Eggs in a Sausage Nest

Eggs in a Nest

Needed something around for Monte to snack on. I'd seen this idea online without details. After seeing lots of other recipes that sounded good from the same book . . . I ordered it - Eat Like a Dinosaur. Though I don't just eat Paleo, I'd eat anything someone classified as Paleo. I've not tried anything else from the book, nor really read anything. Thumbing through ... I like the looks. So that's all I can say about it.

We get pastured meat from our raw milk dairy (can't ever eat meat from stores again - so spoiled!) - beef, pork and occasional chickens. The eggs are from our own chickens - so spoiled there too, especially since they eat a special feed that has no corn or soybeans, thus no GMO, but higher quality grains, lentils, peas and herbs, and of coarse all the household chicken scraps including fermented stuff (like old bread, soaked cereal, crepes, kefir grains, ginger from brewing ginger ale . . .). 

EGGS IN A SAUSAGE NEST

1/2 lb quality breakfast sausage (pastured animal best)
12 eggs
2 Tb olive oil

That's the book's ingredients. Use a soup spoon to get about a tablespoon of the sausage meat. I used my hand to start spreading thin, then finished pressing into muffin tin filling it up the sides. Next time I'm not using the silicone fillers you see pictured - they are too small and the egg goes over making a mess of the tin. Nice idea. I need bigger silicone muffin thingys - I think I'll just get a silicone muffin "pan".

You'll notice in the cooked nests that the sausage shrunk way down. So next time, with bigger muffin holes, I'll press the sausage up the sides higher. Anyway, crack the egg into the sausage nest. Sprinkle with seasoning. I used salt and pepper. Then drizzle on a bit of olive oil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes - to your liking. Let rest about 5 minutes. Use table knife to help release the nests if you didn't use silicone. And oh ... if you don't use silicone you should grease your tins.

Monte likes them!

Ukrainian / Pysanky Egg Dyeing

Ukrainian - Pysanky Eggs

It's that time of year again. Time to order dyes or kits, though I still have last year's dyes jarred in a box in the garage. When more people are going to be coming to our home to do eggs, I get some fresh dye, otherwise just use the stored dye. 

I saw an article in a 1973 National Geographic Magazine on Ukrainian eggs, and wanted to do them. Since I knew how to do Batik textile art, I understood the process, but didn't know special tools existed. As is typical of me, I just jump in and do things. I got beeswax and melted it in a metal measuring cup and stood over the stove painting the wax on eggs. And the only dyes I new of were the typical grocery store Paas (?- I think that's what it is) dyes. Monte joined in the process when we were dating.

Monte almost 40 years ago waxing an egg for resisting the dye - batik style egg designing

Years ago, group of young couples Travis brought to dye eggs

Soon after we were married I found the traditional kistka tools and special dyes. For years now we've been ordering supplies from the same store, and have bought kits for wedding presents. We've also bought a lot of extra tools and leave the dyes out for about a month and have had many people around our dining table decorating eggs. One couple, years ago so looked forward to it they started designing eggs months beforehand. When they moved away they bought their own kit and have done it every year.

Though electric kistkas exist, it's traditionally done by heating the metal funnel of the kistka over a candle till the beeswax is melted. It does not run out until it touches the egg. It's a wax-resist process, starting from lightest and getting progressively darker. You initially wax over everything you want white and put egg in yellow, once dry, you wax over what you want to stay yellow, and so on. When done you hold the egg to the side of the candle and wipe the melting wax off with a paper towel. The eggs are raw and they dry out over time.

Egg carton of our Ukrainian dyed eggs

This picture is just one of the three cartons that got done several years ago. That was a very productive and artistic weekend of eggs - Travis had several couples come and stay several days to dye eggs (and enjoy just hanging out, of coarse). Dawson has friends come too. Everyone loves it!

I cap the canning jars of dye and repack the box. I store them along with the old silver spoons, candles and candle-holders, box of tools, instructions and pictures, and then the vinyl tablecloth. It can be pulled out anytime. Every year I say I'm going to do it for Christmas ornaments - but I haven't yet.

Several years ago Monte made a shelf for the eggs to better display than the hanging wire baskets I've always kept them in. The company I order the dyes and tools from, the Ukrainian Gift Shop, has a variety of stands for the eggs. So I got a bunch of the cheap clear plastic stands. Monte is going to make a shelf unit for each of the kids too.

