nataliecalvino

Musing over a Milking Mishap

I realized something today: cows are masters of passive-aggressive behavior. Maybe that’s why when they are overtly aggressive, it’s so scary – it’s just uncharacteristic. Thankfully, we haven’t had to deal with much of that. But managing a persnickety dairy cow has given me plenty of experience with the varied ways they can express theirContinue reading “Musing over a Milking Mishap”

Chicken Martinique

Chicken Martinique (pronounced mar- tin- EEK) is a recipe my mother made almost every time we had a whole chicken, and no wonder! It is incredibly easy, and turns out a delicious sauce which is perfect for serving with rice or quinoa on the side. Definitely a “gourmet” touch for the meal! Ingredients: 1 wholeContinue reading “Chicken Martinique”

Roasting Our Heritage Birds and Turkeys

Before anyone tries to roast or cook our heritage birds* or their Thanksgiving turkey in the same way they would a store-bought bird, let me give a few words of caution. These birds are substantially older than the store-bought poultry, and also because they are pastured and/or free range, their muscles get quite a bitContinue reading “Roasting Our Heritage Birds and Turkeys”

What to DO with Chicken Hearts

Here’s a quick, easy, and delicious recipe for chicken hearts that will have your family asking for more. No joke, my kids do! A couple notes on how I use this recipe: I use whatever canned tomato product I have on hand, which is rarely tomato paste. I serve over rice to make sure thatContinue reading “What to DO with Chicken Hearts”

Just the Headlines

There’s never a dull moment on the farm… which translates to “there’s so much happening to keep us busy, we have no time to write about it all!” And so, here are the headlines from the past few months. Each of these truly deserves its own post, but I must be content to catch youContinue reading “Just the Headlines”

A Tale of Two Calves

(Continued from ‘A Calf in the Bath?’ My apologies for leaving you hanging so long!) So, why did we lose Billy, our calf? We didn’t find out the reasons until we almost lost Spright as well. She was a big heifer calf, and full of energy right from the moment she hit the ground. ButContinue reading “A Tale of Two Calves”

A Calf in the Bath?

It’s calving time! Winter is not the season we would have chosen to have our cows give birth. Things can happen which necessitate interventions such as… putting a newborn calf in your bathtub. Here’s the story of little Billy the calf, and how the Calvinos took a crash course in one kind of calving emergency.Continue reading “A Calf in the Bath?”

Catching Up

Happy New Year! Life took off like a rocket, and I’m still running to catch up. I feel as though it has been way longer than a month and a half since my last post. So much has happened, I’ll give you a drive- by update. We got the hay in! That was a funContinue reading “Catching Up”

Surprising Blessings at Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving weekend did not go as planned. Well, we didn’t really have too much planned, other than having some family visitors. But boy, oh boy, it turned out to be a roller coaster ride! First off, we were contacted by a friend the weekend before saying that he was available to help us butcherContinue reading “Surprising Blessings at Thanksgiving”

Mystery Chicks’ Identities Revealed!

Beware of buying pullets on clearance at your local farm supply store- you never know what you’ll get! That is, if you are not an expert on identifying chicken breeds. We are not terribly familiar with all the different varieties of chickens, or perhaps we would have figured this ‘mix up’ out sooner! But theContinue reading “Mystery Chicks’ Identities Revealed!”