Join us for “Green Fire” on Tuesday February 7th

Recipe: Moroccan Inspired Vegetable & Chicken Stew

Recipe: Two-Mushroom Barley Soup

A Look Back at 2011…

Now that we’re into the short days and cold temperatures of the winter season, here’s a look back at the successes of the sheep, chickens, and rabbits.  The pictures below are a display of all the ribbons won by the farm animals during the summer 2011 show season.  CONGRATULATIONS!!

Recipe: Ready ‘n Waiting Bean & Vegetable Ragout

Page 1

Page 2

Recipe: Green& White Bean Salad

Green & White Bean Salad

Recipe: Luscious Apricot Bars

A series of recipes from lunches that Michele brought us during the summer!  More to come…

Luscious Apricot Bars (page 1)

Luscious Apricot Bars (page 2)

 

 

Sky Watcher’s Astroblog 8

Hi and Happy New Year!

We’re into January now and here’s what’s up.  The next Full Moon occurs early Monday morning, the 9th at 2:30 a.m.  It’s called the Moon after Yule.  Another aptly named full moon!  It’s also called the Wolf Moon.  I guess that’s because they’re out prowling around.  Anyone have another idea?

The first meteor shower of the year occurred on the night of the 3rd/4th.  We passed through a stream of particles that bring the Quadrantids shower.  Since the Moon wasn’t going to be out of the way until past 3 AM or so and because it’s really cold then, I didn’t push to get notice out to you.  I wouldn’t have gotten up for them myself but since my wife was up at 5 to head to the airport, I figured I’d go outside and look for a bit.  It was only a bit.  But, between 5:10 and 5:14, I saw two very bright meteors streaking overhead towards the South – Southeast.  My windward ear was about to fall off from the cold (I wasn’t properly dressed for this!), so I went inside after the second one.  The next meteor shower of the year will be in April.  Not only will it be warmer then, but we’ll have a New Moon so the sky should be nice and dark.  You don’t have to wait for the showers to see meteors though.  On any given night under dark skies (like we have in Plympton!!) an observant sky watcher can see three to five meteors per hour.  You just have to be watching.

Has anyone worked through the info in my last blog?  If so, I’d love to hear your feedback on how it went.  Don’t forget, you can email me at bdc13@comcast.net.

I hope you’re all off to a good start in 2012.
Barry

Sky Watcher’s Astroblog 7

Hello.
There are four topics that I want to talk about over the next few blogs in addition to writing about whatever is going on at the time.  Understanding these will help us talk about a lot of other things in the future.
They are:

• How we map our familiar North, South, East and West compass points onto the sky
• The daily motion of the stars (where we notice that the stars rise in the East and set in the West once each day)
• The yearly motion of the stars (where we notice the constellations creeping slowly from East-to-West once each year)
• The way the planets move in relation to the stars 

Open the link below to read the entire post on the four topics. 

astroblog installment 7

Don’t forget, you can email me at bdc13@comcast.net.   So far, I’ve been able to keep up with and reply to the emails I’ve gotten! 

Enjoy the start of the New Year!
 Barry

Some things just make your heart smile :)

“Life is not the way it’s supposed to be… It’s the way it is…
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference.”

Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened.

Laughter is good exercise.  It’s like jogging on the inside.

May you always walk in sunshine, my friend!
May you always have Love to Share,
Health to Spare,
and Friends that Care!

Sky Watcher’s Astroblog 6

Hello.  I’m back. 
On the night that I sent-off my last blog, I went outside to try to spot YU55, the asteroid that passed between Earth and the Moon that night.  At its closest, it was about 186,000 miles away.  (The Moon, on average, is about 240,000 miles away).  It was too dim for me see with just my eye, but with my 8-inch telescope, it would have been possible.  Unfortunately, the Moon was so bright that night (it was just two days before Full) and the air was damp enough that all but the very brightest stars were washed-out.  I couldn’t even pick out the background stars that I needed to find my way to the asteroid.  My night wasn’t a bust though.  The Moon and Jupiter were dazzling!

Over the years I’ve dabbled in taking pictures through my telescopes and using a home darkroom, have printed a few nice pictures.  On that night, I decided to try a modern approach and used my digital camera.  It’s not anything fancy so I didn’t know what I’d get.  Well, I was pleasantly surprised and happy with my first attempts.  I got a decent Moon picture with fairly good detail and one (a bit blurry) of Jupiter and its four largest moons.  I’ll keep working at it.  Here are the pictures that I took (click on them to enlarge):

The Full Moon this month occurs at 9:38 a.m. on December 10th.  It’s known as the Long Nights Moon – no need to explain where THAT name comes from!  Speaking of long nights, the longest night of the year for us occurs on the night of December 21st – 22nd this year.  That’s because the Winter Solstice occurs at 12:30 a.m. on the 22nd.  At that moment, the Sun will be as far south in our sky as it gets each year.  From then until the Summer Solstice in June, its position in our sky will slowly move more and more to the north.

