Pumpkin Chicken Wormer

What, oh what, do you do with the pumpkin seeds as you prepare to make pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving? I haven't the time to do salted and roasted seed while I'm baking up a storm like today for our early feast tomorrow.  

Wasting them isn't an option around here so I give them to the chickens.

But first, I put them through the blender with some water to chop them up. The chickens eat them far better that way.

I leave the stringy insides of the pumpkin with the seeds.

Then I give these seeds and pumpkin shells to the chickens. The seeds have a coating on them that paralyzes tapeworms and round worms. Then they are flushed out of the chickens digestive system.

Other times I scramble older eggs and cook them with a hefty coating of garlic, another natural type of wormer. 

So if your cooking pumpkins next week for pumpkin pies, don't forget the chickens.  

Kamut Grain

I've discovered a new kind of wheat and here I thought I knew all the varieties. Shows you just how little I know. Allison's Pantry advertised Khorasan wheat under the brand name of Kamut and being the curious me,  I bought it. After all, it isn't like I was buying candy, I was buying something good for us.

When my first order arrived, Ruth and Naomi, from the Bible, came to mind. I've never been able to imagine them gleaning tiny grains of wheat in Boaz's fields until I saw this wheat. It's grains are far larger than our modern wheat and though it would still definitely have been a pain to pick up seed by seed. The story makes more sense.  

Then I did some research on the grain since it looked like wheat but yet was quite different in appearance and I wondered if it was different to bake with.

What I found was:
(The name KAMUT is the registered trademark and brand name used to sell the grain variety khorasan. The word Kamut stems from the ancient hieroglyphic language meaning wheat.

Kamut International uses the KAMUT trademark to protect and preserve the ancient grain variety khorasan. The grain differs from modern day varieties because it has not been modified through modern breeding practices or genetic modification.



The wheat is tolerated by many who have allergies to typical types of wheat and in fact a study showed that 70% of people with wheat allergies had no, or little reaction to this type of wheat. But if you have coeliac disease, this isn't for you.

Kamut (Khorasan ) wheat is higher in eight of the nine vitamins of traditional wheat, 40% higher in protein, easier to digest, 65% more amino acids, more lipids, and more fatty acids.

But Kamut does have some down sides. It is lower in yields. Not too surprising since that seems to be the main push with all modern varieties of grains. Higher yields at the expense of lower nutrition. Modern wheat is definitely an instance where more is simply more, not better.  

This grain also can't be rushed. It takes its time absorbing liquids, raising, and the elastic bands can be cut easily so it is not recommended that you add nuts when cooking with this grain. I'm wondering about flax seed. I'd guess it could also cut these delicate strands. It doesn't hold its shape well and so a bread pan is recommended or mixing in 25% regular wheat.

I guess you would not call it a beginners whole grain. None the less, it is definitely a grain worth adding to your whole grain diet with its reported buttery, sweet taste.

I thought it was a winner to try in my new goal for 2012, to cook as much as possible with whole grains, so I ordered some more.

I've been researching recipes for breads that include a wide variety of grains such as traditional wheat, spelt, wheat, Kamut, oats, rice, millet, rye, and even dried beans.

I'm looking to see if Triticale, which I still have a little grain in the basement from years ago, is available or if it has gone out of style. I may try using it once more.

Some of these recipes I've found call for sprouting the grains to an eighth an inch, drying them, and grinding them into flour. Others cooking beans and adding them or just grinding them at the dry stage into flour. 

All this research has me thinking crackers and breads, breads, breads and nutrition. Yup, it's winter time outside and I'm in the mood to bake.

So as soon as our Thanksgiving holiday is over, this weekend, I'm going to start my ancient grains bread baking adventure.

No, I'm not confused. I know Thanksgiving isn't until next week in the USA but in our county of Wyoming, folks have from now until a few days after the traditional Thanksgiving Day on Thursday that they celebrate with a feast. The majority of families have shift workers that put in at least a 12 hour work day, not including travel time so holidays are celebrated whenever one can get the majority of their families together.

That means this Saturday for us and another celebration with Kirk's family next Thursday with a small amount of our immediate family able to attend. It is an ancient grain that dates back to Noah's time and has thus gained the nickname Prophet's Wheat. And since it was found in Egyptian Pharaohs tombs it also has the nickname 'King Tut's Wheat. Others call it Camel's Tooth due to its hump back appearance but what every you call it, it's a grain worth taking a look at.  

