If you have heard the gossip mill in Wallowa County saying, "I heard she was back in town." It is true. As I last wrote in February, I moved away to the other side of the state just before the arrival of Spring. My experience in Portland was a positive one and I was able to get a job in one of the top ten restaurants in Portland, Pok Pok. I went to a lot of great music venues, ate some outstanding food and was learning a lot, however, I decided to come back to the ranch for the summer. I am fortunate to be in the love it or leave it stage of my life and I was not loving the scene in Portland, especially compared to the summer I knew I could have here in Wallowa County. Those of you who come to our ranch tours or visit us at other times, know just what I mean. I will be going on a new adventure come October and will be sure to let you know.

I quickly shed my city skin with a lot of outdoor hard work. My mirror now reflex a familiar image of the suntanned, messy blond, dirty faced girl I have seen for so many summers that I have worked at home. Surrounding myself with horses, barbed wire, ropes and farming tools leaves me with a few scratches, bumps and bruises. Nothing too serious and most of them without a known origin.

As it was most everywhere else this year, the lingering of spring weather has put us a little behind on our summer projects, but we are quickly recovering. There are two kinds of project lists for the summer. One, is new projects. Liza Jane bought, put up and planted a green house. To keep the deer out Craig built a new fence around the greenhouse and now is working on a new fence to go around the outside of the century farmhouse. All of these new projects tie into "Liza Jane's Farmstand" that will be opening next week with a grand opening on Labor Day Weekend. There are plans for new corrals and harvesting pens as well.

The other list is of ongoing projects; fixing fences and gates, irrigating, training young horses and chopping weeds. I would like to talk about chopping weeds. It is one of the most disliked and equally necessary jobs on the ranch. Because we do not allow any harmful chemicals onto our ranch we much remove noxious and invasive weeds manually. Scotch thistle is among the favorites, it grows up along the steep side hills between rocks. Clever as it is, growing between rocks and covering itself in both small and large points makes it difficult to remove. We use shovels and work to remove the whole root or as much as possible of the plant, in hopes of preventing the seeds from spreading. To me, it is a true testament of how much we care for the land and its health.

As I am working in front of the computer today(regretfully) the latest addition to the 6 Ranch is climbing the side hills, no doubt exhausting herself in the heat as her shovel bounces off the rocky soil time and time again. Nora Frei is from Switzerland and since I picked her up from the airport this last Sunday has been a great asset to the ranch. She has just finished with her studies in law and wanted a chance to experience a different kind of work and clear her head. We are grateful for her company and her help.

Craig is guiding a river trip for five days down the Salmon River this week, leaving us the chance for a girls night. Last night we cleaned up a bit after the chores were all done, opened a bottle of lovely red wine and sat down to a dinner provided by me. Inspired by Nora's willingness to try new things, I prepared a cut of meat that I had neither tasted nor cooked before, beef cheeks.
Although I would have trimmed the silver skin and fat more carefully next time, I would definitely use the cut again. They were melt in your mouth tender!

I was using about 2.5 pounds of meat for this recipe, the other measurements may not be exact as I adjusted a bit as I went... (And yes of course it was 6 Ranch grassfed Corriente beef!)

Marinade the trimmed meat for at least an hour. I used lime juice (about 2 limes), 1/4 strong coffee, 1tbl peanut butter, 2tsp honey, 1tbl chili powder, and enough olive oil and salt. Cover and refrigerate.

Slowly heat a medium cast iron pot, add a small amount of oil, turn up the heat to medium high and when the oil appears to be dancing across the pan add the meat and sear all sides.

Meanwhile preheat your oven to 275.

When meat is seared add the extra marinade and 2cups of beef stock, cover and place in the oven.

Cook 3-1/2 - 4 hours. Turning the cheeks at least twice. Add more liquid if necessary.

When they are fork tender, plate and enjoy!

I served one portion of cheek atop of unseasoned wilted chard and spinach from our garden as well as a pickled onion and beet salad made with walla walla sweet onions and beets from our garden.

If you would like to try some cheeks, ask us for a special order or check in a Mexican supermarket.

See you all in a few weeks for the ranch tour!

Cheers!