Tarragon Cream sauce Pasta

I'm telling Esme about another one of the family recipes that I want to make and show her how to make - and every other recipe I've been finding for it uses white wine in it for reduction in the sauce. And I had to think, ah.. yes, my mother never cooked with that (cooking alcohol) at all, so of course the 'family recipe' that I know doesn't have it, so.. do I try to do it 'correctly' according to the books or do I cook what I know so I don't 'mess it up'? I'm choosing option two, and then maybe we can learn how to make the 'actual French recipe version' later.  Apparently there is a 'boil the onions in white wine' step that I've never done in my life.. and am not sure I want to.  

 This is usually served with chicken breast, but can also be served with eggs.  We didn't have fresh garden tarragon, but I was inspired to make this by the dried tarragon packet I got in our spice sampler.  Tarragon goes bad quickly, much quicker than many spices - and the reason I haven't made it in many years is that it is hard to find it, and then when you do, a little disappointing to throw much of it away later.  I used finely diced zucchini instead of the real chopped tarragon plants that were in a recipe I found - I think maybe it was made with canned green beans at times in our household, my mom canned a lot of green beans every summer.

 We decided to make it with eggs.  It is not an easy dish to make with three burners by yourself - will need to practice again, as one of the burners was an omelette to go with it and that got a bit messy in between - started pasta, then melted butter in a big pan and added finely diced zucchini and sliced sweet onions, cooking them until the onions were translucent, then added a bit more water to make sure there was enough liquid - added a few tablespoons of flour until it began to form a paste with the butter, added some grated cheese (used the last of the gruyere block we had, about 3 by 2 inches) to that to finish making it a full paste (roux), then began to reliquify with half-and-half, then whole milk, until the sauce and melted cheese came to the right consistency, added dried tarragon and lots of black pepper (should have added more salt, I had hoped the butter and cheese was salty enough) and removed from heat as the omelette was getting done to put on the plates and drained the pasta, stirred it into the tarragon cream sauce and added more black pepper and shredded cheese on top of each plate after serving. It's been years, maybe a decade, since I made this dish, but I thought I'd give it a go again to show Esme.

bits

 Madeleine cookies / cakes with ebony carrot powder in them

 

 mullein plant, biennial, first year rosette

 

We are down to 13 chickens, including our two roosters.   We lost another one of our Olive Eggers to old age this morning.  I was confused though, because I was pretty sure we were at 15 with the roosters before losing this one - and Esme and I counted again and again, and only came up with thirteen.  I might have not counted the last one that we lost - although I remember her - or maybe something happened to another one of the Cinnamon queen types and we haven't found any evidence of it yet.  We looked all around in the pen - and didn't see anything.  The one that was gone this morning was just fallen over and right out in the open with no injuries - although she had been getting slower and walking a little hunched for the past few weeks.

 I got some spice samples from a company the other day and I have been trying them out.  Tried some tarragon in our eggs - I always have that go bad before I've used very much of it.  Today, I tried some of the ebony carrot powder, which is a very bright magenta color, in a batch of madeleines - and the purple powder made the dough sort of purplish-grey and the actual cakes a bit of a greenish color. 

 Got the first strawberries today :)  Chopped them up in some sugar and put some in yogurt and a bit on pancakes. 

Studying mostly French with some Portuguese. Been dreaming more in French or pseudo-French, at least.

Been working through the dental plate issues and cooking my own dinners more so I don't have as much problem with things that Mark and Esme can eat but I have trouble with - because when it was already inflamed trying to eat something harder and having it rock was causing more issues... and I am trying hard (very hard) not to sleep on that side for more than an hour or so here and there at night - can't only sleep on the other side, my hips and shoulders won't let me do that, either.

Chicks at two and a half months - new big cage

 

Mark and Esme had put together these fence panels to make a new larger cage for the chickens.  We had needed to go to town and get more chips because I didn't have enough left from cleaning the cage last week to fill the bottom of this up.  We put them in and they are quite happy, especially with their new longer perching stick - but hope it will be warm enough in the garage for them at nights.  They are now two and a half months since we bought them at probably less than a week old.  They have really feathered out and changed colors - originally there were five 'yellow and brown chipmunk' colored ones and one dark grey (maybe not the same breed, we are still uncertain if she got put in that bin by mistake).  So far, it still seems they are all hens, as they were sold to us.  We have the thirteen hens and two roosters out in our big coop outside - but these will need to spend maybe another month or so inside before they are big enough to compete with those out there.

 Charlotte dog still has to watch - she had to be calmed down a little because she got very very excited and was beginning to whine.  Esme petted her ears and then we told her it was time for her to go in the main house.  She has been out there a few times, when we have, to check on them.

  

Esme calming down our blue heeler mix, Charlotte, who thinks all baby chickens should be hers to herd

 

  

 Melody goat and Minion cat

This morning I put some new garden soil in one of the raised beds, and checked on different things.  The strawberries are beginning to have berries on them.  Melody goat and Minion cat were sunning themselves on the edge of the fenced yard - and I interrupted them.  I have kale and beans and beets (growing for the greens) and sweet peas coming up, and have transplanted my summer squash plants out to the bed where a few more and some cucumbers were finally germinating.  I want to get some marigold plants and then some tomatoes and peppers.

 We went through all of our spices today - there were one or two that I had been holding on to that weren't any good.  I threw the tarragon out months ago after it had sat untouched for most of a year - and the starter for cleaning out the rest today was that I had ordered some samples of a place's spices that included tarragon and a few other things.  Out of everything there is now one box of things I rarely use but don't feel need to be thrown away, a box that only I use but not often, a box of things that are mostly only used by me but are used commonly, and a small section of shelf of what Mark and I both use on a regular basis.   

