When Life Gives You Zucchini . . .

You know what they say . .

When life gives you zucchini, make quiche! 

What?  You've never heard that one?

Anyway.  Life has definitely given us zucchini, so in an effort to do something a little different with it, we tried this recipe.  Maybe you'd like to try it, too.  :)

Ingredients:
4 c. thinly slice zucchini
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 Tbs. butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. each garlic powder, dried basil, and dried oregano
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded or crumbled cheese (We used 1 c. mozzarella with 1 c. crumbled goat cheese because that's what we had on hand.  Other cheeses to try would be Monterrey Jack or Gouda.)
2 tsp. dijon mustard
1 pastry shell (unbaked)

Directions:
1.  In a large skillet, saute the zucchini and onion in butter until tender. 
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, parsley, salt, garlic powder, basil, oregano, and pepper.  Stir in cheese and zucchini mixture.
3.  Spread mustard over pastry shell; add filling.
4.  Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Reasons we loved this:

1.  Well, um, it was delicious.  That's got to be the #1 reason.
2.  It uses things we've got fresh right now from the backyard:  zucchini, onion, egg, and goat cheese.
3.  It could be frozen.  Yep, you read that right.  Because this quiche doesn't contain milk or cream like many quiches, it will keep well in the freezer.  If you want to save your quiche for later (or double up the recipe to have one now and one later; or to take later on to a potluck; or to take to your friend who just had a baby; etc.), just assemble quiche by following steps 1-3 above, then cover and freeze for up to 2 months.  To use the frozen quiche, thaw it in the refrigerator.  Then, bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 50-55 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from the original at www.tasteofhome.com.

Eggs: Pastured vs. Free Range

So, are the eggs you're eating from chickens that are Pastured?  Or, are they labeled Free Range?  Why should you even care?  Mother Earth News has a great little article that decodes some of these terms.  First, though, let's establish why you should even care about these labels. Consider this excerpt from the article:

"Conventional egg production — that is to say, the vast majority of egg production in the United States — is not a pretty business. Laying hens are crammed five or six to a cage in stacked rows of cages designed for automated feeding, watering and egg-collecting. As many as 100,000 birds can be confined in a single warehouse, each bird with less than 67 square inches, about two-thirds the size of a sheet of paper, to call its own. The crowded conditions lead to cannibalism and other destructive behavior, so the birds’ beaks are cut off at an early age, a procedure that could be likened to cutting off a child’s finger tips, in terms of its impact on the animals’ dexterity and sensory experience. The industry favors windowless warehouses with prolonged artificial light to stimulate maximum egg-laying. When egg production drops off, food is withheld as a way of sending the birds into a forced molt followed by another round of egg laying before being disposed of.

The adoption of practices like these has paralleled the spread of salmonella as a bacterial contaminant in eggs — the reason you’re cautioned not to eat raw cookie dough or Caesar dressing anymore. Crowded conditions, genetic uniformity and the widespread use of antibiotics in industrial agriculture favor the development of new and potentially more devastating pathogens."

Convinced?  Okay.  Let's define some of those labels you'll see on supermarket cartons. 

1.  Cage-free.  This is a popular one right now.  This basically means that the chickens are not kept in tiny cages their entire lives and are instead allowed to move about in large warehouses.  They are probably not allowed any fresh air or outdoor access.

2.  Free Range.  Originally intended to mean what it sounds like it should mean, this term has become a bit corrupted over the past few years.  These chickens are allowed some outdoor access.  However, that outdoor space may not be pasture.  It may be dirt floor or even concrete. 

3.  Pastured.  This term has arisen recently (since the term free range has become so abused).  Free Range was originally intended to mean that chickens were allowed access to fresh air AND fresh grassy ground.  Since, producers have come to use free range to simply mean access to any type of outdoor space, the term pastured has come into play.  A pastured chicken has access to all the grass, weeds, insects, and worms that make her eggs or meat more nutritious and safe for us to consume.  Pastured chickens may be truly free to roam anywhere their little chicken hearts desire, or they may be penned in some way to protect them from predators and moved frequently to fresh patches of ground (as they are at our house).

So, pastured chickens are also free range, but a free range chicken may not be pastured.  Follow?

Now, it should be stated that NONE of these 3 terms is actually regulated by any food authority.  That is, of course, why some terms become corrupted and new ones arise to fill in the gaps. 

What about Certified Organic eggs?  Well, at least someone is regulating the use of this term!  The USDA makes sure that eggs bearing this label come from chickens who've been fed an organic, vegetarian feed, are antibiotic-free and cage-free, and allowed at least some access to fresh air (how much time spent in and the conditions of the outdoor space are still "hotly debated").  These chickens may have been debeaked or starved in order to force them into molting.

