Fair Hills Farm » Recipes

A Midsummer’s Cool Spell

Christine Read — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:12:40 +0000

We have been fortunate to experience a significant cooling of the weather these past few days. It has been so refreshing. I am thankful to the Lord for His sweet kindness. We have also had more rain this summer than in the past few summers, and that is another thing I thank the Lord for. This evening as I was walking around our property, I realized anew how wonderful it is to live in the country. It is sheer bliss to be able to walk around surrounded by trees and hills and meadows and the sound of birds chirping, crickets and frogs singing, and little fish jumping in the pond. When I got back to the house, I found Mary had caught a tiny baby lizard. I have never seen one so small. She made a little habitat for it and put it in there. She is quite the lizard expert around here. She has caught several this summer, and takes excellent care of them until she decides to let them go back into the wild.

As you may have realized, the Fair Hills Farm website has undergone quite a change. We were having considerable problems with our yahoo site, and so we changed over a few weeks ago. In the process, we have super simplified everything, and at this point, this particular page is mostly a blog. We have plans to expand gradually, but it will take a bit of time because my web person (daughter Amanda) has a lot going on. A lot of information we had on the other site is no longer here, including some earlier blogposts. I will try to retrieve them or re-write some of them, such as the one with the horseradish recipe. I am currently working on my e-book, Nurturing The Generations, and making it into a study guide with recipes, and worksheets, etc. This is going on while I am tending the garden, cleaning out and organizing the house (which is really a perpetual job, isn’t it?) and carrying our 9th baby, which is due around December 5th, the Lord willing! We are all excited and delighted, and I keep thinking of things to add to the e-book. I hope to add a section on the joys of being an older mom (since I am 46). I really am enjoying being pregnant, which I have not always done in the past. I think as you get older, the surge in hormones is such a delight to your body that you really feel better than when you did as a younger person. It seems that way for me, at least. I marvel at how the Lord God in His awesome plans can do the most wonderful things in allowing women the privilege of bringing forth life, by His hand and with His help. He is so worthy of praise!

We have been enjoying some wonderful dishes from our garden. Last night we had a meal that consisted of a grass-fed beef roast, mashed potatoes and cauliflower, fresh zucchini and onion gently simmered on the stove and seasoned with butter and sea salt, fresh tomato relish, and homemade bread. I think the tomato relish is my favorite way to eat tomatoes, and it goes so wonderfully with practically everything. If you have never heard of this dish, I will share with you how we make it. I was telling my husband that I never had any such thing until I ate it at his grandparent’s house, perhaps 24-25 years ago. He told me he thought it was just a family recipe, but I am certainly going to include it in Nurturing The Generations. Very simply, you cut up 4-5 fresh tomatoes, 1 onion, 1-2 cayenne peppers (sliced open, with seeds removed, then chopped). Add to this some sea salt to taste and a dash of raw apple cider vinegar (or plain white vinegar if that is all you have on hand). Mix well and let sit for a few minutes so the flavors blend. This is a spicy recipe, but not too hot. Even my four year old daughter likes this! I will have Abigail down load some pictures (she is my photo person!) so you can see what it looks like.

Another simple recipe for a delicious raw, fresh garden food, is cucumbers in sour cream with dill. We just wash our cucumbers and then slice them up (3 or 4 of them), add a little raw onion chopped as well, and then toss with a few tablespoons of sour cream. To this add some dill weed and sea salt, and voila, another dish that I think my children could eat forever. One interesting thing to note is that cucumbers, watermelons and cantalope contain a wonderful amino acid, citrulline, which is a precursor to human growth hormone that the body makes naturally. These have anti-aging and rejuvinating properties. Citrulline is also found in walnut seedlings, flaxseed, and in the milk protein casein. Flaxseed is another thing we consume in our house – I put it freshly ground in our bread dough, and sometimes we eat it freshly ground mixed into some fruit juice. It is very nourishing.

If anyone has questions for me, please e-mail me at info@fairhillsfarm.com ~ I hope everyone is having a good summer and may the Lord bless and keep each one of you!

Christine

Tomato Relish

Cucumbers in Dill Sauce

Beth with the chickens in our backyard

4 year old Beth in the Bradford pear tree in our front yard

3 year old Benjamin with Rex in our front yard

New Flower Garden

Other side of the Flower Garden

Flower Garden

Path in the Flower Garden

Some Good Old-Fashioned Horseradish-Ginger Tonic

Christine Read — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:13:53 +0000

Actually I guess you could say it is really a condiment. I happened across this recipe a few months ago in the Farm and Ranch Living magazine. A reader had submitted this recipe as a super-tonic that is “good for what ails you.” As I looked at the list of ingredients, I thought that was probably an accurate statement. So the next time I was buying groceries, I bought some ginger root and horseradish root, which I have never done before. I made a batch of this tonic and put it in two jars in the refrigerator. The first time my children and I sampled it I thought it was some of the spiciest, worse-tasting stuff I had ever eaten. But we realized that if you eat a little with some bread and butter, it actually is not that bad. If you eat it with cheese it isn’t even that spicy. Now we routinely eat it with our meals as one would eat a little chutney or relish – more like a condiment. We put it to the test recently when we seemed to have a bout of sinus and cold symptoms as the weather changed from warm and balmy to cold, windy and wet. I woke up one morning with a sore throat and sinus congestion. Later in the day I developed a cough. I began to eat some of the horseradish mixture (a few teaspoons), and also to add some essential oils to some steaming water on the stove and breath it is as a treatment. I did this three days in a row and by the third day my illness was pretty much gone. I know that historically, if I develop a sore throat and sinus congestion, it takes a week or two to get over it completely. Not this time. I was amazed at how quickly I recovered. None of the members of my family had the symptoms as badly as I did, and what they did have they got over very quickly. We had some friends staying in our guest house, and the mom arrived here with another sort of illness similar to mine. She did the same treatment I did and subsequently got over her ailment quickly as well. So I think this recipe is worthy of sharing and perhaps might be helpful to readers looking for nutritional ways to boost the immune system and get over illnesses faster. Here are the ingredients:

