Hounds In The Kitchen » photography

Marvelous Mint {Wordy Wednesday}

Rachel — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Mint is a weed by any definition. Many gardeners even consider it invasive – the stuff will fill a space and beyond.

Our patch resides in a bed alongside the house bordered by the sidewalk. For the most part, this contains the spread and last year oregano actually overtook some of the mint zone.

We “tend” (mint actually requires no work) our mint madness because we love the herb. Lil eats the leaves fresh like salad greens and makes them into nests and garden sculptures.

I harvest fresh leaves frequently for drinks and dessert garnishes. At least once a year I fill the dehydrator, crushing the dried leaves for tea.

When mint flowers in late summer, bees and other pollinators ‘sup on the nectar while my family enjoys the petite purple blooms.

Despite it’s overgrowing habit, I’m mad for mint.

Do you grow mint? If so, how do you enjoy it?

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Marvelous Mint {Wordy Wednesday} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Links I Love {Friday Five}

Rachel Tayse — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:25:00 +0000

I apologize for another list post but my mind is stuck on them right now. I have gift lists, guest lists, and grocery lists scattered around the house. When not making or checking off my lists, I read these five great articles this week:

1) It’s For You, Teacher Tom is a sweet reflection in the true meaning of gift giving, as observed with preschoolers.

2) If I Do Something Bad, Will You Still Love Me? by Amy Turn Sharp makes me feel all funny inside. She can do that with the shortest stories and I am always amazed.

3) The Chicken In The Snow is Lil’s latest blog post. She wrote the comic after we saw a little snowfall and wondered how our chicken Austra must feel.

4) Alex pointed out the Most Popular Photography Tips, Tricks and Hacks post by Lifehacker. I hope to find some time to dig through all the ideas soon.

5) I was thrilled to see my name among the Charcutepalooza Semi-Finalists list. I am so appreciative of those who followed along and supported my meaty writing. If you liked my posts, click through to some of the other sites – I’m among some amazing bloggers!

Did you read anything great this week?

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Links I Love {Friday Five} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Pork Pie Photo Journal {Charcutepalooza}

Rachel Tayse — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 11:50:00 +0000

Click any picture to view full size.

1. Butter, homemade lamb lard, and flour. 2. Fats cut into flour. 3. Chopping homegrown onions. 4. Mixing egg and water for pastry. 5. Pastry dough on plastic, ready to chill. 6. Pastry dough chilling in fridge. 7. Grinder cooling in freezer. 8. Onions sweating in olive oil. 9. Chopping pork butt. 10. Lil picking fresh thyme. 11. Herb, salt, and pepper mix. 12. Bowls ready to grind. 13. Meat grinding. 14. Tattoo and ground meat. 15. Adding onions. 16. Aromatics and onions. 17. Binding. 18. Adding homemade chicken stock to bind. 19. Sausage complete. 20. Rolling set up. 21. Cutting dough. 22. Rolling pastry. 23. Getting ready to place meat. 24. Shaping meat on dough. 25. Meat on pastry. 26. Pastry trimmed. 27. Edges folded up. 28. Top on. 29. Egg washing. 30. Dirty dishes. 31. Cutting crackers from scrap. 32. Dog bone scrap crackers. 33. In oven after 10 minutes. 34. In oven after 30 minutes. 35. Temping. 36. Cooling behind pot barricade. 37. Transferring to plate. 38. Hound shaped top. 39. Hound sniffing. 40. Cooling in fridge. 41. Evening snack with pub ale. 42. Reluctant child. 43. Breakfast slicing. 44. Flaky crust. An epic 7 animal products from 4 species, 3 cooks, 6 hours.

This photo journal is our entry in the September Charcutepalooza challenge: packing. We used the recipe from Michael Ruhlman’s book Charcuterie, substituting a small portion of home cured bacon for the ham and omitting aspic. We found the flavor and method to be spot on but the dough recipe made at least 30% more than necessary.

Additional Charcutepalooza posts:

Almost All-Ohio Mouselline

How to Make Hot Dogs Like a Girl

Mint Lamb Sausage Inspired by Jorgensen Farms

Taco Truck Chorizo Sopito

Red’s Canadian Bacon or Why I Had to Kill a Pig To Eat Meat Again

The Story of the Rachel

Salt Cure Old and New

Cider Syrup Bacon

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Pork Pie Photo Journal {Charcutepalooza} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Wordless Wednesday: 30 Day Photo Challenges

Rachel Tayse — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:03:27 +0000

My first week of entries in Allie Lehman’s 30 Day Photo Challenge.

