Classic Lemon Curd Recipe

Last summer, my coworker brought from her backyard her excess lemons for sharing from her Ponderosa lemon tree which went nuts after our plentiful rain this past spring. I gratefully took home as many as i could (ha ha) and proceded to make me some Lemon Curd. Yum Yum. You can use the lemon curd on english muffins, toast, tarts or fillings for cakes.

It turned out so well, I thought I'd share the recipe here. The recipe comes from www.finecooking.com and is titled A Foolproof Way to Make Luscious, Light Lemon Curd. It lived up to it's name.

Christmas Moments to Remember

Buster has been wonderful in giving me moments I'll treasure and hope to be able to tell my grandchildren about when they are young. Each year, there seems to be something he says, that i remember as a "kodak" moment. When we first got our first set of chicks, he peeked into the box to see the RIR baby chicks. He promptly stuck his finger in the air holes trying to touch them, and then looked up at me and said, "mommy, look! these chicks have red peckers!!" That's the day he learned that chickens may peck but they have beaks.

Recently, my son was invited to go to a Christmas party given by the parents of one of his cub scout buddies. We were to bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to the Houston Food Bank, and a dessert, for the potluck. It was a wonderful event, with marshmallow roastings, hay rides, and even Santa making a show. Buster, being 6, understands that there is a Santa and was excited and looking forward to the event. On our drive to the party, I asked Buster if he was excited to see Santa, to which he replied, "yeah, but I just hope it's not Jacobs dad dressed up as Santa with a fake beard".

My chin dropped and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The moment had come to where he understood that there were Santa imposters.

I remember, to this day, the day I got my first bicycle. My dad came into my room to tell me he had heard some racus outside last night and thought he had seen a reindeer. I ran with him outside to see a shiny new pink bike, with training wheels, and shiny strands coming out of the handlebars and thought, wow, Santa came to my house last night.

I sat in that truck, driving to the party, wondering when did Buster come to the realization that there were fake santas and how he felt when he realized they weren't all real. I'm guessing it must have been a let down since he wasn't looking forward to seeing Jacobs dad in a Santa suit.

We arrived at the party and was greeted by Jacob's dad. A little relief. He had a wonderful time doing what 6 year old boys do with other boys their age, running, chasing, playing power ranger....

Then there was a clammer at the front door, and jingle bells and parents shouting, "Santa's Here!!"

All the children (and there were lots and lots of children) all rushed into the living room and sat in front of the BIG chair as Santa made it into the living room with two helpers carrying two big bags of presents. Jacob's mom, had in her hand, the list of all the childrens names (all three pages) and the children sat, in very much anticipation, listening for their name to be called so they could sit on Santa's lap to tell him what they wanted for Christmas and to receive a present from one of the bags. Buster came running up to me, to make sure I had put his name on that list and after reassuring him I had, he ran back to sit on the floor, waiting for his name to be called.

It was a wonderful, wonderful party. One I'm sure he won't remember, but his mom, definitely will. As we drove home, I asked him if he enjoyed talking to Santa and brought up the fact that it wasn't Jacob's dad with a fake beard. He says, "it was okay, but i think it was a fake Santa". I asked, "Did he have a fake beard?" to which he replied, "no, but he didn't know my name, and the real Santa knows my name".

How smart kids get as they get older.

Merry Christmas Everyone.

What!? No Tamales!!

I don't know about ya'll, but tradition here is to buy tamales every Christmas. And at my work, i have a coworker who's family gets together every year to make tamales and she sells them to us at work. I look forward to it every year and end up buying several dozens of the pork and chicken. (more the pork). I'd freeze them and eat them for breakfast, take some home and freeze them and eat them for snack. sometimes, i'd pan fry them and eat them with rice. they were better than potato chips and you definitely couldn't just eat one. and don't dare put any sause on them. there was no need to cover up the flavor of them tamales.

Well, turns out this year, her mama ain't makin' none. WHAT!!!!!??? this can't be!!! where am i suppose to get the tamales? yeah, i know, i can get them anywhere, i live in houston, for goodness sakes. but still...now i have to hope the batch i buy from who knows who, tastes as good and isn't skimpy on the filling and isn't over priced. ugh! first its the economy, now the tamales!!

Got Snake?

So last fall, back when my wyondottes were still only 8 weeks old, I walked in on a snake in my chicken pen. I normally left my lights on in the pen, but that week, i decided to start saving energy (cuz it don't grow on trees, only in wind) and started turning the lights off. i had just gotten these lights installed about a month before and LOVED them but it was time to save energy. one night, i walked into the pen after dark (can't remember why i went to check on them anymore) and i was about the pull the light switch (you can kinda see the string hanging from the light) and noticed that it was oddly shaped. i walked closer to the light switch hanging and realized that it was the head of a snake hanging down from the lights. even in the dark, i could see it flicker out its tongue as to try and figure out who just walked in. as i looked down to see what it was aiming towards, i saw my wyondottes huddled together, fast asleep, not really aware of what was lurking up right above their heads.

