Gracie!

My name is Gracie! And I am the favorite chicken in the flock right now. I am also the smallest so I get picked on a lot by my sisters. See my featherless tail? But I have figured out that when my Mama comes out to feed and water us I can jump down and go between her legs and my sisters cannot get me! I also like to ride on her shoulder as she cleans out nesting boxes and collects our eggs. My Mama protects me.

I came from a home where I was raised with a Rooster named Mohawk. He protects me too. I had to come live here because my Mama was looking for a good Rooster to watch over her flock and my owner was giving us away. My Mama loves having a Rooster to hear them crow and to make the eggs yummier! She sells my pretty brown eggs at the Farmers Market. But you have to come early because she only has a few dozen a week and they are so yummy that they sell really fast. Happy Chickens make really nice eggs!

Its time for Rhubarb

OK. I admit it. Rhubarb is not my favorite. And my husband loves it. So I have had to really look for recipes that have a rhubarb flavor, but yet not too much, so that I enjoy eating it. Here is my favorite recipe so far. It s a coffee cake with rhubarb sauce running through the middle of it, Yummy!

Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
Filling:
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 cups diced rhubarb

Cake: 
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (I use pecans)
1 egg, beaten

Directions:
Filling: In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in rhubarb. Cook and stir over medium heat, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and cool.

Cake: Combine milk and lemon juice. Set aside. Combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly (a food processor is great for this). Remove 1/2 cup of this mixture and set it aside to use for topping. To the remaining flour mixture add baking powder, baking soda, and walnuts. Combine egg with milk mixture. Add to the dry ingredients and stir in or process until just moistened. Spread 2/3 of the batter over the bottom and part way up the sides of a greased 9 inch spring form pan. Spoon the rhubarb filling over this. Drop the remaining batter by spoon fulls over the filling. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

I will have rhubarb for sale for the next couple of weeks. Enjoy.

Market Starts next week! May 13

Wow! Wear did the prep time go?

Its a rainy day today so I decided to try to make some dog biscuits to sell. It might satisfy all of the doggie lovers need to buy their canine friend a treat! I taste tested them on Foster, and I think he really like them!

I've been labeling my eggs, putting my herbs outside to get nice and full, and digging up perennials to sell. I've been organizing my cookbook for market, making lists of ingredients to buy, and making business cards. I think I might be in "Market Mode".

Everything in the garden is starting to come up and it looks nice. I have been really trying to stay on top of the weeds this year.

Baking for next Thursday-
-Monter Cookies!
-Banana Bread
-Strawberry Rhubarb bread
-and Yucky Pretzels (that aren't so yucky!)

I will have my herb plants, perennials, jams & jellies, and a bird bath to sell.
See you Thursday!