I love phone photos, man. They make it easier than ever to share every mundane detail of your life on the internets…

The quality is refreshingly poor…

There is spontaneity to them,

And the facial distortion they cause is almost charming.

Don’t take a close-up of yourself with it though, especially if you are weight-conscious.

But, distorted or not, they allow me to capture the sweet moments which would otherwise almost certainly go undocumented. And that’s what I love the most about them.

Two days ago our friend Dan Peper died from a heart attack.

It was sudden, unexpected, and is still hard to believe.

Now Dan wasn’t someone I spent time with, but he used our shop as his carpentry workshop (he was a master builder of things both big and small), and I got used to seeing him here what sometimes seemed like every day.

My oldest daugther, on the other hand, spent a great deal of time hanging out with Dan in the shop, and came to think of him a bit as a grandpa figure.

It is safe to say that his passing is the first real loss in her life.

Dan Peper was also my husband’s close collaborator in the starting and running of the Driftless Folk School – a local grassroots organization that offers adult classes in traditional skills. In fact, the folk school was practically started at Dan’s beautiful home – the home he had built – as the original meetings and some of the first classes took place there.

Saying goodbye to him in his handmade house was a poignant experience.

Wherever Dan is headed next, a part of him will always abide in the things he had built with his hands, edifices both physical and human.

Things like the butcher block in my kitchen, which has become its absolute center.

Things like the pokey horse that Dan built for my kids a year ago as a Christmas gift.

Things like the bluebird house Dan brought us the day after my newest daughter was born.

We didn’t know at the time that it would be our last interaction.

Goodbye, Dan, and rest in peace.

We have a lot to remember you by.

We had a wonderful weekend here on the farm. Both my husband and my older daugther had their birthdays this past week, so we hosted two small but sweet parties for each of them on Saturday. (Of course, I should add that none of it would be possible without my mother-in-law, who did a massive amount of work to help us make it happen, what’s with the new baby and all.)

Among other gifts, my mother-in-law gave us my brother’s-in-law old iPhone, and while we have no need whatsoever for an actual phone, I’ve been enjoying using it as a mini-computer while breastfeeding, and as a point-and-shoot camera – something I haven’t shot with for what now seems like a very long time.

Like any point-and-shoot, a phone camera can churn out damn fine pictures if you just make sure that you have the right light on your subject, and the Instagram app does an amazing job of applying filters which mask some of the light-source deficiencies while also uploading the photos directly onto my Flickr account and sharing them on Facebook and Twitter. Cause it ain’t real if you don’t share it on the internets. (If you are into that sort of thing, my Instagram username is thegirlsguide.)

Here are some examples:

My daughter, learning how to ride her very first bike (another birthday gift from Jacob’s cousin Lars and his wife – a hand-me-down from their not-so-little boy). No filters or processing of any kind applied. This ain’t no fancy DSLR quality, but I say it’s not too shabby either.

Here I applied my favorite filter called “Early Bird,” which adds this particular border as well as the vintage look. It also lightens up the shadow areas and removes the unpleasant red cast that can be associated with poorly-lit phone photos.

And here is my little three-week-old daugther – and while the quality is decidedly not great, I love how bright-eyed and aware she looks in this photo.

Here she goes again.

I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful this is, because it allows me to  collect more blogging material without pulling out my Leviathan of a DLSR all the time, especially since I now have another tiny person to take care of.

A big thank you to my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law Silas for the wonderful gift (I know you’ll be reading this, man)!!

Our baby Evelyn has turned two weeks a couple of days ago, and we are all starting to settle into our new family size. Sure things can still feel crazy right now, but then again, it’s not like they weren’t crazy to begin with.

On the other hand, the whole sibling love thing is becoming increasingly manifest, and I am so thankful that we’ve been able to provide our kids with some. I grew up a single child of a single mother, while my husband is the oldest of four, so a strong, sizable family is at the top of our priorities.

There is no doubt in my mind that in both the short and the long run our children will benefit from this ongoing expansion (should we continue to be so lucky). I know they already have.

A picture is worth a thousand words, I guess.

My six-year-old daughter has especially been enjoying her new role.

A baby sister is better than any doll, don’t you think?

My son, who is almost three, is still figuring things out, but I do think that his enjoyment is greater than the feeling of having been displaced from his role as “the baby.” After all, he has a new role to play now, and when I watch the two of them beginning to interact, it’s just the sweetest thing.