 



Having done these for years, I never varnished them and finally did a few years ago. It's a final step I've always skipped. So some of the varnished ones are older and already faded. These dyes are toxic, so no eating of the eggs, but are not run-proof, so make sure the varnish is not water-base. We nailed three nails every so often in boards to support the eggs and I use my gloved hands to rub the oil-base varnish on the eggs. (The stands could be used in the oven on low temp for helping melt the beeswax off. I've not tried this - but a book I have shows it.)

3-legged nail 'stands' for holding varnished dyed eggs

More people around our dining table Ukrainian egg dying

Dawson waxing his egg for dye resist

More people enjoying creativity and our home's hospitality

Shared with: The Homestead Barn Hop, The Chicken Chick

Blender Impossible Squash Pie

Blender Impossible Squash Pie

I have this recipe in my cookbook. One day we sat down with some of our grown kids, talking thru my cookbook I wrote 20 years ago. They'd make comments like, "I hated that" or "we do this this way now". Travis's comment about this recipe was, "I never liked pumpkin pie, but this recipe helped me like it. I love this pie, and it's even good leftover cold!"

I grow winter squash. It's a great feat at my mountain altitude to get winter squash, and have an abundance of it stored in the garage. So I have to remember to keep pulling it out to bake each week. This is a recipe I often do with the leftovers. And I don't really bother measuring the squash - like I probably have more than the called for 1 cup.

Back in the day, I was using powdered milk a lot. So my book's recipe has 1 cup water and then 1/3 cup milk powder. Now I'm using raw milk and will even add in some extra cream when I've got extra. And use whatever type of flour you want - I tried almond meal this time and it worked fine. The original versions for these impossible pies used Bisquick, and I came up with this version instead. Occasionally I'll use my extra sourdough I need to be using when building up for bread-making. Use any kind of squash (excepting stringy spaghetti squash).

Blender Impossible Squash Pie

1 cup milk
1+ cup of cooked squash
4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup honey (I'll occasionally use maple syrup)
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon

Combine all in the blender and blend. Pour into greased and floured pie dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or till toothpick or knife comes out clean.

Sausage Cheese Pie With Potato Crust

Sausage cheese potato crust quiche?

I made this wonderful comfort food dish for supper last night. I combined several ideas from Wardeh Harmon's Sourdough A to Z eBook, and a little Egg eBook she put together for this month's bonus gift. In the Sourdough book, it's most like her Cheese Pie recipe. In the Egg eBook it's a combination of a potato crust cheddar quiche and a sausage cheese pie. And then there's some of my additions . . . So what do I call it?

Sausage Cheese Pie With Potato Crust

Melt butter and stir in thin sliced potatoes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2-3 potatoes, scrubbed and sliced thin
3 Tb pastured butter, melt in the baking dish
Stir these together, spread about in dish and bake about 20 minutes while getting the rest of the ingredients ready.

Brown sausage, onion, and garlic

Brown 1 lb of sausage, mine is pastured pork breakfast sausage
with 1 chopped onion
add some minced garlic
1/2 Tb basil

Mix together
1/4 c milk
3/4 c sourdough, that's been fed within 12 hours
3 eggs
3/4 tsp sea salt

grate 1- 1 1/4 cup pastured cheddar cheese

Meat and cheese over potatoes, add sourdough

Add the browned sausage mixture on top of the cooked potatoes. Then add 3/4 cup grated cheese and pour the sourdough mixture on top of all. Bake for about 25 minutes, then add the rest of the cheese, and bake another 10 minutes. In all, bake about 30-40 minutes.

Next time I'm going to bake it in my cast iron skillet.

Seriously! EVERYTHING I've made from the A to Z eBook has been fabulous, and have become everyday eats. Like the English Muffins, Biscuits ... I've posted about the crackers and crepes. And now we regularly have sourdough waffles in a freezer bag for popping in the toaster. Cookies, chips, cakes . . . There's even gluten-free suggestions, for those needing that variety.

I used the last of last years potatoes I'd grown. I grew them in buckets. I'm giving up on that idea. Yesterday I researched growing potatoes again and have a plan. I've tried the large bucket method for several years. I think the temps fluctuate too much as too the moisture. They used to grow potatoes and oats up here years ago - before elk were moved in and became a nuisance! Knowing they grew here makes me not want to give up on them.

Elk in velvet from my kitchen window!