A Home-made Gift Idea

"Sleigh bells ring are you listening. In the lane snow is glistening." Can't you hear me singing. Well, maybe your lucky but I have been because it's that time of the year. The time you have to put your rear in high gear and get to making Christmas presents.

The last few years I've bought them but this years funds are a bit short. And... our children have voiced numerous times in those years just how much they enjoy the home-made gifts. Would I please start making them again. 

So... though our daughters do sometimes read this blog. It won't be giving away their gift because they already know part of it anyway. It's the gift they've been hounding me to make.

No, not aprons, though I am making a variety of styles for gifts for Christmas. This one needs some ruffles around the pockets and a little this and that to jazz it up.

What all our children, including our son, has been after me to do is copy my recipes that I've worked to collect and change over the last ten years or so.

This year I'm working on breakfast. I've enough recipes to fill a inch and a half three ring notebook. A daunting task alone just to type them all up but... being me, I'm also photographing for it. Yup, those apples are apples off our tree and those waffles were served to our grandchildren one morn. I've seen cool programs on the Internet where you can type your recipes and a company will make a book for you but it doesn't allow photography freedom that I want. Plus you can't add to it like you can a three ring notebook with recipes in slip covers. The ability to slip out the recipes also allows you to add notes.

Since a cookbook is so... much more inviting with photographs to entice you to cook and I love to photograph...I've got to add that personal touch.  

Our one daughter will tell you that it will take more than some scrumptious looking food in photographs to get her iinterested in cooking breakfast yet, she is just as interested as the rest to have a cookbook also. Though she might not be interested, she still has a family to cook for. 

I'm not photographing for every recipe. That would take me for ever and ever since I can't stick with one task long enough with so much else that needs done. Plus, the cost of colored ink alone would break my tight budget. Instead, I'm taking a few shots here and there as I cook not only breakfast but desserts and main meals too. Yes, they are expecting those recipes to come along next in a cookbook.

And since so much of our lives revolves around food, with raising livestock for milk, eggs, and meat, along with hunting and fishing, I can't leave that out either. Yes, this cookbook will be a bit of a pictorial food history that will include photos of our family too. 

I've got pictures of the grand kids cracking eggs for breakfast.

Some of them making noodles, cookies, etc. and even a few of them eating that which I cooked.

Then there is this one for chicken noodle soup. Nap time couldn't come soon enough for our cute little bug and she fell asleep eating.

 And if our family thought I took a lot of pictures before, they haven't seen nothing yet. My camera is going to have a permanent home on the kitchen counter until I'm done, especially during the holiday season when everyone is home. 

Though this will be lots of work, it will finally end my steady search for recipes I know I have somewhere but can't lay my hands on when I want them.

Yup, I think I want these cookbooks as much as they do.

Pullet Eggs

Maybe it is ridiculous but when I saw my first pullet egg in October, I was giddy with joy. It was like Christmas as a child.

And even though this happens every October, I look forward with the same level of excitement as Christmas morn. Like presents mounting under the tree, one by one the hens comb's change from blushed red to a rich ruby red, a sure sign eggs will soon arrive. The eggs start out tiny and grow rapidly in size with each time the hen lays one. As for cooking, I just use two eggs instead of one when they are this small.

What makes these pullets eggs special is you are never sure what they will lay as their bodies work out the ins and outs of egg laying production. We've had eggs with only a dot of yellow for a yolk, no yolk, two yolks, (once) a three yolker, no shell, and so ginormous an egg that it killed the hen that laid it. It's part of the surprises that await you when you open the coop door. Surprises with lots of yummy flavor.

This year, we haven't gotten any eggs that have a gelatin like shell instead of a hard shell but we have had a steady stream of double yolkers. I suspect that they are a sign of heavy layers as this has been the case in the past. The years I don't have very many double yolkers, the hens aren't laying well. That has been the case with the last couple batches of chickens I've ordered. Solution, change hatcheries. I have suspect that the old hatchery was emphasising show quality way too much. To me, pretty is as pretty does.  

Just for those of you who maybe don't have chickens and all this fun. I found this interesting site on the abnormal eggs that pullets lay.

http://poultryhelp.com/oddeggs.html

DOUBLE YOLK EGGS: Double Yolkers appear when ovulation occurs too rapidly, or when one yolk somehow gets "lost" and is joined by the next yolk. Double yolkers may be by a pullet whose productive cycle is not yet well synchronized. They're occasionally laid by a heavy-breed hen, often as an inherited trait.