And while things are far from easy with what is starting to become a pile of kids, I wouldn’t be lying if I told you that both the quality of our marital union and my own personal level of happiness, fulfillment, and self-confidence has grown steadily with each new addition. I haven’t held a lot of jobs in my life, but this is by far the one I’ve enjoyed the most.

Well, the 2011 is over folks! It’s been a good year around here, and I hope it’s been a good one for you too!

Here I put together a list of my favorite recipes from 2011, just to sabotage your New Year’s resolutions:

1. Black Forest Sheet Cake with Chocolate Mocha Frosting – I baked it right before my water broke (don’t visualize that last part). ‘Twas good timing, too – it makes one heck of a postpartum snack!

2. Maple Butter – makes a great frosting or spread for popovers or just plain fresh bread.

3. How to Brew Kombucha – my new summer “iced tea.”

4. Authentic Russian Borscht – or as authentic as it gets when a native of Azerbaijan (it’s a country) makes it in Wisconsin.

5. Café Glacé (Coffee with Ice Cream) – another old-country classic I’d never had till I got to the new one.

6. Homemade Tom & Jerry Mix – the new-country classic not everybody knew about: a warming winter drink mix to be dissolved in hot milk – good with a splash of alcohol or without.

7. Homemade Caramel for Dipping Apples – or, in my case, apple wedges. Really good stuff! Like, really good.

8. Foolproof Homemade Yogurt: Science, Techniques, and Troubleshooting – everything you wanted to know about making yogurt but were afraid to ask. Well, nearly everything.

9. Chocolate Pots-de-Creme – now family-style. Yes, it’s possible.

10. Brownie Pudding Cake – a family recipe from my husband’s side, now adjusted for the GGGB level of culinary decadence.

11. Smothered Chicken – gosh, I can’t even begin to describe it. You’re gonna have to check it out yourselves.

Happy New Year!

My friends, I must tell you, if there is something I absolutely love, it’s caring for my newborn babies.

Of course, it wasn’t at all easy with the first one (and there were some unmentionable complications with my first), but by the time we got to number three man, it’s already second nature to us – much like driving. Which is not to say that we have already adjusted to having all three kids here at once (God no), but as far as the newborn care goes, it’s been smooth sailing (keeping my fingers crossed).

Oh my God, look at those tiny hands!!!!!

Note: If you are not as thrilled by the photos of strangers’ newborns, you could always check out the “Chocolate” section instead.

Here’s a little something I baked right before I went into labor this past Thursday:

Black forest cake has always been one of my husband’s favorites and a perennial staple at his birthday parties. This here is a new one though, and it’s based on my modification of Ree Drummond’s Best-Ever Chocolate Sheet Cake (which is primarily what is responsible for its outrageous deliciousness), and a chocolate frosting recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Although this cake can traditionally include some cherry liqueur or other alcohol, I didn’t add any to mine.

Moist Black Forest Sheet Cake with Chocolate Mocha Frosting

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks and Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Makes one 18 x 13 jelly roll pan.

For the cake:

•  2 C flour
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1/4 t salt
• 4-5 heaping T cocoa powder
• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 C boiling water
• 1/2 C milk mixed 1/2 T lemon juice or white vinegar (I use this in lieu of buttermilk so I don’t have to buy a whole quart while only needing 1/2 C)
• 2 eggs
• 1 t baking soda
• a good shot of vanilla extract
• 1 16-oz can cherry pie filling (I prefer your regular supermarket “Wilderness” brand)

For the frosting:

• 8 to 9 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet baking bar chocolate or chips, your choice (I like Ghirardelli brand)
• 2 and 3/4 sticks of butter (damn right),  at room temperature
• 1/2 C strong coffee (alternatively, try some creme de cocoa liqueur)
• a dash of vanilla

For the topping:

• 3 16-oz cans of Wilderness cherry pie filling

To serve:

• whipped cream, and lots of it (I whip mine with a bit of sugar and vanilla – just add everything to the heavy whipping cream before whipping)

Black Forest Sheet Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together sugar, flour, and salt in a large bowl. Separately, beat the eggs and add milk & lemon juice mixture, vanilla, and baking soda. Melt butter in a sauce pan and stir in the cocoa. Add boiling water and allow the mixture to come back to a simmer. Remove from heat and pour over the dry ingredients in the bowl. Stir gently until fully incorporated and add the eggs-milk mixture. Stir until everything is smooth. Stir in one can of cherry pie filling and pour the batter into an ungreased jelly roll pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cake looks set in the center and the toothpick comes out moist and with crumbs attached. Cool on a rack in the pan.

