Holy Cow....Blogger Can Now Upload Videos!

I've spent the past week and a half trying to determine how to upload a video of the chickens to the blog. I stayed up tonight determined to add the html code to the blog to link Site Meter or Google Analytics to the blog AND while doing so, I read a news update on Blogger stating that it now uploads video...SO HERE GOES!

Here are Amber, Honey, and Molly being coerced to move into their mobile pen which Stephen and I move to fresh grass each day. The girls are getting better and better at moving back and forth.

Incidentally, for those of you who are "staying tuned," the nesting box is in the Chicken Palace and the girls are quite curious. We wait and look each day but

STILL NO EGGS!

(If you have trouble viewing the video, click on the triangle and watch the grey bar at the bottom of the screen fill completely. When the bar is completely full, click in the area where the triangle was located again and the video will play.)

Ah yes....SWEET SUCCESS!

The jars procured and canning pot purchased (thanks to my friend, Melissa's help), last night I set out to make my FIRST fig preserves. Having followed the recipe the night before, the figs had been quartered and chopped in the food processor. I stirred in only half the sugar that the recipe recommended and Stephen and I taste-tested. The ripe figs were so very sweet that we decided to add no more. The mixture "steeped" in the refrigerator the night before the preserve-making began.

As soon as I came in from work, I poured the fig mixture into a large cooking pot and it simmered on low temperature all evening. Finally as it thickened into what I thought was an appropriate consistency, I sterilized my half-pint jars, tops, and rings. Stephen schooled me in Sterilizing 101 as he had plenty of prior experience as a "canning assistant" to his mom during his youth.

I cut thin lemon slices into quarters and placed them into the jars. Just before pouring the beautiful amber preserves into the jars, I decided to be adventurous (sorry, those of you who know me well understand that I simply cannot follow a recipe verbatim) and stir in some raisins. I know that raisins and lemons are not local, but I simply could not help myself! Nine half-pint jars were filled to the brim along with one honey jar and a favorite tiny jam jar that I had saved. The tiny jar will make a trek to Blacksburg this weekend so that Rach and family can sample the preserves to see how the results of the "blog chronicle" really taste.

Breakfast proved to be a good testing ground and we thought that the preserves were divine on toasted whole grain bread with rosemary and walnuts. Our next experiment will be a wonderful savory bruschetta that our friend, Carol, made for us last fall. After grilling whole grain baguette slices brushed with olive oil, top slices with generous dollops of fig preserves. Then top liberally with crumbled blue cheese. Broil until preserves bubble and blue cheese melts. Last, open a crisp bottle of white wine (probably a pinot), cut some fresh fruit...and UMMMM!

Fig Bounty!

There is a standing joke in the Atkinson family about one's fig bounty. Several years ago we planted fig bushes on Mother's Day in two different places...one in our yard and one in Stephen's mother's yard in Clayton, located about 1 1/2 hours east of us. While our bush was a Mission Fig variety and hers was a Brown Turkey Fig, we thought that since they were planted at the same time that we could expect a similar yield. We couldn't have been more wrong!

While our bush flourished and grew so tall that it had to be pruned, Stephen's mom's bush was beaten to death by the yard crew's weed eaters and looked so pitiful during subsequent visits to her house that we were sure that it would die. But alas.....Soon there were reports of small figs growing and her pathetic bush was soon covered with figs ready to pick. Our bush, on the other hand, sported a few figs that either birds or insects devoured or dropped to the ground. Needless to say, Stephen was not happy and his mom bragged about having to hire workers to come in and help pick her crop.

This past weekend when Peggy came to visit, she brought a small bag of ripe figs to us from her bush. During the "yard tour" outside our house, we viewed Stephen's magnificent fig bush....completely devoid of figs. Mission Figs must simply not like the eastern North Carolina climate.

