Apricot Jam and canned Apricots

Today, Lily and I canned 13 16oz jars of Apricot Jam.  We also canned 4 quarts of halved apricots.  The jam set up better than the strawberry Lauren and I made a few weeks ago.  I can't wait to try it.

Forgot the little chicks outside this evening.  It was about 10 PM when I remembered.  They were jsut sitting on the ground by the door to the shed.  I think they knew that was where they stay.

I have found a place for the quail.  We will be giving them to the lady that works at Del's.  She is taking all 7 of them.  then, we can put the chickens in their cage and expand it to fit them all.

Easter!

Woke up at about 3AM this morning.  Didn't really think about what a great day it was gonna be.  I woke up because of the pain in my neck/shoulder.  Finally got back to sleep at about 5:30.  Woke up again at about 8:30 and headed to the store to get some icy hot.  Its not really doing that great of a job.

However, its Easter and its sunny.  When I went out at 8:30, it wasn't quite sunny yet but I did go out in a t-shirt and was very comfortable.  So, today WILL be a great day of yummy food, super family, and everything else that is involved with Easter.  Then later, iffin my neck don't keep hurting, I might mow mom's lawn. 

Happy Easter and God bless, everyone!!

Rhubarb and quail

Its gonna be a great year for rhubarb pie this year.  This is one of 5 plants we have..and they are only on their 2nd year!

We released this little guy today.  He has been outcast by the other 2 and spends very little time with them.  Today, he was hiding and tried to fly through the chicken wire.  He bloodied his beak.  So, I took him out and put him under the blackberries.  This picture is the last I saw of him...  Also, I think when we end up losing the other 2 quail, we are done with them now. 

Quiche

Today, I made Quiche.  3 quiche, to be exact.  2 of them are mushroom, sausage, and garlic.  they are gonna be delicious.  The other one is eggplant, zucchini, and Swiss cheese.  Also gonna be yummy.  they are for tomorrow.  This upcoming week, I have to make some more quiche for Tanya's department chair meeting.  That will probably be 2-3 more, I guess. 

We finally got 5 eggs all in one day all in the same place today.  And all in the RIGHT place.  Namely, in the back basket.  Lily went and got em.  As she was walking towards me, she said:  I have a cracked egg. I picked it up and dropped it.  then, when I picked it up again, I dropped it again.  When I picked it up after that, it was broke.  So, I had some quiche makings left for Tuesday night's quiche cooking so I put it in there.

Ostrich eggs

     Today, I went out and looked in the back laying box and saw Kiwi, out Americauna, in there paying (I would presume)  About an hour later I went and looked and she was still in there.  However, she had been joined by Frodo, our huge Silkie.  I'm not sure how they both fit in there, but they did.  One facing each way.  A few hours later, I went and checked on the eggs and there were 3 in there.  (There were 2 in the front laying bow) 

      The thing about these 3 eggs is:  One of them was bigger than the other 2 combined.  And it wasn't because the other 2 were small.  They were normal egg sized like you would get in a carton of large AA eggs at the store.  The other one was jsut that big...Like...HUGE!!!  I will get a picture of it and post it tomorrow.  So, not really sure what would cause that...unless it was because whoever dropped that egg didn't lay yesterday.  So, its like a double-sized egg.  After I get a picture of it, I am going to cook it.  Because I really want to see if there are 2 yolks in it. 

     Thats it for tonight...even though its actually tomorrow already.  1:109 in the morning.  Too late to keep typing.  Nighty night, all.

BBQ sauce

Today, I made BBQ Sauce.  I made 2 different types.  One, I call Double Smoked BBQ.  I use 2t of liquid smoke and 1t smoked Paprika.  2 1/2 cups ketchup, one small onion, 1 large Anaheim pepper, 1t ground mustard, 2t Worcestershire sauce, 2t EVOO, 2 cloves garlic, minced, and a little pepper. 

Put the peeled onion and the seeded pepper in a food processor and mince the crud out of it.  Then put all the ingredients in the Kitchen Aide and mix it.

Then put it on the stove on medium until it starts to bubble, then turn it down to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Stir as needed to keep it from burning.

Variations would be: 
1:  Add a hot pepper in the for some heat.
2:  Add some corn starch to thicken it. 

On the chicken front, we got 2 eggs today.  1 light brown and one dark brown.  So, we now know that we have 3 chickens at least laying...

Tomorrow:  Maybe more cooking.  Salsa maybe