Queen of Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras dinners traditionally end with King Cake. Ours is no exception. Last year I made a traditional King Cake, using a pecan half as the charm to determine who was King/Queen of Mardi Gras. That person inherits the responsibility of providing King Cake for next year’s party.

Marilyn’s piece contained the pecan half, making her Queen. We weren’t overly impressed with King Cake and decided to make something different. My mother used to make Swedish Tea Rings, but Marilyn and I both dislike kneading. I found recipe using bread machine. We made a deal. Since I’m the one who owns the bread machine, I would make the dough and shape it. She would bake and decorate it.

Jacqui gets a good laugh as she watches Marilyn crown herself.

A brainstorm (or was it a brain cramp?) struck me early Saturday morning. Wouldn’t a tiara be a fun accessory for our Mardi Gras Queen? So I bought one. It even came with a bling-bling ring!

Queen Marilyn demonstrates her mastery of the “royal wave”.

Queen Marilyn didn’t wear the tiara for long. She said wearing it hurt her head. As Shakespeare said, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

This year, Ava (left) got the cake piece with the die symbolizing the Queen of Mardi Gras. The die is cast and she’s the Queen!

Bisque to die for

Our sister-in-love served us her Crab and Corn Bisque in December 2007. We loved it. She gave us the recipe, writing it in the cookbook she had given Hubby for Christmas. The next March, we hosted a Mardi Gras dinner using that cookbook. Our guests ate so much of the bisque that they hardly had room for the rest of the meal. A tradition was born. All our guests said they wanted to return in 2009 for Mardi Gras and that delicious bisque.

Mardi Gras isn’t a state holiday in this part of the world, so we held our party last Saturday night. And, yes, we served that wonderful bisque. Recipe follows. It’s surprisingly simple. Stefaney’s Crab and Corn Bisque Printer-friendly PDF Ingredients: 1 lb. lump crab meat (do not use imitation crab) 1 pt. heavy cream 1 can evaporated milk 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 can whole kernel corn, drained 1 stick butter 1 bunch green onions, chopped 1 t. liquid crab/shrimp boil salt and pepper to taste Method: Sauté onions in butter, then add remaining ingredients. Cook on medium heat for 45 minutes. Stir as necessary to prevent scorching.

Chili

When buying a used cookbook, I always like to try recipes that are covered with notes on well-used pages. Those are tested and proven recipes. Such is my chili recipe.

Hubby is the chef in this household. But he won’t make two dishes: chili and beef stew. Those dishes are my specialties, or so he says.

Original recipe came from my old standby, Kitchen-Klatter Cookbook, but my recipe adds quite a few ingredients. Perfecting this recipe has required years of tinkering, so I hope you enjoy it. This is not a fire-alarm chili, but it is very thick.

Chili

Printer-friendly PDF

Ingredients:
2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 medium white onion, chopped fine
1 Bell pepper, chopped fine
2 t. salt
1 t. paprika
1 t. chili powder
2 bay leaves
1 t. turmeric
2 cloves garlic
6 stalks celery
1 small can tomato paste
1 qt. canned tomatoes
2 15 oz. cans chili beans (we prefer Kuner’s)
½ C. fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 C. shredded cheese

Method:
Sauté meat, onion and pepper until vegetables are cooked. Add spices while meat finishes browning. When meat is cooked through, add the remaining ingredients. Stir together. Let simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, then refrigerate overnight for best flavor. If necessary, add water while reheating for desired consistency. Serve with cornbread.

A piece of the pie

Hubby wanted a razzleberry pie for Christmas party. The store lacked the required berries, but they had a raspberry/blackberry/blueberry mixture. Because of this substitution, I mislabeled the pie as Fruits of the Forest on my menu card. Fruits of the forest pie has more types of fruit in it than razzleberry does.

For awhile, Hubby worked at a restaurant known for its pies. The owner told him her secret. She made the filling the night before she baked the pie. While it sat, it made its own sauce. I couldn’t let it stand overnight, but I waited as long as I could before I baked my pies. She was right. The berries were floating in lovely syrup.

My mother made excellent pie crusts. Even though I have always made good quick breads, I was terrified to make pie crusts. I have eaten many rock-hard crusts and didn’t want to make one myself. She always told me not to overmix the dough. Using lard as a binder makes the flakiest crust, but lard is a certified artery-clogger.

