Another Cauliflower recipe

My Jonah has a grand dislike for vegetables. In fact, he claims he wishes he were allergic to them, so I would quit making him eat them. Every time I cook veggies of some sort (which is often), I try to incorporate at least one that he will eat without gagging. Cauliflower is NOT one of those. He actually claims to "hate" cauliflower, as in CAN"T STAND IT!!!

Oh buddy, so sorry, but Mom is on a cauli-kick... Now what? 

So I made this sauce, alfredo sauce to be exact, which Jonah actually likes. So I thought maybe I could make it a little healthier and he still like it. Turns out, there is absolutely nothing unhealthy in the sauce, it's not even fattening or anything. I thought it tasted delicious, but I was weary of telling Jonah what was in it. So I didn't (mean, mean Mommy, I know!!!) 

As we sat and watched him enjoy his spaghetti and alfredo sauce, I couldn't help but grin. He gulped down a whole plate in no time flat, asked for seconds, and then announced; "Mom, this is the BEST alfredo sauce I have EVER had!" So I grinned again. And I fessed up. To which he responded: "well, if you can make cauliflower taste like THAT then I will eat it!" 

So here is to every alfredo-loving, veggie-hating little boy out there- and all their mom's who'd like for them to still have some vitamins in their food... :

You will need:

1 head of cauliflower

1 cup of milk (we used unsweetened almond milk, since Finny is lactose-free)

6-8 cloves of garlic, minced

2 TBSP EVOO

1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 vegetable buillion cube

Step 1) wash, de-stem and steam cauliflower until tender (~15 minutes)

Step 2) let it cool. After it's cool enough, put it in the blender (or Ninja, or Nutri-Bullet, or whatever gadget you have at the house). It needs to be very creamy. You can use a little of the water with which you steamed the cauli and add it as you blend to keep it moist enough to move around the blender. 

Step 3) Mince 6-8 garlic cloves finely and sautee in EVOO for a couple of minutes. be careful not to let it burn. This step is really fast!

Step 4) add cauliflower and milk to garlic and stir. Add veggie buillon and cheese to taste. You can also experiment with pepper, nutmeg and other spices that might sound yummy to you and add them. 

Step 5) If the sauce is too thick, you can add some more of the cauli-water to thin it a little. 

Make your favorite pasta or spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles, douse it in this yummy sauce and enjoy! 

~ Yvonne

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I enjoy cooking. I enjoy cooking for other people. I enjoy sharing my latest ideas and creations. I enjoy following a recipe.... not! I have a shelf full of cook books, but I rarely use any of them. I have a pinterest board full of yummy-looking food creations- I rarely look at those a second time. And forget about asking me for a recipe of something you ate at my house or what I brought to a pot luck. The typical answer is:..."well...a little bit of this, a little of that. It called for that, but I didn't have that so I substituted it for that..." 

I am trying to change that. It would be nice if an awesome dinner could actually be recreated because I wrote down what I did or followed an actual recipe. 

(I will say here that I always follow a recipe when baking cakes, cupcakes, cookies, etc, because baking is a science to me and you need to have the right amount of ingredients to make it work!) 

Bobby's been eating gluten free for about two years now. It came out of necessity, not following the latest trend. While it was difficult at first, we have converted our family to mostly GF, simply because it is just easier than to cook double everything. (We're still working on a REALLY GOOD bread option, experience so far has been "meh"... I digress...)

Pizza has been a tough one. While there are decent baking mixes for GF crust, they are all kind of hard and just not all that awesome. I had heard about this Cauliflower pizza crust, so while on a low carb kick, I decided to check it out. I searched out several recipes, tweaked them to ingredients I had on hand, and voila, here is the result: 

You will need:

1 head of Cauliflower

parchment paper (do NOT skip this)

1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese (low moisture)

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste (sorry, no measurements here, you just gotta taste it to make it right for you!)

Step 1) in a food processor mince the cauliflower into small pieces

Step 2) either microwave for 7-10 minutes or steam on stove top until tender (10-12 minutes)

Step 3) place cauliflower in a clean dish towel and squeeze out the extra moisture- you can set it in a colander to cool, and then press out all the excess fluid. You want it pretty dry!