1-2 horseradish root, well-scrubbed (I used 1)
1-2 ginger root, washed and peeled (I used 1)
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 medium onion, peeled
1-2 chili peppers (I used jalopenos), seeds removed
raw apple cider vinegar

Place the ingredients in a blender and add enough apple cider vinegar to cover, and then blend. What I did was cut up the roots into chunks as well as the onion. It takes a while to get everything blended up well, but the finished product looks somewhat like coarse apple sauce. Just taking a sniff of it will clear your sinuses! I put the mixture into clean glass jars with caps and the directions were to keep in the refrigerator throughout the winter and use as needed. We have been using ours for about a month or so.

I did a little research to learn some of the health benefits of the different ingredients. Let me note here also that horseradish is not recommended for children under the age of 4, or people who have peptic ulcers. Also, I have read that ginger can cause uterine contractions, so if you are pregnant, you may want to avoid this remedy, and it is contraindicated for anyone suffering from gallstones as ginger stimulates the release of bile. I also saw some contraindications for horseradish for nursing mothers, but I presume it is mostly for those nursing infants. I am still nursing a 2 year old, and it didn’t hurt him any that I could see. But an infant who is very sensitive to spicy foods in mom’s diet might have some disagreement with this concoction. Here is a quick run-down of some of the properties found in the ingredients.

Horseradish Root: From the same family as the mustard and cabbage family and has anti scorbutic and expectorant properties. The root reportedly cures tonsillitis and is a natural treatment for rheumatic and respiratory disorders. The root is also laden with a potent amount of vitamin C and B complex, minerals, potassium, calcium and iron as well as enzymes. It is a natural antibiotic which can kill bacteria in the throat that cause bronchitis. Horseradish heats up the body and has a cardiotonic effect (strengthens the heart). The glucosinolates found in horseradish are thought to increase resistance in humans to cancer. These glucosinolate compounds are only found in plants which are in the mustard family such as horseradish, mustard, broccoli and cauliflower. They have powerful anti-oxidant properties. It is interesting to note that a study in 2005 showed that glucosinolates increase the liver’s ability to detoxify and eliminate carcinogens. Horseradish contains an enzyme that aids in the breakdown of the glucosinolates which makes it easier for the human body to benefit from its therapeutic properties.

ginger root: The ginger root is actually an underground stem. It may have blood thinning properties and cholesterol lowering properties. Compounds found in ginger known as gingerols have analgesic, sedative, anti-pyretic (lowers fever) and anti-bacterial properties. They also have anti-fungal properties that supposedly are effective against even athlete’s foot. Ginger contains protein, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin C, choline, folic acid, inositol, manganese, pantothenic acid, silicon and a small amount of vitamin B3. Ginger has good properties for menstruation problems, and many say that it is good for settling and upset stomach.

Garlic: Garlic contains antiseptic properties and it helps to lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol, is an appetite stimulant and is good for the hair! Garlic is known to be anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic as well as a blood purifier. There are recipes for treating tuberculosis, whooping cough, rheumatism, ringworm, pneumonia, wounds and ulcers, parasites, asthma, high blood pressure, digestive problems and acne. A cut garlic clove rolled on pimples several times a day will make the blemish disappear without a scar. Rubbing garlic over ringworm will burn out the infection. The skin falls off leaving healed skin behind. When cooking with garlic, by chopping or crushing the garlic clove and letting it rest for a few minutes before adding it to the dish you are cooking gives the anti-cancer properties a chance to form so that they are transmitted into the food even after it is cooked.

Onions: Onions contain phytochemicals called flavanoids. One flavanoid called quercitin may inhibit tumor growth and keep colon cancer at bay. A newly discovered compound in onions may actually inhibit bone loss in menopausal women. Onions contain vitamin C and chromium, B6, biotin, folic acid, vitamin B1 and K, and healthy sulfur compounds as well as enzymes. They also have anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-histaminic properties and are a source of fiber.

Peppers: Red peppers contain lycopene which protects against cancer and heart disease. Peppers contain large amounts of phytochemicals that have antioxidant capabilities such as chlorogenic acid, zeaxanthin and coumeric acid. Hot peppers also stimulate blood flow in the body, but cayenne pepper is also good for helping to stop bleeding. I have applied some to a cut finger before, and it helped stop the blood flow.

Raw apple cider vinegar: Apple cider vinegar is made by fermenting apples in a wooden barrel. It contains calcium, iron, sodium, potassium, malic acid, acetic acid, pectin, potassium. Pectin is good for the colon, regulates blood pressure and also removes bad cholesterol. Malic acid is good for fighting infections, as it is anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal.

Remember that all of the information I have posted on this blog is for informational purposes only. I am not trying to treat medical conditions, I am trying to inform others of the incredible properties the Creator God has put into some of the plants and herbs that we call food, and how they can be consumed and used to nourish the body! Isn’t it all amazing!

Blessings for a healthy winter!

Chris