Mary’s Pie Crust

Recipe as printer-friendly PDF
Ingredients:
2 C. flour
1 t. salt
2/3 C. plus 1-2 T. shortening
1-7 T. water

Method:
Stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening until dough forms pea-size chunks. Add water a tablespoon at a time until dough clumps. Roll to desired size and put into pie plate. If pie recipe calls for baked shell, bake at 450º for 12-15 minutes.

Yield:
Makes 1 single-crust pie shell.

Oktoberfest

Family friend Thelma (left) and Hubby’s mother are ready to sit down for dinner.

We love to entertain, get out the china, crystal and silver and cook foods that normally we wouldn’t be eating. We have an Oktoberfest party annually in honor of both Hubby’s German heritage and our October birthdays. Hubby’s is Oct. 27 and his mother’s is Oct. 16, which is coincidentally my brother and sister-in-love’s anniversary.

Several years go, I started making menu/place cards for these fancy occasions and I started a scrapbook featuring each theme dinner we produce. I don’t particularly like this menu card; it’s definitely not my best design. When we entertain, our dining room becomes “Ye Olde World Café”. Since we served German cuisine that day, all the menu items are listed auf Deutsch, including the café’s name and the date. Both of us took German in high school and try to preserve what we can remember of the language. However, most of the German words for menu came from the dictionary or the cookbook (“Kochbuch”). Sülztotelett is a delicious marinated pork chop, although we didn’t exactly follow the recipe. Recipe called for the pork to be marinated in gelatin made from calf hooves. That ingredient would be very hard to obtain. Besides, “calf hooves” do not sound very appetizing. So we skipped that part. Meat was still wonderful. Next is majoram potatoes marinated in beer, then sweet sauerkraut, dinner rolls, apples with raisins in a cinnamon sauce, German chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, and guests’ choice of beverages. The apple/raisin dish began as a dessert filling, but it sounded like a wonderful side dish. And it was. Next up is our Christmas party. Deck them halls, ya’ll!

Praline Pumpkin Pie

I hurriedly harvested all our buttercup and volunteer pie pumpkins before our first snowstorm early Thursday morning. Hubby and I also picked every tomato that showed any sign of ripening.

We love pumpkin dessert of any sort. We tried substituting butternut for pumpkin last year and thought it delicious. When I mistakenly planted buttercup instead of butternut this spring, I was relieved to find that ’cup squash is also a good pumpkin substitute.

Thursday morning, I told Marilyn that I was about to prepare squashes for pie filling. She said I had to do one additional step before freezing them: “You must first, first, first bake us a pumpkin pie for tonight!”

I made her choice, “Pumpkin Praline Pie”, with butternut squash Hubby’s parents had grown, plus a standard pumpkin pie with our buttercup squash. Both were judged delicious by the ladies at our Bible study. They couldn’t tell whether I’d used pumpkin or one of the squashes, but they decided the praline pie was the tastier pie.

Hubby devoured the pies when he got home Friday morning.

To prepare the squash for baking, I cut one in half and microwaved it on high for 22 minutes. We have a wimpy microwave. With a decent microwave, start at 15 minutes. After that, I peeled it and pureed it in our processor. Let the squash cool before peeling it; they are hot. One medium ’cup or ’nut squash is about the equivalent of one can of pumpkin.

Pumpkin Praline Pie

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Recipe is adapted from the Kitchen Klatter cookbook.

Crust ingredients:
2 T. butter
1/3 C. brown sugar
1/3 C. pecans, chopped
1 unbaked pie shell

Method:
Combine butter, brown sugar and nuts. Mix well. Spread over bottom of pie shell. Bake at 425º for 10 minutes.

Filling ingredients:
1½ C. pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk
3 egg yolks
¼ C. sugar
¼ C. Splenda
½ C. brown sugar
1½ t. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
½ t. salt
1 t. burnt sugar flavoring
Whipped cream


Method:
Combine and mix well. Pour over praline layer and bake at 325º until center is firm.

Top with whipped cream.

Chunky Tomato Salsa

Salsa is expensive so I try to make our own. The recipe I made last year was too vinegary and thin for our taste, so I tried a different one yesterday.

Chunky Tomato Salsa

For a step-by-step explanation of the salsa canning process, including a tip for easy tomato deskinning, see Pick Your Own’s recipe, on which this one is based. Mine is a halved from what theirs is.

