Chicken Adventures and Eggs!

More pictures of the Ladies from yesterday.

Butter checks on the nest box action.
Who's in there?

"Could I have a little privacy?"

Butter to Zela: "Do you have any eggs under there?"

Zela: "Buzz off! I'm busy."

"One, two, three, four..."

Isn't she pretty?

Nest boxes are a good place for a nap.

Lavender.

And

Remember the Purple Girl?

Her feathers have grown in.

Zeeba takes a stroll.

Hop.

Jump!

Lavender: "It's true. I layed them all."

Lots of beautiful eggs!

The terracotta one in the center is Zela's egg.

I watched her lay it.

Easiest Cauliflower and Cheese

This is the yummiest way to eat cheesy cauliflower.

It's quick and reheats amazingly.

Easiest Cauliflower and Cheese

2 cups chopped cauliflower

2/4 cups water

2 eggs

1 to 2 cups shredded cheese

2 Tbs milk

Boil/steam cauliflower covered in the 2/4 cups water until tender.

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In a small bowl whisk the 2 eggs.

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When the cauliflower is tender, reserve 1/4 cup water from the pan and then drain the cauliflower. Return the cauliflower to the pan.

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Add the milk to the whisked eggs and then add the 1/4 cup water.

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Stir to combine and then add to the cooked cauliflower.

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Stir to combine and add 1 cup cheese. Too soupy? Add a little more cheese. Too dry? Add a little milk

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Return to the stove and cook for 1-2 mins. Stirring continuously.

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Eat!

You may want to add a little salt and pepper.

Mmmm, very yummy.

Ricotta Souffle Strata

Last month Marx Foods sent me a box of fun stuff.

Mushrooms, chiles, vanilla sugar and smoked salt.

Mmmm, yummy!

Look at it all! Amazing!

I took Lobster and Black Trumpet mushrooms, added some Japones chiles and a little smoked salt. Then with a little help from the girls....

I took 11 eggs.

Yeah, eleven.

6 I used in the strata and 5 I used in the ricotta souffle top.

I layered left over challah bread with artichoke, crab, diced red pepper, the mushrooms, chiles and a little black pepper/salt.

Then I mixed 6 eggs with a cup of whole milk and poured that over the top of the strata.

Then I mixed the remaining 5 eggs with 1 cup of ricotta cheese.

Spread that over the top of the strata and baked it at 325 degrees for 40 mins.

I just wanted to show you how shiny the top was.
It was the tastiest old bread I've ever had.

Saturday Afternoon

I went over to my Mom's house on Saturday.

She had invited Alexa over for a baking lesson.

Alexa is my gardening, cooking, craft making buddy

AND best friend!

First, the important tying on of the apron.

My Mom is such a good teacher. Very, very patient and hands off. She lets you figure things out for yourself. I think that's the best way to learn how to cook.

Mom and Alexa measuring out the squash.
Notice: No canned squash/pumpkin here!
This is all home grown.



Alexa adding the squash.

Alexa separating the eggs.

My Mom gave her 3 eggs explained how to separate them and then went to the other side of the kitchen to whip up a different kind of bars.

I have to tell you about Alexa making me scrambled eggs.

It's our funny story.

Granted this happened when she was much younger (like 8).

She told me she was really good at scrambled eggs.

So, she made them and we started to eat them.

Finally, Alexa turns to me, "I think there is something wrong with your chickens. 'Cause these eggs are crunchy."

The chicken's eggs were fine, including the shells that she had dropped into them.

hee hee!

II was the official taste tester.

They tasted delicious!

Best friends forever!

Update On Chicken-sitting

I have been taking care of my friend Carol's chickens while she is in London.

It has been so much fun!

I collected 13 eggs on Saturday, 9 eggs on Sunday and 11 eggs today.

Since I added the golf balls there haven't been any broken or eaten eggs.

Yay!

Like my girls, her hens are starting to be really friendly.

I pet and hug each hen, every night, before they go to sleep.

Some are starting to want to be cuddled and a few are still ambivalent.

Hopefully I can break down their standoffishness and make them snugglers.

I love a snuggly chicken!

Cuddliness: really the best reason for having chickens.

Bon Voyage

My friend Carol left for London today.

(My 4 chickens live with her 18 chickens - like the Brady bunch)

I am so jealous!

She's going to tour London and Paris.

I hope she tries macarons and takes lots of pictures.

Bon Voyage, Carol!

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I visited the Ladies today.

Carol said I could collect and keep all the eggs while she is on vacation.

Yay! I love collecting eggs!

Today there were 6 eggs.

There were 2 broken/eaten eggs underneath the roosts and another half eaten egg in a corner.

Uh-oh!

Egg eaters!

I'll take some golf balls out tomorrow and try to get them to stop eating their eggs.

Hopefully banging their beaks a few times on the golf balls will stop them from sampling eggs OR I'll have to make a few mustard eggs.

Another Use For Canning Rings

I have a million canning rings.