NO YOLK: No-yolkers are called "dwarf", "wind" [or, more commonly, "fart"] eggs.  Such an egg is most often a pullet's first effort, produced before her laying mechanism is fully geared up.

MORE THAN TWO YOLKS: Occasionally, an egg contains more than two yolks.  I once found a pullet's egg that contained three.  The greatest number of yolks found in one egg is NINE.  Record breaking eggs are likely to be multiple yolkers.  The Guinness Book of Records lists the world's largest [chicken] egg (with a diameter of 9 inches/22.5 cm) as having five yolks and the heaviest egg (1 pound/0.45 kg) as having a double yolk and a double shell.

NO SHELL:Every once in a while we get an egg with a membrane, but without a shell.  It feels like a water balloon. This is another accident of the hen's reproductive system and is not necessarily an indication of any problem.  The membrane was placed on the yolk and white, but it somehow slipped past the "shell mechanism" and the shell wasn't deposited.

EGG WITHIN AN EGG: An egg within an egg, or a double shelled egg appears when an egg that is nearly ready to be laid reverses direction and gets a new layer of albumen covered by a second shell. Sometimes the reversed egg joins up with the next egg and the two are encased together within a new shell.  Double shelled eggs are so rare that no one knows exactly why or how they happen.

To answer a question some of you may pose. You have to have a rooster in with your hens to get this. Chicks don't form inside fertilized eggs unless there is adequate amount of heat and humidity. 

If you notice a blood spot in your egg don't panic. It is only a broken blood vessel. And those thick meat like spots are nothing either. Just scoop out the blood spot or meaty spot and cook as usual or throw them in the trash if that makes you more comfortable.

Remember, practice makes perfect and perfection doesn't happen except in the grocery store where they've weeded out all the interesting eggs. Not to mention those with vitamins attached. 

So while you finish reading this post, I'm going to take a little nap. Too bad I don't have cute company like Kirk had last week. I've not felt well since yesterday. Not sick but I'm having one of my Adrenaline bouts where my temperature won't stay up. 93's F. all morning yesterday and only a bit better the rest of the day. Today, my temperature and blood pressure are down. The spirit is willing too keep going but the body weak. Gr....!!!!

Now if only the good brownies would show up and clean up my kitchen while I sleep. sigh!!!

Chariot Racing

As we looked around Saturday at the scant attendance, we laughed. Why don't they have chariot races in the summer time? Or is it just in Wyoming that they run in the fall and winter? We wouldn't know for this was our first attendance. But I've watched Ben Hur and you know he didn't run when it was cold outside, he was wearing a skirt.

 But, despite the cold wind and freezing temperatures, that left me cold for hours afterwards, we stuck around and crawled out of the truck to watch a race and jumped back in while the scores were declared to try and warm up a bit.

Then back out when the next set of horses trotted down to the starting gate. I'm not sure it wasn't worse on us but the warmth was hard not to seek.

But though we might of seen the race inside the truck, there is nothing like having the horses thunder past you and of course we had to wager a guess at the team we thought would win the next race. It turned out to be pretty easy to figure out. It was the team that trotted and galloped in sync with each other. Maybe it isn't always that way but Saturday it was. 

Our friends that went with us, said sometimes there are three teams racing on a track at one time. Saturday, there were only two.

This was just a small time competition with just six teams racing but we were impressed. Wow! can those horses run! It's got to be quite an adrenaline rush sitting in that tiny aluminum can behind those thundering hooves. If you ever got me to do this, I'd be like the lady in the picture wearing a protective vest and helmet only I'd be shaking so bad from fright, I'd be lucky to stay in the chariot. My mare may have been bred to do just this but she isn't hitting the track as long as I own her. I'm a big chicken and this is a dangerous sport.

Now that I've seen chariot racing, I want to see cutter racing. It's in the winter time and colder yet, but the wheels on the chariots are removed and skis are put on. Yup, I've seen videos and the action is intensified by the ice and snow.

If you get a chance, dress up warm and go watch chariot racing. It's worth the shivering.

When the leaves start to turn and the weather cools, there is this natural urge to bake.

I start to  crave bacon. Unfortunately, one of my favorite things. Go figure, it would have to be bad for me. 

And with the handy tip of cooking your bacon on a broiler pan in the oven so that the grease drips down into the bottom, away from the meat, and you can cook thirteen slices at one time, I eat more than I should.