So, if you aren't able to maintain your own pastured flock in your backyard, I'd advise you to look for the Pastured label first!  You'll know whether it's the real deal by the color of the yolk.  Eggs from truly pastured hens will be bright orange in color and have an excellent taste that you'll recognize as different from it's lackluster competitors.

Lemon Cream Pie

As I discovered when I asked for comments about favorite pies, a bunch of you readers love a good lemon pie.  So, as a gift to you, I'd like to share this recipe I found.  If you frequently get a hankerin' for a lemon pie, this recipe is definitely one to add to your box.  It comes from this month's Real Simple.  Click here for the link to the recipe (and much better pics of a much more put-together looking pie).

I think these are the ingredients that MAKE the pie! 

The crust is made of crushed gingersnaps.  And the filling uses real lemon zest and juice.

Everyone loved the pie.  Girl 1 said she could do without the lemon zest, but it didn't stop her from gobbling up her slice at dinner last night.  Then, this morning, my little lawyers were hard at work trying to convince me that a slice of lemon pie qualifies as fruit so that they could have it for their morning snack.  (I let it slide this time, since I was ready for another slice myself ;)

Okay, maybe I should work on my pie-serving skills.  Thankfully, it still tastes great.  And, seriously, to see much better pics and to get the recipe, check out the original recipe.

Hear that? It's the Sound of Progress!

Even now, as I sit here on the sofa typing this, I can hear the sounds of progress coming from the backyard. 

Let me explain.  A few years back, we bought the open field behind our house, mostly just to ensure that no one would build right behind us.  Since then, we've amassed a small farm in the backyard and have decided that it's time to make better use of that acre and a half just sitting back there.

Here's the field.  It's currently unfenced, but that is about the change.  It'll soon be surrounded by goat-proof fencing and contain a separate pen we plan to use to keep the bucks away from the gals.

Right now, our yard has privacy fencing on three sides and chain-link along the back (between the backyard and open field).  But, chain-link is not tall enough or sturdy enough for goats, so it's got to go. 

Luckily, John has buddies with fun toys.

Here he is knocking down one of the fence posts.

And here, the fence is down!

Now, he's working at further clearing the west fence-line, which is pretty overgrown.  Friday, the guy building the fence will be putting in posts; and by sometime next week, our goats should be able to frolic in and munch the fresh grass!

An Even Better Coffee Creamer

If you tried out the Honey Vanilla Creamer and liked it, you're gonna love this one! 

While it doesn't use goat milk, it does use half-and-half.  I bought a 2 cup carton (the smallest my supermarket carries) for a recipe last week that only called for 1 cup. 

I can't stand to waste food.  So, I thought I'd find a way to use that other cup of half-and-half before it goes foul in my refrigerator. 

And . . . Voila!    Another homemade coffee creamer!

Homemade Vanilla Creamer

1/8 c. packed brown sugar

1/8 c. honey

1/2 Tbs. vanilla extract (the real stuff, if possible)

1 c. half and half

Combine brown sugar, vanilla, and honey in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Stir occasionally until sugar is melted.  Don't let it get too hot or bubbly. 

Remove from burner and slowly whisk in the half-and-half. 

Store in a glass container in your fridge for a week or so.

Yum!

Beauty You Won't Find at the Supermarket

Since the primary goal of the garden is to produce edibles for our table, it's beauty is often overlooked.    As I've never before grown potatoes, this is my first encounter with a sweet potato bloom.  Isn't it beautiful?  Apparently potatoes aren't only about what's going on under the soil!

The bees seem to like them, too.

And, how about these!  We gathered these from the garden and set them in a vase on the kitchen table.  Can you name the garden plant they come from?

For the Love of Barbara . . .

If you haven't already picked up on this, I'm reading through an essay collection by Barbara Kingsolver right now in all my free time (read with sarcasm).  Anyway, I'm loving her, and I'm sure you do, too.  So, here's a good excerpt for today:

"Of all the ways we consume, food is a sensible one to attend to.  Eating is a genuine need, continuous from our first day to our last, amounting over time to our most significant statement of what we are made of and what we have chosen to make of our connection to home ground.  We can hardly choose not to eat, but we have to choose how and choices can have astounding consequences.  Consider this:  The average food item set before a U.S. consumer traveled 1,300 miles to get there.  If Mr. Average eats ten or so items a day (and most of us eat more), in a year's time his food will have conquered 5 million miles by land, sea, and air. Picture a truck loaded with apples and oranges and iceberg lettuce rumbling to the moon and back ten times a year, all just for you.  Multiply that by the number of Americans who like to eat -- picture that flotilla of 285 million trucks on their way to the moon -- and tell me you don't think it's time to revise this scenario."