New Peeps at our Place...

While growing up my dad was an advocate of growing and raising some of our own food even though our home was located within the city limits~ albeit on a large-size lot by today's standards. We had a good size vegetable garden ~ which later was replaced by a swimming pool ~ much to the delight of us kids! We had a few fruit trees, and we also raised chickens for eggs. We also had rabbits, but they ended up being pets, not food for the table. That was years and years ago and although I've raised ducks for eggs in the meantime, I haven't had chickens since then. I've been wanting to have our own fresh, organic eggs for a while ~ so here we are!



Please say hello to the first five ~ they are all Buff Orpingtons, a beautiful, usually docile and gentle breed developed in the late 1800's in Orpington, Kent, UK.

Photo: Buff Hooligans
They will look similar to example above when full grown. They are "dual-purpose" hens, producing meat and eggs ~ they will be strictly for eggs at our place.

Tomorrow we'll be adding a few more to our little flock:
Photo: Google Silver Laced Wyandotte
(An American bird, developed in New York in the 1870's) and
Photo: Bing.com And Gold Laced Wyandottes (This American breed was developed in Wisconsin, 1880's)

The Buff Orpington's arrived first, here they are when they came home:

Aren't they darling? :D They must be kept quite warm for the first few weeks until their feathers grow in, so into the warm brooder box they went and will stay until they are a little more mature.

Healthy appetites!



Adorable tiny wings, and fluffy tushes ~ but they are growing so fast!




We've picked names for the five so far, the others will be determined as we meet the new chicks. May I introduce to you ~
"Pumpkin"


"Chloe"



"Chelsea"


"Lolly"
"Sassy Sally" (Here she is, walking off the set. I don't think she liked the terms of the photo shoot.) *grin*
Now for the work ~
Presently we're working on the coop ~ It definitely won't be as elegant as one of Martha Stewart's:
Instead this is what I have in mind:

Photo: Buff Hooligans
We'll allow them free-range while supervised, at other times they will have access to their run.

Photo: Buff Hooligans Again, much like this one completely screened, but larger than this because of our larger flock.
If all goes well, we should be enjoying our first eggs in about 5 months or so ... Updates to follow!










If you've ever considered having your own little flock of chickens there are plenty of resources available on the internet. One of my favorites is Backyard Chickens You know I love your comments. And if you have chickens, I would really appreciate hearing from you, too!

Irish Scones & A GIVEAWAY!

With many of us preparing to celebrate St. Patrick's Day next week, I thought it would be appropriate to share one of my favorite recipes for Irish Scones. This one is from Darina Allen. Darina is the founder of internationally known Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, Ireland.

Several years ago Ms. Allen recognized that the Irish culinary tradition was slipping away, actually in danger of being lost and she set out to research and record the history of food in Ireland. This recipe is from her book

"The Complete Book of Irish Country Cooking ~ Traditional and Wholesome Recipes from Ireland".

To learn more about Darina Allen and her books you can click Darina Allen's Amazon page to see or order her books.

~Fresh and warm from the oven, split and slathered~

The recipe yields a generous 18 to 20 scones (I always cut the recipe in half or thirds.) Darina writes that her mother would make a full batch of the scone dough, and cut it into squares or diamonds for their family of nine. Her mother would also sometimes serve them as after school snacks for her children and there was rarely a crumb left.

This recipe makes the tallest and most flaky scones I have ever tasted, whether it is due to the cutter I use, or Darina's recipe I don't know. I use the largest cutter from this set. (I'm giving a set of these cutters away ~ you can get the details below.)

See how tall and flaky they are? So buttery and tender, too.

Darina suggest serving them with jam or preserves and a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Who am I to argue with her suggestion? :D

She also suggests brushing them with an egg wash and sprinkling with granulated sugar before baking in a very hot oven. This helps them brown up so nicely and adds a slightly crunchy texture which I love.

I do believe they are my favorite scones, and very, very good !

If you would like a copy of Darina's recipe you can find it HERE on my recipe blog.

Now, for the GIVEAWAY!

I highly recommend these sturdy cutters ~ they work really well for cutting perfect shapes for cookies, biscuits, scones, puff pastry, etc.

(They are dishwasher safe.)

