Pretzels and Backsmithing

A couple weekend's ago our friends Nate and Stacey came over for the day. We spent the morning in the garden. Stacey was helping me weed and plant things as I'm having a hard time bending and squatting for long periods of time being over 5 months pregnant. I told myself that this pregnancy wasn't going to slow me down. That I was strong and I'd keep bustling like I always do. And I was WRONG! 

But that's ok. We are just thankful for our new little blessing to come. Everything else can wait. 

After gardening, Stacey and I headed to the kitchen to make homemade soft pretzels while the boys made their way to the shop to spend the afternoon blacksmithing. 

Stacey received a delicious gourmet pretzel mustard dip as a gift from a co-worker and she wanted to make soft pretzels to dip in the sauce. 

The recipe we used is from Alton Brown Alton Brown Soft Pretzels.

Traditionally pretzels are dipped in a diluted lye solution, which is extremely alkaline and give pretzels their pretzel-y flavor. However, lye can be a bit intimidating to cook with so we appriciated that this recipe used baking soda as a substitute. 

 The most fun was rolling and shaping the dough!

 They turned out DELICIOUS! And Stacey's mustard dip was a perfect accompaniment!

 The guys spent the day making large hooks. Nate will use his for his boat and Zach will use his to connect chain to the tractor to haul things.

 I finally remembered to give Stacey her birthday present. A silly little crochet potholder that I made to match her chicken-themed kitchen. The pattern can be found over at Bag-O-Day Crochet and More. 

We finished the day with cool drinks and pretzels at the picnic table.

Snowed In with Food and Blacksmiths!

What do you do when you're snowed in for the weekend with two blacksmiths? .....eat of course! 

On Saturday Zach and I, and our two friends, Nate and Stacey went to a blacksmith demonstration in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The forecast predicted lots and lots of snow, but they're usually wrong so we decided to chance it.

The blacksmith meeting was really cool!

The host, Scott Lankton of Lankton Metal Design demonstrated a railing technique, and how to forge with silica bronze.

His shop was amazing, (as most blacksmith shops are) full of nooks and crannies, project ideas, tools, metal stuff, several forges and 3 Nazel power hammers.

Zach got to try out the 2 B Nazel

The snow never let up all the while we were at the meeting, and by the time we were ready to leave, we had about 8 inches.

We tossed around the idea of stopping at a restaurant for a bite to eat, but we were afraid to be out in the storm any longer than we had to. So we decided to make a quick stop at the grocery store and have diner at home.

Now, when Stacey and I are presented with the opportunity to make dinner together, we take it seriously. We both love to be in the kitchen, and she is an excellent cook! Check out her blog at Investing in a Delicious Tomorrow.

One recipe that her and Nate enjoy is spaetzle, but it's a tedious recipe without a spaetzle press. Stacey and I thought between the two of us, we could knock it out.

Spaetzle is a long, thin German dumpling, traditionally served in a gravy with breaded pork cutlet. The spaetzle dough is very sticky and is formed in a press and squeezed immediately into boiling broth. Neither of us have a press so we had to make the spaetzle by hand.

Stacey's recipe was delicious!!! We also made breaded porkchops and green bean casserole.

While dinner was cooking Nate, Zach and Oliver shoveled and salted the drive, cut paths to the barn and coop, took care of the animals and made a fire in the wood burning furnace. By the time they came in, dinner was almost done. 

Nate and Stacey decided that it was too dangerous to venture out so they stayed the night.

That night, I needed to make two pecan pies for Zach's dad's birthday party the next day. So Stacey helped. I wanted to try the Miss Kay's Recipe for Honey Pecan Pie. We decided to make one with honey and one with maple syrup. Both were delicious, and recipes are coming soon!

The next morning we woke to a winter wonderland. Zach's grandpa read that our area received 16 inches of snow.

I feel like our yard had more like 12-14, but still, it was a lot.

That morning we made biscuits and gravy.

Stacey makes the most amazing biscuits I've ever had.

Just look at those babies! They're beautiful...flaky and buttery!!!

 Served with Iron Oak Farm honey.

We made the sausage gravy with our own homemade sausage, recipe here.  
And fried potatoes.

While the weather took us by surprise, it made for a fun and delicious weekend!       

Using Beeswax in Metal Work KBB Post

Beeswax isn't just for candle making. Learn how Zach uses beeswax in the blacksmith forge! Using Beeswax in Metal Work

Around the Farm

The weather is finally starting to warm up...not that I'm complaining about the cool weather, but the heat has prompted the tomatoes to start ripening. It's going slow, we pick about a cup or two of grape and cherry tomatoes each night, and I plucked the first Black Prince last night. The rest are still green and hard.