A funny story . . . Monte used to archery hunt for elk. We ate elk for 20 years. One year he'd not been seeing elk. I chuckled, and told him, "No, cuz they're in my potato bed, pulling up plants and munching away!"

Shared with: The Homestead Barn Hop, The Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Groundhog Day / Candlemas? and Sourdough Crepes

Candlemas Day

February 2, considered the "midway point of winter", halfway between the darkest day and Spring Equinox.

So what day is February 2? Groundhog Day!
Yes and No.

On the Christian calendar February 2 is Candlemas Day - a Festival Day ("mass") of the Candles. This was the day Jesus was brought as a baby to the temple - the Feast of the Presentation. Old Simeon and Anna were there waiting for years! for the Messiah, and proclaimed "Jesus the Light to lighten all peoples". 

A meeting of the old and new.

For some, this is the official ending of the Christmas season. In some places candles may still be brought to the church to be blessed. In some parts of Europe it's traditional to eat crepes on Candlemas Day. I like Holidays with meal suggestions.

Once done I flip the sourdough crepe onto a plate

I make crepes on Fat Tuesday/ Mardi Gras (which is coming up, February 12 this year). My blog post on Mardi Gras into Lent is here. My crepe recipe is here. Now I mostly make sourdough crepes.

Since I found this crepe recipe (I bought the A to Z Sourdough eBook) I'm making them quite often. Sometimes for breakfast with unsweetened grated coconut, homemade yogurt, fruit and maple syrup. Sometimes for lunch or supper with leftovers of meats and veggies. These crepes can even be fried crisp like chips - use for nachos!

Before I jump into the recipe I have to start from the beginning, a very good place to start. One of my sourdough starters is made from rye flour. I used to have a starter I made from potatoes and wheat flour (it might have used a bit of yeast at the beginning, I don't remember) from an Alaska Sourdough book. When I bought Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions book in the early 2000's I started my rye starter. I use this starter for everything including the sourdough pancake recipe I got from the Alaskan book. My starter how-to along with the Sourdough pancakes I've made for years is here. Now I also have a Parisian sourdough starter.

Starter in jar and crepe ingredients

SOURDOUGH CREPES

1 C sourdough starter
3 Tb butter or oil
3 eggs
pinch of salt

I usually start with melting the butter in a 2C Pyrex mixing bowl, then mix in the eggs and starter. I use a silicone whip, keeping it in to periodically stir while making the crepes.

Pour a few Tablespoons batter and tilt pan to spread batter

Crepe ready to flip, this one looks a bit thicker than I usually make them

Have a very well seasoned smaller cast iron skillet preheated. First add a bit of oil and swish it around by tilting the pan. Then add a few tablespoons of batter depending on what size pan you're using - mine is 8". Wait till the crepe develops little bubbles all over, then with spatula quickly flip it over. It doesn't need to cook on this side for long, like just a few seconds and then flip out onto a plate. The crepes can stack till you're done with all the batter. This amount will make about 10 crepes.

I've put leftover crepes in a zip-close bag and frozen. It works great. No need to put waxed paper between. I've often used these in place of tortillas for enchiladas. Happy crepe-ing. Sharing of crepe filling ideas could be numerous, so how about you? what have you tried, and what's your favorite?

Folklore: "If Candlemas day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another flight; (meaning: more winter)
But if it be dark with clouds and rain,
Winter is gone, and will not come again."

Groundhog Lore: If he sees the sun ...
and is frightened by his shadow he'll crawl back to sleep for 40 days.
If it's cloudy ...
and stays above ground; it's a harbinger of early spring.

Did dislike of religion bring the change from Candlemas to Groundhog Day?

Watch the movie "Groundhog Day".
Bill Murray, a TV weatherman seems condemned to live the day over and over again. He tries every role or small story he can think of. When all fail him, does he discover the real meaning of life?

It's Ecclesiastes in modern film--all is vanity. I love the fact that you can find a part of the Gospel in most every film.

Shared with: The Homestead Barn Hop, The Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Chile Rellenos Casserole

Chile Rellenos Casserole with Grass-Fed Beef

For starters, I had to google chili vs chile, cuz I've always written 'chili', as does my Mom. I think of 'Chile' as the country. And then there's the Red Hot Chili Peppers band. So what's the verdict? The Spanish word is 'chile'. 'Chili' is the American version, having gotten started from Chili con Carne.

