Old McCaskill's Farm ~ Spring Farm Day

Yesterday, some of my family and I went out to the 2013 Spring Farm Day. What a wonderful day it was! The sun was shining, and the weather was warm and breezy. The sites, the sounds, the smells... yes, a farm definitely has smells, but this was the smell of food. Awesome food! As we walked along the tents, I got a whiff of spices that were very familiar... Greek Seasoning! We tasted some local lamb seasoned with Cavender's Greek Seasoning... the lady laughed when I did my happy dance!

Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!

As we walked along the tents, we talked to the ladies about their tatting. For you folks who aren't familiar... that's not tattoo-ing. Tatting is a technique for handcrafting a particularly durable lace constructed by a series of knots and loops. To me, it looks like crocheting with thread.

Another tent contained a live bee hive, and yes the store sells the honey from Bell Honey in Rembert! :-)

It was very interesting to watch the bees in the hive. My daughter-in-law's main question was, "Is the queen in there?" Not sure if the queen was entertaining guests yesterday. :-) As we walked along, we came upon a big barrel or tub half full of corn for the kids to play in.

Of course, Miss Kendal had to have a turn!

Her Granddaddy and Uncle JR buried her up to her tummy in corn!

We took a break to grab some good food. They had BBQ sandwiches, Ribs, Hot Dogs, Sausage Dogs, and brick oven Pizza. My son had the pizza and said it was good. For a teenager, that's a very good review! 

 Brick Oven for pizzas

Yummy Pizzas!

And then we were off to see the animals! We watched the Boarder Collies show off there herding skills with sheep and with ducks! Kendal got to pet the baby chicks. We watched the sheep being sheered, and we saw many other farm animals as well as a new baby goat!

Kendal's Mom holds up a baby chick for her to pet!

Some before sheering and some after...

My little calf buddy from the last visit! 

 Goats! :-)

 The little pigs were cold in the wind...

Protective Mommy!

and the Baby Goat!

There was so much to see and do! There was the Blacksmith Shop, the Grits Mill, the Root Cellar, the Store and so much more.

 After roaming around we came back around and the ice cream that was churning was done... and Kendal and her Granddaddy shared a Chocolate Frozen Banana!

Ice Cream

Kendal with Granddaddy... eating a chocolate frozen banana

and drinking Coca Cola!

If you know of a farm, a working farm, in your area, check them out and more importantly... support them! The quality of their products is unequaled by mass produced products! The lamb I mentioned earlier was totally amazing! If you know me, you know I love Greek food and the Greek seasoning that they used on the lamb. Here's a recipe for Greek Potatoes that would be awesome along with the lamb!!!

Greek Potatoes

This recipe is so delicious!
The lemon, spices and herbs make my house smell so good!
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Cavender's Greek Seasoning
• 2 lemons, juiced or 1/4 cup juice
• 4 or 5 baking potatoes, cubed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a plastic bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic, 1 tbsp Cavender's (I use more like 2 T, but we like more spice.) and lemon juice. Pour mixture over potatoes. Bake uncovered for 45 min to an hour or until potatoes are golden brown and tender.

Mouss-sagna... A combination of Mama's Lasagna and Moussaka Recipes!

This recipe is a combination of two of my Mama's best loved main dish recipes. Judy's Lasagna (recipe coming soon on my blog) and Mama's Greek Specialty - Moussaka! 

It takes a good bit of time to prepare this dish in its original recipe form, but you can take short-cuts if you wish. However, you do owe it to yourself and your family to try these recipes both individually and in this combination recipe!

Meat Mixture:

2 pounds ground Lamb or Beef

1 cup onion, chopped

1 clove Garlic, minced

8 oz Tomato Sauce

¾ cup Dry Red Wine

2 T Parsley, chopped

¼ t Oregano

¼ t ground Cinnamon

1 Egg, beaten

       16 oz uncooked Lasagna Noodles

       Filling:

       8 oz Cream Cheese

       1/4 cup sour cream

       1/4 cup parmesan cheese

       Greek Oregano, to taste

       1/8 tsp cinnamon

       salt & Pepper, to taste

Bechamel Topping:

¼ cup Butter or Margarine

¼ cup All-Purpose Flour

2 cups Milk

3 eggs, beaten

Cheese Topping:

2 cups Mozzarella Cheese

½ cup Parmesan Cheese

Cinnamon

Salt & Pepper

In large skillet, cook meat, onion and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce, wine, parsley, oregano, cinnamon and 1 t salt.

Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Gradually stir mixture into 1 beaten egg.

