Chicken with Tomato Basil Sauce

Here's a different version of a recipe I posted about a year ago. I serve this recipe over pasta and like it much better than the original.  Sorry, we ate it all before I thought to take a picture.

Chicken Breasts with Tomato Basil Sauce

Serves 2

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1 large shallot, diced

2 cloves garlic, smashed

All-purpose flour

Salt and paper

1 can diced tomatoes

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Butter

2 teaspoons dried or 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves

Cooked linguine, angel hair pasta or spaghetti

Dredge the chicken breasts lightly in all purpose flour that you have seasoned with salt and pepper.  Brown the breasts on both sides in a deep skillet with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, about 3 minutes a side.  When nicely browned remove the chicken breasts and keep them warm.  In the same skillet sauté the shallot and garlic until soft.  Add the can of diced tomatoes, juice and all, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, the basil and a tablespoon of butter and cook over medium heat five minutes to start reducing the sauces.  Return the chicken breasts to the skillet and spoon the sauce over the breast.  Place in a 400 degree oven for 15 or 20 minutes to finish the dish.  The sauce should be thick and the chicken breasts golden. 

While the chicken is roasting, cook your pasta of choice and put together a green salad or for a healthier choice sauté some spinach, kale or Swiss chard for a green side.  Serve the chicken and sauce over the pasta. This makes a very pretty presentation. 

You can eliminate the butter but the dish will be less rich.  I’d recommend olive oil rather than vegetable oil – again for flavor.   This is a simple dish for a week night but also very showy and delicious for a dinner party. Serve without the pasta for a buffet, it is perfectly delicious on its own, just add lots of crusty bread.

Hobby Farm for Sale

Locust Grove Farm is just eight acres carved out of our family farm, purchased by my parents back in 1955. They gifted each of their children a building lot on the farm so happily we all live her together on one of the most beautiful properties you will find anywhere.

For the last 16 years I've been renting 72 acres of that farm from my parents for my cattle's pasture. My house is surrounded by those rented acres.  My father died in April 2013 and now my mother lives alone.  Since my husband left in 2009, I've also lived alone.  This summer my mother fell and broke her hip. She is doing well, but it just makes sense that we combine households, so my house and its barns and 8 acres is now for sale.  Check it out at www.oldhouses.com.

Getting the farm ready for winter.

The yearling bulls sold and are now breeding cows on a farm near Maysville, KY. Now it is time to decide which females to sell and to wean the spring calves.  Here is a video of the herd including Bobby the Angus bull walking through a gate into the woods next to the house.

They all lock great after a nice cool summer on lush pastures.  Even Violet, who was suffering from ergot poisoning is doing much better and walking along just fine. The oldest cow, Buttercup, looks very well as does Valentine, the first Limousin born on the farm and the mother of some very wonderful bulls and heifers. She is 14. Her twin heifers from 2013 are coming along very well though they are still not as big as the rest of the 2013 heifers.  At the end you will meet April.  April is visiting from a neighbor's farm.  She was a bottle baby and is still not totally convinced that she is a cow.

Bulls for Sale

It's that time of year when the yearling bulls need to find herds of their own.

Lady's Man

I have two nice young bulls for sale this year. Lady's Man is a March 2013 Angus/Limousin cross.  His father is our BTAP Thor and his dam a registered Black Angus cow. He is fairly calm and easy going for a yearling bull.

Lady's Man has bred some heifers so he knows his business.  His scrotal size is impressive and he should produce small calves that grow quickly. His Limousin father gave him nice thickness and his Angus mother gave him a nice top and deep rib. I'm asking $1800 for Lady's Man.

BTAP Caesar getting a little sweet feed as a treat.

