Animal Husbandry and Quiche

This weekend has been packed full of activity, in no small part due to 4th July. In addition, our big Boys (Socks and Whiskers) returned back from Summer Camp today, where we hope they learned a few more manners.

Socks (in front) and Whiskers.

Socks, giddy on grass!

We used to have lots more animals (cows, dogs, geese, ducks etc etc), but these days we are just overrun with chickens and these two Boys.


The eggs are out of this world, and make for great hostess gifts (everyone loves fresh eggs, right?). We really haven't worked out the best way to sell them and have a fridge FULL. I am always thinking of what I can cook to whittle down our egg mountain, so a quiche was the order of the day yesterday.

A few points here:

• I never make the crust, always buy pre-made (life is too short to make pastry as Mutt would say).
• I use the Silver Palate basic egg custard recipe and it never goes wrong. Bake for 40 mins or so at 375 Fahrenheit. Just don't let it get too hard, you want a little give in the egg mixture.
  
• Quiche is a vehicle for whatever you have on hand. Any amount of classic combos exist but I think it is much more interesting to create your own. When it comes to the filling, more is more...pack it all in.

This quiche was made out of leftovers from a picnic we had the night before. Poached salmon, asparagus, peas, sauteed onions and garlic, with lots of chopped coriander (sorry, cilantro). Yum!

We've gone free range here on the farm since we no longer have dogs to pester the chickens but we shut them up at night to protect them from the beasties. For the past two weeks, I have had a couple of furry house guests so have to keep a close eye on their outside antics, just to make sure the chickens don't get munched.

Veda (left) and Django (right)

Cuteness factor x 100 with these two. I will be sad to see them go tomorrow. Time to get ourselves another dog, or two...