I know its spring because things are turning green around me and the girls have started laying like crazy. But those are the only two signs because it. wont.stop.raining. There! I have stated the obvious. We had a brief sun break yesterday so I ran outside to clean the chicken coop. It is still seeping from the ground up so the straw I have been putting in there was pretty soggy.... and smelly. A real chicken farmer would just go out there and build a new coop and new fence in the rain. I'm think maybe I'm the laziest chicken farmer on the planet. Jimmy says so every time he opens the fridge and sees it stuffed with cartons of eggs. Eggs...lots and lots of eggs. So many eggs that I have been digging for recipes that use as many eggs as possible. So far the recipe that calls for the most eggs is angel food cake. Twelve eggs per cake. Now , most people don't bother with scratch angel food cake because it takes so many eggs and because the cake itself is so finicky. But I have enough eggs to make lots of mistakes so I set out to learn. Four cakes later I finally got it right. I would probably still be making messes instead of cakes if not for a delightful visit from the parents. Dad separated all the eggs while step mom walked me through the process and pointed out that there is a reason a special pan is needed for AF cakes. We used a regular cake pan the day they were here and it was a little sunken in the middle and kind of lopsided but still pretty tasty. We drizzled it with last falls failed spiced blackberry jelly (it never jelled so now its blackberry syrup) Dad gave us the best compliment ever. As he poured even more blackberry syrup over his cake he grinned big and said 'so we are eating two failures?' And then he shoveled in a big bite. All in all it was a satisfying experience and then I procured the correct pan and the next one was perfect. But still.... the eggs keep coming so I made cream puffs and deviled eggs and boiled eggs and egg salad ..... now I am trying to master custard. I now get why there is a whole section dedicated to egg dishes in my 100 year old cook books. Back when most families had a vegetable garden and a few chickens in the back yard, everyone had eggs, lots and lots of eggs. Probably not as many as I have right now but still lots and lots of eggs. I could probably solve my egg abundance issue if I just put out my 'eggs for sale' sign like I have been planning to do for 3 years.
And then there is spring cleaning. Jimmy and I are preparing for our annual 'June Bloom" Its the time when we get lots of visitors starting to come in from out of town because no one wants to visit western WA in the winter. So, the guest room is first on the list. Its getting a complete makeover. Cleaning, painting and so forth. So far I have spent hours and hours cleaning out the closets and going through everything. When we first moved in I just wanted to get everything organized and livable. Things we didn't immediately need went into the closets ...and stayed there for 5 years. Since I haven't used any of it or in many cases even seen it in 5 years I must not really need it. Its all sorted, reboxed and ready to go to goodwill. Which means that prepping for painting is on this weeks to-do list. I'm hoping I can even talk Jimmy into putting in a ceiling fan. But that is an argument for another day ;)
And then there is spring cleaning. Jimmy and I are preparing for our annual 'June Bloom" Its the time when we get lots of visitors starting to come in from out of town because no one wants to visit western WA in the winter. So, the guest room is first on the list. Its getting a complete makeover. Cleaning, painting and so forth. So far I have spent hours and hours cleaning out the closets and going through everything. When we first moved in I just wanted to get everything organized and livable. Things we didn't immediately need went into the closets ...and stayed there for 5 years. Since I haven't used any of it or in many cases even seen it in 5 years I must not really need it. Its all sorted, reboxed and ready to go to goodwill. Which means that prepping for painting is on this weeks to-do list. I'm hoping I can even talk Jimmy into putting in a ceiling fan. But that is an argument for another day ;)