So i ran back to the house and grabbed...my camera. LOL. it was one of the most awesome sights i'd ever seen. the way the snake was hanging right above the chickens. definitely a kodak moment. i wasn't afraid of it eating my chickens since they were 8 weeks old and much too big for a mouthful. i don't care how big their jaws come apart, he wasn't going to be able to swallow. the pullets and cockerals must have been making a rattle trying to settle in for the night, and with the darkness, i guess the snake decided to take a chance.

i was highly disappointed to find he had moved but i went ahead and snapped these two shots. he's actually flickering his tongue on the second, closer shot.

so after taking these pictures, i had to get rid of the snake. i actually like snakes and i know i have a couple of them living in my feed room to help with the mice population. i figured he was one of them who decided to get greedy. i first called my next door neighbor who told me to call the sheriff's department. he didn't want to have anything to do with snakes and told me to just shoot it. knowing me, i figured i'd end up shooting the chickens. but i did take up on his recommendation of calling the sheriff's office. the dispatcher understood my situation and said she'd have a deputy come help me with the snake right away.

in the meantime, i went and got me an empty feed bag, bundgy cord, and a metal rake with the short, hard prongs and proceeded to poke him with the stick side, out of the pen. you may be thinking "What did you do??!!" but because he wasn't hissing back, i figured he was a rat snake and i knew he would not try to bite me. he started slithering out of the pen using the rafters into the horse pen next stall over. i was amazed at how they are able to maneuver around seemlessly without having supports to hold them up. i watched as his muscles flexed and unflexed which held on to the sides of the 2X12 boards.

When he got to the horse stall, i took the rake side and hooked him down to the ground. up until this point, i did not realize how big this snake really was. stretched out, he was actually almost 8 feet long and hea...vvvy! it took a hard grab to bring him down and THUD, he landed on the ground RIGHT BY MY FEET. i did the little firecracker dance and screamed like a little girl. LOL but came right to my senses when he started slithering away. i was not about to let him get away so i pinned his head down to the ground with the rake, reached for my feed sack and when i loosened the grip on his head, he went right into the feed bag. at that point, i picked up the bag, closed the top and loosely closed it by wrapping the bundgy cord around the bag opening. i didn't want him to get out but i didn't know how much air he needed. i promptly took him to my front gate where i figured i'd pick up the bag in the morning on my way to work and let him out AWAY from my property.

As i was walking back to the house, my phone rings and it's the deputy. he says, "i hear you have a snake problem". i told him that it was taken care of and thank you for the call, to which he replied "oh, thank goodness, cuz i would have screamed like a little girl, i HATE snakes!" LOL. too funny.

the next morning, i took the bag to the edge of the canal, where i let him go. he hastily left the bag and to my surprise, went into the water and swam away. go figure. they sure are very adaptable beings.

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Real v. Artificial Tree for Christmas

So have you ever pondered, which is better for earth? cutting down all these trees every year and some of them not even making it to a home, or not cutting, and buying an artificial which should last you 5-10 years....

There are many opinions as to which is better, but the arbor day foundation feels it is more environmentally sound to use real trees instead of artificial.

They recommend using real trees either from forest thinnings or - more commonly - grown for the purpose. According to statistics, 85% of artificial trees begin in overseas factories where working conditions are less than ideal. Also, they are made with metals and plastics that sometimes include PVC or lead, and they end up in landfills. Their stance on supporting the traditional Christmas tree industry is based on many reasons, including the fact the Christmas trees that come from farms:

• are a renewable, sustainable resource


• provide jobs in rural areas and support American families


• provide the usual benefits of trees, including oxygen, CO2 uptake, erosion control, and wildlife habitat


• help to preserve open space


• are biodegradable and recyclable; they can be made into chips or compost, or used for conservation purposes such as filling eroding gullies or sunk in lakes to provide better fish habitat.

Just a thought for this upcoming holiday season.

www.arborday.org

Carl's Miracle
PLEASE HELP THIS FAMILY!

THIS IS CARL'S MIRACLE WAITING TO HAPPEN!

Carl Stevens, resident of Garrison, Missouri, lost his sight January, 2004, after more than a month long battle with Strep B Pneumonia. Somehow his optic nerve became damaged during his battle to survive this tragic illness. Carl has total darkness all the time and cannot even tell if it's day or night. He was told by specialists in St. Louis, Missouri, Baltimore, Maryland and Houston, Texas that no treatment was available for his diagnosed Ischemic Optic Neuropathy. They all gave him absolutely no hope to ever be able to see again! He thought he would never be able to see his children now ages 14 and 17, grow up. This family and many of their friends and relatives have never given up their faith that Carl's sight would be returned to him.

