Chickens - Week 4

The chickies are doing great!  Cornish Rocks are growing like crazy.. Still a little creepy to me how fast they grow! One of them did have a little accident on his toe last week, so we had to make up a "sick bay" for him to recover in. He wasn't in much pain, but the others were picking at the injury. His "friends" really are pretty mean.  But, he recovered and has been moved back in with the rest of the flock and is fine.

Pictures were a bit hard to get for the weekends growth report.  The weather was pretty crappy, which made it challenging to get some decent pics. They weren't out as much, and when they were, the wind was so nasty they went back inside pretty quickly.

Slow Cooker Pork Roast

Over the winter, I had purchased a variety pack of meat from a local CSA. One of the items was a Pork Roast. Since it was my first time buying anything from a CSA, I wanted to do something a little different with it, to give the meat a chance to shine through and not be to covered in a sauce. That seemed the  best way for me to judge the quality of this meat and see if I wanted to purchase more.

I finally found a recipe that seemed to be what I was looking for. It had nice flavor, but wasn't to heavy. It was delicious! The meat definitely shined through! Served with Maple Glazed Carrots and some Garlic Smashed potatoes, the meal was complete.

Slow Cooker Pork Roast (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

1 large onion, sliced

2 1/2 pound pork roast

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. black pepper

1 c. hot water

1/4 c. sugar

3 T. cider vinegar

2 T. soy sauce

1T. ketchup

1/2 t. garlic powder

Season roast with salt and pepper.  In large pan, brown roast all both sides.  Arrange onion slices evenly over the bottom of the slow cooker.  Place roast on top of the onions.  In bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Pour over roast.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours, or high for 3-4 hours.

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Chicken Update!

The lil' baby chickens are growing!  Oh my, they are growing so fast! I haven't been around chickens since I was less than ten years old, so a lot of fuzzy memories, and things that amaze me now!

I will admit, I learned of another insane personality trait I possess. Apparently I have a need to sing to my chickens. You should feel very bad for these poor lil' chicks, cuz me singing.... is NOT a good thing. I sing in the shower when no one else is on the property, and I sing when alone in the car. That's it, until now. Poor chicks. The other sad part is, for some completely bizarre reason, I feel the need to sing "Rockin' Robin" to them. With this obsession, I have learned that I do NOT know the lyrics to this song. I can muddle my way through the chorus, and that's it. So, about all these chicks get is "Tweet Tweet... Tweedle...leee...deee." Yes, my chickens are tortured.

Anyway, back to the chicks... the Cornish Rocks are HUGE! Their legs are about catching up with the thickness of my pinky finger, stocky birds. Since getting them, I have learned that they do grow VERY fast.  The Red Pullets, are growing, but not nearly as fast. It's hard to catch in photo's, but the pullets are really starting to change colors, and are going to be a pretty bird.

Here are a couple pics of old and new... I pulled some old together to help show how much they have grown.

 Week 1

 Week 2

 Week 3

Tippy is interested in them, but seems peaceful so far.

Rusty just loves them, and races me to the coop.

Angie's Sugar Cookies

Last weekend, my friend Angie and I, went to my mom's house for a "girls day" of baking cookies.  We had a so much fun..... to much sugar, caffeine, pizza, and made WAY to many cookies! For 3 families of 2, over a hundred cookies, may have been a bit much. But, let me tell you, these were amazing cookies! When Ang and I were setting up the date, we were discussing recipes. I wanted to try her recipe for something different. I have been using the same recipe for so long, I thought something new would be good. Dang glad we agreed on using her recipes. Even my truckin man (that prefers my old cookies, to bakery cookies) could not get enough of these. And amazingly enough, one week later, our portion of the cookies are gone. All ate up, and not a crumb to be found.

You'll be getting to try some more of Ang's recipes, as she is going to be posting on here soon and sharing some of her dishes. Trust me, you'll love her creations! In the mean time, grab some butter and give these a shot!

Angie's Sugar Cookies

1/2 c. butter

1/4 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 c. flour

In large bowl, blend butter, shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Chill at least one hour.  

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  On floured surface, roll dough 1/4 inch thick.  Cut with a flour dipped cookie cutter.  Shake excess flour off .  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake only until there is a hint of brown around the edges. (Cookies will stay soft.)  Cool and frost.

Angie's Buttercream Frosting

3 c. butter

9 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 t. vanilla 

In mixing bowl, cream butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (After every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high). Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.)

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