RECIPE: Hot and Sour Soup

This savory soup makes a great lunch, or side dish for a hearty stir fry!

I recently had the opportunity to try Hot and Sour Soup. I am a big fan of Asian cuisine, and especially love spicy foods and sour, vinegar based pickled goods. After one tasting, I immediately set out to try making my own! This recipe has been developed from several across the net, as well as my own trial and error, and to my own taste.

INGREDIENTS:

4 c. Chicken Broth
3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1/2 c. Diced Mushrooms
1/2 Tbsp. Sriracha Sauce
1/8 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp. Cayenne Powder
1/4 tsp. Ground Pepper
1/4 c. White Vinegar
1 Egg, beaten
2 Green Onions, chopped

Bring chicken broth to a boil, add soy, mushrooms, sriracha, garlic, cayenne and pepper. Simmer for 5 mins, then add vinegar and simmer an additional 5 minutes. Slowly pour beaten egg into broth, and stir for 30 seconds. Add green onion, remove from heat and serve hot. Makes 4 servings.

*You can make a milder version by omitting the cayenne, and using half white and half rice wine vinegar.

Baby Chicks 2015

Last night we purchased our 2015 batch of baby chicks! 6 more hens will be joining the egg laying ranks this summer! We got another Ameraucana, another Black Jersey Giant, 2 more Rhode Island Reds and 2 Barred Rocks. We were kind of hoping to find breeds we didn't already have, but we've been happy with all of these over the past couple years, too. The company 4H orders from in May has Buff Orpingtons and Silver Laced Wyandottes we're eyeing, too...

Caring for baby chicks is fairly easy. The key is keeping them warm and safe, with a steady supply of fresh water and food. Start up cost, including the birds, is under $50! Sure, buying the fancy waterer and food dispenser is convenient, and a plastic bin may be a little easier to clean up, but they are not necessary.

You will need:

Baby Chicks
Cardboard Box or Large Plastic Tote
Pine Shavings
Heat Lamp w/ Bulb
Shallow Water Dish w/ Marbles or Purchased Waterer
Shallow Food Dish or Purchased Feeder
Chick Starter Feed (we use unmedicated)
Duramycin - 10 Powdered Antibiotic (optional)

Below is a photo of our set up this year. We use a purchased waterer, as we have to refill it less, but you can also use a shallow bowl filled with marbles (to prevent drowning), and a cut off an instant soup bowl for food (couldn't find our chick feeder!). We set the water on a salad plate to prevent chips from getting into and soaking up the water. We've always just used a cardboard box, but a plastic tote, or even an old galvanized water trough works! You'll want about 1/2" or so deep layer of pine chips in the bottom for bedding. Keep the box away from drafts.

As you can see, we secure the heat lamp to a dining room chair. You will want the temperature inside the box somewhere between 85 and 95 degrees for the first week or so. If they congregate directly under the lamp, and refuse to leave the huddle for food or water, it may be a little too chilly for them. Adversely, if they are as far as possible from the heat source and panting, raise the lamp. Put the food and water a little ways from the lamp to encourage movement.

Personally, we put powdered antibiotic in the water for the first week we have them, to address any illness they mave have gotten from other chicks, or during the stress of travel. After the first week, and for the rest of their lives, they will only be treated with medicated water in the case of illness, never as a preventative measure. Nor will they be fed any sort of medicated feed!

If you want your adult chickens to be friendly, handling them gently several times a day is the key. My adult birds come when called, many seek out human attention on their own, and the majority can be carried around without any complaints (with a few exceptions, roosters and dominant hens are less likely cooperate...) by doing so. Be exceptionally vigilant around small children and cats or dogs who are not familiar with baby chicks when handling them.

As soon as they get their first set of feathers, you can remove the heat lamp. Eventually, they will be moved to a bigger/longer box, which we create by cutting the ends out and taping them together with packing tape, with chicken wire laid over the top to prevent jail breaks! As soon as the weather breaks, we'll set up a temporary corral in the yard and allow them supervised forraging time a few hours a day. If you already have adult chickens, be sure to keep the younger flock separated from them until they're ready to live in the coop full time. (But, that's an entirely separate issue we'll address when that time comes!)