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Ingredients:
10 lbs. tomatoes, preferably Roma, skinned, deseeded and drained
1½ C. onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ T. fresh oregano, chopped
½ C. diced fresh mild peppers such as Bell or banana
¼ C. diced fresh cilantro
1/8 C. diced fresh celery (about two large stalks)
2 jalapeno peppers, diced (1 if you want milder salsa)
1 T. salt (optional)
¼ t. ground black pepper
2 cans tomato paste
½ C. 5% apple cider vinegar
½ T. ground cumin
1½ t. turmeric
½ t. lemon juice
1 t. chili powder (omit for milder salsa)
2 T. corn starch (omit for thinner salsa)

Method:
Chop tomatoes into approximately ½-inch cubes. Dice, chop or mince all other ingredients in food processor. Put tomatoes in stock pot. If thicker salsa is desired, mix corn starch into vinegar before adding. Add all other ingredients and bring just to boiling.

Fill jars, allowing ¼ inch head space. Process in boiling hot-water bath for at least 35 minutes, depending on altitude.

Yield: About 5 pints

Carrot Spice Cake

Kathy and friend Dallynn get ready to taste a bit of the cake.

Kathy turned 57 Tuesday, so we celebrated with a cookout.

When I think of the number 57, I think of Heinz’s 57 varieties. I suggested that we all give Kathy a bottle of some Heinz product and asked about what cake to make. I inadvertently sent the email to her, too.

She said, “Personally, I prefer 57 on my steak and not on my cake!”

That was the end of making Heinz 57 frosting. Sigh. I still carried out the Heinz 57 idea, though. The cake topper reads “Kathy, est’d 1951: 57 years and in a pickle. Happy birthday!”

Donna suggested I make a carrot or spice cake for Kathy’s cake. So I made a combination:

Carrot Spice Cake

This recipe comes from Kitchen Klatter Cookbook, which is unfortunately now out of print. The batter is very thick, more like brownie batter than cake batter.

Printer-friendly PDF

Ingredients:
5 oz. matchstick carrots broken in half, 5 oz. grated baby carrots or 3 large carrots
2/3 C. sugar
2/3 C. Splenda/Alterna
1/3 C. shortening
¼ t. butter flavoring
1 C. raisins
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
½ t. cloves
½ t. salt
1 t. vanilla flavoring
1 1/3 C. cool water
2 C. sifted flour
1/2 t. soda
1 C. chopped nuts

Method:
Combine all ingredients except flour, soda and nuts in saucepan and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Cool 10-15 minutes and add flour and soda which have been sifted together. Stir in the nuts and pour into 9X13 inch pan which has been greased and floured. Bake for 1 hour in 325º oven.

Top with spicy whipped cream or cream cheese frosting.

Rescued cucumber

This cucumber had been hiding under our summer savory when I found it Tuesday night. Cuke weighs 1½ lbs., three times what a normal slicer cucumber weighs, and is blemished and yellowing.

I brought it into the house with the other cukes I’d picked, but told Hubby I intended to throw it out.

“It’s too big to eat,” I said.

“No, don’t throw it away,” he said. “I’ll cut out the seeds and will use it for a sauce.”

Just like this cucumber, many of us were headed for the Dumpster. Our lives were seen as bitter and blemished, worthless for anything but the landfill.

But then the Master said, “No, don’t throw her away. I have a purpose for this life. I must deal with the seeds of sin. I must cut away the blemishes, but I am patient. I will do what is necessary to complete my plan for her redemption. After all, I have already paid for it on the cross.”

Peach Custard Pie

Donna loves peach pie, so I made this pie for her birthday. I’ve never tried this recipe before. Nothing like using your friends as guinea pigs!

This recipe originated in the “Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook”, the best cookbook I’ve ever found for quick breads.

Peach Custard Pie

Printable PDF version

Ingredients:
1 unbaked pie crust
3 C. sliced, peeled peaches
2 eggs
¼ C. Splenda/Alterna
¼ C. sugar
3 T. flour
1 t. vanilla
½ t. peach flavoring
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
¾ C. milk

Method:
Line pastry with double layer of foil. Bake crust in 450º oven 8 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 4-5 minutes more or until set and dry. Layer peaches in pastry shell; set aside.

For filling, slightly beat eggs with rotary beater or fork. Stir in dry ingredients. Gradually stir in milk, just until combined.

Place partially-baked pastry shell on oven rack. Carefully pour filling over fruit in shell. Cover edge of pie with foil or crust cover. Reduce oven temperature to 350º and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 20-25 minutes more. Pie is done when knife inserted into center comes out clean.

