The Front Porch Swing

[enola]

X2.....welcome to the Porch! 



Anybody going to stay up and watch the blood moon tonight? 

I set the alarm and got up.............it was pouring rain.........guess I may never see a blood moon.........

 

[lindz8504]

Have you all ever tried steaming eggs instead of boiling?!? I decided to boil all the bantam pullet eggs I had last night. I was putting them in the pot, when I remembered seeing somewhere about steaming them instead... So, I dug out my steam basket and put them in it... I waited for the water to boil and then steamed them for 20 minutes. I turned the stove off and let them sit until they were cool enough to touch. Since it was already late, I just put them in a bowl and stuck them in the fridge.... This morning I pulled them out and started peeling.... normally I am one of those people that butcher eggs when I am trying to peel them and lose half of the white trying to get the shell off... NOT THIS TIME!!!!!!! They peeled perfectly!!! And these were all fresh eggs, with 2 even being laid yesterday!!!!!

Anyone want to take a guess at how many eggs are in that bowl? It is a normal cereal bowl!!!


There are 15 in that bowl!!!! They are TINY! Bite sized!

ETA: Spoiler!!!

 

[perchie.girl]

Have you all ever tried steaming eggs instead of boiling?!? I decided to boil all the bantam pullet eggs I had last night. I was putting them in the pot, when I remembered seeing somewhere about steaming them instead... So, I dug out my steam basket and put them in it... I waited for the water to boil and then steamed them for 20 minutes. I turned the stove off and let them sit until they were cool enough to touch. Since it was already late, I just put them in a bowl and stuck them in the fridge.... This morning I pulled them out and started peeling.... normally I am one of those people that butcher eggs when I am trying to peel them and lose half of the white trying to get the shell off... NOT THIS TIME!!!!!!! They peeled perfectly!!! And these were all fresh eggs, with 2 even being laid yesterday!!!!!

Anyone want to take a guess at how many eggs are in that bowl? It is a normal cereal bowl!!!


There are 15 in that bowl!!!! They are TINY! Bite sized!

ETA: Spoiler!!!

I got fifteen before looking at the spoiler.... Counted the top estimated what was underneath.

FWIW 1.5 bantam eggs = 1 chicken egg. So if you need two Chicken eggs for a recipe use three bantam eggs. I made quiche one time with Bantam eggs The recipe called for six chicken eggs so I used nine Bantam eggs.... OMG was it good. I didnt have pie crust nor the ingredients for making it either.... So I used Crescent roll dough. just press it into the pie pan making the seams stick together....

The way I Hard boil eggs is Put them int the pot bring the water up to a boil.... Once the water starts to boil I turn the fire off and put a lid on the pot. The residual heat from the water cooks em and it keeps the egg yolk from having that green outer layer.
deb

 

[RedPulletMama]

This is no longer relevant, but please excuse me as I'm catching up on about fifteen pages of posts. My biggest complaint about American food is that y'all don't know how to cook your veggies! Get some ground pork and bell peppers and stir-fry your broccoli, all Chinese kids like broccoli and it's no wonder, too, the stuff is so good stir-fried.

My kids LOVE steamed veggies and raw ones too. They do however hate stir- fry. The hubby and I like it, but then again we both love Chinese food lol. The kids on the other hand detest it- all of it. To each their own...

 

[bruceha2000]

Sorry, I should have explained better, I just use the veggie bag to mix everything together, then dump it out into a baking pan

Phew

Just the thought of plastic "fumes" getting into the food. Can't be healthy.

WHOA! Now THAT is a tree!

They gobbled it right down. Almost expected a knock on the door and one of them holding out the dish asking for more.

"Please, sir, I want some more"

The way I Hard boil eggs is Put them int the pot bring the water up to a boil.... Once the water starts to boil I turn the fire off and put a lid on the pot. The residual heat from the water cooks em and it keeps the egg yolk from having that green outer layer.

Same here. Except on a smooth top electric stove so I move the pot away from the heat. Never have seen a yolk that was other than yellow this way, never "chalky", no worrying about boiling for a specific amount of time. I've never steamed eggs. My MIL mentioned how easy it was to peel the hard boiled eggs (my girls' eggs, she cooked them) on Sunday, unlike previous times. The only difference I can think of is these eggs had never been in the refrigerator, all prior ones had. AND contrary to "knowledge" about not using really fresh eggs because they are harder to peel, these eggs were only a day or 3 old vs in the past she would take ones that were maybe a week old (no option this time, no old eggs). I sense a little scientific experiment coming on.

Bruce

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I love how different cuisines use different fats for cooking. The French really like goose fat and butter of course. The English use more beef fat. You can get nice cubes of pork fat in the Mexican section of the grocery store. Clarified butter is popular in India and getting more popular here. I save duck fat and bacon fat, but then I don't use it I don't actually cook with much added fat, but when I do I use a lot of coconut oil, some butter, and some olive oil. I know people who hate the flavor of coconut oil, but I really like it.

