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We lost a chicken yesterday- Polka Dotty had an accident. I’m not interested in going into details, but they always say that there are going to be some casualties, when you have chickens; nevertheless, that doesn’t make it any less tragic when you do. We buried her under one of the fig trees. It was horribly sad…
May you find many bugs to catch, friends to play, and songs to chirp + cluck, in that big playground in the sky, Polka Dotty!
Polka Dotty (right) and Spotty
Polka Dotty (left) and Spotty
As you well know, I will never admit to being a pet person. I will, however, admit to being a lemon freak. Maybe even a citrus freak. Right now in our refrigerator, we have about a large paper grocery bag’s worth of grapefruit, half again as much of juicing oranges (arizona sweets and valencias), a box of clementines, a dozen lemons, eight meyer lemons, and a few tangelos + limes. The only reason we don’t have blood oranges is because I just used them to make sorbet a few days ago.
Granted, its citrus season here in the valley- and most of the fruit currently stockpiled was given to us by friends, family, and neighbors. A large part of central Phoenix was once citrus orchards, planted back in the 1920’s, when land and newly available irrigation were cheap. Despite the transition of the area to residential, many of the old trees remain.
We’ve planted some citrus on our property too- but it will probably be a while before we can harvest- the five-gallon trees we planted last spring need a few years to grow. We did end up with a few limes, and a single kumquat! We have a Meyer lemon tree, a (normal) Eureka lemon, a Bearss lime, a Moro blood orange, a Meiwa kumquat, a Minneola tangelo, and a satsuma tree. The only reason we didn’t plant more ( I still want a grapefruit, a citron, a yuzu, and maybe a clementine) is because B was sick of digging holes!
Anyway, with this abundance of citrus, I’ve got plans to cook up a storm- so far I’ve only been making cakes, cookies, lemonade, limeade, citrus-ade, and throwing grapefruit into my favorite salad, but there’s more to come. But probably my favorite way to use citrus? Sorbets.
This recipe is from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon cookbook. I’ve made maybe a dozen or so recipes out of this book- and they’ve all been terrific, but this is one of the ones I come back to, time and time again- because its easy, and delicious. Since its so simple, the flavors of the just-squeezed citrus really shine. We really love the undertones of raspberry that you can taste in the fruit. The only change I make is to not strain the juice- I like the little bits of pulp left in- it adds texture- like pulpy orange juice. Its terrific with blood oranges, as written, but other citrus work as well- we’re very fond of grapefruit.
Note: If you make the recipe with regular navel oranges, you might want to add less sugar, since the fruit is already so sweet.
Blood Orange Sorbet
from Bouchon, by Thomas Keller
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
3 cups blood orange juice (from about 12 oranges)
Combine the sugar + water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Transfer to a medium bowl and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature. Add the orange juice and refrigerate until cold.
Transfer to an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Makes about 1 quart.
ready to eat right now:
arugula
basil, sweet
basil, spicy globe
bok choy, baby
broccoli
broccoli rabe
celery
lettuce, romaine
lettuce, butterhead
radishes, french breakfast
scallions
spinach
swiss chard, rainbow
herbs: burnet, chives, garlic chives, cilantro, dill, english thyme, lemon thyme, marjoram, oregano (greek), parsley (italian flat-leaf), rosemary (barbeque), sage, tarragon (french), lemongrass
growing, but not ready to be eaten yet:
asparagus
beans, fava
beets, bull’s blood
beets, dutch baby balls
brussel sprouts
carrots, scarlet nantes
cabbage, napa
cabbage, savoy
cauliflower (again)
cucumbers, armenian
cucumbers, english
cucumbers, pickling
horseradish
lettuce, escarole
lettuce, frisee
lettuce, romaine
strawberries
tomatoes, early girl
tomatoes, stupice
peas, english
peas, snap
peas, snow
peppers, hungarian
strawberries
zucchini
It looks like spa day is going to be a regular event after all. These pampered chicks seem to demand it, plus they wanted to have plenty of preening time before the next round of visitors. In an effort to help you, dear readers, visualize how lovely spa time can be, we bring you some photos of the latest round. Please note that this is all about basic hygiene, and not any craziness on our parts…
As we’re both architects, we thought it important to show you the calm environment in which the chicks are given their ritual ablutions. Clean, minimalist. Ok, its no Peter Zumthor spa, but its zen enough for them! Note the handmade porcelain ofuro, or japanese soaking tub, located near the bathing pool/waterfall.