If you would like a chance to win a set of the~ RSVP 4 Square Rippled Biscuit Cookie Cutters (Stainless Steel) (click the link to learn more)

The rules to enter for a chance to win are simple:

You must:

1.) Be a follower in my side column

2.) Leave a comment on this post*

3.) One entry per household, please

* If you're not a follower, sign up in the side column, above

Note:

This time, there are no restrictions as to location ~

I'll send the cutters to virtually anywhere in the world!

Good Luck to all who enter!

The winner will be selected randomly and will be announced next Friday,

March 19th.

Please visit Michael's blog "Designs By Gollum" to see everyone who is participating in FOODIE FRIDAY this week. Thank you for hosting us Michael!!

Lemon Drizzle Cake

First of all, I want to thank you all very, very much for the kind and much appreciated comments while I took some time off for a "blogcation".

Your comments really touched my heart!

Although I didn't get around to everything I had on my "to do list" ~ I was able to make a small dent in most of my projects. It's great to be back!

Thank you so much for following along, and I'm sending out a big welcome to all of my new followers too!

The other day I picked the remaining Meyer Lemons from the potted trees and decided to make this extra lemony and simple cake with a couple of them.

Super moist and delicious, it is fabulous with a cup of tea or coffee. Best of ALL ~ the batter is fast to blend together using the food processor. If you don't over-mix the batter (that's the key) ~ you'll produce a perfect cake with a very moist and tender crumb.

There are several versions of Lemon Drizzle Cake and this one is one of my favorites, it is from the BBC's "Saturday Women's Hour" radio program. Buttery, moist and rich, it is bursting with fresh lemony flavor.

You can find the recipe HERE. (click to link)

Traditionally the batter is usually baked in a loaf pan but I decided to bake it in a 9-inch round cake pan for a change, and reduced the baking time by about 10 minutes.

The secret to the cakes moistness is a lemon and confectioner's sugar syrup poured over the warm cake, as the cake cools the syrup is absorbed. It is utterly delicious ~ slightly tart and tangy-sweet flavor.

Incidentally, you don't need Meyer lemons ~ any fresh, juicy lemon will do.

It's a good one to remember when you want a simple little snack or dessert cake.

If you try it, I hope you love it, too.

Thank you for stopping by today!

I always enjoy reading any comments you care to share.

Blogcation!

Hi friends ~ I want to let you know that I'll be taking a blogcation for a short time as there are some projects I'd like to get to before the gardens start calling for more attention this spring.



Besides the semi-annual task of deep cleaning and tidying closets I thought I would share some of the other things I have on my list (the fun things!)



A couple of quilt and sewing projects that have been on my list for a while.

Copious amounts of tea will be consumed. :0)

Any Cath Kidston fans out there? I am one happy fan of hers... and I have a carry-all and another small bag to stitch.

I hope to put some time into a couple of crochet projects ...

in soft colors ~ I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, but this is close enough.

I was going for soft and soothing ice cream colors.

Here's the pattern I'm using for the afghan (blanket):

I found it in this older book:

As you can see it's a Granny-patch style ~

Since the smaller pieces are worked one at a time then assembled into the afghan, it's easily transportable and not bulky so it can be worked on in spare moments at home, or away.

And below is the other one I've already begun (this is a photo from the pattern) . If you know me you know I love that blue/yellow combination.

I don't expect to finish them on my time off, but I hope to make some progress!

And catching up on some (too many) books that I bought some time ago ~

Including four authored by Tessa Kiros ~ I'm ashamed to say I've had these two for a couple of years, I feel badly that I have not given them proper attention.

A mother of two young daughters, I adore her style; casual and real. The recipes are unusual and absolutely beautiful ~ I plan on cooking from them and will share some of the recipes from the books in the near future.

Beautiful, mouth-watering photos ...

Would you look at this scrumptious-looking dessert?

And these are two more, also by Ms. Kiros ~ loaded with recipes and her food memories. I usually read cookbooks from cover to cover if they are particularly interesting, and these fit into that category.

I think between cleaning, tidying and catching up with some of my fiber hobbies and maybe some painting~ I'll be happily busy, but I'll be around with the exception of a couple of day trips we have planned.

Thank you for stopping by, and your welcome comments!