Lamb Satay with Peanut Sauce

WOW - Friday came quickly. This is a modification and simplification of a recipe found in our local electric co-op magazine. It called for chicken - boring.....

Lamb Satay with Peanut Sauce

2# lamb cubes - cut from leg
Bottle of Asian salad dressing/marinade

Combine and toss lamb with enough dressing to coat, chill for 1/2 hour, but not longer than 2 hours.
In the mean time, prepare peanut sauce by whisking together the following ingredients:
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 cup canned coconut milk (or regular milk)
1 T sesame oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 T brown sugar
2 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper

Wooden Skewers, soaked in water to keep from burning
Place lamb cubes on skewers, grill outside or broil in oven for about 10 minutes or until lamb is light pink inside. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
You can add some veggies to the skewers: yellow summer squash, mushrooms, pieces of green or red pepper, green onions, small tomatoes. If so, it will take longer to grill or broil.

Say hi to Aeron

This is Somerhill Aeron. He is a 4.5 month old buck. His sire is from Amy Spang - GrCh Spangs Vidal. Mom is GrCh Somerhill Voodoo.

8 cords of wood

No need to ask "What's Chuck doing today?" He's been cutting, splitting, and stacking wood! This is what 8 cords of wood look like. There is another cord of hedge stacked behind this because it was a live tree and needs to season. The rest of the wood is from fallen trees. I think we could heat our house for 100 years just on the trees that die and /or fall down. Talk about a renewable resource!

CUTE!

This is a Holland Lop wearing a sweater knit from some of my 100% angora yarn.
What could be cuter than a bunny in a bunny sweater?

Thank you to Amy for sharing the picture. I LOVE seeing what people do with the yarn they buy from me.

Somerhill Bess

This is Somerhill Bess at 2.5 months of age. Bess is the result of AI, and is the twin daughter of Carryhouse R1 and Somerhill Caliope (AI - Beeston Loyalty). Her twin brother is my main herdsire, Somerhill Lanark.

Here is a current picture of Bess, who is a yearling now. She has really grown up to be a beautiful ewe with correct conformation, as well as a lovely fleece. She is bred to Somerhill Lockerbie (AI - Barlaes Titus) and I look forward to her lambs next spring.

Katahdin Ram

This is one of the Kat rams. Don't know which one - they are named #17 and #24. Chuck is not as creative as I. :^) They are both pure white, and are 3 now, so in their prime. They are both sleek and fat off the summer of lazing in the shade, grazing. I don't think either have needed to be wormed since they arrived here as 6 month olds.
Yes, he has a mane, and the area over his shoulders has his longer wooly winter coat coming in, so it looks odd in the picture. The rams are brothers, and have been together since birth. We turn both out into the ewe flock at once, and they seem to get along and get the job done.

Bunicula!

This is Somerhill Nightshade, aka Bunicula. LOL.
He got the nickname at the Springfield show. When I was loading the rabbits into the carriers for the show that morning, I noticed he had a mark on his ear. Upon closer inspection, I found that he had two fresh round holes in his ear about 1.25" apart, spaced as though they were fang marks. Since he was in a cage by himself, with the closest rabbit 10-12" away, I could not figure out what could have bitten him. At the show, everyone examined the marks, and since it had been Halloween the night before, concluded the only thing they could be were the marks of a vampire's bite.
Bunic...er...Nightshade went on to win best colored JR buck out of six in one of the shows, so he won his first leg. I was grooming him last night and checking his ear again. Its healing well, and will likely not have any marks left. But just in case, I'm staying out of the rabbitry at midnight!

The Highlands

We just have the three cows left - a white, Lillian; a dun, LoraLeigh; and the black Angus cross. That is her 4 month old bull calf, the product of an unplanned visit to the neighbor's Hereford bull. Guess we'll owe Carl and Cathy some steaks..... To top it off, she is probably re-bred to the same bull, since she went visiting again a month ago. Her sire, an Angus, was the same way. You could not keep him in a fence - any fence!

Oh well, we LOVE beef.

This week's recipe

I'm gonna try to post a recipe here each week. I think I'll start with some lamb recipes that we like, since most people who have not tried lamb say they don't know how to fix it. So here goes:

Sheep Dip (sorry, this is Chuck's name for it - so don't complain to me about it!) :^)

1.5 # ground lamb
1 pkg taco seasoning
2 T onion flakes
Salt & pepper to taste
1 small bag of chili flavored corn chips, coarsely crushed.
1 can each of soups:
....Nacho cheese
....Tomato
....Cream of Chicken
1 can refried beans

Brown lamb, drain fat if necessary, and stir in taco seasoning packet, s&p, and onion flakes. Then in a large casserole dish, stir all the ingredients together. I find it easiest to mix the cans together, and then add in the meat and chips. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, until bubbly and browning.
Serve with a side of taco sauce and sour cream if desired.

Thanks to all our Veterans

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.


We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.