The Girls

We have 8 hens..
they are our pets...
we live in the city, in a neighborhood.
They give us 5-8 eggs a day.



Since Friday I have used 12 eggs.
I made a hollandaise sauce for grilled salmon. 3 egg yokes.... Yum
I made brownies. 4 eggs. Yum
I scrabbled them with Chorizo sausage for breakfast this morning. 5 eggs...Yum

And later today, I will make Creme Brule.....with 8 eggs and 2 cups of heavy cream that Mr. B skimmed off some raw milk that we get once a week (we own 1 shares in 8 dairy cows) ....He made mozzarella. Yum and Yum

Garden Saturday

Every Saturday, I will post about my husband's vegetable garden.

He is at 115 lbs of produce.

Today we are featuring the Armenian cucumber. Brent picked one this morning...it was almost 7 lbs. See the picture.

The Armenian cucumber grows approximately 30 to 36 inches long. It grows equally well on the ground or on a trellis. Actually a melon with a taste like a cucumber-it is burpless and easy to digest. Armenian cucumber plants prefer to grow in full sun for most of the day. The fruit is most flavorful when it is 12-15 inches long. Pickled Armenian cucumber is sold in middle-eastern markets as "Pickled Wild Cucumber".^[1]

Review

Every Friday, I will review/share/interest you in one of the blog sites I like to go to. I will post on it later this evening or start next Friday. I got up a little late this morning ....Have a blessed day.. (I have no clue why I picked this picture of a lizard...I guess I just liked it)

Weekly Memory Verse

Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

When Life Gives You 2 1/2 pounds of Basil Leaves

You make pesto....lots of pesto...we put up 12 half pints of pesto. We used only walnuts no pine nuts...too expensive

This is Ina Gartner's recipe.

Pesto:

* 1/4 cup walnuts
* 1/4 cup pignoli (pine nuts)
* 3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
* 5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 1/2 cups good olive oil
* 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Place the walnuts, pignoli, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Notes: Air is the enemy of pesto. For freezing, pack it in containers with a film of oil or plastic wrap directly on top with the air pressed out.

To clean basil, remove the leaves, swirl them in a bowl of water, and then spin them very dry in a salad spinner. Store them in a closed plastic bag with a slightly damp paper towel. As long as the leaves are dry they will stay green for several days.

Cooking Pasta

All the cooks/Chefs on TV say to boil your pasta in salted water...salted like the sea...don't do it...it is too salty

It's Been Awhile

Hi everyone...it has been awhile since I have posted...busy yes...too busy to post...no...guess I have been lazy...Here is a few things that have been going on here...

1. The Girls (8 hens) are doing wonderful. They are giving us 5-8 eggs a day.
2. The Farms (here at our home, in a neighborhood) is amazing. Brent has given us such a gift. Since Brent's first planting at the end of March beginning of April, he has harvested 97 lbs of produce. We have had lettuce, yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, green beans (purple and bush) and basil.
3. We took the basil and turned it into 12 half pints of pesto.
4. Still working with the landscaper to get our yard back after the ABC's Extreme Makeover that happened to one of our neighbors. Our yard was torn up afterward.
5. Still hanging clothes on the clothes line....loving it...
6. We still cook from scratch...no processed food.
7. Brent has been making cheese: mozzarella, Gouda and cheddar right now.
8. We still are getting raw milk, every week....it taste so good.
9. I am still reading through the Bible..I have already read the New Testament and have started over...getting ready to finish Matthew. In the Old Testament, I am in 1 Kings and Jeremiah. This has been the the best read through the Bible I have ever done.

Take Care and have a blessed week.