Honey Harvest

After losing all four hives of bees last winter, the Murrays and ourselves bought three new hives this spring and one of the hives has produced enough honey for us to share in the bounty!  Kyle was thrilled to finally get a reward for his hard work with caring for the bees and he so enjoyed getting to extract the honey and bottle it up.  We borrowed equipment from our friends the Shanklins and I was surprised by how less complicated the whole process was than I had imagined.  I had prepared myself for a sticky mess on every surface of the kitchen and yes, there were a few globs of honey here and there but it really was quite painless.  Kyle did 99% of the work but I so enjoyed photographing the event! We are hoping this is only the beginning of the honey harvests to come!

This is one super that had ten frames full of honey

A frame of capped over honey 

Kyle is using a heated uncapping knife to uncap the honey

Then you put two frames in the extractor.  Look at that beautiful honey!

Then crank the handle and the honey will fling from the frames to the side of the extractor 

(Kyle is smiling at Adah)

Put the capping from the frames into this two layered strainer to be sure to get all the honey possible

Drain the honey from the extractor into the strainer to get out any wax or other non-honey things

Then let the honey drain into bottles!

Marvel at what the bees made

We are looking forward to using this stuff on toast, in tea, yogurt, bread and other baked goods! 

New Swing

Our friends Grace and Danny Shanklin had an outdoor infant swing for their daughter Anna that Adah got to try and she loved it!  After seeing how much fun she had, we had to get one!  It has been fun getting to go outside just for a bit and let Adah swing a little or play on a blanket when we aren't up for going on a walk.  We are loving the beautiful days but we're hoping it will cool off from the crazy 90 degrees.  I am not ready for the intense summer heat just yet and I am sure Kyle and Chris feel the same way out working on the farm.  This picture was taken last week on one of the cool days we had.

We are enjoying strawberries, lettuce, spring onions, kale, and bok choy these days.  The beets are beginning to come in as well.  We made some lettuce wraps for dinner the other night with chorizo, sweet potato and rice as the filling and stirred together honey, mustard and balsamic vinegar as the dipping sauce.  They were tasty, easy to make, and fun to eat with your hands! I am now trying to come up with other lettuce wrap combo ideas with what is available on the farm.

The newest with Adah is that she is now saying different syllables and sounding so mature and cute.  "Ba, ba, ba, ba" is her favorite with an occasional "Ma" thrown in there.  I could just sit and listen to her all day, it just doesn't get old.  She has also started a new thing of waking up at six instead of seven.  I am wondering if it being brighter earlier has anything to do with it.  We're hoping it was just a fluke for a couple days and she will start sleeping later again, we'll see. Happy May everyone!  

FRESH the movie

One of our favorite good food documentary's is Fresh and it is available to watch online only through Wednesday, February 1st.  We wanted to share this with y'all to help explain why we do what we do.  It explains America's food situation so well and in understandable terms.  It opened our eyes in many ways and effected the way we see food and the way we eat.  Learning what we did stirred something in us which had a part in bringing us to Sunset Farms in the first place, to give farming a try and to learn more.  And now we have a desire to have our own farm so that we can provide good food for people and their families which gets us so excited! You cannot find Fresh on netflix or anything so this is a pretty sweet opportunity. Please share this with anyone you think would be interested. You can get to the movie by clicking the link below.  Let me know what you think of it!

http://action.freshthemovie.com/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=6608

Pictures of July

The bees are alive and well and doing their thing

Honey!

Kyle and I spent a weekend just us at Topsail for my birthday!

Baby already loves the beach...

Jamie Brie, the kids and I went blueberry picking and I couldn't resist taking this of sweet Adela!

This is our set up for Sunset Farms at the Durham Farmer's Market on Saturdays

Flounder that Kyle, Brad and Dad caught earlier in the summer! Fried eggplant and tomatoes too! Yum!

Kyle and I had a picnic at the nearby Cedarock Park for my birthday!

Kyle enjoying some of his favorite fruit!

First time growing flowers from seed (or any flowers at all...)-zinnias!

View of Sunset Farms on one of my walks

Crazy Snowball is always one to entertain.  She joined Kyle and I on our walk this particular evening.

