Bumblebee Blog

Bzzzz October 3rd, 2008

I don’t want you to think living here in the country is all about frolicking in the wildflower fields, looking winsome and thin while petting the animals who obey and adore us.

Without being too graphic, I want to let you know that country living occasionally has its hardships.

Okay, one example. Finding a king snake eating a mouse under your stove is a good way to ruin a perfectly good Sunday morning.

One more example, just for fun: Giving $750 on Monday morning to a 5’3 tall man with a handlebar mustache and alligator skin cowboy boots to crawl all around and under your house with insulation foam and hardware wire.

Okay, that’s the ugly part of living in the country. When you’re surrounded by woods and acres of hay fields, you have to expect, to some extent, that critters happen. You just don’t want them to happen so closely, if you know what I mean.

On the other hand, my chickens continue to delight and amaze me. The baby chicks are no longer babies. I can’t introduce them up-close-and-personal with the trio of big girls yet, but we do put their playpen outside next to the big girls’ run and have had a few meet-and-greet sessions.

And during their free-range time before sunset, the big girls have learned that they can walk onto the porch and deck and look through our French doors to see what we’re doing inside.

Minnie Ruth and Olive are still rather, uh, homely. I expect they will grow into their lovely chicken-ness. Because, you know, chickens really are quite beautiful, funny and entertaining.

This weekend we should complete construction on the Palazzo di Pollo, the new chicken house with its own porch and loft.

Until next time, here’s wishing you a critter-free weekend. Unless they are critters you like, that is.

Posted In: Chickens

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Bzzzz September 23rd, 2008

The nip of fall in the air always makes me want to bake. One reason is that the garden chores don’t feel nearly so urgent as in the spring and summer. It’s also easier to turn the oven on when the house isn’t above 80 degrees. But also, there is something about filling the house with the scent of baking bread, savory fruit muffins and chocolate that make me want to nestle in for the winter.

I’ve been droning on about chickens so much that I’ve been asked to join chicken blog directories. Who knew there were such things? Now, just to mix things up, I’ll throw in a recipe.

These are my favorite Very Simple Wild Blueberry Muffins. They take five minutes to toss together and less than 30 minutes to bake. So in about 35 minutes you can be sitting down with a glass of milk and a fresh blueberry muffin.

You could use fresh blueberries or frozen. If you use frozen, I recommend the Wyman’s brand of frozen wild blueberries. Wild blueberries are smaller than regular blueberries and the Wyman’s brand are the smallest I’ve seen.

Ingredients 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1 cup packed light brown sugar, plus extra for topping 1/2 cup milk (I use skim since that’s all we keep in the house) 1 large egg (I use eggs from my own chickens, of course!) 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups blueberries

Directions Heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare muffin tins with paper liner or non-stick spray.

Mix butter, sugar, milk and egg until well blended. Add baking powder, cinnamon and salt, again mixing well. Gently fold in flour and mix, just until combined. Very gently fold in blueberries.

Divide batter into muffin cups. I usually make about nine from this recipe, but you can get 12 out of it, if you want smaller muffins.

Top each muffin with about 1/4 teaspoon of additional brown sugar.

Bake 25 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Posted In: Food and Recipes