Freemotion's food journal: Expanding the gardens, pics p 53

[ohiofarmgirl]

great work, Free! and no puking at all!!!!

but i have to say, i laughed out loud at this one:

When I got the roosters out of the coop last night and put them into the dog cage, I comforted each one, told him how beautiful he was, and thanked him. I took each into the well-lit goat's stall to inspect him and make sure he was a he and not a precious future-egg-laying pullet.

heh heh heh.... suffice it to say that neither of them Imp-killin' roos got any of that treatment. and the other nite for dinner i ate their livers fried in butter.

but i LOVE that you sent them on their way with some kind words. i think mine were "take THAT you #(#$)(*#)($*)(#*)$(N# #(#*$)#*)#"

anyway, i know that you know this.. but if you hold them upside down they calm right down (might flap for a couple seconds) and then there is no struggle at all. i always have a little laugh about the "how do you DO that people" because they think the bird is fighting for its life and desperately trying to get away - nope, they just lay their little heads down. i'm always kind of happy that our birds dont have any fear in their lives and only think for the last couple minutes, "golly this is a crazy way to be held.. kinda like it....." and then its on to chicken heaven.

i'll be interested to hear your impression of the "new" barnyard... ours is so much more peaceful without so many roos. the hens are out there skippin' around, everyone is singing a happy song, and truthfully - i got more eggs the day after "roo day" than i had before.

our meats are just about ready - when is your meat day?

we are having chicken pot pie tonite - been cooking down the carcasses in the crockpot for over a day now and the broth should be incredible.

our pigs are excavating where we think they used to have a junk pile. they are finding so much weird stuff. i'm kinda wondering whats going to be in the pig gut bucket. yikes!

great work with the roos and EXCELLENT work on the no-puke-plucking!

 

[freemotion]

HA! OFG, George never got kind words, let me tell you. I'd've eaten his liver raw and with my bare hands had I caught him that day he knocked Mya's baby over. A lovely thought.....but yeah, had I caught him, I would definitely have killed him. Without a second thought.

I learned a lot from having mean ol' George as my first rooster. Now I play rooster soccer from the first sign of cock-a-doodle-doo. So these grandsons of George where a nice bunch.

I lived next to a battery egg farm when I was a teen and they switched out a quarter of their hens every three months. All the kids in the neighborhood....maybe 12-15 of us (there are twenty houses in the settlement and now there are NO children there!) would line up to haul chickens. I could hold six at a time, three in each hand. We'd start in the chicken house where the farmer would be pulling hens out of cages and holding them upside down, then handing them off to us. We'd hold by one leg, not two, so we could hold more hens at a time.

Then we'd hand these old hens off the the person on the truck, who would hand us pullets in the same way. Back into the barn we'd go, where they'd get stuffed into the little wire cage to live their short lives until the truck came for them a few months later. Their brief moment in the sunshine and fresh air was spent upside-down in a kid's tight grip.

If a hen was dropped and went into the manure pit underneath, she was left their to die. The farmer's four-year-old fell in once....they went and got him!

So nope, I have no problems turning them upside-down. With these roosters, I did that when I caught them, then I carried them upright once they settled, and they were all very good boys.

Now they are very yummy boys.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Prepare now! Buy a Dutch oven! big_smile

ohmigosh! i laughed the ENTIRE TIME i was outside about this and had to come back and tell you how hilarious you are!

love ya baby! whooooo! prepare now! buy a dutch oven!!! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

 

[freemotion]

I am already drooling over my broth on the stove....Sunday dinner! Woohoo!

Glad I made you smile, you deserve it. You make us all smile every day, sweetie!

 

[freemotion]

I just had a quick lunch and decided to turn on the tv while eating it to force myself to slow down....and to sit down. It is a bad habit of mine to eat breakfast or lunch...sometimes both....standing in the kitchen and doing stuff between bites. I had a lovely quick lunch of tortilla chips with super sharp cheddar melted on them, and a largish bowl of guacamole and homemade fermented tomato salsa to scoop up with them. I had at least 4 servings of veggies, probably 5 servings. I'm stuffed.

I was watching a food show....maybe Paula Dean and her son? They were making a "healthy" dinner.....and it included a "healthy" version of rice pudding. Made with white rice, milk, a can of sweetened condensed milk, dried cherries (what a waste of beautiful cherries!!!) and a tiny bit of heavy cream. There was an argument about not adding any butter....this sugar-laden, highly refined dessert was healthy because it had no butter?

They had oven-baked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, served with a tiny scoop of sugared carrots.

No wonder this country is obese.