***All this said, A lot of people have expressed interest in laying hens, but before purchasing, be advised that chickens only lay eggs for 5-7 years, but may live in captivity several years there after. I have heard that animal shelters have begun seeing more and more spent hens. Either resolve yourself to humanely butchering, or plan to keep the birds into retirement. Baby chicks are cute, but they soon grow up! Venturing out into subzero temperatures 3 times a day to refresh frozen waterers and raking out poopy, stinky straw once a week or so isn't exactly fun. You may have problems finding a vet that handles poultry. You may be required to research and provide medical care on your own. Don't go into it lightly!***

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! It's the first holiday of the "Holiday Season" at Lil Raisin Acres!

I'd been seeing these Spider Deviled Eggs around Pinterest since autumn. I finally had an excuse to make them. Here's the original idea that I had pinned last fall: PINTEREST. I think mine are a little more "rustic" looking... I used my own recipe for the filling, which can be found HERE on the blog. I forgot to grab relish at the store, so I had to substitute the relish for dill weed! 

Unfortunately it's pretty cold and damp out today, but it never stopped us as kids! There's even a possibility of flurries overnight, although I'll believe it when I see it. As long as the kids stay safe and have a good time, that's what's most important!

Hope everyone has a horrifyingly fun evening. Tomorrow: Christmas Carols!!! LOL

RECIPE: Dill Deviled Eggs

Anyone inviting me to a picnic or holiday party already knows what I'll be bringing! I've been making these eggs for several years now,  they're always gone by the end of the evening.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Dozen Boiled Eggs, peeled

1/4 c. Mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. Yellow Mustard

1 Tbsp. Dill Relish

1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp. Onion Powder

1/4 tsp. Parsley

1/4 tsp. Basil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Paprika

PREPARATION:

Slice eggs lengthwise, reserving yolks aside in a mixing bowl. Mash yolks with a fork and add remaining ingredients, except Paprika. Mix well, until filling is fairly smooth and creamy (if the filling is a little dry, you may add more mayo). Fill the yolk depression in each egg white with filling. Sprinkle lightly with Paprika and serve.

*If you make them more than a few hours beforehand, be sure to cover them well with wax paper or foil. The fillings will dry out and become "crusty".

RECIPE: Pickled Eggs

When you've got 15 laying hens, there are times there is an over-abundance of eggs. This recipe was a hit with the husband. They can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months.

INGREDIENTS:

12 Eggs, boiled/peeled

4 c. Vinegar

1 Small Onion, chopped

2 Cloves Garlic, whole

1/3 c. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Pickling Spices

1/2 tsp. Black Peppercorns

1 tsp. Dill Weed

Fill a sterile quart jar with eggs. Combine all other ingredients in a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. Pour boiling brine over eggs, secure with a new canning lid, and process in a hot bath canner for 15 minutes. Makes 1 doz eggs.

BOOKSHELF: The Backyard Homestead

Click to view book on Amazon.com

THE BACKYARD HOMESTEAD: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre

Edited By Carleen Madigan

*Eat from the garden year-round with fresh veggies and homemade preserves.
*Make omelets from eggs laid by your own chickens.
*Pick fruits and berries from your back door.




The Backyard Homestead is a good resource for beginner and intermediate level homesteaders, or those contemplating a move to the country and starting a simpler lifestyle. Within it's 367 pages is basic information concerning growing vegetables, herbs, and fruits, as well as caring for your own livestock for meat, milk, and eggs. Everything you'd need to know to eat your own homegrown food year-round!

The book opens with "The Home Vegetable Garden". Starting from planning your garden, to starting seeds, to DIY plant supports, to harvesting, and finally seed-saving and preserving, the entire life cycle of the plants are touched upon. A good basic foundation is presented, including a "Vegetables A to Z" section giving specifics for various common vegetables. The information presented is more than enough to get a new gardener headed down the right path to success.

