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.

Your Kingdom Come

I have been studying the book by Kay Arthur "Lord, Teach Me to Pray in 28 Days." It is going through the Lord's Prayer. I am on day 7 (Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven) and it has taken me about 4 weeks to get to this day. I am taking my time (I think you figured that out). Day 7 title is, "Eagerly Awaiting Him." It is talking about our allegiance. Half-way through Day 7, Kay writes this: Churchianity puts people first; church is about them and their desires. Christianity puts Christ in His rightful place as head of the church.

The part that struck me was the following:

Let's face it, too often in life our walk doesn't match out talk. We want only enough of Christianity to get us to heaven, only enough to get our prayers answered and get the benefits of healing and prosperity. We don't want to give total allegiance to His kingdom, because it call us to a cross. We don't want His kingdom to come today, tomorrow, or even within a few years because, like Demas, we love this present world more (2 Timothy 4:10).

Kay then writes, "is this right or is it wrong? Does any of it describe you?"


This is something to think about, hmmm?

Morning Read

During my quiet time this morning, I was reading in Philippians 1. Paul was in prison. In verse 12 I read , "Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel."

Do I think like that in my life? "My circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel"? I think my thoughts are more like I want my circumstances to turn out of the greater of Renee. Is the gospel anywhere in my thoughts? Am I out for God or me? I have a lot to think about don't I? How about you?

Update on Reading through the Bible

On July 18, 2009 I started reading through the Bible...not like most of the ways that are promoted (like in a year.) For me to read it in a year would have been more like something to check off my "to do list". This is God's Word!!! Not something to accomplish in a year and say...well look at me I read the Bible in a year. I wanted more plus if I missed a day on the schedule, well then I was finished. I would never catch up.

So, I started reading one chapter in Gensis, one chapter in Psalm and one in Matthew. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. It has taught me diligence and perseverance. Sometimes, I had no clue what I just read and sometimes the Words just leaped off the page. Sometimes, I missed a day and guess what, I did not feel I was behind at all. Currently I have read through, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Psalms, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians and Galatians.

God gets the glory and praise in all of it.

Repotting Herbs

We have an Aero-Garden. Mint, sweet basil, dill, chives, purple basil and thyme are in it and Brent put some tomato seeds in the one that had parsley in it (it never grew.) Today, we are going to re-pot the mint, sweet basil, dill and thyme. Cooking with fresh herbs is wonderful...they bring an amazing flavor to food. They really enhance the flavor of what ever you are cooking.

I found out when I cooked some new potatoes and could not find any flat leaf Italian parsley that dill is AWESOME in new potatoes. I always thought dill was for fish but boy was I proven wrong...try some. If you have a recipe that calls for fresh herb, instead of buy it from the produce dept go to the garden center and see if they have any in pots. The price is about the same and then you can grow then yourself!!!!

Olive Oil Cake with Lemon and Thyme

Today I finally found a cup cake recipe that I can bake...and it is delicious. I hope you try it.

Olive Oil Cakes with Lemon and Thyme

Ingredients
1 Tbsp melted butter
1 1/3 cup of sugar
2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 whole eggs
1/4 cups olive oil
2/3 cups whole milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp minced fresh thyme


For the glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice, or more as needed

Preparation Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. I used foiled muffin cups and put them in the muffin tin but if you do not have muffin cups, prepare a muffin pan with melted butter and then dust with a little bit of flour. Pulse the sugar and lemon zest in a blender until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, then gradually pour in the olive oil and milk, pulsing until emulsified into a thin batter, about 30 seconds. Don't overblend or the cakes will be too puffy.

Whisk one cup of flour, the baking powder, salt and thyme in a small bowl. Add to the blender in 2 batches until just combined. Pour the batter unto the prepared pan and bake until the cakes just start to pull away from the sides of the pan and spring back when lightly touched, about 25 minutes depending on your oven.

In the meantime, make the glaze: whisk the powdered sugar, melted butter and lemon juice until smooth, adding more lemon juice if too thick. Drizzle over the cooled cakes and garnish with a thyme sprig.