Yorkshire pudding!

To most Brits, roast beef is incomplete without Yorkshire pudding and there are plenty of recipes out there, yet there are still plenty of examples of soggy, pasty, unappetizing Yorkshire puds. A few years ago I found a fail-proof recipe and there are two key steps that are so easy but that will guarantee a fine pudding each and every time. You need to let the batter rest, and the pan needs to be hot before you add the batter. I like to bake mine in a large muffin pan, traditionally it was made in a square roasting pan.

Take 4 large, farm fresh eggs and measure them in a jug because you will need equal quantities of both flour and buttermilk ( you can use regular milk if you don't have buttermilk).

Ingredients:

• 4 large farm fresh eggs, measured in a jug
• Equal quantity of buttermilk (or milk) to the eggs
• Equal quantity of all purpose flour to eggs
• pinch of salt
• lard (you can use vegetable oil but it won't be as good!)

1. Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl with a pinch of salt and whisk thoroughly, then leave the mixture to stand for about 10 minutes
2. Sieve the flour into the mixture slowly as you whisk away making sure you don't get any lumps. (If you have lumps sieve them out) Your mixture should look like thick cream.
3. Leave the batter to rest in the kitchen for a few hours.
4. Heat the oven to 450F / 230C
5. Put a small pea-sized piece of lard in each part of your muffin pan and put it in the oven until the fat is smoking hot. Meanwhile give your batter a good whisk and add 2 tablespoons of cold water.
6. Remove the muffin pan from the oven and add batter to one third full in each section, then quickly return it to the oven.
7. Bake for about 20 minutes till the Yorkshire puddings are golden brown

It's that easy!

Traditionally the gravy was poured into the Yorkshire pudding and it was eaten as a starter.... designed to fill up those strapping farm boys before they helped themselves to the more expensive meat and vegetables. Individual small puddings make them easier to serve along with the roast but you can still make large ones and fill them with beef stew.

I remember my Dad used to put raisins in them, use your imagination but eat wisely as there are a few calories attached to them.

Ready, set.....GO!

Once the warm weather becomes reliable we seem to take off at a sprint, and things do get done. Our first priority was to replace the electric fence around the smaller pasture with a permanent goat- proof fence, extending the pasture out to the boundary line rather than avoiding the trees as we had with the electric fence. As we fenced we discovered several things: the wood ticks are out in abundance this year; as always a winter spent mostly indoors has sapped our stamina; we have a new but mature wild asparagus bed; the birds have endowed us with a patch of fruit canes that we are unable to identify but the fruit will tell us if we can get to it before the birds; and last but not least, we rediscovered how much we love our life. It was hot, tiring work as we raced against the incoming rainy weather and the neighbour planting his corn, both of which would make it impossible to drive out into his field to stretch the wire, but we still took the time to watch the lambs enjoy the fresh grass and the kids discover their new found independence and their ability to climb trees. When we looked back we were proud of what we had done and blessed it with our usual expression: "Not bad for two old broads!"

We have tilled gardens, our own and others, planted potatoes and leeks in quantities we have never attempted before, planned what we will be growing and watched the miracle of snow turn to bare dirt which in turn has sprouted seed. Last year's drought was, according to the meteorologists, as bad as any in the 1930's that, combined with farming practices, produced the Dust bowl. We had watched our pastures dry, watched as there was nothing for grazing, tried to keep our fear at bay as we worried about both the price and availability of hay, so the miracle of lush green grass in the pasture as the snow disappears was probably one of the most welcome sights to both of us.

Still sprinting we finally took a breath yesterday and decided to drive the few miles to the couple where we buy all our seedlings. Dolores Bloomquist and her husband produce the best seedlings of the area with a friendly smile, good, sound advice and a wealth of experience. We have never regretted buying from them as they have the facilities to produce better plants and in greater quantities than anything we could do for ourselves.

As we drove I was mesmerized by the ditches. After the rain on Friday night they were green; a gawdy, luscious, in-your-face green, a colour so bright my brain had problems translating the almost vulgar colour my eyes were seeing. It made me smile as I looked at the trees about to leaf and add yet another layer of green. It brought home the monochromatic world we endure during the winter, sure that also has it's own harsh beauty, but the sheer richness of green was a more joyful beauty. Then I realised we have not seen this much colour for almost a year. The shades of black and white in winter had been preceeded by a world shaded in sepias as a result of the unforgiving heat and drought last year. The greenness speaks of hope and promise, of living proof that, here in the Dakotas we have once again survived the circle and have come back even stronger.

I love spring!

It is spring, even in the frozen north!

We try to lamb and kid in April or May because we have an 80ft pole barn, steel buildings are not known for retaining heat and we like the lambs to have some milder weather as they arrive in the world. We have pasture ground but no crop ground so it is also to our advantage to have lambs feeding on grass as they grow rather than having to buy extra feed, again April lambs work well with this in mind. This year, or should I say last autumn, all went according to plan and the bucks were introduced to the ewes on November 1st. They did a fabulous job because 5 months later in a 4 week period all our ewes had lambed with the live lamb percentage being a little higher than 100%.

We have a system in the barn where they spend the first 3 days in individual pens, then they are allowed into a larger pen with all the other mothers and babies until there are only bucks and isolated ewes out in the rest of the barn with access to the corrals. Weather permitting the day comes when we open the gate and allow them all the freedom to roam out to the corrals and the round hay bales we use to feed out there. It is a noisy affair with ewes calling their lambs to stay with them, lambs losing sight of their mothers and screaming loudly to attract their attention. We have found it is best to open the gate and walk away or we end up as nervous wrecks too. Experience has taught us that the chaos lasts a couple of hours and for the most part the lambs get used to their new freedoms in a very short time. The older lambs usually claim their independence first and run like crazy back and forth, ignoring the calls from their mothers to come to heel, their mothers knowing they will come when they are hungry enough.

The kids are slightly older than the lambs but we couldn't let them out of their part of the barn because of all the melting snow and mud....goats neither like water nor getting dirty. Yesterday the water had drained, the mud was a little firmer and I put planks over the worst parts to act as a bridge for their dainty little feet. If we thought the lambs exit from the barn was chaotic the goats was even more extreme. Daisy, as the matriarch gathered her clan and started off over the planks, closely followed by Hyacinth and 4, oops no, 3 kids. One refused to leave the safety of the barn and peered round the gate. Daisy called out repeatedly and while the kid replied, she wasn't budging. Hyacinth ran back to encourage her causing the other 3 kids to follow and leave Daisy alone on the planks. Amidst much screaming Daisy returned to the barn to gather her clan and set off again, this time she was a little more eager to reach the fresh hay bales but a different kid refused to budge from the barn. It got to the point where Hyacinth ran to the barn, jumping up and down in front of the baby, lowering her horns and shouting what were obvious caprine profanities. We left them to it and a few hours later the kids were enjoying their new surroundings and leaping and bounding around the hay bales.

There is so much to do around the place, gardens to be tilled and prepared for planting, machinery to start and get ready for the coming season, the annual tidy-up after winter and the start of the 'to do' list of spring and summer. It can easily become overwhelming at the beginning of the season but we have a secret weapon for stress........... we go out and watch the lambs or play with the kids. It never fails to bring a smile to our lips!