The Pauley Principle: ODE TO THE INCREDIBLE EGG AND THE HENS WHO LAY THEM

Welcome to The Pauley Principle!

The Pauli Principle, named for Wolfgang Pauli, deals with atoms and electron-sharing that results in new, stronger bonds. Think 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen, a shared delectable (!) electron and VOILA! Water!

Similarly, when you prepare whole food to share with family and friends, especially foods you've grown, something amazing happens. Meals become tastier and healthier. Your soul, not just your stomach, becomes fulfilled. You live life more abundantly as a result. During a shared meal, the bonds that people create grow stronger and become something new: GREATER than the sum of the parts! I give you The Pauley Principle.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

ODE TO THE INCREDIBLE EGG AND THE HENS WHO LAY THEM

Every morning lately, I've eaten one of our little pullet eggs.

Every morning lately, my husband has eaten one of the very large duck eggs.

The flavor of the eggs amazes me! They're delicious! The organic eggs I've bought have been similar in look but not so much in flavor. Maybe it's because I have a friendly relationship to the hens, but I'm more delighted with both the flavor and the quality of these eggs. Some of you have chickens. Don't you just love it?! It's so handy that we're getting eggs now. I didn't expect it to be so soon! And the taste!!! Have you tried duck eggs? I'm just as pleased with the flavor and quality of the duck eggs, and the loft they give to baked goods is impressive! Well, I could go on and on.

In homage to the egg, I have to say it exemplifies the Pauli Exclusion Principle. Each is unique but, in combination with other ingredients, the egg shares its qualities to make truly remarkable chemical reactions in the kitchen!!! I've been up to my elbows lately in eggs, sugar, butter and flour lately and loving the results!

Of course, the egg would not be possible without the hen who lays it. Yes, the hen comes first! Chris takes really good care of the feeding and housing of our chickens and ducks. Our 48 pullet hens, the little Speckled Sussex, are giving us 2-3 eggs a day, with nary a laying nest! Our 4 ducks are laying 3 eggs a day on average in a shared laying box, although one insists on dropping hers in the pool. What's up with that?!

The chicken condo at an earlier stage of development.

In homage to the chicken, my husband has been working evenings trying to complete the chicken condo that had, up until now, just been a shell with a brooder in one corner. NOW, he has installed two large picture windows in the south end (at the unseen left wall in the photo) with a trap door and ramp underneath that will lead to the outdoors for free ranging. He has walled up the room for the Speckled Sussex, a new and larger area that will soon be equipped with a roost and real nesting boxes! They'll no longer have to fluff up the bedding in a corner of the brooder!

Question: Why do our hens roost backwards?

Second question: When spring comes, and these hens really start laying,

what am I going to do

with all those eggs???

(I'm giving more and more thought to the local Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings, but if all I have to offer is eggs, is it worth the set-up? On the other hand, what other things might I offer? I DO like baking, but it seems so many people are offering baked goods. Our local market is saturated. Maybe something different...)

Chris is measuring for laying boxes. Notice the camouflage wall? It happened to be the best buy that day.

Here I am with the Speckled Sussex. They're so cute and friendly. The hens will be happy to have laying boxes and a larger roost. They're still using the brooder and making nests in the bedding for their 2 to 3 eggs a day.

And here's Roosti-Roo, a very proud fella!

5 comments:

AnonymousDecember 15, 2011 at 12:58 PM
put me on your spring list - I love fresh brown eggs!
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Granny SueDecember 15, 2011 at 1:22 PM
Hey Ronda, I'm with you on the chickens! Love my hens. We're swamped with eggs right now and that's a blessing with Christmas baking coming up.

I tried to email you to no avail--don't know where that message went :/ Would you email me at susannaholstein@yahoo.com Thanks!
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DanitaDecember 16, 2011 at 11:03 AM
We would love to be on your delivery route for fresh eggs!
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dr momiDecember 17, 2011 at 9:16 PM
Oh my goodness....what are you going to do with all those eggs in the spring?? You better buy another refrigerator LOL! I know people will pay a premium for duck eggs -- I love them to bake with, but scrambled duck eggs...I just can't get passed the texture :-)

What a nice chicken condo!
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UnknownDecember 18, 2011 at 9:26 AM
Dr. Momi--We did buy another refrigerator! And a large cooler for my delivery route. So far, all my upcoming clients are in a small radius of home, except for a friend in Mississippi who wants on my route. She has an ulterior motive, though.
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Give Yourself the Fast Food Alternative: 1, 2, 3 makes 4 and More

For many people, late night ballgames, church, work and other events make fast food too convenient to resist, but what's in that stuff? I can't begin to answer. Big franchises such as Taco Bell say the 63% or so that isn't beef is made up of "the secret ingredient". If we consume their food, don't we have a right to know what that secret is? And more importantly, what's it doing to our bodies? My plan is worth the effort since meals eaten at home with the family benefit our physical and mental health.

