Cool chooks

KEEPING my hens cool and watered during the heat this week will be an additional challenge.

 

Along with their usual deep water bowl I'll be adding two more into their enclosed pen.

 

Plus positioning the market umbrella to keep them in the shade.

 

If you kave any backyard chooks, be sure to check they have constant access to fresh, clean, cool water.

 

Also look out for snakes and other reptiles who may be attracted to the chooks water supply.

 

Hilda enjoys prime position on the bird bath

Tasmanian backyard egg sellers could be fined

TASSIE'S backyard chook breeders have until tonight to register their feelings on new regulations that will introduce heavy fines for the sale of unstamped eggs from unregistered flocks. 
  
Under draft food standard regulations, anyone who sells eggs – no matter the size of their flock – will be required to register their name and address and the number and location of their birds and stamp each egg with a unique identity mark, The Mercury reports.

Those who fail to comply face a $650 fine.

 

 

Information about egg producers in Victoria can be seen here.

New year's eggs

SEEING the first eggs of the new year is always exciting.

 

It's a nice way to start off with fresh eggs for breakfast. So on January 1, I made pancakes and gave the hens the left-overs as a reward.

 

 

 

The little devils tried to get into the  basil posts growing seedlings and the cherry and rouge marmalade tomato beds yesterday and I was just in time to stop Hilda from tearing down some cherry tomato branches.

 

I've been a bit lax in staking them up enough so must get into it.

 

Coincidentally, Peter Cundell addresses staking tomatoes in the Weekly Times today.  



Free range debate

THOSE of us lucky enough to have chooks in the back yard know the joys of enjoying delicious, free range eggs.

However, labelling laws in Australia are all over the shop - pretty much any egg producer can call their eggs free-range.

On Monday January 6, ABC Radio ran a story about a group of Australian egg producers are urging state and federal governments to create a legal, enforceable definition of free range eggs. Listen here...

Meanwhile, the feather riot continue to produce the best darn eggs this side of Geelong. 

 

Friends say I'm fortunate to be able to keep chooks and I have to agree.

 

So if you have a spare patch of garden, think seriously about giving a couple of former cage-hens a loving home.

 

They will reward you with more than just lovely eggs.

 

SCRAMBLED

EVERYONE who has chooks in the back yard reckons their girls produce the best cackleberries with which to make scrambled eggs.

As do I.

And I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and give you the recipe:

2 freshly laid eggs
1/2 cup of milk
mushrooms
tomatoes
fresh baby spinach
fresh basil leaves - chopped roughly
olive oil
Salt and pepper
Sourdough bread

Beak eggs add milk and combine until fluffy
Place a splash of olive oil in the pan
Add chopped mushrooms, tomatoes and half  the basil and gently toss until cooked
Place bread in toaster or even better, under the grill
Carefully pour in egg mixture over the mushrooms and tomatoes, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste then using a spatula, push the mixture back on itself as it cooks
When cooked place spinach on toast then lift scrambled eggs on toast
Enjoy!

FREE RANGE ID WIN

CHOICE, the consumer's lobby today announced their key wins for consumers in 2013, including the NSW Department of Fair Trading announced in December that it would champion a national crackdown on dodgy free-range egg labelling after CHOICE made a complaint earlier in the year.

This is an important step towards an enforceable free-range egg standard in Australia.

If you can, consider having a couple of chooks in your backyard.

Here's the label for the egg-cess bounty from my feather riot...

Gidget’s Cluckingham Palace

Fresh laid free range eggs from the happy hens: 

Gidget, Layne. Ledger, Laura and Hilda.

PAVLOVAS

MAKING meringues is always a hoot.

It's easier than working out what to do with all the left-over egg yolks if you are not planning on whipping up mayonnaise afterwards.

Last night I had fun baking mini-pavlovas for the fire brigade barbecue tonight.

Listening to 3RRR, drinking a diet ginger-beer and keeping an eye on the chooks to make sure they did not invade the bean patch, it's a pleasant way to spend a sunny summer evening.

As I'd already made the chocolate spice and vanilla butter cakes, the oven was well heated so I could easily lower the temperature.

To check they are cooked, gently tap the meringue - it will sound hollow if it is done.

While a large pavlova looks spectacular, for a buffet I prefer to make single serves so people can help themselves.

ALISON'S NO-FAIL MERINGUES

4 egg whites
3/4 cup castor sugar
1 pinch of salt
2 TBL spoons sifted pure icing sugar

Beat egg whites, Salt and sugar until thick, glossy and firm - about 10 minutes
Gently fold in icing sugar until fully combined
Line flat trays with baking paper 
Pipe into small swirls
Bake in a low oven - around 100 degrees for about an hour (every oven is different so keep an eye on them to ensure they don't brown.)
Fill with cream and scatter with blueberries or grated chocolate
Enjoy!