As far as preserving, hot bath canning is touched upon briefly, with no mention of dehydration. If you're looking for books specifically concerning food preservation, I'd recommend The Dehydrator Bible: Includes over 400 Recipes for dehydration information, and Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving concerning pressure canning.

The second section, "Backyard Fruits and Nuts", gives basic information about several different types of fruits including strawberries and which to choose for your climate, choosing and caring for various berry bushes, choosing and raising grapes for wine and preserves making, and suggestions for deciding what varieties of fruit and nut trees will work best for your orchard. Proper pruning of all bushes, vines and trees is covered. There are even wine and cider making directions!

The "Easy Fragrant Herbs" section covers very basic cultivation of 32 common culinary and medicinal herbs, and although includes some tea and vinegar recipes, doesn't touch much on the medicinal applications of those herbs. I've found The Complete Book of Herbs: A Practical Guide to Growing and Using Herbs and The New Healing Herbs: The Essential Guide to More Than 125 of Nature's Most Potent Herbal Remedies to be valuable reference guides if you're looking for in-depth information about specific plants, both cultivated and wild. Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use provides an excellent introduction and overview to beginner herbalists on how to administer various forms of treatments, as well as information on 24 common herbs. It includes 124 medicinal recipes, too!

"Homegrown Grains" was of particular interest to us. We are currently purchasing corn and hay for our animal feed. It would be nice to supplement some of that with homegrown product! We've never attempted to grow grains ourselves, other than a few stalks of corn (with little success). There is a planting chart, which will certainly come in handy. The chapter focuses on corn and wheat, and covers properly drying corn, threshing wheat, using a grinder and bread and pasta making. Many of the questions I've had regarding wheat growing were answered. Growing hops and barley for home brewed beer was a welcome surprise at the end of the chapter!

After the plants presentations came "Poultry for Meat and Eggs". It's important to select breeds suited to your purpose. Meat breeds are larger, and often produce less eggs than laying breeds. This section does a fairly good job at covering the common chicken breeds in the US, although there is no mention of climate hardiness. Raising turkeys, ducks and geese are also referenced here. Collecting and preserving eggs is thoroughly discussed, but home butchery of meat birds is left out. Collection of feathers for down is touched upon, though. There are plans included for building a small portable suburban-type chicken coop that will house 2 or 3 birds, but would recommend doing a thorough web-search before settling on a design.

"Meat and Dairy" section is what you'd expect- Goats, Sheep, Cows, Rabbits and Hogs. Interestingly enough, there were no plans presented for building a basic shelter or fencing for the animals. Breed selection for meat or milk is covered, as well as proper milking technique and safe milk handling etiquette. Making various cheeses and butter is touched upon.  If you're interested in specific cheese making recipes, Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Homemade Cheeses is a great guide.

Again, home butchery is vastly under-represented, simply covering how to cut the meat and package it for freezing or for smoking after you pick it up from the slaughter house. There are plans for a simple smoke house, and recipes for sausage and jerky.  If you're looking for an in-depth guide to livestock, I'd look elsewhere. There are many very specific books available out there for the type of animal you're interested in raising. For the stouthearted, there is the Home Butchering Handbook: A Living Free Guide (Living Free Guides).

The final chapter, "Food from the Wild" lightly touches on beekeeping, foraging for wild edibles, and gathering maple syrup. Very basic information is presented. Again, I'd look for specific reference guides for these particular subjects. Especially concerning wild edibles. A good reference guide with color photos that is tailored to your specific area is the best choice. There are indeed plants out there than can make you very sick if you make an identification mistake!

In the appendix, there are several web resources given, as well as further reading suggestions (some of which I have already mentioned!) on various specific subjects. As of writing, I have not reviewed them all yet!

Over-all, I would HIGHLY recommend this book to BEGINNERS, and to intermediate gardeners looking to expand from a simple vegetable or herb garden to a larger scale, self-sufficient homestead. It's a good starting point. People who've been homesteading for a while will probably already be familiar with much of the information presented here. However, it'd be a great book to have on hand to lend should a visitor become interesting in what you're doing, too!

