We had some family friends with younger kids over for dinner tonight. The mom brought salad and dessert (brownies and watermelon, perfect in my book!) and I made chicken cutlets, pasta and a zucchini casserole. I didn’t expect the younger crowd to get into the casserole but I’ve got lots of zucchini so that’s what I cook. It came out a bit waterier than in the past but still tasted good. We also sampled some of my brine pickles, as I’ve never tasted real “half sours” before. I let them go too long at room temp I think. They were very salty. But I have some ideas to try again. They were good and crunchy so evidently the grape leaves did their thing. We tasted these against a friend’s mom’s recipe that used pickling spices. Those were overly sweet for my taste but I want my friend to taste them and see if that’s what she remembers.
Broody Hens
The younger kids enjoyed seeing the chickens, including the broody hen sitting on the empty nest box. I had to explain that since we had no roosters there would be no little chickens hatching out! (Not to mention the fact that there are no eggs under her!) Then we got into a discussion about where the eggs come out and I think “vent” is their new word. Easy to have a birds and bees discussion when the birds are right in front of you!
When I cracked open the eggs for the cutlets I showed them how yellow the yolks were and they were amazed. It’s totally normal to me now. I forget how pale store-bought eggs are, at least non-cage free ones.
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