Tonight when Stephen comes in from work, he will be stunned and most likely disgusted at his "lack of yield," compared to other fig growers in the area. My friend, Melissa, caught me before I left work to share the news that her friends, Mary and Panny, had figs and figs and figs. Since Melissa knows how much we love them, she arranged for me to go by Mary and Panny's house on the way home. I was stunned when they gave me a huge bag filled with ripe figs...weighing 5 1/2 pounds on the scale when I returned home. Panny told me that he has picked between four and five BUSHELS of figs from this one bush. As you can see by the pictures, they are beautiful and after sampling a few (yes, I couldn't resist), they couldn't be sweeter. I've read through many recipes and the fig preserves below sound most appealing. The suggestion about adding thin lemon slices really intrigued me. Now the decision before me is to consider whether or not to head out in search of small canning jars!

FRESH FIG PRESERVES

There is probably no better known use for figs (as with most fruit) than as preserves. Debates between cooks continue on whether "real" fig preserves contain some citrus (we like it) and whether one should peel the figs (don't expect me to do it).

Here's the classic guide. Ratio: one cup sugar to one cup chopped fresh figs (it works the same for one pound of sugar to one pound of fresh figs; one palmful of sugar to one handful of figs -- you get the picture...) Grated lemon zest or finely sliced bits of lemon (the paper thin slices make the preserves delightfully like a marmalade - leave them out if this does not please you)

Basic Directions: Cut up the figs as fine as you like. Mix the figs with the sugar and let rest in a covered plastic or glass container overnight. The next morning, cook the mixture down over very low heat until it is soft and thick. Spoon into hot canning jars and cover with lids you've had soaking in boiling (hot) water. The lids will seal as the jam cools. Refrigerate any jars that do not compress and seal.

That's basically it and the recipe has been winning blue ribbons for generations. Everything else is the individual cook's imagination. We like it less sweet and cut back on the sugar. We have had this with a lot of citrus grated and sliced into it; with raisins cooked into it; with cinnamon and other spices. Be careful - the taste of the figs is rich but light and can be quickly overpowered. We recommend trying a straight batch first and then getting adventurous.

Gourmet Variation: A delicious addition to a fig preserve recipe is a drop or two (per jar) of real maple syrup to enhance the natural flavor of the figs. The maple adds just the right touch to the natural flavor of the figs, but only add just a drop or two per jar -- not enough to even be able to identify it as maple. --MZ

Our thanks to Viola Dickerson and Joyce Bradshaw Maria Zee and fig lover V.R. for sharing their winning fig preserve tips with us!

-Recipe adapted from the Fresh Fig Preserve recipe at:

http://www.paradisenursery.com/frfigpr.html

New Ice Cream Experiences In Colorado

Our ice cream adventures followed us across the United States as we visited our nephew, Jeff, in Fort Collins. Soon after we arrived, he showed us his thriving Chocolate Mint herb plant that resides quite happily on his back patio. I commented that Chocolate Mint herbal ice cream would taste divine. Jeff was really excited because he likes the flavor of chocolate, but has no use for the waxy base that typically accompanies it.

Following the recipe that we had used for our Lavendar Ice Cream and Lemon Verbena Ice Cream (details in earlier posts), we steeped about 2 brimming cups of chocolate mint herb leaves in scalded milk, made the cooked custard noted in the recipe below, and chilled it well. This chilling process is essential if you hope to churn it in 30-45 minutes.

The resulting ice cream was outstanding! The chocolate and mint flavors were subtly evident...all without adding an ounce of real chocolate! After returning from our Colorado trip, we stopped by the Raleigh Farmer's Market to buy some fresh vegetables. Little did we know that we would encounter an herb farm offering both chocolate mint AND Lemon Verbena... we are hoping for more of our own ice cream adventures very soon.

Here is the recipe for the Chocolate Mint experiment!