Mix filling ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, melt butter. Stir in flour and salt & pepper to taste. Add milk; cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Slowly stir into 3 beaten eggs.

To Assemble:

In a 13x9x2 baking dish, place a couple of spoon fulls of sauce in the bottom, then place a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Next layer with the filling mixture then a layer of sauce. Repeat ending with a layer of sauce. Pour milk mixture over layers. Top with Mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and dust with cinnamon. Bake covered at 325 for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until golden brown. 

Moussaka

I can remember a lot of stories about Mama being a tom-boy, growing up around all boys. That’s something else we had in common, I guess. I still cannot seem to live in a house that has more than one female! But that’s another story. As a child, she rode horses and bikes. She played football, basketball and baseball with her brothers. She wrestled with them and climbed trees with them.

Mama played marbles as a child. She was the county marble champion in the fourth grade. She won the girls match, then she beat the boy. So as rules go, she took his marbles. He ran home crying. Granddaddy explained to her that boys just were not as gracious at loosing to girls. She said that that was her first lesson in male ego.

Well, maybe a lot of that childhood was in preparation for married life. Moving to Rimini and having an instant family, she had plenty of challenges. Mildred Avin reminded me of an example at church the other day. Like most kids, Lee liked to climb trees. He did pretty good at the up part. The down part was his problem. One day he got stuck in the top of a tree. Mama took off her shoes, climbed the tree, and got Lee down. No small feet considering she was 8 1/2 months pregnant with me at the time.

She was also good at getting my brother so eat things he "DID NOT LIKE"! He was one of those kids that would not try anything... and he hated everything! He absolutely hated zucchini and would not go near it... but he loved Mama's Zucchini Bread! She never told him it was zucchini. Eggplant was another no-no for my brother's menu. When Mama made moussaka... Lee was in love! The ate three helpings! That was pretty good for a picky eater! Mama turned to Lee and said, "So you don't like eggplant. Hmmm?" BUSTED!!! LOL

2 large Eggplant, peeled and sliced**

¼ cup cooking oil
2 pounds ground Lamb or Beef
1 cup onion, chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
8 oz Tomato Sauce
¾ cup Dry Red Wine
2 T Parsley, chopped
¼ t Oregano
¼ t ground Cinnamon
1 Egg, beaten
¼ cup Butter or Margarine
¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
2 cups Milk
2 cups Mozzarella Cheese
½ cup Parmesan Cheese
Cinnamon
Salt & Pepper

Slice eggplant into 1/2" slices. Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt. Brown in large skillet. Drain and set aside. In same pan, cook meat, onion and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain. Stir
in tomato sauce, wine, parsley, oregano, cinnamon and 1 t salt. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Gradually stir mixture into the 1 beaten egg.

Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, melt butter. Stir in flour and salt & pepper to taste. Add milk; cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Slowly stir into 3 beaten eggs.

In 13x9x2 baking dish, layer half the eggplant. Pour meat mixture over; top with remaining eggplant. Pour milk mixture over eggplant. Top with Mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and dust with cinnamon. Bake at 325 for 40 to 45 minutes.

**Substitution: If you don’t want to try the eggplant or they are out of season, you can substitute peeled and sliced potatoes.

A Greek Specialty... Moussaka smells incredible as it cooks, and tastes even better! It's worth the work!!!

2 large Eggplant, peeled and sliced**
¼ cup cooking oil
2 pounds ground Lamb or Beef
1 cup onion, chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
8 oz Tomato Sauce
¾ cup Dry Red Wine
2 T Parsley, chopped
¼ t Oregano
¼ t ground Cinnamon
1 Egg, beaten
¼ cup Butter or Margarine
¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
2 cups Milk

3 eggs, beaten
2 cups Mozzarella Cheese
½ cup Parmesan Cheese
Cinnamon
Salt & Pepper

Slice eggplant into 1/2" slices. Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt. Brown in large skillet. Drain and set aside. In same pan, cook meat, onion and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain. Stir
in tomato sauce, wine, parsley, oregano, cinnamon and 1 t salt. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Gradually stir mixture into the 1 beaten egg.

Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, melt butter. Stir in flour and salt & pepper to taste. Add milk; cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Slowly stir into 3 beaten eggs.

In 13x9x2 baking dish, layer half the eggplant. Pour meat mixture over; top with remaining eggplant. Pour milk mixture over eggplant. Top with Mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and dust with cinnamon. Bake at 325 for 40 to 45 minutes.

**Substitution: If you don’t want to try the eggplant or they are out of season, you can substitute peeled and sliced potatoes.