I'm going to get more organized about my cooking fat. I have some fat trimmings from the butcher I'm going to melt down and strain and freeze in reasonable portions ... see if that helps me be more creative with my fats.

Potatoes roasted in animal fat are SO good. Now I want to try it with other veggies.

 

[Blooie]

Taking a quick break.....door not going in well and frustration leads to words best left unsaid.

I haven't boiled an egg in at least 25 years. Worked for a diner where one day a week the special was an egg salad sandwich and a cup of soup. We were always busy, but that day was always a zoo! We'd do 4 - 6 dozen eggs at a time. Used muffin tins and baked them at 325 for 25 minutes. I remember my first day there - all I could think of was that Ma was gonna come uncorked when I told her how Ida cooked the eggs....until I peeled my first one. Shell slid right off, no white clinging to it, yolks beautiful bright yellow, and no additional steam in the kitchen from boiling that many. I've never boiled an egg since. Now, I also never mastered Ida's recipe for the egg salad - I don't know how she did it because she did the mixing, but it was fantastic. Never had better before or since!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Phew Just the thought of plastic "fumes" getting into the food. Can't be healthy.


WHOA! Now THAT is a tree!

"Please, sir, I want some more"

Same here. Except on a smooth top electric stove so I move the pot away from the heat. Never have seen a yolk that was other than yellow this way, never "chalky", no worrying about boiling for a specific amount of time. I've never steamed eggs. My MIL mentioned how easy it was to peel the hard boiled eggs (my girls' eggs, she cooked them) on Sunday, unlike previous times. The only difference I can think of is these eggs had never been in the refrigerator, all prior ones had. AND contrary to "knowledge" about not using really fresh eggs because they are harder to peel, these eggs were only a day or 3 old vs in the past she would take ones that were maybe a week old (no option this time, no old eggs).  I sense a little scientific experiment coming on.

Bruce

Report back, please.

I've read the "test kitchen" info about boiling eggs. I gather the sous vide (sp?) cookers are the best as you can set the exact temp and keep eggs in them for hours and still have hot but runny yolks (or slightly firmer yolks if you wish ... just raise the temp a tiny bit). Otherwise, they like your method, and suggest the pot size and number of eggs impacts the done-ness of the batch ... so the right amount of heat is maintained in the water.

But a compare/contrast for washed/unwashed, refrigerated/not refrigerated, and room temperature/cold eggs would be extremely useful.

I think I've "boiled" eggs exactly three times since we got chickens ...

 

[LBejaran]

Hey everyone! I've been super busy washing laundry and cleaning up lately, but some stuff has come up, making me incredibly worried about leaving home.

First off, one of my dogs has been finding eggs and eating them. I had a nest if eggs that my Swedish duck had been laying eggs in and I found the shells yesterday in the yard. It wasn't my big dog because she would crush an egg with her bigger mouth. I'm looking at my rat terrier mutts now.

I am so disappointed. Before, they would occasionally find eggs and would just hold their prize in their mouth and walk around. If I saw them, I'd snap my fingers, they'd slowly put down the egg, and then lay down on their bellies and roll over, knowing I wasn't pleased with them. Now. I have to seek out the dog soon it while they are in the act and give them a spanking.

It has to be my Rosie because she has a wider mouth than her daughter. She broke a super thick-shelled, jumbo Muscovy egg. Those things are massive.

How so I get her to stop? I don't want to leave here knowing she is just gonna eat all the eggs my ducks lay on the ground. The only thing I can think of that is reasonable is to go out super early in the morning, catch her with the egg and give her a good scolding. A couple days of that should discourage her, right?

Moving on, a tree fell down on our fence and completely bent it and separated the sections. We've been incredibly lucky because that tree has dropped limbs before and every time, it misses the chicks' grow out coop. Well, the entire dang thing finally fell yesterday (we were having some crazy strong wind yesterday) and now I have to lock up that area.

The tree is on our neighbor's property and it is technically their responsibility, but Dad won't ask them to remove it. I don't understand why, considering we don't really have any issues with them. They would understand and could probably get it done in a few hours.

Part of me just wants to go over, ask that they remove the tree or, to avoid having to pay for the new fencing, removing the tree and repairing any other property damage to the chick coop (there are some dents from limbs falling on the metal roof), they can give us a portion if their unused land. It's just sitting there. We could just extend our fence a bit and could remove the crap that keeps growing into our yard (vines, weeds, etc) and they would hardly notice.

Ugh, I've ranted and feel better. I'm still stressed, but I guess that is normal considering I'm leaving soon.

Edit: Ignore all those typos. I'm using my phone and obviously, AutoCorrect is awful.

 

[rrrmamma]

Have had computer issues so it took me awhile to catch up. Blooie, I love the runs! For those of you who like roasted veggies, have you tried roasting beets? Cut the tops off leaving a short portion and trim the root. wrap in foil and bake at 350* for about 25 minutes. A sharp knife should easily pierce them. Unwrap and rub the skin off with a paper towel. They are sooo good, not like canned beets at all.