Well, let's see what's going on around Rancho Wilhelm these days. There have been quite a few comings and goings. It seems the exception rather than the rule to sit down to a family of five for dinner. Michael is in his heavy travel phase of work. Las Vegas, home for a day, Melbourne, Australia, home for a week, New York for another week and then I believe he gets to stick around for "spring break" before heading off to some other exotic location. Valerie has also been off on her world tour with Neni (aka: Auntie Mame!) She just got back from a ten day trip to Rome. Mamma mia! But she did indeed miss her Rattus norvegicus.
So, Friday 30 March was proclaimed to be the official Rat Birthday necessitating the baking of one fancy cake. Rex really wanted to bake a gluten free chocolate cake (the favorite of Michael). But Valerie insisted that the rats can't eat chocolate and requested vanilla. A compromise was struck and Rex baked a marble cake. Or, as we called it, Chocolate with Vanilla Squirrel. Mmmmmmm mmmmm!
Of course we had to invite Valerie's friend Hannah over after school so she could partake of the festivities. Then Amira ran down the street to get Madelyn. As we all bellied up to the table to get a slice, a knock came at the door. "Why, come on in, Daniel. You are just in time for some rat birthday cake." We all resumed our anticipatory positions when another knock came at the door. "Hey, Logan! Come in! Cookies and Cream are having a birthday. Would you like some cake?" We had forks poised to lips when, yet another, knock came at the door. Michael exclaimed, "Just how many kids are there in this neighborhood?!"
On Saturday Rex and Amira decided it was time for an early April Fool prank. I was in business mode. "Hey, you clean your room. You get dressed. You brush your teeth. Who left this door open?!" (Honestly, the kids don't realize Old Yeller as a story so much as their mother's nick name). At a certain point I decided I'd put off that trip to the bathroom waaaay too long and went tearing around the corner to find this blockade, courtesy of Costco and two prankster children:
Oh, ha, ha! Very funny. So, I had to take a detour to the kids' bathroom, which I hate to do because I know it is disgusting. In theory the kid whose job it is to set the table all week is supposed to be keeping up on the cleanliness of the bathroom. But while I won't turn a blind eye to table setting (as I really enjoy dining with utensils and napkins) I can evade the bathroom and use the master bath. "Right, so, when you kids are done putting away alllllll that toilet paper, someone needs to get in here and do some serious scrubbing. This place is disgusting!" Perhaps I ought not to evade that bathroom and confront it more often so it doesn't reach the scale of disaster to which it is prone.
I resumed my glamorous weekend tasks, cleaning coops (didn't mention the "you know whats"!), laundry, sweeping and general household chores and preparation of dinner. At a certain point I heard much shouting coming from the back yard, "Go! Go! Go! Go!" along with a certain pounding noise. I glanced (with the camera) out the back window to see this:
Valerie and Amira had collected a number of frogs and toads and were having races across the picnic table. I guess if the amphibians were not inclined to "mush" across the track, the shouting and pounding would spur them on? I laughed and then had to put a stop to it for the sake of the little traumatized critters. The girls ran and put them in the garden as a favor to us all. Well, again, they weren't playing video games or watching television. So, I must give them credit for entertaining themselves.
Finally I went to plan meals for the week and realized that I have done so much freezer diving all winter that we are practically out of meat. No more chicken left. Just some feet and old bones with which to make stock. A lot of beef soup bones and liver. There is even a couple cuts of pork left. Well, looks like soup city here. Way to stretch the dollar until the spring meat load comes in. We're expecting 1/4 cow in a couple of months. It will probably arrive about the same time that we are destined to slaughter the "you know whats" in the back yard.
But, in other news, it turns out that it is mushroom season! While I am not a mycologist in any sense, we are lucky to have some in these parts. I got my hands on some wild harvested hedgehog, trumpet,chantrelle and morel mushrooms that I combined with less expensive crimini mushrooms and homemade stock into a phenomenal Hungarian Mushroom Soup.
~actual photo of my bowl of soup in all its deliciousness See the recipe below.
Hungarian Mushroom Soup
4 T butter
2 C chopped leaks or onion
1 lb sliced mushrooms (your choice)
2 t dried dill
1 T paprika (this must be what makes it Hungarian)
1 T tamari soy
3 C broth (I used homemade beef & chicken)
1 C whole milk
3 T flour
2 t lemon juice
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/2 C sour cream
1. Sautee onions and butter 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue for another 5 mins. Add dill, paprika, tamari & broth. Bring to a light boil and then reduce to low heat. Cover and simmer 15 mins.
2. Whisk whole milk & flour (I used rice flour). Pour mixture into soup & stir to blend. Simmer 15 more mins.
3. Adjust seasoning with some salt and pepper. Add lemon juice. Do not boil! Serve warm sprinkled with parsley. I served the sour cream on the side as it does not agree with me. But Michael really loves that stuff.
I believe the secret to success with this recipe is the quality and variety of mushrooms as well as the homemade stock. I constantly have a crock of some kind of stock going on the counter. My personal challenge is to get it as gelatinous as possible. Calcium is extracted from the bones and made more available to us and the gelatine is very healing to the gut.
I would think that for a dairy free option, one could omit the milk/flour mixture and puree some cooked potato for that creamy filling feeling. And, of course, one could use olive oil instead of butter. I used raw milk because I have less of a reaction to it than the standard pasteurized dairy.
Okay, enjoy your Tifftown moment.
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