Chocolate Mint Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS
7 ½ cups whole milk
3 vanilla beans, split OR 2 tablespoons Neilson-Massey Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste
2 cups fresh chocolate mint herb leaves, washed thoroughly
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup local honey (Jeff's honey was from nearby Greeley, CO!)
9 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream

DIRECTIONS
Scald the milk; then add the vanilla beans (or add vanilla) and the herb leaves. Leave to infuse for 15 minutes. Strain. Beat the sugar, honey, and egg yolks together. Add the milk (a half cup at a time) to egg mixture (stirring egg mixture constantly), until both milk mixture and egg mixture are blended thoroughly. Heat the mixture in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat until it coats the back of wooden spoon and wisps of steam appear. Do not boil. When custard is sufficiently heated, leave to cool. Mixture can sit overnight in the refrigerator. Stir in cream. Put chilled custard into ice cream freezer and churn until firm.

Water and Our Trip to Colorado

Our trip to Colorado was outstanding! The high plains of the state are dramatically different from North Carolina and returning from there gave us a new appreciation for how easily we access water in the east. The climate is so arid there, that it is almost impossible to NOT think about water every time you step outside during the summer months, especially in August. It is imperative that you take water with you wherever you go or dehydration can creep up on you without even realizing it. With water bottles all around us, I thought again and again about the first chapter in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle when Barbara Kingsolver and her family cite lack of access to water as their main reason for leaving Arizona and moving to the mountains of Virginia. I wonder if others share their great concern for living in an area where you don't even have the rights to use water from streams on your own property unless you own the water rights to do so.


I've read much more about this since returning and will admit that I never knew that east of Kansas City, the Riparian Rights to water are dramatically different from the rights west of the same locale. What we take for granted here in the east (in terms of water access on our own property) is against the law in Colorado. Collecting rain water for watering plants or animals is not allowed as water is the property of the state and it cannot be diverted from draining back into the public water system. Such a concept seems inconceivable to me, but it is indeed true. I am grateful for informative websites that have helped further explain these rights and how they evolved in further detail.


I add this entry post to my blog because Kingsolver's book has helped me gain a greater understanding of one of Americas' many wasteful obsessions....drinking bottled water. Although I certainly visit soft drink machines much less than the typical American, I can remember deciding to select bottled water as a "healthier" choice, not realizing how detrimental the bottled water industry is to the environment. Within a country where our tap water is typically safe, clean, and appealing to taste, Americans guzzle more bottled water than any other country in the world. A recent report compiled during four years of investigating the bottled water industry, The Natural Resources Defense Council concluded "there is no assurance that just because water comes out of a bottle, it is any cleaner or safer than water from the tap."


Moreover, the amount of plastic that fills American landfills as a result of our bottled water obsession is mind-boggling. Environmental Products (EPI) is a Colorado-based proponent and leader of oxo-biodegradable plastic additive technology. They strive to promote the use of Totally Degradable Plastic Additives (“TDPA™”) technology as an environmentally friendly and practical solution to the world’s plastic waste problems. Officials from the Earth Policy Institute offer a tangible estimate of how much plastic is generated by bottled water -hungry Americans. "Making bottles to meet Americans' demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year." An article from National Geographic News offers additional information about this appallingly wasteful American addiction.


I fill my water bottles with Brita filtered water daily and wish that others would realize how much waste is filling our landfills for no good reason. Perhaps, the only reason that might convince SOME Americans to give up their addiction is to realize how much money they are wasting. Typical bottled water, which in most cases comes from a PWS (public water source), costs as much as $2.50 [U.S.] per liter [$10 U.S. a gallon], more than three times as much as gasoline. Many public officials are banning the use of bottled water by their agencies. I say, "Bravo," to such moves and hope that more public action gains a groundswell.

We made Chicken Flicker's Chicken a day...

Here's the word....our chickens, Honey, Amber and Molly are featured on the web....Check it out! Here is the message that I received via email:

Your beautiful new chickens are featured on Chicken Flicker's One a Day series where we feature a chicken a day.http://chickenflicker.com/1aday/. Click on the August 16 entry!

Moving Day AT LAST!