A quiet moment of contemplation before beginning treatment:
Treatment photos:
(please note that photo quality rapidly degrades- while consenting to the spa treatments, the users were a little wary of the paparazzi, and accompanying lack of privacy, and therefore acted accordingly- only allowing for a few hurried photos).
Initial dunking soak:
Foot soak:
Pedicure + foot massage:
Pre-rub down, towel-dry, and blow dry:
Post spa bliss:
So that everyone has a fair turn in the limelight, here are some photos of the Barred (Plymouth) Rock + Ameraucana chicks, both 7 days old.
I’m happy to announce that we seem to have stepped back from that slippery slope towards crazy pet people. That is, other than obsessively cutting up small pieces of paper towels to cover up any “accidents” (so that we’re not constantly at the spa), and grinding up a mix of old-fashioned, organic rolled oats and stone-ground cornmeal to add to the chick feed ( in a 1:1 ratio) to also help with messy “accidents,” everything has ahem, normalized.
I’m lying, but that’s a tale for another day. Enjoy the photos!
(Ok, there’s parsley in the very front, but everything else is pretty much broccoli…)
The problem with buying transplants at a nursery is that they’re all the same age, and the same size. So, if you buy a six-pack, unlike a six-pack of beer, you can’t just drink a few of them, and save the rest. Instead, you have six of whatever you planted ripening at the same moment. If you go under the premise that not all of the plants might make it, buying 6 of one thing might work out. Or if you have a large family. Or if you’re diligent about picking it early, so that it looks pretty enough to give away (instead of leaving it out in the garden, hoping that it will stay in the just-perfect- ready-to-be-picked stage, instead of the still-very-tasty -not-to-mention-home- grown-and-organic-yet-starting-to-look-like-it-might-flower-at-any-moment stage). So, welcome to broccoli week.
We’ve now eaten, in the space of about a week, broccoli steamed, broccoli korean style ( steamed, then tossed with sesame seeds + oil, soy, brown sugar, pepper, vinegar; served cold), broccoli in-the-style-of-my-favorite-broccoli-raab recipe (another day, another post), garlicky sesame-cured broccoli salad, and (da-dah!) broccoli surprise.
Now, if this was B’s blog, and he could dictate what I wrote here, he’d have me telling you all about tonight’s “garlicky sesame-cured broccoli salad”- a lucky find in today’s New York Times food section. It is delicious, bathed in warmed garlic and cumin, spicy + just a little tart, and Melissa Clark’s accompanying article was also quite entertaining- talking about how the original name of the dish- “marinated raw broccoli” just didn’t quite cut it. More than anything, the article was relateable, because the recipe I’m going to tell you about was shunned the same way because of its name- “Broccoli Surprise”. Granted, the only one turning up his nose at the evening’s broccoli selection was B, and he’s also the only one it was ever presented to, but nevertheless, it still stings- because its a recipe that I made up, and more importantly, named! The name was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek riff on every bad fifties-era dish you’ve ever had- bringing to mind casseroles with “secret ingredients” like mushroom soup, or, perhaps more appropriately, cream of broccoli… to belie the tasty treat it actually is. It’s actually more of a slaw than a salad- bright, crunchy, with a taste reminicent of cabbage (no far stretch, since they’re related), tangy and piquant with lime, and tartness softened by the sprinkling of cheese. The oregano is the best part- adding depth and a little complexity, and moving the flavor profile slighty over towards mexican food (but still neutral enough to eat with a variety of dishes). I served it with a big bowl of posole (mexican hominy soup), but it’d be equally as good with anything you serve a slaw with- sandwiches, barbecue, etc… And, like Melissa Clark, I couldn’t just name it exactly for what it was- “raw, broccoli stem salad” just doesn’t have the pleasant little lilt that saying “broccoli surprise” does! Call it something else if you have to, or just don’t call it by name when you’re serving it to someone who has painful memories of over-cooked broccoli, but do try it!
