Headaches and Marshmallows

Yesterday was a horrible day. I woke up with a migraine and it stayed with me until I finally fell asleep at 2 am. Unfortunately, Tylenol, the only headache medicine that is safe for me to take (according to my midwife and pharmacy-student-husband) doesn't come close to touching my headaches. It was a hard day.

Rewind to several days ago. We woke up to a dusting of snow- maybe half an inch. The grass was very visible sticking up through it. Even though it wasn't much, the kids were thrilled. So, right after breakfast, I bundled them up and sent them outside to play making them promise that they would stay within my view from the kitchen window. I do not have maternity snow pants (yes, I need 'special clothes' already) and wasn't feeling great anyway. About 40 minutes later, they came inside cold and begging for hot cocoa. Sam knows (and Sadie is learning) that the only time you get hot cocoa is after you've been outside playing in the cold. Sam asked if we had marshmallows and his face fell when I had to tell him, "no". He drank his cocoa plain, without complaint.

Fast forward to headache yesterday. In the late afternoon, in a migraine stupor, I was trying to distract myself from the pain. I visited one of my favorite blogs and came across a recipe for marshmallows. Since I've been not feeling well, one of the things I regret I have had to 'let go' is doing those special little fun things with the kids. The most special I get around here is curling up with them on the couch (under blankets) with snacks (usually apples) to watch PBS. Not something we normally do, nor am I proud of. But, at this stage of things, it is fine with me- and even more fine with the kids.

Anyway, I knew Sam would be thrilled at the idea of making our own marshmallows. Sadie was soon in bed and I asked him if he'd like to. Well, he thought this was a great idea. So, through pounding and blurry vision, I supervised Sam making The Small Scribbler's recipe. It was so fun and worth it. This afternoon after lunch, we all had hot cocoa and homemade marshmallows. And we didn't even play outside first:-).

Kate's Homemade Marshmallows 

1/2 cup cold water
3 envelopes knox gelatin
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vanilla
confectioner's sugar 

In the bowl of your electric mixer, place the 1/2 cup of water.  Sprinkle the gelatin on top and let soak for 10 minutes.  In the meantime, in a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water and bring it to a boil.  Pour the syrup over the gelatin and mix at high speed.  Add the salt.  Beat for 12 minutes.  Blend in vanilla.  Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan as well as a spatula and your hands.  Pour the marshmallows into the pan, spreading them out evenly.  Cover with saran wrap and let sit overnight.  Cut into squares.  Dredge in confectioner's sugar and store covered.

Oh, the marshmallows were delicious- way better than I thought marshmallows could ever be.

The morning after, once they have 'set'.

Sam dredging them (and his little hands) in powdered sugar.

The finished product.

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Being Warned

Tonight, while Jamey was putting supper together, Sam brought him a big, cardboard box and told him it was a delivery for him and there was something inside. Inside, was this note...

"dad your Pant's are on Fire"

Sam thought this was hilarious. It kind of is:-).
His pants weren't on fine, by the way.

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The Gift of Food

Anyone who knows me knows my love of food. That's pretty much all I talk about on here. Well, since nausea (and more) has reared it's ugly head for the past seven weeks, and counting, my relationship to food has changed. Oh, how I have mourned this change. The desire to think about food, plan meals, try new recipes, be creative with our stores...it all dried up. This left Jamey, finally home after a long day of commute and school, to figure out not only 'what's for dinner', but to prepare it, serve it and clean up after it. That's my job, a job that I love. Or loved.

So, this left me sad. More sad than I actually realized. Not only was my family getting the shaft, but so was this baby, needing all sorts of good nourishment as it develops his or her brain and other very important organs.

Several very sweet friends offered to bring us a meal and I turned them down. I guess I figured that since we were actually eating, we were ok. And, I guess to be honest...sometimes it's hard for me to ask for help. I like to feed my family, caring for them in this way. But I wasn't.

A week or so went by and another sweet friend offered to organize meals for us. Now, Mennonites are far from perfect, but one of the many good things we have going (at least in our Mennonite community) is that we do all things having to do with food well. I accepted her offer and have been on the verge of tears many nights, as meals (wonderfully balanced, prepared with care and delicious) have been spread before our family. And, somehow (it's a miracle, I guess), I have been able to enjoy it- all of it.

