Close Quarters Cooking and Goat Sorting

Here is my new kitchen!  Prior to moving in, I thought my cooking would be severely hampered by the small workspace, but with a little ingenuity and a few workarounds, things are going well. I think we got a great trailer. All of the appliances and plumbing work and the cabinets are well-made with real oak doors. Finding where to keep everything is a work in progress, but we have adjusted our habits quickly-- washing dishes immediately after use is definitely the way to go!

I brought my large crock pot with me and it is stored under the seat of one of the benches at the dinette, I use it about once a week and cook beans, soup, or carne guisada. It's a six quart cooker, so I always have some left to freeze for later.  The crock pot is really nice because it doesn't heat up the trailer like the midget oven or stove top does. I have one small counter space area and do most of my chopping and mixing there, but also use the dinette table for that. Of course,  the dinette table is also the place where we compute! So there's is a bit of shifting while doing anything. I feel very fortunate that Danny's house has electricity as I have hooked up my full-size refrigerator in his 'living room'. This allows us to have a big freezer and a place to put extra milk and Gatorade. Outside, I have my trusty gas grill, which produces all types of yummy stuff.

Does exploring their 'new' pasture

Today, we did the monthly 'goat shuffle' a couple of days early. In July, we put Billy BA in the middle pasture with some of the open 'girls.' To do that, we put the does with kids and the doelings not old enough to breed yet in the Triangle with the donkeys. In the lower pasture, we put the young bucks and wethers. Well, that didn't last long as Melonhead and Doll's boys braved the electric fence to get back to 'momma'. (Geeesh. If you are so big you have to lay on the ground to nurse, it's time to give up the milk!)

Crying for Momma

So we had a little goat rodeo today. Danny got all of the goats in the two connected round pens, then we segregated all nine of the boys from the girls. The boys got CL vaccine boosters, fly spray and a hoof trim before we all about passed out from the heat. Danny led all the boys to the Triangle with a bucket of feed, and I brought up the rear, driving the slow pokes. Dan had to carry Brownknee to the Triangle cuz he did NOT want to go! We got them all penned up and are now listening to Melon, Spot and Brownknee whine about missing mommy.

The three donkeys took over the Middle Pasture, and all the does and kids are relaxing in the lower pasture. July and August are tough on the goats and donkeys due to the forage not growing as fast. And donkeys eat a lot! This will be their first time without any goats in their pasture in several months, so I figure they can  use the break. It will also allow us to feed them separately from the goats.

If BA got his job done, we should have baby goats in December!  Great Red Spot and Flower had been with him earlier, so they may kid out in October.  In October or November (we haven't decided yet), we will set up all the eligible girls with one of the bucks.  Jupiter should be raring to go by then... he's got the beard for it!

Goat Camp Part II (or, Brooke the Cook)

The biggest surprise at Goat Camp was the cooking, but it also brought us together. Early Saturday afternoon. Tim and Kale (who's 6 1/2 months pregnant, more later) helped Sasha and me load our many bags from HQ to our sleeping quarters. Later on, Brooke (who is Tim's mom) showed up and invited us to the kitchen and asked if we knew how to cook because we would be cooking for camp. Do what? Brooke sighs. Didn't Suzanne tell you that you would be cooking? Nope. Well, someone start chopping onions.

And so we started our cooking odyssey. We sat in the farm kitchen at an eight foot table, slicing chopping, sauteing, stirring and cracking. When you cook as a group, a rhythm develops. While doing prep, conversation flows and we were no different, running the gamut from where ya from, to what's your sign, how goat-y are you, and what do you do. Brooke was an Arizonan who had lived in Okinawa, Sasha was from Ohio, but had lived in Austin a few years before returning to her roots, and me, well, just your basic Texas woman.

While Sasha and I chopped veg and meat, Brooke cooked rice and did a little stir fry for dinner. She gave us some info on OCR and Suzanne. We sous chefs also learned we would be in charge of breakfast as she would not arrive at the ranch until after finishing her bus route. Oh, boy. Waking up that early had not been part of my plans. But I was grateful Sasha was the other sous chef as we plotted how early we needed to get up to cook migas for 60, have it ready and at the classroom by 7:30. Early.

Rayne and Tim

Tim and Kale asked if we'd like to 'ride pastures,' so Sasha and I hopped in the back of the Kawasaki Mule and off we went. Each evening, someone rides pastures to check the perimeter fence, look at the goats to spot any sick or injured, and get a general sense of putting the ranch to bed. On a 250+ acre ranch, it takes a while to transit through all of the pastures, opening and shutting gates, but it was exhilarating, out on the Texas plains, with the gentle sound of goats bedding down, stars in the sky and plenty of fresh air. Tim and Kale are newlyweds, with a baby on the way. They have lived in the ranch house for under three months, but have known Suzanne for quite a while as momma Brooke has worked for her off and on in the past few years.

And so our days were bookended with cooking. Up at 5:30 or so, then class with some morning cooking and then serving of lunch, then class, the cooking at night til 9 or 10. Brooke and Bonnie were there from about 8:30 to 2:30 each day (between their school bus driving duties), and then Brooke would return after finishing the afternoon bus drop off.

We did not have a set menu, just tons of ingredients, plus Brooke brought us more stuff from the store nearly every 20 mile trip from Brady. Input from the sous chefs was always appreciated, and we found ways to use and repurpose everything that was left over or over-bought.

Monday breakfast: migas, banana bread (some with nuts, cranberries and other yummys)
Monday Lunch: chili with pork, black beans, and corn, romaine salad with Sasha's homemade ranch and Italian dressings, Sasha's green chile and cheddar corn bread, angel food cake, fruit.
Tuesday breakfast: Breakfast bread pudding with leeks and fontina cheese, banana bread
Tuesday Lunch: Shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches, Brooke's coleslaw, and pinto beans (Brooke thinks that Texans eat beans with everything). First sighting of pico de gallo.
Wednesday breakfast Oatmeal cooked all night, with various toppings, fruit, and egg and cheese sandwiches (cheddar or mozzarella, white or whole wheat)
Wednesday lunch: King Ranch Chicken (prepared by moi), corn, banana pudding. More pico.
Thursday breakfast:   Breakfast tacos, with grilled peppers and onions, bacon, cheese
Thursday lunch:  Beef and chicken fajitas, bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapenos, all the standard fajita toppings, MORE PICO. Peach cobbler and Peach Crisp for dessert.
Friday breakfast:  French Toast Casserole,white and whole wheat bread mixed together. One pan was plain and one was topped with a pecan/walnut caramel sauce. Biscuits, homemade syrups (peach, plum or apple). Syrups were made with leftover snack fruit or cobbler. Delish.
Friday lunch:  Grilled chicken and veg kabobs, with calabazos, onion, tomato, bell pepper, pineapple. Served with Japanese rice. Topped off with super brownies and even more banana pudding. Oh. Pico.

Yes, pico was consumed in mass quantities. We made about a gallon each time and they emptied the bowl. That's choppin' a lot of tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and cilantro. Bonnie was our jalapeno expert and remembered to wear gloves (important safety tip). One night, Tom came down and helped chop, too.

From the first day, campers kept asking if we had a cookbook they could buy and they all assumed we had known one another for years. In fact, they were shocked when we said we had met just a day or two before. Guess that's what shared work and creativity does to a group of strangers-- makes them a team of friends. And that cookbook? Well, it's in the works.