Cluster Flies, Apple Pies, and Podcasts....the bits of my thoughts.....

The last confirmation that it is a cluster fly infestation.... they are gone, done with the plague. Thank you!

They only infest from October to April. Now that April is here it looks like I can take a break from sweeping thousands of flies up every day. I mean geeze, it was really frustrating. 

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Apple pies. I have now made a wonderful milestone in pie making. Now that I have made the perfect apple pie more than three times (perfect to my standard at least), I am going to try some of the stranger recipes in my apple pie book. One is an apple and cheddar cheese pie another is a cream cheese pastry. I am nervous about it. 

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For my Science Fiction Literature class I am exploring new mediums and medias for the genre. Right now I am dabbling in podcasts and loving it. I even asked a friend for a recommendation and was delighted with the result. The two I have been streaming today are Escape Pod and StarShipSofa. I have been listening to find prime examples and appropriate stories to share with my students. 

I have always been unimpressed with Science Fiction from 1970-present. That's a long chunk of history to not find any literature in a genre I enjoy, but there is plenty pre-1970 to have kept me occupied. The problem with that is that I have never really been pushed to find anything from that era and the problem with that is that I need to teach that era fairly and cannot simply skip it or dismiss it. 

Happily I have found a treasure trove in the world of podcasts. 

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The other odd bits, I am really needing to change something in my appearance. Maybe a haircut, maybe a color. I just need to simplify yet again and I am rushed for time every morning. I ran out of Foil Hat soap and Amy has closed shop. I am checking out Prairieland Herbs.  

CHICKEN UPDATE

The chicks can fly.  Awesome.

Puppy Love

My lovely Lil'Bug. Aunt Bee came to visit our farm with her fiance and we had a blast tromping through the woods..... even with the event filled start.....

You see, we heard gunshots. Then ducks flew up off our pond.  It's not duck season. I don't think it's any season actually. Also, private property? No trespassing signs? 

So Dearest tromped ahead and met the guys who were actually just shooting at turtles in our pond. The conversation went something like this:

"Sorry, our boat took on water so we borrowed yours. Hope you don't mind."

Dearest, "Well, actually I very much mind. You guys have guns?"

"We were just shooting at turtles."

Just. Shooting. At. Turtles. Using our boat. Trespassing. They drove onto the wet lawn too, leaving deep tire tracks. Dearest handled the rest beautifully.

They were apologetic and the left. We continued our marshy tromp.

Oh, and we have a new family member! This is Moon Puppy 2. 

Seriously? New puppy? What was I thinking? I have never experienced the overwhelmed mom thing that most people complain about with a new baby and other kids (because I just slack off on housework and other stuff and snuggle the babes)....until the puppy. 

Of course I had just settled in to a good housekeeping routine (cough cough, Nana and Paw Paw came and cleaned house) and planting season is starting up when we decide that the opportunity of a new friend having just the breed we want and our farm need were to awesome to ignore. 

She's had a rough start here, but everything will work out just fine. 

Our First Livestock: Chickens!

We really are beginning farmers. This is a milestone for us. We ordered chickens and the ones we ordered will arrive next week sometime, but what came yesterday was a rash, happy decision. GreenRanchingMom emailed me on facebook to call her right away and.... she soon after brought me ten Ameraucana chicks. Blue egg layers! 

My aunt raised Ameraucanas when I was growing up and they were mean chickens, but beautiful and elegant. Oh, how I loved those chickens. 

I love these chickens. I love that we are beginning farming. 

Baby chickens in my kitchen:

Chicken pot pie!

Funny story. As I was downloading these pictures the sequence with the chicks flashed by and was followed by pictures of the pot pies. Coincidence, but still. 

These pot pies were actually not that hard. I can do pie crust. The food processor takes all of the hard work out of it. I can stir ingredients in a pot. Basically the trick to the crust is using lard instead of shortening. 

That's right. Lard. As in pig fat. 

You know what bugs me sometimes? People who are hesitant to use so much butter so they use vegetable shortening, the kind of food product that has an indefinite shelf life and is actually rancid BEFORE you buy it but is so processed you'd never know it. They use THAT instead of butter, which is just beaten cream, plain old dairy cream. And those people freak out about using lard. Again, just natural animal fat. The recipe I was using said they tested lard, butter, and shortening and while the lard tasted and performed better they opted to recommend shortening and butter mixed because of lard's artery clogging reputation. I think that is stupid, so I used lard in this crust and I use it in any recipe that calls for shortening. I won't even buy shortening. Blech. 

Anyway, the inside of the pie was pretty easy too. Just fresh vegetables sauteed, chicken stock mixed with milk and flour, and cut up chicken. Pour that mix while its still bubbling into the pie crust and bake until golden. 

I'll look up the exact recipe in a bit.