A Hodgepodge Week

Did you ever have a week that you don’t have one particular project to work on?  You know, that week where you are just finishing up random projects that have been started waaaay back when.  Or that week that you have things to do that need to get done, don’t take lots of time, but you have been putting off? And then there are those things that just pop up unexpectedly.

I think I am having one of those weeks.  My chickens are on overdrive in their egg production, the head cook from school asked if I could come and help out, and my husband tilled the garden so we could plant potatoes. My kombucha needed rebrewing, and I am out of homemade yogurt…………and the list goes on.

I decided I would freeze some of those eggs.  I had read in a newspaper article that you could do this by lightly beating the eggs and adding a dash of salt.  You then bag them up, freeze and use later when the girls aren’t producing quite so prolifically.  I am sure that time will come in the middle of this summer when it is so hot they don’t even want to do their job.  That time also hits in the middle of the winter when it is so cold it is hard for them to just keep warm, much less lay eggs.

So today, I am making hay while the sun shines; or should I say freezing eggs while the hens are laying?  I decided to freeze them in groups of three so I can use them for recipes in cakes or bars.  I have done this before and it actually works really well.

On Monday, in the cold and wind, we finally got our potatoes planted. Typically we get them in pretty close to Good Friday, but not this year.  This year we are trying half Yukon Gold and half Kennebec. In the past we were pretty sold on the Yukon Gold but my brother-in-law told us that Kennebec is the way to go. It is kind of our trial run to see which one produces the best.  Will let you know in the fall which one is the winner.

My husband had really hoped to plant potatoes in his shirtsleeves but he had to give in to wearing a coverall…… it just was a coverall kind of day.  We had to get this done at the beginning of the week, as he was going to spend the rest of this week hauling manure. I also got the peas in so I am feeling pretty satisfied on that score.

For a few days this week I got to help out in the kitchen at the high school when someone needed to be out for a funeral.  You can plan for weddings, birthdays, proms, etc but you just really cannot plan for a death. It is good to be able to help out during those times. For me, the timing worked out really good, as I got to town and delivered eggs to people who wanted to purchase them.

 

Kombucha

I took the time one afternoon to deal with my jar of “booch” I now have a new batch of kombucha brewing, in a pickle jar, on my counter and it is time to move on to making yogurt. I was fortunate to find a Donvier yogurt maker at a second-hand store for 5 dollars last year. It works great!
The yogurt is wonderful to use in smoothies.

The yogurt recipe I use, is as follows:
4 cups skim or 1% milk heated to 185°
let cool to 110°
Add 2 large Tablespoons active plain yogurt
Put in containers in yogurt maker for 9 hours.

 

I actually love weeks like this.  I love the variety of the different things I get to do.  It is never boring and you just never know what will turn up next that needs to be done.  I really laughed when I googled the word “hodgepodge”.  I found out it means “a confused mixture”.  That does really sum up this past week.

May you have a blessed weekend and find your own hodgepodge of things to do!

 

 

 

Work willingly at whatever you do,
as though you were working for the Lord
rather than for people.
Colossian 3:23
New Living Translation