Spring Projects

Spring has sprung in Davis. The sunshine and 75 degree weather sent us outside, to work on some of our garden projects and yard work. Two of our accomplishments this week included building a 4 x 4 compost bin using recycled wood pallets, and getting our first batch of chicks. We are hoping to build a coop in the coming weeks, and look forward to having chickens, fertilizer, pest control, and our own eggs by the end of summer.

Here is a picture of one of the chicks next to an egg, for size comparison. She hatched from her own egg just two days ago.

These are our little ladies... we hope. The chickens are pre-sexed, so 95% of them should be hens. We picked up a total of four chicks from one of our favorite stores- Higby's Feed, in the neighboring town of Dixon. The little yellow ones are Buff Orpingtons, and the black and white ones are Barred Plymouth Rocks. Someday they should look like this....



Buff Orpington

Barred Plymouth Rock

Here is our compost bin- still under construction. It has now been completed and is in use. It is also completely lined with chicken wire, and has a lid. We salvaged the wood pallets from the alleyways of Davis. The only cost was about $7 worth of chicken wire. We are really excited to decrease our household waste and create some beautiful compost for our garden.

Cooking Up Comfort Food: Ground Beef Stroganoff (recipe)

Chris and I were both under the weather over the past few days. This is one of my favorite dishes to fight a cold- quick and easy to make, warm, inviting, and with ingredients like black pepper, onion, garlic, and spicy brown mustard to boost the immune system and clear the sinuses. In this version I substituted ground beef for the traditional Stroganoff's strips of beef tenderloin because it is what I had on hand, and is cheaper. (To stay on the cheap but avoid factory farms, I like the organic, grass fed, ground beef now carried at Costco)



Ingredients

12 oz egg noodles
1 lb ground beef
freshly ground salt and pepper
garlic powder
3 1/2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1 cup beef stock
1 onion, sliced very thinly
3 Tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon spicy mustard
(We like Sierra Nevada's Porter&Spicy Brown)

Step 1: In a pot or large saucepan bring water to boil, and add egg noodles. Cook until just tender, still slightly firm (3-5 minutes). When noodles have cooked, drain and set aside.

Step 2: While noodles cook, season ground beef with freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, and garlic powder (~2 tsp) to taste. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt 2 tablespoons butter. As butter starts to foam, add onion. Cook for one minute, then add beef. Use a wooden spoon to periodically stir beef and break into small pieces. As soon as beef is just cooked, remove from heat (do not overcook. Meat should remain moist, not dark brown and crumbly).

Step 3: In a saucepan melt 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter. Whisk in 1 Tablespoon flour until smooth. Add 1 cup beef stock, and bring to a simmer. Whisk for 1-2 minutes as sauce thickens. Reduce heat. Once sauce has stopped bubbling, add sour cream and mustard. Stir into sauce until texture and color are smooth and even. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Step 4: Pour sauce over ground beef and onions. Toss with egg noodles. Serve hot.

Variations: Sliced mushrooms can be added in with onions and lightly browned before beef is added.

Saturday Morning Coffee Cake with Raspberries (recipe)

I made this recipe up in an attempt to create a coffee cake that would stay very moist and spongy, have lots of crumbly topping, and serve as a complete meal. This coffee cake is by no means health food, but by incorperating lots of natural yogurt and fresh raspberries it is more nutritional than traditional coffee cake. See the end note for variations.

Ingredients:

3 1/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups yogurt
(I like Stonyfield farms organic, low fat yogurt in either plain or vanilla flavor. It is the best yogurt you will ever eat, and is more healthful and cow-friendly than other varieties.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries



Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan, and set aside.

Step 2: Prepare streusel. In a small bowl combine 1 stick butter (8Tbl) melted, 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp salt. Use a fork, and stir ingredients together until crumbly. Pea sized balls of streusel should form. Set aside.


Step 2: Mix dry ingredients for coffee cake. In a small bowl stir together 2 1/3 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt. Set aside.

Step 3: Mix together wet ingredients for coffee cake. In a small bowl, or in a large measuring cup, Stir together 1 1/2 cups yogurt and 1 tsp vanilla extract. set aside.

Step 4: In a mixer bowl combine 1/2 stick butter (4Tbl) softened, and 1 cup sugar. Beat on high speed, until very fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time.

Step 4: Add wet and dry ingredients into mixer slowly. First add half of dry ingredients, then half of yogurt mixture, then add the second half of the dry ingredients and second half of the yogurt mixture. Mix well after each addition.

Step 5: Gently stir in 1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries, and 1/2 of streusel mixture with a spatula. These ingredients should be distributed evenly through batter, but berries and streusel crumbles should remain mostly intact.


Step 6: Pour batter into the greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Use a spatula to smooth batter and make sure it is evenly distributed across pan. Sprinkly remaining streusel over the top of the cake.

Step 7: Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until cake is lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Step 8: Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm, with favorite French pressed coffee. Enjoy!


Variations: Nuts, especially almonds or diced walnuts, can be added to the streusel topping. Raspberries can be omitted, or traded for any other fresh berries.