Step 4) mix egg, cheese, salt and pepper in with the cauliflower. 

Step 5) place parchment paper on your baking sheet and press cauli-mixture onto paper. You can leave the edges slightly higher, as you would the dough on a regular crust. 

Step 6) bake at 400 F for 20 minutes. Take it out, add sauce and toppings, bake another 15-20 minutes. Once you take it out of the oven, let it sit for approximately 5 minutes. You can now cut through the paper and slide the slice off the paper straight onto your plate. 

Voila- Enjoy!!!

~Yvonne

Honey Extracting

Extraction-

According to Merriam Webster, extraction is the act or process of getting something by pulling it out, forcing it out… In terms of honey, extraction it is simply how to separate sweet, luscious honey from its natural container, or comb.

There are two basic methods to extract honey. 

The first, and most rudimentary is the crush and strain method. This is exactly how it sounds. You simply take frames of honey, scrape them into a bucket, and mash them up. This will open up each individual cell containing honey. Then it’s poured through a strainer which separates the honey from the wax comb.

This is certainly the easiest way and the least expensive. All that is needed is a bucket, knife, and something equivalent to a potato masher. While this is done worldwide and while it’s simple enough, I don’t like it. Bees expend a huge amount of resources and energy to make comb. If the comb were saved, they could use this time making more honey instead of new comb. This is why I choose to use a honey extractor.

A honey extractor is also fairly simple. Using a knife, you cut off the very end caps of the honey comb, thus opening the cells. Then the frames of uncapped honey are placed in the extractor and spun around.  Through centrifugal force, the honey flies out of the honey comb, thus preserving the comb to be re-used.

The honey still needs to be strained to remove the wax cappings, but beyond that, it’s then ready to bottle.

While this isn’t the most fun or "sexiest" part of beekeeping, it is the final effort needed in order to dip you finger into a jar of sweet goodness!

~ Bobby

Oxybenzone

I realized today that this post never went active, because it was incomplete. Ironically, in the last couple of weeks, I have had several people approach me and say "hey- have you heard about the coral reefs and Oxybenzone?- so glad you offer sun screen that doesn't have that in it!" Corral Reefs? Oxybenzone? What??? 

It does not matter, what topic you decide to research. Inadvertently, you will (almost) always find supporting "proof" for both sides of the argument. Unbiased research is difficult to find and variables are extremely difficult to control. One of these controversial topics is about the hazards of Oxybenzone.

Oxybenzone is a compound found in many commercial sun screen products. It is used for its efficacy in protection against both UVA and UVB rays. There has been much debate (some heated) about the safety of Oxybenzone. The EWG has posted a nice article about some of the controversial hazards at https://goo.gl/lJ4nua . While this ingredient continues to be deemed relatively "safe" by higher agencies, and hence continues to be allowed in body care products, research also suggests that we should take some care in how liberal we are with it. 

Recent articles have been published on the effects of Oxybenzone on the coral reefs. It appears, that the compound has been found in the larvae and it inhibits a certain replication process, hence interrupting the regeneration of healthy coral. Scientists equate the level of toxicity to being "1 drop in an Olympic-sized swimming pool." Think about how much water is in that size pool, and 1 drop makes it toxic for corral... hmmm.... (reference: http://goo.gl/zIXN71  and  http://goo.gl/HPgTnB).

In contrast, other studies warn of not wearing sun screen, due to the harmful UVA and UVB rays and that Oxybenzone has more benefits than risks. The fact of the matter is, however, that there are other options. Both zinc oxide and titanium oxide offer safe alternatives to more harmful ingredients, and are typically lower allergens. 

As always, use caution and common sense. Research your ingredients. Decide for yourself, which risks are worth taking, and which toxins to avoid. Isn't it great that our creator gave us brains and opinions AND decision making skills? Please use caution in the sun- don't get burned!!! 

As always, stay healthy and informed!

~Yvonne

The Sweet Stuff

There are said to be over 300 distinct types of honey. This is because the Lord has blessed up with such a variety of trees and flowers. Since honey differs in taste, color, and texture, it’s often hard to decide your favorite. Honey is definitely not just honey.  As I was extracting a few supers of honey this week, I began to think of the vast array of honey flavors available and what makes them all so different. Here is a quick explanation….

