Archive for August, 2006

New foal!

29 August 2006 at 1:49 pm
by Jonah

We’ve got a new foal this morning, and he’s a boy! Sparkle finally delivered her foal early this morning. He’s a very light chestnut with one defined stocking, although all of his legs are white. Sparkle is VERY protective of him, so she had to be caught and tied to a hitching rail before we could give the colt an enema. The two fillies had stayed RIGHT next to their mommas, but he likes to wander off and explore. This makes Sparkle whinny loudly at him in worry.

I’ll try to remember to bring my camera tomorrow to take a picture of him… if Sparkle lets me get close enough, that is!

We’re not sure if Abbey is pregnant, but if she is, she’ll probably deliver sometime in February.

Think twice…

26 August 2006 at 10:14 am
by Berck

Before driving like a moron and advertising your phone number.

Death and Despair

25 August 2006 at 6:07 pm
by Jonah

I got to the Bremers’ this morning to be met by Duncan saying, “Michele went back to the hospital last night.” She’d had severe abdominal pain.

This morning her pain was down to a 1. I talked to her on the phone and gathered a list of things to take down to her in the hospital. The doctor came in while I was there and delivered the results of the ultrasound. “Gallstones,” he said. He told us he had to find a surgeon to break them up, hopefully today. Gallstones are a known side effect from the antibiotic Michele takes to fight the Lyme disease. Michele asked the doctor if this could wait until next week. Max, Tamsey, and the grandkids are coming in tonight for five days. “This needed to be done yesterday,” the doctor replied. It was at least good to know what was wrong, and gall stone surgery is a very ruoutine one. Michele felt fine other than not being able to be with her grandkids. She was busy working on a quilt a brought her when I left.

I got back to the Bremers’ to find that Kyrie’s foal had died. She had been acting normally, then laid down and just died. The vet said it was either a liver problem or an antibody problem with her mother’s milk (like the Rh factor for humans). The latter is incredibly rare for horses, so no one bothers to test for it. We had to wait until Kyrie gave up on her and left her alone to bury her. After that Kyrie went crazy, running all over the pasture and whinnying.

Kyrie’s filly

23 August 2006 at 7:56 pm
by Jonah

Kyrie's foal

How do you like that exclamation point?

More photos in Photographs.

Quiche

21 August 2006 at 8:48 pm
by Jonah

I finally got around to making quiche, mainly because I remembered to get some Jarlsberg . I used the best quiche recipe in the world, which I knew Berck would have to like. Sure enough, he said, “This is actually really good.” Which is the first time he’s ever said that about something I cooked for dinner.

You can find the recipe here, but I will post it here as well. I never have room to include the milk, so leave it out unless there’s space available in your pie crust.

MADAME QUICHE’S QUICHE AU FROMAGE

(PURE CHEESE QUICHE)

This is the essence of Madame Quiche’s recipe — I can proudly say that when you make this, you will be tasting a very near replica of the small quiches she sells each Saturday at the Louviers market. There are a couple of keys to success here — be sure to let the pastry rest, as called for in the recipe. Don’t stint on freezing the pastry — cold pastry that goes into a hot oven becomes extra flaky and delicious. Be sure to fully pre-bake the pastry as well, which guarantees crisp pastry on the bottom. Finally, whole milk makes a difference here — I highly recommend it over any lower fat varieties.

One recipe for basic pastry
6 large eggs
2/3 cup heavy cream or crème fraîche
1 cup milk (preferably whole)
8 ounces gruyère, emmenthal, or other Swiss-type cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg – optional

Roll out the pastry to fit a 10-1/2 inch glass or metal pie plate (not removable bottom). Crimp the edges, poke the bottom with a fork or the tip of a sharp knife, and place the pastry in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Line the pastry with aluminum foil and pastry weights and bake in the bottom third of the oven until the pastry is golden at the edges, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the aluminum foil and pastry weights. Return the pastry to the oven to bake until the bottom is golden, an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and reserve.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, and the milk until thoroughly blended. Season with the salt and pepper, then add the cheese and stir until it is blended, Turn the mixture into the pre-baked pastry, and spread out the cheese evenly over the bottom of the pastry. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg if you’ve used a Swiss-type cheese, and bake in the center of the oven until the filling is golden and puffed, and is completely baked through, about 30 minutes. To test for doneness, shake the quiche – if it is solid without a pool of uncooked filling in the center, it is done. You may also stick a sharp knife blade into the center of the filling and if it comes out clean, the quiche is baked through.

Remove the quiche from the oven and serve immediately.

Variations:

Bacon and Cheese Quiche:
To make a bacon and cheese quiche (one reader reminded me that Alsace is the home of the quiche, which to deserve its name there has bacon, not ham, in it – ham is a Normandy variation), remove the rind from 4 ounces good-quality slab bacon, and cut it into thick slices, then cut the slices in half, lengthwise, and crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place these in a heavy pan over medium heat and cook the bacon until it is crisp. Drain it on a paper-towel covered plate, and sprinkle it over the pre-baked pastry before adding the custard.

Onion and Cheese Quiche:
Peel and halve a medium-sized yellow onion. Cut it in quarters then slice the onion paper-thin. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the bottom of a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the onions and stir, season lightly with salt, cover, and cook until the onions are very tender and translucent, and just slightly browned at the edges, 10-15 minutes. Remove them from the heat, and spread over the pre-baked pastry before before adding the custard.