Bribery, Hope, and Puff Pancake.
Good afternoon my friends,
I hope, like me, you’ve found yourself spending more time outside these spring days. Perhaps this qualifies me as an old soul, but instead of browsing the World Wide Web these days, I’ve found myself quite content watching a sprinkler move methodically over the herb garden, a worm wriggling back into the cool soil, or a robin taking a mid-day bath in our pond.
I find myself transfixed, lost in the warmth of the sun on my skin, the scent of soil and blossoms in the air, and the welcomed muscle fatigue of garden labor. Spring is a laborious time of year, but it is also a time of year that brings with it a waterfall of oppurtunity to quench our weary souls.
Yes, the sun will return. Yes, there is still life to be tended to. Yes, work is good. It is a full and triumphant return of what is good and true and beautiful. An ushering in of a reality that proves our winter hope was not in vain.
Unlike the long, stinging days of August where the gardens seem to be at bound in growth by the severe heat, spring requires much of me in the garden and on the farm. Just this past week, we moved 22 sheep to their summer pasture. While I still wish we had a trained border collie at our disposal to help us with such tasks, we managed to make it through the move in record time - thanks to good old fashioned bribery. By food, of course.
Months ago, we trained our ewes and ram to a bucket. You come to the bucket, you get livestock grain. It didn’t take many feedings for our little Katahdin friends to take note of the rewards of their obedience. That bucket of food can now be used to get them anywhere we’d like them to go - pen and trailer included. As I labor with a sweaty brow and ruined manicure in the rows of vegetable beds, it comes full circle in my mind: food is a big motivator for us all.
Though the garden beds still have a ways to go in their seasonal maturing, we are still harvesting a few products from the gardens already: rhubarb, chamomile, mint, parsley, chives and chive flowers, spinach, arugula, radishes, salad turnips, and eggs. Alright, technically the eggs are from the farmyard, but still. It is a harvest to behold!
Because food is the motivator for our efforts in the garden, I often use the same technique on my own family as I do my sheep. It looks like this:
a) I made you a delicious, nutrient-packed breakfast
b) Now come help me pull weeds
Though they’re not quite as easy to train as our herd of sheep, they still appreciate the effort. So meet one of my favorite favorite protein-packed bribery breakfasts:
Puff Pancake
1 cup all-purpose einkorn flour (or flour of choice)
12 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sweetener of choice
Pinch of sea salt
6 tablespoons butter
Preheat the oven 425 degrees. Place a skillet or baking dish in the oven.
Add the flour, eggs, milk, sweetener, and salt together in a high-powered blender and blitz until light and creamy.
Add the butter into the hot skillet and let it melt.
Pour the prepared batter into the buttered skillet and bake until golden and puffy.
Enjoy with fresh fruit, yogurt, jam, or syrup.
If you’d like more simple, farm-inspired recipes be sure to checkout our Cooking Community.
I hope you enjoy,
Shaye