We had a hard time getting the pie to finish baking. After 30 minutes, it still was not done. We increased the temperature to 450º and baked it for 5 minutes. That finished it.

Pineapple Fizz Cake

Fizz cake is my birthday cake of choice. A birthday without fizz cake just doesn’t seem like my birthday.

Saturday wasn’t my birthday, but I did not have time to make a fancy dessert for the dinner party we were having. So I chose to make fizz cake. Mother got this recipe from Kitchen Klatter, a recipe radio show. Kitchen Klatter made wonderful flavorings. I can always tell a recipe that originated from that program because it has some kind of flavoring in it. Of course, I’ve tweaked it a bit. I never can resist a bit of tweaking.

The company is now called X-Tra Touch and still offers a wide range of flavorings. While making this, I noticed that I am nearly out of butter flavoring. If I cannot find that flavoring locally, I’ll order it from X-Tra Touch.

Pineapple Fizz Cake

Printable PDF version

Cake ingredients:
1 box lemon cake mix
4 eggs
1 3-oz. box instant French vanilla pudding mix
1 12-oz. can Sprite/7-Up/Sierra Mist
1 t. vanilla

Cake method:
Mix mixes and eggs well. Add Sprite and vanilla. Pour into greased 9x13x2-inch pan. Bake at 350°.

Topping ingredients:
3 eggs
1 stick butter (do not substitute)
1/8 t. butter flavoring
¾ C. Splenda/Alterna
¾ C. sugar
1 C. crushed, undrained pineapple
1 T. flour
¼ t. pineapple flavoring
1 C. coconut

Topping method:
Combine all ingredients but coconut in saucepan on medium heat. Cook until thick (approximately 10 minutes). Add coconut and pour over cake when cake has cooled.

Super Simple Pancake Syrup

A few days ago, I was talking with the financial office staff at work. Somehow we started talking about my pancake syrup recipe. One of the ladies asked, “You can make syrup?”

My mother didn’t buy pancake syrup. She made it. “Store-bought syrup is a waste of money,” she said.

I generally can’t remember recipes, but this one is too simple to forget.

Super Simple Pancake Syrup

1 C. sugar
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. water
Few drops each maple, vanilla and butter flavorings
Stir together and allow to boil. Take off heat and pour into container for serving. Keep refrigerated.

Burger Salt

We attended a cookout Saturday. The grillers made wonderful burgers. When I complimented one of them on how good they tasted, she said, “It’s all in the seasoning.” I asked what she was using.

Burger Salt

¼ C. granulated garlic (NOT garlic salt)
¼ C. Lawry's Seasoned Salt
scant ¼ C. ground black pepper

Pour into shaker and sprinkle on burgers or hot dogs to taste.

Southern Pecan Cake

I made two Southern Pecan Cakes for Hubby's office party cakewalk. They didn’t last long. Cake is very easy and it looks and tastes delicious. Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph cakes before they were gone.

I obtained this recipe from a Duncan Hines press kit.

Southern Pecan Cake

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Moist Deluxe French vanilla cake mix (do not substitute)
2 C. pecan pieces — Toast on baking sheet at 350° for 4-5 mins. Chop fine.
1 pkg. (four serving) vanilla instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1 C. water
1/3 C. oil
1 pkg. cream cheese frosting

Method:
Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil. Beat at medium speed for 2 mins. Fold in 1½ C. pecans. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9" round cake pans or one greased and floured 9 X 13 pan. Bake at 350° for 35-40 mins. or until toothpick is clean.

Cool in pans 15 mins. Invert onto cooling rack. Cool completely. Frost cake. Garnish with reserved pecans. Refrigerate until serving.

Dirt Dessert

Dirt Dessert centerpiece. Note the gummi worms at pot edges.

Mostly emptied Dirt Dessert serving pot. Note that the serving utensil is a garden trowel and that pot is lined with foil. Use new pot and trowel for serving food.

We chose a theme of “Marilyn is older than dirt” for her Friday surprise party. Going along with that theme, Kathy and Donna made Kathy’s Dirt Dessert recipe. It’s simple, fun and delicious.

Dirt Dessert

1 pkg. of crumbed Oreo sandwich cookies (I use my food processor. Should be the consistency of potting soil.)
12 oz. pkg. Cool Whip
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
4 oz. box of instant vanilla pudding
1 C. powdered sugar
¼ C. butter

Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar together and set aside.

Mix pudding according to box directions and fold in Cool Whip. Mix together with the cream cheese mixture.