Before I get too sappy here and short out my laptop with tears, I just want to say that the gift of food is powerful. Thank you to all of you who have brought us food. If you enjoy cooking and know someone who might benefit from a meal, take them one. They will appreciate it more than you know.

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I want to say something else. I hope that my latest several posts have not conveyed an air of lack of appreciation for this babe I have growing inside. Being sick has been hard, but I have a deep appreciation for this little life. I've lost two babies and my left fallopian tube to two ectopic pregnancies and I've needed medication to get pregnant at times. I just wanted to share this because I in no way want to minimize the miracle of life.

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(Chicken) Harvest Time

I have been looking forward to writing this post. This is meaningful to me- knowing where these chickens lived and foraged and what they ate (from the time they were chicks), having watched them run through the yard (wings flapping), watching them perch in the lower branches of trees and on our garden gate, all the while knowing that we would eventually be eating them, made me all the more appreciative of them from the start. Please forgive my run on sentences and improper use of punctuation- pregnancy has further impaired me.

It was easy to know which ones would become supper. Our meat birds were white and all our others, shades of brown. They were easy to spot from my kitchen window even when they were at the very back of the property and I wasn't wearing my glasses. They were beautiful- even Jamey agreed.

I'm not getting sentimental here. They were meat birds for the table from the moment we ordered them. I guess I just want to convey how meaningful it can be when you take the time to really know where your food is coming from. It takes the meanings of appreciation and thankfullness to whole different level. Levels that we are happy to share with our kids- who witnessed the entire process below as a normal occurrance. This is where chicken meat comes from, after all.

Due to my condition, I stayed inside during this process, layed up on the couch in my usual position (as of late). I have helped the other times we harvested chickens and enjoyed it. This time, I thought it would best for me to remain horizontal. So, Jamey has written the remainder of this post for me and Ben and Kim took pictures. Thanks to all of you who helped. Here's Jamey...

WARNING - graphic (to some) content.

Well, yesterday was the day we finally harvested the eight meat birds that we got back in July. They were 17 weeks old and had seemed plenty big for awhile, but we had trouble finding time to do it, since it was a pretty long process last time we had harvested a batch.

This time was different. First, we had lots of help. Ben & Kim and neighbors Ted and Kimberly were interested enough in the process to pitch in and help despite the rainy weather.

First off, we used the cones again to hold the birds. The metal one I had made earlier wasn't big enough to hold the large roosters (~8 lbs.) but was ok for the smaller hens. I made a new cone out of the best material I had available--plastic lattice. Looks pretty strange, I know. Anyway, the cone keeps the bird nice and calm while cutting one neck artery to allow the blood to drain out.
This time around, we decided not to use the scald and pluck method, instead hoping that skinning would be much quicker. It did go very quickly. The skin, with feathers attached could be peeled off in a matter of 5-10 minutes.


The next step was to remove the organs, making an opening above the vent just large enough to get a few fingers inside and remove the intestines and organs. We saved the livers and hearts and will be using them for pate. We rinsed the birds well and then bagged them for the freezer.

Brother Ben, Ted and Jamey

The skinning worked really well--I know some people would prefer to have the skin on, but this way suits us just fine for the way we usually cook with chicken. It wasn't nearly as long of a process this time, which had a lot to do with having so much help. I figure we probably ended up with somewhere in neighborhood of forty pounds of chicken from the eight birds. Pin It

Slowly Coming Back to Life

Well, I haven't been dead. I don't mean to imply that. I've been pregnant. Being pregnant, for me, is hard. I get very sick. So, blogging about food and things that relate to my (usual) love of food just had to stop for awhile.

I am still not myself, but at least wanted you to know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Or abandoned this blog, like other blogs I come across whose last post was August... two years ago.

I am 11 weeks. Jamey and I have heard a heart beat. Sam and Sadie have been told (Sam cried, saying, "I am so happy. I always wanted a new baby!"). I've switched medications with some initial good results. Friends and family are taking good care of us through meals and childcare and housecleaning.

So, you may hear a little squeak out of me now and again until this passes (usually around 20 weeks). It's really the only thing on my Christmas list- to feel better in order to fully enjoy the new life within me.

Oh. Please do me a favor. If you are healthy, embrace it! Be thankful for it and enjoy this wonderful time of year full of family, friends and good food. Do a little extra enjoying for me, okay? Thanks:-). Pin It