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Wordless Wednesday: 30 Day Photo Challenges is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Bitter Cucumbers {Friday Five}

Rachel Tayse — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:46:37 +0000

Lots of awesome things happened around the homestead today: we pickled homegrown peperoncini peppers, filled the basil jar with dried basil, made stuffed sausage, put cabbage into a crock for sauerkraut, and brined pork belly. In the evening I convinced Alex to clear out the cornichon cucumber patch because they were past their prime. What happened with the excess cukes? Witness the unscripted madness:

1) Take a bite to confirm it’s bitter. The cuke is indeed sharper than my grandmother talking about health insurance coverage.

2) Pose for goofy pictures with cucumber props.

3) Practice bludgeoning.

4) Give the chickens a snack.

5) Fire up the air cannon. What?! Your family doesn’t have a pneumatic potato gun?

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Bitter Cucumbers {Friday Five} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Luminescence

Rachel Tayse — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:01:24 +0000

When one prepares an ingredient from raw to plate, one learns all the secrets:
where succulent flesh gives way to stone,
the bitterest part of the leaf,
how light shines through fat.

It’s a gift, to know a thing through and through.

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Luminescence is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Snowy Sugared Cranberries

Rachel Tayse — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:39:35 +0000

Snowy cranberries are the most addicting winter dessert I make. I eat these candies until my mouth turns raw from the sour acids. I rationalize that they are healthy because raw cranberries are low calorie and high in antioxidants and vitamin C. They look beautiful on a dessert table and are a breeze to make.

Mix 2 table spoons honey with 2 tablespoons hot water. (Alternative is to cook 1/4 cup sugar into 1 cup water for a simple syrup.) Optionally add orange zest, vanilla extract or cinnamon for flavor.

Soak 1 package (10 ounces) of raw cranberries in the honey/water mixture.

Sprinkle 1 – 2 cups white granulated or powdered sugar across a cookie sheet. I use a mixture because I like the dual purposes of coverage of the powdered sugar and the crunch of the granulated.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the wet cranberries to the sugar mix on the cookie sheet.

Stir until all the cranberries are covered and leave in the sugar mixture for 30 minutes or until sugar coating hardens.

Store in an airtight container for 3 – 4 days at room temperature if they don’t disappear instantly!

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Love or hate the black and white photos? I am just playing with my new Canon T1i Digital SLR and Flickr’s Picnik editor.

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Snowy Sugared Cranberries is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Make it Yourself: Holiday Tree

Rachel Tayse — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:14:17 +0000

Our Xmas tradition is to decorate a Norfolk Island Pine. It tolerates the attention but prefers to be an indoor/outdoor tree and is usually completely dried from the lights at the end of the holiday season.

This year I was thinking about buying a metal or wooden reusable tree. Then I had a brainstorm: let’s make our own branch tree!

I filled an empty clay pot with garden stones. Sand or pea gravel would also work well.

Lil helped me gather multi-pronged branches from the backyard. We inserted them into the stones and added more on top to hold the branches in place.

I brought the ‘tree’ inside and wondered whether it was a dumb idea. The branches looked out of place on the quilted tree skirt made by my grandmother.

We unwrapped our collection of miniature ornaments and added them to the tree.

I placed a few pieces of holiday origami at the base.

When all the decorations were placed, I fell in love. Our tree is earthy yet shows off our ornaments. I don’t have to worry about leaves drying out or presents being dirtied by soil. Best of all, the tree cost nothing and can be returned to the yard at the end of the season.

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I am also in love with my new camera. I brooded about whether I needed a DSLR for months and finally bought a Canon EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR Camera on Friday. It is amazing! I’m still learning how to use it well, but the pictures I’m getting are already so much better than I could take with my Powershot.

Case in point: I rarely took pictures of Hawise before because the old camera would not react quickly enough to capture her ever moving body. Today I recorded another xmas tradition with the DSLR: torturing the dogs with costuming.

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Make it Yourself: Holiday Tree is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!