I've been studying mostly French - and started Portuguese from French on my phone.  The last few nights, I've dreamt some in French or been asked to translate some things into French.

 

I'm still having some trouble with the jaw on my left side hurting where they took out teeth years ago, made to pop up again perhaps because the denture plate is causing some pressure and infection in the upper plate area.  It isn't anywhere near as bad as when they first gave me the plate, though - for weeks my face was too painful to touch - all over the cheek and nose etc.  

 

Now, it hurts a little here and there and quite a bit right in that jaw place which has no pressure from the denture plate.  The one thing I can't quite get myself to do is to not sleep on that side - the denture plate is out and in a cup for the night so that it doesn't cut - but with hEDS just the pressure of sleeping hard on that side - and for some reason I do sleep HARD on that side when I do - makes anything else that is wrong with those tissues worse.  

 

I've been taking an ibuprofen or two a day and that helps some - and eating as much anti-inflammatory as I can, along with the fat needed to process it.  I will say here though that I have also lost some weight in the past 6 months, not that I probably didn't need to - but it is noticeable enough I have to wear a belt with these jeans now or I am pulling up the pants all day long.   There are many things I just do not want to even try to eat anymore - which again, isn't all that bad mostly.  I just have to watch it that I don't let that get unhealthy.

Golden Beets and their Greens

Golden Beets : I thought they were just so pretty - even before cutting them up, and they had a long and thick plume of greens attached to them.  They are a bright golden color on the inside (See below).  Also, the leafy tops are more like the Siberian Kale than the darker tops that are on the red beets.   I cut all the green bits off of the stems and chopped it coarsely to put in a freezer bag.  A whole bag of greens AND beets for the price of a bag of spinach.  And the goat and chickens got bits of all the bits I didn't want, so none of it really went to waste.

And I got to show Esme how to prepare them - she says it is interesting to see the process and then how they are cooked.  Of course, then I also show her what vitamins are in them and tell her what foods and/or spices it goes well with.  I've told her that cutting up vegetables seems to be one of my favorite hobbies, which goes well with but does seem to live in a space all of its own beside the gardening and the cooking.  I also said that even though the produce wasn't perfect and the rest of what was on the shelf with it was bordering on sad - I would have been proud of that bunch if I had grown it myself.

Here are the bottoms, scrubbed but not peeled, then sliced somewhat thin, put a bit of water in the bowl so that the pieces were not sitting directly on the bottom, sprinkled olive oil over the top, added spices, and then drizzled some honey over the top.  Covered, in a 400 degree oven for probably a bit over a half hour.  We ate it with mandarin oranges, and she had about five slices on her plate.  I had twice that - and the leftovers in a small quart jar to use up tomorrow.  Mark made hamburgers for her and for himself, and I used up a bit of the sausage and egg rice I had made last night and added curry, ginger paste and green onions to it.

I will add the frozen beet greens to other fried rice and soup type meals just like I do kale and dandelion greens. 

Easter eggs

 Even though Esme has graduated high school, or very close to soon, I asked her to dye a few eggs with me.  Our eggs are already 'Easter Egg' colors, from having Americana chickens, but that just made it a science experiment which brown, green and blue eggs would change what colors.

 The yellow one was nearly purple-brown to start with, and the pink one was a pale green egg.  The left-most green egg was naturally green, and the one on the far right was brown to start with.

 I've done a little work in the garden, mostly checking on things, some sorrel and kale planted, seen beans that are coming up finally again after that freeze killed the other ones etc.  There are some cucumbers and squash plants and I planted another few seeds of zucchini.

Planning on making Esme something we haven't tried before - artichoke hearts, with a little bit of gruyere cheese baked on top - with egg omelets and Mark is making a bit of beef that be bought at the store.  So, waiting for that time to arrive to start making things.  We brought Grandma some chocolate for Easter but we weren't planning on making a full big holiday meal, just sort of a hodgepodge experimental type meal.

The artichoke hearts :  1 can of artichoke hearts, drained, and then put in a glass bread pan with olive oil sprinkled over the top, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, oregano, and then cooked in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until the very edges begin to brown - sprinkle with shredded Gruyere cheese and bake longer until the cheese melts well.  Serve with omelet and Italian bread. 

 

I've been playing some more Minetest and working in the research mode to earn a few of the materials as 'creative' or free play items.  I'm sure you can see I've gotten this wood as one finally, and also the colors of stone that the houses are made of, sand and glass.  I've mostly stayed playing this world because the mining distribution has impressed me - and I've even been finding some things like fire opal and pink tourmaline that I have not found before in the years I was playing it.

Studying French mostly, and French from the Spanish interface on the other platform. 

 

Not a bad little village to hang out in, catch fish, rotate the crops etc etc.
 

chicks - 1 month

 

 

They are a month old now - and will need a bigger cage soon  Mark and Esme are deciding what to do for that.  They can't go out with the other chickens until another month or two, because our roosters are very big and all of the big chickens sleep in a pile up on top of the house six feet off the ground.  They are starting to look so much like 'little chickens' now though, roosting and sitting on the ground with their feathers all arranged.  We've heard a few whistles and a cluck - no crowing, but up until that they mostly made little tweety chirp peeping noises, so we've noticed the difference.  'Goose' is the dark gray one, 'Spot' is the white one, 'Stripe' is the golden colored one (who is hiding behind Spot), 'Duck' is in the bottom left, 'Prairie' is in the top left (those two are trying to be twins now, but Prairie' has a silver back) and 'Pheasant' is the one with the yellow cheeks and brown body looking directly at the camera.