The quantites in the recipe are approximate- its more of a guideline to putting a few ingredients together, rather than an actual recipe. It was actually an attempt to use up the rest of the broccoli, when the florets were used for another recipe.
Broccoli Surprise
stems from two large heads of broccoli
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
1/3 cup of cojita cheese (crumbled)
freshly ground black pepper
Julienne the broccoli into 2″ long pieces. Place in a medium bowl, squeeze lime juice over broccoli, toss to coat. Drizzle olive oil over mix. Sprinkle with oregano and cojita cheese, toss to combine. Add pepper to taste, and adjust seasonings. Serves 2 or 3 as a side dish.
is that we’re going to become crazy pet people. The very same people we never understood, and dare I say, mocked. You know who I’m talking about- you might even be one of them. The sort that never go on vacation, because they’re afraid that “Agnes” will be too lonely without them. The ones that have to bring “Babycakes” to their favorite coffee shop (along with his favorite toy), because he needs to get out of the house and hang with friends just as much as you do. And don’t forget “Mr. Snuffles” who did the most amazing thing today, and do you want to see a picture?
Do you know how I know that this is our destiny? That heck, we’ve already well on our way to becoming some of “those people”? Because tonight, all the chicks went to the spa.
When you first get baby chickens, you have to give them an enclosed space to live- some people buy fancy cages and others do what we did- use a big box or “tupperware” type container, and line it with newspapers, paper towels, wood shavings, etc… and then change the liner twice a day- so that they have a clean place to live and play. You want to keep things clean, but they need to build up an immunity to coccidiosis, so they actually do get a little dirty- especially their toes- since they’re not watching where they walk! So I did a little research online today, and found something that said that you could soak their feet in a shallow bowl of warm water, and then wash off any gunk, and carefully dry them.
Can you see where this is going? Now imagine two very-new-chicken-owners trying to grab little baby chicks and dip their unsuspecting feet in water – and hold them there, for at least a good five minutes while everything softens. Uh-huh, not so smooth of an operation as you might imagine. Everyone got a little more wet than anticipated. There was a quite a lot of chirping (and swearing). Actually, once they got used to it- it wasn’t so bad- who doesn’t enjoy a nice foot soak? But what to do with slightly bedraggled chicks? Bring out the trusty hair dryer.
Each chick was individually held and hand dried, and let me tell you- it takes a lot longer than you think to make sure that everyone’s ‘do is soft and fluffy, and dried to perfection. It took each one about 20 minutes, and we have six little ladies…
But they loved it- (the drying part). Being held in a cosy hand, swaying gently, while a warm breeze gently dries and fluffs every little clean bit of down and feather – you’d only be so lucky to get this kind of treatment at Ten Thousand Waves! Then back home to a clean abode, with clean water, plenty of food, and everything just as it should be.
But no, we’re not crazy pet people.
Yet.
These are photos of the two remaining chickens- both Barred (Plymouth) Rocks. The one sitting in B’s hands is the sweetest of them so far- she’s content to snuggle in your hands, instead of instantly hopping away to explore! She’s also the first to nap- always the sleepiest of the bunch- a curled up bundle of fluff…
These are our two Araucana chicks- if you look closely, you can actually see different markings- the top one has a bit more variation in color on her head (we’re still working on names- suggestions are welcome)!