Here's an update as to what's been going on with us lately.

Some of Zach's latest work. A lovely long stem rose, hand forged from steel.

The pickles are ripening daily. I swear they explode overnight and get massive if we don't stay on top of them. We have the refrigerator pickle brine jar and we continue to add freshly sliced cucumbers to the jar each day.

The zucchini are going crazy as well. I shredded up seven large ones and froze them in 2 cup measurements so I can bake zucchini bread throughout the winter.

Some second planting radishes.

Oliver inspecting a bug in the grass.

 The Queen Anne's Lace is in full glory. A sure sign that Fall is on it's way.

 The Purple Beans are almost ready to pick.

This is my plant experiment in the garden this year. It's called Pumpkin-on-a-Stick. This plant gets purple thorns down it's leaf spines. On the underside too. It's in the eggplant family and produces orange fruit that resemble small pumpkins. I'll share photos when it sets fruit.

Ichabod and Timber deconstructing a loose bale.

To see more of what we're doing at Iron Oak Farm I invite you to visit and "like" our Facebook Page where I share even more photos and updates.  

Blacksmith? Whitesmith? Farrier?

Throughout history, the blacksmith was an integral part of every developing town. Many of the other craftsmen like the carpenter, relied on the blacksmith to make blades for his plains and hinges for his cupboards and cabinets. The farmer relied on the blacksmith's ability to make rakes and scythes and to fix equipment as new inventions developed.

Even the dentist would ask the blacksmith to make special hammers and tooth pulling devices like this dental pelican that Zach made for a historical reenactment museum some years back. The blacksmith forged axe heads to fell lumber, he made nails for boards, blades and knives for cutting and was responsible for giving the strength of steel to many items needed on the homestead.

The Farrier 
Often, when Zach tells people he is a blacksmith they assume that he shoe's horses. Historically, the blacksmith was also the farrier of the town. But as automobiles replaced horses, the art of blacksmithing became a separate skill from the synonymous farrier.

A farrier must have an understanding of the blacksmith trade in order to shape and mold horse shoes and to make nails other tools like tongs to hold the shoes and shape them in the forge. But in addition, a farrier must be trained in hoof care, like shaping the hoof, fitting shoes for a horse's particular needs and being able to recognize disease or injury.

Often, in newly settled towns where there was no doctors or veterinarian available, the blacksmith would have the most experience in animal anatomy. Many times he was called upon for all sort of animal ailments like treating injuries and assisting with difficult births. And even one step further, he was sometimes called to assist in delivering human babies.

The Term Blacksmith refers to a craftsman who works with metal in a forge. Historically the blacksmith worked with wrought iron, but today, more commonly works with "mild" steel or carbon steel. The prefix "Black" refers to the dark scale that flakes on the surface of the steel when it is heated. The work of the blacksmith is usually a more rudemental art. Shaping larger pieces like tools or horseshoes as opposed to fine work like jewelry.

Zach is mostly an artist blacksmith, but not everything he makes is for beauty. He forged a disk a few months ago to fix our dishwasher, tractor parts, car parts, rake teeth for our hay rake, and tools...lots and lots of tools. Not only tools like the fro shown here, (used to split wood) but tools for his own blacksmith craft.

A blacksmith's starter kit requires a forge, an anvil of sorts, and a hammer. There are many variations available to use, but after these three elements are established, the blacksmith must learn to make his own tools. Mostly because the tools that he uses are non-existant and very specialized. You can't go to Sears and pick up the things you need to start forging.

One of the first tools a blacksmith must make is a set of tongs so that he can remove hot objects from the forge and hold them steady on the anvil while he hammers. More tongs are made as projects require specific holdings. Jigs are created to shape metal in a repeated or awkward manner and as the blacksmith's craft develops, a collection of handmade tools acquire over the years.

A Whitesmith is someone who might work with a more malleable metal like tin or pewter. It can also refer to a blacksmith who works his products to finer finish through detailed filling, polishing and buffing, thus leaving the metal in a shiny or "white" finish.

Blacksmithing, Oak Leaf Trivet

Here are some photos from Zach's Saturday work in the forge making an Oak Leaf Trivet.

Bending the metal to form the legs of the trivet.

Two done.

One hot out of the forge and curved to shape inside the trivet ring.

Laying out how they'll fit in the trivet ring.

Getting things together.

Fist leaf attached with a hand made copper rivet.

The finished trivet sealed in a coating of our own beeswax to prevent rust.