Monday, December 3, 2007

A Record Day

Today we collected 5 eggs from 6 chickens--the most collected in a day so far. Will we ever have a 6 egg day? Charlotte found 4 this morning when she opened their door, and I found one at lunch time.

They still are using the nest they made on the floor of the chicken house, despite our putting warm comfy hay in their nesting boxes and putting in a golf ball. The golf ball is a ruse to get them to think that other chickens have laid eggs/golf balls in there, so it's real nice and they should lay their eggs in there too. Maybe they're smarter than I thought and we need a more egg-shaped decoy...

Saturday, December 1, 2007

The Terrible Thomas Tragedy



Earlier this week I was upstairs, and I heard Peter crying a funny cry downstairs. He was upset. As he found me at the top of the stairs, I realized that his favorite battery operated Thomas engine with its rubber tires was firmly gripping a tightly wound strand of his hair. It was wound so tightly I couldn't see a good place to start unwinding, and it was so tight to his head I couldn't see where to get my scissors in to cut.

Oh great, I thought. Christmas pictures will be great with a chunk of his hair missing. Oh well, it will be true to his two year old image.

The train was still on, so I turned it off and realized I could spin Thomas around and unwind Peter's hair a bit. But I could only go so far, so it was time to break out the scissors. I was able to cut close the train and farther from his head. Yay! Only a few strands of hair left on Thomas and unable to be seen by the naked eye.

Our Bounty


We're up to seven eggs as of this morning. Yesterday I had eggs for lunch, using one of my favorite egg recipes made in the savory version. I first learned it as "Two Eggs and Four People" for breakfast, but I've also seen it called an Oven Pancake, Finnish Pancake, and maybe as a few other things.
I used 3 small, pullet-sized eggs for this one, but would have used 2 large eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

about 2 tablespoons butter
some chopped up deli ham

some slices of cheddar cheese, or whatever you have on hand and sounds good.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. While oven is preheating, put butter and ham in a cast iron skillet or pie pan. We have an extensive collection of Griswold cast iron skillets (the best because they were made in my hometown of Erie, Pa) and I used the #6 for this one. Mix the flour, milk and eggs in a bowl, get everything wet, don't worry too much about lumps. When the butter is melted, swirl to make sure your pan and 1/2 way up the sides is coated. Spread the ham out over the bottom. Pour egg mixture into pan and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. I sprinkled cheese on the top before I put it in the oven:


When your timer beeps, it looks quite impressive, but deflates a bit as it cools:


Serve for lunch or light dinner with a salad.

Variations include slicing an apple into the melted butter, sprinkling cinnamon and sugar on top. Also can increase to 3 eggs, 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup flour for more people and a #8 or #9 skillet. Enjoy!