Peacock Orchard

Review: The Stump Jump Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 wine and Irish Cheddar Cheese

Wine:

The Stump Jump 2009 Sauvignon Blanc $7.29 (On sale)

Description:

[From back of bottle] The Stump Jump Sauvignon Blanc was gently crushed and basket pressed followed by temperature controlled fermentation prior to bottling. It is a fresh, crisp style with great appeal to savor on it’s own or as an accompaniment to food.

Cheese:

Irish Cheddar $10.29/lb

Description:

[From the cheese makers website] A rindless, pasteurized cows’ milk cheese that offers unusually sweet and fruited flavor. Moderately sharp, this is no tongue-searer, but is best enjoyed through the thick creamy head of a mug of stout.

Wine Review:

This wine has a nice fruity scent. The initial sip is nice and fruity as well with a bit of a bite. I felt my molars for a second there. All in all not a bad wine. I would have no problem drinking it. I think this would be a good one to eat or cook with chicken. That’s my problem, no wine is too good or too bad to be cooked with.

Cheese Review:

I liked the look of this cheese. It was very patriotic with the green wax. Irish for sure. Other than that it’s cheddar. Should be eaten like cheddar is, cooked. We tried it then we put it away and brought out the apple smoked gouda. Mmmmm that gouda!

We enjoyed this wine while watching The Permaculture Orchard. I’d highly recommend it but I’m biased since I’m hoping to replicate his orchard, kind of.

Juicing facts, why we started and why we’ll never stop

Last year I began watching TED talks. Too many TED talks. Many pointed to the nutritional benefits of whole foods, which I absolutely believe in. The problem is that getting my kids to eat a green bean is extremely unpleasant. You may have seen then gobbling peas out of the shell but if you cook those peas, then it’s as good as poison. They certainly did not get their dislike for vegetables from me. So how to get the good stuff into them? Another TED talk turned my attention to juicing. So we got a green juice recipe and began.

Of course the kids wouldn’t drink it. It actually took months before the kids would try it. They’ll drink my whole glass now (so about 3/4 cup per kid), so persistence is key!

Straws are necessary to the process though. They only get straws when they drink their green juice.

We did alter the recipe for palatability though. We add pineapple, which is a great source of vitamin C so an obvious addition anyway.

I’m not going to lie here, I thought green juice was hideous. I’d drink it all in one gulp so I didn’t have to taste it. The pineapple helped and you do grow to appreciate the flavor, so I like it now. Stick with it through that first week!

The effect has been pretty amazing though. We are healthy. Really healthy. Before green juice we’d end up at the ER with incredible fevers. We got every sickness you could possibly get. Don’t even tell me you have the flu over the phone because I swear I could catch it that way.

I don’t mean to mislead you, we have been sick. We all caught a cold around Christmas. We were over it within a few days and it was never that severe. We rarely go to the doctor anymore. I haven’t had to buy any medication for anyone for a year now. It’s mind blowing the difference juicing has made for all of us.

The kids share a glass. It helps encourage them to drink it when it’s a race.

Our recipe is for 4 people, 2 of them being very small children. This recipe makes a quart of juice.

1/3 pineapple
3 medium apples
2-3 kale leaves
1/3 head of romaine (5-6 leaves)
1 cucumber
1 lime
3-4 stalks of celery

We purchase our juicing stuff weekly. The average cost is $30 per week.

As far as health stats. Our green juice recipe should have the following vitamins and minerals:

green juice

That link is a pdf document.

Staying at home isn’t as relaxing as I thought it would be.

Ok I never thought it would be relaxing. I’m a busy woman and I had projects lined up as far as the eye could see. Still, I thought I’d be able to accomplish things. I suppose I am but it really doesn’t feel like it. Today I ran errands and cooked. That’s it. Where are my beautiful tomato seeds sprouting? Where is my remodeled kitchen? Well that’s a mess. Missing one wall and adding 4. Small walls though, really small ones. I will explain that later.

This rambling has a point I’m sure. Maybe it doesn’t. I’ve been so busy doing I’ve barely had any time to talk about it. Everything is going well. The pigs are growing by leaps and bounds. I still love them. B.L.T. is going to be a biter though, I can tell. He’s already at my legs. I keep something between us usually.

The children are fighting like cats and dogs. Arguing every little thing. Even having full blown arguments about whose mother I actually am. Still, they’re a joy.

I’ve been experimenting with home made bread a lot lately. I haven’t found a recipe I love yet, but I’ll get there. I’ll share it when I do.