There is no way that I will ever use all of them at the same time, so

either I have to start stuffing mattresses or I need to find a use for them.

Egg Sandwich

Grease the rings really well.

I used butter.

Place them in your frying pan.

Crack eggs into the rings.

Cook on low, flip and cook on the other side.

Pop cooked eggs out of the rings.

Serve on round bread or hamburger buns.

Yummy!

Thanks for the eggs Ladies!

I love knowing where my food comes from.

For example, the broccoli seeds that I started in my house last spring, planted and watered all summer and then fed to my Ladies (chickens) last week turned into an egg that I ate today.

Pumpkin Waffles - Vote For Me!

This month's challenge, on The Leftover Queen's Royal Foodie Joust, is to use orange, black and sugar.

So, Orange: pumpkin or squash - Black: Dark ale or cola - Sugar

I have to be honest, before this recipe I'd never bought beer.

I know nothing about beer.

At first it was a struggle to think of a recipe that used pumpkin, beer and sugar.

But then I thought of pumpkin waffles.

After that, the only thing left to do was to buy the beer.

Whew! Who knew that there were soooo many types of beer?

I stood in front of the cooler for a long time.

Finally, the clerk asked me if I needed help.

"Yes! Do you have any dark beer? Besides Guinness?"

"Ummmm, noooo. Just Guinness."

Ok then. Out of a million types of beer I went home with the only dark beer - Guinness.

Now to the recipe!

Perfect Pumpkin Waffles

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oatmeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1 1/2 cups pumpkin (canned or cooked)
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
6 Tbs. butter, melted
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk with 1 Tbs lemon juice added)
1/2 cup dark beer

Mix together in a large bowl dry ingredients. Stir in Pumpkin, butter, brown sugar and eggs.
Add milk and beer, mix until thoroughly blended.
Scoop batter into a preheated waffle iron.
Bake until waffles are golden brown.
Serve with butter and warm maple syrup.

I made oat flour by grinding whole oats in my mini food processor.

All of the ingredients.
Look at those bright orange yolks!
Thanks for the eggs Ladies.




I made the buttermilk by adding 1 Tbs. bottle lime juice to 2% milk.
Then let it stand for a few mins. and add the beer.
Why do you even need to use buttermilk?
The acidic buttermilk reacts with the baking soda/baking powder and results in lighter waffles with a higher rise. Have you ever made a baking soda/vinegar volcano? Same idea - poof!



I threw a few chocolate chips into the batter.




Nice and golden.

What do they taste like?

Well, do you like pumpkin bread or cake?

They taste just like that.

However, because there isn't as much flour they don't taste starchy, the spicy pumpkin flavor can really shine through.
Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

And they re-heat well too.

Just follow the same refrig or freezing directions

as I used for the In a Hurry Pancakes.

I served mine with home-made cinnamon butter.

Now, how can you vote for me?

Well, on Nov. 1st The Leftover Queen Forum will start voting on every one's recipes.

Please vote for me!

In a Hurry Pancakes

I was called into work yesterday.

Made $300 dollars in an hour, BUT it totally messed up my day!

Then when I went home, I had to get ready for my regular shift....

I visited my girls (for exactly 3 minutes + the 20 min. drive to get there),

went home, dropped Lavender's newly laid egg on the tile kitchen floor (!!!),

and then dropped 1/2 cup of sugar on the floor.

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If I had dropped a little flour and milk on the floor

I would have had the makings of pancakes.

So here is a recipe for

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In A Hurry Pancakes

1 cup flour

2 Tablespoons baking powder

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs or 3 bantam eggs

(or use as many eggs as you want

I've added as many as 6-

If you've got 'em use 'em)

1 cup milk

2 Tablespoons veg. oil

Combine ingredients, beat until smooth.

Bake on a hot griddle.

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These are very light and fluffy.

I like to eat them with jam or honey.

If you have leftover pancakes -

Spread butter thinly on the top of each pancake,

stack pancakes on top of each other,

wrap in tinfoil or plastic wrap,

store in the refrigerator.

To re-heat:

Unwrap pancakes, place on a plate

and microwave for 30-60 seconds.

The picture is of 3 I re-warmed for breakfast.

Pixie's First Egg

Pixie laid her first egg!!!

Here it is-

Isn't it cute?

It looks a lot like Pippa's eggs.

In fact, for a second I

thought, "Hey! How did Pippa get here?"

My little baby is all grown up.

Now she is officially a pullet.

Isn't it amazing, in 5 months, she went from this-

To this?!?

Two Egg Happy Dance

Yay! The Ladies gave me 2 eggs today.

One from Lavender, who has been laying very regularly, and one from Zela.

Zela hasn't layed an egg since Aug. 11th, the day they were taken.

I am so happy!

I think it means they are finally settling into their new home.

Lavender's green egg.


Zela's brown egg.

Silly Little Ray!
He looks so scary in this pic, but he's actually saying,
"Can I come in there? My tummy needs rubbing!"



Lavender

Pixie

Queen of all she surveys.