 If you set your oven to broil, the bacon gets done faster, but the tips of each slice gets a bit burned. If you've a bit more time, bake at 350 Fahrenheit and those burnt tips are no more. 

When I buy bacon, (yes, I'm out of home-cured bacon), I cook up the whole package and freeze it. That way I can re-heat the bacon in a pan or microwave and it is ready when the fried eggs are ready. Or I can add it to a baked potato, soup, souffle, etc. etc. etc.

And what goes great with bacon, biscuits of course.

I'll give you tips for making biscuits today and later I'll give you recipes.

These are buttermilk biscuits make with butter, but I have a simple recipe for heavy cream ones that the cream is the liquid and the fat in the recipe, and another biscuit recipe that is sweet. I believe in being prepared. This variety of recipes allows me to use whatever is in the cupboard. Or for some of you, whatever is on sale at the store. 

So lets get started, here are some basics you should know about making biscuits. Tips courtesy of Cook's Country magazine and others from yours truly, ME.  

Fundamentals of Making Biscuits

Test Baking Powder

Baking powder begins to lose potency after six months. Put 2 teaspoons into a cup of water. If it foams and fizzes immediately, your good to go; if the reaction is delayed or weak, buy a new can.

Preheat The Oven

Don't neglect this, Biscuits need an initial blast of high heat to rise properly, and it takes most ovens 15 minutes to get up to temperature. ( It's not a bad idea to check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer.

Mixing

Combine the dry ingredients with the butter and shortening in the food processor, or mix with pastry knife, or two knives used in a scissor motion. Using your warm hands can melt the fat, which results in a greasy biscuit. Do gently stir in the liquids by hand. Do not use a food processor as this over mixes the dough and will cause development of the gluten and toughening of the texture.

Biscuit Cutters

Makeshift cutters such as juice glasses produce rounds that rise unevenly, the rounded lip compresses the edges of the cut biscuit. Use biscuit cutters or cookie cutters with a straight edge.

Flip Biscuits

After cutting, flip the biscuit upside down on the baking sheet and put it in the oven. With the flat underside now on the top, the biscuits will rise evenly.

Spices

To spice up your biscuits you can add parsley, /or chives, /or 2 thinly sliced scallions and ½ cup cheddar. Then again you may choose Swiss and caraway/ or ¾ cup Parmesan and 1 teaspoon coarsely ground peppercorns.

Biscuits Gone Bad

Falling to pieces

Over processing the dry ingredients with the fats makes for crumbly biscuits.

Tough Guy

Warm fat, no kneading, and a cool starting oven can all result in short, tough biscuits.

All Askew

Placing the rounds onto the baking sheet right side up leads to lopsided biscuits.

Happy Baking!!

New Way To Cook Pumpkins

For the last few weeks I've been going early, early in the morning and working out in the swimming pool, swimming laps and then doing water aerobics with a group of ladies. I'm determined to keep it up. Not that it has helped me loose any weight but it has made me less stiff and more flexible.

Of course not as flexible as our yak Gracie, for I can hardly bend around and touch my behind with my nose. Not that I'd want to but I wasn't about to give you a picture of me in the pool. You might mistake it for a whale.

The group of ladies I swim with are go getters and an inspiration. They are a tough group, all with health problems, some so arthritic they can hardly get in and out of the pool. And I figure if they can arrive between six and seven in the morning three days a week, even when it is well below freezing, like this was this morning, I hardly have an excuse. It is not all work and not play for at the end of our work out this morning some of us played beach ball, volley ball with our elbows and feet. It was a hoot.

This tight knit group, talks about their families and of course food.   

Last Friday one of the subjects was pumpkins. One gal suggested we try washing a pumpkin, putting it on a cookie sheet whole and baking it. A friend I'd given a pumpkin to, tried it yesterday and reported back this morning that it worked great.

 So I washed up a pumpkin today, cooked it whole until when I pressed on the sides it gave easily, and pulled it out.

is now sitting on top the stove. When it is cool enough, I'll scrap out the seeds, and the stringy center, saving the pulp for pumpkin soup. Wow!!, look how meaty these Rouge vif Etamps pumpkins are. I'm hoping they taste awesome too. I'm wanting to make pumpkin soup. It Something I've only made once and it wasn't a success. But that was years ago and I'm willing to try again.

With a large stack of pumpkins in the basement, this method will save on a large amount of aluminum foil and time. My old method was to clean out the center of a pumpkin and then wrap it in foil to keep it moist before baking. Not any longer. So if you haven't tried this method, give it a try.