The Secret Ingredient in Pizza Sauce??

Okay so what ever made me think you were suppose to "buy" pizza sauce??? Actually I never really gave it any thought at all. I would just plop it on the grocery list and pick up a jar. Well since I've been reading labels and watching prices things are changing. Oh sure you can get a cheapie and it's full of sugar and salt but to get a good fresh tasting one you pay!! So I thought why don't you just make it. Oh my it's sooo simple. I just sauteed a little garlic, poured in a large can of crushed tomatoes, added a little basil and oregano then let it simmer till it was nice and thick and it was the perfect sauce for my homemade whole wheat crust. I can't believe I'm this old and I am only now realizing you don't have to "buy" something so easy to make. I guess it's never too late to learn.

Huge Egg!!

Oh boy what a big egg!! Vince went out to let the chickens out of the coop and they always crowd the doorway like middle school kids lining up for lunch, pushing shoving and trying to be the first in line. So he has to step over them to get in and right as he put his foot down he looked to the left and there was this huge egg. This one was definitely picture worthy. It weighed 2 1/2 oz, was 2 3/4" long 1 3/4" diameter and 5 1/2" around. We will let you know if it's a double yolker. Most of them are using the nesting boxes but a couple like a hidden spot behind a bucket in the corner and the newbies are still dropping them here and there. Overall though they are very good girls. Now I think I'll go have some eggs and toast:-)

Vegetable Stock

Recently Jenny sent me a recipe for vegetable stock, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's amazing we pay for this stuff when it's so easy to make and for a fraction of the cost. I started with a base of carrots, onions and celery then added a few other things like a leek, some scallions, garlic, bay leaf, parsley, and mushrooms. I sauteed all that in a tablespoon of olive oil for about 10 minutes just to bring out the flavors then added 2 quarts of water, brought it to boil and then let it simmer for about an hour. A little salt, pepper and Taa Daa!!!! Soooo easy and soooo good. After straining it through a colander then again through a very fine strainer I pulled out the carrots to put in Annie and Rory's food later. No reason they shouldn't get some reward after having to smell those wonderful smells all afternoon. I can't wait to use it. I think I'll make the Split peas soup recipe Jenny posted awhile back and maybe cook up some brown rice. Yummy!!!!

Christmas is over!!!

Well it's all over now, but it was a great one. Christmas day was very enjoyable. We opened presents, ate and then went out to visit the girls. I think everyone visited with the chickens. Irene even held one, although I'm not really sure that was her intention. Irene was sitting down and one jumped up in her lap. I think she liked it though. Jenny liked to watch them run, which is kinda funny. They half run half fly and pop a couple of wheelies now and then. It really was a great Christmas.

A trip to the farm!!!

After satisfying our growling tummies, we decided to take a ride up to a farm. This farm is owned by Vince's boss and it's huge. He's building two ponds and it has acres of field. The 4 of us and Broch crowded in the VW Golf and off we went. Broch loved it. He ran and ran and then found the water. He jumped right in, brrrrrrr!!!!! After swimming after a few sticks, we let him run around some more to dry off a bit. Then we all crowded back in the car for the drive home. Broch laid his head on Jenny's shoulder for a couple minutes then curled up in a ball and that was the last of his consciousness till we got home. It was a fun time. I think we'd like to have a farm some day, we'd have some goats, chickens and a big garden!!!!

Non-traditional Christmas food!!

Well I can't say anything we ate for Christmas is what you would call "traditional" for other people but it is becoming our tradition. We started Christmas Eve with some veggie subs. We had a foundation of homemade french bread, layered with some baby romaine lettuce from the garden then as many other veggies as we could pile on. For a side we had fresh steamed broccoli from the garden, yummy!!!! Then on Christmas day we cooked up a large pot of veggie style Brunswick stew, a pot of veggie beef soup for Matt and Irene brought over a really good spinach lasagna. So I'm guessing our food doesn't really meed the traditional standard but it was delicious. And as an added bonus there's lots of leftovers that freeze well so we can pull it out later.

Gotta have dry feet :-)

Poor chickies!!!! Their run was just so wet and it's not good for them to have wet feet all the time. Parasites and insects and stuff get to be a problem when there's too much moisture. So I shoveled out all the wet leaves and stuff, ahhh, 5 wheelbarrows full of decaying leaves and bedding. Then I put down clean fresh kiln dried wood shaving. To help keep it dry I put clear plastic over the part of their run that wasn't covered. I used clear so I wouldn't cut out any more light than I had to. Well they danced around all afternoon. I looked out several times and they were dancing and bathing. There were about 4 taking a bath all at the same time. I think they like their dry run. Now I need to take a long hot bath.