April 24, 2012

Outside Temp: 54 F (it was just beautiful today... in the 70's, nice breeze, clear skies.  Absolutely wonderful!)

What I cooked today:
Fried Chicken: I haven't made my fried chicken in a while, since the last time I made it, I let the oil smoke so bad, we had to open every window in the house, in the middle of winter.  I figured that I've gotten to know my stove and oven a little bit in the last few months, and maybe it was time to try it again.  I used a thermometer to keep an eye on the oil temperature, and didn't let it get too hot.  The chicken turned out great.  Whew. 

Update:
So, after I told someone how great our chicks were behaving, no pecking, no problems, we had a problem.

We were to blame, to an extent, since we forgot to check their food this morning.  Apparently, they are eating more, and even though we filled up the food last night, they had managed to eat it all.

So, the black and brown chicks started pecking on the Cornish Roasters, which seems appropriate since they are bigger and probably eat more.  Patrick was home and he heard them squawking.  He went in there, and all four birds were bleeding.  So, we had to remove them from the area they have been in. 

To be fair, they are getting too big for that area anyway, so perhaps this was our wake up call to get them into a bigger area. 

We moved the four birds outside.  We have an area that is fenced in (the owner had dogs, so it's actually perfect for the birds).  We put a box out there, with some food and water, and let them just hang out by themselves.

After a little while, the other two Red Stars (which are also yellow and orange, instead of black and brown) were getting picked on.  So, Patrick moved them out with the other birds.

The funny part is that when they were inside, if we walked over to them, they would run away.  But, once we brought them outside, they would actually come closer to us, and sit on our legs or feet or hands.  They were almost friendly!  Who knew?

I'm a little worried about them being outside tonight, but Patrick is keeping an eye on them and they seem okay.  It's still pretty warm (in the 50's), so they should be okay, especially in a box with them all huddled together.

I got to chat with some of the ladies from church tonight about our fundraising cookbook.  I'm really excited to try a few of these new recipes!  The book should be available by August (we hope), and I think there's over 250 recipes!  So if anyone wants a copy, just let me know!  (hint, hint)