John Alexander and I worked on finishing the chicken pen all day on Thursday and quit at dark. Stretching chicken wire tautly was not as easy as it looked. Up at 6 AM the next morning, we finished adding the final wire to the side of the cage, built a ramp, spread cedar bedding in the coop, and added a latch to the pen. A roosting stick was added inside the house, but nesting boxes and the front steps would have to wait until later.

We wanted the girls to get acclimated to their new surroundings during the day since we had to leave our house at 1AM to drive the RDU Airport for a 6AM departure to Denver. So as soon as the pen and Chicken Palace interior were ready, we prepared for the big move. The tin roof still had to be screwed in place, but that could take place AFTER Amber, Honey, and Molly moved in.

Temporary pen in transport, the girls clucked happily outside their new home. Stephen suggested that we wait to feed them until they had been moved, which proved to be a brilliant idea. Net in hand, Amber was the first to be scooped up and put in the pen to check out the new digs. Honey and Molly followed with little reluctance until Stephen attempted to soothe Molly before she joined her sisters. OOPS! Too bad about those black pants, Stephen. JA and I hooted, Molly officially joined the girls and the gate was shut. A celebratory repast of chicken feed and fresh corn was enjoyed by all.

Soon after chowing down, the REAL CELEBRATING began. Because the pen area enclosed a shaded area under the pine tree (formerly full of Jerusalem artichokes), a loose dirt floor was the perfect venue for a spa adventure of unending dust baths. Clouds of dust rose from the pen as the girls nuzzled into the cool soil, scratching and throwing dirt with wild abandon.

Most of the day was spent exploring the pen, dust bathing, and exploring again. Their one exposure to the coop’s interior occurred in the late afternoon as a thunderstorm erupted, JA scooped each girl into the side door of the coop where they stayed until the rain subsided. But as soon as the storm ended, they were back in the pen exploring again As we packed inside, we worried about what the hens would do as night fell. Would they willingly scale their ramp and head into the Chicken Palace for the evening? We all took ringside seats on the back deck to watch their antics as the roosting urge struck. As we expected, Amber was the first one inside. One sister followed and we all breathed a sigh of relief. But our lack of anxiety was short lived as the two emerged again. The next fifteen minutes yielded a hilarious shell game of one in, two in, one out, two out, etc. FINALLY, all three girls were in for the night and Stephen crept out to the palace to peek in the window. His eyes left the empty roosting bar and scanned the length of the house to the other end where the large plastic buckets of chicken feed and scratch were stacked. True to form, chickens always seek the highest place they can locate to roost. There they piled, on top of the buckets where they slept.


Before we departed for the airport at 2AM, Stephen stole into the backyard, flashlight in hand, to leave feed and scratch for the girls so they would have fresh food when they “awoke with the chickens” in the morning. Our official “chicken sitters,” our fine neighbors Pam and Tony have kept the girls well fed and watered while we have been gone and as of 7PM this evening, the girls were all doing well. Yes, anxious as we were, we had to phone home to see how Amber, Molly, and Honey were doing. As you must have surmised, there were no eggs sited before we left to take John Alexander back to Colorado State. Now we have fingers and toes crossed that the girls wait until we return home so that we can record the laying of the first egg on film!

The Chicken Palace...continues under construction!!!

Complete with a roof, the Chicken Palace is now "taking shape." Home Depot is now on our list of FAVORITE PLACES!!!

You've heard of "gated communities"? Here is JA painting the posts to be used to erect the "gated pen" beside the palace. A ramp will allow Amber, Honey, and Molly to move between the house and pen at their leisure.

The folks at Sherwin Williams also smile when they see the Atkinsons pull into their parking lot. Here Stephen trims the chicken abode with a lovely shade of green called ROSEMARY.

The lattice is added beneath and the pen takes shape. Stephen insists that Amber, Honey, and Molly will move in tonight....WE SHALL SEE!

The girls anxiously wait to make their call to Allied Van Lines!

The Chicken Palace...Down to the wire!!!!