May be put together in a flower pot or served in individual cups. Lay cookie crumbs on bottom, then filling, then another layer of cookie crumbs. Gummi worms finish the idea of dirt dessert. Plastic flowers can be added for a final touch.

Black Forest Cake

Last year, I asked Marilyn what her favorite cake was so I could make it for her birthday.
She told me she liked Black Forest Cake.

I had no idea what that was so looked it up on the Internet. I found it in About.com's Southern Food section. I made it for her. She loved it and has described the recipe as “to die for” ever since.

Since she turns the Big 5-0 this year, I had to make it again.

Although I am the pastry chef in our house, Chef Hubby cannot resist tinkering with ingredients and I cannot resist tinkering with the method. Here is our version of Black Forest Cake. (Printer-friendly PDF)

Black Forest Cake

Ingredients:

1 dark chocolate cake mix (or your own from scratch)
¼ C. kirschwasser (cherry brandy)
1/8 C. amaretto
1 can extra fruit cherry pie filling
16 oz. heavy whipping cream
½ C. confectioners’ sugar
Maraschino cherries, drained, optional, for garnish
milk chocolate curls or shavings, for garnish

Preparation:
The day before serving —

Drain 1 can extra fruit cherry pie filling in a colander to remove most of the thickened juices. Leave filling in colander on plate in refrigerator overnight for best drainage.

Make cake, following package directions. Bake cake, as directed, in two 9-inch layer cake pans. I buy the dark chocolate fudge cake mix.

When cool, run knife around outside of cake to break any clinging pieces from the sides. Holding cake with one hand, turn cake pan on its side and tap on the counter while gently turning pan. This should loosen the cake. Remove cakes from pans. Place on separate plates. Sprinkle mixture of kirschwasser and amaretto over both cake layers. Insert toothpicks on top and in sides of cake and wrap in cling wrap. Let stand overnight.

Chill electric beaters and large mixing bowl; beat heavy whipping cream until it thickens slightly. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and beat until thick enough to hold its shape. Refrigerate overnight.

Using a cheese plane (preferred) or vegetable peeler, shave chocolate; refrigerate until ready to serve. I found that the side of the chocolate my hand had warmed was the best to shave. Once the chocolate became difficult to shave, I switched sides to rewarm the chocolate. Store in covered container at room temperature or below overnight.

The day of serving —

Assemble cake.

Place one layer on serving plate. Dilute ½ C. of whipped cream mixture with water until it becomes a glaze. Spread glaze over top of bottom layer. Wait half hour, then spread its top with layer of whipped cream to total ½ inch. Strew the cherries over the cream, leaving about ½-inch margin around border of cake with no cherries.

Set other layer on top of cherries. Spread remainder of glaze on top and sides of cake. Wait half hour, then spread top and sides of cake with remaining cream, shaping cream into decorative swirls on top.

With fingers, gently press chocolate curls into cream on sides of cake. I completely cover sides of cake with the chocolate curls or shavings, whichever I’ve managed to produce. This both looks good and covers up any frosting boo-boos.

Garnish top with any remaining cherry filling and maraschino cherries or with a few chocolate curls. I like the look of the cherry juice on the white frosting.

I inserted bamboo skewers through top of cake to hold it together during transport to party, then removed them when I arrived. I added the topper just before serving.

Enjoy!

Tasty Cucumber Relish

Last year I looked for a cucumber relish recipe online. I found the best relish I've ever eaten.

If you’ve never canned or pickled, PaulNoll.com gives excellent step-by-step instructions, complete with photos, of how to make the relish.

Hubby and I have made some changes to the recipe.

Here is our version.

Tasty Cucumber Relish

Vegetables
6 lbs. grated or chopped cucumbers
1 grated white onion
1 grated carrot
10 chopped or grated medium bell peppers (if possible, include some red, yellow and/or orange peppers for better color)

Mix together. Grating will make a coarser relish than chopping will.

Brine
1 T. turmeric
1/2 C. salt
8 C. water

Mix together.

Pour brine over vegetables. Stir well and let sit for 3 hours. Drain. Cover with water and let stand for 1 hour. Drain, refill with water and drain again.

Syrup
1 T. mustard seed
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
2 t. allspice
2 C. brown sugar
4 C. cider vinegar

Mix and bring to boil, then pour over vegetables. Let stand 10-12 hours.

Boil before filling prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Make sure liquid covers vegetable mix. Process in water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 7 pint jars.

