Family - TheFarmGirlCooks

Tag: Family

There’s No Place Like Home

Posted on May 4, 2013May 23, 2018 by Kasha

Out here in the Black Dirt area of Orange County, NY, we have to deal with very unique circumstances and events, and after 40<cough, cough> years of living here, I'm kinda used to those things. My father, after 70 years on Celery Avenue, probably knows the place better than anyone else, except maybe his big sister Beverly. Hell, my kid has seen 3 devastating floods in his short lifetime, each one worse than the last, and he thinks it's just the way things are here in the farmland. Twisters, or dust devils, are a regular occurrence around here and while...Read More

I’m Ba-ack!

Posted on April 18, 2013February 25, 2018 by Kasha

It seems like I fell off the face of the earth, right? Not exactly.... but it feels like I spent the last week roaming the surface of the sun. Thomas: That's impossible, Mommy. The sun doesn't even HAVE a surface because it's made up of gases. EVERYBODY knows that. <insert pre-pubescent eye roll> Thus was my vacation in hot and sunny southern Florida. The Boy will turn nine next weekend. Judging by his behavior of late, he may not make it to ten. All things considered, and by all things I mean airport security (way to go, Kash, heading home...Read More

If mares eat oats, and does eat oats….

Posted on February 5, 2013February 25, 2018 by Kasha

...why is this one eating my kid's shoelace? I mentioned in my last post that we visited the babies (they literally cry like babies) at Edgwick Farm in Cornwall, NY. I had a blast, Thomas was standoffish and quiet. He claimed later that he didn't like all the poop in the yard. He's not so far off, at 8, from his early years in diapers, so I don't get it, but perhaps he just had an off day. We all have 'em. But how can you when you're getting to cuddle with THESE?!?!?!?! I think I counted 9 doelings climbing...Read More

Back to Basics: Chicken Stock

Posted on December 7, 2012March 16, 2018 by Kasha

We all know how badly Hurricane Sandy devastated our area. For once I was glad the media hyped it to death. Many communities were close to 100% evacuated and countless lives were saved because of it. Having survived Hurricane Irene and tropical storm Lee and the resulting power outages and floods, I know that advance warning and preparation take some of the pain and suffering out of an event like that. My first thought after hearing that Sandy would impact the Northeast was, "Oh, dear GOD, no. Not another flood." Then, I cried. Then, I gathered supplies. I shopped for...Read More

My November… plus Cookies, Revisited

Posted on November 30, 2012February 25, 2018 by Kasha

"Mom, did we have power on Halloween?" "No." "Did we have power the day before Halloween?" "No." "When did the power go out?" "October 29th." "And what's today?" "November 5th" "Well that's just ridiculous..." **Note: Power went out 10/29 when 2 trees came down and took out a ton of lines. Thanks to Frankie for spearheading the tree removal process! Power was finally restored on 11/6. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Up here in Orange County, we've pretty much recovered and Hurricane...Read More

Missing… but still in action.

Posted on October 8, 2012February 25, 2018 by Kasha

Get a load of this... Yes, that's a frog. It's a frog in a pint-sized deli container. It's a frog that I found hiding behind the window fan in my son's room Friday night. I went to close the window because the forecast was for rain the next day when I was at market. Bleary eyed and ready for sleep, I go in and remove the fan from the window, only to find this THING attached to the screen on the INSIDE! I screamed, but just a little. Once I caught my breath, I raced around trying to find SOMETHING...Read More

If the baking bug bites you, scratch that itch!

Posted on August 15, 2012February 25, 2018 by Kasha

[caption id="attachment_3327" align="aligncenter" width="612"] Thomas loves car racing so his dad took him to a Ferrari race in CT and he got to meet this driver. Look familiar? He's on ABC's Shark Tank![/caption] I'm helping a customer at the Ringwood Farmers Market one Saturday when I politely hold up a finger and excuse myself for just a second. "Thomas, can you go in my cooler bag and get my drink? The pink one, please." I return my attention to the customer at my scale. "Lately I've noticed that people, adults and children alike, don't use please and thank you...Read More

Better-Than-Devil Dogs or Los Perros del Diablo

Posted on July 11, 2012February 25, 2018 by Kasha

I almost died this weekend. Maybe I shouldn't say it like that, but it's true. Every Saturday morning I drive to the Ringwood Farmers Market on a stretch of road we like to call "Old 17". Old 17 runs from Harriman, NY to the NJ border and until the NYS Thruway was opened in 1953, was the main route to 'upstate' from NYC. Remember the movie "Dirty Dancing" and the Catskill resort/bungalow colony culture? Old 17 is how city folks got to Sullivan County. Red Apple Rest, a cafeteria-rest area, was built in 1931 and was approximately halfway between NYC...Read More

Lemon Ricotta Bars (with Goat’s Milk Ricotta)

Posted on May 28, 2012February 25, 2018 by chris

Holy cow. We started markets this week. It was hot. REALLY hot. I drank a lot of water, lemonade. and iced coffee and saw a ridiculous number of smiling faces - all of them thrilled that we are back and selling lots of fabulous local produce. Many sincere thanks to those who remembered and mentioned the hardships we endured last summer with the massive, devastating floods. It was nice to hear the praise and admiration, not that it was expected or even deserved. We did what we had to do and we got through it. Anyone faced with similar...Read More

Valentine’s Cookie Decorating Seminar for The Boy

Posted on February 13, 2012February 25, 2018 by Kasha

[caption id="attachment_2784" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Made from scratch and decorated 'to order'..."][/caption] I am not one of those ‘class mothers’ who attends every party, PTO event, and nose-picking that takes place at school. I could be, now, in the off-season, but my son insists that he doesn’t want me there. Is he embarrassed? Probably. I guess that's normal, though, right? It may very well be the embarrassment factor that makes him resistant to have me in his class. Or it may be the fact that he can’t be ‘himself’ when I’m there. Or at least the Thomas that he becomes once he plunks his...Read More