small bowl. 

Put the beef into a large bowl, massage it with the spice rub, then cover and place into the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and preferably overnight. 

When you're ready to cook, heat a several tablespoons of olive oil in a tagine or Dutch oven and fry the meat over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the chopped onion and coriander (cilantro) stalks and fry for another 5 minutes.

 Add the chickpeas and tomatoes, and 2 cups of the stock and stir. Bring to a boil, then put the lid on the pan or cover with foil and reduce to a simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

At this point add your squash, the prunes and the remainder of the stock. Give everything a stir, place the lid back on the pan and continue cooking for another 1 1/2 hours. Keep an eye on it and add a bit of water if it looks too dry. 

Once the time has passed, take the lid off and check the consistency. If it seems a bit too runny, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more with the lid off. The beef should be really tender and flaking apart now, so have a taste and season with salt if necessary. 

Scatter the cilantro leaves over the tagine along with the toasted almonds and serve. 

   

Okay.  Sorry it took so long to get back in touch.  I didn’t even mention the 122 chickens that are currently living in our garage…