Flavor and Color:

Honey gets its flavor and color according to which flowers the bees visit. Some common varieties are Wildflower, Orange Blossom, Sourwood, Tupelo and Clover honey. More uncommon varieties are Avocado, Firewood and Blueberry. Flavors can vary from a very light, sweet flavor of Sage Honey all the way to a dark malty and molasses flavor of Buckwheat honey. Typically, a single flavored honey is one that is set in the middle of the field or forest from which the nectar is found. Example, if you drop a hive in the middle of huge pumpkin patch, you will end up with Pumpkin Honey. No, you aren’t allowed to put this on your pumpkin spice latte, because that’s just wrong…

There are also different types of textures:

Liquid is the most common here in the US. It pours out nicely from a bottle and is convenient, but a bit messy and sticky.

Whipped Honey or Creamed Honey is finely crystallized honey that is creamy and spreads almost like peanut butter. This is becoming more readily available in the US, but this is the typical honey found in much of Europe.

Comb Honey is the rawest honey you can get. Its honey that is still in the comb and cut out of the hive. Yes, you chew the comb to get out the honey. We call it God’s candy.

What do our hives produce?

We produce Wildflower Honey. Wildflower Honey or Multi-floral Honey is honey where the bees are kept in an area to travel wherever their taste buds desire and collect whatever is available. Since bees can travel up to 2 miles to forage on available nectar sources, you will likely have 50+ different types of nectar combined. This spring, my bees have feasted on clover, blueberry, black locust, red maple, privet, sunflower and a host of other sources. Wildflower Honey is said to be the best to counter-act seasonal allergies because it has such a diverse makeup.

As autumn approaches, Aster and Goldenrod provide the bees with the majority of their food stores for the winter. It’s completely different in color (think brown) and very pungent. Some people describe goldenrod honey as smelling like sweaty socks. It’s not something that most people want to eat, but the bees apparently have a different opinion.

So, grab a bottle at your local farmers market. Talk to the beekeeper. Enjoy!

~ Bobby

P.S.- Don't eat too much, or this might happen....

Finny Farm-iversary

This past Saturday marked one year since we closed on our home and Finny Farm. One year, since we started this journey, one year since we started a major remodel. It seems only fitting that on this 1 year anniversary we had our first market stand featuring Finny Farm products AND our first substantial honey extraction day.

Yes, we have delicious, sweet, liquid gold bottled up in all its yummy glory! Bobby will take you through the details of our extraction weekend in a later post, but I wanted to take the time to share this sweet news with you all! 

Here are 4 honey supers stacked and waiting to be de-capped and extracted.

These are the cappings from the first frame. Do you see the yummy gooey honey?

Frames, as they are spinning in the extractor. 

Honey is currently being bottled, sealed and labeled and will be ready for eating this week! Please contact us via email at Finnyfarm1@gmail.com if you are interested! 

I, for one, know what we are having for breakfast!

~yvonne

New delicious products added!

I've been experimenting with different lotions and body butters for a while. Some leave my skin very greasy, others are not stable outside of the refrigerator, others I didn't care for the smell...

Recently, I stumbled upon a recipe that sounded like it might work. Manchild and I had a fun time cooking up this new concoction and to our joy it turned out well. I also played with the scents a little, and landed on a combination of Lemongrass and Bergamot, since both are said to have positive effect on aging, sagging skin. ...And they both smell really nice, which helps!

Without further ado...

But in good old typical fashion, I did not stop there. My son's sweet girl friend urged me on to add a hand creme and foot creme as well. So we tweaked the recipe and made a rich, tingly foot lotion and a healing hand creme. They've been added to the shop- so why wait? Head on over there and check it out!

More Finny Farm News:

We will have a booth at a local sale this weekend. Sharpsburg Baptist Church is raising funds for their children's ministries and many, many vendors will be there. We are excited to get our faces out there! If you have time, common over and check it out!

Ask the beekeeper...