As I write this I’m thinking about the wall I need to prime for painting. The shelves I need to stain for the new pantry. The faucet and sink I need to complete before I can move the fridge. Ok. Ok. Must not think about the mountain of tasks and focus on the wonderful things around me. Sounds of our children laughing while they color side by side. The smell of fresh brownies come out of the oven, just waiting for ice cream. The warmth of the gigantic hairy dog at my feet. My life, it’s wonderful!

That one time we put security cameras in the barn……

I am happy to announce we are getting eggs from our chickens once again. Even happier to announce that being home means I’m able to collect the eggs before they freeze, most of the time.

This was not always the case, however. We had egg eating. Lots of egg eating. I wasn’t able to figure out who exactly was doing it either. So we set up our surveillance camera system in the barn to watch the birds. Oh how exciting we are, I know.

Even still we weren’t quite able to determine who it was. I suspected it was some of the white chickens and so I separated them out. Still no eggs from the other chickens, and no eggs from the separated whites.

Naturally my reaction was that a cull was in order and thus we separated out all of the older, egg laying chickens with the turkeys for kill day. I had 6 immature chickens still so I was fine culling out the older birds.

I’m unsure how many of the chickens were actually killed. We had some escapees. One wriggled out of the kill cone and a few flew over the fence while I was attempting to catch them for slaughter. Whatever the reason for their escape it appears they have all been “scared straight”. We are getting eggs and no one is eating them. Joyous day! We have chickens and are only getting about 6 eggs a day but that’s fine for winter. Also I noticed that someone is laying on the ground and the pigs are eating those eggs. We’ll take care of that issue later.

I rode a pig today.

I rode a pig today and I wouldn’t recommend it. Pigs are big and strong and can scream really really loud. I’m not sure who was more upset about the situation, me or the pig. The pig probably, I was decently amused I admit.

So there I was hunched over pouring 3 gallons of warm water into their rubber tub when B.L.T. shoved himself underneath me. This knocked me off balance and I landed squarely on top of his back. There was a second of frozen silence before he started screaming bloody murder and bucking as hard as a small pig can. I landed on my side with a nice view of angry pig prancing about.

B.L.T. calmed down when food was divvied out but I don’t think the turkeys we acquired the 23rd will ever recover from the trauma of it. The male did enough gobbling to make me consider putting us both out of his misery.

As for Rocker-Digger, he simply watched out of the corner of his eye as he gulped water like a pig left in the desert for months.

I am sincerely thankful for the lined Carhart overalls Husband gave me for Christmas. I was nicely protected from a rageful pig and the cold, hard ground.

Oh and as for why I’m not using my wonderful auto waterer it’s because I fear the pigs would break it. They love to drag things about and are particularly fond of things with any sort of cord.

Review: Valcolomba Merlot 2012 and Bellavitano Merlot Cheese

Wine:

Valcolomba Merlot 2012 $6.99

Description:

[from back of bottle] made from merlot grapes grown on dry farmed vineyards in the Maremma region. The Mediterranean climate gives this wine the intense bouquet, depth and softness typical of the coastal Maremma region.

Cheese:

Bellavitano Merlot Cheese

Description:

[From cheese makers website]By wedding this rich, creamy cheese to the berry and plum notes of Merlot, we’ve created a marriage of flavors destined to make your taste buds say, “I do.” On that note, if you invite a few friends from our pairing guide — say, toasted walnuts, thin slices of prosciutto and semisweet chocolates for dessert — the honeymoon never has to end.

Wine Review:

We rather enjoy surfing the bargain bin at the local liquor store. A nice adventure to be sure. This wine was one of those bargain finds at $6.99.

Smoother than expected. I felt like it was a really fruity flavor. Almost citrusy. Very nice fruity aftertaste. I think this might be my favorite merlot thus far. The Bonterra is amazing with food, a really enjoyable wine I’d highly recommend. This wine, however, is just an enjoyable solo drink. I didn’t want to eat any cheese, as I was stuffed from dinner, so this wine was a really nice surprise as I could enjoy it thoroughly alone. I wouldn’t say this wine is a dessert wine, per se, but I enjoyed it as such. I’m sure this is enjoyable with food but I can only vouch for it’s solo qualities thus far.

We will say that there is no sediment in this wine and we like that quite a lot. I can’t say I’m a fan of gritty wine.

Cheese Review:

My husband absolutely loved it with the cheese.

My husband loves this merlot cheese. We’ve reviewed it before here. He constantly buys it. He always buys merlot to go with it. He says the Bonterra wine is the best thus far with the cheese but this wine certainly was pleasant with it.