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Comment below!

MORE Eggs Coming Soon!

I got a "little" surprise in the corner of the barn this morning! A small brown "first egg" belonging to either Ginger or Chili, our Amber Link hens from the March 1 group!

Compared to a normal sized egg. 

Upon closer inspection this afternoon, we found 2 more smaller brown eggs in the barn nest (yes, some of them have found a corner they like to lay in...), suggesting that perhaps BOTH of them are now laying. We missed collection for a few days while we were out of town this weekend. We didn't expect them to start for another week or so!

Besides the discovery of the 3 small eggs, one of our Ameraucanas (Caramel) has been neglecting the coop at bedtime the past 2 nights. The first morning, she was already pecking around in the barnyard when I went to let everyone out. This morning, she was in the barn. I suspect she is sitting on a nest somewhere overnight, although we've been unable to locate it yet. 

A similar incident happened last summer when Athena (who we now call "Broody Hen" because she likes to sit in the coop on everyone else's eggs...) disappeared several nights in a row. Eventually we discovered a nest full of 19 eggs behind our large Hosta next to the back door. She had been hiding in plain sight!

Either way, by the end of this month, we should have an additional 3 doz. free-range eggs per week available for sale locally, some of which will be light blue (Ameraucana eggs)! If every hen lays every day, we're looking at a total of 105 eggs weekly! Contact us HERE if you're interested.

The soon to be laying ladies and Specker.

On a side note, we've been looking into the Michigan Cottage Foods Laws and picked up some paperwork from our local Farmer's Market regarding perhaps opening a stall next spring! Stay tuned!

RECIPE: Egg Drop Soup

This simple soup makes a great side dish or quick lunch.

Ingredients:

2 c. Chicken Broth
2 eggs
1 small green onion,  chopped
1/8 tsp Corn Starch
Dash Ginger
Dash Black Pepper

Pour 1 1/2 cups of the broth in a small sauce pan,  reserving 1/2 cup aside. Add green onion,  ginger and pepper to the pan. Bring broth to a boil. Whisk eggs together,  and using a fork,  drip eggs off fork into boiling broth. Eggs should cook almost immediately. Whisk the corn starch into the reserved broth and add to boiling soup. Stir frequently til soup returns to a boil and has thickened. Serve hot. Makes 2 servings,  can be doubled.

Brown or White Eggs? What's the Difference?

I've received a few questions lately regarding the difference between white eggs and brown eggs. Are brown more nutritious? Do white chickens lay white eggs and brown chickens lay brown eggs? What causes the difference in shell pigmentation? 

Firstly, there is absolutely no difference in the nutritional value of a brown egg vs. a white egg. The difference is nutritional value depends upon the hen's diet. Free-ranged birds eating bugs, seeds, and weeds will offer up the best eggs, followed by a hen only fed organic chicken feed, and lastly commercial hens who are kept in cages and only eat GMO by product-feed.

As to determining what color egg a hen will lay, look no further than.... her earlobe! Feather color has absolutely nothing to do with egg color, although breed does. A hen with a white earlobe will lay white eggs, and a chicken with red skinned earlobes will lay brown eggs. There are white hens who will lay brown eggs (such as a White Wyandotte)  and brown or red hens that will lay white eggs (such as a Red Leghorn).

Pigmentation is deposited on the egg while forming. Brown pigmentation is called ooporphyrin. In some cases, such as with our Ameraucana hens, there may even be a bluish to green to olive brown coloration. That pigmentation is known as oocyanin. There is no pigmentation deposited on white eggs.

As to why Americans generally associate brown eggs with small local farms and white eggs with factory outfits, I can only guess. In general, commercial outfits choose White Leghorns because they are compact, eat less, and are consistent producers of large white eggs. On the other hand, heritage breeds like Rhode Island Reds are hardy, cool weather tolerant, do not require much feed, and fairly steadily lay large to extra large brown eggs.

So, the next time you get that token white egg in your carton, don't feel slighted. There is absolutely no difference between them!