Chocolate Mocha Frosting

Pour chocolate over the coffee and microwave at 1-min intervals until the coffee is steaming and the chocolate is soft. Stir until smooth. Stir in the butter until fully melted. Place the bowl with the chocolate into an ice-bath (be sure not to get any water into the chocolate mixture itself) and whisk until the icing has cooled enough to be spreadable but not stiff. Spread on top of the cooled cake in a pan.

Top with the three remaining cans of cherry filling (there will be a lot of cherries over everything now – if this seems like too much, use one and a half can instead).

Serve individual portions topped with lotsa whipped cream (I use enough over each serving to not be able to see the cake underneath).

Look what Santa brought:

After one-and-a-half hours of labor and a grand total of five minutes of pushing (amounting to three very intense contractions), Evelyn Alexandra Hundt has joined the ranks of our family on December 22, weighing 9 lbs and 2 oz. She was born at home, delivered by the same wonderful midwife that helped her 10 lbs 4 oz-brother into the world nearly three years ago. Due to her rapid appearance, the chiropractor who stopped by our house right after the birth to adjust me declared that I must be part-Amish, which, if you think of it, is not so far from the truth.

Here is another look at baby Evelyn, here nearly three days old:

Everyone is doing great and man – this is our easiest baby yet, although that perhaps has something to do with the fact that this is our third. We are totally thrilled, and are hoping to repeat the experience a couple more times.

Are you familiar with Tom & Jerrys, folks? The warming holiday cocktail made with eggs, sugar, two types of dairy, spices, and either brandy or rum (or creme de cocoa, if you are me)?

This ain’t like anything I grew up with in the old country, but it can sure be nice on a cold December night in Wisconsin, with or without alcohol.

Tom & Jerrys are made from a creamy batter that looks like this:

What you do is stir a couple of tablespoons into a mug-full of hot milk and add the desired amount of alcohol (it is also common to sprinkle some nutmeg on top). Some people have been known to use water, but I don’t find that satisfactory, because, let’s face it, a good doze of animal fat on a winter evening is the most important part of it all. You can also omit the alcohol, making it a fine drink for kids and pregnant ladies, which is how I’ve been having it this year.

Warning: The following recipe contains raw eggs. It’s your call whether you trust your egg source or not.

So here goes:

You start with eggs – these beautiful homegrown eggs are from my in-laws’ farm.

Talk about green eggs and ham.

These green ones came from a hatchery batch sold as “rainbow layers,” if you wanna look them up for your own homestead, urban or otherwise. The exact breed responsible for the green eggs may have been Araucana, but I am not 100% sure.

First, separate three eggs, dumping the whites into a bowl of a stand mixer and the yolks into a separate container to be used in the next step. See how orange the yolks are? That’s homegrown for ya. Not to tease you or anything.

Be sure not to get any yolk into the whites because any amount of fat (and yolks are fat) will prevent the whites from forming a foam. You also have to make sure that your bowl is not a bit greasy.

Just look at these – I always marvel at the color – and the flavor.

Next, beat the whites until soft peaks form, sprinkle in a little salt, and beat until stiff.

This stiff.

Now transfer the whites somewhere else and throw a stick of soft butter into the mixer bowl instead (do not wash the bowl). Whip the butter on high until light and fluffy.

Now add in the yolks…

3 1/2 C of powdered sugar,

A dash of vanilla,

And begin whipping everything together. At first the things will be looking sorta grainy (above)…

But will get creamy after a while. When you get to the above stage, you can beat in your spices (nutmeg, cloves, etc) if you feel so inclined.

Once the mixture is creamy, add in the whites, all at once…

And continue beating on high speed until you end up with a smooth, creamy batter.

Keep the batter in the fridge or, better yet, freezer – in which case it will still be good a year or two later. Ask me how I know.

Homemade Tom & Jerry Mix

Makes approximately 3 cups of batter.