Finishing the Chicken Palace has evolved into a race for time as Saturday approaches. Amber, Honey, and Molly are as happy as clams in their temporary pen, but since we leave on Saturday for Colorado to take John Alexander back to college, the permanent house and pen MUST BE finished. Thus, from its early beginnings in plan on pieces of paper, to evolving across weeks and now months, we worked last night in the dark with flashlights and backyard lights until almost 9pm. The date is August 8, 2007 and three more days remain before we leave. Will the girls move into their permanent quarters on time? Will the chicken wire get attached to the pen without putting us all in the nuthouse? AND ALL OF THIS TROUBLE FOR THREE DARN CHICKENS???????



Check out the next post to see the progress made in completing this grand structure and...also stay tuned to see if an egg makes its appearance before we leave town. We are hoping that Amber rises to the occasion soon!!!









The flag is raised for the "topping out ceremony."

The Buff Orpingtons Arrive!!!!

As mentioned in an earlier post, Stephen and John Alexander have talked about getting chickens for several years. Back in March on JA's spring break, they really became excited after traveling to NC State to a workshop about raising backyard chickens. Many books were read and hours of research conducted to gather information and early in June, I couldn't say, "No," anymore, because making the most of every minute that JA is home during the summer is so important. Gathering fresh eggs was my desired outcome, thus my qualifier was that we only buy hens...no roosters!

After MUCH deliberation, John Alexander and Stephen decided that considering the size of our yard and the chicken coop to be built, that three chickens were as many as we wanted to purchase. Buying chicks online was not an option because hens take about four months to begin laying (and we wanted eggs ASAP) and minimum online orders typically designate 25 chicks. After calling around the local area, we found a man in Ayden who raises and sells a variety of chicken breeds. We visited several times and put three Buff Orpingtons "on the chicken layaway plan" until we could build a coop.

Building that coop (that is called the Chicken Palace....remember that Stephen is an architect) has become a LONG TERM project that will take at least several more posts to fully describe. As weeks ticked away and we came to realize that only several weeks remained before John Alexander heads back to Colorado to CSU, last weekend became the target date to bring the hens home. Last Sunday at noon after the boys had worked all day Friday and Saturday on the chicken house, it was still far from finished. So, in lightning fast time (3 hours), they built a temporary pen for the hens that has allowed us to move them about the yard all week so they could have fresh insects, grass, and shade.

Neighbors and friends have come from far and wide to visit the three sisters...two of whom JA swears are twins. They seem quite content and John Alexander is very taken with his new pets, whom he has affectionately named Amber, Honey, and Molly (short for Molasses). Our neighbor, "JoJo" across the street tried to convince JA to name them K, F, and C, but he was certain that they needed to be named respectfully, in honor of their beautifully colored feathers.

Yesterday, the girls busily chomped on two ears of fresh corn from the Farmer's Market and made real "pigs of themselves." They "zero" in any bug that happens by their cage and happily let John Alexander hold them whenever he wants. Of course, he already has them eating out of his hand!

The Chicken Palace is still UNDER CONSTRUCTION. We all worked until dark last night and the boys are outside working now as I write...more later!

Lemon Verbena Ice Cream...What the heck is that?

We love to experiment when it comes to ice cream flavors. Our first experiment, Lavender Ice Cream (recipe posted on June 9, 2007) was a resounding success. Since the bees and the heat have made our huge lavender crop no more than a wonderful memory, we are always in search of new "excuses" to get out the ice cream freezer. This particular recipe freezes really well without the grainy iced texture of many homemade ice cream. So after the ice cream is churned, we simply put the entire metal canister in the freezer and enjoy it until it is gone. Our second experiment...a Middle Eastern flavor concoction imagined by John Alexander...wouldn't churn and turn into ice cream. Evidently the entire cup of pine nuts that he added to his Cinnamon, Honey, Lemon Ice Cream with Pine Nut flavor somehow interfered with the freezing process. After letting it churn for more than an hour, we simply poured it into a container, forgot about it in the freezer for the rest of the day, and VOILA!!!! It froze and we enjoyed every spoonful. Who knows what happened?

