We ran across this new magazine Modern Farmer today and absolutely loved the articles and pictures that were in it (such as this pepper photo).

An article titled "Growing Pain" "Chilehead fanatics race to cultivate the world's hottest pepper" caught our attention!

http://modernfarmer.com/2013/04/growing-pain

We spoke to North Carolina Pepper Farmer Ed Currie of PuckerButt Pepper Company several times over the last year and was pleased to run across this article and see the attention he is getting in his race to the hottest pepper. We tried to buy some PuckerButt Pepper Sauce on our last visit to Charleston at the Pepper Palace, but unfortunately he was sold out of the PuckerButt Sauce. Upon further investigating, we discovered that we can buy the sauce from the PuckerButt Pepper Company website.

Although nowhere near the volume or heat that Ed Currie has, we at Carolina Farms & Estates have planted our "hot peppers" for this year and are looking forward to that first taste of HEAT!

Here is a photo of our garden boxes from 2012 mid-season

I ran across these photos when going through our file cabinet today. They bring back such wonderful memories of our alpaca farm in Ohio.

Some of our favorite times and memories are from raising alpacas and watching our children learn about animal husbandry. We strongly believe that working with the animals on our farm has help to make each of our four children the awesome workers that they are today.

We are presently about mid-season of Quail hunting in South Carolina. Quail season in upper South Carolina (Zone 2) runs from December 26-February 27, 2013 on Wednesday & Saturday only with a limit of 10 quail per day.

If you have some fresh quail, frozen quail or store-bought quail, below are three grilling recipes from Garden & Gun magazine that sound delicious. Some key points from one of the articles are to grill the quail at a very high heat for a very short time. The longer the quail is over the heat, the gamier it will taste. Quail only needs a quick sear on each side.

Grilled Honey-Lacquered Quail

For the Full article from Garden & Gun - click here

From Fire In My Belly, by Kevin Gillespie/Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC

Makes enough for 4 small plates

1 cup honey
12 cloves confit garlic (recipe below)
⅓ cup red wine vinegar
4 quail (with skin on, breast bones removed, leg and wing bones intact—often labeled “semiboneless”)
Olive oil
Salt

You can make the honey lacquer ahead and store it covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Just heat it up a little in a pan before using, so it’s free-flowing.

Put the honey and garlic confit in an 8-inch sauté pan and set over medium-high heat. When the mixture starts to bubble and foam, cut the heat down to medium. As the honey cooks, take a whiff. After a couple minutes, it will begin to smell like toasted rice, then the aromas of the flowers will start to develop; orange blossom honey will have a citrus aroma, wildflower honey will smell more floral. The flavors will intensify and the honey will start to change color from very pale to slightly golden after about 5 minutes.

When the color starts to change, add the vinegar. It will foam up and then deflate, and the mixture will continue to bubble. Cut the heat down so that the mixture simmers very gently and cook for another 15 minutes. The mixture will be crazy hot, so be very careful. Gently pull the pan from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Puree the mixture in a blender, then strain the puree and discard the solids.

Heat a grill for direct high heat.

Pat the quail dry, brush both sides lightly with oil, and season the breast side with salt. Scrape the grill clean and coat it with oil. Set the quail on the grill, breast side down, at a 45-degree angle to the grates. Grill for 1 minute, rotate 90 degrees, then cover with a foil pan or metal bowl and grill for another 2 minutes. Flip the quail over, cover again, and grill for 2 minutes more. Remove the quail from the grill and immediately brush on a thin, even coating of the honey lacquer. Let the quail rest for 2 minutes before serving.

