Chickens and Children

I keep a small flock of six hens for the fresh, nutritional eggs they provide for our family.  They are beautiful, interesting creatures who entertain us with their antics and amaze us with their instinctive behaviors.  I love keeping chickens. It would be easy to think of them as pets; I've even given them each a name.  First and foremost, however, I always keep in mind that our chickens are barnyard (or backyard) fowl.

Flaunt it if you can

The 2012 Canning Season at Maple Grove has come to its close.  The past two months have been full of the sweet smells, fresh tastes, and inviting feels of farm-fresh fruits and vegetables. The work seems long, but the season is so short! 
These photos reflect the sights and colors of the late summer days of canning, and I say if you work this hard, if you aim to please, if you CAN, then go ahead and flaunt it!

Salsa Canning Recipe

 What do you see here?  A table covered with fresh raw vegetables?  I see Salsa!

How about now?  

Beginning to look more like Salsa?

  

Salsa (Spanish): a spicy sauce of tomatoes, onions, and hot peppers.

(It's hard to believe that huge pile of vegetables was reduced to half a saucepot.)

Processed, canned, and ready to eat!

 

 

 

 

 

  Read on for the recipe . . .

Shout it out: PUMPKINS!

I love, Love, LOVE Pumpkins!
I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's all the variations in colors, shapes, sizes, and textures.  Maybe it's because they represent the change of seasons to fall. I even just like to say the word "Pumpkins!"  Put it all together, it just makes me feel giddy.  I wanted a Pumpkins sign that would shout it out.  I looked for a few years but couldn't find just the right one. (At least not at a price I was willing to pay.)  So I just made it myself.

Here's how easy it was:

Canning Lids Pumpkin

 I've seen photos of the Canning Lids Pumpkin floating around on Pinterest, Blog pages and Facebook. I thought, "Hey, I've got a bag of rusted canning lid rings ... I can make that." So I did!

I used 32 rings for this "pumpkin." I strung wire through the rings and twisted it tight, put some Spanish moss down in the cavity, wrapped a rubber band around some cinnamon sticks for the "stem," and placed some fall potpourri around the top. I'm so glad I kept those damaged lid rings!

 I love sharing ideas back and forth online; I think it's appropriate to give credit where credit is due. As far as I could determine, this idea originated at Simply Klassic Home.

Sweet Red Pepper Relish for Canning

One of my favorite appetizers to serve during the holidays is a very simple one.  You place an 8 oz. bar of cream cheese on a plate to soften.  Then right before your guests arrive, you open a jar of sweet red pepper relish and pour it over top of the cream cheese.  Then you set it out with a small serving knife and a bowl of crackers.

What could be easier?  But those little jars of red pepper relish are sometimes hard to find and a little pricey.  So I make my own. It's a simple recipe, and easy for canning.

It's a 'Burgh Thing. We're talking food here, but even saying "It's a 'Burgh thing" is a 'Burgh thing!

If you're from Pittsburgh or the surrounding tri-state area, you will know exactly what I'm talking about when I say we have some unique food traditions.  And if you have visited our area, you have probably been exposed to one or more of them.  But if you haven't, please don't rush to say "Ewww."  Yinz just might like them!

Sunday Best - Favorite Photo of the Week #1

What a beautiful week it was . . . not quite fall, but past the hot and dry days of summer.  I got some canning done, the flower beds weeded, and had some fun in the yard with the Chickie-babes.  Here are some photos of the fun I had with Ruby Red and Aussie Umbra.

Gooood Mooorrrrning!

Uhhh . . . Sneakin up on ya!

Not to worry

On her way . . . no foul play

So happy to be part of "Your Sunday Best" at "A Rural Journey."

Co-hosted this week by "Black Fox Homestead." 

Thanks for inviting me to be a part.

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Mom's Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

I'm an old-fashioned gal, with an old-fashioned heart, an old-fashioned kitchen, and a desire to make the best old-fashioned pies ever.  I have many vivid memories and images of my Mom rolling out pastry on the flour-dusted kitchen table and pinching the edges to make a decorative crust.  Her pies were always so scrumptious! 

When I got married, my first few attempts at making pies didn't turn out very good.  So I asked my Mom to teach me. Mom gave me her recipe and her tips as she demonstrated her art.  I learned quickly, and from then on people raved about my pies, especially the flaky crusts.  Nowadays, it is so easy to use the refrigerator pie crusts that you can buy in a grocery store.  I guess they're OK in a pinch if you're in a major hurry.  But, truth be told, they are just not the same as old-fashioned, homemade pie crusts.  Unless time is of the utmost essence, there is really no need to forgo this timeless treasure--not when you have the right recipe and know-how.  So I gladly share with you lessons I learned at my Mom's side.

Mom's Fool-Proof, Perfect, Flaky Pie Crust

When I got married, my first few attempts at making pies didn't turn out very good.  So I asked my Mom to teach me. Mom gave me her recipe and her tips as she demonstrated her art.  I learned quickly, and from then on people raved about my pies, especially the flaky crusts.

