I have begun to investigate slow cooking. With the arrival of Daisy’s calf fast approaching, and Sheila the Babe (hopefully this week), then the milking and the cheese making, I will have at least another two hours work a day and that does not include the clean up. The barn I can clean with a hose. Don’t you wish you could do the same with the kitchen! So I need to find ways to save time. The crock pot has never appealed to me. I honestly prefer my food freshly picked and prepared. But until I get my head around this new regime I am going to have to resort to making dinner in the early afternoon then leaving it to cook alone. My other problem is my old rickety gas stove that has not quite worn itself out yet, needs supervision. It cannot be left on in the house when I am out of the house. So I am reconsidering the less than sexy crock pot.
Yesterday was a case in point, we were racing to get the fencing finished and Daisy’s milking parlour ready. There was no time to muck about in the kitchen. The Kitchens Garden had garlic almost ready to harvest and the broccoli was going to shoot in the terribly hot winds we had yesterday. The lettuce has gone past it. So no quick salad. 
So the dinner ingredients were already decided. That is the best garlic we have grown. 
The challenge: what can you make in a crockpot with these ingredients and leave to cook inside while you are outside for hours. Broccoli and Garlic Soup. Adapted from Not Your Mothers Slow Cooker Cookbook. 
Chop up the peeled broccoli stalks as well as the florets. In the slow cooker add oil, thyme, lemon juice, chicken stock and salt and pepper. Muddle in a whole bulb of chopped and crushed garlic. I cooked it on low for about three hours, then pureed most of it.
It is not a pretty soup but it was good. And fast to serve with minimal clean up.
And now a wee surprise. Daisy and I. Daisy is walking like a cowboy now and not going very far, and so when we were not fencing (again the heat was in the high nineties but this time with gale force winds) I was hanging out with her under the trees. John took the camera from its fencepost and managed to nick an unflattering shot of me in his nieces T-shirt, which I redesigned with a pair of kitchen scissors, and my work skirt, my hair blown straight up, looking like I have been dragged through a bush backwards.
This is probably the first time I have included a full picture of me in the blog. But I have been thinking of perspective lately. How to show size in the shots. A box of matches and Daisy would be silly. And this image does give you an idea of how large Daisy really is. I am 5’7″. Now look at the size of her head again. She just needs to swing that head to dislodge a fly and she has inadvertantly knocked me for a six. She is a gentle giant lately though. Such a big animal to have in my care. Stepping so carefully, poor fat cow in the heat.
Good morning. Queenie Wineti, The Bobby (this years steer) and Hairy MacLairy are all out in the newly fenced Dairy Mistress paddock. They are more than happy with their new field. I can check them from my kitchen window which makes life very easy. And gives me something to look at when I do the dishes. (Where is that hose!)
I think we have an ordinary day ahead of us. The usual chores and rounds. So it will be a good solid and peaceful day. There are no surprises in the plan. Touch wood. You have a lovely day too.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
100 responses to “A rare sighting of miss c and Broccoli with Garlic Soup”
Loving the delicious vegetables my friend – I can imagine how nice a slow cooker stew would taste 🙂
And Daisy, not long now 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
A whole bulb of garlic! That a lot – does the slow cooking mellow it, or is the wet garlic still quite mild? Your garlic is looking magnificent, by the way, as is your broccoli! Lovely to see the photo of you! 🙂
I echo all of these comments/compliments: you are a very stylish farmer!
Great perspective, Celi 🙂 Your soup arrives at a perfect moment: Phil and I are on a soup-only drive! Shall be trying out this for sure!
I was so glad to see in the first comment that I wasn’t the only one who isn’t getting your posts in my reader and what to do about it, that I forgot what I was going to comment on! Your soup sounds terrific and broccoli is my favorite veg, and I don’t know how your little self manages to wrangle these big animals, but clearly they have great love and respect for you, Miss C!
You and Daisy both look great! Nice to see you in the photo and to get an idea of just how big she is. The slow-cooking sounds an excellent idea. During this busy season I’m sure your readers will excuse you if (and if this is too outrageous, please ignore) you take a day off the blog.
You have no idea how much I wish I could use a hose to clean my kitchen (and bathrooms). I totally appreciate the shot of you, it really does put Daisy in perspective. Wow!
Is good to see you and Daisy in the same shot 🙂 Tasty soup, I like it!!
That’s what you call an unflattering shot?! You look stunning. I am 5″2 so Daisy and I probably view the world from about the same height.
Daisy is a big girl – you don’t look comfortable having the photo taken so it was extra nice of you to post it – thank you. I love my slow cooker, and vege soups of every kind. In summer it’s great to cook meat to later eat cold. One of our favourites which must be eaten cold or it tastes odd, is a large piece of corned beef slow cooked in 1 litre bottle of proper (not sugar free) ginger beer . Another is a chicken massaged with butter and placed on a bed of sliced potatoes with a splash of stock or water, and of course pulled pork, preferably with a fresh roll & coleslaw.
Your veggies are lovely, and I’m sure they made a delightful soup. I’ve been considering the crockpot, too, but I can’t seem to get my head around the fact I need to turn it on early in the day. Just not my routine…Farm work is good for keeping you fit. 🙂 Daisy is a LOT of cow! A large drain in the floor and a kitchen that could be hosed down…wouldn’t that be nice!
That looks like a really healthy soup, its also nice you can enjoy this things fresh from the garden unlike me I dont have a green finger
Celi, I definately should have included you in my post today about fashion trend setting bloggers ;-). You look so cute and comfortable…especially in contrast to poor, hot, miserable Daisy cow. Hope you get some of the cool weather gracing Chicagoland and not the storms of Oklahoma.
we certainly get the chicago land cool.. hopefully daisy chooses one of the cool days!! c
The soup looks yummy! I love your crockery! I think you are looking great and have legs to show off!! 😉
That soup sounds delicious and Daisy is much bigger than I’d previously thought!