Here's an alternative and my answer to Rachael Ray's A Week in a Day. I call it 1,2, 3 Makes 4 and More. On the fifth day, Friday, make a quick and easy pizza.
In one day, you can make a roast, a hearty soup, and a one-dish casserole to get you through most of the work week.
Meal 1: the roast with salad and a veggie.
Meal 2: the soup served with warm bread or in a bread bowl.
Meal 3: the casserole with a salad.
Meal 4: soup from Meal 2 served with sandwiches using the roast, Meal 1.
Meal 5: homemade pizza.

Plan meals and shop for it. Then take a few hours to prepare the entrees ahead. Start with a roast seasoned to taste. I'm talking real meat. While that's slow cooking, start chopping veggies and meat for a good, hearty soup, one that will be a meal in itself. Get it started and simmering away and then begin a one-pot meal that takes a little more attention.

This week my plan is Day 1, a slow roasted ham with salad and mashed potatoes; Day 2, minestrone; and Day 3, shepherd's pie. I'm making mashed potatoes for two days (meals 1 and 3) at one time on my cooking day. The fourth meal will be ham sandwiches with minestrone. Salads and breads round out the meals for the week. Fruits with cheese make a quick and good-for-you dessert. A truly delicious recipe for shepherd's pie is in my blog.

Be good to you. Be good to others. On days 6 and 7, change it up by going out, having a pot luck with friends and family or grilling out. Remember, live your life abundantly.

About Venison

Venison should taste really delicious! No kidding. It is my favorite meat, except for crab.

Some things to consider though:
*If you wouldn't think of eating a bull, then don't eat a deer that had huge antlers or was in rut. I don't. It affects the flavor and tenderness of the meat.
*Replace the deer fat with beef fat for your ground meat for an 80/20 ratio. Deer fat tends to be slightly bitter and leaves that thick coating in your mouth that, although edible, is not palatable.
*For roasts, sear with butter and olive oil. These impart a wonderful flavor.
*For sausage, use pork shoulder, at a ration of about 3 parts ground venison with 1 part ground pork shoulder.
*Venison by nature is a lean red meat. A good young deer processed properly will give you many delicious meals.
*Anything you would do with beef, except ribs, you can do with venison. Look for my recipe for Shepherd's Pie. Use either beef or venison. Enjoy, share, and live abundantly.

Plan Now for Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is cooked down from sap that you gather from sugar maple trees. There are no other ingredients, not even water. And it's incredibly good. On the market, maple syrups will often have corn syrup, gluten, color and other additives which can stretch profitability and decrease the steaming time required. Since it takes 35-45 gallons of the thin slightly sweet sap to make a gallon of pure maple syrup, doing it the old-fashioned way takes time but the result is pure YUM!

If you have the opportunity to tap into maple trees and decide you'd like to give this a try, plan ahead. If you steam off the sap inside your kitchen, it can strip your wall-paper! Been there, done that, at our old farmhouse. If you cook it down outside with a gas turkey fryer, the cost can end up being around $8 a pint. We began cooking over a wood fire a few years ago, using a tripod and kettle. Oh, and a large firewood supply. Whatever method you choose, proceed slowly and with caution.

Gather your supplies. We use food safe plastic jugs, buckets, and little water line spouts. Maple syrup production houses will collect into stainless steel vats using long water lines but we simply gather the jugs, pour into buckets and bring it to the kettle twice daily. I buy little pint jugs to store it in. Very fresh, very pure. Start tapping the trees when daytime temperatures are going to be above freezing but nights are still very cold. In Ohio, the sap will be running fast sometime in February.

Try my cousin Stephanie Krupla's recipe for Sticky Bun Tea Ring and you'll want to search for maple trees you can tap into yourself!