Chicken Treat Pop Blocks and Frozen Pesto

It was sooo hot yesterday!  The high was 97 degrees with a heat index of 114.  So, after harvesting, fertilizing, and general gardening, I hunkered down in my kitchen for several hours.  I made very special treats for the girls, and a lot of pesto to freeze.

Chicken Pops
The chickens love juicy fruits like watermelon and tomato, so I thought they might want to peck at a block of frozen delights.

I made one pop block with cucumbers, cantaloupe, and tomato.  The other (back) is full of strawberries, cucumbers, and peaches.

I filled plastic containers with water and treats, put them in the deep freezer, and ta-dah!

The ladies LOVE these.  They're like chicken crack and methamphetamine all in one.  I gave them two today, and I've already put another one in the freezer for them.  If this doesn't entice them to make eggs, I don't know what will.

Round 1: Morning

Round 2: Afternoon

Hen Party

The best thing about the chicken pops is that all the ladies share them nicely.  I'm so lucky to have such a great group of girls.  Yes, they're bossy little princesses, but they've created a peacefull community amongst themselves.

Frozen Pesto Pucks
Yesterday, I posted about the pound of basil I that I had harvested that morning.  This is what came of it:

 I washed and dried all of the basil in the salad spinner.

These basil stems will be used later in vegetable stock. 

To the basil/olive oil blend, I added parmesan cheese and toasted walnuts. 

I lined a muffin pan with plastic wrap and put it in the freezer. 

 Just like little pesto hockey pucks.

I wrapped each puck individually in plastic wrap and put them in freezer bags.  

They'll keep a really long time like this.  Maybe a year?  But I always use them up pretty quickly.  I've frozen two dozen of theses so far this season.  I'm aiming for fifty.

Friday Food Porn

It was a gorgeous day, and I spent most of it outside in front of the oven.  I baked a few loaves using a recipe I found at Farmgirl Fare for Farmhouse White.  I love this recipe, and I'll be using it again very soon.  The bread is soft, chewy, and moist.  I also branched out a bit from my regular thin crust masterpieces and baked a Sicilian style pizza.

Getting her all fired-up

I love, love, love my new infrared thermometer.  It let's me know when my baby is ready to go.  Not too hot, not too cold.  It's super-helpful  See the tiny red dot inside the oven?  Neat, huh?

Bread goes in, door goes on

Loaf #1

 I couldn't help myself, and I immediately tore into loaf #1.  Delicious.

Check out that beautiful bread bottom.

Loaf #2 went to my favorite neighbor.

 This was my first try at Sicilian style pizza, and it turned out beautifully.  I put the sauce on top of the cheese, and it kept the thick crust from getting soggy.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic after I baked it.

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 This was dinner last night.  Ben's co-worker gave us a dozen eggs from his backyard hens (our chicks arrive in about 10 days!), so I made a special quiche.  Homemade crust, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, mozzarella, goat cheese, parsley, sage, rosemary, oregano.

On days like this, I dream of all the canning of tomatoes and drying of herbs I'll do this summer.  I didn't get a chance to put up much food last summer, but this year will be different.  We've been using our mud oven a lot lately, and we can really cut down our food costs by using all home-grown ingredients on our pizzas and such.  Also, it will just plain taste better.