Farm to Fork

This past Sunday Kyle and I were unexpectedly able to go to the 2011 Farm to Fork Dinner and eat amazing food prepared by local chefs using local farm ingredients.  Sunset Farms was well represented with Chris, Jamie Brie and Harlon along with Chris's parents Gary and Wanda, all Murray's and then Kyle and I.  We were paired up with Marco Shaw, a chef and owner of Piedmont, a restaurant in Durham.  We have become friends with Marco and his wife and two girls as we have seen them on a weekly basis when they buy produce, eggs and meat from us to use in the restaurant which is just up the street from the Durham Farmers Market.  Marco prepared corn and crab salad, topped with cucumber and tomato gazpacho, mint sour cream, and an old bay potato chip.  It was delicious and all came from Sunset Farms (except for the crab of course).  14 month old Harlon Jude surprisingly loved the corn and crab salad and could not get enough.  Kyle's goal of the day was to eat from every single farmer/chef tent, and there were more than a lot.  We succeeded with us sharing a plate from each place (the portions were small) with Kyle eating 2/3 of the serving and giving the rest to me.  Of course the food was amazing!  Imagine peach doughnuts, blueberry-lemon popsicles, potato salad made with 5 different types of potatoes, cherry tomatoes, aioli sauce and greens to mention a few.  It took place at WC Breeze Family Farm in a large open field with a U-shaped tent arrangement and a large tent in the middle with table and chairs.  We were thankful for the cloud cover that shielded us from the sun and the many glasses of ice water that added to the enjoyment of the afternoon.  It was a joy to be a part of this event and an encouragement to see so many farmers, chefs and people who were there to support the local food movement!

Drum Roll Please...

Taken in CA in April

 Some of you may already know, for those of you who don't, Kyle and I are expecting a Baby Stenersen in October!! We realized our shared hope for a baby last September and then found out we were pregnant on Kyle's birthday, February 11th!  We are so excited to say the least! And we are so thankful! I am now 19 weeks along and am nearly halfway into the pregnancy (which is crazy).  My belly is growing and we are looking forward to feeling the baby move and kick inside me!  We want to be surprised to know if we will have a son or daughter so we are waiting until he or she is born to find out! We are amazed at God's goodness, faithfulness, power and grace as we experience this baby growing inside me! In an amazing way we must lean on Him and trust in Him for He is in control and He knows just who He wants to create and give us as a child.  Please pray for us as we are in the beginning of this adventure of parenthood and as we continue to prepare for our child and continue in the pregnancy. Thank you!
WHOOO HOOOO!

We picked sour cherries from a tree in our yard last weekend
and plan to make a pie and some jam!

Baby Stenersen likes sour cherries too!

The fruit of our labor.  We picked 9 more pints yesterday too!
The tree is now empty.

Sorry Aunt Jemima

These aren't ours, but you get the idea!

For breakfast this morning I made homemade pancakes from the Joy of Cooking recipe for "Pancakes or Griddle Cakes" and they were amazing! I love pancakes and I love making pancakes and these were seriously the best pancakes I have ever tasted. They were for Kyle too! Now I believe everyone needs to make homemade pancakes and taste and enjoy the difference! I think it would be a great thing to make with kids too! So here's what you gotta do:

Whisk together in a large bowl:

     *1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

     *3 tablespoons sugar

     *1 3/4 tablespoons baking powder

     *1 teaspoon salt

Combine in another bowl:

     *1 1/2 cups milk

     *3 tablespoons melted butter

     *2 eggs

     *optional: 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (which I did include)

Mix the liquid ingredients quickly into the dry ingredients. And cook like you do every other pancake! This makes about 16 4-inch pancakes, it made 19 for us. 

***If you have a banana (slice thinly or to your own preference) or chocolate chips on hand they make a lovely addition to the plain pancake which is actually delectable on its own! I made some plain pancakes, a few chocolate chip ones, a few banana ones and a chocolate/banana one that we shared. We sliced some strawberries to put on top then dusted with powdered sugar (Kyle's brilliant idea) and maple syrup!! Sunday pancakes are now a tradition in the making.***