Dear Father Deacon Diak,

If we practice evangelization by procreation well enough, each family will have its own Baseball Team.

Or even better - a full soccer team.

Soccer team, No way Father Deacon Diak! My future daughters would end up playing goalie. Now I can't allow the whole Byzantine village to try to score on my daughters.

Although I suppose then we couldn't even play beseball. Because then everyone would keep trying to get to first base, second base, etc. Not with my daughters, no way no how.

At least we could have a grand fair. What could some of the events be?

Pirohi eating contests, prizes for the best Baclava and kolachi.......

Buy the farm behind my house before a developer does! Are you serious about buying a farm? Is this real? Is this a planned community? I've often wondered if there was some catholic/orthodox version of the amish. If there were I would join it. Similar to the dorothy day catholic worker farms, except not run by buddhists and quakers.

Fresh local lamb from Julie Bolton cooked in cooked in mint with some type of homemade sugo sauce is one of the finest foods I've ever tasted. Mutton may be tougher, but overall I'd prefer the sheep over beef. I find fried goat is very tender but boiled is very tough. I am fond of tender acid marinated/fried meats.

I ment to say leeks, not onion. leeks compliment mint so much. leeks, mint, lamb and some type of tomatoe sauce, is very good combination to start with in a recipe.

Goat is nice and a little sweet. I dont go for billy goat though. Cover the meat with tin boil while roasting and it will cook beautifully and not dry out.

What is Sugo?

Of course the best lamb is from the south island of New Zealand...Canterbury lamb...must be all that nice green grass.

Who had to being food in here again in Great Lent?

ICXC
NIKA

I think it's a dream that some of us have, but not much or any action has been taken (or has it Diak? I'm newer here). I think the most difficult part would be agreeing on a location.

Byz Village thought of the day:

Renewable power source? Windmill(s)? What if we created a windmill coop and sold the energy we didn't use?

Just a thought.

Nathan

PS Give me a medium rare steak, corn on the cob, and lake trout on the grill any day of the week.

Yes, I think windmills may work well, in the UK anyone can now pay for electricity from windmills at a lower price than fossil fuels http://www.good-energy.co.uk/

I'd like to try out one a solar cooker/oven this summer too.

Windmills are very good as is solar. There is a windfarm that provides part of the electricity for my town and I note that many famers away from established power lines have their homes and workshops totaly on solar power, as it would cost too much to have power lines which they would have to pay for from the nearest main line. They burn roots in their stand alone fire place and that heats the house and heats the water as well for the house.

ICXC
NIKA

I love this topic! How have I missed all this? If any of you are near Pittsburgh sometime, you are more than welcome to stop and see Novie Ladimirova: 140 acres in the foothills of the Laurel Mountains. Goats, Alpaca's, Highland cattle, all guarded by Kuvazhi and Ovcharki. 20 years ago, Vladika Hilarion blessed the site, and I have been in the process of building a log chapel dedicated to the Donskaya Bozie Materi. My plan is to someday, dai Boze, to start a skete here. I'll have to put some pics online and share it with you all. I thought that I was only one crazy enough to have such dreams.

Alexandr

Nathan said,

"PS Give me a medium rare steak, corn on the cob, and lake trout on the grill any day of the week."
No way! Steak and fish with backbones are forbiden Wednesdays and Fridays.

I am sure he meant any day of the week but not on Wednesdays and Fridays and the fasting times. He probably ran out of ink at that point. Or the solar power was not working right and it went very dark .

ICXC
NIKA

No, brother Alexandr, you are not the only crazy one here. We've been doing lamb and goat raising for quite a few years now on our windy ridge in eastern Kansas. No shortage of wind here.

Another wonderful place is Holy Cross Hermitage in West Virginia - they raise goats and make soap from the milk (and have the BEST incense available in America, with a remotely possible exception of Holy Transfiguration) at http://www.holycross-hermitage.com/pages/Incense/holy_cross_incense.htm, and the general hermitage site is http://www.holycross-hermitage.com

Christoir, I would also recommend Catherine (Baronness) De Hueck Doherty's works on farming including "Apostolic Farming". They have an organic farm at Madonna House in Combermere, Ontario that she started.

You are obviously a man of good taste by your statements about lamb. A cultured palate, indeed.
FDD (who already has the Paschal lamb picked out).

I am probably 95% of the time a vegaterian except for when I go to the local Greek place and get my gyros, or of course, am offered kovbasa.

Other than that, let the poor animals live!! (ahem, Diak)

-uc