Farm Fresh Eggs

No, I'm not rushing the season.  That is not a collection of Easter Eggs.  I just got back from picking up our fresh eggs.  The Rev and I have bought a share in "Small Potatoes CSA", a local farm.  This will be our first experience with the concept of CSA - Community Supported Agriculture - and we are looking forward to enjoying the produce this summer.

What you see in the picture is the first benefit of this collaboration, fresh eggs.  These are from real chickens that run free on the farm.  They are not housed in a barn and crammed together.  And they are from different breeds thus the different colors.  I get a kick out of that alone but let me tell you, these eggs are good.  This is actually our second batch and the first batch has me eating eggs again.

I don't know if it is just because these eggs are so fresh or if it is because the chickens are allowed to run free, but I am convinced that they taste different.  The flavor is richer and the texture is smoother than any store-bought eggs I have eaten.  These eggs actually have me getting up earlier in the morning so I have time to fix a couple for breakfast.  And that, folks, is saying something.  Anyone who knows Sunbob knows I am NOT a morning person.  For years my morning routine was to sleep as late as possible, give myself just enough time to fix a strong cup of coffee, then rush off to get to work.  This morning I got up early even though I had the day off from the store.

I have read on other web-sites that the way to test an egg's freshness is to put it in water.  A fresh egg will lay flat on the bottom.  As the egg ages the air pocket in the egg gets bigger and the large end of the egg starts to raise up.  Older eggs will actually stand on end in the water.  The eggs are still good to eat but they are getting to the end of their shelf life.  If the egg floats to the surface it is time to throw it out.

Well, you know me, I had to test these eggs.  I tested two of them and they laid perfectly flat on the bottom of the glass.  Just to be sure of this test, I took a couple of the eggs from our first batch that have been in the refrigerator for two weeks and tested them.  Both of those eggs were starting to lift and rested at about a 45 degree angle on the bottom.  I haven't tested any store bought eggs so I'm not saying anything about them.

As I said earlier, the Rev and I are looking forward to this summer.  We will be getting periodic shipments of fresh produce from the farm as the crops are harvested.  I really don't know much about the concept of CSA but we will be learning this summer.  The basic idea is that you buy a share of the output of the farm.  You share the harvest and you share the risks.  Here is a link that says it better.  I will try to post about our experience this summer.

Peace.

The King's Speech

The Rev and I went to see "The King's Speech" tonight.  What a great movie.

The story is of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stammer and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war.

Colin Firth plays King George VI and Geoffrey Rush plays Logue.  Firth's portrayal of the stuttering prince who is afraid to be king is amazing.  Rush is wonderful as the tutor who prepares Bertie to give the very important speech meant to inspire and unite all of Great Britain in war. Of course, as we are walking out of the theater my first thought is to find the original speech that the real King George VI gave in 1939.  What is the internet for, if not to find arcane information such as this.  Well, if you are interested - here it is, the original Gramaphone recording.





Peace

The Children's Christmas Pageant at Walnut Hills

Yesterday was the big day.  The day of the Christmas pageant at Walnut Hills.  Erin Crawford from the Des Moines Register did a wonderful job of bringing you the story.  I will let her tell the tale.

The snow has finally found Des Moines.  Now it really feels like winter.  The Rev and I hope this Advent season you be able to some  .   .   .

PEACE

We had a great Christmas Staff Party

Okay, I have to admit it.  I love to entertain.  I love to have people over and cook dinner for them.  We had the Rev's staff over tonight and I served dinner for 15 people.  It was great.

I must admit the dinner wasn't too extravagant but I would like to think it was substantial.  I did a roasted pork loin that I had cured over night with a Chinese 5 Spice rub.  I also did a beef rib roast.  This was a good cut of Amana boneless prime rib roast so I didn't do anything more than brown it and roast it correctly.  It is amazing how good, good beef can taste if you don't over due the preparation.

Then I did roasted sweet potatoes with a pecan and whiskey sauce compliments of the Foodnetwork.  This was a total success.  We did this for Thanksgiving and it was such a success I had to do it again.  I even did a double batch so I could take it into the store tomorrow for the potluck.  I will say one thing about the recipe.  It says to lightly roast the pecans at one point and both times I have prepared it I have totally destroyed the pecans.  Just skip the toasting and go right into making the sauce and it turns out great.

I love putting out appetizers before a meal.  It is one of my favorite things to do.  This time I had an olive selection that included pickled mushrooms.  This is the third time I have done that and the third time that I was the only one eating it.  I think I need to learn to leave that out of my offering.  I also put in the humus with flat bread and again that was a hit.  I have this reputation with the Rev's staff for making this great humus.  It is very simple.  I buy the classic Mediterranean style humus.  Then I drizzle on a little extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle it with some paprika.  This is how I had it when we were in Jerusalem and I really like it that way.  Several people tonight complimented me on the humus.  I served three kinds of cheese with crackers.  The Widmer cheddar was the real hit.  I had a good Gorgonzola which was okay and a Crescenza-Stracchino that wasn't as popular.  I thought it was amazing but the guests didn't choose it as much.  I guess that shows that this group prefers the cheeses they are familiar with.

