The Barefoot Kitchen Witch

A Bunch of Close Up Pictures Because I Can Finally Again

A while back the camera doctors told me, regretfully, that the 18-55mm kit lens that came with my Canon Rebel XT had gone to that great darkroom in the sky.

Okay, they didn’t say that.  It would have sounded really odd coming from them, or pretty much anyone.

They just told me the lens aperture wasn’t reading right any more and that’s why the camera kept not working, and that rather than spend the money to fix it, I’d be better off replacing it with something better.

Yippee!  A reason to shop for a Newer! Better! Lens!

The Heart of Boris

You may or may not remember me mentioning Boris earlier this year.  If you are unfamiliar with Boris, you can read about him in this post.

Much of Boris was ill-suited to simple cooking – he was an older pig, well past the usual butchering age, and his meat was tougher than something you might buy in the store.

Part of our portion, which consisted of things like the head, the liver, bones (for stock), a few cuts of meat, some of the belly, also included the heart.  I’ve had it in the freezer in a vacuum-sealed bag for months now, and the other day, I decided to thaw it and cook it.

Now, this post will contain pictures of said heart.  No gratuitous blood or gore – just a simple – and simply beautiful – heart.

I will tell you, also, that, as I have with all of our Boris-processing projects, I felt…reverence.

Okay, if you are squeamish and don’t want to see a heart, click away and read something else.  Otherwise, come along.

Garden Pictures from This Morning

Most mornings when I’m not working really early Bill and I take our coffee and walk around the yard looking at the gardens.  It’s my favorite part of the day.  Here’s some of what we looked at this morning.

First up – tomatillos!  Yay!  It’ll be a while before the fruit is big enough to pick – you can’t even feel them inside their papery lantern-like cocoons, but just seeing them makes me happy. 

Over the Shoulder Galeux d’Eysines Holders

Well not exactly.

There are no shoulders involved.

Just the picket fence.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Caramelized Eggplant and Balsamic Shrimp Wrap with LAND O’LAKES 4 Cheese Italian Blend

I was quite surprised and delighted when Kitchen PLAY invited me to participate in their “30 Days of Outdoor Dining” event, which is running from June 25th through July 24th. 

Once I’d agreed to the posting date, I was given the “secret ingredient” info:  LAND O’ LAKES 4 Cheese Italian Blend.  

The Garden This Morning

First, there’s kale.  This one is close to the house, just inside the gate.  Presumably so we don’t have to travel so far in the cold weather to harvest the leaves.  When we finally have cold weather.  Two hundred years from now.  Or so it seems…

I took a solo walk around the gardens this morning.  Bill had gone fishing, Julia was asleep and Alex was inside eating breakfast. 

These are the pictures I took.  (And wait til you see how the 3 sisters are doing!)

Recent Pictures

This is from one night when I was flying around in my space ship….

A Summertime Post

This one’s an oldie, but a goodie:

"I Didn't Do It"

The Goings on ‘Round Here

Well, there’s been cleaning.  Rearranging.  Cleaning out.  Deciding what to put in a yard sale in August (postponed from the one we never got around to having LAST summer), what to recycle in some way, and what to throw out.

Julia and I spent one morning – the hottest day of the year at that point – cleaning out and rearranging her room.  It looks pretty good now, most of the time.  But then, it’s only been a week or two….