Carl heard about the miraculous story on NBC one day about a child that was born blind and was able to get his eyesight back by traveling to China for the stem cell treatments. We researched the story and Carl has now been accepted to go to a hospital in Hangzhou, China for Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Transfusions. He will be the first adult to participate in this case study. This will be done through http://www.stemcellschina.com/ and http://www.beikebiotech.com/. The doctors in China have already had miraculous results with this treatment in several children from the U.S. The treatment costs over $25,000 and is not covered by Health Insurance.

Carl will be accompanied to China, by his brother-in-law, for this treatment, which will require a month long stay in China. They will leave from Houston, Texas on December 25, 2007 and return January 25, 2008. Carl's wife, Vickie, is not able to go with him as she is currently undergoing Chemo for her Breast Cancer Battle. Upon returning home, Carl will require follow-up treatments in a Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber for 5 days a week for many months. The approximate cost for this treatment is between $15,000-$25,000.

DONATIONS

You may make a donation to the "Carl Stevens - Medical Fund"
At any Bank of America;

Or mail your donation directly to;
Carl Stevens - Medical Fund

PO Box 106

Taneyville, Missouri 65759

Thank You Carl & His Family Humbly Thank You for Your Support & Your Prayers!

You can send a personal message to Carl & His Family at this e-mail address:
carl_vickie@carlsmiracle.com

Animal Trading Day @ Arcola Feed

Come check out what your local neighbors have for sale!

We're hoping one day to be as big as the Montgomery County Sale that happens twice a year in Conroe. But to get there, we gotta start somewhere. So we're having a sale on November 10th, 2007 from 9am to 4pm at the Arcola Feed Store (6215 FM 521, Arcola, Texas - 281.431.1014).

Want to be a Vendor? Call Arcola Feed and get your vendor numbers. It's Free!!

Birds Available For Sale

Currently, we have the following birds available for sale. any questions, please don't hesitate to give us a call.

pair of silver laced polish, $25 for pair.

buff orpington hens, $12 per hen. we have two available:

d'uccle rooster, $15

pair of ameraucanas, $15 per pair.

Bantam polish cross pullet

we also have dozen eggs for $2.25

poultry wire for $19

deck blocks for $3.25

Beaumont Fair Open Poultry Show

October 13, 2007

This was our first poultry show in which we showed our birds. On the advice of our tester, we decided to show our mottled houdan hen (pictured on right). Of course, Puffy Wuffy being Buster's favorite girl, we also took her. She is a white crested black polish. We'd never been to a show and we only had two weeks to prepare. We got some insites on what to do here http://http://p098.ezboard.com/fbackyardchickensfrm33.showMessage?topicID=11.topic.

We went the night before and spent the night in beaumont. Luckily, the hotel allowed pets and we brought our birds in to do last minute crest washing, toe nail cleaning, etc. The birds normally free range and so their crests were pretty dirty. i couldn't get it to be white. next time, i'm planning on using a blueing agent.

The judging started at 9am, so we drove to the fair, registered our birds and had them in the cage by 8.30am. There were probably around 200 birds there with most of them being bantams. Our birds were large fowl (standards) and with not many of those birds there, we had a good chance of winning. Looking around at the birds there, i was amazed at how beautiful they were. Penciled birds and partridge birds, the lines on their feathers looked like they had been drawn. There were bantam polish there also, and the crests on those hens were spectacular to look at. I spoke to the gentleman who breeds those birds and was promised a call when he was ready to cull. It would be amazing to get that line into my birds. I also learned about different breeds and to my amazement, how dark a real Rhode Island Red roosters are. Instead of that reddish color, the true RIR roo is almost black. I definitely hope to get some culls from the people who brought those birds also. I hope to be able to sell more truer breeds than what is being produced at alot of the hatcheries.

Having a 5 year old, his main focus was not the chickens but the fair. After patiently waiting for me to look at all 200 birds, we went and looked at the rabbits, pigs, and cattle and then ended up at the petting zoo. Buster got to feed goats, lambs, zebras, donkeys, llamas, and saw emus and ostriches. Then we headed on to the rides.

By the time we got back to the poultry barn, they had finished giving out the ribbons and we had missed the presentation. We arrived to find a blue ribbon on the cage of the mottled houdan hen and a trophy by Puffy Wuffy and the judge presented us with a check for $26.50.

All in all, we had a great experience and look forward to the next show that will be held at Texas A&M in January. We hope to bring out houdan and polish back along with some wyondottes, frizzles, silkies, phoenix and creles.

Do you have birds you'd like to show? Come out and show off your birds! Entry fee at the beaumont show was only $1.50. And there are always alot of people at these shows who have so much knowledge and are eager to share information or answer any questions you may have.