• 3 eggs, separated
• a pinch of salt
• 1 stick soft butter
• 3 1/2 C powdered sugar
• a good dash of vanilla
• nutmeg, mace and/or ground cloves (optional)

To serve:

• piping-hot milk
• nutmeg (optional)
• brandy, rum, or creme de cocoa

Beat whites in a clean bowl of a stand mixer until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the salt and whip on high until stiff. Transfer the whites into a separate bowl.

Place the soft butter into the mixer bowl (do not wash the bowl) and whip until light and fluffy. Add the yolks, powdered sugar, and vanilla, and continue beating until you end up with a thick, smooth batter. Beat in the spices if desired.

Add the whites to the bowl and beat on high until the batter is smooth. Transfer into a jar or a tupperware container, cover tightly, and keep in either fridge or freezer, depending on how fast you think you will get through it. If kept in the freezer, the batter will be good for a couple of years.

To serve, place 2 T of batter into a mug and add hot milk and a splash of booze of your choice (note that frozen batter does not need to be thawed before using). If desired, sprinkle a little nutmeg on top – freshly ground is especially nice if you are feeling fancy.

A couple of months ago, I had a distinct pleasure of being offered an advance copy of Georgia Pellegrini‘s new book, Girl Hunter. This book is a memoir that covers Georgia’s personal journey from the trading floor at Lehman Brothers to a huntswoman and a writer, and some amazing life trajectory that is. Although I don’t spend a whole lot of time reading on a regular basis (little kids can sometimes do that to your brain), I swallowed this one in two days flat because the narrative flows beautfiully, and because, personally, I can relate intimately to some of Georgia’s exact experiences in the field (i.e., while hunting). If you have never hunted and wonder what it feels like, this book does a wonderful job of sharing the inner experience that accompanies the sport. I especially recommend it to the folks who, like Georgia and myself, come from a relatively urban background and care deeply about where their meat comes from and how it is harvested.

When Georgia’s publisher invited me to try one of the several recipes from the book and share it on my blog, I settled on Moroccan Elk Stew (which could also be made with venison), as the combination of red meat, cinnamon and dried fruit in the recipe reminded me of my native Azerbaijan and fit right in with how I cook already. Although I made a couple of enhancements and substitutions along the way due to both habit and necessity, I am pleased to report that the resulting stew was absolutely delectable, and I am so glad to be able to bring it to you today.

Here is what it looks like, and here is the recipe as it appeared in the book, with my own notes in bold:

Moroccan Elk (or Beef, or Venison) Stew

Adapted from Girl Hunter by Georgia Pellegrini

Serves 8

Also try: beef, lamb, bison, venison and other antlered game

• 4 pounds elk shoulder or haunch, cut into cubes - I used venison round (the butt), cut into 1-inch cubes.
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons grape seed oil or butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder - I skipped this
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 medium-size onions, roughly chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped – I cut mine into 1″ sections
• 2 medium-size turnips, peeled and chopped - I skipped the turnips cause I didn’t have any
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 2/3 cup dried apricots
• 2/3 cup prunes, pitted – I didn’t have either prunes or apricots on hand so I went with raisins instead, but do use prunes and apricots if you can find them – they are absolutely delicious in meat dishes – especially prunes.
• 3 to 4 cups beef or antlered game stock - I used 50/50 beef stock and Merlot, and added enough liquid to nearly cover the contents of the pot.
• I also added 2 T tomato paste and approximately 1 C boiled, peeled chestnuts from a local farm

1. Heat a large, heavy-bottomed pot with oil. In a bowl, toss the elk cubes in the flour. Shake the cubes well and place them in the pot in batches, being sure not to crowd them. Brown them on all sides and transfer to a plate or rack.

2. Add more oil into the pot and add the onions and the carrots, cooking until the onions are translucent and have begun to brown. Now add the garlic and saute for another couple of minutes.

3. Put all of the browned meat back in the pan with the vegetables and sprinkle with the salt, cinnamon, ginger and pepper. Add dried fruit and stir in tomato paste. Pour in enough stock for the meat to be three-quarters covered (I had mine covered almost entirely), and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat so the bubbles percolate. Cover and simmer gently for 2 hours, or until tender.

4. Add boiled, peeled chestnuts to the finished stew (I didn’t want to cook them together with everything for a couple of hours out of the fear of them becoming mushy).

——————–

And that’s it!

If you’ve got a moment, check out the official Girl Hunter book trailer here: