Hello, Cucumber Salad! It's Been a Minute!

Who remembers hot summer days with the BBQ going and someone bringing out the cucumber and onion salad? Me! I loved it as a kid but can pretty much tell you that I haven't had it since. Until today. One of my favorite things about summer is the abundance of fresh produce. I can not get enough! Between my little garden and my neighbor's huge garden, I am in the height of my revelry. Longing for this and knowing that it's easy to make for one, I waited until I had a BBQ to go to in the evening. Not wanting to run the the store, I was so happy that this crossed my mind an all my ingredients were within reach. I found this recipe and of course, made my own embellishments. This recipe calls for two cucumbers but as in all things, size does matter. So the one I had was more than ample. It called for one garlic clove but two is always better. I added one medium Early Girl tomato freshly picked though I debated using two. Thoughts? And I doubled the water and vinegar. I think my mom just added apple cider vinegar and water. Maybe salt and pepper. But she is no longer here to ask so...I'll just tweak this little baby and see what happens. I put it all together in my pretty not-so-little Pioneer Woman bowl and we are ready for our BBQ. Maybe I'll pick up a nice crisp white wine on my way. I'll let know how it goes!

Let's Talk Chicken

So farm life is a little new to me. Chickens are very new to me. Like....only a year now. I used to refuse to eat farm fresh eggs because I just knew I would crack an egg and a baby chick would fall out and that would launch me into the full vegetarian existence that I'm not really all that far away from already. So in the past year I've learned that only if you have a rooster does that come in to play. Oh. Okay. Something new! The first time I made scrambled eggs from my own eggs I was very wary of what they would taste like. So I made them with sweet coffee creamer in case they taste like....I don't know.....dead baby chickens? Now I won't eat anything but! I pride myself on my well cared for chickens and their organic-as-you-can-make-it eggs that they produce. You will learn a lot about my chickens here and I don't want to use all my blog ideas on my first night. You will meet everyone in due time. Tonight please meet Nugget and her baby chick, Dudley. They are new to my farm. Nugget was brought in to help two brooders I had with their dilemma. Only one chick hatched. That would be Dudley. Nugget was mean as hell when she first got here but she now understands that I am friend and not foe. The other hens have yet to really accept her so she and Dudley do their own thing and I make sure they get their share of food. Bye the way....Dudley may become Dumpling as we learn if he/she is male or female. I do have Speckle, the Transgender Hen but that's a whole new entry for another day! Stay tuned and be sure to share with your friends who might enjoy hearing about my single, sustainable farm life!