There’s a saying among beekeepers that if you ask 10 beekeepers the same question you will probably get 11 different answers. Yes, there are a lot of opinions out there and I have some as well. But the basics are the basics.

When people hear that I keep bees, they assuredly will have a lot of questions. They are normally the same questions that I’ve answered before, but I’m always happy to talk about bees, so it’s ok. For this post, I decided to give some answers:

this is a relatively young hive, a two-story nuc started about 1 month ago

Typical questions asked to beekeepers:

Why did you get into beekeeping?

I started reading about it, learning about it and yes, the thought of getting lots of sweet honey crossed my mind too. Once I began to understand the lifecycle, the bees’ organizational structure, and the biology of a colony, honey became the last thing on my mind.  I decided that I wanted to dive head first into this crazy, mysterious world that only the amazing creator could design. 

Do you get honey?

Yes, though some years certainly produce more than others. Everything depends on….well, a lot of variables:

-The weather: there must be a certain amount of cold or freezing days here in Georgia in order for different species of plants to bloom properly. So, if it’s too warm, the spring nectar won’t be as bountiful.  You also need winter and spring rain, but not too much. Too much rain washes the nectar from the flowers. If it keeps raining, the flowers don’t have time to fill back up, but before it gets washed off again.

-The size of your hive: You have to get your colony to the maximum number of foragers at just the right time without them swarming. If they swarm, you lose 50-65% of your colony. That does not make for a good harvest.  

Do you get stung and do you wear protections?

Yes. Though it’s not fun, it’s part of it. I wear a jacket, veil and gloves. Though they can sting through them, normally I just wear jeans. The stings get better over time, but it’s not too bad. 

Are you allergic?

I swell a little bit, but if I were truly allergic and still did this, you could call me stupid.

How much honey does one hive make?

Again, with the variables….. In 2015, I harvested nothing. I could have taken a bit for myself, but decided to just leave it to the bees for their winter stores. That was because I was expanding the hive numbers, thus sharing the wealth, plus the spring rains kept washing all the nectar off the flowers. However, it’s not unheard of for a mature hive to product 150+ lbs of honey in a year. I’m looking forward to those years.

Do you use a smoker and why?

When bees get “smoked”, it mimics a forest fire or some other type of attack. Their natural reaction is to fill their belly with honey and get ready to flee. I know if my belly was full of honey, I would be less aggressive. This is exactly what happens with bees. They settle down, enjoy the fruits of their labor and let me do my work. Basically, they are calmer. Yes I use smoke, but as little as possible. I only use it with larger hives, which tend to more feisty. If I’m working a small hive or a nuc, I try not to use it at all.

So, the next time you find out that someone is a beekeeper, don’t worry, ask as many questions as you’d like. I guarantee, they won’t mind a bit.

~ Bobby

Bobby catches the Bee-keeping bug

As a child, I remember going to my Grandparents house every summer in the suburbs of Savannah, GA. Their backyard seemed like an odd place to have them, but 4 big white bee hives backed up to the chain link fence. At that age, I really didn’t know what they were or what they did, but it was always interesting for a 5 or 6 year-old bug-lover to see what seemed like thousands of bees buzzing about in the mid-day heat. My only direct interaction with them was an occasional bout of courage that would propel me to throw a pine cone in their direction and hit the side of the hive. Other than that, I knew like every other child, that I liked honey. Its sweet, distinct flavor that came from a jar in Grandma’s cupboard was hard to resist.

Around the same time, but very far away, my lovely wife, who grew up in Germany, also had many childhood memories of buzzing bees. Her Opa was a bee enthusiast as well, though on a much larger-scale than the one in Savannah. I’m told that at one point, Opa had over 100 hives throughout different meadows in the Black Forest. Wald honig, or forest honey, is some of the most flavorful sweetness that you will ever experience.

I guess it’s in our blood.

And so, around 5 or 6 years ago, I started reading about how to become a beekeeper. I thought it would be fun. What I didn’t know however, is that the more I read, the more I learned, and yes, the more YouTube videos I watched, the more I became sucked into the science, the biology, and the mystery of what goes on in the hive. A simple word of warning, don’t get too close or you will get stung by a bug called beekeeping…..

~Bobby