Back to last week's Farmer's Market and an idea for ice cream. I am quite taken with the scent of lemon verbena, much in part due to the divine fragrance of an Anthousa diffuser that I purchased in Greensboro that marries lemon verbena, freesia, and lily of the valley. So, when I asked a vendor at the market who was selling herbs and flowers about a particular herb that looked unfamiliar, I was delighted when she told me that it was lemon verbena. As I rubbed a leaf between my fingers, the aroma was unmistakable. It came home with us and I substituted the lemon verbena leaves and zest of two lemons for the lavender blossoms in the Lavender Ice Cream recipe. Served with Pistachio Shortbread from the August issue of Bon Appetit, Lemon Verbena Ice Cream was more luscious than we ever expected. Now the boys and I are ready to say that it is an even greater favorite than the lavender....More ice cream adventures are sure to follow along with plans to plant lemon verbena in our herb garden next year!

Last Two Weeks at the Market

I have much to report about the last two weeks of scouring the Farmer's Market. Somehow, though, posting on this blog has been beyond me since dealing with the loss of the Divine Miss Hannah. This five year old little girl was scientist, artist, and inquisitor extraordinare. Had I ever been fortunate enough to have a little girl, I would have wanted her to be just like Hannah. We will miss her terribly and as I write these next few posts about our new "family members" at 303 Williams Street...three Buff Orpington pullets, I write with the knowledge that Hannah and her baby sister, Lily, would be as fascinated with these gorgeous creatures as their cousin, Ella has been! Here is a much loved shot of Hannah in front of one of her "satellite art galleries"...our refrigerator.

Last weekend at the Farmer's Market, the organic vendor known for his luscious Sungold tomatoes made his appearance shortly before we arrived. I bought THREE POUNDS...all he had left, which meant that I needed an incredible recipe featuring tomatoes on our weekend menu. The prior week, I had saved one of Fred Thompson's recipes from his Weekend Gourmet column in The News and Observer. I went home and reviewed the recipe and knew that while I could find no local cilantro (much too hot here...we have tried again and again) that most of the ingredients could be bought locally. I used some of the Sungolds, all of the tomatoes that we could gather from our own garden, and a few other local tomatoes bought at the market. The flavor was amazing and I must agree with Fred Thompson who said, "Shed the shock of a cold soup and enjoy the flavor. You'll have a cooling and intense taste experience." You'll find his column about cold soups, entitled The Shock of the Cool fascinating. Below you will find my version of his Gazpacho with Crabmeat recipe. Stephen, John Alexander, Melissa, Jess, Ella, and I ALL TRULY ENJOYED IT! It will be on our table again this summer while local tomatoes are available!

Gazpacho with Crabmeat

INGREDIENTS:
Soup
3 pounds ripe local tomatoes
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 local red pepper, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced (more if you like more heat)
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper (more if you like more heat)
1 clove minced garlic
3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
Juice and zest of one lime
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro sprigs to garnish each soup bowl

Crabmeat salad
1 pound lump crabmeat
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 Teaspoons fish sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Soup-Core tomatoes and cut into quarters. Process in food processor until large chunks of tomato disappear and soup is consistently smooth. Pour into separate bowl. Add red onion, red pepper, jalapeno, garlic, crushed red pepper, and cilantro to food processor bowl and process until mixture is finely chopped. Add tomatoes again and process until gazpacho is of the consistency that you like (smooth vs. chunky). Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl or pitcher. Add lime zest and juice, both vinegars, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Stir and sample for taste. Adjust salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper/jalapeno to suit your “heat index.” Cover and refrigerate several hours…overnight, if possible.

Crabmeat salad and serving directions-Right before serving, mix crabmeat, cilantro, lemon juice, and fish sauce. Divide the crabmeat among six soup bowls and ladle chilled gazpacho over crabmeat salad. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and serve.

-adapted from The Shock of the Cool by Fred Thompson, The News & Observer, Friday, July 13, 2007