Back to my Mom . . . she's made Chile Rellenos Casserole for years. It's thee best! I put it in my cookbook. Tho I have all her ingredients right, my instructions are too vague. But I'm going to mess you up some more in this post cuz I still didn't follow her instructions, which I recently asked for again.

We have company. I made the rellenos for supper, along with what our company always request and call, "Killer guacamole". But I wanted to add our great grass-fed ground beef. I googled chile rellenos and after 6 google pages . . . they were all made with milk and flour! I knew my mom used chicken broth and masa harina for the thickening. So I returned to her recipe and added the beef. I'll tell you her recipe, and too, tell you what I did, changing it.

My Mom's Chile Rellenos Casserole Ingredients

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1 27oz can whole green chilies
1lb grated cheese - like a mix, but moreso jack - I used pepper jack
7 large eggs
1 cup chicken broth
5 Tb Masa Harina
4 Tb parmesan
1/2 Tb baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

The chilies are opened out and make up 3 layers in a 9x13 baking dish with grated cheese between. Then the rest of the ingredients are mixed together and poured over the top. Bake until set, about 30-45 minutes.

Marinara Sauce
Simmered and put on top last 10-15 minutes of baking-
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped onion and garlic clove sauted in some olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp oregano

Browning grd beef and onion

NOW, what did I do? I started browning 1 lb of ground beef and added 1 onion chopped, eventually adding several minced garlic (I always add more than any recipe calls for!!!).

Now I don't use canned chilies. That would sure be darned easy!!!! But oh the taste . . . and the fragrance of the vehicle every late summer . . . when I get a bushel of chilies and have them roasted. Once home, I freeze about 3 chilies per little baggy - that's about the equivalent of 4oz of chilies. And don't remove the blackened skins. I remove those as I use them. So for this recipe? I had to slip the blackened skins and too the seeds of seven baggies of chilies!

Roasted Anaheim Chilies I freeze every Fall - removing skins and seeds

And then I start the layering of chilies and cheese. I added half of the browned meat in the middle layer. Then added a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes and 1/2 cup of chicken broth to the 1/2 of beef left in the pan to start cooking down to add at the end. I added 2 Tb of the masa to this mixture as well as my mom's suggested spices . . . Except I don't usually have marjoram, so added extra oregano (I find them rather similar).

Bottom layer of green chilies

Added 1/4-1/3 of the grated pepper jack cheese

Another chile and cheese layer with browned grd beef and onion

Added can of diced tomatoes to 1/2 of left beef mixture to cook down

Third layer of chilies and cheese. Added last of grd beef with tomato mixture to the top and more cheese

Whisked together eggs, 3 Tb Masa, 1 Cup chicken broth, salt and baking powder and poured over the rellenos layers

I added my Mom's parmesan cheese suggestion to the very top.

We had this heated up for lunch today and it was even better!

I have made my own fresh Masa. If requested, I could post the recipe. It's a soaking of corn kernels in pickling lime water all day or night, and then ground fine. It's usually left fresh for corn tortillas and tamales. I've not tried drying it. I just freeze it in small useful portions. If you've ever had fresh corn tortillas from fresh masa . . . to die for!!!!!!

Shared with: Frugally Sustainable, Food Renegade, Make Your Own Monday, Holistic Squid, Works for Me Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Thank Your Body Thursday, Tasty Traditions, Traditional Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesdays, Simple Lives Thursday, The Homestead Barnhop, Clever Chick Barn Hop

Cultured Condiments

Homemade Cultured (fermented) Condiments

I was wanting to make egg salad (recipe under eggs label - thee best!) and realized I needed more mayo. I make mayo. I'll keep some store-bought around ... for some people ... but I prefer homemade.

Since reading Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions (have I read it all? has anyone read it all? what a resource!!!!!!!) I started making my own ketchup and mayo. I'd been making my own mayo occasionally, and mustard for years, but now culture it. By letting them ferment a bit with the addition of liquid whey (draining the liquid from my homemade yogurt or dairy kefir) their nutrients are boosted with more enzymes and vitamins (and dare I say 'organisms'? - like probiotic) and it helps preserve them for a long time.

MAYONNAISE
Have all the ingredients at room temp.