The wine that was a real hit with me was the Vouvray 2008 from Monmousseau.  This was a blanc de blanc that the guy at the wine shop was very excited about and I would agree with him.  It was a very affordable wine (about $10 per bottle) and very pleasing.  My guests enjoyed it. I also had Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Savignon.  All pleasing wines but he Vouvray was the hit.

I must say it was a great night.  All of the guests had a great meal and a great time.  The Rev and I agree that we needed to bring them all over some night for games and do it again.  Maybe not the whole meal but another night together.  We had a great time.

The Rev and I had a great night with friends.  I hope this holiday season you are able to say the same.

Peace.

Wednesday On The Hill

“My name is Hanna”.  The bespectacled little lady with the huge smile had just returned from shuttling in a pan of freshly barbecued hamburgers and was bringing back the pan for me to fill again.  “Thank you Hanna, I really appreciate your help.” - “No problem”, she said over her shoulder as she ran back into the church to rejoin her friends.


It was the first night of Wednesday On The Hill.  This is the Rev’s plan to reclaim Wednesday night as church night in our congregation.  She asked me to fix dinner for everyone for the kick-off.  Last Sunday she invited everyone to join together for dinner before they ran off to choir practice, youth group, committee meetings or just on to live their lives.  She told them all that I would be fixing the meal - “and he’s a good cook” she proclaimed.  Thanks my love - no pressure there now is there?


“So how many am I cooking for?” I asked the Rev.  “I don’t know, it’s the first time”, was the honest estimate.  So we decided that we would prepare for 100 and hope for the best.  Burgers and Brats on the grill was to headline the menu.  I found a recipe for a pasta salad on the web that looked good so that became our side dish.  The Rev added fresh veggies and rice crispy bars to the presentation. A quick run to the store for Kettle Baked chips (3 flavors, of course) and assorted cookies and we had a menu.


I started early Wednesday morning and decided that this was a pretty pedestrian menu so I toasted all of the hamburger and brat buns.  I had to have something that was “special”.  Then it was off to the church about 2:30pm to get ready to go by 5:15 - the scheduled start time.
I was told the church had a grill that I could use to prepare the burgers and brats. Hmmm, a gas grill - I’m a Weber kettle/charcoal guy myself.  Oh well, let’s give it a go.  I lifted the lid and discovered, of course, that it had not been cleaned since it was used last June.  I had suspected that might be the case so I had brought my grill brush.  No problem - I had that grill ready to go before too long.  I opened the valve on the gas tank and hit the ignition button.  Thank you Lord, it fired the first time.  Okay let’s throw on some burgers and see what this thing will do.  Five minutes a side is the usual time on my grill so I checked them in five and found that the left side of the grill was hot and working just fine (though a little slow) but the right side had barely cooked the surface.  I eventually developed a system of starting on the right and working the burgers to the left - then I used the very right side as a “warmer” to hold the finished burgers as I progressed.  I cooked all afternoon.
  
By 4:30 people started to arrive. They would stick their heads out and say “It smells great - I could smell it all the way out in the parking lot”.  It was about this time that I met Hanna.  I finished up about 5:10 - 80 burgers and 36 brats.  I hoped it would be enough.  The Rev was going to have her meal after-all.


We figure we served about 75 people, young and old, last night.  All of the brats disappeared but we did have some burgers left-over.  The pasta salad was a hit although we had made about twice as much as needed.  Six bags of chips was the right amount and two trays of rice crispy bars were gone.  Several of the ladies commented on the toasted buns - they liked the touch.


By 6:00 everyone was off to their meetings, practices and groups.  One young man offered to help with the clean up so he and I packed up the left overs, cleaned the dishes and wiped down the tables.  By 8:00 I was home in my recliner and totally exhausted.


Yes, I was wiped out but it felt great.  I had never cooked for that many before and we had pulled it off.  This is something that I can do.  And I enjoyed it.  The sound of people talking and eating together was great.  This was community - this was fellowship.  It may be just a few hours on a Wednesday night, a brief break in the routine of life, but this is church.  This is good.

May you also find a break in your routine this week - and as always I pray that you find . . . Peace.

We had a raccoon in the yard

Well, we have moved to West Des Moines.  The Rev is settled into her pulpit and I am back on the sales floor,this time at Slumberland.  I think we are going to like Des Moines.  It is a beautiful city with a lot happening.  We are still learning our way around, of course, but what we have seen so far is very nice.

But not everything has been pleasant.  Our home is nice but no one told us about our nocturnal visitor.  We discovered after a couple of nights that we had a local raccoon that had decided our back patio was a great location for his personal latrine.  I stayed up one night to see if I could scare it away but I missed him.  I can tell you though that he came between 3 AM and 3:30.

I wasn't looking forward to this battle but as it turned out, it was a simple solution.  I went to Home Depot and found a product called "Critter Ridder".  I just spread the granules around the patio and I haven't seen the raccoon since.  I can't believe it was that easy but it worked.

Guess I have to recommend Critter Ridder.  It worked very well for me.

Peace