                                                                             BTAP Caesar was born July 1, 2013 so he is just a year old. Somehow I missed worming him this spring so he's a little ragged in this picture but since then he's been wormed and is coming along nicely.  Caesar is a registered Limousin bull out of GMEG Jealousy by BTAP Thor. We've had a wonderful crop of calves by Thor in 2013 and have been very impressed with all of them. Caesar, because of his late birthday (mom calved back again on April 23, good cow!) he wasn't handled so he is not coming up to fence to be fed old broccoli plants like Lady's Man. He's long and thick and should produce small to medium sized calves. I'm asking $1800  for BTAP Caesar. Leave a comment if your are interested. We are in southwest Ohio between Cincinnati and Dayton.

Donkey Protects Alpacas

The alpaca girls and  donkey Taco Belle have been with me three weeks.  They have been sharing a barn with the retired cows, but they are separated from the cows by gates and walls, and they have had a little quarter acre paddock all to themselves to graze.  Unlike goats, the alpaca girls prefer to graze choice grasses and ignore the broad leaf weeds, so their little pasture is getting sparse.

Tabitha, who spits at me and Hollywick

The pasture next to the barn has the barn at the south end and the chicken house at the north end. It's about an acre and a half.  It is the last pasture the three retired cows visit each evening on their rotation through their seven acres of pasture and woods.  I decided to let the alpacas have the pasture for the morning while I was home and could keep an eye on them. I can shut a gate on the north end of the pasture and the cows can't get in to harm the little guys.  I was, however, concerned that a coyote might spot them and try to kill one.  Even though Taco Belle is supposed to protect them from predators, I wasn't sure that the little donkey would be up to the task, so I stayed close by working in the yard.

Taco Belle, Pixel and on the far right, Eclair

All the alpacas and the donkey were thrilled with the pasture.  They began immediately to graze around the barn area.  I decided to let the chickens out onto the pasture as well, since the donkey was on duty. While the animals grazed, I worked in the yard where I could see them.  All of a sudden I saw Taco Belle run across the pasture toward the chicken house, stop dead in the middle of the field and then wheel and run back to the alpacas herding them into the cow's side of the barn as she went. 

Poor Hollywick never takes a good picture!

The chickens were not saying a word and I looked carefully to see what had spooked Taco Belle.  I saw no coyote or raccoon or any other predator type animal -- except my big 20 pound yellow neutered male cat, Tigger. Tigger was sunning himself on top of a manure pile just west of the chicken house.  Taco Belle obviously thought Tigger was a threat.

Ginger, the adult alpaca, enjoying lush grasses.

Once Taco Belle had all the alpaca girls in the cow's loafing part of the barn, she suddenly realized there was only one way in an out of the barn from the pasture side and they were trapped.  Immediately she herded all the girls out and through the gate and into their side of the barn where they have a backdoor and a front door. I was trilled to wittness Taco Belle in action. She is very serious about her guard duties and I feel much better about the safety of the little herd.  Tigger didn't stay on the manure pile much longer and pretty soon he was playing tag in the front yard with Pippi and Little Joe.  Cautiously Taco Belle allowed the alpacas back on the pasture.

Taco Belle on the job

I continued working in the yard only I'd moved to the other side of the house and did not have a view of the pasture.  All of a sudden I heard the chickens sound the alarm.  I rounded the side of the house expecting to see a coyote coming through the woods with a chicken in its mouth from all the screaming that was going on, but all I saw around the chicken house were the alpacas and Taco Belle.  The chickens were all in their house screaming bloody murder.  I decided there must be a raccoon in the house and headed that way on the run.  Inside the  chicken house, the hens were all running around from room to room cackling and hollering but no raccoon or any other predator was evident.  I had to conclude they were afraid of the alpacas who probably look like big, long necked dogs to them.  Just about then, something spooked Taco Belle and she herded everyone back to the barn.  The chickens immediately stopped their hollering. Never a dull moment!

Princess Tea and Charm School Boot Camp

We took a chance that, with the popularity of the fairy tale princesses, girls would want to come to a tea where they learned how to act like real princesses.  And it seems we were right, because this event is filling up fast. It is next Saturday from 1:30 to 3:30.  Each princess in training is asked to bring a book that is approximately 6 inches by 9 inches or there abouts.  Can you guess how the book will be used?