Our cucumbers are bearing prolifically right now, so we tripled the recipe this time. I thought I had enough for four batches, but the 23 lbs. I started with became 19 lbs. by the time I removed the ends and blemishes from the cucumbers and deseeded large the ones.

Unfortunately, our peppers aren’t keeping up with the cukes, so I had to buy 34 peppers at the grocery store. The cashier’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she saw how many peppers I had in the cart. (We’ll freeze the unused peppers.)

We mixed the recipe in storage containers because we had no other containers large enough.

The Frugal Gardener always feels so virtuous when she preserves her own food!

Where cheese comes from

Some years ago, we visited Sweet Home Farm in Elberta, Ala. The proprietors had free-range chickens roaming about and their Guernsey cattle were pastured within sight of their cheese store.

To us, rural folks that we are, the chickens and cattle were comforting signs of authenticity. We could tell that we would be buying — and eating — artisanal cheese, not some “cheese food” cranked out of some soulless factory.

The cheese we bought was all we hoped it would be: Absolutely delicious. Too bad proprietors don’t ship their cheese. We would love to eat Bayside Blue Cheese again.

However, not everyone found the animals’ presence comforting.

Some city folks had come in one day. They asked what the cattle were doing there.

Proprietors told them the cattle produced the milk that proprietors made into cheese.

City folks turned green and left. Apparently, they thought milk and cheese just magically appeared in the store.

That is an udderly ridiculous notion.

So I leave you with today’s lesson in food production. Cows produce milk which can be made into cheese. And, just in case you need a review, chickens produce eggs.

Class dismissed.

Opportunity knocks

Junking, seeking items to turn from trash into treasure, can be intentional or opportunistic. I’ve found wonderful items when I was actually Dumpster diving and I’ve found equally wonderful items when I was doing something else.

For some time, I have desired to put pavers underneath our turkey fryer, which we use as an all-purpose outdoor cooking device. But I didn’t really want to buy the pavers. That’s no fun.

Last week, my boss tore out a bricked, fenced patio. When I saw the contents of the trailer he’d used for demolition, my eyes lit up. He had thrown several old fence posts into trailer, which I immediately saw as landscape timbers. I asked him for those. He said that I could take away any item that was in that trailer.

When I looked at it more closely sometime later, I noticed bricks in there. Nice big, thick, coated bricks. Perfect for getting the fryer’s legs off the ground. I brought both fence posts and bricks home.

Saturday morning I laid those bricks where I had envisioned them and put the fryer on top. I had just enough to do the job.

I put the cover back on and was very pleased with my work.

Hubby also grabbed opportunity recently when he took out some trash. A nice plastic tub was in the Dumpster with the price sticker still attached. He fished it out and covered the tiller’s engine with it. We have no place to store the tiller, so the tub will protect the engine from rain and dirt.

Keep your eyes peeled!

Farm-fresh eggs from free-range chickens

I visited a farm on Friday. Residents were feeding their chickens when I arrived, so I went to the chicken coop. The smell of the coop took me right back to my grandparents’ farm.

Grandma kept chickens throughout most of my childhood. I thought the chickens were hilarious. I laughed at the way they walked, how they stuck out their necks with each step. I laughed when they tried to fly. They were busy things, always chasing after bugs. Grandma didn’t have many bugs; the chickens ate them all.

When I visited, my “chore” was to gather eggs. That was hardly a chore. I thought gathering eggs was a privilege. I loved the smell of the coop and the taste of farm-fresh eggs. The yolks were a deeper yellow and the flavor was much more intense than anything bought in the store.

I didn’t think their beaks were funny, though. Grandma said that I could take eggs from underneath the setting hens. I tried that once. Hen didn’t appreciate my actions and pecked me. I stayed away from occupied nests after that. That beak was sharp!

Grandma finally dispensed with her chickens about the time I went to college. Grandpa tore down the chicken house. Three years later, Grandma dug the soil underneath the chicken house and put it on her garden. The plants came up, then died. That soil was too hot even after three years. Grandma didn’t have much garden that year. The only veggies she harvested were in corners where the “chickenized” soil hadn’t reached. The next year made up for it. She had never had such bountiful crops in decades of gardening.

The farm was never quite the same post-chickens. I missed their soft clucking and their funny strut. And I sure missed fresh eggs and Grandma’s fried chicken. Store-bought chicken just does not compare to free-range, bug-eating chicken. The flavor just is not there.

Now I’m getting hungry!