 

[Denim Deb]

I just had a quick lunch and decided to turn on the tv while eating it to force myself to slow down....and to sit down. It is a bad habit of mine to eat breakfast or lunch...sometimes both....standing in the kitchen and doing stuff between bites.

Are we related? That's often how I eat!

 

[freemotion]

It is a BAAAAD habit! My feet hurt! I deserve to take a break! Well, here I am, sitting now...

Sunday dinner is over and dh is loading the dishwasher. I cooked up the ten legs from those five roosters in the Dutch oven....browned 'em in bacon fat, added onions from the garden and store bought garlic (next year, FD!!! Home grown!), homegrown scallions and homemade sea salt. Added some of the broth I'd made from the necks and backs. YUMMM!

We had ployes (buckwheat pancakes) with them, and for veggies I made a casserole of root veggies. It was fantastic, definitely a keeper. It was based loosely on a recipe seen in a womens magazine in a waiting room, can't remember now which one. The recipe called for root veggies sliced thinly and layered in a pie plate with salt and pepper and baked. That version was pretty boring and bland. My updates made it very tasty!

Root Veggie Casserole

Use the food processor to thinly slice a few of the following veggies, in any combination that you happen to have or that you find appealing:

Carrots (I cut the biggest ones into thirds and slice 'em sideways for easier handling in this recipe, so they make big carrot rectangles)
Rutabaga and/or turnip
Beets (not too many unless you love beets)
Parsnips
Sweet potatoes
Broccoli stems (trim off the tough end)

Steam the slices until almost tender, one type of veggie at a time, and remove to a plate until ready to assemble the casserole.

Grease a casserole dish...or pie plate...or loaf pan....whatever you have to fit the amount of veggies you want to use....grease it with bacon grease if you have it. Anything will do, but something flavorful will be better.

Make an herbed butter or chicken fat with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and your favorite herb or herbs. I like basil and oregano. I use chicken fat if I have it. I used about a half cup for a deep, square dish about 10" square. Melt the herbed fat. I make this ahead and freeze it, and use it also when I make roasted veggies.

Layer the different types of veggies in the dish, making colorful layers, and drizzle a little of the herbed fat about every third layer or so. I also like to grate some strong cheese between the layers. I used a seriously sharp 3 year Cabot cheddar tonight, I've used homemade feta with good results, too.

Bake at 350-375 F for about 30 minutes. Temp depends on what else you have in the oven at the time....



We finished the meal with a nice apple pie, made with a wonderful crust of soft white wheat flour and lard and sea salt. So tender and flaky. I didn't take the time to ferment it, though. We are all stuffed!

ETA: Best thing is, we had enough leftovers that we don't have to cook tomorrow night! I sent enough home with my folks, too!

 

[TanksHill]

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

It is a BAAAAD habit! My feet hurt! I deserve to take a break! Well, here I am, sitting now...

ahhh..i do the same thing. i finally sat down too! and leftovers make it so much easier
;-)

 

[freemotion]

Whew, what a day! I canned 51 pints of turkey chili and threw in 9 pints of turkey broth to fill up the third canner-load. I just now heard the pressure drop, so I can go take the weight off and open the canner. I have the first 40 pints cooling on the counter and the 60 labels printed up. I use address labels and keep a couple of files with my recipe files so I can quickly change the item and date and run off a bunch of labels each time I can.

I have some turkey broth left over and some turkey breast meat, so tomorrow it is turkey soup or turkey pot pie, and turkey salad sandwiches for Monday. Then watch for another good sale and do it all again!

For supper dh steamed up some carrots and brocolli and heated up some spaghetti sauce I made earlier in the year...the last one, actually, so I will have to hop to it and get some more made and canned. He put some sausage that he'd made previously from a whole pork loin that he'd ground, seasoned, cooked, and froze for quick meals later. I also put the last of the rooster meat (two breasts and a wing) into the oven to reheat and we ate those, too. I was HUNGRY! I was in such a hurry today that all I had for lunch was a couple of pieces of toast with butter....homemade bread, this time, and a good batch, too.

I need to get a lot of stuff done to share with my folks, too. I see dad getting a bit burnt out from having to cook three meals a day. He needs a break, so canning it is!

I also finally opened that five gallon pail of honey I bought a few weeks ago...or was it months....to divide it into jars for ease of use and to give the folks their share...and to make some mead soon. It is definitely raw honey! It is dark, rich, and was all crystallized, like gritty soft butter. Mmmmmmmm.......what a job, though, scooping the sticky stuff into canning jars. I can't tell you how many times I licked my fingers, and washed my hands, and the pail is only half empty.

Back to the salt mines!