Confit garlic

Makes about 1/2 cup cloves and 2 cups garlic oil

3 whole heads garlic, each clove peeled and trimmed of its woody end, about 30 cloves total
2 cups olive oil

Put the garlic cloves and olive oil in a small saucepan. Bring the oil almost to a simmer over medium heat, but don't let it boil. Cut the heat down to low and cook until the garlic is golden brown and soft, 20 to 25 minutes. Pull the pan from the heat and let the garlic cool in the oil. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Spiced Quail with Chocolate Gravy

For the Full Article in Garden & Gun - Click Here
 (serves 4)

Ingredients
1 tbsp. coriander
1 tsp. cumin seeds
5 allspice berries
3 tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tbsp. benne seeds
1 large clove garlic
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup canola or other neutral oil
¼ cup orange juice
4 quail, semi-boneless
2 to 4 large peanuts

Chocolate Gravy
4 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1¼ cups whole milk
2½ tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
¹⁄³ tsp. cayenne
2 tbsp. butter

Preparation
Toast coriander, cumin seeds, and allspice berries in a sauté pan until fragrant. Cool two or three minutes, then grind in a spice grinder until powdery. Place ground spices in a small mixing bowl and add paprika and benne seeds. Mix well.

Chop garlic, sprinkle with salt, and mash into a paste using the side of a knife. Add garlic, canola oil, and orange juice to the spices and mix thoroughly.

Snip wing tips off quail. Pour rub over quail, turning to coat.

Marinate at least one hour but no longer than six hours.

Prepare a medium-hot grill and cook each bird for seven to nine minutes, turning once, until medium-rare.

Gravy preparation
Combine first six ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium until thickened, whisking often to reduce lumps. Remove from heat and stir in butter. (The sauce can be reserved while the quail cooks. Just loosen with a few tablespoons of water as you reheat it.)

To serve, pool a bit of gravy on a plate, top with a quail, drizzle with chocolate gravy, and then, using a micro plane, shave peanuts over each bird.

Meet the Chef: Robert Newton
Hometown: Mountain Home, AR
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Personal fuel: Lots of nuts, wheat berries, and shaved vegetables, with one or two all-vegetarian days a week
Favorite footwear: Birkenstocks
On the radio: “I’m addicted to Spotify.”

Honey Glazed Quail

Tabasco advertisement Garden & Gun Dec 2012/ Jan 2013

http://www.tabasco.com/

1 T Tabasco brand Soy Sauce

2 T heaping of your favorite Honey

2 T fresh-squeezed orange juice

1 T Red Wine Vinegar

1 T Tabasco brand Original Pepper Sauce

6 semi-boneless Quail

Salt to taste

In a small bowl, mix together the first 5 ingredients. Season the quail with salt and toss in the marinade. Bring grill to high heat. Place quail skin side down and cook 3-5 minutes on each side until brown.

More and more homeowners are joining in the movement to raise chickens in their backyard. The eggs are fresh, tastier and plentiful during the summer months. Chickens are easy to care for, and if you raise all hens (no roosters) they are relatively quiet.

Before you consider raising chickens, make sure your county zoning and neighborhood restrictions allow it.

Now is the time that you want to start building your chicken coop so that it is ready by the time your chickens will be arriving. Carolina Fresh Farms on Celenese Rd. in Rock Hill usually starts selling peeps sometime in March. Below are a few links to help get you started.

Be creative when designing your coop. You do not need to put a lot of money into your chicken house. An old shed can be converted into a coop, old barnwood can be used to build a coop, and like below, an old dresser was converted into a coop.

http://www.hgtv.com/gardening/chicken-coops-for-backyard-flocks/pictures/index.html?ic1=obinsite

 http://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/shop/agrarian-garden/agrarian-garden-chicken-coops/

 http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/6471900/list?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u220&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery10

I never expected Peter and Joni's hay and straw storage barn to be transformed into such a beautiful and elegant wedding and reception hall! The last time I was in my sister Joni and brother-n-law Peter's barn, it was full with over a thousand hay and straw bales and large farming equipment. Our youngest son was covered with dirt and dust after working in the fields all day and stacking straw bales higher than you could imagine. Bats hung from the rafters in the ceiling and the barn smelled of fresh country air (meaning the smell from the cows and pigs in the livestock barn below was finding its way into the storage barn). But on Saturday, September 1st, the barn had been transformed into heaven (at least through a farm girls eyes). The minute I entered the barn I said to my daughter Daniella, "This is a Pinterest moment!". The old storage barn exuberated country elegance. The guests were decked-out in cowboy and cowgirl hats and boots and welcomed by Continue reading ...