Nowadays, it is so easy to use the refrigerator pie crusts that you can buy in a grocery store.  I guess they're OK in a pinch if you're in a major hurry.  But, truth be told, they are just not the same as old-fashioned, homemade pie crusts.  Unless time is of the utmost essence, there is really no need to forgo this timeless treasure--not when you have the right recipe and know-how.  So I gladly share with you lessons I learned at my Mom's side.

Apple Applause - Hosting an Apple Fest with Great Apple Treat Ideas

Autumn is apple picking time in Pennsylvania (Applause).  The local orchards sell bushels of apples in many varieties good for eating, baking, canning or freezing.  Tart and tasty.  Sweet and savory.  Some orchards let you pick your own for a reduced price. Pickyourown.org is a good source for checking the harvest calendar across the country.

Many of our towns hold AppleFests to applaud this wonderful season. Vendors fill the streets and parks with delicious tasting foods and beverages.  Artists and crafters of all kinds display and sell their unique creations. There are games and prizes, costumed performers, and horse-drawn wagon rides. Local farmers arrive with plenty of fresh apples, apple cider, nuts and fall produce for sale.

Egg Laying Training Week

Chickens don't need to be trained how to lay eggs.  By God's perfect design and creation, this happens quite naturally without our intervention.  Chickens don't need humans to teach them how to lay eggs. But, God did give humans "dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth.” (Genesis 1:26).

So it's not out of necessity, but for our convenience that we train chickens WHERE to lay their eggs, so that we don't have to have an egg hunt every day, looking among the shrubs and flowers and brush to collect our investment.

As my young chickens approached 22 weeks of age, I knew to start watching for signs that they were ready to begin laying eggs.  I knew this, because it's like clock work, this amazing design.  It is, indeed, amazing that a hen releases an egg yolk that grows in size as it travels down the oviduct, is wrapped with the egg white, then a membrane, then the shell.  Finally a color pigment is deposited on the shell before it reaches the vent and is released.  And this re-occurs about every 24 hours in a normal, healthy hen.

Breakfast of Champions

Everyone benefits from eating a good breakfast, including chickens!  The Chickie-Babes look forward to beginning each day with a wholesome breakfast. I mix up and store this combo in a clean 5-gallon bucket with a lid.  Then each morning I serve up a large scoopful to the Babes.

Breakfast of Champions

• 7 lb. cracked corn
• 5 lb. sunflower seed hearts
• 5 lb. Manna Pro Poultry Conditioner (contains flax seeds)
• 3 lb. rolled oats

Hey Mikey, they like it!

The Chickie-Babes are some healthy gals.  Year-round they receive a daily regimen of layer mix with added calcium, and most days they free-range so they can forage for greens and insects.  This little treat in the morning increases their health potential by protecting their digestive and immune systems and giving them a boost of energy. These photos were taken when the Chickie-Babes were 15 weeks old, before they began laying eggs.

The evidence of excellent health is a brightening of color and shine in their feathers, eyes, wattles and combs.

Fast-forward seven weeks.  These beautiful pullets are 22 weeks old in this photo and have just begun to lay eggs.  They are healthy and energetic.  When I bring their breakfast to them in the morning, they get excited, and the chow it down.  Their coats are smooth and shiny, and I would say their healthy breakfast has contributed to their vitality!  

In the winter, since there is not as much forage available, the Chickie-Babes get a scoop of the Champion mix in the evening too. This stimulates their digestive systems, which burns some digestive fuel and helps to keep them warmer through the cold nights.  (Tip:  I also can lure them into the hen house anytime I want to by leading them with a little scoop of the mix.  They love it!)

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Peachy Keen Chambersburg Peaches

Pennsylvania has lots of peach orchards, ranking among the nation’s top-10 peach producers.  The first harvest begins in mid-July and winds down about the middle of September.  The most popular and desired peaches around here are the Chambersburg Peaches, but they are not a variety of peaches.  Chambersburg is a town in central Pennsylvania, once the top growers and sellers of peaches in the state.  Peaches of the same variety grown in other locales, usually the Red Haven variety, are often referred to as Chambersburg peaches because of their high quality.  They certainly are the biggest, sweetest, juiciest peaches you will find, good for eating, canning and baking. If you like peaches, you just can't get enough of them.

Maple Bacon Pan Cake

This is one of our favorite breakfast recipes.  Instead of making individual pancakes, you bake this in a cake pan or an iron skillet in the oven and then slice it into wedges to serve it.  It is oh so good!

It's almost a meal in itself but combines with ham slices, eggs, and fruit to make a hearty, wholesome meal!

Maple Bacon Pancake Recipe

Prep Time: 10 Min     Cook Time  20 Min     Ready In:  30 Min

Ingredients

4 ounces bacon

1 cup baking mix

1 1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cook bacon until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Spray a 9 inch cake pan or an iron skillet with non-stick cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, beat together baking mix, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, milk, maple syrup, sugar and eggs until only small lumps of cheese remain. Pour into prepared cake pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of pancake comes out clean. Sprinkle bacon and remaining 1/2 cup cheese over top of pancake. Bake until cheese melts, about 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Cut into wedges and serve with additional maple syrup.

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