Just $20.00 for an afternoon of crafts, food and etiquette, girls 6 -12 only!

Cats Keeping Cool

Pippi sleeping on a large, potted Boston fern on the back porch.

This is Pippi Longstockings, the Pipster for short. He's the head cat.  When he was less than a year old he started sleeping in this fern during the winter while it was housed in the mud room.  The poor fern would spend the winter trampled flat.  He has left it along the last two years,  and it recovered nicely.
With the heat and humidity already in June, Pipster is back using the fern as a bed.

Ezekiel waiting his turn

I snapped this picture of Zeke at the same time.  He was flirting with me from one of the wicker chairs on the porch. When I came home from work, Pippi had gone hunting ( or maybe fishing as the cats love to bring me frogs)  and Zeke was asleep on the fern. I guess the fern will have to endure the summer as a cat bed.

Catalpas in Bloom

I always enjoy my Monday mornings. It's the one day of the week that I keep just for myself - to work on the farm and enjoy just being home for the day.  This morning I had my morning cafe au lait on the back porch and enjoyed the sweet scent of the catalpa trees in bloom.

Three weeks ago or more there were catalpas blooming all over the area. There used to be an old farm house back a  long lane on Cook Road and the lane was lined with catalpa trees. The road frontage for the farm was also lines with catalpa trees. The farm sold to a developer and now its called Catalpa Ridge (or some such thing) and the property is full of nice, upscale houses. All of those trees bloomed profusely this year, but I don't remember a scent coming from them.

Iron's Fruit Farm, a next door neighbor, also has some venerable catalpas that bloomed in late May.  So did Glendower historic mansion in Lebanon.But the catalpas on our property bloom always about three weeks after the Irons and Cook Road trees.

Catalpas are easy to grow.  They are almost weed like. We are forever pulling seedlings out of the flower beds at Glendower. I've often though I ought to pot them up and sell them at the garden club's plant sale in early May,  but some how I never get around to it. Besides, most trees transplant best in the fall.  The old timers revered them for fence posts.  Apparently they are rot resistant.

This catalpa displays clusters of big white flowers  that smell softly sweet.

Hosta Crisis

Hostas, hydrangea and a hellebore hiding behind the hostas

Most of my landscape plants seemed to really like the cold, snowy winter we just went through. A couple of things died, but many plants did better than ever. My iris and peonies bloomed the best they have in years.

And the hostas are taking over.  Pictured is a bed along the back porch on the north wet corner.  These hostas having been living here for sometime along with a really nice hellebore and a couple of hydrangeas.  This year the hostas have taken over.

Last year I divided these guys and planted the division along the other end of the porch.  They made nice neat plants last year, but this year they are monsters.

Taco Arrives!

Taco Bell

Taco arrived last evening to take up residence as the official defender of the alpaca girls.  Taco is a she, so I'm going to extend her name and call her Taco Bell.  She is a very sweet little Franciscan donkey (also known as a burro). Taco Bell seems to be feeling right at home. So far her favorite munchy is ragweed!

The alpaca girls have settled in as well and are enjoying green pastures. Just to keep everybody safe I've been locking them all in the barn at night.  Even with Taco Bell on duty, I'd rather not risk the little alpacas becoming coyote dinner.

Taco Bell loves to much on ragweed!!

Alpacas Join the Farm

Eclair, Ginger, Pixel, Tabitha and Hollywick joined the farm.

I've made some changes on the farm this spring.  When the herd of Black Angus cattle  that had boarded with me for three years, finally got a farm of their own, I was left with only 16 head of cattle a a dozen chickens. Three of the cows are too old to breed again and three of them are yearling or older bulls.

Unfortunately all my bees died (but honestly bees were not my thing), so I sold the hive to a friend who really loves bees.

