Sausage and Veggie Pasta

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
2 lbs pork sausage
1 bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 10 oz. can of diced tomatoes
Paprika to taste
Cayenne Pepper to taste
4 cups egg noodles

Directions:
Cook pork sausage on a cast iron pan until browned. Add diced bell pepper and onion and cook on medium heat. Add the can of diced tomatoes, paprika, and cayenne pepper and keep on medium heat. Add the cooked egg noodles and stir together. Enjoy.

A Dead Baby Chicken & A New Hobby

I went out to check on the new baby chickens this morning and found that the runt had died within an hour before I went out there. So now I am down to five Welsummer chickens. I also decided to start a new hobby today. I went to the local Joann Fabrics and bought myself a loom, weaving needle, and some yarn made from a blend of lamb's wool and easy-care acrylic. Since I wanted to make a bi-color hotpad, I chose black and pumpkin color since I knew the first one I made would be mine (I went to Oregon State). It turned out quite nice and now I have a hotpad for a Halloween party or a football party if the Beavers ever make it to the Rose Bowl again. It is about 6" by 6", and I plan on making a slightly larger one.

The New Farm Animals

I just got myself six new chickens yesterday. They are the Welsummer breed, and I am hoping that the majority will be hens. It would also be nice to have one rooster. You can't quite see from the picture, but there is a runt. It just happens to be the friendliest of the six; unfortunately, if any of them die in the first few months it will most likely be the runt. I plan on designing and building a mobile chicken hut for the chickens so I can move them around the orchard and even into the goat pen when the grass starts to get tall. The more bugs and grass they eat, the less I have to spend on feed. It hopefully will make the orchard and garden healthier. Another reason why I want a mobile chicken hut is so I can take it with me when I eventually move further away from town. So for me, it is economical to have one.

Not to advertise for someone, but I plan on building a mobile chicken hut similar to the one at this website:

http://catawbacoops.com/

More March Weather Madness

Having a light snowfall all day on the second day of Spring is quite odd for the Willamette Valley. But waking up the next day at 3:30 a.m. with the power off and 6-8" of snow on the ground is even more so. But with the sun out, it makes it the perfect morning to go walk around the farm with my snowshoes. So out with my camera I went to get some pictures. 

The blueberries look like they held up, but we will see this summer.

Artemis the Rooster was keeping watch over his hens.

None of the chickens were brave enough to venture out into the snow.

Is it just March Madness? Or will there be another cold year in the Willamette Valley

Spring started yesterday, but with the rare snow we are getting today, one would think it is still winter here in the Willamette Valley. When you take in all the rain, snow, hail, and sun that we had so far this month, it makes me wonder if the phrase 'March Madness' has a new meaning.

For those that have lived in the Willamette Valley for the past 20 years, we are used to getting snow maybe once or twice every five years. But for the last 5 years, the new normal is to get at least one snow day every year. Does this mean that climate change is coming? While the Southwest is becoming drier, the Pacific Northwest seems to get cooler.

During the past two years, we have had rain later in the Spring season than what was previously considered normal, which has delayed a lot of crops such as corn and green beans. It also has made it hard for local strawberry growers, giving them a much shorter growing season, and even causing the berries to become over-ripe faster than normal. On top of that, cooler summers mean the later produce--that is, the corn, onions, winter squash, and bell peppers among other late-season crops are becoming delayed. If it happens again this year, you will want to make sure to go to local u-pick strawberry fields as soon as they open to avoid picking over-ripe and insect-bitten berries.

A sampling of my 3-D glass artwork

Out of all the glass-work I have made so far, my favorite ones to do were three dimensional. From an igloo and Egyptian pyramid that took roughly 200 pieces each to do to fully enclosed "gems" made from beveled pieces.

I also made two lighthouses. The one below was the first one, it includes a hinge on the roof so that I could put a candle in it only to find out that the glass became too hot. The second lighthouse that I created, I drilled a hole in the bottom of one of the sides so I could put a light in it similar to that of the Christmas village lights.

Some of my older glass artwork

I figured that I should show some of my earlier work with stained glass...

This was the first piece that I made. It turned out really nice even though it was a pain to cut out the brown pieces.

 The last two are variations that I made after seeing similar styled pieces that were bought from Studioworks in Luck, Wisconsin before it shut down.

And finally, one of my favorite pieces that I made so far...

A possible business idea...

Last year, I made a large stained glass piece for my sister and her husband for their Wedding present. I had done several panels in the past, but this was by far the largest of them. It is approximately 11x17 and is supposed to be the Tuscan Hillside since my sister and her husband like wine.

While making it, I had to alter the design a little. My original plan did not have a cloud, but since I couldn't get a long enough piece for the sky, I had to create a cloud above the highest hill. I also had planned on having another bunch of grapes on the left side of the table, and the cheese would have been located more toward the bottom. The reason that I changed that part of the design was so the table would look like a table (with the grain all going the same direction). I also made the necks and base of the wine glass using wire for the same reason. Another thing I did to save time was that instead of cutting every piece of field individually, I just put the copper foil on top of the glass to make the rows in the fields.

My sister gets comments on it all of the time, so I must have done a good job ;)

Medium Steak Rub

Makes enough for 4 to 8 steaks.

Ingredients:
2 Tsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Rosemary
1/2 tsp Savory
1/4 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Lemon Pepper
1/4 tsp Paprika
A dash of Cayenne Pepper
A dash of Chile Pepper

Directions: Using a mortar and pestle, grind all of the ingredients together. The brown sugar helps to keep the meat moist even if the outside gets a little burnt. This recipe is also good for sprinkling over steak that is cooked on a cast iron pan.

• You can make a mild steak rub by taking out the cayenne and chile pepper, and using only a dash of Paprika. 

• You can make a hot steak rub by increasing the amount of cayenne and chile pepper

A dash is roughly 1/8 tsp

Darn them Rats!

I was out cleaning part of the turkey pen today so there wouldn't be standing mud when the Turkies come. I had a large piece of sheet metal lying around, so I just figured I would dig out the mud down to the dirt and lay the peice of metal on the ground so it would make cleaning the area much easier in the future. While I was taking a break, I saw a rat family of at least four come out from underneath the concrete pad that the ducks are on. These, I assume, were the same blasted rats that were stealing duck eggs a while back. Instead of stealing the duck eggs today, they were just looking around for any food that might have fallen out of the hanging feeders. It made me think that I should come back with a gun and have some target practice.

I must be in Oregon

As usual, this time of year in Oregon brings us crazy weather. So far in the past week alone, I have seen snow, rain, heavy wind, sun, and rain and sun at the same time. The only thing we are missing is the occasional hail. Well, I just hope the sun comes out much earlier than it did last year so the cannery season will start earlier than late June.