3 egg yolks or 1 whole egg and 1 yolk
Definitely use washed organic eggs, or better yet, pastured eggs.
I use my own chickens eggs which are fed organic non-GMO grains.
1 tsp dijon mustard (my homemade!)
1 1/2 Tb raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 Tb whey (not powdered)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Making mayo in a food processor

Combine all but the oil in either a blender or food processor. With it running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and the mixture will thicken. Jar up and leave the jar with the lid on, on the counter for 7 to 12 hours to culture, and then refrigerate. This keeps for many weeks!

I love the flavor of extra virgin olive oil. If you don't, experiment with other oils. You can find all kinds of suggestions online. Unless you buy organic mayo, you are getting GMO soybean oil, etc.

For ketchup I use tomato paste and the vinegar and whey and spicing. There's lots of recipes out there. I use Sally's. And same goes for mustard. For years I've been using a mixture of dark brown and light golden mustard seeds.

Homemade mustard is fabulous. I'll often take it to gatherings, along with some cheese and homemade sourdough crackers (I've got cracker recipes posted).

I like mixing some mayo and ketchup together, equal proportions, for a quick kind of Thousand Island salad dressing.

EGGS!

I got chicks just before Easter this year (the story is here). We had chickens for years and years and when Heather got married I decided to stop having chickens. She was my one kid who loved to do chicken chores. Well ... I missed chickens and their eggs! I LOVE fresh eggs.

Well ... I wasn't expecting eggs till later in September. Dawson built nesting boxes about a week ago and Monte was working today to finish off the inside of our new coop - which is closer to the house and easier for me to do chicken chores. I was watering and he called to tell me we've got eggs! YEAH! There were 8 of them.

I cooked up two of them my favorite way ... YUMM ... and rich yolk color!

Soft-Boiled-Eggs, Rosemaling, and Chicks

Rosemaled Egg Cup

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Where do I start this post? From chicks to eggs to rosemaling? I'll start with "I love eggs".

My 10 girls

We had chickens for almost thirty years. When Heather married we got rid of our chickens, as she was my one child who loved chicken chores. I have missed the chickens. I miss fresh eggs. We are building a new coop closer to the house. I will be the one doing chicken chores. I currently have 10 chicks in my dining room. Every morning I sing my "Good morning, good morning ..." song to them and say, "Good morning girls". I want them to get to know me, get to know my voice.

Danish boiled egg holders - egg top snipper

Years ago a Danish friend gave me egg cups for soft boiled eggs and taught me how to prepare them and eat them. I love a 'sunny-side-up' egg with great toast, but I'm cutting down on my bread consumption, so have returned to regularly eating a soft boiled egg.



I have an egg piercer. I pierce the large end, cover the eggs with
tap water, sprinkle in some salt, and bring to a gentle boil. In my
Hearth & Home I tell you there is a science to cooking eggs. Call it
the culinary alchemy of eggs. I always like to know the whys and know
my ingredients. In heating eggs in shells, a race begins between the
buildup of pressure within the egg and its release of air oozing out the
end. If the air pocket is heated faster than the air can escape, the
shell cracks. Some eggs have larger pores, some have harder shells, so
not all crack. Thus the hole poke. I could go on and on with the science, like why the salt too ...

Egg timer

I also have an egg 'timer' that works for me, in that I know when the dark purple line is at the half-way mark to 'soft' I remove my egg and crimp off the top. If it looks a little underdone, I'll set the top back on and let it sit a bit, otherwise I eat it immediately, with some fresh ground sea salt and pepper, with my little spoon.

I looked in Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions book for a time - she suggests 3 1/2 minutes, but does not say whether the egg should be room temp or from the fridge. Since I don't have my own eggs yet, but buying pastured eggs (otherwise you should use organic), mine are coming from the fridge to soft-cook.

Why look in Sally's book? My daughter-in-love was just here and little S's first food is an almost raw egg yolk. I cooked her egg like I do mine with my timer and Sarah said it was just perfect. Little S was quite colicky until Sarah started making the raw milk baby formula in Sally Fallon's book - like night to day difference!

Monte's mom used to do Rosemaling like the egg cup I started the post with. Since she no longer can do it, I treasure the pieces we have of hers. I'll end this post with pictures of her rosemaling.

Rosemal over Keeping Room couch

Rosemal over our bed

Rosemal hanging in our entry's stairway

Posted at The Homestead Barn Hop, Little Farm in the Big City, Simple Lives Thursday, Food Renegade, Frugally Sustainable, Real Food Wednesday,