Then a colleague from work, Mallory,  contacted me to say her farm was seriously downsizing its alpaca herd.  She made me a very good deal on five little girls and a donkey named Taco.  The alpacas arrived last evening and as you can see have settled in pretty well.  They are having their evening ration of sweet feed. Taco is meant to be the protector and is arriving late this evening. Coyotes have killed two chickens this month and caused a riot with the cattle resulting in broken gates, broken little trees and lilac bushes. Hopefully Taco is up to the task of fending them off.

That's Hollywick looking at us.  They have all just been sheared.

Several of my family members hand spin and many of us knit. My angora goats died a couple of years ago (mohair) and the last of the sheep died last winter of old age. We suddenly found ourselves with nothing to spin or knit!  Alpaca fleece makes very soft warm yarn. I'd purchased a little winter hat for baby Natalie made from Mallory last summer and the more I thought about that lovely soft yarn the more I thought it might be time to get some alpacas.  I did not purchase a male. My interest at this point in time in strictly fleece. Besides, three of the girls are less than a year old. And Mallory's family even sheared them for me and gave me the fleece in the deal. So a new adventure begins. The cows don't know what to think!

Patent Medicines Still Around Today

Dennis Dalton speaks at May's Lunch & Learn program..

Local author, historian and collector Dennis Dalton spoke to a packed house on the history of patent medicine in Ohio and the world.  Mr. Dalton was the featured speaker at the May edition of our monthly Lunch & Learn program.

Patent, or proprietary medicines were common in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were unregulated by any local, state or other government and were marketed as miracle cures for every kind of medical complaint from acne to syphilis.  These patent medicines were marketed as containing the goodness of herbs, berries and various barks but their primary ingredient was whisky or other consumable alcohols, and often cocaine or morphine. Coco Cola originally was a patent medicine containing cocaine. Many of these "medicines" were home remedies made by housewives in their kitchens and distributed to friends and neighbors. Some enterprising women bottled their concoctions and sold them through local stores.

You can buy this modern day version through Amazon.com

One of the most famous was Lydia Pinkham and her Vegetable Tonic  which is still available today, although without the original high dose of alcohol.  Lydia's was the cure all for all female complaints. It was commonly said that their was a "baby in every bottle".

Hugging My Aga

This large tea kettle came with the AGA. Sitting on the boiling plate it boils water in 90 seconds.

On a chilly May morning, I cozy up to the Aga and brew a hot cup of tea. I understand in the milder parts of England and Ireland where it never gets really cold, small cottages are heated just with the radiating heat from an Aga cooker.

My Aga cooker is my cooking stove and a gentle source of heat.

Pileated Woodpecker Excavation

I am always startled to walk out of the house and hear  raucous, completely mad sounding laughter from the woods around the house.  It always takes me a few seconds of wonder to remember that its the call of the pileated woodpeckers who live there. We are getting quite a colony of them and they are great fun.  I was looking up some information on them and saw a similar picture to this one of the tree taken in Adams county. It was tagged as a pileated woodpecker excavation. It's fairly low to the ground, but so was the one in Adams county. 

I suspect this is a pileated woodpecker excavation of a dead wild cheery tree.

Pileated Woodpecker by Photograph by Bates Littlehales

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New Favorite Perennials

Varigated Jacob's Ladder and blue Ajuga

My two new favorite perennials, varigated Jacob's Ladder and blue Ajuga also known as Bugleweed. The very green plant in the background on the left is an Astilbe.  Below, on the east side of the house with plenty of morning sun and afternoon shade, hosta, astilbe, ajuga, coral bells and fox glove. 

Hosta and Ajuga

Beef Up Your Bottom Line

I was thrilled to be asked to write an article for Hobby Farms magazine about adding premium beef sales to your hobby farm breeding stock business.  Here is a picture of the cover of the January/February issue of the magazine.  "Beef Up Your Bottom Line" is that article.  Check out the magazine at their web site www.hobbyfarms.com.