A Feast for Our Chickens, 2015

This New Year's Day, we decided to celebrate the lives of our backyard flock chickens. Inspired by Heartland Farm Sanctuary's Feast for the Turkeys event, we made up a meal in which the chickens were the honored guests rather than the main dish.

We halved a few Delicata squashes and filled them with a mix of cranberries, beets, carrots, kale, yogurt, and Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal.

One half squash for each chicken

We spread them throughout the run.

 As you can see in the pictures below, our chickens were delighted. Rocky, the rooster, expressed  his excitement by getting a case of the hiccups.

Our youngest chickens, hatched on August 18th, are a bit more skittish around us than any of our other chickens have been. Surrounded by squash goodness, they hung out around us this morning as they enjoyed their feast. What a treat for all of us!

Happy New Year!

Squash Curry

Something that I make quite often is Squash Curry. It's so simple, and doubling the recipe makes it great for potlucks or packed lunches. Plus, between our gardens and our CSA box, we usually have squash growing out of not only our ears, but our toes and nostrils too.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs. of cubed squash
1 14-oz can of coconut milk
A few cups of broccoli or other green vegetable
1 medium onion, cubed
1/2 jar of Thai kitchen red curry paste
3/4 cumin seeds
1/3 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 Tbs plus 2 tsps of sunflower or olive oil

Optional:
basil leaves
spinach leaves
fish sauce
lime wedges

Directions:
1. Heat 1 Tbs of oil in skillet and add cumin seeds and cubed squash. Heat for 6 minutes or until squash is browned. Turn off.
2. In another pan, add the remaining oil and saute the onion. Add 1/4 of the coconut milk and the red curry paste. Stir over heat until mixed well.
3. Add the squash, rest of the coconut milk, water, cinnamon stick, and cloves. Once the squash is tender, add the broccoli. Heat. If you're adding spinach, fish sauce, or basil, add now too.
4. Serve over rice or on its own. Squeeze lime on for an extra zing.
5. Enjoy!

Breakfast for Dinner: Squash-Cranberry-Pecan Pancakes

Pancakes and sausage for the carnivore in the house

Tonight, we had breakfast for dinner. Not just your standard buttermilk pancakes or eggs and bacon. We had Squash-Cranberry-Pecan Pancakes drenched in maple syrup. Two nights ago, we had Squash-Date Bread Pudding drenched in half and half. Andy's on a squash baking kick with our new oven and stockpile of pumpkins and baking squash, and I'm not complaining at all (though I am concerned about how my pants fit today...).  Heck, he's even been whipping up  pureed squash with bacon every morning for the dog. 

Our Amish Pie Squash apparently have inspired him. Who are Franklin (the dog) and I to object?

Amish Pie Squash

 
If you have extra baking squash, pumpkin or pumpkin pie filling, I highly recommend trying this or a version of it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner sometime soon. The smell of fall - nutmeg, cinnamon, and squash are literally filling up our small house with warmth right now, and the taste is divine.

For a batch of about 12-16 pancakes, you need the following:

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup of pureed squash
1/2 pint of cranberries
1/2 cup pecan, chopped
1 qt kefir
1 tsp vanilla
2 oz melted butter
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbs. sugar
a pinch of cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup of sugar for cranberries
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup oats
1 tbs butter

Instructions:
1. Put cranberries in pot with 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil until they begin to pop. Turn the heat off, and let the cranberries cool.
2. Mix the eggs, keifer, vanilla, and melted butter.
3. Stir together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and oats.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredient mixtures, and then add the pureed pumpkin. Then, add the cranberries and pecans.
5. On a heated and buttered pan, make pancakes. Heat both sides, and serve up with maple syrup!

Pureed squash

Preparing the cranberries 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heating them up!