Don’t forget, you can contact me at bdc13@comcast.net.
Until then, keep looking up!
– Barry

Basket Making at Colchester

On November 6, Ron lit the wood stove early in the morning and by 10:00 a group of women gathered to make baskets and enjoy soup and one another’s company. 

Sue Anderson of the Soule Homestead Education Center instructed the group in creating a folk art basket. 

Chef Carol and Michele brought their own delicious homemade soups and Susannah Locketti of New England Village made a Colchester soup on the wood stove with delicious herbed croutons for the Colchester salad.  There was also Michele’s home made Italian bread & cookies and Ellen’s Nakayummies…  What a great feast! 

Susannah showed us how to make the delicious herbed butter (made with Colchester herbs) and wrap it up for a gift…  see photos!

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LocalHarvest.org

Chef Carol sent this site along...

The best organic food is what’s grown closest to you.  Use this website to find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.

http://www.localharvest.org/

South Shore Locavores

Join us!
Everyone is welcome.

Where does your food come from?
How does it get to you?
How healthy is it?
How can you support local farmers and food producers through your food purchases?

The Kingston Public Library and edible South Shore have teamed up to host an ongoing series of programs about the phenomenon of “eating locally.”  Please join us in the discovery of our local food.

South Shore Locavores
Tuesday November 22nd, 2011 / 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Beal House / 222 Main Street / Kingston MA 02364

The next session of the new South Shore Locavores lineup is coming right up on Tuesday November 22nd.  The topic is 1621 and Your Authentic Thanksgiving Table.  We hope you’ll join us and enjoy the presentation by Kathleen M. Wall*, Plimoth Plantation Colonial Foodways Culinarian for the past 11 years and with Plimoth Plantation since 1980.  You’ll have the opportunity to try a sample of pottage made from turkey and Indian corn, a New England twist on an old English dish that is a great way to use leftover turkey. 

*Kathleen M. Wall has worked at Plimoth Plantation since 1980 and for the last 11 years has had the enviable position of Colonial Foodways Culinarian.  She trains staff in period cooking techniques and 17th-century foodways, and coordinates the daily cooking in the 1627 English Village.  She plans public programs for adults, children and families, participates in film shoots and media interviews, responds to academic inquiries about colonial foodways, and writes and lectures extensively for Museum staff, scholars and the general public. 

The South Shore Locavores Swap Table, introduced at your suggestion at the end of the last season, will be a feature this year as well.  This month the theme is COOKIES.  Please bring a plate or two of homemade cookies and the recipe (or anything else food-related) that you’d like to swap at the gathering.  Show off your baking skills! 

Love to cook?  Please feel free to bring a dish to share to any of the gatherings.  There will be time at the beginning and end of each meeting for Munching and Mingling.

Sky Watcher’s Astroblog 5

Hi again!
Anybody see any meteors last month?  There another chance this month on the night of November 17th/18th.  The Leonid shower (based on what I wrote last month, what constellation do you think the radiant is located in?*) peaks at that time.  Some years it’s absolutely great.  Others, soso.  We’ll just have to wait and see what this year’s shower brings us.  A Third Quarter moon will be rising around midnight, so that will washout some meteors, but at least it’s not a Full moon.
The Full Moon will occur this month at 3:16 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on November 10th. According to the Farmers’ Almanac, this moon is sometimes called the Beaver Moon.  This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs.  Another interpretation suggests that the name comes from the fact that the beavers are now actively preparing for winter.
Have you noticed that really bright object in the east just after sunset?  Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it’s Jupiter!  At the end of October, Jupiter reached opposition.  Opposition means that it is opposite the Sun in our sky.  So, at opposition a planet rises as the sun sets.  Right now Jupiter is the third brightest object in the sky.  Only the Moon and Venus are brighter.  Did I say Venus?  If you have a clear southwestern horizon, you can see Venus as the sky begins to darken at sunset.  If you can’t see it now, don’t fret, it will be climbing higher in the sky over the coming weeks.
Sorry this is so short, but I’m running a bit behind this week.  Perhaps I can get another out in a couple of weeks.  Don’t forget, you can reach me at bdc13@comcast.net if you have any questions about the night sky.For now,
Clear skies!
Barry
* What constellation is the Leonid radiant in?  Leo.